Here's all the stuff I tried to post in December when the Blogging programs weren't working for me. I'd try and end up with blank posts. So I back-logged them and now that Blogger is working for me again, here they are.
12/08/2005 - All but done with the semester! WooHoo!!
12/09/2005 - "The Straight Dude's Guide to 'Brokeback Mountain'"
posted here in it's entirety from: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10342237/
The straight dude's guide to "Brokeback"
Our intrepid gay columnist has sage advice for his straight brethren
COMMENTARY
By Dave White
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 7:26 p.m. ET Dec. 8, 2005
You are a heterosexual man. And you have no personal beef with gay people. You're educated and fairly socially liberal and occasionally listen to NPR and you don't like to see anyone bashed or discriminated against. You're no homophobe. You're proud of yourself.
But your girlfriend/wife/common-law/female or whoever loves that adorable Jake Gyllenhaal has already stated her intentions. When it's her turn to pick the Saturday night date-movie, you're seeing "Brokeback Mountain."
"But I am a heterosexual man," you''' thinking, "very, very, very, very straight." And you're kind of freaking out as the release date quickly approaches, and even the expression "release date" is making you kind of jittery. You're hoping to remind your female life partner that, while you feel gay people are very wonderful, colorful, witty additions to the human population and that Ellen sure is fun to watch dance in the credit card commercial and that Tom Hanks really deserved that Academy Award for whatever that movie was where he died at the end, that you are very, very, very, very straight and that it should exempt you from seeing Adorable Jake... um... do "it" with Heath Ledger. You really don't even want to know what "it" entails because you've lived this long without finding out. You're thinking the words "red-blooded," as in "I am a red-blooded American male, etc," don't sound so retro anymore.
And yet, you're still going to see it whether you like it or not. This necessarily presents a dilemma: how to make her happy and endure your first gay-themed movie where guys actually make out on a very big screen right in front of your face? And that's where I come in. I'm a red-blooded American male homosexual movie critic who's already seen "Brokeback Mountain." And I could just tell you how great the film is, that it's really powerful and moving and all that, but that isn't what you want to hear. So I have some viewing tips for you, my straight brothers. I promise I'm only here to help...
1. Accept the fact that this is all your fault in the first place. You were the one who was all excited to take your ladyfriend to "Jarhead" anyway and when you got there and saw that it consisted of lot of AJ (how this article will refer to Adorable Jake from here on) running around all sweaty, muscular and shirtless in the desert, doing a sexy dance wearing nothing but a Santa Claus cap over his "area" and then simulating a big gay orgy with his fellow grunts, you were like, "When does the killing start in this movie?" while your woman thought, "Oh yes, more Santa Dancing please." You brought it on yourself.
2. Realize now that you have to shut up. You kind of have no idea how important it is for you to shut up. But it's crucial. I was recently at a press screening for another movie and I overheard four guys in the theater lobby talking about "Brokeback." They were resolute in their refusal to go see it and they couldn't stop loudly one-upping each other about how they had no interest, were not "curious," and were, in the words of the loudest guy in the group, "straight as that wall over there." Oh, the wall with poster for the Big Gay Cowboy Movie on it? That straight wall? Well here's something that everyone else now knows but that guy: he's probably gay. Being silent marks you as too cool to care about how other men see you. It means you're comfortable and not freaked by your own naked shadow. Did Steve McQueen go around squawking about how straight-as-a-wall he was? No, he didn't. He was too busy being stoic and manly.
3. The good news - there's less than one minute of making out. It's about 130 minutes long and 129 of them are about Men Not Having Sex. So yes, maybe it will be the longest almost-60 seconds of your life, but there it is. Less than one minute. In fact, it's 129 minutes of really intense longing and sadness and unabashedly weepy, doomed love story. In a very real way that's a lot more porny than any of the man-on-man canoodling that made it past the editing room. But if you're going to be a big sissy about it then you can go get her that Diet Coke and jumbo popcorn during the first major sex scene. And no plugging your ears and singing "Mary Had a Little Lamb," either. All singing is inherently gay, is why. Plus you'll be in a movie theater and some big bruiser gay guy might kick your butt. Then you'll feel even more emasculated.
4. Remember that it's a western. And the script was adapted by none other than Total Dude Larry McMurtry. That guy is the coolest western writer in the country. He wrote "Lonesome Dove." You love "Lonesome Dove." In fact, the only problem with remembering that it's a western is having to ignore the fact that most westerns are about 1000 percent gay. If you think I'm making that up, just go watch "Red River" again.
5. They're tortured and you get to feel sorry for them. Just like in that Tom Hanks movie, these gay guys get kicked around a lot. It's set in the 1960s and the characters played by Heath and AJ don't even know they're gay. They think they're just regular straight guys who suddenly find themselves all turned on by each other and, honestly, don't even really understand why they're awash in yucky, hypnotic love feelings. Actually wait... you know what? Don't think about that too much. Better if you just forget about the "why" of it all and start rooting for these underdogs. Pretend they're like Sean Astin in "Rudy."
6. Anne Hathaway, who plays AJ's wife, gets topless. The End. I think it's fair to report this and here's why: as a gay man, the only reason I even agreed to sit through the really stupid remake of "The Longest Yard" was because one of my friends told me you get to see the wrestler Goldberg in the shower. In one scene. That's it. I sat through the whole thing for one scene. In that respect, my hetero pals, we are all brothers deep inside... it's just a different brand of naked flesh that ignites our prurience.
7. And finally, it's just your turn. Really, it is, and you know it. Imagine how many thousands of hetero love stories gay people sit through in their lives. So you kind of owe us. Now get out there and watch those cowboys make out.
Dave White is the film critic for Movies.com and has a not-all-that-gay blog at www.livejournal.com/users/djmrswhite.
© 2005 MSNBC Interactive
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I am most amused... I saw this movie last weekend, and while it is almost completely wrong, wrong, wrong... Matt MacFayden was really hot as Darcy, and Keira wasn't as bad as I thought she'd be. This is what happens when I go in with expectations that couldn't be lower, I am usually pleasantly surprised. I thought Matt put in some subtle little looks on Darcy's part when Elizabeth's back was turned that were very telling and a good addition to the smouldering that Colin gave us. It was an interesting interpretation of Darcy at least. And of course, the script comes near to butchering the story... And I don't know what the costumers were thinking. The dress that Bingley's sister is wearing at their ball has straps just slightly wider than spaghetti straps - that can't be right. The women don't even have corsets on for half the movie, and at least half of the time they do, they are the wrong corsets... And there's a line where one of the girls is complaining that the corset being tightened is painful... again... It wasn't Keira this time, but for pity's sake! And there are some distinctly Bronte-esque scenes. And the last scene, while it had me grinning like a mad fool, was total invention of the script writers... But miracle of miracles, Zinzi saw it with us and she *loved* it! Anyone who knows the kinds of movies she usually has that reaction to knows just how amazing that is! 'Cause usually she'd have to be tied down and her eyes would have to be pried open to get her to watch a traditionally romantic movie, let alone something based on one of Jane's novels, but she really liked this, and was even asking me questions about what was going on during certain scenes cause she really wanted to know... Which is something that the filmmakers should have done better! There are parts where I know if I didn't know the story so well, I wouldn't have a clue what was going on, and the dialog is several scenes was unintelligible. On to the amusing article!
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9995610/
The importance of being Darcy
Matthew MacFayden has a tough job filling Colin Firth's smoldering shoes
COMMENTARY
By Mary Beth Ellis
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 10:24 a.m. ET Nov. 11, 2005
I was speaking to an older colleague about the latest essay I was writing; I informed her it concerned a new movie based on "Pride and Prejudice," which she last read at approximately the same time the Earth was first cooling.
And first words out of her mouth were: "Oh! Mr. Darcy!"
Yes, Mr. Darcy. Thanks loads, Jane Austen, for ruining generations of perfectly good women with your ballgowns and your rolling barouches and your Mr. Darcy. Many are the ladies who wait in vain for their own personal, portable Darcy, complete with estate in Derbyshire.
The number has increased since 1995, when Colin Firth took on the role for a BBC miniseries. Colin was Action Figure Darcy. He fences! He swims! He bathes! Naked! He gives and fixes and scowls and rides his horse and just in general Firths all over the place, and we are much the better for it.
He also stares, a lot. There is a great deal of staring on the part of Darcy, mostly at Elizabeth Bennet, who occasionally stares back, which in the Regency era I suppose was the equivalent of text messaging.
A difficult act to follow
Primarily, what sets Colin apart from all other Darcys is his hair. It truly is wonderful hair. The man rides thither and yon - sometimes yon twice in the same scene - and not once does he suffer hathead.
You kind of get the feeling that Darcy, in college, was not a frat boy. He wasn't showing up at your doorstep with Game Cube and a 12-pack of Natural Light and calling it a romantic evening. Darcy would at least change out of the ball cap he had been wearing for the past eight consecutive days first. He's a difficult act to follow.
But now the Lord has now bestowed upon us a new incarnation of Darcy, now played by Matthew MacFayden, which' good luck, Matt. Sometimes actors simply define roles; I cannot imagine Professor Higgins without Rex Harrison, Harold Hill without Robert Preston, or, of course, Larry Gigli without Ben Affleck. So has Colin's stare enamored any number of Austen fans.
It's all in the smolder, you see. For in today's culture, there is little time to smolder; the next episode of "The Apprentice" is roaring down the pike, or the plane is circling the airport yet again, or our cell phone is insistently informing us, via a tinny version of "La Bamba," that our best friend is currently standing 10 feet away - where are we? I don't think modern society loves Elizabeth and Darcy as much as we covet their spare time. House parties would last up to six weeks at a time in the 1880s. Who, outside of Paris Hilton, has that much alcohol on hand?
Among his other fine attributes, Colin Firth's Darcy possesses the ability to selectively bilocate. It really is quite extraordinary; one moment he's brooding on horseback, the next his face is floating to the forefront of Elizabeth's mirror or carriage window, issuing dark, repetitive, and sonorous pronouncements about how very icky he finds her family. "You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you - but your mother is horrid and will have to stay in the basement. Dad needs to go too, and I seriously hate your sisters. And how attached are you, really, to the family dog?"
Darcy also maintains quite the respectable crib, and, it's safe to imagine, the most pimped-out carriages available. The driveway alone could serve as a landing strip for the space shuttle. And the pond - all proper estates require a pond. All I have is a sad puddle of warm beer beneath the refrigerator.
And you just know that Darcy gets into all the best clubs, too. He really is the ultimate date. There would be no standing at the hostess station, light-up seating alert device limply in hand for Darcy. No, he walks into Friday's, and he sits right down!
Shall we dance?
Impressive, too, is this whole business of dancing. I welcome any new adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice," Firthed or un-Firthed, so long as the dancing is done properly. People in Regency England didn't dance quite the way we do. There was, for example, precious little grinding. Smoke machines were rarely used. I doubt lasers made much of an appearance. On the other hand - fortunate generation! - everyone was spared the Electric Slide.
Physical contact between unmarried men and women was pretty much limited to a lot of bowing and fan fluttering. In dancing there was a great deal of twirling, which - and I say this as a square dancer from way back - is a lot harder than it sounds. I've thrown off the rotation of the planet with a poorly directed alamand left. But Colin manages this admirably, and with a remarkably small amount of dorkiness. He even skips in a manly manner.
Darcy, however, may not be well suited for the long haul. Once all the smoldering is done - what is there to burn after, really? A really excellent pot roast on Michaelmas, or whatever in the world people yearned for once plights were trothed? I mean, Pemberly is quite the hizzy, but how many chandeliers does one person need?
And is he really the best judge of character? Look at his friends: He hangs out with Wickham, who is the leading candidate as a spokesman for Rohypnol, and the overly smiley Bingley, who never met a pile of dog poop he didn't like. "Colin-as-Darcy," I would say - for I'm sure Colin Firth prefers to be addressed as nothing but - "Colin-as-Darcy, you may stay for as long as you like, but your friends are only allowed inside when I'm off at Pilates class."
However, given the bilocation and the preference for pond-swimming, I suppose I could settle in for a nice life of horses and twirling. An 80-year-old Colin Firth is still far preferable to a 27-year-old Kevin Federline.
Freelance writer Mary Beth Ellis runs http://www.blondechampagne.com/, from whence she leads a merry chase, or plights her troth, or whatever.
© 2005 MSNBC Interactive
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After working really hard on my Cinxia sweater (pattern can be found here: http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTcinxia.html ) for weeks and weeks I found today that it is undoubtedly going to look like crap. I don't know if I made a size too big or what, although I'm making the size according to my exact bust size. And my yarn is the *exact* same gauge as the one the pattern writer used... so I don't get it. I'm almost done with the collar, so I could try it on easily while it was still on the needles... It's not that the fabric is too bulky. It's that there's too much of it in the wrong places. The back of the sweater looks like it's a bed jacket, very loose, almost like a gathered skirt, with no shape at all (I know what you might say, that it was decreased wrong, but I was very careful and counted stitches the whole way at every step and sometimes in between. That is definitely not the issue). The front might look okay after it's blocked, but I can tell there is no hope for the back of it. Which sucks 'cause I was really hoping that it would look like the one pictured at knitty... I might try to make the next size down to see if that was the problem at some point in the future, but for now I have a lot of ripping to do and I'll just move on to something else.
12/13/2005 - Done with exams, thank goodness! I also got my second archaeology paper back from Dr. White. She gave me an 83. I do not think it deserved an 83. Her comments on it indicated that she only seemed to have a problem with one sentence, claiming that it was, in fact, not a sentence. Actually, it is a sentence. I don't write incomplete sentences in academic writing... I even have a hard time managing it in e-mails. Plus, Word would have picked up an incomplete sentence and I would have fixed it. So it is not an incomplete sentence. She also expressed that she would have liked to see me explain "cultural history method" more fully. Personally, I think we're beyond that, but whatever. Other than that, her comments said that it was "very good, but difficult to understand." This is one of the lowest grades I've *ever* gotten on a paper, let alone a paper in college. I admit it was not my best paper, but it did not deserve an 83. An 87 maybe, if one is being particularly nitpicky, but not an 83. I take it as further evidence that Dr. White doesn't like me. Every time I ask her a question, her face takes on an expression like she just tasted or smelled something nasty.
If that weren't enough, when I turned in my exam, there were two stacks of papers facedown in front of her on her desk of approximately the same height. I couldn't tell which one were the exams, so I asked, "Which are the exams?" with a smile. She rolled her eyes, snatched my test out of my hand and with a small disgusted noise, put it on the correct pile. I blinked and left the room. I may have slammed the door (I was the second to last to finish and the other person was handing her the test when I did that, so I didn't bother anyone but her). Her behavior was entirely uncalled for. I'm at a loss as to what I did that so offended her this semester. It's very true that she told me around midterms that she wanted me to participate more in class discussions and that I didn't really do that because I hadn't a thing to say, but honestly? Where's the professionalism on her part? So if I get a B in her class, I put it entirely on her because in any other professor's standards, I've given A work or near enough to it all semester.
I'm lucky that this is only the second prof that has been this unprofessional toward me. The first one was Dr. David Underwood, professor of Humanities. He was untenured and let go a semester after I had his class, I think it was because our entire class (and probably his other classes too) wrote very long complaints about him during the instructor evaluation. We were all very vocal about it, since he was not in the room while we were writing them and they went straight to the Dean's office for review, reminding each other of shitty things he had done, not missing a thing. But he was unprofessional with the entire class (although I do think I got a B in there specifically because he didn't like me). He was one of those sleazy kinds of guys who would flirt with the blonde sorority girls. I e-mailed him asking if he could let me know what grade he had given me on our class journal project and he never e-mailed me back. All other grades indicated that I should have had a solid A and the journal grade was supposed to be based on completion, not content, and it was complete, so I don't know what could have happened other than he gave me a B because he didn't like me or I was very blatant about my disgust for him. And since the only grade that prof's are prohibited by the school to give by e-mail are final exam grades, he had no legitimate reason not to e-mail me. To put it simply, he sucked.
I am *so* over all the bs at USF! Thank G-d this semester is over! ::sighs:: Now, on to preparing for the holidays!
*******
OMG! Joe Redner has just publicly announced to the Tampa community that he's gay and that that's why he's suing the county in Federal court for discrimination. He said that no one can prove that he is and no one can prove that he isn't, but that the reason that his previous suit over the County Commission prohibiting the recognition and funding of Gay Pride events was thrown out of court was that because the prohibition did not directly impact him... which is bs if you ask me... but since he's publicly announced this, the suit can't be thrown out for that reason again... So it's entirely possible and (knowing him) probable that he's just saying this so he can sue, although he says that he isn't lying about it because that would perjury. One might point out that he owns at least three all female strip clubs in Hillsborough County along with others in NYC and Las Vegas... Not to mention, this guy is like a hometown version of Hefner. Despite that, I still love this guy just cause he's such a thorn in a lot of conservative politicians' sides down here, and would have voted for him to get a City Council seat the last several times he's tried for it if I could have (unfortunately, I'm not a resident of the city). For more on that, see my post from earlier this year on this case.
In reaction, Rhonda Storms, the leading bigot on the Commission, said that the reason they can and should prohibit public money and authorities from supporting Pride events is because "[gays] are not a legally protected minority." Well, Rhonda, the Jews weren't protected by law in Germany either, but that sure as hell didn't make the Holocaust okay. (I know Jon Stewert has said that we really need to stop jumping to the Hitler/Holocaust analogy because it demeans the evilness of Hitler and the seriousness of the Holocaust, but it's the first analogy that pops into my head and one that is readily recognized by the most people. Sorry, Jon.)
In other news, there is a group of people trying to get Gay/Straight Alliances (a GSA) banned from high schools in Hillsborough County. They have petitioned the School Board to take care of that. The School Board however has put together a commission to study non-academic clubs at all high schools cause it doesn't want to get sued. Pretty much, it's looking like if they ban the GSAs, they will be banning the Chess Club, Star Trek Club, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and all the rest too. I don't think that they will. I hope that they won't. If the Blake High School GSA is still as large and active as it was the year I left, they'll probably have representatives, at least, show up at the January School Board meeting, where the Board will be reviewing the commission's findings. I know Equality Florida and the local GLSEN people will be there.
The parents that are protesting it probably don't even know what a GSA is... They say that they don't want their minor children participating in a GSA and think no minor children should be in a club that focuses on sex. Well, I'll have them know that sex has nothing to do with it. It's about charity events, peer counseling, and awareness programs within the school to educate the student body that there really is no difference between gay and straight high school students and people in general, and most importantly, there is no reason to harass or make fun of students who are different. We had to fight for it at Blake, despite the school being affectionately known by some as "Bi High" and that students from other high schools at sporting events and the like would often ask students from Blake, "So, you go to Blake? Does that mean you're gay?" The principal did everything he could to block the GSA from forming, up to and including intimidating the faculty against sponsoring the club, and that I know is a fact because a faculty member admitted that to me. Finally, in my senior year, the efforts of Bryan (aka "Big Gay Bryan," the president) and Jorel (the VP and a total hottie) paid off and we found a sponsor that wasn't intimidated by our principal and we had at least 45 people at our inaugural meeting. Even in the 2000/2001 yearbook it said, "The GSA is not as new as some people would like to think." I don't remember ever talking about sex in that club. We didn't even take a census of which students were gay, which were bi, which were straight, and which were questioning, but we were supportive if it came up in the course of our usual activities. As far as I remember, the big thing that year was getting teachers to participate in our "Safe Place" campaign, which meant that they would put stickers in their front classroom windows next to the door to show students being bullied or harassed in the halls could feel safe about taking refuge in their classrooms. Now, that might sound like an obvious thing, something all teachers would want to be a part of, but it's not. We worked hard and only got a few out of dozens of teachers to post the stickers. We also had a number of members participate in the Tampa AIDS Walk that year. The year after I left, when I was a Freshman in college, the GSA at Blake grew to such an extent that they had to hold meetings in the cafeteria because there were no classrooms large enough to fit everyone who wanted to be a part of it.
12/14/2005 - Heard that Colin Farrell is in rehab for exhaustion and dependency on prescription drugs. Poor darling. He needs to sleep more. He's said before that he has had chronic insomnia since he was a child, it was only a matter of time before it caught up to him. He also works way *too* much and knows it. His publicist has released info on how the addiction came about. He injured his back several months ago and was prescribed pain killers for it and has become dependent. At least he was responsible enough to catch himself fairly early and didn't let it go on for years. In somewhat related news, 30 Seconds to Mars has had to cancel some of their show dates because Jared has injured his back. Poor darling... Probably climbed one too many towers or something...
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
The USDA & livestock registration
Got this in an e-mail today and found it very disturbing... but oddly not surprising given the state of government at the moment. Sign the petition if you're as outraged as I am... Is livestock a threat to national security now or something? If someone understands this or has more info on it, please leave me a comment or two.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/369063795?ltl=1136227578
"Small farmers and backyard flock/herd keepers are facing a serious threat to their way of life. The government is proposing a Mandatory Property and Animal Surveillance Program that will require the registration of property and individual animals, even if you have only one chicken, pig, cow, etc. This must be stopped, or all small farmers will be driven out of business.
Help Stop the USDA from Taking Away Our Livestock and Our Pets
Poultry keepers and small farmers are facing a serious threat from a proposed government intrusion in to their pastimes and way of life. For quite a while now, the USDA has been working with the very largest scale animal industry organizations ( for example, The National Pork Producers, Monsanto Company, and Cargill Meat) to develop a mandatory "National Animal Identification System" (NAIS). Most small scale livestock producers, people who raise animals for their own food, and people who keep horses and livestock as companion animals do not know about this. The NAIS will drive small producers out of the market, will force people to stop raising animals for their own food, and will invade our privacy to an extreme degree. It will violate the religious freedoms of Americans whose beliefs make it impossible for them to comply, and will destroy the last vestiges of animal welfare from the production of animals for food.
On April 25, 2005,the USDA released "Draft Program Standards" and a "Draft Strategic Plan" concerning the NAIS. If you think the description below to bizarre to be true, please go to usda.gov/nais and read the Standards and Plan and check the citations for yourself.
By January 1, 2008, the NAIS will be mandatory.(Plan,pp. 2,10,17) Every person who owns even one horse, cow ,pig, chicken, sheep, pigeon, or virtually any livestock animal, will be forced to register their home, including the owners name, address and phone number, and keyed to Global Positioning System coordinates for satellite monitoring in a giant federal database under a 7-digit "premises id number." St., pp. 3-4, 10-12; Plan,p.5) Every animal will be assigned a 15 digit I.D. number, also to be kept in a federal database. The id will likely be a tag or microchip containing a Radio Frequency Device, designed to be read from a distance. (Plan, p.10; St.,pp.6,12,20,27-28.) The plan may include collecting the DNA of every animal and /or a retinal scan. The owner will be required to report the birthdate of every animal, the application of every animal's id tag, every time an animal enters or leaves the property, every time an animal loses a tag, every time a tag is replaced, the slaughter or death of an animal, if any animal is missing. These events must be reported within 24 hours.
Third parties, like veterinarians, will be required to report "sightings" of animals. For example, if you have a vet on your property to treat a sick animal, and the vet sees any animal without the mandatory 15-digit computer readable id, the vet will be required to report you. If you do not comply, the USDA will exorcise "enforcement" against you. The USDA hasn't specified the nature of "enforcement" as of yet, but it will probably include fines and/or seizing your animals. There are no exceptions - under this plan you will be forced to register an report even if you raise animals only for your own food or keep horses for draft or transportation.
What you can do: Small scale keepers of poultry and other livestock can take action to create an effective movement in opposition to the USDA plan. First, small scale livestock owners should not participate in any "voluntary" state or federal program to register farms or animals. The USDA is making farmers willingness to participate in a "voluntary" program as a justification for making the program mandatory. ( See Plan, "Executive Summary" and pp.7-8) Small farmers and livestock owners can also help to inform and organize others. The USDA presently does not plan to finalize it's rules for mandatory id until the summer of 2006. There is still time to make your voice heard. Please, sign this petition and let the USDA know we will not stand for having our right, freedoms, and personal privacy taken away. Thank you."
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/369063795?ltl=1136227578
"Small farmers and backyard flock/herd keepers are facing a serious threat to their way of life. The government is proposing a Mandatory Property and Animal Surveillance Program that will require the registration of property and individual animals, even if you have only one chicken, pig, cow, etc. This must be stopped, or all small farmers will be driven out of business.
Help Stop the USDA from Taking Away Our Livestock and Our Pets
Poultry keepers and small farmers are facing a serious threat from a proposed government intrusion in to their pastimes and way of life. For quite a while now, the USDA has been working with the very largest scale animal industry organizations ( for example, The National Pork Producers, Monsanto Company, and Cargill Meat) to develop a mandatory "National Animal Identification System" (NAIS). Most small scale livestock producers, people who raise animals for their own food, and people who keep horses and livestock as companion animals do not know about this. The NAIS will drive small producers out of the market, will force people to stop raising animals for their own food, and will invade our privacy to an extreme degree. It will violate the religious freedoms of Americans whose beliefs make it impossible for them to comply, and will destroy the last vestiges of animal welfare from the production of animals for food.
On April 25, 2005,the USDA released "Draft Program Standards" and a "Draft Strategic Plan" concerning the NAIS. If you think the description below to bizarre to be true, please go to usda.gov/nais and read the Standards and Plan and check the citations for yourself.
By January 1, 2008, the NAIS will be mandatory.(Plan,pp. 2,10,17) Every person who owns even one horse, cow ,pig, chicken, sheep, pigeon, or virtually any livestock animal, will be forced to register their home, including the owners name, address and phone number, and keyed to Global Positioning System coordinates for satellite monitoring in a giant federal database under a 7-digit "premises id number." St., pp. 3-4, 10-12; Plan,p.5) Every animal will be assigned a 15 digit I.D. number, also to be kept in a federal database. The id will likely be a tag or microchip containing a Radio Frequency Device, designed to be read from a distance. (Plan, p.10; St.,pp.6,12,20,27-28.) The plan may include collecting the DNA of every animal and /or a retinal scan. The owner will be required to report the birthdate of every animal, the application of every animal's id tag, every time an animal enters or leaves the property, every time an animal loses a tag, every time a tag is replaced, the slaughter or death of an animal, if any animal is missing. These events must be reported within 24 hours.
Third parties, like veterinarians, will be required to report "sightings" of animals. For example, if you have a vet on your property to treat a sick animal, and the vet sees any animal without the mandatory 15-digit computer readable id, the vet will be required to report you. If you do not comply, the USDA will exorcise "enforcement" against you. The USDA hasn't specified the nature of "enforcement" as of yet, but it will probably include fines and/or seizing your animals. There are no exceptions - under this plan you will be forced to register an report even if you raise animals only for your own food or keep horses for draft or transportation.
What you can do: Small scale keepers of poultry and other livestock can take action to create an effective movement in opposition to the USDA plan. First, small scale livestock owners should not participate in any "voluntary" state or federal program to register farms or animals. The USDA is making farmers willingness to participate in a "voluntary" program as a justification for making the program mandatory. ( See Plan, "Executive Summary" and pp.7-8) Small farmers and livestock owners can also help to inform and organize others. The USDA presently does not plan to finalize it's rules for mandatory id until the summer of 2006. There is still time to make your voice heard. Please, sign this petition and let the USDA know we will not stand for having our right, freedoms, and personal privacy taken away. Thank you."
Body of St. Mark may actually be Alexander the Great
So I recently stumbled upon this website: http://www.alexanderstomb.com/ . To summarize the site for those who don't want to go stumble around there, this historian and achaeologist, Andrew Chugg, has reason to believe that historians and archaeologists have missed a few things when looking for the tomb of Alexander and that the local Alexandrian story that it is under the Mosque of Daniel in Alexandria (which can't be confirmed since they won't allow excavation under the holy site) is actually false and that it was made up after the stone sarcophagus of Alexander was moved by the British to London in 1802. His mummified remains were not in the sarcophagus, and it had been found about 5 years earlier by Napoleon empty, and appeared to have been empty for quite some time. It being Alexander the Great here, and Napoleon being who he was, I don't think he would have lied about that.
So having gone over the surviving ancient sources on Alexander's tomb, the location of his body and the history of Alexandria, Chugg has come to the conclusion that it may have become misidentified by the time Muslim forces took over Alexandria from the Christians and that they may have by that time started venerating the remains as the remains of St. Mark, the founder of Christianity in Alexandria, much as Alexander's remains had been venerated by the pagans as the founder of Alexandria itself. In the earliest records of the death of St. Mark, he was said to have been martyred and his remains burned. Later records say that a miracle occurred and that his remains were spared from the flames and protected by his Christian followers. In 828 CE, the remains officially identified (though not scientifically identified) as those of St. Mark were smuggled out of Alexandria by Venetian tradesmen when the Arabs took the city and taken to Venice where they were housed and continue to be housed in the Basilica of St. Mark (or San Marco). I shudder to think of Alexander's remains in a city so wet and prone to flooding, not that Alexandria, Egypt was much better, but supposedly they have been moved, as flooding has grown worse in recent years, to a part of the church safe from flooding.
Now, as of July 2005, the Vatican is still refusing Mr. Chugg's requests for an investigation of St. Mark's remains to determine their date of origin, cause of death, and, in fact, if they are not the remains of St. Mark, but rather the remains of Alexander the Great... At which time, I hope they are removed to a safer, drier, more stable location. One can well imagine all the reasons why the Vatican would not want that to be proven. Mr. Chugg has information on his site about how you can help his cause to get permission from the Vatican under "St. Mark Testing."
So having gone over the surviving ancient sources on Alexander's tomb, the location of his body and the history of Alexandria, Chugg has come to the conclusion that it may have become misidentified by the time Muslim forces took over Alexandria from the Christians and that they may have by that time started venerating the remains as the remains of St. Mark, the founder of Christianity in Alexandria, much as Alexander's remains had been venerated by the pagans as the founder of Alexandria itself. In the earliest records of the death of St. Mark, he was said to have been martyred and his remains burned. Later records say that a miracle occurred and that his remains were spared from the flames and protected by his Christian followers. In 828 CE, the remains officially identified (though not scientifically identified) as those of St. Mark were smuggled out of Alexandria by Venetian tradesmen when the Arabs took the city and taken to Venice where they were housed and continue to be housed in the Basilica of St. Mark (or San Marco). I shudder to think of Alexander's remains in a city so wet and prone to flooding, not that Alexandria, Egypt was much better, but supposedly they have been moved, as flooding has grown worse in recent years, to a part of the church safe from flooding.
Now, as of July 2005, the Vatican is still refusing Mr. Chugg's requests for an investigation of St. Mark's remains to determine their date of origin, cause of death, and, in fact, if they are not the remains of St. Mark, but rather the remains of Alexander the Great... At which time, I hope they are removed to a safer, drier, more stable location. One can well imagine all the reasons why the Vatican would not want that to be proven. Mr. Chugg has information on his site about how you can help his cause to get permission from the Vatican under "St. Mark Testing."
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
International Adoption News
Appalling! Australia should be ashamed of itself... again!
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,17426243-5001821,00.html
While I concede the point that homes and help probably can't be found for all of these hundreds of thousands of children in China, Kenya and Ethiopia, certainly some can be helped by those adoptive parents willing to go that route. Australia! ::tisk, tisk:: In this case, you're right up there with the British attitude of near-indifference during the Irish Potato Famine and the US during WW2 when they turned away the refugee ship "Saint Louis" full of German Jews trying to escape the Nazis.
Romania, on the other hand, should be very proud!
http://www.daily-news.ro/article_detail.php?idarticle=19679
That's right, Romania, don't let the US try to tell you what to do. You're a sovereign nation and I can't see why this issue should be of concern to the US government anyway. I think there's probably some funny business motivating the Helsinki Commission in this case. Can't see why they'd stick their nose in it if there weren't...
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,17426243-5001821,00.html
While I concede the point that homes and help probably can't be found for all of these hundreds of thousands of children in China, Kenya and Ethiopia, certainly some can be helped by those adoptive parents willing to go that route. Australia! ::tisk, tisk:: In this case, you're right up there with the British attitude of near-indifference during the Irish Potato Famine and the US during WW2 when they turned away the refugee ship "Saint Louis" full of German Jews trying to escape the Nazis.
Romania, on the other hand, should be very proud!
http://www.daily-news.ro/article_detail.php?idarticle=19679
That's right, Romania, don't let the US try to tell you what to do. You're a sovereign nation and I can't see why this issue should be of concern to the US government anyway. I think there's probably some funny business motivating the Helsinki Commission in this case. Can't see why they'd stick their nose in it if there weren't...
Blogger, blogger, where are art thou?
Blogger's been sporadically down for the last day or so. It's been hell trying to update posts. And now, my blog isn't formatted right. I am hoping that this is just another symptom of their problems and I didn't do anything to screw up the code. I've changed my template 6 times to see if that would correct the problem, manually changing the links and other changes I had made to the code before I noticed the problem to see if that would correct it, but every time it still has my profile, etc. at the bottom of the page instead of up at the top right hand side where it's supposed to be. Since even after I've reset the template and before I've altered it, it is still doing this, I'm going to assume that it is their issue, not mine, and that it will correct itself soon. Let's hope so.
Monday, December 05, 2005
Other stuff about the concert
They had really good catering. The cookies were *evil*... double-chocolate macadamia nut, and pecan caramel chocolate. There was also fresh fruit and cuban food... pulled pork, rice, beans, that sort of thing... and steamed veggies. There was soda to drink and the best bottled water in the whole world, Zephyrhills, which comes from a spring 45 minutes north of my house. There was probably beer too, but I don't like beer so I didn't notice.
Andrea went to the concert seperately from Maria and me. She flew down from Chicago pretty much just for the show. She was in the mosh pit while we were standing on stage. She body-surfed twice. Jared stopped singing mid-song twice to save people in the pit. The first time, he said, "Hey, hey, all you crazy mother f-ckers, if someone falls, you pick them the f-ck up!" And the second time he said something like, "Everyone, pick everybody up!" I think Andrea said she fell once. She was certainly bruised enough at the end of the day and came home with Maria and I around 4:30. She wanted to stay until the end of the show at 9pm, but she was feeling sick from too much heat and not enough water or food since 10am that morning. We got her some cookies and water from backstage and then headed out.
Everyone warned us of the parking in downtown Clearwater, but it wasn't too bad. We had found a lot that was free about a mile and a half from the park and the walk wasn't too bad. Taffic was quite light despite the show, it being Sunday afternoon downtown. And even though I had blisters and my feet were throbing, I barely noticed and I was feeling surprisingly little pain 'cause I was floating somewhere up in the stratosphere, and didn't come down until this morning when I realized I still have a mini-term paper to write... I still haven't written it, but I'll be working on it in a few minutes once I've finished with this. It's not due til tomorrow at 2pm, so I've still got time...
Andrea went to the concert seperately from Maria and me. She flew down from Chicago pretty much just for the show. She was in the mosh pit while we were standing on stage. She body-surfed twice. Jared stopped singing mid-song twice to save people in the pit. The first time, he said, "Hey, hey, all you crazy mother f-ckers, if someone falls, you pick them the f-ck up!" And the second time he said something like, "Everyone, pick everybody up!" I think Andrea said she fell once. She was certainly bruised enough at the end of the day and came home with Maria and I around 4:30. She wanted to stay until the end of the show at 9pm, but she was feeling sick from too much heat and not enough water or food since 10am that morning. We got her some cookies and water from backstage and then headed out.
Everyone warned us of the parking in downtown Clearwater, but it wasn't too bad. We had found a lot that was free about a mile and a half from the park and the walk wasn't too bad. Taffic was quite light despite the show, it being Sunday afternoon downtown. And even though I had blisters and my feet were throbing, I barely noticed and I was feeling surprisingly little pain 'cause I was floating somewhere up in the stratosphere, and didn't come down until this morning when I realized I still have a mini-term paper to write... I still haven't written it, but I'll be working on it in a few minutes once I've finished with this. It's not due til tomorrow at 2pm, so I've still got time...
Next Big Thing 5 & Jared Leto
Warning: this is going to get very "fangirl" at times... It was unavoidable.
I love my brother, but I don't always like him. Yesterday, he really came through for me though. He got me tickets for myself and my friend, Maria, so we could go to completely sold out The Next Big Thing 5 concert at Coachman Park in Clearwater, FL. Then when we got there, he gave us backstage all-access passes. I will be forever grateful to him for that. Josh was at the concert because Alkaline Trio was playing and he works for them right now. And while Alkaline Trio is great and it was awesome to see them play, the real reason both Maria and I were there was to see 30 Seconds to Mars and Jared Leto. We stood on the stage while both of those bands played, for over 2 hours in all, about 15 or 20 feet from the leadsingers' microphone, and needless to say we were both partially deaf when the music stopped. But we *so* didn't care!
After Alkaline left the stage, we knew within minutes we would be seeing Jared Leto in the flesh, and had to quell our fangirl reactions to that. If we made a scene, we'd get thrown out and that was pretty much the only thing stopping us I think... that and the fact we didn't want to scare him. So he and the rest of the band walked on stage from the back entrance and I was like, "Oh my god, there he is," and did my damnedest not to stare. He and the rest of the band had a little pow-wow at the back of the stage, standing in a circle with their heads together and their arms across each other's shoulders, and then the master-of-ceremonies announced the band. The crowd of approximately 15,000 went wild! Jared was the last one to take up his instrument and microphone. He said "f-ck" or a variation thereof *a lot* while talking to the screaming masses... It was awesome. I, being the good former Girl Scout that I am, came completely prepared. I had my trusty camera with the telephoto lens so I could get good close-ups, and it's a damn good thing I did 'cause during "Buddha," Jared climbed to the top of the scaffolding and sang from 50 feet in the air. Crazy, crazy!
After the performance was over, the band all left the stage. They said they were going to be signing autographs on "CDs, posters, t-shirts, bras, panties, and jockstraps" in the merch tent. Maria and I were going to head over there, but first we had to get off stage without getting in the way of the roadies setting up the next band's equipment. Maria stayed where we had been standing the whole time to see if she could get ahold of one of the guitar picks that the band had left on the stage floor. I made my way around to the back to the passageways that led out into the open. The opening in the black tarp where people and equipment could come through from the stage and backstage areas was almost completely clogged with amps and speakers and the drum kit, so much so that I couldn't get through there. So I crouched down under a part of the tarp that was being held up by the amps about three and a half feet above the floor to get backstage. And as I stood up on the other side, I nearly smacked straight in to Jared who was standing on just the other side. He was just turning to face where I was coming from, and my eyes went wide and I'm sure I blushed and stopped breathing, and I skittered off to the right as he and the rest of the band were trying to get oriented. They seemed to be in a big hurry. I can't remember if it was Maria or Andrea who said that I should have let myself fall into him or bump into him, in the hopes that he'd actually put his hands on me and ask me if I was okay... ::sighs:: The things you think of after the fact...
I love my brother, but I don't always like him. Yesterday, he really came through for me though. He got me tickets for myself and my friend, Maria, so we could go to completely sold out The Next Big Thing 5 concert at Coachman Park in Clearwater, FL. Then when we got there, he gave us backstage all-access passes. I will be forever grateful to him for that. Josh was at the concert because Alkaline Trio was playing and he works for them right now. And while Alkaline Trio is great and it was awesome to see them play, the real reason both Maria and I were there was to see 30 Seconds to Mars and Jared Leto. We stood on the stage while both of those bands played, for over 2 hours in all, about 15 or 20 feet from the leadsingers' microphone, and needless to say we were both partially deaf when the music stopped. But we *so* didn't care!
After Alkaline left the stage, we knew within minutes we would be seeing Jared Leto in the flesh, and had to quell our fangirl reactions to that. If we made a scene, we'd get thrown out and that was pretty much the only thing stopping us I think... that and the fact we didn't want to scare him. So he and the rest of the band walked on stage from the back entrance and I was like, "Oh my god, there he is," and did my damnedest not to stare. He and the rest of the band had a little pow-wow at the back of the stage, standing in a circle with their heads together and their arms across each other's shoulders, and then the master-of-ceremonies announced the band. The crowd of approximately 15,000 went wild! Jared was the last one to take up his instrument and microphone. He said "f-ck" or a variation thereof *a lot* while talking to the screaming masses... It was awesome. I, being the good former Girl Scout that I am, came completely prepared. I had my trusty camera with the telephoto lens so I could get good close-ups, and it's a damn good thing I did 'cause during "Buddha," Jared climbed to the top of the scaffolding and sang from 50 feet in the air. Crazy, crazy!
He climbed higher than this, but when he got above the lights, I couldn't see anything but his feet from where I was. The crowd was loving it!
Just before he jumped back down to the stage:
I couldn't believe that he did this, but I have since found out that, apparently, he does this a lot... Andrea said later when I found her in the crowd that his insurance company must love him.
They sang 5 songs. These pages, pictured below, were taped in various discreet places around the stage, I guess so everyone could remember the order of the songs. The one with 97X on it (the name of the radio station sponsoring the event) was Jared's... I suppose so he could remember the name of the station he was supposed to thank.
After the performance was over, the band all left the stage. They said they were going to be signing autographs on "CDs, posters, t-shirts, bras, panties, and jockstraps" in the merch tent. Maria and I were going to head over there, but first we had to get off stage without getting in the way of the roadies setting up the next band's equipment. Maria stayed where we had been standing the whole time to see if she could get ahold of one of the guitar picks that the band had left on the stage floor. I made my way around to the back to the passageways that led out into the open. The opening in the black tarp where people and equipment could come through from the stage and backstage areas was almost completely clogged with amps and speakers and the drum kit, so much so that I couldn't get through there. So I crouched down under a part of the tarp that was being held up by the amps about three and a half feet above the floor to get backstage. And as I stood up on the other side, I nearly smacked straight in to Jared who was standing on just the other side. He was just turning to face where I was coming from, and my eyes went wide and I'm sure I blushed and stopped breathing, and I skittered off to the right as he and the rest of the band were trying to get oriented. They seemed to be in a big hurry. I can't remember if it was Maria or Andrea who said that I should have let myself fall into him or bump into him, in the hopes that he'd actually put his hands on me and ask me if I was okay... ::sighs:: The things you think of after the fact...
Once Maria and I were back together again, we left the backstage area and headed over to the merch tent. We wanted to get our laminated backstage passes signed. The crowd was overwhelming and after repeated attempts to get it organized and under control, the band had to retreat to the backstage area because it was getting scary. Lucky for me and Maria, we were able to get through the crowd a lot faster than they did and had just gotten through the backstage security when they came through themselves, black permanent markers in hand. Maria was quick as they were walking in through the fences and got Shannon's autograph and the drummer's too? (sorry, I'm a bad fan and don't know the other's names) Then, once completely backstage again, Maria, being the brave one, went up to Jared when his back was partially turned, and touched his arm and asked for his autograph, which he scribbled quickly, thanking her, and I sidled up next to him and got him to sign my backstage pass as well. He touched my finger when he held the pass steady. The fangirl in me squealed, but outwardly I just shyly said "thank you," as he thanked me, and stepped away.
Let me tell you, it is physically *painful* to look in that man's eyes, they're so pretty. ::sighs:: They're blue-gray, ya know... yesterday they appeared more grayish than they naturally are because of the heavy black eye-liner he had on.
There will be more about the concert later, but for now, here's some more pictures. All of them are mine, do not post them elsewhere or steal them for yourself. Ask, and I'll consider it.
All of these images can be clicked on to get bigger versions of the image:
Everytime Jared would drink from a bottle of water, as pictured above, he'd chug it down as much as he could at one time and then turn around a throw the rest of the bottle out over the crowd, which just made them scream louder. He did this maybe five or six times during their set. Andrea said everytime he did that, all she could think was "yeah! water!"
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Grad school & dissertation defenses
Anybody have any experience with dissertation defenses? I've been thinking about what it would actually entail and...
Have I mentioned before that I have horrendous, petrifying stage fright? The only "D" I ever got in my entire life was the direct result of my outright, steadfast, obstinate refusal to stand in front of a class to do my French oral exams the entire last semester of my high school Freshman year because I was so traumatized by the first one I had to do. My teacher, Dr. Groux, tried to embarrass me into capitulating by announcing to the entire class each time I elected to take a zero and publicly detailing the consequences of my actions, but I still wouldn't do it. Mind you, I got an A on that first one, but I just *couldn't* do it again. People said the entire morning that I was looking like I was about to be led to my execution or something, all white as a sheet, glassy-eyed and shaking. My heart was also pounding so hard I thought it would burst and my throat felt like it was closing up, and when it was all over, I went back to a desk at the back of the room and cried for like 20 minutes. I actually scared my classmates. My whole class talked about it for like *days* afterward, people asking if I was okay... people I didn't even know... Three people *in another grade* came up to me on the bus even, saying that they had heard about it and had been praying for me. But that's all the details I can give about it without having flashbacks (not as hyperbolic a statement as I'd like it to be).
Even before the horror stories I've heard from Zinzi and some of my professors, just the thought of doing a dissertation defense made me feel nervous as hell... Now, I just feel like I'm going to burst into tears, faint or have a nervous breakdown, or all three, every time I think about it. Unfortunately, I'm not the kind of person who can ignore the unpleasant eventualities and focus on the other details right up to the last second... like the reason why I'd have to go through that in the first place... to get those nice little letters added to the end of my name, "MA" and "PhD," to increase my monetary earnings by a significant percentage, and just to get to do all the things one with a PhD gets to do (one must admit it opens a lot of doors). No, no, I've got to dwell and brood over my worst fears...
Mom keeps saying that I need to just say to myself that "my dissertation committee would just be trying to help me" over and over again... She thinks that even if it's not true, if I convince myself of it, I'll be able to to it. That works up to a point... Then I remember what certain profs have said about ripping apart candidates' dissertations at the defense just to see if they can get them to flinch and that argument starts to loose merit... and the mantra turns into "my dissertation committee is going to kill me" or something like it. In addition to the mantra, Mom has also suggested anti-anxiety meds, but I have, as some would delicately put it, personal "opinions" on medication for non-organic problems... She would have suggested therapy too, since she seems to think it's one of the best things *ever*, but she knows better, having suggested it a few times before for other issues of my adolescence and, as a result, didn't hear the end of it for *weeks* afterward. Needless to say, I took the very suggestion as a grave insult, nevermind that she was just trying to help. Though intellectually I know that therapy has helped many people through problems and some people even *need* it in order to function, I can't help but insist that I don't, come hell or high water... I could detail a number of reasons why because I am self-aware enough to know why I think this way, but that might be getting a little too far inside my head for my own peace of mind in such a potentially public venue.
Now, some might say I should worry about finishing my BA first... or maybe worry about getting into grad school first, or even topics, before worrying about a defense, but I just can't seem to worry about any of those things. I'm going to get my BA, it's just a matter of when. And there's going to be *some* grad program *somewhere* that will take me, even if not one of my top picks, though I don't even think that will be much of a problem, so I'm not worrying about that. And I have a list as long as my arm of topics I'd like to research and write on, and narrowing research topics and academic writing has *never* been a problem for me. It's actually one of my strengths. So my next thing to worry about is the defense... Enter my extreme performance anxiety, et voila! The problem and I panic. Because what would be the point of going through all the trouble of grad school and dissertations if I couldn't get my degrees because of this? 'Cause until I convince myself emotionally that it's not going to kill me (cause while intellectually I know it won't, that really is the level of gut-wrenching fear I'm dealing with here), I don't see all that much point in trying. And yet, it's still something I feel I need to do... to bide my time 'til I figure out what I'm going to do with my life and/or I get my "MRS degree" (a suggestion and term I first heard in a Sociology class much to the horror of my Sociology prof. She was even more scandalized that no one in the class found the idea particularly offensive, but that's a whole 'nuther subject), if for no other reasons. But I'd also just generally like to get at least an MA with the possibility of going on to my PhD, just to have it, if one can understand that.
So, what I think I need to know is people's practical advise and first-hand experience dealing with this sort of thing, grad school and dissertation defenses... procedure, preparation, how much of it is just the formality of arcane & archaic tradition, etc. Not sensational exceptions to the rule, which I'm hoping is all I've heard thus far, but rather, what one would generally expect... Anybody out there willing to help me out?
Have I mentioned before that I have horrendous, petrifying stage fright? The only "D" I ever got in my entire life was the direct result of my outright, steadfast, obstinate refusal to stand in front of a class to do my French oral exams the entire last semester of my high school Freshman year because I was so traumatized by the first one I had to do. My teacher, Dr. Groux, tried to embarrass me into capitulating by announcing to the entire class each time I elected to take a zero and publicly detailing the consequences of my actions, but I still wouldn't do it. Mind you, I got an A on that first one, but I just *couldn't* do it again. People said the entire morning that I was looking like I was about to be led to my execution or something, all white as a sheet, glassy-eyed and shaking. My heart was also pounding so hard I thought it would burst and my throat felt like it was closing up, and when it was all over, I went back to a desk at the back of the room and cried for like 20 minutes. I actually scared my classmates. My whole class talked about it for like *days* afterward, people asking if I was okay... people I didn't even know... Three people *in another grade* came up to me on the bus even, saying that they had heard about it and had been praying for me. But that's all the details I can give about it without having flashbacks (not as hyperbolic a statement as I'd like it to be).
Even before the horror stories I've heard from Zinzi and some of my professors, just the thought of doing a dissertation defense made me feel nervous as hell... Now, I just feel like I'm going to burst into tears, faint or have a nervous breakdown, or all three, every time I think about it. Unfortunately, I'm not the kind of person who can ignore the unpleasant eventualities and focus on the other details right up to the last second... like the reason why I'd have to go through that in the first place... to get those nice little letters added to the end of my name, "MA" and "PhD," to increase my monetary earnings by a significant percentage, and just to get to do all the things one with a PhD gets to do (one must admit it opens a lot of doors). No, no, I've got to dwell and brood over my worst fears...
Mom keeps saying that I need to just say to myself that "my dissertation committee would just be trying to help me" over and over again... She thinks that even if it's not true, if I convince myself of it, I'll be able to to it. That works up to a point... Then I remember what certain profs have said about ripping apart candidates' dissertations at the defense just to see if they can get them to flinch and that argument starts to loose merit... and the mantra turns into "my dissertation committee is going to kill me" or something like it. In addition to the mantra, Mom has also suggested anti-anxiety meds, but I have, as some would delicately put it, personal "opinions" on medication for non-organic problems... She would have suggested therapy too, since she seems to think it's one of the best things *ever*, but she knows better, having suggested it a few times before for other issues of my adolescence and, as a result, didn't hear the end of it for *weeks* afterward. Needless to say, I took the very suggestion as a grave insult, nevermind that she was just trying to help. Though intellectually I know that therapy has helped many people through problems and some people even *need* it in order to function, I can't help but insist that I don't, come hell or high water... I could detail a number of reasons why because I am self-aware enough to know why I think this way, but that might be getting a little too far inside my head for my own peace of mind in such a potentially public venue.
Now, some might say I should worry about finishing my BA first... or maybe worry about getting into grad school first, or even topics, before worrying about a defense, but I just can't seem to worry about any of those things. I'm going to get my BA, it's just a matter of when. And there's going to be *some* grad program *somewhere* that will take me, even if not one of my top picks, though I don't even think that will be much of a problem, so I'm not worrying about that. And I have a list as long as my arm of topics I'd like to research and write on, and narrowing research topics and academic writing has *never* been a problem for me. It's actually one of my strengths. So my next thing to worry about is the defense... Enter my extreme performance anxiety, et voila! The problem and I panic. Because what would be the point of going through all the trouble of grad school and dissertations if I couldn't get my degrees because of this? 'Cause until I convince myself emotionally that it's not going to kill me (cause while intellectually I know it won't, that really is the level of gut-wrenching fear I'm dealing with here), I don't see all that much point in trying. And yet, it's still something I feel I need to do... to bide my time 'til I figure out what I'm going to do with my life and/or I get my "MRS degree" (a suggestion and term I first heard in a Sociology class much to the horror of my Sociology prof. She was even more scandalized that no one in the class found the idea particularly offensive, but that's a whole 'nuther subject), if for no other reasons. But I'd also just generally like to get at least an MA with the possibility of going on to my PhD, just to have it, if one can understand that.
So, what I think I need to know is people's practical advise and first-hand experience dealing with this sort of thing, grad school and dissertation defenses... procedure, preparation, how much of it is just the formality of arcane & archaic tradition, etc. Not sensational exceptions to the rule, which I'm hoping is all I've heard thus far, but rather, what one would generally expect... Anybody out there willing to help me out?
Monday, November 28, 2005
Wishlists
Since the Holiday shopping season has officially begun, I thought perhaps I should post my wishlists where people could easily find them all. I've checked them both over to make sure that everything is something I'd like, that the sizes are properly entered or that there are notes about each item if necessary.
Torrid: http://www.torrid.com/wishlist/viewSomeonesWishList.asp?W=496133 This can also be printed and taken to a Torrid store if you have one in your local mall.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html/103-9091033-5855015?%5Fencoding=UTF8&type=wishlist&id=3STW15OLD3U17
Both can also be accessed, should the hyperlinks fail, by going to the main page of each site. At Amazon click on the "Wish List" button at the top of the page. this should bring up your own wishlist or a generic one if you don't have one. In the left-hand column there should be a box that says "Find a Wish List." Simply type my name or my yahoo e-mail address. At Torrid, click on the wish list link at the top of the page. A box should appear to the right side of the screen that says, "enter an e-mail address to view that person's wish list." Simply type in my yahoo address.
Gift certificates are likewise appreciated. I also enjoy surprises. ;D Sometimes, I even like surprises better than the stuff on my wishlists. One might like to keep in mind my interests in the arts and crafts if one has access to cool stuff...
Now to get back to my holiday gift shopping...
Torrid: http://www.torrid.com/wishlist/viewSomeonesWishList.asp?W=496133 This can also be printed and taken to a Torrid store if you have one in your local mall.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html/103-9091033-5855015?%5Fencoding=UTF8&type=wishlist&id=3STW15OLD3U17
Both can also be accessed, should the hyperlinks fail, by going to the main page of each site. At Amazon click on the "Wish List" button at the top of the page. this should bring up your own wishlist or a generic one if you don't have one. In the left-hand column there should be a box that says "Find a Wish List." Simply type my name or my yahoo e-mail address. At Torrid, click on the wish list link at the top of the page. A box should appear to the right side of the screen that says, "enter an e-mail address to view that person's wish list." Simply type in my yahoo address.
Gift certificates are likewise appreciated. I also enjoy surprises. ;D Sometimes, I even like surprises better than the stuff on my wishlists. One might like to keep in mind my interests in the arts and crafts if one has access to cool stuff...
Now to get back to my holiday gift shopping...
"Prison Break" on FOX
If you don't watch it, you won't get it, but...
No new episodes until *March*! What is up with that!? I know that they said that this would be the "Fall Finale"... but March?! ... 12 hours left for the prison break plan to work, and we have to wait until March?! ... ::sighs:: I really hate tv sometimes...
No new episodes until *March*! What is up with that!? I know that they said that this would be the "Fall Finale"... but March?! ... 12 hours left for the prison break plan to work, and we have to wait until March?! ... ::sighs:: I really hate tv sometimes...
End of the year prep
One of the big signs of the impending New Year I get every year is my car registration renewal forms. I got that today along with a notice that I have to get a new tag. Woohoo! Apparently, it's been 5 years since I got my car. Doesn't seem that long. Anyway, I figured since I have to get a new one anyway, I might as well get a "specialty tag," one of those tags with a pretty picture on it, which signifies that I've donated money to a particular cause or organization. They have them for just about everything in this state, don't know about others, but we've got over 100 of them now. More than half are for universities and professional sports teams, I'm sorry to say.
I wanted to get one for an environmental program. I was thinking of the Florida Panther or the Manatee or Sea Turtle plates, but they raise several million dollars through the license plate program for them every year. I decided on the Tampa Bay Estuary license because they've only sold 15,000 of them in the last six years and they sell fewer every year. Can't see why. It's a good cause! It benefits the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, an education and conservation program which has been working to clean up and repair Tampa Bay for the past seven years. They remove invasive species of plants and animals, plant mangrove and sea grass flats, and educate the public and get them involved in the conservation efforts. I figured, why help just one species when an entire ecosystem could benefit? You can learn more about the work they do here: http://www.tbep.org/
Oh, and in other news, I'm getting that spinning wheel. ::sighs:: I love ebay... Here's a picture:
I still have to decide how I'm going to stain it. It's solid maple and handmade in Ohio.
I wanted to get one for an environmental program. I was thinking of the Florida Panther or the Manatee or Sea Turtle plates, but they raise several million dollars through the license plate program for them every year. I decided on the Tampa Bay Estuary license because they've only sold 15,000 of them in the last six years and they sell fewer every year. Can't see why. It's a good cause! It benefits the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, an education and conservation program which has been working to clean up and repair Tampa Bay for the past seven years. They remove invasive species of plants and animals, plant mangrove and sea grass flats, and educate the public and get them involved in the conservation efforts. I figured, why help just one species when an entire ecosystem could benefit? You can learn more about the work they do here: http://www.tbep.org/
Oh, and in other news, I'm getting that spinning wheel. ::sighs:: I love ebay... Here's a picture:
I still have to decide how I'm going to stain it. It's solid maple and handmade in Ohio.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
A knitted voodoo doll?
Found a pattern for a knitted voodoo doll, here: http://www.theanticraft.com/badjuju.htm I guess it's for the days when driving to New Orleans for one or finding a local voodoo practicioner is just too much... or to add a personal touch to curse that person who did you wrong.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Friday, November 18, 2005
::squee!::
I got my first letter from a university to "encourage [me] to consider applying for admission to the graduate program in history." It's from Florida State University. How cool! ::claps excitedly:: Gonna have to start checking in to these things pretty soon.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Scary stuff...
Copied from a fwd-ed e-mail I got:
"Please read this, a new twist on kidnapping, a very smart survivor.
"About a month ago there was a woman standing by the mall entrance passing out flyers to all the women going in. The woman had written the flyer herself to tell about an experience she had, so that she might warn other women. The previous day, this woman had finished shopping, went out to her car and discovered that she had a flat.
"She got the jack out of the trunk and began to change the flat. A nice man dressed in business suit and carrying a briefcase walked up to her and said,"I noticed you're changing a flat tire. Would you like me to take care of it for you?" The woman was grateful for his offer and accepted his help. They chatted amiably while the man changed the flat, and then put the flat tire and the jack in the trunk, shut it and dusted his hands off. The woman thanked him profusely, and as she was about to get in her car, the man told her that he left his car around on the other side of the mall, and asked if she would mind giving him a lift to his car. She was a little surprised and she asked him why his car was on other side. He explained that he had seen an old friend in the mall that he hadn't seen for some time and they had a bite to eat and visited for a while he got turned around in the mall and left through the wrong exit, and now he was running late and hiscar was clear around on the other side of the mall.
"The woman hated to tell him "no" because he had just rescued her from having to change her flat tire all by herself, but she felt uneasy. Then shere membered seeing the man put his briefcase in her trunk before shutting it and before he asked her for a ride to his car. She told him that she'd be happy to drive him around to his car, but she just remembered one last thing she needed to buy. She said she would only be a few minutes; he could sit down in her car and wait for her; she would be as quick as she could be.
"She hurried into the mall, and told a security guard what had happened; the guard came out to her car with her, but the man had left. They opened the trunk, took out his locked briefcase and took it down to the police station.
"The police opened it (ostensibly to look for ID so they could return it tothe man). What they found was rope, duct tape, and knives. When the police checked her "flat" tire, there was nothing wrong with it; the air had simplybeen let out. It was obvious what the man's intention was, and obvious thathe had carefully thought it out in advance. The woman was blessed to have escaped harm. How much worse it would have been if she had children with her and had them wait in the car while the man fixed the tire, or if she had a baby strapped into a car seat? Or if she'd gone against her judgment and given him a lift?
"I'd like you to forward this to all the women you know. It may save a life. A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle. I was going to send this to the ladies only; but guys, if you love your mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, etc., you may want to pass it on to them, as well.
"Send this to any woman you know that may need to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it....better safe than sorry.
"PLEASE BE SAFE AND NOT SORRY! JUST A WARNING TO ALWAYS BE ALERT AND USE YOUR HEAD!!!"
Wow, that's scary! Reminds me of the rumor about a serial killer in Louisiana a few years back who was said to have used the tape recording of a baby crying to lure women out of their house at night. I'm pretty sure that was just a rumor, and I hope this is too... There are a few things in the story which make me think it is.
When I bought my bike about two months ago, I had a hard time getting it in my car in the store's parking lot. The lot was mostly empty, so a man talking on his cell phone about 30 feet away could clearly see that I was having issues as there were no other cars blocking the sight-line. After he got off the phone, he opened his car door and kinda shouted over to me asking if I needed any help. I was kinda leery about accepting his help since I was all alone and he was at least 6'4" and probably easily had 100 lbs more muscle than I do, but I just said, "Uh... maybe?"
He came around my car and looked at how the bike was *not* going into the backseat and asked if I thought it would fit in my trunk. I said it was worth a try and popped it. He just picked up the bike like it was nothing and started trying to fit it in the trunk at different angles... It was not working either. Then I remembered that my backseat folds down. So I brought that down and he guided the bike in, while I pulled it halfway into the backseat. Then he secured it with a beach blanket I still had in my trunk from 4th of July weekend so that it wouldn't ding anything if it shifted during the ride home because it still wouldn't go all the way in to my trunk so that the lid would close. He said, "I think this will stay. You don't have too far to go, do you?" I said no, only about 5 miles, and he said, "Oh, it'll be fine. Guess, I've done my good deed for the day," and smiled. I thanked him and shook his hand, and he gave me a couple business cards and said if I ever needed help with a mortgage or a real estate agent to give his wife and him a call. I took the cards, thanked him again, he went back to his car and I got in mine, we both left the parking lot and that was that. And my bike did stay in place all the way home without incident. He was a good guy, obviously, and I was very lucky of that, 'cause even if the story in the forwarded e-mail isn't true, Lord knows there are a lot of creeps out there.
"Please read this, a new twist on kidnapping, a very smart survivor.
"About a month ago there was a woman standing by the mall entrance passing out flyers to all the women going in. The woman had written the flyer herself to tell about an experience she had, so that she might warn other women. The previous day, this woman had finished shopping, went out to her car and discovered that she had a flat.
"She got the jack out of the trunk and began to change the flat. A nice man dressed in business suit and carrying a briefcase walked up to her and said,"I noticed you're changing a flat tire. Would you like me to take care of it for you?" The woman was grateful for his offer and accepted his help. They chatted amiably while the man changed the flat, and then put the flat tire and the jack in the trunk, shut it and dusted his hands off. The woman thanked him profusely, and as she was about to get in her car, the man told her that he left his car around on the other side of the mall, and asked if she would mind giving him a lift to his car. She was a little surprised and she asked him why his car was on other side. He explained that he had seen an old friend in the mall that he hadn't seen for some time and they had a bite to eat and visited for a while he got turned around in the mall and left through the wrong exit, and now he was running late and hiscar was clear around on the other side of the mall.
"The woman hated to tell him "no" because he had just rescued her from having to change her flat tire all by herself, but she felt uneasy. Then shere membered seeing the man put his briefcase in her trunk before shutting it and before he asked her for a ride to his car. She told him that she'd be happy to drive him around to his car, but she just remembered one last thing she needed to buy. She said she would only be a few minutes; he could sit down in her car and wait for her; she would be as quick as she could be.
"She hurried into the mall, and told a security guard what had happened; the guard came out to her car with her, but the man had left. They opened the trunk, took out his locked briefcase and took it down to the police station.
"The police opened it (ostensibly to look for ID so they could return it tothe man). What they found was rope, duct tape, and knives. When the police checked her "flat" tire, there was nothing wrong with it; the air had simplybeen let out. It was obvious what the man's intention was, and obvious thathe had carefully thought it out in advance. The woman was blessed to have escaped harm. How much worse it would have been if she had children with her and had them wait in the car while the man fixed the tire, or if she had a baby strapped into a car seat? Or if she'd gone against her judgment and given him a lift?
"I'd like you to forward this to all the women you know. It may save a life. A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle. I was going to send this to the ladies only; but guys, if you love your mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, etc., you may want to pass it on to them, as well.
"Send this to any woman you know that may need to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it....better safe than sorry.
"PLEASE BE SAFE AND NOT SORRY! JUST A WARNING TO ALWAYS BE ALERT AND USE YOUR HEAD!!!"
Wow, that's scary! Reminds me of the rumor about a serial killer in Louisiana a few years back who was said to have used the tape recording of a baby crying to lure women out of their house at night. I'm pretty sure that was just a rumor, and I hope this is too... There are a few things in the story which make me think it is.
When I bought my bike about two months ago, I had a hard time getting it in my car in the store's parking lot. The lot was mostly empty, so a man talking on his cell phone about 30 feet away could clearly see that I was having issues as there were no other cars blocking the sight-line. After he got off the phone, he opened his car door and kinda shouted over to me asking if I needed any help. I was kinda leery about accepting his help since I was all alone and he was at least 6'4" and probably easily had 100 lbs more muscle than I do, but I just said, "Uh... maybe?"
He came around my car and looked at how the bike was *not* going into the backseat and asked if I thought it would fit in my trunk. I said it was worth a try and popped it. He just picked up the bike like it was nothing and started trying to fit it in the trunk at different angles... It was not working either. Then I remembered that my backseat folds down. So I brought that down and he guided the bike in, while I pulled it halfway into the backseat. Then he secured it with a beach blanket I still had in my trunk from 4th of July weekend so that it wouldn't ding anything if it shifted during the ride home because it still wouldn't go all the way in to my trunk so that the lid would close. He said, "I think this will stay. You don't have too far to go, do you?" I said no, only about 5 miles, and he said, "Oh, it'll be fine. Guess, I've done my good deed for the day," and smiled. I thanked him and shook his hand, and he gave me a couple business cards and said if I ever needed help with a mortgage or a real estate agent to give his wife and him a call. I took the cards, thanked him again, he went back to his car and I got in mine, we both left the parking lot and that was that. And my bike did stay in place all the way home without incident. He was a good guy, obviously, and I was very lucky of that, 'cause even if the story in the forwarded e-mail isn't true, Lord knows there are a lot of creeps out there.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
So... What's your sign?
Mine's Capricorn... The horoscopes offered by Yahoo.com to members on their MyYahoo page have a tendency to be fairly accurate more often than not. Very rarely do I read mine and say, "What the heck is this talking about?" It was creepy how accurate it was about last New Year's Eve and Day... and in fact the entire first week of 2005. Very creepy. It said I'd be walking around in a fog of "oh, really?", as if someone just switched on the light in a dark room that I'd been trying to find my way through, but that I'd just sit back, take it all in, and prudently not share my thoughts with others and that is exactly what was going on... Very creepy...
Here's what it says today:
"Daily Capricorn Forecast [courtesy of Yahoo.com]
"Quickie: Sharing news of your day means nothing unless you share your feelings about it too."
So here goes... Today, I've started trying to set up an exercise support group with my friends. We always say that we all need to exercise more, just to be healthier, but we never seem to actually do it. I figure if we start setting up appointments with each other to go jogging or biking or swimming or go to one of the free aerobics classes at the USF Fitness Center we might actually exercise more. I just hope at least a few of them respond to the e-mail. Getting answers via e-mail or phone has been like pulling teeth lately except from Maria, who tends to be very prompt, but she's living in Orlando until she finishes this semester at UCF...
I think I'm going to have to give this losing weight thing yet another try if I want this neck thing to go away... I'm trying to convince myself that plastic surgery is out of my price range for the foreseeable future. I erased yesterday's blog entry about that earlier this evening, feeling like it was... wrong to have written it in the first place... I usually try to resist those kinds of urges, to censor myself, but I didn't that time. I'm embarrassed about the depth of my vanity and insecurities. It basically was about how I've come to the conclusion that the one seemingly unfixable thing about me that drives me to distraction and makes me self-conscious beyond belief is how my upper-neck area looks in profile. Can't stand it, want it fixed... the sooner, the better. Told my parents this evening that I'd like to look into plastic surgery to fix it. Mom was supportive, I think... and Dad, well, I think he's skeptical that I'll go through with it. He's probably right. I hate doctors... possibly even more than I hate my profile... possibly... That remains to be seen... which is very difficult for me to admit...
"Overview: You'd never admit it, but you tend to be superstitious, especially about sharing secrets. At this point, you need to spill the beans, and do it now -- maybe even twice."
... Unlike me admitting that I'm superstitious... I'm quite surprisingly superstitious. It's one odd thing about Capricorns, since typically Capricorns are extremely pragmatic and firmly planted in reality. I always say "bread and butter" like my grandmother did if she was walking next to someone and they passed around opposite sides of an object in their path. She said if she didn't that a terrible thing would come between her and that person. I never let someone else take a ring off my finger for the same reason. I rinse my hands with clean water before entering a house after coming from a cemetery to keep misfortune away. All of those I got from my Bubbe, which she said her mother brought with her from Russia. I also kinda buy into Astrology as a psuedoscience... kinda... I also knock wood, toss salt over my shoulder, and I've been known to do things to avert the "evil eye" and avoid tempting fate. And I always, always say the Shema as the airplane I'm in takes off or lands, just in case...
"Daily extended (by Astrology.com): Prepare yourself, because you're due for that thrice-yearly irritating astrological period: Mercury's retrograde, and this lasts for three weeks but classically feels as if it lasts a lot longer. While none of your best-laid plans will probably work out the way you want them to, at least knowing that it's coming can help you, right? Don't be mad at anyone who's late or absent, especially since you may have a turn at that yourself next time around. Be patient."
Oh goody! The autumn Mercury in retrograde... This one tends to kick me in the butt more than others. During one a few years ago (before I knew about them), I had my two car accidents within three weeks of each other. Other little unpleasant things often occur during these three weeks... Supposedly, it is unlucky to get married or do any kind of major business during Mercury's retrograde because it's like Murphy's Law in overdrive. Looks like I should probably take a deep breath, learn to meditate and chill so as not to get stressed out.
On a mostly unrelated side of things, I found a pretty cool blog while trying to find the text of the Avot ("The Ancestors" prayer of Jewish liturgy... one of my favorites, it's got a great rhythm) earlier this evening (And I can't find it anywhere. Yet another reason why I need my own copy of "Gates of Prayer" at home.). Here's a link: http://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/ . Gonna have to remember to follow this one...
Here's what it says today:
"Daily Capricorn Forecast [courtesy of Yahoo.com]
"Quickie: Sharing news of your day means nothing unless you share your feelings about it too."
So here goes... Today, I've started trying to set up an exercise support group with my friends. We always say that we all need to exercise more, just to be healthier, but we never seem to actually do it. I figure if we start setting up appointments with each other to go jogging or biking or swimming or go to one of the free aerobics classes at the USF Fitness Center we might actually exercise more. I just hope at least a few of them respond to the e-mail. Getting answers via e-mail or phone has been like pulling teeth lately except from Maria, who tends to be very prompt, but she's living in Orlando until she finishes this semester at UCF...
I think I'm going to have to give this losing weight thing yet another try if I want this neck thing to go away... I'm trying to convince myself that plastic surgery is out of my price range for the foreseeable future. I erased yesterday's blog entry about that earlier this evening, feeling like it was... wrong to have written it in the first place... I usually try to resist those kinds of urges, to censor myself, but I didn't that time. I'm embarrassed about the depth of my vanity and insecurities. It basically was about how I've come to the conclusion that the one seemingly unfixable thing about me that drives me to distraction and makes me self-conscious beyond belief is how my upper-neck area looks in profile. Can't stand it, want it fixed... the sooner, the better. Told my parents this evening that I'd like to look into plastic surgery to fix it. Mom was supportive, I think... and Dad, well, I think he's skeptical that I'll go through with it. He's probably right. I hate doctors... possibly even more than I hate my profile... possibly... That remains to be seen... which is very difficult for me to admit...
"Overview: You'd never admit it, but you tend to be superstitious, especially about sharing secrets. At this point, you need to spill the beans, and do it now -- maybe even twice."
... Unlike me admitting that I'm superstitious... I'm quite surprisingly superstitious. It's one odd thing about Capricorns, since typically Capricorns are extremely pragmatic and firmly planted in reality. I always say "bread and butter" like my grandmother did if she was walking next to someone and they passed around opposite sides of an object in their path. She said if she didn't that a terrible thing would come between her and that person. I never let someone else take a ring off my finger for the same reason. I rinse my hands with clean water before entering a house after coming from a cemetery to keep misfortune away. All of those I got from my Bubbe, which she said her mother brought with her from Russia. I also kinda buy into Astrology as a psuedoscience... kinda... I also knock wood, toss salt over my shoulder, and I've been known to do things to avert the "evil eye" and avoid tempting fate. And I always, always say the Shema as the airplane I'm in takes off or lands, just in case...
"Daily extended (by Astrology.com): Prepare yourself, because you're due for that thrice-yearly irritating astrological period: Mercury's retrograde, and this lasts for three weeks but classically feels as if it lasts a lot longer. While none of your best-laid plans will probably work out the way you want them to, at least knowing that it's coming can help you, right? Don't be mad at anyone who's late or absent, especially since you may have a turn at that yourself next time around. Be patient."
Oh goody! The autumn Mercury in retrograde... This one tends to kick me in the butt more than others. During one a few years ago (before I knew about them), I had my two car accidents within three weeks of each other. Other little unpleasant things often occur during these three weeks... Supposedly, it is unlucky to get married or do any kind of major business during Mercury's retrograde because it's like Murphy's Law in overdrive. Looks like I should probably take a deep breath, learn to meditate and chill so as not to get stressed out.
On a mostly unrelated side of things, I found a pretty cool blog while trying to find the text of the Avot ("The Ancestors" prayer of Jewish liturgy... one of my favorites, it's got a great rhythm) earlier this evening (And I can't find it anywhere. Yet another reason why I need my own copy of "Gates of Prayer" at home.). Here's a link: http://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/ . Gonna have to remember to follow this one...
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Wow! historic knit petticoat
This is amazing! Wish there were more photographs...
Try here: http://tinyurl.com/c4elm .
If that doesn't work, go here:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/knitting/objects/ Then enter in the search field as follows:
Object type: women's clothing
Place: Netherlands
Date range: 1700 - 1760
The two images that come up are what I'm talking about... I'm jealous! I wanna do that!
Try here: http://tinyurl.com/c4elm .
If that doesn't work, go here:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/knitting/objects/ Then enter in the search field as follows:
Object type: women's clothing
Place: Netherlands
Date range: 1700 - 1760
The two images that come up are what I'm talking about... I'm jealous! I wanna do that!
Weekend warriors
Joe and I just finished putting in two hard Saturdays' worth of work getting the pond installed in my backyard outside my parents' bedroom window. It's about 4' x 6' and about 18" deep. There's a lot of cosmetic stuff that still needs to be done and plants and fish need to go in but it's basically done. Here's the photo of what it looked like about an hour ago when we were finished (for now): 
As you can see, the liner is still very visible and a lot of things need some adjusting, but it's basically finished, as I said before. This week when I have time, I'll go around with a spade and even out the ground under the liner around the edges and get the pavers in tight, and I'll spread more pebbles out over the liner, and maybe I'll finally get the roses planted at some point. I also want to put in some papyrus and irises, but those will probably have to wait longer until we get the bed around the pond better defined.
As you can see, the liner is still very visible and a lot of things need some adjusting, but it's basically finished, as I said before. This week when I have time, I'll go around with a spade and even out the ground under the liner around the edges and get the pavers in tight, and I'll spread more pebbles out over the liner, and maybe I'll finally get the roses planted at some point. I also want to put in some papyrus and irises, but those will probably have to wait longer until we get the bed around the pond better defined.
The Holidays are close at hand...
Woo! My favorite time of year is the end of October to mid-January. Why? Because it's one fantastic holiday after another. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Chanukah and Christmas, New Year's... ending with my birthday on January 10th. It's just great!
In preparation, I've been going over my amazon.com wishlist, which is the easiest way to keep track of the mostly moderately priced junk and stuff that I'd like to have for a number of reasons... It can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html/103-9091033-5855015?%5Fencoding=UTF8&type=wishlist&id=3STW15OLD3U17 Or you can just go to amazon.com and find one of those "find a wishlist" boxes which are in different places on different pages at Amazon and then type in my yahoo e-mail address or my first and last name. I really like that it gives options on how to sort the list (by price, by priority, etc.) and it has ways to narrow the list down by categories (DVDs, music, books, etc.).
I've also been going over possible gifts for other people. I've knitted a number of items intended as gifts, but no matter how quickly I knit, I'll never be able to knit something for everyone... That's okay though because I have a number of ideas for most of the people I don't have knitted items for... I do need to remember to get the bitties' wishlists... eventhough I have a number of things in mind for them already, it's always good to know what they actually would like to have.
In preparation, I've been going over my amazon.com wishlist, which is the easiest way to keep track of the mostly moderately priced junk and stuff that I'd like to have for a number of reasons... It can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html/103-9091033-5855015?%5Fencoding=UTF8&type=wishlist&id=3STW15OLD3U17 Or you can just go to amazon.com and find one of those "find a wishlist" boxes which are in different places on different pages at Amazon and then type in my yahoo e-mail address or my first and last name. I really like that it gives options on how to sort the list (by price, by priority, etc.) and it has ways to narrow the list down by categories (DVDs, music, books, etc.).
I've also been going over possible gifts for other people. I've knitted a number of items intended as gifts, but no matter how quickly I knit, I'll never be able to knit something for everyone... That's okay though because I have a number of ideas for most of the people I don't have knitted items for... I do need to remember to get the bitties' wishlists... eventhough I have a number of things in mind for them already, it's always good to know what they actually would like to have.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
"Lost"
I've been practically obsessed with the show since day one. It's just so well-written and the acting is so wonderful and the story and characters are compelling to say the least. It's up there with "The X-Files" as far as all that. (Can anyone tell that "The X-Files" tends to be the TV show by which I measure all others? I can't help it. It was just so well done... until the last season, which we will not speak about here...) Man, oh man... Just saw the latest episode.
***Spoilers beyond this point (that people who don't watch the show probably won't understand, but I've got to gab somewhere)***
So "the others" are at it again... as if they ever stopped. And now this thing with Walt. Not only Shannon seeing him, but also Sayid now... And the voices... And where did that dog go? And now Shannon has been shot by trigger-happy tough-chick, and in the gut too, as if being shot when they are so low on antibiotics weren't bad enough. We already lost Boone, we can't loose his sister too! She better have not just died in Sayid's arms! Neither Shannon nor Sayid need that right now. And of course, there's my favorite cowboy bad boy, Sawyer - also shot and obviously suffering from a very nasty infection. ::sighs:: Ai, this show! I hope they were only messing with us that someone was going to die in this episode, that it was just that new character from the other side of the island who has now disappeared.
On top of that, I have questions left over from previous episodes... Where the heck did the French chick go? And where did that Irish guy go? They both just disappeared into the jungle... "The others" don't go after them? Crazy as they both obviously are... Then there's the hatch thing. What is up with that? Experiment gone awry? Where are the replacements? I'm figuring that the guy who went crazy and died back in Australia and the guy who went crazy and was in the same mental hospital as Hurley in California were the previous workers in this hatch thing and that's why both of them repeated the numbers over and over again... Unless I'm forgetting something from that episode. And what was the French science team from Fiji doing out around the island before they were shipwrecked?
***Spoilers beyond this point (that people who don't watch the show probably won't understand, but I've got to gab somewhere)***
So "the others" are at it again... as if they ever stopped. And now this thing with Walt. Not only Shannon seeing him, but also Sayid now... And the voices... And where did that dog go? And now Shannon has been shot by trigger-happy tough-chick, and in the gut too, as if being shot when they are so low on antibiotics weren't bad enough. We already lost Boone, we can't loose his sister too! She better have not just died in Sayid's arms! Neither Shannon nor Sayid need that right now. And of course, there's my favorite cowboy bad boy, Sawyer - also shot and obviously suffering from a very nasty infection. ::sighs:: Ai, this show! I hope they were only messing with us that someone was going to die in this episode, that it was just that new character from the other side of the island who has now disappeared.
On top of that, I have questions left over from previous episodes... Where the heck did the French chick go? And where did that Irish guy go? They both just disappeared into the jungle... "The others" don't go after them? Crazy as they both obviously are... Then there's the hatch thing. What is up with that? Experiment gone awry? Where are the replacements? I'm figuring that the guy who went crazy and died back in Australia and the guy who went crazy and was in the same mental hospital as Hurley in California were the previous workers in this hatch thing and that's why both of them repeated the numbers over and over again... Unless I'm forgetting something from that episode. And what was the French science team from Fiji doing out around the island before they were shipwrecked?
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Updates and a link
Sorry I haven't written anything lately... Been pretty busy the last few days. Figured I should write something while my facial is drying.
The pond in the backyard is about halfway done. It's all dug out. Now, it just needs to be lined and filled with water, plants and fish... I've got blisters though and that won't do because one can always tell a lady by her hands, although in my defense (unlike Scarlett) I *was* wearing gloves. So finishing that will have to wait until tomorrow. After all tomorrow is another day. (Who saw "Gone With the Wind" far too often at apparently too young an age?... Me! Me!)
I can't remember if I mentioned it yet, but I got a B on my Geology midterm and an A on both my Archaeology midterm and paper. WooHoo!! Quite happy about that. I'll be able to register for Spring semester classes on Nov. 16th. Don't know what I'm taking yet because once again there are like *no* Medieval history classes being offered... Professor Hughey and I must be the only people in the school who care about Medieval history. ::sighs:: I'm going to try to do an independent study so I can get my upper level credits finished. And then there's two options: foreign language (which is almost definitely out because they aren't offering many beginning levels this semester unless I want more French, which I don't because it will require 4 more credits than I need to take it and that's like $400 I don't need to give USF), or the History exit requirements. I'm going in to talk to my MIA advisor next week come hell or high water or both. And that's that.
And as I promised some people a while ago, here is a link for the "Very Secret Diaries" written by Lord of the Rings fan Cassandra Claire: http://homepages.nyu.edu/~amw243/diaries/ The diaries are a work of parody, all in good fun, but they are *definitely* not appropriate for children. And for the sake of continuity, they should be read in the order in which they are listed going left to right. Also, best if read when one is in the mood for something funny. If you're not, you might just think it's really dumb... which it probably is, but it can be really funny too...
The pond in the backyard is about halfway done. It's all dug out. Now, it just needs to be lined and filled with water, plants and fish... I've got blisters though and that won't do because one can always tell a lady by her hands, although in my defense (unlike Scarlett) I *was* wearing gloves. So finishing that will have to wait until tomorrow. After all tomorrow is another day. (Who saw "Gone With the Wind" far too often at apparently too young an age?... Me! Me!)
I can't remember if I mentioned it yet, but I got a B on my Geology midterm and an A on both my Archaeology midterm and paper. WooHoo!! Quite happy about that. I'll be able to register for Spring semester classes on Nov. 16th. Don't know what I'm taking yet because once again there are like *no* Medieval history classes being offered... Professor Hughey and I must be the only people in the school who care about Medieval history. ::sighs:: I'm going to try to do an independent study so I can get my upper level credits finished. And then there's two options: foreign language (which is almost definitely out because they aren't offering many beginning levels this semester unless I want more French, which I don't because it will require 4 more credits than I need to take it and that's like $400 I don't need to give USF), or the History exit requirements. I'm going in to talk to my MIA advisor next week come hell or high water or both. And that's that.
And as I promised some people a while ago, here is a link for the "Very Secret Diaries" written by Lord of the Rings fan Cassandra Claire: http://homepages.nyu.edu/~amw243/diaries/ The diaries are a work of parody, all in good fun, but they are *definitely* not appropriate for children. And for the sake of continuity, they should be read in the order in which they are listed going left to right. Also, best if read when one is in the mood for something funny. If you're not, you might just think it's really dumb... which it probably is, but it can be really funny too...
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Pleasant surprise
Usually, I dislike female characters on TV... Lana Lang on "Smallville," every girl on "90210," "Melrose Place," and (uck!) "Sex in the City" to name a few off the top of my head. They're unusually vapid and self-centered and completely obsessed with guys most of the time... and I could probably say the same thing about "Desperate Housewives," if I actually was ever bored enough to watch it... And by and large, female characters on network television can be easily categorized into the virgin, vixen or mother archetypes. But this Fall season, I tell you! There are some fantastic, role-model worthy female characters in the new offers from network TV. There's "Dr. Temperance Brennan, PhD," based on real-life forensic anthropologist Dr. Kathy Reichs, PhD, on "Bones." She's a forensic anthropologist who is obviously brilliant, very professional and doesn't take crap from other (living) people. All of her coworkers seem to be trying to get her to lighten up, but she seems to think she's just fine the way she is. Then there's "Dr. Molly Caffrey, PhD" on "Threshold". She's a woman who comes up with contingency plans for end of the world scenarios. Her "Threshold" plan was put in place when something extra-terrestrial began infecting humans. (I also love this show because - other than that it' good - it has a character who is a dwarf, but not comic relief. He's a brilliant scientist and a linguist. Very nice from breaking out of stereotypes. And if all that weren't good enough, Brent Spiner - "Data" on "Star Trek" - is also in this show.) And then there's "Melinda Gordon" on "Ghost Whisperer." She's a newly wed, who co-owns an antique store with her best friend in a small middle-American town. The catch is that she can see and communicate with ghosts and they have a tendency to seek her out at inopportune times. What I really love is that the male characters in all these programs take a backseat to the female stars. There aren't very many programs in television history that that can be said about (I've read academic essays on it for modern American culture classes), so I take that three new characters like this in one season, at least two of whom are shaping up to be as well-rounded as Dana Scully, as a very good sign... Good sign of what exactly? ... That women are perhaps finally being more equally represented in positive roles on television to start. And that they are being cast in roles that many people wouldn't automatically think of a woman doing - such as forensic anthropology and secret government jobs (both fields from what I understand are dominated by men).
But I'm an equal opportunity television watcher... Of the new Fall programs, I'm also watching "Prison Break" and "Supernatural." "Prison Break" only has two characters who are female, and other than that they are both totally all guy shows.
But I'm an equal opportunity television watcher... Of the new Fall programs, I'm also watching "Prison Break" and "Supernatural." "Prison Break" only has two characters who are female, and other than that they are both totally all guy shows.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Legend of Zorro
I got a ticket to the sneak preview of "The Legend of Zorro" tonight... It's good... Could have been better, was kinda predictable and had obvious jokes and gags, and was not as good as the first one, but it was good. And the movie is well worth seeing just for Antonio Banderas and that gorgeous Andalusian!
***Slight non-specific spoilers beyond this point... nothing one couldn't get from paying very close attention to the commercials and trailers***
I just have to say this is a movie is very obviously set in 2005 masquerading as 1850. In the movie there are terrorist sleeper cells throughout the world trying to destroy America and the American way of life, an evil Frenchman and crazy Bible-thumper, weapons of mass destruction, and a government organization that is behaving in a semi-illegal and suspiciously similar to Homeland Security kind of way... not to mention extremely independent and outspoken women who can kick butt in a corset and petticoats and Catholics doing things that good Catholics in 1850 would *so* not do... So in the end, this is another semi-historical movie that ends up just using an historical background to tell a modern story. ::yawn:: Next!
Oh! And can anyone tell me what Abraham Lincoln was doing lurking in the background at the ceremony to officially include California as part of the United States? And why were the "southern bad guys" wearing outfits that looked like Confederate Army uniforms in 1850?
***Slight non-specific spoilers beyond this point... nothing one couldn't get from paying very close attention to the commercials and trailers***
I just have to say this is a movie is very obviously set in 2005 masquerading as 1850. In the movie there are terrorist sleeper cells throughout the world trying to destroy America and the American way of life, an evil Frenchman and crazy Bible-thumper, weapons of mass destruction, and a government organization that is behaving in a semi-illegal and suspiciously similar to Homeland Security kind of way... not to mention extremely independent and outspoken women who can kick butt in a corset and petticoats and Catholics doing things that good Catholics in 1850 would *so* not do... So in the end, this is another semi-historical movie that ends up just using an historical background to tell a modern story. ::yawn:: Next!
Oh! And can anyone tell me what Abraham Lincoln was doing lurking in the background at the ceremony to officially include California as part of the United States? And why were the "southern bad guys" wearing outfits that looked like Confederate Army uniforms in 1850?
Bright and sunny day
It's been bright and sunny here since right around noon. I went out to get a wig for Halloween and to get some yarn for a Christmas present and to take back some that I didn't end up needing for a different Christmas present. It is windy as all get out, but all in all a very nice Fall day.
And that's the real change that Wilma has brought to this part of Florida. Today has been the first day since it officially became "Fall" this year that the temperatures have been low enough that one can wear a sweater all day without regretting it by mid-afternoon. I wore the one I made from Jenna Adorno's Tempting pattern that is available on Knitty.com. (Btw, I've found that I'm allergic to processed wool. I can come in contact with soft, handspun wool and I can spin wool myself without my skin freaking out, but *anything* commercial just causes my skin to get all red and start to swell. Not good! I've been told by people who know more than me that a lot of people are allergic to the chemicals used in wool processing, either in the dyes or in the wash they use to remove the natural oils. So in order to finish the felting project I'm working on, I'm going to have to wear latex gloves while knitting it.)
Which brings me to some news... Knitty's 2006 Calendar is now available through their cafepress store. You can see it here: http://www.cafepress.com/knitty/918927 . A few of the photos are really good (I particularly like January), and with a few I'm wondering how exactly they were deemed good enough (I know better than to mention them though)... And most are kinda ehh... I do see what they seem to be looking for though. I've got me some ideas involving Hillsborough River State Park now. Only thing is the shoot will have to be when it's still cold enough that the sweaters won't make the models miserable, the mosquitoes aren't insanely everywhere, and the gators aren't very active... so before the end of February. And, oh boy, if we go to Callaway or Cherokee next summer on vacation! My mind is already reeling!! I need to get around to knitting "Cleaves."
I need a digital camera. I've been thinking about it for several weeks now. I just really need a digital camera. I'm taking too many photos to keep developing film. I know Ms. G said that you have to use film like it's toilet paper, but it's freaking expensive toilet paper to be using it like toilet paper. So, I need to look into this megapixel business... the sooner the better!
Which brings me back around to post-Wilma news. No damage to report, which is good. I went up to the county line today, driving around, taking in the thing called "Fall" in Florida. There's a lot of new construction going on up north of here. I was surprised to see a Walgreens where all my life cows have grazed. And what was a palmetto and pine savannah is now being leveled for... something. I drove down Lutz Lake Fern to see if one of my favorite houses was still standing, and indeed it is. It's now called "Tara Acres," the driveway is renamed "Fiddle-Dee-Dee Lane," and they do horse back riding lessons. I tried to snap a photo from the road, but I couldn't slow down enough to quite get a good one. (It's a 50 mph zone right through there.) The front 2 acres haven't been kept up; they've gone totally wild, so that the house is only visible from a few angles. (The stables and rings are in the back of the property.) I tell you it looks worse than Tara did after the War! It would cost Rhett a fortune to get it back to what it used to be. Fiddle-dee-dee indeed!
And that's the real change that Wilma has brought to this part of Florida. Today has been the first day since it officially became "Fall" this year that the temperatures have been low enough that one can wear a sweater all day without regretting it by mid-afternoon. I wore the one I made from Jenna Adorno's Tempting pattern that is available on Knitty.com. (Btw, I've found that I'm allergic to processed wool. I can come in contact with soft, handspun wool and I can spin wool myself without my skin freaking out, but *anything* commercial just causes my skin to get all red and start to swell. Not good! I've been told by people who know more than me that a lot of people are allergic to the chemicals used in wool processing, either in the dyes or in the wash they use to remove the natural oils. So in order to finish the felting project I'm working on, I'm going to have to wear latex gloves while knitting it.)
Which brings me to some news... Knitty's 2006 Calendar is now available through their cafepress store. You can see it here: http://www.cafepress.com/knitty/918927 . A few of the photos are really good (I particularly like January), and with a few I'm wondering how exactly they were deemed good enough (I know better than to mention them though)... And most are kinda ehh... I do see what they seem to be looking for though. I've got me some ideas involving Hillsborough River State Park now. Only thing is the shoot will have to be when it's still cold enough that the sweaters won't make the models miserable, the mosquitoes aren't insanely everywhere, and the gators aren't very active... so before the end of February. And, oh boy, if we go to Callaway or Cherokee next summer on vacation! My mind is already reeling!! I need to get around to knitting "Cleaves."
I need a digital camera. I've been thinking about it for several weeks now. I just really need a digital camera. I'm taking too many photos to keep developing film. I know Ms. G said that you have to use film like it's toilet paper, but it's freaking expensive toilet paper to be using it like toilet paper. So, I need to look into this megapixel business... the sooner the better!
Which brings me back around to post-Wilma news. No damage to report, which is good. I went up to the county line today, driving around, taking in the thing called "Fall" in Florida. There's a lot of new construction going on up north of here. I was surprised to see a Walgreens where all my life cows have grazed. And what was a palmetto and pine savannah is now being leveled for... something. I drove down Lutz Lake Fern to see if one of my favorite houses was still standing, and indeed it is. It's now called "Tara Acres," the driveway is renamed "Fiddle-Dee-Dee Lane," and they do horse back riding lessons. I tried to snap a photo from the road, but I couldn't slow down enough to quite get a good one. (It's a 50 mph zone right through there.) The front 2 acres haven't been kept up; they've gone totally wild, so that the house is only visible from a few angles. (The stables and rings are in the back of the property.) I tell you it looks worse than Tara did after the War! It would cost Rhett a fortune to get it back to what it used to be. Fiddle-dee-dee indeed!
What Wilma's up to...
The eyewall of Wilma has come ashore down around Naples and Marco Island. They're taking quite a pounding. I went to bed early last night and was woken up by the rain and wind around 4am. Here in Carrollwood (see star on map below for Carrollwood's location), we've been experiencing what is called "squall" conditions over the past 8 hours or so. 
What that means is that the rain never really stops, but it slows down a bit sometimes and other times, even if it were light out and I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to see the mailbox from the front window. The wind is high up in the trees for the most part, but sometimes the gusts approach 40 mph. It's all expected to clear sometime around mid-afternoon and total rainfall is expected to be only about 2 inches... Watching it come down, it's hard to believe that that's all the rain we're going to be getting this morning, but that's the official prediction. I'll probably have pictures of any damage or non-damage around noon.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
National Novel Writing Month?
Apparently, it's National Novel Writing Month in November, at least according to Blogger. So all you novelists out there, get your notebooks, pens and computers ready. Read more about it here: http://buzz.blogger.com/2005/10/write-novel.html#links
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Yet another Wilma update
Looks like it won't be making landfall in FL until Monday morning. It has slowed so much over the Yucatan. I feel really sorry for the people who live there, having a Cat 3 hovering overhead for 24 hours. What a nightmare! One of the usual blessings of a hurricane is that it blows through fairly quickly. When it sits like this, it just gives the wind and rain more time to do damage.It's expected to make landfall down around Naples sometime on Monday morning as a Cat 2, but the exactly location of where it hits all depends on when it turns East. We've already been getting scattered showers from the outermost part of it over the past 2 days. This is one massively large storm! The rain bands are stretching out as far as maybe 100 miles or so North of the Bahama Islands it looks like, and a high surf advisory for boaters has already been issued for the the Tampa area. I borrowed the image here from The Weather Channel's website.
I'd also like to mention that yesterday, Senator Bill Nelson of Florida went up in the Hurricane Hunter G-IV airplane for an 8-hour trip above the eye of Wilma. I couldn't believe they let him do that! He's a good senator and has a respectable voting record (according to me). We don't need to be risking his life like that. But he went up because he used to be an astronaut, so I guess he could handle it, and he was actually working, doing storm calculations and stuff.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Wilma update
As of the local Bay News 9 report at 10:49pm, if Wilma stays on the expected track, it will be a Cat 2 when it hits Florida on Sunday afternoon, and it will be far enough south of us that we will have very little weather from it. That is, if it stays on it's currently expected track... You never know with hurricanes. But if that's so, we won't have to evacuate or anything. We are continuing to watch it though.
"Ghost Hunters" and my own experience
I've been watching "Ghost Hunters" on Sci-fi while working on knitting Christmas presents off and on today. I've got two more dishcloths done! (Yay!) I'd post pictures but I don't want recipients to possibly see them. Anyway, as I've been watching "Ghost Hunters," I got to thinking of a few incidents I experienced when I was in the Carolinas this summer. Haven't really told anyone about them, but I figured I should take the opportunity to write them down somewhere and this seemed as good as any. To preface, I've been going to historic properties all my life, from darn-near everything in Washington, DC and the surrounding area, to Gettysburg, to Oak Alley in New Orleans and a whole mess of places in between. Never felt or seen a thing in any of those places that I can remember. Although at Gettysburg, because I was in charge of picking hotels on that trip (when I was 11), I made sure we slept several miles away from all the action, outside Tarrytown... I'd heard the ghost stories and I *did not* want to chance it. Did the same thing in Concord, Mass (when I was 14) when we stayed at an inn older than the United States that was reputed to have several ghosts... I made sure my mom told the concierge when making reservations that we didn't want a room anywhere near where ghost activity had been known to occur. So I've purposely avoided ghostly activity pretty much all my life...
The first incident this summer was at the Borough House in Stateburg, SC in "Aunt Rinda's House." The older part of the house is one of the oldest buildings on the property. Only the main part of the big house is older from what I understand (?). Also from what I think I remember from stories of the property, it used to be the home of the kitchen slaves for the big house, and Aunt Rinda was either born a slave or within a few decades after the Civil War on the plantation, she took care of the family's children and worked and lived in the house that bears her name and died there in the first half of the 20th century. Please, correct me if I'm wrong. Now, I didn't know all of this going in. All I knew was that it was an old house called "Aunt Rinda's" and Aunt Rinda had lived, and probably, died there, and I knew some about the structure (which I think is *so cool!*). I went to visit and was given what I later found out was Aunt Rinda's room. Early in the evening, I went to go sit in the small parlor room, which was a part of the old kitchen, I think, and I got a strong feeling that I shouldn't go in that room, that I wasn't welcome, almost as if something was trying to bar me from it. Then, when I went to go to bed that night, I was preparing for bed and I started to get an uneasy feeling everytime I passed her door. There are two bedrooms on that floor and the other didn't cause that feeling. I told myself this was silly and I needed to chill, and went to turn the lights off, got in bed, and within minutes the uneasy feeling had grown to the sensation of being watched and I ran across the small room to turn the lights on again. I was, of course, the only person in the room, but I couldn't bring myself to turn them off again and fell asleep several hours later after reading and praying that no bad things would happen. I woke early the next morning, when Jason knocked on my door. By then, the light from outside was illuminating the room enough that I felt comfortable turning the light off and went back to sleep until breakfast was ready, if I remember correctly. I really wanted to chalk up the whole thing to sleeping in a new place, but I'd never reacted to sleeping in a new place like that before.
We left to go up to NC to where my younger siblings live for two weeks and then came back. I slept in the same room again, and although I still felt like I was being watched, the feeling I was getting wasn't causing me to be afraid and I was able to sleep with the light off without any problem. The next morning as Jason was making us breakfast, he asked how I had slept the night before. I said, "Fine." And I'm pretty sure that the conversation went something like this... He said, "You know, that was Aunt Rinda's room you slept in." "Oh really?" "Yeah, you know, she's still here." "What?" "Oh, yeah, both me and McKenzie have heard her walking around up there." I think I kinda blinked at him, like, "And I slept in there?" Then he said, "I've been in bed at night and heard her puttering around in there, or I'll be down here and hear her upstairs. I usually just tell her that it's late and to go to bed and the sounds will stop. But I haven't heard anything since we got the cats." I think Susan came downstairs at that point and that discussion stopped, but about an hour later while I was taking photographs outside, Jason brought me an old photo album and showed me a picture of Aunt Rinda. She looked like a very nice older woman, very caring, and she was cooking over an old cast-iron stove, I think. The look she was giving the camera struck me as a little funny, like she must have had a good sense of humor. He also showed me a picture of what the house looked like when she was still alive too. It's changed a lot. I was surprised at how much. After getting home, I wondered if my little sisters, who sleep in that room when they are there, have ever seen or felt anything. I doubt it, but I'd be interested to find out.
Then, before that day, when I was in Charlotte at the Rosedale Plantation, I got some creepy feelings. Funny enough, it was not when I was on the back porch where the tour guide said the possible haunting was. It happened twice. The first time was when we were walking from the master bedroom on the first floor up the stairs to the loft where the daughters of the family lived in the 19th century. As we were walking up, the hair on the back of my neck kinda stood on end, like a draft had gone across my neck or something, but it didn't really go away up in the loft. It was pretty steady. I walked around a little bit, looked at the furniture and architectural features of the loft, and then when we went back down, the feeling dissipated just as steadily as it had come on. In the rest of the house, I felt nothing out of the ordinary. Then we went down to the basement, which was the old kitchen. We went down from the outside, I noted as we exited, on the same side of the house that the loft is on. As we walked down the steps, passing under the area where the loft is above, I felt it again - same feeling, just as fleeting. Nothing concrete, but... creepy... Don't get me wrong, it was *very* cool... but kinda creepy.
Watching "Ghost Hunters," I think it would be really cool for TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) to do a study on the Borough or Rosedale. I think it would be cool if they found anything, or proved that it was all nothing, since that's what they do best. They've gone to North Carolina before, to survey the USS North Carolina battleship and the Mordicai House in Raleigh. They didn't find anything at the house, but they found lots of bizarre things on that ship.
The first incident this summer was at the Borough House in Stateburg, SC in "Aunt Rinda's House." The older part of the house is one of the oldest buildings on the property. Only the main part of the big house is older from what I understand (?). Also from what I think I remember from stories of the property, it used to be the home of the kitchen slaves for the big house, and Aunt Rinda was either born a slave or within a few decades after the Civil War on the plantation, she took care of the family's children and worked and lived in the house that bears her name and died there in the first half of the 20th century. Please, correct me if I'm wrong. Now, I didn't know all of this going in. All I knew was that it was an old house called "Aunt Rinda's" and Aunt Rinda had lived, and probably, died there, and I knew some about the structure (which I think is *so cool!*). I went to visit and was given what I later found out was Aunt Rinda's room. Early in the evening, I went to go sit in the small parlor room, which was a part of the old kitchen, I think, and I got a strong feeling that I shouldn't go in that room, that I wasn't welcome, almost as if something was trying to bar me from it. Then, when I went to go to bed that night, I was preparing for bed and I started to get an uneasy feeling everytime I passed her door. There are two bedrooms on that floor and the other didn't cause that feeling. I told myself this was silly and I needed to chill, and went to turn the lights off, got in bed, and within minutes the uneasy feeling had grown to the sensation of being watched and I ran across the small room to turn the lights on again. I was, of course, the only person in the room, but I couldn't bring myself to turn them off again and fell asleep several hours later after reading and praying that no bad things would happen. I woke early the next morning, when Jason knocked on my door. By then, the light from outside was illuminating the room enough that I felt comfortable turning the light off and went back to sleep until breakfast was ready, if I remember correctly. I really wanted to chalk up the whole thing to sleeping in a new place, but I'd never reacted to sleeping in a new place like that before.
We left to go up to NC to where my younger siblings live for two weeks and then came back. I slept in the same room again, and although I still felt like I was being watched, the feeling I was getting wasn't causing me to be afraid and I was able to sleep with the light off without any problem. The next morning as Jason was making us breakfast, he asked how I had slept the night before. I said, "Fine." And I'm pretty sure that the conversation went something like this... He said, "You know, that was Aunt Rinda's room you slept in." "Oh really?" "Yeah, you know, she's still here." "What?" "Oh, yeah, both me and McKenzie have heard her walking around up there." I think I kinda blinked at him, like, "And I slept in there?" Then he said, "I've been in bed at night and heard her puttering around in there, or I'll be down here and hear her upstairs. I usually just tell her that it's late and to go to bed and the sounds will stop. But I haven't heard anything since we got the cats." I think Susan came downstairs at that point and that discussion stopped, but about an hour later while I was taking photographs outside, Jason brought me an old photo album and showed me a picture of Aunt Rinda. She looked like a very nice older woman, very caring, and she was cooking over an old cast-iron stove, I think. The look she was giving the camera struck me as a little funny, like she must have had a good sense of humor. He also showed me a picture of what the house looked like when she was still alive too. It's changed a lot. I was surprised at how much. After getting home, I wondered if my little sisters, who sleep in that room when they are there, have ever seen or felt anything. I doubt it, but I'd be interested to find out.
Then, before that day, when I was in Charlotte at the Rosedale Plantation, I got some creepy feelings. Funny enough, it was not when I was on the back porch where the tour guide said the possible haunting was. It happened twice. The first time was when we were walking from the master bedroom on the first floor up the stairs to the loft where the daughters of the family lived in the 19th century. As we were walking up, the hair on the back of my neck kinda stood on end, like a draft had gone across my neck or something, but it didn't really go away up in the loft. It was pretty steady. I walked around a little bit, looked at the furniture and architectural features of the loft, and then when we went back down, the feeling dissipated just as steadily as it had come on. In the rest of the house, I felt nothing out of the ordinary. Then we went down to the basement, which was the old kitchen. We went down from the outside, I noted as we exited, on the same side of the house that the loft is on. As we walked down the steps, passing under the area where the loft is above, I felt it again - same feeling, just as fleeting. Nothing concrete, but... creepy... Don't get me wrong, it was *very* cool... but kinda creepy.
Watching "Ghost Hunters," I think it would be really cool for TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) to do a study on the Borough or Rosedale. I think it would be cool if they found anything, or proved that it was all nothing, since that's what they do best. They've gone to North Carolina before, to survey the USS North Carolina battleship and the Mordicai House in Raleigh. They didn't find anything at the house, but they found lots of bizarre things on that ship.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Holy... Hurricane!
Check the weather just a minute ago. Overnight Wilma has been upgraded to a Cat 5 with winds of 175 mph. That's right, a Cat 1 to a Cat 5 in a little over 12 hours. The latest pressure readings are, if they are accurate and they are double-checking, the lowest ever recorded in a hurricane. The projected path has deflected a little bit southward in relation to where it was projected last night, but Tampa is still on the northern edge. Considering how accurate they were in projecting how it would intensify, I'm not really taking their word for the projected path. Evenso, it's still not moving any faster, and we have to wait and see where it wants to go.
Oh, yeah... Wilma
Well, it looks like we just might get a hurricane before the end of the season yet... I hope not, but there is definitely enough reason to worry, watch and prepare. Wilma's projected path comes right across the state from the Southwest by the weekend. When the bad storms hit the Gulfcoast of Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas such a short time ago, Mom said that we would have to evacuate if a 4 or higher came this way. Not because our house is in particular danger, we're on pretty high ground here (even coming straight up the Bay, it's highly unlikely that there will be flooding in our neighborhood ::knocks wood::), but because Mom would rather be safe than sorry and doesn't want to deal with possible power loss or supply shortage. So if the storm gets to be a 4 or higher, or maybe even just a really strong 3, and looks to be headed this way, we'll be packing all three (or four, if Josh is back home by then) of the cars with the pets and whatever we can take and heading North. Don't know where our destination might be yet. Will update later in the week.
Woah!
I was watching "The Ellen Show" just now while checking my e-mail and whatnot. She had a guest on there, Jason Karol, who claims he has a photographic memory and that he can project ideas into other people's minds. He demonstrates this through card tricks, basically. He had Ellen shuffle the deck, then he looked at the cards fanned out for literally all of 2 seconds, and then he had Ellen hold the deck and overturn the cards in order as he said out loud what they were. He got through the first 20 before he started going so fast Ellen couldn't flip the cards before he was three cards ahead of her and Ellen stopped him. It was amazing! He did some similar tricks, and then at the end of the show, he came back on and gave Ellen a closed deck of cards while she called her brother, Vance, on the phone. There was one card reversed in the deck and Jason knew which one it was because he'd put it there and he claimed that he was going to project it into Vance's mind through the phone. Jason asked Vance to imagine a deck of cards in his mind, to imagine that he removed one card and then placed it back somewhere in the deck face-side down. I followed along and imagined taking out and reversing a 3 of Hearts. Once he'd done that, Jason took the deck of cards from Ellen, opened it and took out the cards, fanned them out, and flipped the one reversed card. It was a 3 of Hearts. Without revealing that, he asked Vance what his card was, and Vance said, "3 of Hearts." I was blown away! Now, the thing with Vance could have been rigged, but there was only a 1 in 52 chance that I'd think of the same card... Woah!
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
County Commissioner Update!
Well, this is just wonderful. I've said it many times, and I will say it once again: Joe Redner is a pretty cool guy. Joe Redner hates the Hillsborough County Commission and the Tampa City Council. He's never hid that fact.
For those who don't know, Joe Redner is one of the most notorious businessmen in Tampa. He owns at least 2... maybe 3 strip clubs in Tampa, and I think I heard somewhere that he's also opened some in New York City and Las Vegas. The ordinance that the City Council passed a few years ago, the also notorious "6-foot Law," was passed because they were trying to hurt his business, specifically. But while they have tried to charge both women and patrons with violations, none have ever stuck, and Joe has paid all legal fees. He did a lecture in an American Law and Justice course I took several years ago. He apparently, lets the women at his clubs set their own hours, provides day-care for their kids, encourages them to go to college and helps with tuition, and by all accounts, he's the classy kind of sleazy... more like Hugh Hefner than Larry Flynt. He also ran for City Council in the 2000 and 2004 election years, but didn't win.
Now, Mr. Joe Redner is suing the 6 County Commissioners who have consistently supported anti-gay legislation over the last several months, lead by Rhonda Storms. What he's siting exactlty, I don't know. But the papers are to be served tomorrow during the morning Commissioners' meeting.
For those who don't know, Joe Redner is one of the most notorious businessmen in Tampa. He owns at least 2... maybe 3 strip clubs in Tampa, and I think I heard somewhere that he's also opened some in New York City and Las Vegas. The ordinance that the City Council passed a few years ago, the also notorious "6-foot Law," was passed because they were trying to hurt his business, specifically. But while they have tried to charge both women and patrons with violations, none have ever stuck, and Joe has paid all legal fees. He did a lecture in an American Law and Justice course I took several years ago. He apparently, lets the women at his clubs set their own hours, provides day-care for their kids, encourages them to go to college and helps with tuition, and by all accounts, he's the classy kind of sleazy... more like Hugh Hefner than Larry Flynt. He also ran for City Council in the 2000 and 2004 election years, but didn't win.
Now, Mr. Joe Redner is suing the 6 County Commissioners who have consistently supported anti-gay legislation over the last several months, lead by Rhonda Storms. What he's siting exactlty, I don't know. But the papers are to be served tomorrow during the morning Commissioners' meeting.
Well, he's off my list...
... of 'not too bad Republican politicians.' Who, you may ask? John McCain. I used to think he wasn't so bad for a Republican politician in Washington... not too radical or crazy. Well, I just heard him speaking at a Chamber of Commerce thing on CNN. He basically wants to make it easier for illegal aliens to not only *stay* in the United States and *not* be deported, but to also have the same rights as United States citizens without resorting to fraud (and without paying taxes or making any kind of contribution). How could a guy from Arizona have enough constituent support for a move like that?! ... I'm disgusted...
Monday, October 17, 2005
::fanfare:: Hear ye! Hear ye!
Midterms are officially over!
::ecstatic cheering a la Kermit the Frog at the beginning of "The Muppet Show"::
::big sigh of relief:: I am so glad that's all done with. I crammed most of the day and just finished my Geology midterm with 16 minutes to spare. It was an online test, covering 10 chapters (almost 300 pages), 80 questions in 90 minutes. There was less than 2 minutes left on that clock, but it had to be completely finished by 12 midnight, no matter what time it was started, and I finished at precisely 11:44pm. Nice thing about an online exam is that the program grades it right away so there's no waiting to see how well or badly you did. I got an 82.5, which is a B... I'm told also that my Prof rounds up, so it will be probably go into the book as an 83. If I get a high enough grade on the pre-final exam, I won't have to take the final. I still don't know what my Archaeology midterm grades are. I'll probably find out tomorrow.
Also, Knitty has their Fall issue surprises up. Since I didn't get a contest notification, I guess I didn't win anything, although the honorable mentions are still not up. The new stuff can be found here: http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTpumpkins.html , http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTbits.html , http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTyorick.html .
::ecstatic cheering a la Kermit the Frog at the beginning of "The Muppet Show"::
::big sigh of relief:: I am so glad that's all done with. I crammed most of the day and just finished my Geology midterm with 16 minutes to spare. It was an online test, covering 10 chapters (almost 300 pages), 80 questions in 90 minutes. There was less than 2 minutes left on that clock, but it had to be completely finished by 12 midnight, no matter what time it was started, and I finished at precisely 11:44pm. Nice thing about an online exam is that the program grades it right away so there's no waiting to see how well or badly you did. I got an 82.5, which is a B... I'm told also that my Prof rounds up, so it will be probably go into the book as an 83. If I get a high enough grade on the pre-final exam, I won't have to take the final. I still don't know what my Archaeology midterm grades are. I'll probably find out tomorrow.
Also, Knitty has their Fall issue surprises up. Since I didn't get a contest notification, I guess I didn't win anything, although the honorable mentions are still not up. The new stuff can be found here: http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTpumpkins.html , http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTbits.html , http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTyorick.html .
Two things...
First, isn't this cool?!?! http://www.buggy.com/showroom.html
Second, another reciepe... They're a little bit sweet, but not overly so.
Rachael's Pumpkin-Bran Muffins
yields about 2 dozen
1.5 cups oat bran
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup wheat bran
1 cup flaxseed, ground
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 small cans of pumpkin (or equivelent - approx 3.5 cups)
1.5 cups brown sugar
1.5 cups white sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup of oil (take your pick - canola, flax seed, Smart Balance, etc)
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees and prepare muffin pan as usual (grease or use paper muffin cups).
2. Combine all dry ingredients, except sugars, baking soda and spices, in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, combine all wet ingredients, brown and white sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix until well blended.
4. Add wet ingredents to dry and mix until well blended.
5. Fill muffin cups at least 2/3 full.
6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool several minutes in pan before transfering to cooling rack.
8. Repeat steps 5 through 7 for second dozen.
Enjoy!
Second, another reciepe... They're a little bit sweet, but not overly so.
Rachael's Pumpkin-Bran Muffins
yields about 2 dozen
1.5 cups oat bran
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup wheat bran
1 cup flaxseed, ground
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 small cans of pumpkin (or equivelent - approx 3.5 cups)
1.5 cups brown sugar
1.5 cups white sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup of oil (take your pick - canola, flax seed, Smart Balance, etc)
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees and prepare muffin pan as usual (grease or use paper muffin cups).
2. Combine all dry ingredients, except sugars, baking soda and spices, in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, combine all wet ingredients, brown and white sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix until well blended.
4. Add wet ingredents to dry and mix until well blended.
5. Fill muffin cups at least 2/3 full.
6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool several minutes in pan before transfering to cooling rack.
8. Repeat steps 5 through 7 for second dozen.
Enjoy!
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