Not sure if I buy this theory... Would need to know more about the supposed evidence of paper being made from rags increasing literacy and the availability of books before the advent of the printing press, and I also want to know what the evidence is of urbanism = underwear, but it's interesting nonetheless...
The article, available through Yahoo, is reproduced here in its entirety so that when it's no longer archived on Yahoo, it can still be seen here:
Underwear's historic role... in Western learning
Thu Jul 12, 7:30 AM ET
Agence France Presse
LONDON (AFP) - Underwear underpins the spread of Western culture, with discarded underpants ranking alongside the invention of printing in the spread of literacy, according to a medieval historian.
Delegates at the International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds, northern England, were told that social migration from rural to urban areas in the 13th century brought with it changes in attire.
Whereas rough and ready peasants thought little of wearing nothing under their smocks, the practice became frowned upon in the burgeoning towns and cities, leading to a run on undergarments.
And when the underwear was worn out, it provided a steady supply of material used by papermakers to make books.
"The development of literacy was certainly helped by the introduction of paper, which was made from rags," Marco Mostert, of Utrecht University in the Netherlands and one of the conference organisers, said this week.
"These rags came from discarded clothes, which cost much less than the very expensive parchment which was previously used for books.
"In the 13th century, so it is thought, as more people moved into urban centres, the use of underwear increased -- which caused an increase in the number of rags available for paper-making."
The invention of the movable type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century is generally credited with spreading learning.
But Mostert said that although literacy did not become widespread until the 19th century, it was more common in the Middle Ages than many believe because of cheap paper made from rags.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Good Eats - Brisket
Watching "Good Eats" on the FoodNetwork right now... This is probably the best episode I've ever seen. Why, you might ask? Because it's all about brisket, quite possibly the single best reason not to be a vegetarian in the entire world (imho).
Although Alton Brown mentioned many ways of cooking brisket, including smoked, Texas bbq, and the Jewish pot-roast-like way, he has chosen to make corned beef and cabbage from scratch in this episode... That's right, he pickled the beef himself! He also talked about the origin of corned beef and cabbage, trying to figure out why it's so popular for a St. Patrick's Day meal and why it's popular in NYC. The Irish priest and the New York rabbi Alton consulted were unable to explain it. The food anthropologist said that corned beef and cabbage is not and never was an Irish dish. Both the beef and the salt necessary to pickle it were far too expensive in Ireland for it to become a national dish... No, it is an Irish-American thing. But why? Well, because the Irish immigrants upon reaching New York suddenly found themselves without their very popular, common "bacon joint", whatever the heck that is, and surrounded by Jews, who ate brisket because it's a kosher cut and really good (if cooked right). It was a cheap cut for them because it's hard to cook right, etc. so the Irish started substituting it in a lot of their dishes... This was the end of her explanation.
I might be able to shed further light, however (maybe - not sure, read on...)... My grandmother told me that her mother used to make corned beef and cabbage with potatoes. Her mother never went to NYC. She came into the US from the Ukraine through Canada and Detroit and settled in the mid-west in the 1890s. My grandmother said that her mother made it because her own mother made it back in Zvenigorodka (just like most of the dishes she made). What the dish is is boiled potatoes and green cabbage leaves (steamed) with butter and hot sliced or shredded corned beef. So *if* this was originally an Eastern European dish, it might be that Jewish families in New York were making what we would recognize as corned beef and cabbage because it was a dish they brought with them from the old country, which their Irish neighbors then picked up on... I'd guess that this would have had to have been no earlier than the last quarter of the 19th century, however, after both the Irish wave and Eastern European Jewish wave of immigrants came into the US. Because although there was a major influx of Irish into the US earlier in the century because of the Potato Famine and then again around the Civil War, before around 1875 or thereabouts, the majority of Jews in the US were originally from Western Europe, North Africa or the Middle East. So that's why I'm not totally sure... I'd have to know when it started to become popular in New York and the food anthropologist on "Good Eats" didn't cover that.
Now, while corned beef is good, Alton, I have to say that the way my Bubbe made brisket has to be by far the best (My brother, Josh, called it "Bubbe's Chicken" when he was very young. I'm not sure why...). Sure, some will say that nothing can beat smoked and bbq-ed brisket, but that's cause they haven't had this stuff. Somewhat similar in consistency to Cuban shredded pork, without the pork or the shredding, it is the best beef dish I have ever had, hands down.
I will now share the secrets for perfect brisket with the world... ::clears throat::
You take a 4 - 6 lb. flat cut of brisket (not a point cut!), any less than that and you're wasting your time, and put it in a large pan. Add water, I'd say til there's about an inch to an inch and a half in the pan. Add spices to taste... My grandmother used Lipton's Onion Soup mix (can you tell she learned most of her cooking skills in the 1940s-1960s?) and because of that, so do I. She would sprinkle at least one packet over the meat and in the water, sometimes both depending on the size of the brisket. You can also just add garlic, salt, onions, etc. which are fresh, but I can't predict how that would taste in the end. I don't recommend adding pepper or pepper corns because pepper will have a tendency to burn easily in the oven. Cover in aluminum foil or a pan lid and put in a hot 325-350 degree oven. Keep it there for at least 3 to as much as 4 hours, checking periodically (but quickly to not loose too much heat) to make sure that the water hasn't evaporated. Add more water if necessary so that the meat won't burn. When it's done, the outside of the meat will be browned and kinda crusty looking, but it has to stay in there for a long time to make it good. The meat will also shrink quite a bit as it cooks. (I'd say a 5 lb brisket will feed at least 6 - 8 adults with typical appetites with some left over for brisket sandwiches the next day. If fewer people are eating it, you just get to have dinner off of it for two nights in a row, as well as sandwiches... bonus!) Take the whole pan out, cool outside of the fridge until it's closer to room temperature and then loosely cover (to allow it to continue to cool) and put it in the refrigerator. The next day, take it out of the fridge. The fats will have re-solidified. Do not remove any of that, even if you're squeamish about fat, or you'll dry the meat out. Let it sit out for a little while (just a little while) to take the chill out and then cut the meat against the grain into thin slices with an electric knife (or if you like hard work, a regular knife). The meat will stay together and be very rigid. Arrange it back like it was before it was sliced, add a little more water to the pan, as well as sliced potatoes (my grandmother would also peel them, but the skins can probably be left on if you prefer), carrots and mushrooms (white or button is fine), sort of arranged around the meat and/or over it. Cover it and put the whole thing back into the oven at 350 until the potatoes are cooked through... usually this takes at least an hour, sometimes as much as 3, depending on how large or small the potatoes are cut. Take the pan out and enjoy the delicious goodness that is brisket. The meat should be so tender that it can be cut with a fork or even to the point where it falls apart of its own accord. If it's not doing that, try again 'cause something went wrong (probably didn't cook it long enough or at a low enough heat)... Total YUM!
Although Alton Brown mentioned many ways of cooking brisket, including smoked, Texas bbq, and the Jewish pot-roast-like way, he has chosen to make corned beef and cabbage from scratch in this episode... That's right, he pickled the beef himself! He also talked about the origin of corned beef and cabbage, trying to figure out why it's so popular for a St. Patrick's Day meal and why it's popular in NYC. The Irish priest and the New York rabbi Alton consulted were unable to explain it. The food anthropologist said that corned beef and cabbage is not and never was an Irish dish. Both the beef and the salt necessary to pickle it were far too expensive in Ireland for it to become a national dish... No, it is an Irish-American thing. But why? Well, because the Irish immigrants upon reaching New York suddenly found themselves without their very popular, common "bacon joint", whatever the heck that is, and surrounded by Jews, who ate brisket because it's a kosher cut and really good (if cooked right). It was a cheap cut for them because it's hard to cook right, etc. so the Irish started substituting it in a lot of their dishes... This was the end of her explanation.
I might be able to shed further light, however (maybe - not sure, read on...)... My grandmother told me that her mother used to make corned beef and cabbage with potatoes. Her mother never went to NYC. She came into the US from the Ukraine through Canada and Detroit and settled in the mid-west in the 1890s. My grandmother said that her mother made it because her own mother made it back in Zvenigorodka (just like most of the dishes she made). What the dish is is boiled potatoes and green cabbage leaves (steamed) with butter and hot sliced or shredded corned beef. So *if* this was originally an Eastern European dish, it might be that Jewish families in New York were making what we would recognize as corned beef and cabbage because it was a dish they brought with them from the old country, which their Irish neighbors then picked up on... I'd guess that this would have had to have been no earlier than the last quarter of the 19th century, however, after both the Irish wave and Eastern European Jewish wave of immigrants came into the US. Because although there was a major influx of Irish into the US earlier in the century because of the Potato Famine and then again around the Civil War, before around 1875 or thereabouts, the majority of Jews in the US were originally from Western Europe, North Africa or the Middle East. So that's why I'm not totally sure... I'd have to know when it started to become popular in New York and the food anthropologist on "Good Eats" didn't cover that.
Now, while corned beef is good, Alton, I have to say that the way my Bubbe made brisket has to be by far the best (My brother, Josh, called it "Bubbe's Chicken" when he was very young. I'm not sure why...). Sure, some will say that nothing can beat smoked and bbq-ed brisket, but that's cause they haven't had this stuff. Somewhat similar in consistency to Cuban shredded pork, without the pork or the shredding, it is the best beef dish I have ever had, hands down.
I will now share the secrets for perfect brisket with the world... ::clears throat::
You take a 4 - 6 lb. flat cut of brisket (not a point cut!), any less than that and you're wasting your time, and put it in a large pan. Add water, I'd say til there's about an inch to an inch and a half in the pan. Add spices to taste... My grandmother used Lipton's Onion Soup mix (can you tell she learned most of her cooking skills in the 1940s-1960s?) and because of that, so do I. She would sprinkle at least one packet over the meat and in the water, sometimes both depending on the size of the brisket. You can also just add garlic, salt, onions, etc. which are fresh, but I can't predict how that would taste in the end. I don't recommend adding pepper or pepper corns because pepper will have a tendency to burn easily in the oven. Cover in aluminum foil or a pan lid and put in a hot 325-350 degree oven. Keep it there for at least 3 to as much as 4 hours, checking periodically (but quickly to not loose too much heat) to make sure that the water hasn't evaporated. Add more water if necessary so that the meat won't burn. When it's done, the outside of the meat will be browned and kinda crusty looking, but it has to stay in there for a long time to make it good. The meat will also shrink quite a bit as it cooks. (I'd say a 5 lb brisket will feed at least 6 - 8 adults with typical appetites with some left over for brisket sandwiches the next day. If fewer people are eating it, you just get to have dinner off of it for two nights in a row, as well as sandwiches... bonus!) Take the whole pan out, cool outside of the fridge until it's closer to room temperature and then loosely cover (to allow it to continue to cool) and put it in the refrigerator. The next day, take it out of the fridge. The fats will have re-solidified. Do not remove any of that, even if you're squeamish about fat, or you'll dry the meat out. Let it sit out for a little while (just a little while) to take the chill out and then cut the meat against the grain into thin slices with an electric knife (or if you like hard work, a regular knife). The meat will stay together and be very rigid. Arrange it back like it was before it was sliced, add a little more water to the pan, as well as sliced potatoes (my grandmother would also peel them, but the skins can probably be left on if you prefer), carrots and mushrooms (white or button is fine), sort of arranged around the meat and/or over it. Cover it and put the whole thing back into the oven at 350 until the potatoes are cooked through... usually this takes at least an hour, sometimes as much as 3, depending on how large or small the potatoes are cut. Take the pan out and enjoy the delicious goodness that is brisket. The meat should be so tender that it can be cut with a fork or even to the point where it falls apart of its own accord. If it's not doing that, try again 'cause something went wrong (probably didn't cook it long enough or at a low enough heat)... Total YUM!
Monday, July 09, 2007
News from the Union of Concerned Scientists...
In case everyone who happens upon my blog doesn't subscribe to UCS's FEED newsletter, I thought I'd post this info here...
1. Tyson Foods, the nation's largest producer of chicken, announced last month that it has begun to produce all of its fresh chicken free of antibiotics and is selling the chicken in grocery stores under a "Raised Without Antibiotics" label. An estimated 70 percent of all antibiotics used in the United States are regularly added to the feed of livestock and poultry that are not sick—a practice with serious consequences for our health. Bacteria that are constantly exposed to antibiotics develop antibiotic resistance. This means that when humans get sick from resistant bacteria, the antibiotics prescribed by doctors don't work. UCS is taking the opportunity to raise awareness in the industry and ask fast-food companies to pressure their suppliers to raise their meat without antibiotics. Please go here to sign the petition.
2. Negotiations are underway in the House and Senate on the 2007 Farm Bill, the major agricultural and food policy legislation in the United States. The Farm Bill outlines provisions on agricultural subsidies, trade, conservation, research, marketing, food stamps, and much more. The bill also proposes many innovative programs that would promote conservation practices on agricultural land, increase research in sustainable agriculture, and provide stronger support for organic farmers. Yet in a difficult budget year, it is unclear whether many of these proposals will be adequately funded. New programs or increased funding for existing programs must be paid for by making cuts elsewhere. The House has already begun debate on these measures and the Senate will begin debate soon. UCS is working with congressional allies to promote Farm Bill programs that work for America's farmers, the environment, and human health. But we need your help! Look for action alerts from UCS in coming months to tell your members of Congress to support conservation programs and research in the Farm Bill.
In addition, I would like to ask everyone to write to their Representatives and Senators today to ask them to make sure that family and small farms are supported by the 2007 Farm Bill, that Factory Farms which pollute and damage the environment are not given subsidies, and that all references to the National Animal Identification System are stricken from the Bill, unless the references deauthorize the USDA from implementing it. Right now, the House Agro Committee wants to slip in a line authorizing the USDA to make NAIS mandatory so that it can implement mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL). However, there are many ways that COOL can be implemented without making NAIS mandatory. Please ask them to find a way to do that.
3. Global warming is likely to endanger the wild relatives of some of the world's most important food crops, according to a recent study. Using a simulation model, researchers at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research studied the effect of global warming on wild varieties of several crops, including peanuts and potatoes. They determined that 61 percent of wild peanut species analyzed and 12 percent of wild potato species analyzed could become extinct in the next 50 years. Plant breeders often tap into the rich genetic diversity of wild species for traits allowing crops to adapt to harsh conditions. Wild relatives can contain genes for valuable traits such as drought resistance or insect tolerance. If changes in climate drive wild relatives to extinction, farmers may lose the very genetic resources needed to help our food crops adapt to the same changes. For more information on this topic, visit Biodiversity International's web site.
4. Ireland's new coalition government recently revealed plans to make the island free of genetically engineered (GE) plants and animals. The announcement delighted many Irish farmers and food producers who have been campaigning for years to reach this goal. As a geographically isolated island with very low levels of existing GE contamination, Ireland has the best chance among European Union (EU) member states of maintaining a credible GE-free status. The government hopes to make Ireland off-limits to GE seeds, crops, insects, and animals, and to phase out the use of GE ingredients in animal feed. The association of organizations and citizens behind this initiative would like to see Ireland become a GE-free biosafety reserve to protect the food security of all EU countries. Click here for more information on the campaign to keep Ireland GE-free.
5. I agree with the UCS that Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barabara Kingsolver is the must read of the summer. So far, my mom has read this and it has become her Bible... She has bought copies for many more of our family and friends because she believes that everyone must read this book if they give two figs about health, the environment and the sustainability of our food supply. Check it out, you won't be sorry...
1. Tyson Foods, the nation's largest producer of chicken, announced last month that it has begun to produce all of its fresh chicken free of antibiotics and is selling the chicken in grocery stores under a "Raised Without Antibiotics" label. An estimated 70 percent of all antibiotics used in the United States are regularly added to the feed of livestock and poultry that are not sick—a practice with serious consequences for our health. Bacteria that are constantly exposed to antibiotics develop antibiotic resistance. This means that when humans get sick from resistant bacteria, the antibiotics prescribed by doctors don't work. UCS is taking the opportunity to raise awareness in the industry and ask fast-food companies to pressure their suppliers to raise their meat without antibiotics. Please go here to sign the petition.
2. Negotiations are underway in the House and Senate on the 2007 Farm Bill, the major agricultural and food policy legislation in the United States. The Farm Bill outlines provisions on agricultural subsidies, trade, conservation, research, marketing, food stamps, and much more. The bill also proposes many innovative programs that would promote conservation practices on agricultural land, increase research in sustainable agriculture, and provide stronger support for organic farmers. Yet in a difficult budget year, it is unclear whether many of these proposals will be adequately funded. New programs or increased funding for existing programs must be paid for by making cuts elsewhere. The House has already begun debate on these measures and the Senate will begin debate soon. UCS is working with congressional allies to promote Farm Bill programs that work for America's farmers, the environment, and human health. But we need your help! Look for action alerts from UCS in coming months to tell your members of Congress to support conservation programs and research in the Farm Bill.
In addition, I would like to ask everyone to write to their Representatives and Senators today to ask them to make sure that family and small farms are supported by the 2007 Farm Bill, that Factory Farms which pollute and damage the environment are not given subsidies, and that all references to the National Animal Identification System are stricken from the Bill, unless the references deauthorize the USDA from implementing it. Right now, the House Agro Committee wants to slip in a line authorizing the USDA to make NAIS mandatory so that it can implement mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL). However, there are many ways that COOL can be implemented without making NAIS mandatory. Please ask them to find a way to do that.
3. Global warming is likely to endanger the wild relatives of some of the world's most important food crops, according to a recent study. Using a simulation model, researchers at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research studied the effect of global warming on wild varieties of several crops, including peanuts and potatoes. They determined that 61 percent of wild peanut species analyzed and 12 percent of wild potato species analyzed could become extinct in the next 50 years. Plant breeders often tap into the rich genetic diversity of wild species for traits allowing crops to adapt to harsh conditions. Wild relatives can contain genes for valuable traits such as drought resistance or insect tolerance. If changes in climate drive wild relatives to extinction, farmers may lose the very genetic resources needed to help our food crops adapt to the same changes. For more information on this topic, visit Biodiversity International's web site.
4. Ireland's new coalition government recently revealed plans to make the island free of genetically engineered (GE) plants and animals. The announcement delighted many Irish farmers and food producers who have been campaigning for years to reach this goal. As a geographically isolated island with very low levels of existing GE contamination, Ireland has the best chance among European Union (EU) member states of maintaining a credible GE-free status. The government hopes to make Ireland off-limits to GE seeds, crops, insects, and animals, and to phase out the use of GE ingredients in animal feed. The association of organizations and citizens behind this initiative would like to see Ireland become a GE-free biosafety reserve to protect the food security of all EU countries. Click here for more information on the campaign to keep Ireland GE-free.
5. I agree with the UCS that Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barabara Kingsolver is the must read of the summer. So far, my mom has read this and it has become her Bible... She has bought copies for many more of our family and friends because she believes that everyone must read this book if they give two figs about health, the environment and the sustainability of our food supply. Check it out, you won't be sorry...
National ID - Why it's dangerous!
Just in case you think it's gone away...
Read this and write your elected officials asap!
Gradualism in Practice:
The Danger of Compulsory National ID
by Carl Watner
Most people have probably heard at least one of the following stories. Put a frog in a pot of boiling water and he will save himself by jumping right out. Put him in a pan of cold water, and gradually increase the heat. You will soon boil him to death. Want to catch a wild hog that won’t come anywhere near you? Put a little corn out for him in the woods. Do that pretty regularly until he gets used to the smell of humans and gradually accustoms himself to eating corn. Get him to follow your trail of corn right into an enclosure and you capture him easily. What is the moral of these two stories? What has this got to do with government identification programs? What has gradualism got to do with national id?
We can begin answering these questions by noting that at the time of the American Revolution, there was little concern for the official, civil registration of births and deaths. Even in the Constitution there is no specific mention of vital statistics other than the commissioning of the federal government to conduct a census every ten years in order to determine the apportionment of congressmen among the states. At any time prior to 1900, it would probably been impossible for a large portion of the American populace to prove that they had ever been born or that their parents were ever married, since they had no state-issued birth or marriage certificates. Before the advent of the automobile, there was certainly no such thing as a state-issued license to drive a horse and wagon. Nonetheless, today, nearly everyone has a state-issued birth certificate, and practically anyone who drives a motor vehicle has a state-issued license extending to them the “privilege” to do so. The constitutional directive for the decennial census has been expanded to such an extent that serious consideration is now being given to assigning a federal identification number to each and every citizen and resident alien in the United States. How did we in America move from the point where few of our ancestors were concerned about even having a record of their birth (much less having a public official make that record) to the point where we are ready to accept a unique government number to identify us? How were we convinced to accept government numbers when our forefathers would have bristled at the thought?
Here were some of the steps:
* 1639 - Massachusetts Bay Colony ordered that births and deaths should be reported to the town clerk by parents or household owners within one month of their occurrence. Connecticut and other colonies followed suit in the succeeding years.
* 1790 - First national census conducted in accordance with Article I, Section 2 of the US Constitution.
* 1842 - Massachusetts became the first state to require collection of vital statistics (births and deaths); followed by other states between 1850 and 1900.
* 1903 - Massachusetts and Missouri became the first states to require driver’s licenses, though Missouri had no driver examination law until 1952.
* 1935 - The passage of the Social Security Act “proved to be a great stimulus” to birth certification. “Many people had never considered a birth certificate to be of any importance until old age assistance, unemployment insurance, and other ramifications of the Social Security Act demonstrated to them that it was necessary to have this official proof of their existence” in order to collect benefits.
* 1961 - The IRS demanded that all taxpayers provide their Social Security number when paying federal taxes.
* 1992 - Hospital enumeration-at-birth program (assigning newborns Social Security numbers) was begun.
Looking at this historical overview, it is easy to see how government gradualism has prevailed. Like the frog jumping out of boiling water, the American people would have completely rejected a national numbering system when the Constitution was adopted. When the first federal census was conducted in South Carolina, the enumeration was met with considerable resistance. Several heads of family in the Federal District for Charleston were indicted in 1791 for “refusing to render an account of their respective families.” George Washington in a letter to Gouverneur Morris noted that many Americans held religious scruples against complying with the census officials, while others feared that the census was in some way connected with taxes, and hence refused to cooperate. However, now after nearly three hundred years of accepting some limited forms of government enumeration, a national id system doesn’t sound so strange.
Clearly, people soon get used to government involvement in their lives. Our government has always used the carrot and stick approach to gain cooperation. It threatened punishment for not complying with its laws; and it promised handouts for obeying. This was the exact method used by the government’s Social Security Administration. First it promised that a social security number would never be used for identification purposes. Then it promised practically free payouts to the retiring elderly if they would only apply for a number. Then years later, the SSA and the IRS threatened all sorts of penalties and loss of privileges if one refused a number. By 1973, it was required that a social security number be furnished if one were to open a personal checking account. Later, one could not claim dependent exemptions unless one provided their social security numbers on one’s 1040 tax form. Today, in some states, one cannot obtain a driver’s license without providing a social security number. What will come next?
What comes next is compulsory, national id. Whether administered at the state or the federal level, each and every person in the United States would be issued a government identification, and would be required to use it in order to participate in numerous activities. A true national identification card would necessarily be universal (if not issued to every newborn it would be issued to all children upon their reaching a certain age) and compulsory (it would become a crime, punishable by fine or imprisonment, to refuse to accept or use such a document). It would also be a violation of the law to have more than one card, to use the card of another person, or to hold a card in the name of an alias. A national id would act as a domestic passport. In many countries around the world, where such cards actually exist, they are needed to rent an apartment, buy a home, apply for a job, pay one’s utility and telephone bills, withdraw books from the library, or to access health care services. They could act as a surrogate driver’s license, passport, voter registration card, hunting/fishing license, and draft card. With micro-chip technology, such a card would act as a complete medical, financial, tax, and travel dossier documenting where you have been, how you got there, and how you paid for the services you used. In conjunction with data reported to the Internal Revenue Service, it would enable the government to calculate how much you owed in taxes each year. National id micro-chips could be accessed by all government agencies so the card could be used to verify that the holder had no delinquent taxes or child support, no overdue library books, no parking fines, no bounced checks, and no unpaid traffic violations. Micro-chips would also have the capability to be disabled from a central government office at the discretion of any government agency, “instantly rendering its holder unable to travel or function in society.” In short, government id would be a license to live issued by the government. No longer would life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness be a natural, inalienable right.
If one were a conspiracy theorist, one could claim that even before the passage of the Social Security Act plans were being laid to enslave the American population by way of numbering them. While this might be true, a more reasonable explanation is found by examining the nature of government. Government, as George Washington, noted is “force.” It tolerates no competition within its domains: it is the sole monopolizer of police, courts, and defense services AND it collects it revenues by threatening confiscation of property or imprisonment of person if one refuses to pay it levies. As Lord Acton observed “power corrupts.” When government has the power to control us, it will use every strategy at its disposal to increase the amount of taxes assessed and the ease by which they are collected. What could make this process easier than a numbering scheme for all its citizens?
Is it too late to resist? In one sense, yes. It is always easier to resist at the beginnings. It is also easier to refuse to cooperate if one does not accept the basic premise adopted by one’s opponent. In the case of the frog, the frog would have to reject being placed in the pot of water, whether it was hot or cold. (Why else would he be placed there - other than to cook him?) The hog would have to be smart enough to refuse the bait. By rejecting the free gift of corn, the hog would have prevented himself gradually being led down the trail to capture. The American people, by accepting the principle that governments should be responsible for the census and vital statistics, have been easily led down the trail to national id.
Although it might be hard to imagine how this assumption of government enumeration power could have been averted, there have been at least two partially successful campaigns against national id. In the early 1900s, Mahatma Gandhi led a resistance movement against the registration of Indians in the South African Transvaal. An Englishman who lived there called the registration “the fastening of the dog’s collar” around the neck of the Indians. At a meeting in late 1906, Gandhi called the government’s bill a violation of basic civil rights and urged the entire Indian community in the Transvaal to openly resist complying with such a law. Thus was born the idea of Satayagraha (nonviolent resistance to unjust governmental demands), which was successfully implemented in both the Transvaal and during the Indian movement for independence from Great Britain after World War II. Forty years later, a similar, massive public protest arose in Australia when the government proposed a national id card for all Australians.
Now that Americans are faced with a similar challenge, there are a few general observations that we ought to remember:
From the Biblical story of King David (who caused a plague by counting his people), to the Roman censors who counted Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem, to today’s call for national id, the essential purpose behind government data-gathering has always been the same: to enhance government’s control over its subject population. Government identification programs - whether the censuses of antiquity, or based upon a birth certificate, a Social Security card, a driver’s license, a smart card (the programmable micro-chip), or even an implanted micro-chip or some other form of biometric recognition - are all based upon the same principle: that government has the right and necessity to track, monitor, and control the people and property within its geographic jurisdiction. Thus the primary danger of implementing a national id system in the United States is that it delivers totalitarian power to the federal government. As political scientist, Theodore Lowi, wrote in 1981,
Although Lowi did not include them, we might add government health departments (that issue birth certificates), government motor vehicle administrations (that issue driver licenses), the Immigration and Naturalization Service (which is responsible for keeping track of aliens within the United States), and the Office of Homeland Security (which is responsible for protecting us from terrorists). If and when it comes, a national id program will fit hand in glove with Lowi’s description of the “fundamental purpose” of government “which is to maintain conquest.”
In making their ultimate decision whether to accept or reject national id, Americans need to remember two things:
Carl Watner is editor of The Vountaryist. See www.voluntaryist.com for more of his work.
Read this and write your elected officials asap!
Gradualism in Practice:
The Danger of Compulsory National ID
by Carl Watner
Most people have probably heard at least one of the following stories. Put a frog in a pot of boiling water and he will save himself by jumping right out. Put him in a pan of cold water, and gradually increase the heat. You will soon boil him to death. Want to catch a wild hog that won’t come anywhere near you? Put a little corn out for him in the woods. Do that pretty regularly until he gets used to the smell of humans and gradually accustoms himself to eating corn. Get him to follow your trail of corn right into an enclosure and you capture him easily. What is the moral of these two stories? What has this got to do with government identification programs? What has gradualism got to do with national id?
We can begin answering these questions by noting that at the time of the American Revolution, there was little concern for the official, civil registration of births and deaths. Even in the Constitution there is no specific mention of vital statistics other than the commissioning of the federal government to conduct a census every ten years in order to determine the apportionment of congressmen among the states. At any time prior to 1900, it would probably been impossible for a large portion of the American populace to prove that they had ever been born or that their parents were ever married, since they had no state-issued birth or marriage certificates. Before the advent of the automobile, there was certainly no such thing as a state-issued license to drive a horse and wagon. Nonetheless, today, nearly everyone has a state-issued birth certificate, and practically anyone who drives a motor vehicle has a state-issued license extending to them the “privilege” to do so. The constitutional directive for the decennial census has been expanded to such an extent that serious consideration is now being given to assigning a federal identification number to each and every citizen and resident alien in the United States. How did we in America move from the point where few of our ancestors were concerned about even having a record of their birth (much less having a public official make that record) to the point where we are ready to accept a unique government number to identify us? How were we convinced to accept government numbers when our forefathers would have bristled at the thought?
Here were some of the steps:
* 1639 - Massachusetts Bay Colony ordered that births and deaths should be reported to the town clerk by parents or household owners within one month of their occurrence. Connecticut and other colonies followed suit in the succeeding years.
* 1790 - First national census conducted in accordance with Article I, Section 2 of the US Constitution.
* 1842 - Massachusetts became the first state to require collection of vital statistics (births and deaths); followed by other states between 1850 and 1900.
* 1903 - Massachusetts and Missouri became the first states to require driver’s licenses, though Missouri had no driver examination law until 1952.
* 1935 - The passage of the Social Security Act “proved to be a great stimulus” to birth certification. “Many people had never considered a birth certificate to be of any importance until old age assistance, unemployment insurance, and other ramifications of the Social Security Act demonstrated to them that it was necessary to have this official proof of their existence” in order to collect benefits.
* 1961 - The IRS demanded that all taxpayers provide their Social Security number when paying federal taxes.
* 1992 - Hospital enumeration-at-birth program (assigning newborns Social Security numbers) was begun.
Looking at this historical overview, it is easy to see how government gradualism has prevailed. Like the frog jumping out of boiling water, the American people would have completely rejected a national numbering system when the Constitution was adopted. When the first federal census was conducted in South Carolina, the enumeration was met with considerable resistance. Several heads of family in the Federal District for Charleston were indicted in 1791 for “refusing to render an account of their respective families.” George Washington in a letter to Gouverneur Morris noted that many Americans held religious scruples against complying with the census officials, while others feared that the census was in some way connected with taxes, and hence refused to cooperate. However, now after nearly three hundred years of accepting some limited forms of government enumeration, a national id system doesn’t sound so strange.
Clearly, people soon get used to government involvement in their lives. Our government has always used the carrot and stick approach to gain cooperation. It threatened punishment for not complying with its laws; and it promised handouts for obeying. This was the exact method used by the government’s Social Security Administration. First it promised that a social security number would never be used for identification purposes. Then it promised practically free payouts to the retiring elderly if they would only apply for a number. Then years later, the SSA and the IRS threatened all sorts of penalties and loss of privileges if one refused a number. By 1973, it was required that a social security number be furnished if one were to open a personal checking account. Later, one could not claim dependent exemptions unless one provided their social security numbers on one’s 1040 tax form. Today, in some states, one cannot obtain a driver’s license without providing a social security number. What will come next?
What comes next is compulsory, national id. Whether administered at the state or the federal level, each and every person in the United States would be issued a government identification, and would be required to use it in order to participate in numerous activities. A true national identification card would necessarily be universal (if not issued to every newborn it would be issued to all children upon their reaching a certain age) and compulsory (it would become a crime, punishable by fine or imprisonment, to refuse to accept or use such a document). It would also be a violation of the law to have more than one card, to use the card of another person, or to hold a card in the name of an alias. A national id would act as a domestic passport. In many countries around the world, where such cards actually exist, they are needed to rent an apartment, buy a home, apply for a job, pay one’s utility and telephone bills, withdraw books from the library, or to access health care services. They could act as a surrogate driver’s license, passport, voter registration card, hunting/fishing license, and draft card. With micro-chip technology, such a card would act as a complete medical, financial, tax, and travel dossier documenting where you have been, how you got there, and how you paid for the services you used. In conjunction with data reported to the Internal Revenue Service, it would enable the government to calculate how much you owed in taxes each year. National id micro-chips could be accessed by all government agencies so the card could be used to verify that the holder had no delinquent taxes or child support, no overdue library books, no parking fines, no bounced checks, and no unpaid traffic violations. Micro-chips would also have the capability to be disabled from a central government office at the discretion of any government agency, “instantly rendering its holder unable to travel or function in society.” In short, government id would be a license to live issued by the government. No longer would life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness be a natural, inalienable right.
If one were a conspiracy theorist, one could claim that even before the passage of the Social Security Act plans were being laid to enslave the American population by way of numbering them. While this might be true, a more reasonable explanation is found by examining the nature of government. Government, as George Washington, noted is “force.” It tolerates no competition within its domains: it is the sole monopolizer of police, courts, and defense services AND it collects it revenues by threatening confiscation of property or imprisonment of person if one refuses to pay it levies. As Lord Acton observed “power corrupts.” When government has the power to control us, it will use every strategy at its disposal to increase the amount of taxes assessed and the ease by which they are collected. What could make this process easier than a numbering scheme for all its citizens?
Is it too late to resist? In one sense, yes. It is always easier to resist at the beginnings. It is also easier to refuse to cooperate if one does not accept the basic premise adopted by one’s opponent. In the case of the frog, the frog would have to reject being placed in the pot of water, whether it was hot or cold. (Why else would he be placed there - other than to cook him?) The hog would have to be smart enough to refuse the bait. By rejecting the free gift of corn, the hog would have prevented himself gradually being led down the trail to capture. The American people, by accepting the principle that governments should be responsible for the census and vital statistics, have been easily led down the trail to national id.
Although it might be hard to imagine how this assumption of government enumeration power could have been averted, there have been at least two partially successful campaigns against national id. In the early 1900s, Mahatma Gandhi led a resistance movement against the registration of Indians in the South African Transvaal. An Englishman who lived there called the registration “the fastening of the dog’s collar” around the neck of the Indians. At a meeting in late 1906, Gandhi called the government’s bill a violation of basic civil rights and urged the entire Indian community in the Transvaal to openly resist complying with such a law. Thus was born the idea of Satayagraha (nonviolent resistance to unjust governmental demands), which was successfully implemented in both the Transvaal and during the Indian movement for independence from Great Britain after World War II. Forty years later, a similar, massive public protest arose in Australia when the government proposed a national id card for all Australians.
Now that Americans are faced with a similar challenge, there are a few general observations that we ought to remember:
In a society where the people have been issued a national id card by their government, they - the people - are no longer free because their permission to live, work, and play comes from the government.
The logical outcome of government involvement in enumeration is the type of population control described by the authors of such fictional disutopias, as Brave New World and 1984. This is why national id systems have been described as “a trademark of totalitarianism.”
From the Biblical story of King David (who caused a plague by counting his people), to the Roman censors who counted Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem, to today’s call for national id, the essential purpose behind government data-gathering has always been the same: to enhance government’s control over its subject population. Government identification programs - whether the censuses of antiquity, or based upon a birth certificate, a Social Security card, a driver’s license, a smart card (the programmable micro-chip), or even an implanted micro-chip or some other form of biometric recognition - are all based upon the same principle: that government has the right and necessity to track, monitor, and control the people and property within its geographic jurisdiction. Thus the primary danger of implementing a national id system in the United States is that it delivers totalitarian power to the federal government. As political scientist, Theodore Lowi, wrote in 1981,
Every action and every agency of contemporary government … contribute to the fulfillment of its fundamental purpose, which is to maintain conquest. Conquest manifests itself in various forms of control, but in all those forms it is the common factor tying together into one system the behavior of courts and cops, sanitation workers and senators, bureaucrats and technocrats, attorney generals, pressure groups and presidents.
Although Lowi did not include them, we might add government health departments (that issue birth certificates), government motor vehicle administrations (that issue driver licenses), the Immigration and Naturalization Service (which is responsible for keeping track of aliens within the United States), and the Office of Homeland Security (which is responsible for protecting us from terrorists). If and when it comes, a national id program will fit hand in glove with Lowi’s description of the “fundamental purpose” of government “which is to maintain conquest.”
In making their ultimate decision whether to accept or reject national id, Americans need to remember two things:
First, national id and enhanced governmental powers always go hand in hand.
Second, for thousand of years, people have lived, died, and prospered without government id. If they could do it, we certainly can. Sure, it is necessary that we have food, shelter, and clothing but that doesn’t mean that our government must compulsorily supply us with these things any more than it needs to furnish each of us with a national id number.
Carl Watner is editor of The Vountaryist. See www.voluntaryist.com for more of his work.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Shocking...
I received this article in an e-mail from a friend yesterday... I still don't know what to make of it. It's so patently insane... I... I... just can't believe it...
Fort Lauderdale mayor says $250K robotic toilet may put stop to 'illegal sex'
By Brittany Wallman
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
July 4, 2007
FORT LAUDERDALE -- Mayor Jim Naugle has never been shy about voicing his beliefs.
He's called some environmentalists "wackos" and said people complaining about high home prices were lazy, beer drinking "schlocks."
Now the mayor has shifted his attention to a robotic toilet, saying the invention could have a special edge over a traditional restroom in preventing the "homosexual activity" that he said plagues other public restrooms.
The robo-john the city might buy for $250,000 or more allows occupants to stay inside for only a short time before the door opens. Probably not enough time for "illegal sex," Naugle figures.
The restroom, already in use in Atlanta, Seattle and New York, also plays music and cleans the seat automatically.
"We're trying to provide a family environment where people can take their children who need to use the bathroom," he said, "without having to worry about a couple of men in there engaged in a sex act."
Though police say sex in restrooms is no longer a hot crime, the mayor thinks it is. He talked about the illicit sex recently in public meetings, in an interview and in e-mails to residents.
Naugle, not a stranger to public controversy, particularly on the issue of gays, said public restrooms are pickup places for "homosexuals. ... They're engaging in sex, anonymous sex, illegal sex."
The proposed location for the city's experimental automated toilet is the parking lot at Sebastian Street, at what many locals call the "gay beach." Naugle told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that the intelligent commode's security features are vital at this location, which he called "the rainbow parking lot."
"The homosexual newspaper said it's the 'gay parking lot.' That's not me saying that," Naugle said in the interview, "that's what they said. I don't use the word 'gay.' I use the word 'homosexual.' Most of them aren't gay. They're unhappy."
Naugle has been outspoken as a Christian and a social and political conservative.
When the Christian outreach event Beachfest came to town in 2003, he said anyone who had a problem with the city's official embrace of the religious festival "can move to Iraq."
He angered middle class residents last year when he said housing prices would be affordable if people worked more hours instead of sitting on the couch drinking beer. Earlier this year, he refused to sign a mayor's pact to reduce greenhouse gases. Naugle said global warming is not caused by humans and that the pact contained "hate-America stuff that the environmental wackos want in."
His latest comments about gays thus didn't come as much of a surprise to some.
"Excuse me?" said Marc Hansen, a leader among local gay residents. "Thank God this is his last term."
Dean Trantalis, the openly gay lawyer who sat on the Commission with Naugle for three years, laughed when told of the comments. Trantalis said he's proud the beach welcomes gay families and continues to attract gay visitors.
The beach needs more toilets, he said, and the decision shouldn't be made on whether people will use them for sex. And they still might, he said, even in the short time-frame.
"I'm not an expert on public toilet sex," said Trantalis, "but there are those who would say one minute would be enough. Or 30 seconds."
The City Commission still has to vote to buy it, and would use property tax funds from the beach Community Redevelopment Agency, money that cannot be used for police or lifeguards, officials said.
Police officials said male sex in restrooms is actually not a problem, anymore.
"There's no evidence, no reports or arrests made for any men having sex in any restrooms," said Sgt. Frank Sousa.
Brittany Wallman can be reached at bwallman@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4541.
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Fort Lauderdale mayor says $250K robotic toilet may put stop to 'illegal sex'
By Brittany Wallman
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
July 4, 2007
FORT LAUDERDALE -- Mayor Jim Naugle has never been shy about voicing his beliefs.
He's called some environmentalists "wackos" and said people complaining about high home prices were lazy, beer drinking "schlocks."
Now the mayor has shifted his attention to a robotic toilet, saying the invention could have a special edge over a traditional restroom in preventing the "homosexual activity" that he said plagues other public restrooms.
The robo-john the city might buy for $250,000 or more allows occupants to stay inside for only a short time before the door opens. Probably not enough time for "illegal sex," Naugle figures.
The restroom, already in use in Atlanta, Seattle and New York, also plays music and cleans the seat automatically.
"We're trying to provide a family environment where people can take their children who need to use the bathroom," he said, "without having to worry about a couple of men in there engaged in a sex act."
Though police say sex in restrooms is no longer a hot crime, the mayor thinks it is. He talked about the illicit sex recently in public meetings, in an interview and in e-mails to residents.
Naugle, not a stranger to public controversy, particularly on the issue of gays, said public restrooms are pickup places for "homosexuals. ... They're engaging in sex, anonymous sex, illegal sex."
The proposed location for the city's experimental automated toilet is the parking lot at Sebastian Street, at what many locals call the "gay beach." Naugle told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that the intelligent commode's security features are vital at this location, which he called "the rainbow parking lot."
"The homosexual newspaper said it's the 'gay parking lot.' That's not me saying that," Naugle said in the interview, "that's what they said. I don't use the word 'gay.' I use the word 'homosexual.' Most of them aren't gay. They're unhappy."
Naugle has been outspoken as a Christian and a social and political conservative.
When the Christian outreach event Beachfest came to town in 2003, he said anyone who had a problem with the city's official embrace of the religious festival "can move to Iraq."
He angered middle class residents last year when he said housing prices would be affordable if people worked more hours instead of sitting on the couch drinking beer. Earlier this year, he refused to sign a mayor's pact to reduce greenhouse gases. Naugle said global warming is not caused by humans and that the pact contained "hate-America stuff that the environmental wackos want in."
His latest comments about gays thus didn't come as much of a surprise to some.
"Excuse me?" said Marc Hansen, a leader among local gay residents. "Thank God this is his last term."
Dean Trantalis, the openly gay lawyer who sat on the Commission with Naugle for three years, laughed when told of the comments. Trantalis said he's proud the beach welcomes gay families and continues to attract gay visitors.
The beach needs more toilets, he said, and the decision shouldn't be made on whether people will use them for sex. And they still might, he said, even in the short time-frame.
"I'm not an expert on public toilet sex," said Trantalis, "but there are those who would say one minute would be enough. Or 30 seconds."
The City Commission still has to vote to buy it, and would use property tax funds from the beach Community Redevelopment Agency, money that cannot be used for police or lifeguards, officials said.
Police officials said male sex in restrooms is actually not a problem, anymore.
"There's no evidence, no reports or arrests made for any men having sex in any restrooms," said Sgt. Frank Sousa.
Brittany Wallman can be reached at bwallman@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4541.
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Ruminations on the 4th
All of the following is randomly thrown together as it occurs to me, unedited, uncensored, and on very little sleep... I think it probably makes very little coherent sense, if any at all... so sorry...
So I'm back at the Burough tonight... I was going to leave for Tampa tomorrow, but this will now be put off til Friday and it's just as well. I don't want to drive in the car two days in a row and this way I get to see my bitty siblings again before I leave. But as I said, back at the Burough...
Jason is downstairs cooking steaks, and potatoes, and tomatoes and okra, listening to John Mayer on the CD player... I'm not much for the tomatoes and okra because I hate tomatoes but that's okay...
Fireworks can be heard in the distance, as well as the occasional gun shot. We are in rural South Carolina after all... This is my first 4th away from Tampa and it's very interesting... I'm in a house which used to serve as slave quarters for some of the house slaves, the cooks and the like. I think Susan mentioned that the dairy next door also housed slaves on the second floor... Other structures which also served this purpose, further down the hill, no longer stand, their foundations lost for now to the undergrowth of the pine forest.
We've just returned from the big house next door where the family is setting off fireworks on the front lawn. We sat on the porch next to Miz Mary and watched her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren light up the night air with gunpowder... Jason also brought out one of his many guns and shot into the air several times. It was very loud, just like on New Year's Eve. It occurred to me that the house has stood almost as long as our Constitution and that many, many 4ths have been celebrated there long into the past. The porch where we stood was also the porch on which a long ago Mrs. Anderson stood to face down the Yankee soldiers who had been sent to burn her house down... The only thing that saved it was the Masonic symbol she'd had put on a banner and hung from the second floor balcony; a Yankee soldier with some clout saw it and forbid his men to burn the house for he too was a Mason, just like Mrs. Anderson's husband who was away fighting for the Confederacy. This house and property has seen it all, every war and every trial our country has faced, and once again is actively celebrating the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It is a glorious thing.
In the background inside this house, Aunt Rinda's House, where Susan and Jason live, I hear chickens chirping, even over the sounds of John Mayer downstairs... Susan and Jason have two Dominiques and 5 Morans in a large Rubbermade container in the upstairs hallway just a few feet away... They are about 3 1/2 months old now.
Pictures of all of this to follow once I'm home again and able to upload them to my computer.
Last night in Virginia, there were fireworks at the Martinsville Speedway. We could almost see them through the trees, but mostly only saw the colored lights reflecting off the clouds and heard the patriotic country music blaring from the Speedway's sound system.
We sat in traffic yesterday afternoon, on our way back from an attempted shopping trip to Greensboro, cut short by the fact that *nothing* was open in downtown, much to our total dismay, mine especially because the yarn shop was closed so I couldn't get any roving or new yarn for the rest of my summer projects that I have planned... Anyway, we were trying to get around the Speedway, as I said, on our way back to Susan's mother's house. It was hours before dark, and we were surrounded by old cars, some new cars, and not a few pick-up trucks, more often than not sporting Confederate battle flags somewhere either on stickers or in windows, etc. usually with several children in the bed or at least one very fat man with no shirt, Susan mentioned that the large number of people headed to the Speedway and the shops in downtown Greensboro being closed on the 3rd was strange (though not totally unexpected) because the 4th is a "Yankee holiday," so why all the fuss?... I think Lara conceded that point but also pointed out that the 4th is also an occasion to drink and to light things on fire and what redneck passes that up? (I thought, you know, that sounds like an awfully Yankee thing to do too -- Sherman and Grant anyone? -- But whatever...) Susan said that while, yes, we must celebrate Independence Day, we mustn't let it pass in total jubilation. That we, as Southerners, must rebel a bit and do a little serious work on the 4th, see to some business before taking the afternoon off for parties and fun. I am quite amused... And sure, why not? Might as well do something to mark the fact that we Southerners are a different breed than those north of the Mason-Dixon and we do in some measure resent their domination, etc. etc... Because try as some of us and some of them might to ignore it, there are major differences between the way we live down here and the way the rest of the country lives. Every region of our country has its difference and that is one of ours. We're Southern by the Grace of God, amen and hallelujah! Oh, yeah, and we're American by that same Grace too... Happy 4th everybody, Yankee and Rebel alike! ;D And whether you get all this Southern stuff or not (hey, Dad!)...
So I'm back at the Burough tonight... I was going to leave for Tampa tomorrow, but this will now be put off til Friday and it's just as well. I don't want to drive in the car two days in a row and this way I get to see my bitty siblings again before I leave. But as I said, back at the Burough...
Jason is downstairs cooking steaks, and potatoes, and tomatoes and okra, listening to John Mayer on the CD player... I'm not much for the tomatoes and okra because I hate tomatoes but that's okay...
Fireworks can be heard in the distance, as well as the occasional gun shot. We are in rural South Carolina after all... This is my first 4th away from Tampa and it's very interesting... I'm in a house which used to serve as slave quarters for some of the house slaves, the cooks and the like. I think Susan mentioned that the dairy next door also housed slaves on the second floor... Other structures which also served this purpose, further down the hill, no longer stand, their foundations lost for now to the undergrowth of the pine forest.
We've just returned from the big house next door where the family is setting off fireworks on the front lawn. We sat on the porch next to Miz Mary and watched her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren light up the night air with gunpowder... Jason also brought out one of his many guns and shot into the air several times. It was very loud, just like on New Year's Eve. It occurred to me that the house has stood almost as long as our Constitution and that many, many 4ths have been celebrated there long into the past. The porch where we stood was also the porch on which a long ago Mrs. Anderson stood to face down the Yankee soldiers who had been sent to burn her house down... The only thing that saved it was the Masonic symbol she'd had put on a banner and hung from the second floor balcony; a Yankee soldier with some clout saw it and forbid his men to burn the house for he too was a Mason, just like Mrs. Anderson's husband who was away fighting for the Confederacy. This house and property has seen it all, every war and every trial our country has faced, and once again is actively celebrating the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It is a glorious thing.
In the background inside this house, Aunt Rinda's House, where Susan and Jason live, I hear chickens chirping, even over the sounds of John Mayer downstairs... Susan and Jason have two Dominiques and 5 Morans in a large Rubbermade container in the upstairs hallway just a few feet away... They are about 3 1/2 months old now.
Pictures of all of this to follow once I'm home again and able to upload them to my computer.
Last night in Virginia, there were fireworks at the Martinsville Speedway. We could almost see them through the trees, but mostly only saw the colored lights reflecting off the clouds and heard the patriotic country music blaring from the Speedway's sound system.
We sat in traffic yesterday afternoon, on our way back from an attempted shopping trip to Greensboro, cut short by the fact that *nothing* was open in downtown, much to our total dismay, mine especially because the yarn shop was closed so I couldn't get any roving or new yarn for the rest of my summer projects that I have planned... Anyway, we were trying to get around the Speedway, as I said, on our way back to Susan's mother's house. It was hours before dark, and we were surrounded by old cars, some new cars, and not a few pick-up trucks, more often than not sporting Confederate battle flags somewhere either on stickers or in windows, etc. usually with several children in the bed or at least one very fat man with no shirt, Susan mentioned that the large number of people headed to the Speedway and the shops in downtown Greensboro being closed on the 3rd was strange (though not totally unexpected) because the 4th is a "Yankee holiday," so why all the fuss?... I think Lara conceded that point but also pointed out that the 4th is also an occasion to drink and to light things on fire and what redneck passes that up? (I thought, you know, that sounds like an awfully Yankee thing to do too -- Sherman and Grant anyone? -- But whatever...) Susan said that while, yes, we must celebrate Independence Day, we mustn't let it pass in total jubilation. That we, as Southerners, must rebel a bit and do a little serious work on the 4th, see to some business before taking the afternoon off for parties and fun. I am quite amused... And sure, why not? Might as well do something to mark the fact that we Southerners are a different breed than those north of the Mason-Dixon and we do in some measure resent their domination, etc. etc... Because try as some of us and some of them might to ignore it, there are major differences between the way we live down here and the way the rest of the country lives. Every region of our country has its difference and that is one of ours. We're Southern by the Grace of God, amen and hallelujah! Oh, yeah, and we're American by that same Grace too... Happy 4th everybody, Yankee and Rebel alike! ;D And whether you get all this Southern stuff or not (hey, Dad!)...
What I've been up to...
Still on vacation... In Virginia at the moment, until tomorrow, and only have one second to get this posted and get off to bed, where I really should be already...
Wrote two articles for the Project Laundry List Newsletter, "Hanging Out!" this last week. Check out the newsletter here... My articles are on pages 6 and 10, I think... I was also the uncredited but much appreciated assistant editor on this edition... Think we did a pretty spiffy job since the deadline was moved up three weeks and Susan only had about a 7 day notice on the new deadline and we had to scramble it together from what we had on hand... Anyway, will write more once I'm home again... For now, this is it!
Wrote two articles for the Project Laundry List Newsletter, "Hanging Out!" this last week. Check out the newsletter here... My articles are on pages 6 and 10, I think... I was also the uncredited but much appreciated assistant editor on this edition... Think we did a pretty spiffy job since the deadline was moved up three weeks and Susan only had about a 7 day notice on the new deadline and we had to scramble it together from what we had on hand... Anyway, will write more once I'm home again... For now, this is it!
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Last post before vacation...
Well, I might be incommunicado for the next two weeks or so... Not sure yet. I hope to be leaving or have already left the house in 7 hours. I've been packing. I'm as done as I'm going to get tonight. There's nothing else that can be packed until later this morning.
While packing, I've been watching reruns of "Heroes" on my DVR. I've just finished with the season finale... I've noticed something about hour-long dramas lately... Guys cry more... like men are shown with tears streaming down their faces far more often than I think they used to be... Not that I'm complaining... Far be it from me to complain about such a thing... I just think it's quite interesting, if it is indeed true. I'm wondering if it's a side effect of all the emo-ness in pop culture of late... hmmm...
While packing, I've been watching reruns of "Heroes" on my DVR. I've just finished with the season finale... I've noticed something about hour-long dramas lately... Guys cry more... like men are shown with tears streaming down their faces far more often than I think they used to be... Not that I'm complaining... Far be it from me to complain about such a thing... I just think it's quite interesting, if it is indeed true. I'm wondering if it's a side effect of all the emo-ness in pop culture of late... hmmm...
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
wow!
Wow! I feel like my spinning is woefully inadequate after looking at all the pretty things people over at the SpinningFiber LJ community are doing... ::sighs:: I guess I'm just going to have to get more fiber and practice more. What torture!
What I've been spinning...
Well, the tendenitis is back. It's kinda hard to type actually, but I'm going to post this at least. These are pictures of the yarn I've just spun and plied with the purple Corriedale-mohair blend roving I bought at Yarns, Etc. in Greensboro last December. The color doesn't come through true in them. It's really a grape flavored Dimetapp kind of purple, on the bright side, with little bits of pink and navy in there to make it a little tweed-like. I'll try to take pictures in natural light tomorrow to see if that captures it better. And I'll have to do up a swatch soon to see what the gauge is... I think it's pretty close to the Corriedale that I've spun before in which case it will be something like 19 sts = 4" on size 4 needles, but it might actually be a little thinner than that... I'll have to see.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Yay! New Summer Knitty issue!
Let's get right to the patterns shall we?
I love Hip in Hemp, but the sizing is too small for me... Poo!
Zinzin is interesting if you like open-back sleeveless tops, which I don't... Coachella is much cuter! But once again too small for me... Askew is more like it! Sized right, still cute and interesting... It kinda looks like a Tudor period corset to me... Hm... I could line it and bone it and have some really interesting RenFest wear! Of course, I'd have to cut either the front or the back open to do that...
Tangerine Twist is an interesting looking pattern, but I hate orange so that would have to go... I like the faux cable thing going on...
The 'Vog On socks are very cool. Coupling and Sweetpea are very interesting... I like the lacy patterns in both of them...
I *love* Breeze and I need a pair of those!
I love Wisp! Everyone needs one of those!
But my favorite pattern of the entire issue is Unmentionables. How cute is that!!! I want some... but not in white... I don't do white...
And perhaps someone will get a Zodiac as yet another little goodie... Grow with Me is also very cute...
And how lovely and scrubby Grr! is.
Chapeau Marnier is a very cute looking cloche...And it's made with handspun! I have lots of that!
The only pattern I've left out is Sophie... Love the name, really not that interested in the sweater...
The features...
The Techniques with Theresa button-hole article looks useful... And the Thinking Beyond the Pattern article looks utterly invaluable!
I love Hip in Hemp, but the sizing is too small for me... Poo!
Zinzin is interesting if you like open-back sleeveless tops, which I don't... Coachella is much cuter! But once again too small for me... Askew is more like it! Sized right, still cute and interesting... It kinda looks like a Tudor period corset to me... Hm... I could line it and bone it and have some really interesting RenFest wear! Of course, I'd have to cut either the front or the back open to do that...
Tangerine Twist is an interesting looking pattern, but I hate orange so that would have to go... I like the faux cable thing going on...
The 'Vog On socks are very cool. Coupling and Sweetpea are very interesting... I like the lacy patterns in both of them...
I *love* Breeze and I need a pair of those!
I love Wisp! Everyone needs one of those!
But my favorite pattern of the entire issue is Unmentionables. How cute is that!!! I want some... but not in white... I don't do white...
And perhaps someone will get a Zodiac as yet another little goodie... Grow with Me is also very cute...
And how lovely and scrubby Grr! is.
Chapeau Marnier is a very cute looking cloche...And it's made with handspun! I have lots of that!
The only pattern I've left out is Sophie... Love the name, really not that interested in the sweater...
The features...
The Techniques with Theresa button-hole article looks useful... And the Thinking Beyond the Pattern article looks utterly invaluable!
Yay!
Yesterday, I went to Tracy and Marv's house in Dade City to hang out with all the Lord of the Rings OneRing.net Line Party people... Yes, five years after its formation just prior to the release of the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, we're still getting together every few months to eat, talk and nerd-out. Say what you might, but it's a lot of fun and they are all really cool people! We rarely watch LOTR anymore. We've seen it so many times together (with and without the cast commentary on) that we all know what everyone always wants to say about every scene in the movie... Today, we watched a really weird Japanese fantasy movie with subtitles that Alina recommended called "Death Trance." I have to remember to mention it to Maria... Very weird, but strangely kinda interesting... We also watched "Beowulf & Grendel" (Gerard Butler is yummy...) and "Galaxy Quest" (told you we nerd-out)... People started wandering about the house during "Galaxy Quest" though. We usually eat lunch soon after we get there around noon and then pick, pick, pick at the huge pot-luck spread that we had put together for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. I made a noodle kugal. It was a hit, though I've still got half of it left. Today, we got to talking so much that it was 9:30pm before anyone realized what time it was. It was 9:55 by the time I got in my car. It takes 40 minutes to drive home... I was still buzzed from all the excitement until about 15 minutes ago... I really should go to bed...
Oh! I found out that Tracy will be publishing her second book in her fantasy series sometime right around Christmas this year! Yay! I know what David, Rachel and Heather will be getting from me: signed copies (again)! Her first book can be gotten here. Or just type in "Tracy Akers" at Amazon.com. Mainstream publishing houses basically said to her, "But there aren't any dragons in it..." and handed it back. But what do they know? So Tracy published it herself. So far, it has won six independent book awards! I'm so happy for her! I suppose I should finish the first one before the second one is released, if only I can put my knitting down long enough to read something other than pattern instructions or school books! But it has gotten glowing reviews from everyone I know who has read it, even people who don't know Tracy, so don't think that they are biased reviews. If you like fantasy, or you know someone who does, or you have a middle-school-aged relative or friend, consider The Fire and the Light by Tracy Akers.
Since getting home from the Ringer Party (that's what we call these get-togethers), I've been working on my Cafepress merch for one of my stores, Non Timebo Mala. It's got Supernatural type swag... We had gotten to talking about Supernatural since Alina, Sharyl and I all love it. Poor Tracy had a bad experience because she's quite frightened of ghosts and the one episode that she attempted to watch was when the death-omen ghost comes after a woman who is all by herself in house and that poor woman ends up dead in that episode and Tracy was home by herself that night. So Tracy's not very happy with Supernatural right now. Alina and I have high hopes of eventually turning that around, I think, but we'll have to wait and see... Anyway, I made a license plate frame that I kinda want for myself... And I added a whole bunch of t-shirts, including the new "plus" size shirts, colored t-shirts, and maternity tees as well...
Very tempted to get Lara a maternity tee... Still might, after all, she has almost a month and a half to go...
Anyway, if you're interested, you can check out the new merch by clicking above. And if you open your own shop, I'd be awfully grateful if you credited me with the reference.
Okay, now I'm going to bed...
Oh! I found out that Tracy will be publishing her second book in her fantasy series sometime right around Christmas this year! Yay! I know what David, Rachel and Heather will be getting from me: signed copies (again)! Her first book can be gotten here. Or just type in "Tracy Akers" at Amazon.com. Mainstream publishing houses basically said to her, "But there aren't any dragons in it..." and handed it back. But what do they know? So Tracy published it herself. So far, it has won six independent book awards! I'm so happy for her! I suppose I should finish the first one before the second one is released, if only I can put my knitting down long enough to read something other than pattern instructions or school books! But it has gotten glowing reviews from everyone I know who has read it, even people who don't know Tracy, so don't think that they are biased reviews. If you like fantasy, or you know someone who does, or you have a middle-school-aged relative or friend, consider The Fire and the Light by Tracy Akers.
Since getting home from the Ringer Party (that's what we call these get-togethers), I've been working on my Cafepress merch for one of my stores, Non Timebo Mala. It's got Supernatural type swag... We had gotten to talking about Supernatural since Alina, Sharyl and I all love it. Poor Tracy had a bad experience because she's quite frightened of ghosts and the one episode that she attempted to watch was when the death-omen ghost comes after a woman who is all by herself in house and that poor woman ends up dead in that episode and Tracy was home by herself that night. So Tracy's not very happy with Supernatural right now. Alina and I have high hopes of eventually turning that around, I think, but we'll have to wait and see... Anyway, I made a license plate frame that I kinda want for myself... And I added a whole bunch of t-shirts, including the new "plus" size shirts, colored t-shirts, and maternity tees as well...
Very tempted to get Lara a maternity tee... Still might, after all, she has almost a month and a half to go...
Anyway, if you're interested, you can check out the new merch by clicking above. And if you open your own shop, I'd be awfully grateful if you credited me with the reference.
Okay, now I'm going to bed...
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Spin! Spin! Spin!
So I've been spinning up a storm the last few days.
I've finished up the last of my white Corriedale. About a pound of it still needs to be plied, but the singles are spun at least. No more Corriedale roving... both happy and sad...
And I've started in on my purple/pink Corriedale/Mohair blend from Yarns, Etc. It seems to be felted ever so slightly... And it's kinda full of noils too... Is this a typical characteristic of dyed roving, I wonder? But it's spinning... and it's pretty... and I think it's just adding to the character of the yarn, making it kind of tweedy, so it's all good. I'll take a picture once it's plied and can really be seen as it will be. But because of how difficult it is, I'm certainly not going to end up with anywhere near the right gauge for Palette... However, I think that it might just work great for http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/PATTknucks.html, so even better! I'll have to do up a swatch as soon as I've got enough plied and set.
And I've discovered something else that I find interesting. I have 6 ounces of the Corriedale/Mohair blend... The Corriedale that I have been spinning has been going 2 ounces per full bobbin. I've found that the 20% Mohair in the blend must be enough to offset the weight of the fiber significantly because I can only get about an ounce of the blend on the same bobbins... Interesting... This makes sense that the mohair would weigh less than wool, but I hadn't realized just what the difference in weight would make to the spinning...
And next, I'll be getting into the alpaca that Ilana sent me all those months ago. Do you have any recommendations/advice as to how to clean and comb it, Ilana?
I've finished up the last of my white Corriedale. About a pound of it still needs to be plied, but the singles are spun at least. No more Corriedale roving... both happy and sad...
And I've started in on my purple/pink Corriedale/Mohair blend from Yarns, Etc. It seems to be felted ever so slightly... And it's kinda full of noils too... Is this a typical characteristic of dyed roving, I wonder? But it's spinning... and it's pretty... and I think it's just adding to the character of the yarn, making it kind of tweedy, so it's all good. I'll take a picture once it's plied and can really be seen as it will be. But because of how difficult it is, I'm certainly not going to end up with anywhere near the right gauge for Palette... However, I think that it might just work great for http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/PATTknucks.html, so even better! I'll have to do up a swatch as soon as I've got enough plied and set.
And I've discovered something else that I find interesting. I have 6 ounces of the Corriedale/Mohair blend... The Corriedale that I have been spinning has been going 2 ounces per full bobbin. I've found that the 20% Mohair in the blend must be enough to offset the weight of the fiber significantly because I can only get about an ounce of the blend on the same bobbins... Interesting... This makes sense that the mohair would weigh less than wool, but I hadn't realized just what the difference in weight would make to the spinning...
And next, I'll be getting into the alpaca that Ilana sent me all those months ago. Do you have any recommendations/advice as to how to clean and comb it, Ilana?
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
I've said it at least once...
And I'll say it again: Angelina Jolie is *totally* one of my heroes...
Angelina Gets Naked and Talks
by Natalie Finn
Tue, 5 Jun 2007 05:07:11 PM PDT
E! News Online
Obviously, Brad Pitt understands the virtues of a nice, warm bath.
"I don't know how he does it, but…I talk a lot in the bath," Angelina Jolie says in the July issue of Marie Claire. "It's easier to talk when you're naked... Get naked with me, and I'll talk!"
While Jolie was presumably fully clothed during this interview, and during another she gave for next month's Esquire, that circumstance did not prevent the Oscar winner and mother of four from baring her thoughts on Brad, her babies, her career, the crazy world we're living in and the self-proclaimed crazy things she's doing to make it a better place.
"Brad's more— well, he doesn't get angry with me. He just gets concerned," Jolie tells Esquire, referring to her habit of exploring the property she bought in Cambodia, where she adopted five-year-old son Maddox in 2002, that needed demining before they could live on it. "He's much more— well, maybe he's smarter about it. The attitude being, 'Let's not just be walking around here, let's be cautious in a healthy way.'
"I'm brave to the point of stupidity sometimes. He's asking if the property can be demined again."
But contrary to popular belief (or tabloid headlines), she does not lead two lives.
"I have the great good fortune of being able to have a fun job," Jolie told the men's magazine. "It's a job that allows me to travel and that allows me, sometimes, to get out of myself... I try to make sure that my relationship with the man in my life is solid and complete and we're very connected and having a great life together and enjoying our children and being part of the world.
"So that's my life. It's not split in half. It's not one side taking over the other."
And, apparently, you can toss those breakup rumors out the window, as well.
After spending as much time facing down gossip that she's a home wrecker, a bad mom, a weird mom or a fair-weather do-gooder as she has basking in the glow of her success, Jolie says that she and Pitt have reached their comfort zone.
"I think we both went on a lot of faith — we really did," she told Marie Claire. "Our family has grown very quickly, and we have a lot of responsibility together, and we acknowledge that we are lucky we turned out to be for each other everything we'd hoped. We could have been very wrong, but every challenge we hit has brought us closer. It has been that kind of relationship."
To Esquire: "The phone rings every day. I say, 'No, of course it's not true,' and hang up. We joke about it, because it's usually when Brad and I are running after the kids and changing diapers. The fact is, we don’t do anything. We hardly ever leave the house. We try to schedule time when we're alone... Brad and I are starting with the children and are planning to have our time together in our later years."
The 32-year-old star of the upcoming Daniel Pearl biopic, A Mighty Heart, in which she plays the slain Wall Street Journalist reporter's widow, Mariane, also said that work — despite the fact that she says she doesn't want to be remembered as an actress after she dies — is a great outlet for dealing with life's problems.
It was Mariane Pearl who suggested that Jolie, whom she had previously bonded with over their interest in Buddhism and motherhood, play her in the big-screen adaptation of her memoir.
The actress-activist read the book and has since become very close with Pearl (her first friendship with a journalist, she told the Los Angeles Times last month), whose husband was beheaded by terrorists while he was on assignment in Pakistan.
"Focusing on that story on a daily basis, you certainly don't worry about your life," Jolie told Marie Claire. "I mean, there isn't a better film to make you hyperaware that you should complain about nothing."
A Mighty Heart premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21 and opens in U.S. theaters June 22.
Meanwhile, Jolie told reporters in Cannes that as soon as she's done shooting the thriller Wanted in Prague, she's planning to take a year off to spend with her family, which in addition to Pitt and Maddox also includes three-year-old Pax Thien, two-year-old Zahara, and the couple's biological daughter Shiloh, who just turned one on May 27.
"That's my job and I'm really happy to have it," she told Esquire. "But when I die, do I want to be remembered as an actress? No. I recently had an op-ed published in a newspaper. And at the end, it didn't say I was an actress. It said that I was a UN goodwill ambassador — that's all.
"I said, 'Hey, Brad, I'm not just an actress anymore.'"
*************
She certainly isn't *"just"* anything... She's a lot more than just "just."
You go, Angelina!
I don't know why, but I'm happy for her the way I'd be happy for a close friend...
Angelina Gets Naked and Talks
by Natalie Finn
Tue, 5 Jun 2007 05:07:11 PM PDT
E! News Online
Obviously, Brad Pitt understands the virtues of a nice, warm bath.
"I don't know how he does it, but…I talk a lot in the bath," Angelina Jolie says in the July issue of Marie Claire. "It's easier to talk when you're naked... Get naked with me, and I'll talk!"
While Jolie was presumably fully clothed during this interview, and during another she gave for next month's Esquire, that circumstance did not prevent the Oscar winner and mother of four from baring her thoughts on Brad, her babies, her career, the crazy world we're living in and the self-proclaimed crazy things she's doing to make it a better place.
"Brad's more— well, he doesn't get angry with me. He just gets concerned," Jolie tells Esquire, referring to her habit of exploring the property she bought in Cambodia, where she adopted five-year-old son Maddox in 2002, that needed demining before they could live on it. "He's much more— well, maybe he's smarter about it. The attitude being, 'Let's not just be walking around here, let's be cautious in a healthy way.'
"I'm brave to the point of stupidity sometimes. He's asking if the property can be demined again."
But contrary to popular belief (or tabloid headlines), she does not lead two lives.
"I have the great good fortune of being able to have a fun job," Jolie told the men's magazine. "It's a job that allows me to travel and that allows me, sometimes, to get out of myself... I try to make sure that my relationship with the man in my life is solid and complete and we're very connected and having a great life together and enjoying our children and being part of the world.
"So that's my life. It's not split in half. It's not one side taking over the other."
And, apparently, you can toss those breakup rumors out the window, as well.
After spending as much time facing down gossip that she's a home wrecker, a bad mom, a weird mom or a fair-weather do-gooder as she has basking in the glow of her success, Jolie says that she and Pitt have reached their comfort zone.
"I think we both went on a lot of faith — we really did," she told Marie Claire. "Our family has grown very quickly, and we have a lot of responsibility together, and we acknowledge that we are lucky we turned out to be for each other everything we'd hoped. We could have been very wrong, but every challenge we hit has brought us closer. It has been that kind of relationship."
To Esquire: "The phone rings every day. I say, 'No, of course it's not true,' and hang up. We joke about it, because it's usually when Brad and I are running after the kids and changing diapers. The fact is, we don’t do anything. We hardly ever leave the house. We try to schedule time when we're alone... Brad and I are starting with the children and are planning to have our time together in our later years."
The 32-year-old star of the upcoming Daniel Pearl biopic, A Mighty Heart, in which she plays the slain Wall Street Journalist reporter's widow, Mariane, also said that work — despite the fact that she says she doesn't want to be remembered as an actress after she dies — is a great outlet for dealing with life's problems.
It was Mariane Pearl who suggested that Jolie, whom she had previously bonded with over their interest in Buddhism and motherhood, play her in the big-screen adaptation of her memoir.
The actress-activist read the book and has since become very close with Pearl (her first friendship with a journalist, she told the Los Angeles Times last month), whose husband was beheaded by terrorists while he was on assignment in Pakistan.
"Focusing on that story on a daily basis, you certainly don't worry about your life," Jolie told Marie Claire. "I mean, there isn't a better film to make you hyperaware that you should complain about nothing."
A Mighty Heart premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21 and opens in U.S. theaters June 22.
Meanwhile, Jolie told reporters in Cannes that as soon as she's done shooting the thriller Wanted in Prague, she's planning to take a year off to spend with her family, which in addition to Pitt and Maddox also includes three-year-old Pax Thien, two-year-old Zahara, and the couple's biological daughter Shiloh, who just turned one on May 27.
"That's my job and I'm really happy to have it," she told Esquire. "But when I die, do I want to be remembered as an actress? No. I recently had an op-ed published in a newspaper. And at the end, it didn't say I was an actress. It said that I was a UN goodwill ambassador — that's all.
"I said, 'Hey, Brad, I'm not just an actress anymore.'"
*************
She certainly isn't *"just"* anything... She's a lot more than just "just."
You go, Angelina!
I don't know why, but I'm happy for her the way I'd be happy for a close friend...
Monday, June 04, 2007
New Property in Virginia
Yes, we've finally decided on a building site and a floorplan. The Laurel-A is the floorplan we've chosen...
This is what the downstairs looks like on the basic plan. We're going to flip the the dining room and the kitchen. The house will be situated so that the side door there is essentially the front door of the house, with the long porch facing the pasture. So that's why we want to flip those rooms. Mom thinks it would be odd to have the main entry into the house almost right into the kitchen and I quite agree. The two smaller bedrooms downstairs will be turned into essentially one master suite. The wall between them will remain, but there will be a door put in it and the closet on that wall is going to move to the opposite wall. One side will be used as the bedroom proper and the other as a "dressing room/sitting room/den." We probably will have a couch in there that can be used as an extra sleeping space as well. The other bedroom downstairs will be kinda like a guest room. I'm trying to figure out just how many this cabin will be able to sleep... Like 8 - 10 at least it looks like at maximum capacity... This is a very good thing...
This is the upstairs. That bedroom and bathroom will be mine. We want to put at least one daybed or something in the loft, but I'm not sure how much room there will be with the roof pitch there. But we'll see... The rooms are pretty good sized though, except possibly for the loft so it looks good...
Here are some pictures of the site. They were taken by my parents when they went up toward the end of March... I couldn't go because I was in class...
This is the view from what will be our front porch out toward the the pasture and the mountains. I need to get some more of these so that we have photos of the whole panoramic view...
Here's the view of what will be the side yard toward the hillside. There is a low brick foundation there... we're not sure what kind of structure it was for... It could be a very old small house, a shed, or a shelter for pigs, or something else entirely... I'll need to investigate further and possibly need some help from Jason and Susan to figure it out...
This is what the downstairs looks like on the basic plan. We're going to flip the the dining room and the kitchen. The house will be situated so that the side door there is essentially the front door of the house, with the long porch facing the pasture. So that's why we want to flip those rooms. Mom thinks it would be odd to have the main entry into the house almost right into the kitchen and I quite agree. The two smaller bedrooms downstairs will be turned into essentially one master suite. The wall between them will remain, but there will be a door put in it and the closet on that wall is going to move to the opposite wall. One side will be used as the bedroom proper and the other as a "dressing room/sitting room/den." We probably will have a couch in there that can be used as an extra sleeping space as well. The other bedroom downstairs will be kinda like a guest room. I'm trying to figure out just how many this cabin will be able to sleep... Like 8 - 10 at least it looks like at maximum capacity... This is a very good thing...
This is the upstairs. That bedroom and bathroom will be mine. We want to put at least one daybed or something in the loft, but I'm not sure how much room there will be with the roof pitch there. But we'll see... The rooms are pretty good sized though, except possibly for the loft so it looks good...
Here are some pictures of the site. They were taken by my parents when they went up toward the end of March... I couldn't go because I was in class...
This is the view from what will be our front porch out toward the the pasture and the mountains. I need to get some more of these so that we have photos of the whole panoramic view...
Here's the view of what will be the side yard toward the hillside. There is a low brick foundation there... we're not sure what kind of structure it was for... It could be a very old small house, a shed, or a shelter for pigs, or something else entirely... I'll need to investigate further and possibly need some help from Jason and Susan to figure it out...
Artwork
"I Wish..." An abstract expressionist style painting I did in 2002 while working through some unhappy places in my life. It was extremely therapeutic.
I highly recommend painting like this to get over or work through things. It's cheaper than a therapist and then you get some great personal artwork to keep. You can also paint anytime you want to and you don't need an appointment. A major plus imho.
And anyone can paint like this... That's why I'm not really impressed by abstract expressionist artists 'cause if you can hold a brush to canvas, you can make that style of art. I promise.
The back is completely covered with all the things I had wished to change in my life because, as it was, my life made me very depressed. I'm happy to say, reading them over, that I've changed a great deal of it, in fact, everything that I myself can change. I think I've done pretty well. ;D
I just took it out again because when we moved house a few years ago, the movers tied it down with a rope and rubbed some of the paint off of the sides. Stupid movers... I'm attempting to repair it now that I've gotten my hands on more of the same paint.
What you can't see because the photo was taken far away and is not very good is that the red is very smooth, the gray is rough textured in the direction of how the circle is swirling. I used a wet brush technique for the red and a dry brush technique for the gray. It's all done in acrylic paint and measures 36" x 36."
My dog Baby
My little dog Baby was euthanized today (any other euphemism just won't work for me). She had been having seizures for almost a year now, likely caused by a brain tumor, and in recent months, they had been getting very bad. The medication was no longer working. She also didn't seem to know us, she didn't like to be touched and she wouldn't seek out her food or water. For the last two weeks, we had been taking her food to her and the only water she would consume was what was absorbed into her food. So this weekend we decided that it was her time. So this afternoon my mom and I took her to the vet to have her euthanized and then we brought her home and buried her in the backyard. Her grave is lined with bricks and I'll make a stone for it soon. She was fourteen years old.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
The Democratic Debate
Just watched the Democratic Debate on CNN... I have to say I was pretty impressed by every one's performance. I could vote for any of them against any Republican tomorrow if I had to and not feel bad about having to do it. I thought everyone performed pretty well and no one goofed terribly.
A few thoughts off the cuff and from memory, which might be faulty...
I was particularly impressed by Kucinich. I think his policies and criticisms are a bit too strong to endear him to many however, but I like some of his ideas, especially concerning trade policy (getting rid of our participation in all international trade organizations including the WTO, etc. and stop giving China incentives for screwing the US over, and going back to bilateral trade policies which benefit local and domestic economic growth within the United States first and foremost). I also liked his energy and health care ideas. My parents say he doesn't have a chance in Hell of winning the nomination, but that doesn't mean that I should give up on him this early on. You never know what will happen between now and next January. If I were elected president, hypothetically obviously, I think I'd like him in my cabinet... Dad says that cabinet positions aren't really what they seem, that they are administrative rather than advisory, but... if that's the case, didn't they used to be advisory? Wasn't that the whole point of how Lincoln appointed men to his cabinet? He wanted different POVs to access for advice? Something like that? I think he'd make an excellent advisor if not president.
I liked Senator Gravel's criticisms of the status quo and the current front runners. I hope even after he's out of the race that he continues to be a vocal critic because that helps to keep people more honest (don't laugh!).
After Kucinich, I liked Governor Richardson. He has a lot of good ideas and interesting perspectives on the major issues. I like freshness, you see, because I hate the status quo of the last six years.
After he and Kucinich, I liked Senators Edwards and Obama about the same. I think they both have a lot of really good ideas concerning health care, energy, education. But they could improve on trade... Nobody's going to beat that idea that Kucinich has of getting us out of the WTO! I don't like the WTO, NAFTA, NATO, etc... I think they are bad news for everything good, fair and honest in the world.
After them, Hillary... Yes, it would be nice to have a woman president, but what good would it be if she were the wrong president? And my dad is right, she's been kinda shady in the past, and that shadiness makes me reluctant to trust now. I'd rather be screwed over by someone I didn't know was shady than have someone I know is shady make a fool of me by tricking me twice, ya know? I did like how she shut down Wolfe Blitzer on the stupid hypothetical questions! He and all other talking network heads need to shut up with those... You can't ask a "Would you kill bin Laden even if it costs innocent people their lives?" without giving all the other info. How many innocent people? How innocent are they? How good is the Intel that we would get bin Ladin for sure? Are there any imminent threats? Etc, etc...
CNN, FoxNews, et al! Stop asking hypothetical, extreme situation questions during debates! They are a destruction from the real issues at hand and muddy up waters that are already as murky as the Mississippi two days after a rainstorm in Missouri! And it makes you look stupid!
I was also impressed by Bidden and Dodd, but they didn't get to talk very much... CNN is biased, I don't care what they or anyone else say. they show favoritism toward the front runners and ignore anyone else unless they are loud, like Senator Gravel was being. I think it was one of them who said that "Sometimes, even the commander-in-chief has to be practical!" when talking about immigration reform and allowing those who are already here illegally to earn their citizenship over the next ten to fifteen years if their background checks check out and they keep their noses clean, pay back taxes, go to the back of the line for citizenship, pay a fine for having come into the US illegally, and learn English.
Senator Clinton had a point about not making English "the official language" of the US, but rather the "national language," *if* indeed she was right that emergency personnel at hospitals and other emergency services would have their budgets cut so that translators would no longer be available in emergency situations, not only for Spanish, but for any other language. That would not be good...
I liked the overall position of the Democratic Party represented in this debate.
1.) Ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell and allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly and with honor in all of the Armed Forces. As Senator Clinton said, the policy was a compromise when it was enacted (which I know is true because even all those years ago, I was following that and I remember that they said that Congress wouldn't give the President anymore than that), it was an important stepping stone to equality and open service and it's a stepping stone that has far out-lived its usefulness, by at least six years. I'd like to remind everyone that says that the Joint-Chiefs-of-Staff are against ending Don't Ask Don't Tell that they were also, once upon a time, against integrating the Armed Forces for the exact same reasons they are against gays and lesbians serving openly. They were wrong then, and I think they're wrong now too.
2.) That a responsible energy policy which reduces our dependence on not just foreign oil, but all fossil fuels foreign and domestic is necessary for every kind of common good, that subsidies for the oil companies (because with record profits, they sure don't need them!) must be repealed, and promoting the expansion into green alternatives is absolutely essential (with Kucinich leading the way in this area).
3.) That extraction from Iraq is necessary and that Afghanistan must be stabilized and that indeed, there needs to be an international effort between the moderate factions in the Middle East and the international community at large to stabilize the entire region before things really start to get out of hand (because as bad as it is, it could get much worse).
4.) That diplomatic relations must be established between the US and Iran, but that at all costs Iran must not be allowed to weaponize nuclear materials. Hillary, I think it was, said that she would do this by allowing them to have nuclear material for fuel, but having European allies supply it and that its use would have to be very closely monitored by... the UN inspectors, was it?
5.) Image of the US in foreign countries must be improved.
6.) The budget must be balanced.
7.) Health care must become comprehensive and universal.
8.) Tax cuts for everyone who makes more than $200,000/year, instituted by the Bush Administration, must be allowed to expire and the revenues gained back from that must be put to good use.
9.) Everyone of us, all Americans, must make sacrifices in order to improve this country all around - economically, socially, internationally, domestically, environmentally - and we really should do it with a smile. They're thinking the good things that Clinton did (balanced budget & surplus in revenue to start with), and the energy and willingness to work together for common goals that JFK brought with him to his presidency, the power to do beneficial things (though obviously in hind-sight much of it was beneficial only in the short term) like Americans did in the years following WW2 (And can I say that I think it's pretty sad that the best that the Republicans can come up with to counter that is Reagan? ... Yes? ... It's pretty sad that the best that the Republicans can come up with to counter that is Reagan...) ... That sort of thing... I feel I'm ready to do that because that's the kind of thing we need right now, I think... I'm not totally sure who would be the best person to lead us all in such an effort, but I can tell you right and surely that that person is *not* running for the Republican nomination...
A few thoughts off the cuff and from memory, which might be faulty...
I was particularly impressed by Kucinich. I think his policies and criticisms are a bit too strong to endear him to many however, but I like some of his ideas, especially concerning trade policy (getting rid of our participation in all international trade organizations including the WTO, etc. and stop giving China incentives for screwing the US over, and going back to bilateral trade policies which benefit local and domestic economic growth within the United States first and foremost). I also liked his energy and health care ideas. My parents say he doesn't have a chance in Hell of winning the nomination, but that doesn't mean that I should give up on him this early on. You never know what will happen between now and next January. If I were elected president, hypothetically obviously, I think I'd like him in my cabinet... Dad says that cabinet positions aren't really what they seem, that they are administrative rather than advisory, but... if that's the case, didn't they used to be advisory? Wasn't that the whole point of how Lincoln appointed men to his cabinet? He wanted different POVs to access for advice? Something like that? I think he'd make an excellent advisor if not president.
I liked Senator Gravel's criticisms of the status quo and the current front runners. I hope even after he's out of the race that he continues to be a vocal critic because that helps to keep people more honest (don't laugh!).
After Kucinich, I liked Governor Richardson. He has a lot of good ideas and interesting perspectives on the major issues. I like freshness, you see, because I hate the status quo of the last six years.
After he and Kucinich, I liked Senators Edwards and Obama about the same. I think they both have a lot of really good ideas concerning health care, energy, education. But they could improve on trade... Nobody's going to beat that idea that Kucinich has of getting us out of the WTO! I don't like the WTO, NAFTA, NATO, etc... I think they are bad news for everything good, fair and honest in the world.
After them, Hillary... Yes, it would be nice to have a woman president, but what good would it be if she were the wrong president? And my dad is right, she's been kinda shady in the past, and that shadiness makes me reluctant to trust now. I'd rather be screwed over by someone I didn't know was shady than have someone I know is shady make a fool of me by tricking me twice, ya know? I did like how she shut down Wolfe Blitzer on the stupid hypothetical questions! He and all other talking network heads need to shut up with those... You can't ask a "Would you kill bin Laden even if it costs innocent people their lives?" without giving all the other info. How many innocent people? How innocent are they? How good is the Intel that we would get bin Ladin for sure? Are there any imminent threats? Etc, etc...
CNN, FoxNews, et al! Stop asking hypothetical, extreme situation questions during debates! They are a destruction from the real issues at hand and muddy up waters that are already as murky as the Mississippi two days after a rainstorm in Missouri! And it makes you look stupid!
I was also impressed by Bidden and Dodd, but they didn't get to talk very much... CNN is biased, I don't care what they or anyone else say. they show favoritism toward the front runners and ignore anyone else unless they are loud, like Senator Gravel was being. I think it was one of them who said that "Sometimes, even the commander-in-chief has to be practical!" when talking about immigration reform and allowing those who are already here illegally to earn their citizenship over the next ten to fifteen years if their background checks check out and they keep their noses clean, pay back taxes, go to the back of the line for citizenship, pay a fine for having come into the US illegally, and learn English.
Senator Clinton had a point about not making English "the official language" of the US, but rather the "national language," *if* indeed she was right that emergency personnel at hospitals and other emergency services would have their budgets cut so that translators would no longer be available in emergency situations, not only for Spanish, but for any other language. That would not be good...
I liked the overall position of the Democratic Party represented in this debate.
1.) Ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell and allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly and with honor in all of the Armed Forces. As Senator Clinton said, the policy was a compromise when it was enacted (which I know is true because even all those years ago, I was following that and I remember that they said that Congress wouldn't give the President anymore than that), it was an important stepping stone to equality and open service and it's a stepping stone that has far out-lived its usefulness, by at least six years. I'd like to remind everyone that says that the Joint-Chiefs-of-Staff are against ending Don't Ask Don't Tell that they were also, once upon a time, against integrating the Armed Forces for the exact same reasons they are against gays and lesbians serving openly. They were wrong then, and I think they're wrong now too.
2.) That a responsible energy policy which reduces our dependence on not just foreign oil, but all fossil fuels foreign and domestic is necessary for every kind of common good, that subsidies for the oil companies (because with record profits, they sure don't need them!) must be repealed, and promoting the expansion into green alternatives is absolutely essential (with Kucinich leading the way in this area).
3.) That extraction from Iraq is necessary and that Afghanistan must be stabilized and that indeed, there needs to be an international effort between the moderate factions in the Middle East and the international community at large to stabilize the entire region before things really start to get out of hand (because as bad as it is, it could get much worse).
4.) That diplomatic relations must be established between the US and Iran, but that at all costs Iran must not be allowed to weaponize nuclear materials. Hillary, I think it was, said that she would do this by allowing them to have nuclear material for fuel, but having European allies supply it and that its use would have to be very closely monitored by... the UN inspectors, was it?
5.) Image of the US in foreign countries must be improved.
6.) The budget must be balanced.
7.) Health care must become comprehensive and universal.
8.) Tax cuts for everyone who makes more than $200,000/year, instituted by the Bush Administration, must be allowed to expire and the revenues gained back from that must be put to good use.
9.) Everyone of us, all Americans, must make sacrifices in order to improve this country all around - economically, socially, internationally, domestically, environmentally - and we really should do it with a smile. They're thinking the good things that Clinton did (balanced budget & surplus in revenue to start with), and the energy and willingness to work together for common goals that JFK brought with him to his presidency, the power to do beneficial things (though obviously in hind-sight much of it was beneficial only in the short term) like Americans did in the years following WW2 (And can I say that I think it's pretty sad that the best that the Republicans can come up with to counter that is Reagan? ... Yes? ... It's pretty sad that the best that the Republicans can come up with to counter that is Reagan...) ... That sort of thing... I feel I'm ready to do that because that's the kind of thing we need right now, I think... I'm not totally sure who would be the best person to lead us all in such an effort, but I can tell you right and surely that that person is *not* running for the Republican nomination...
Friday, June 01, 2007
what I've been up to lately...
I realize that I did one of these just a few days ago, but the last few days have been quite eventful!
I cleaned out my craft room on Wednesday for the first time in almost 2 years... Needless to say it had nearly turned into that proverbial closet where you open the door and things fall out at you... It isn't totally done yet. I've found that I need more organizational equipment - Rubbermaid drawers and such... so Saturday, that will be the project I do with Joe, organizer extraordinaire.
Yesterday, I cleaned my room, the living room and the bathroom. Impressive in the extreme... The bathroom was not difficult. It's cleaned biweekly by the maid service that my mom and I couldn't live without. But even though the living room is cleaned just as often, with two cats, two dogs, and especially *me*, it does not stay clean long... I have a bad tendency to spread out all my accoutrement. I had books still out here from classes, mail that didn't need to be opened, or was opened but was left, tossed where it landed, and tons of knitting stuff all over the room.
My bedroom though... oh... my bedroom was truly a disgrace... The only thing that I can say even partially in my defense is that I can live quite happily in the middle of a "disorganized" mess and I hate cleaning if I don't *have to*. The dust bunnies were about an inch thick in some places... They more closely resembled lint from the dryer than anything else... I still haven't gotten to everything behind my bed yet... I'm going to wait until the dust settles a little bit to give my allergies a bit of a rest before I take up the mattresses and vacuum under and behind the bed. I need to take a good look at what's under my bed and on the floor of my closet, get rid of the trash and what can be donated, dust, wash, and put away somewhere it can all be useful. I know somewhere under the bed is all my stained glass and glass equipment from high school and all that really needs to be put in its very own drawer in my craft room. I have to find the vacuum attachments for getting underneath my dresser and whatnot too... And everything will need to be dusted at least twice more with several days in between to let the dust settle again before it will really start to look clean in there... I say this because five minutes after I dusted the tops of my dressers there was more dust settling as to be noticeable. The rugs also need to be taken outside and beaten as they haven't moved more than an inch on the floor in the last three years and are no doubt full of dirt and dust, even after being vacuumed several times. So it will probably take at least a week of being conscientious and vacuuming and dusting every other day before it's good and clean... Another reason I clean my room so rarely is that I get kinda OCD about it when I do...
Between my craft room and all the others, I threw out about four full-sized trash bags of junk, unusable scraps, and more junk... Well, I probably could have found a use for the "unusable scraps" eventually, says the pack-rat, but since there was no immediate need, I convinced myself to let a good bit of it go... I also have a good sized box and a trash bag full of old clothes, shoes and other stuff to give to the Goodwill. So yay! Charitable giving...
All this cleaning was precipitated by my parents getting the house refinanced after the addition to get a better interest rate and in preparation of the new cabin construction. The appraiser came earlier this morning, which was spent with all of us frantically doing last minute straightening and vacuuming. The financing for the cabin will be processed starting next week and will take about two months, with us closing on it sometime in August. In the interim, we will go up to Virginia at some point in July to make all the construction decisions, pick out flooring, appliances, cabinets, granite for the counter tops, etc, and finalize the blueprints in plenty of time to submit them to the county so that the permits will be granted and the foundation poured by the time the wood, etc is delivered to the site, probably mid-to-late September at the latest (because wood can't sit out there in the open for long, the cabin will go up and the outside sealed within just a few construction days - the inside takes a bit longer). The cabin, we hope, will be done by December and during that break we can move at least some essential furniture into the house - mattresses, sofas, dishes, etc.
Today, I also made some exciting purchases. Despite the fact that we have Tropical Storm Barry going on outside - something I didn't even realize until I got home from the store, I just thought it was raining - I went over to JoAnn Fabrics & Crafts this afternoon. I was stir crazy after all the cleaning and JoAnn is having a sale... So I went in the rain, which started around 1pm today. I found that a good deal of their unfinished wood is on crazy clearance. I got four 11" candlesticks for about $1.50 each. I got a pine quilt stand for the cabin (we've been looking for one) for $15. And I got a coat rack for about $2.50. Pretty good, neh? But that wasn't the best buy! I got an easel - like a stand-up artist's easel that usually sells for $149.99 - for $24.47! It expands to accommodate canvases up to 50" tall. There wasn't a thing wrong with it. The company had discontinued the model and JoAnn was having a difficult time selling them, wanting to clear out room for other things, so I got the very last one that they had in the store for $24.47! I was sure that they had made a mistake and also that I'd never get it into the my little Toyota Camry, but they didn't and I did and I brought it home anyway. Yay! I've been wanting one since my sophomore year of high school, but they always cost so much money that I never did. But now I have! I'm so happy! I can't wait to use it to repair a painting I did six years ago that was damaged when we moved house three years ago and I still haven't had a chance to fix it... and of course when I paint new things...
I cleaned out my craft room on Wednesday for the first time in almost 2 years... Needless to say it had nearly turned into that proverbial closet where you open the door and things fall out at you... It isn't totally done yet. I've found that I need more organizational equipment - Rubbermaid drawers and such... so Saturday, that will be the project I do with Joe, organizer extraordinaire.
Yesterday, I cleaned my room, the living room and the bathroom. Impressive in the extreme... The bathroom was not difficult. It's cleaned biweekly by the maid service that my mom and I couldn't live without. But even though the living room is cleaned just as often, with two cats, two dogs, and especially *me*, it does not stay clean long... I have a bad tendency to spread out all my accoutrement. I had books still out here from classes, mail that didn't need to be opened, or was opened but was left, tossed where it landed, and tons of knitting stuff all over the room.
My bedroom though... oh... my bedroom was truly a disgrace... The only thing that I can say even partially in my defense is that I can live quite happily in the middle of a "disorganized" mess and I hate cleaning if I don't *have to*. The dust bunnies were about an inch thick in some places... They more closely resembled lint from the dryer than anything else... I still haven't gotten to everything behind my bed yet... I'm going to wait until the dust settles a little bit to give my allergies a bit of a rest before I take up the mattresses and vacuum under and behind the bed. I need to take a good look at what's under my bed and on the floor of my closet, get rid of the trash and what can be donated, dust, wash, and put away somewhere it can all be useful. I know somewhere under the bed is all my stained glass and glass equipment from high school and all that really needs to be put in its very own drawer in my craft room. I have to find the vacuum attachments for getting underneath my dresser and whatnot too... And everything will need to be dusted at least twice more with several days in between to let the dust settle again before it will really start to look clean in there... I say this because five minutes after I dusted the tops of my dressers there was more dust settling as to be noticeable. The rugs also need to be taken outside and beaten as they haven't moved more than an inch on the floor in the last three years and are no doubt full of dirt and dust, even after being vacuumed several times. So it will probably take at least a week of being conscientious and vacuuming and dusting every other day before it's good and clean... Another reason I clean my room so rarely is that I get kinda OCD about it when I do...
Between my craft room and all the others, I threw out about four full-sized trash bags of junk, unusable scraps, and more junk... Well, I probably could have found a use for the "unusable scraps" eventually, says the pack-rat, but since there was no immediate need, I convinced myself to let a good bit of it go... I also have a good sized box and a trash bag full of old clothes, shoes and other stuff to give to the Goodwill. So yay! Charitable giving...
All this cleaning was precipitated by my parents getting the house refinanced after the addition to get a better interest rate and in preparation of the new cabin construction. The appraiser came earlier this morning, which was spent with all of us frantically doing last minute straightening and vacuuming. The financing for the cabin will be processed starting next week and will take about two months, with us closing on it sometime in August. In the interim, we will go up to Virginia at some point in July to make all the construction decisions, pick out flooring, appliances, cabinets, granite for the counter tops, etc, and finalize the blueprints in plenty of time to submit them to the county so that the permits will be granted and the foundation poured by the time the wood, etc is delivered to the site, probably mid-to-late September at the latest (because wood can't sit out there in the open for long, the cabin will go up and the outside sealed within just a few construction days - the inside takes a bit longer). The cabin, we hope, will be done by December and during that break we can move at least some essential furniture into the house - mattresses, sofas, dishes, etc.
Today, I also made some exciting purchases. Despite the fact that we have Tropical Storm Barry going on outside - something I didn't even realize until I got home from the store, I just thought it was raining - I went over to JoAnn Fabrics & Crafts this afternoon. I was stir crazy after all the cleaning and JoAnn is having a sale... So I went in the rain, which started around 1pm today. I found that a good deal of their unfinished wood is on crazy clearance. I got four 11" candlesticks for about $1.50 each. I got a pine quilt stand for the cabin (we've been looking for one) for $15. And I got a coat rack for about $2.50. Pretty good, neh? But that wasn't the best buy! I got an easel - like a stand-up artist's easel that usually sells for $149.99 - for $24.47! It expands to accommodate canvases up to 50" tall. There wasn't a thing wrong with it. The company had discontinued the model and JoAnn was having a difficult time selling them, wanting to clear out room for other things, so I got the very last one that they had in the store for $24.47! I was sure that they had made a mistake and also that I'd never get it into the my little Toyota Camry, but they didn't and I did and I brought it home anyway. Yay! I've been wanting one since my sophomore year of high school, but they always cost so much money that I never did. But now I have! I'm so happy! I can't wait to use it to repair a painting I did six years ago that was damaged when we moved house three years ago and I still haven't had a chance to fix it... and of course when I paint new things...
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Updates
First, the big one... The garden - The squash I planted in the frontyard, in the established flower beds, seem to be healthier, need less water and are growing faster than the squash I planted in the backyard in the just-tilled-and-cleared-for-the-season vegetable garden. Could this be a first-hand indication that no-till is the way to go? There are also fewer weeds in the front, certainly not the weed jungle going on in the backyard. The squash in the back have developed powdery mildew, which I know I won't be able to get rid of for the rest of the season without the use of harsh chemical sprays, so it's not going anywhere. This will not effect the squash except in the longevity of the plant and the quantity of fruit it will produce. Even though both areas are mulched, the plants in the front are dealing with the drought much better than those in the back.
We've had little problems with bugs so far on the veggies, thank goodness. Not at all sure why that is, but I'm counting my blessings. All we've been using on them is fertilizer and no pesticides at all.
The peppermint in the herb bed has spread into the yard... This and the fact that the dandelions can't come up, make me sad that we get the grass cut by a professional every week in the summer. The mint will probably die back because it's constantly getting cut almost all the way down to the ground, but we will see...
Amaya - Amaya is 2 lbs and very nearly 2 months old today. Her eyes are still changing. They have developed a dark but distinctly green ring around her pupil and and the rest of the iris is a deeper gold as opposed to the consistent mossy brown-green they were when we got her two weeks ago. They still haven't stabilized though, so we're not sure what color they will end up.
My wrist & knitting - The tendinitis has calmed down over the last week and I can get back to some serious knitting again until the next time it flares up. I still have about a half-pound of white cotton for baby things. I don't know what I'm going to make. I've already got the blanket, two hats, two pairs of booties/socks, and a bib of my own design... Another bib perhaps? And then what? If anyone has links or whatnot to baby patterns for Peaches n' Cream or that don't require a gauge, please send them my way! I'm thinking a burp cloth maybe?
Indigo - I'll be starting the vat sometime in the next week. Yay! Don't know when the dyeing will get done, but according to Susan, indigo vats can sit for months before use and still work, so...
We've had little problems with bugs so far on the veggies, thank goodness. Not at all sure why that is, but I'm counting my blessings. All we've been using on them is fertilizer and no pesticides at all.
The peppermint in the herb bed has spread into the yard... This and the fact that the dandelions can't come up, make me sad that we get the grass cut by a professional every week in the summer. The mint will probably die back because it's constantly getting cut almost all the way down to the ground, but we will see...
Amaya - Amaya is 2 lbs and very nearly 2 months old today. Her eyes are still changing. They have developed a dark but distinctly green ring around her pupil and and the rest of the iris is a deeper gold as opposed to the consistent mossy brown-green they were when we got her two weeks ago. They still haven't stabilized though, so we're not sure what color they will end up.
My wrist & knitting - The tendinitis has calmed down over the last week and I can get back to some serious knitting again until the next time it flares up. I still have about a half-pound of white cotton for baby things. I don't know what I'm going to make. I've already got the blanket, two hats, two pairs of booties/socks, and a bib of my own design... Another bib perhaps? And then what? If anyone has links or whatnot to baby patterns for Peaches n' Cream or that don't require a gauge, please send them my way! I'm thinking a burp cloth maybe?
Indigo - I'll be starting the vat sometime in the next week. Yay! Don't know when the dyeing will get done, but according to Susan, indigo vats can sit for months before use and still work, so...
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