What I've been reading...

• "Democracy's Edge" by Frances Moore Lappe.....this book felt like a "feel-good" read until I hit the education chapter. Not that the stories weren't inspirational in that chapter, as the others had been. Real people doing real, effective things to make democracy live in this country (U.S.A) for themselves and others. But when I read the education section I completely stressed out. That means two things; 1. our educational system is askew and, 2. I need to do something about it, for my daughter's education, of course, but also because I believe in public education! By the way, Ms. Lappe's book "Diet For A Small Planet", along with Ellen Buchman Ewald's "Recipes for A Small Planet "were the two books which helped me, taught me the basic nutritional information I needed when I decided to stop eating animals back in 1974. I've also read Ms. Lappe's "Food First".
• "An Unreasonable Woman" by Diane Wilson.....beautifully written in a conversational style that is impossible to put down. A strong, interesting story of corporate/political pollution & crime fought by Ms. Wilson on her home turf. I am proud of her work. Visit her website, read this book! She helped found CODE-PINK!
  
• "Thank You Dr. Kevorkian" by Kurt Vonnegut.....this tiny volume is a collection of Mr. Vonnegut on WNYC radio, doing an interview with dead people thingie. Some pieces of this are also in "A Man Without A Country". I thought maybe I could pick my favorite vignette, but no...I find that there is a snippet from each of the small pieces which is gemlike. Just read everything by Vonnegut that you can get your paws on.
• "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson.....this science fiction novel is just fucking cool. I heart cyberpunk!!!
• "The Secret Life of Bees"...by Sue Monk Kidd.... I thought that this was pretty good. I really dug the bee-keeping Sisters and their home. I thought my daughter would enjoy reading it also, so I shared it with her.
  

dream sequence...

I go into a arts & crafts country store...the shelving and walls are wood...I am looking for a particular weight of black yarn...I do not find it, so I ask one of the women working there where some might be, and she points to a section...I walk over to look, but do not find the exact yarn I need to complete my project, I find a similar weight, but it's a short piece which is black & white intertwined...I pick it up and tie it to the piece I brought in to match...then I walk around more , still looking for the yarn...everything is very colorful and interesting in this shop...

Blog against sexism day...

Pondering which of many subjects to write about for these past few days, I found that an incident inserted itself into my day that simply required a published opinion. The phone rang at 3:40 a.m., awakening me from a sound sleep. I fumbled for the phone and read the caller ID listed was "blocked number"...whatever! I thought as I hung the phone back up. Answering machine picked up, and I heard some random noise then someone (male) whispering, "I am coming to get you..." in a very theatrical voice. As I lay there thinking about all that for a few minutes, I thought; "Check this out! What if I was an easily frightened person!" What if this male wanted to frighten me specifically? What if he just wanted to frighten somebody randomly? Either way, it's all about patriarchy and how "The Man" has to keep women scared, to keep them in line. Imagine how some women are afraid to walk down the street. Any street. Any time. Not to mention night-time. Remember the "Take Back The Night" marches & gatherings? That's important stuff still. Because male-centric nutbags still want us to be afraid, at all times. So no, I walk proudly and unafraid, because this is my planet.

Religious Marketing...

This banner has been up at a local Baptist church (Olive Branch, established 1869) since the summer. I have no idea what this slogan means. Having worked at a grocery store for 14 years, I am familiar with the "Buy one, get one free" concept, but this one completely escapes me.

The Healing Power of Vonnegut...

This past Thursday evening I was in an auto accident for which I was ticketed. My car was totaled. So I have been feeling all the myriad of emotions one might imagine accompanying such an event. Anger, self-pity, etc. Good news: nobody was injured. Friday afternoon after I got off from work, I was sitting on a bench in front of the store and began to read Kurt Vonnegut's most recent book, A Man Without A Country, and was reminded of two things: how much I adore Vonnegut's writing, and the meaning of life. There I am reading and laughing and generally feeling much better about the whole ordeal. A weight lifted from my emotional "shoulders"...

O.K. So I'm Late On This One.....

The past two months or so have found me craving the music of The Cure. I do not own any of their music. I took care of that today. I bought "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me" & "Disintegration" on CD. Oh, I am so happy now! I really love Robert Smith's voice, and his guitar. This is filling an emotional need. The Muzak CDs that we listen to at work have "Close To Me" on them, and it drives me crazy. Why only the one Cure song? No matter, I will take care of that now. I sold my wee bit of land in the Shenandoah Valley, so I treated myself to some new music. New still, 17 & 19 years later. Yesterday I sang a Coldstone tip song that i'd made up based on Devo's song "Whip It". The three teenagers for whom i sang had never heard of the band Devo. I laughed and said, "I'm so Old-School!".

Early morning activists...

Chuck tells me about the dream he's just had where he is at a rally and decides to get one of the banners/signs, and it's Michael Moore handing them out! So he gets to meet Michael, and it's really cool. So i then tell him about picking up all the trash and stuff in my dream. He says, "I was thinking globally and you were acting locally."

dream segment.....

there has been a big party at the clubhouse...there are bottles and cans and trash all over my back yard and over by the basketball court...i begin to collect all the trash to put into the trash can, and all the bottles and other recycleables into the bin...some people are still milling about, and comment on what i am doing, mostly negatively...some help...it's mostly beer bottles and cans; but i also find pink plastic containers of "Nair", citronella scent!?...as i am tossing some bottles into a big bin, i'm having trouble throwing with my left arm, it feels weak...

i am by a big river, Melian is asleep in the bedroom of our cabin close by...i find a big pile of her stuff, small stuff: coins and whatnot...i begin to organize them into separate piles...Melian awakens and walks over to see what i am doing, then goes back to her room...

"Where Is My Beer Chakra?"

Where is my Beer Chakra?
taking root, growing as hops from the earth
rising
with the sweetness of water,
then feeling the fire.
Where is my Beer Chakra?
anticipatory breath
the heart soars/even as the liquid pours down the throat,
AAAhhhhh----
Hold the glass up/the sunlight shining through
now, I know
my Beer Chakra
traverses all Seven.

The glass being now empty, one/meditates
upon another,
bottle opener
in hand.

(March 26, 2001)

dreaming...

i am at a horse racing track, the day's races have been run...i am now cleaning the water cooler, it has gotten very dusty during the races...

Mish has a new boy toy, and she makes a loving joke about his butt, as she pats him on the same...

i have a small amount of cocaine, and i am fidgeting about the house deciding whether to do it or not...

dream pieces.....

Dawn is taking care of Melian for me...i go to pick her up, Dawn is driving her old big station wagon, i follow them down Ridge Road, just before the Mountain Road stop sign, she pulls over, and i get Melian from her...

I am walking through a town...my body moves slowly & with difficulty...a woman stops to offer me a ride in her car, but just at that time a "van" stops too, and it is my friends, so i thank the woman but get into the "van" with the friends...as i climb in the driver says that it's not really a van, but a plastic shell in the shape of a van which is on a car chassis...it's difficult to climb in, it wobbles like a canoe on water!

I am driving a white van through a construction site...i am highly interested in the soil at this site...i park the van and begin messing with the soil, looking at the different types, and planning on using the soil in some project i am working on...i find some cell packs of abandoned marigolds...i am picking through them to see which ones i can use/keep...as i am taking one cell pack i've salvaged back to the work van, a guy with the construction site comes up to me to inform me of the need to leave all the soil where it is...i introduce myself by name, "with Metro Electric", and tell him of the job i've been sent there to do; which is finish the landscaping around the electrical box...i tell him that i think i'd be nice to use these tossed-out marigolds around the box...he gives me the go-ahead, so i get back into the van and drive to look for the box...i think i should see it easily, but i do not...as i drive, i decide to call Chuck and ask him where it is, as i think i've passed it...the road winds away from the construction, and looks decidedly park-like...

dream sequence...

i am skateboarding at the basketball court...it feels very good...i stop and talk with a couple of skaters from the neighborhood...

Rhiannon...

My trail dog extraordinaire...taking a snooze in the garden, resting her hindquarters in a freshly dug hole...this, my friends, is living...on our hike today we saw a grouse; many, many deer; an assortment of smaller birds & quite a few members of the grey squirrel population...Rhiannon got in many good sniffs and three high-quality stinky-stuff rolls...she paddled around in a small forest pool and got so happy afterwards we had to skip and run for a while! I'm telling you she can really pick a trail...

appreciation...

Hours cut at work gives me a day off during the week. Of course i stress about the $$$, but look at what else i gain! Rhiannon & i take a two-hour hike through the woods after dropping my daughter off at school for her chorus practice. Oh, and what a wonderfully beautiful day to do such a thing! I get caught up on the newspaper and some e-mail...i get some stuff done around the house...i feel good, relaxed, and content...

SPAMVERSE

the change in apologetic
As live by sampler purpose
do open as justifiable
with close it weird
do comb as strict
delight your dearest hands with the business's
eradicate everything you are indebted for without
you dance go grass
by put to forefather
Not look do ubiquitous had
was cough to premises gran
Of hurt as fewest atonality
No translate on daughter
ufyl, hey girl
on type at inimitable head shrinker
Have spent it hatchback leprechaun
As think it rectify
And organise as rueful merciless
hey girl hath Potomac
To do is interior pet
He drink at swayback allocate
turpitude hothouse earthworm variac
As try no glossary scurvy
Or clean to doorstep
Go listen it monopolist
For open by wolf
by sing as vertebra
do go no recite
To go or philter runaway
Not talk so emulation
Is study at frontispiece
in learn on stonewall
Be hurt be gab drank
folksy duluth
He believe so coequal cavalryman
He look to desuetude
with count so woke
rivulet see flue may
There derby while delphinium
Hey there anode those airspace
Hey there lunacy for covariate
and spell so hedonism
Also answer almost transgressor mutilate
Id spatula your buried buttonhole

dream segment.....

i am entering The Hirshorn museum...i am thinking about how long it's been since i've been here! there are many changes inside as i walk around...many different and interesting exhibits...i move around, and in some places the displays are very close together, so i am wedged inbetween...mostly i see sculpture and pottery, of different styles and from different countries...

Me & Buddy

comeonbaby light my FIRE...

Well, i finally did it. i burned all my diaries...starting 1974...i had burned all my previous ones many years ago...i've been writing diaries/journals since the first grade...i've been feeling really bothered recently by certain elements of my past; misguided relationships and all that...so this past Saturday night i knew just what to do, fire up the grill and have a bonfire! it's really quite amazing how much better i feel. Chuck and i pulled up the camp chairs and just talked all the while we burned my writings, it was fantastic!

dream segment.....

(another Ford truck dream!)

Chuck and i have an old Ford truck which is made completely of wood. A beautiful blonde wood. Pine? Oak? i'm not sure...so...we drive this beautiful wood-body truck, we back it out of the garage and take it on down the road, it's really quite amazing to drive...all of the mechanics of it are steel/metal and all that, but the body is wood...

Lowest Common Denominator.....

Human Overpopulation. That's it. Ties up all the loose ends. Think of every problem on this Planet, and each and every one of them can be traced back to human overpopulation. Just why do we think that we are so damned important? I realized this many years ago, at the tender age of 15. The Winter of my 15th year was very pivotal. Many aspects of who i am were formed that Season. Much of my World View as well. Same thing. Remember the old Feminist saying, "The personal IS political"???; yeah.