Football season is over, with the ultimate spoogy climax of the Superbowl yesterday. There’s a few things I am thankful for as another season ends: 1) The creepy blow-up Jets guy that the bar next door had outside is gone for at least another year and 2) Halftime prize drawings at the same bar next door, especially with my hubby being the winner of the grand prize.
The prize? A 50″ plasma TV.
Holy HDTV, this thing is huge. I laugh every time I look at it, sitting on top of my modest oak TV cabinet built by my father-in-law. It’s downright obscene and oh my gods, I love it!
Some people get a new humongous plasma TV and they can’t wait to watch some game on it. I’m just thinking about how fabulous it’s going to be to watch foreign films on. No more straining to read poorly formatted or tiny subtitles!
In other Superbowl news, there were commercials. Oh..and the Saints won!
Leading up to the big game, one commercial had a lot of controversial buzz about it and was simply known in pro-choice circles as The Tebow Prolife Ad.
The ad itself turned out to be this incredibly subtle message about miracle babies & how sometimes raising a family is tough but worth it. If you had no idea of the controversy surrounding it, you probably wouldn’t have even gotten what the underlying message was.
Many are saying this morning, “What was the big deal?”. Well, as a woman who is completely pro-choice, I totally and absolutely respect Mrs Tebow’s decision that she made to not abort her child. She made the best decision for herself and for her family ,as she saw fit. The big deal is, the Focus on Family organization does not extend the same respect & courtesy to women who choose differently from Mrs Tebow. Even though the ad turned out to be barely even noticeable to the common viewer, yes I still object to it.
But as some football fans have whined, the Superbowl shouldn’t be about politics so, moving right along to other commercials.
I don’t need to even mention the misogyny in so many of the ads. Others are on top of that. We don’t have cable or satellite (which makes my new obscene TV even funnier!) so hubby & I watched the ads online this morning. He pointed out to me that there IS a significant portion of American men who do exist in these emasculated, led-around-by-the-balls relationships . Does not compute but sadly, I have seen what he means. Still, Dear Advertisers – we women are watching these commercials,too and need I remind you that women have purchase 80% of all consumer goods? Don’t throw us out of cars & make us all look like bitches who just want to rip out a man’s spine and control him like a puppet.
My 4 year old watched this one with us.
His commentary : “That was stupid.”
This one…now this one got the 4 year old’s attention. At the end, he said,”I want one!”
He loves Muno from Yo Gabba Gabba. That’s what he wants.
This one was my favorite:
But as my 8 year old pointed out, they’re cheating at Punchbug. Everyone knows it only works with Volkswagon Beetles (or PT Bruisers) , not every Volkswagon.
I used to do this weekly thing on my ex-blog – The Letter of the Week. Having my youngest child in pre-school has inspired me to bring it back here on this blog.
In kiddo’s class, they have a new letter every week and for sharing time. Kids are supposed to bring in things that begin with that letter. When I brainstorm with him about what he can take to school that day to share, I almost never come up with something kid-appropriate or of any interest or relate-able to a pre-schooler. For instance, this week’s letter in kiddo’s preschool : M. What do I think of first? Menstrual pads. Followed by masturbation. And no, I assure you…I did not share these suggestions out loud.
As it is, we have the hardest time remembering to grab something that starts with the letter of the week as I’m racing out the door. Yesterday, he remembered about half-way there and was upset that he had nothing to share. I put my quick-thinking cap on, looking around for anything on me or alongside the sidewalk that would fit. “Mittens! You have mittens on. Share those.” Today? “Mouth! You can say you brought your mouth with you for sharing!”.
Half-way through the school year, I should be better at this.
Anyway… I’m re-introducing The Letter of the Week here. This week’s letter isn’t the same as my little spawnling’s. The Letter of the Week here is G.
The Grammys
I’m not a fan of awards shows but I still pay a little bit of attention to what goes on at them anyway, even if I do think that most of the time the winners are undeserving & overrated. This year’s Grammys, the only category I cared about was Contemporary Folk. Neko Case (reminder: major girl-crush of mine, I want to have her baby) was nominated. Of course, Neko Case also lost, which just confirms: The Grammys are stupid.
“Well, I’m really excited in an anthropology kind of way. It’s nice to see what humans do in this situation. It’s such a canonized event and I’ve been watching it my whole life. I’m overwhelmed and very excited to be here obviously, but I don’t know what to make of it yet. I’m so country mouse.”
I did see that Loretta Lynn was given a Lifetime Achievement Award this year, well-deserved. I grew up with Loretta and she remains one of those women I admire & look up to. As her daughter said accepting the award, “”Peggy and I always said she didn’t open doors, she kicked them off the hinges. “ Awesome.
Netflix said, “If you like The Wire, you’ll like Girlhood”. I took their word for it and checked it out from the library (oh,yes…I’m a rebel, even with my Netflix recommendations. Queue? Who needs a queue when you have a library card? )
Girlhood follows two girls in the juvenile detention system in Baltimore, both inside lock-up and on the outside. Shanae stabbed and killed another girl when she was 12. Megan, raised by a single-mother constantly in and out of prison for drug & prostitution charges, is in the system for assault & running away from foster homes. Both girls stories are full of pain & dysfunction, yet their outcome lays with their attitudes and their own ability to see how they can change & be a good person.
For me, Shanae’s story is the most powerful. This girl was raised in a house with parents who were there and yet somehow, she ended up with the wrong crowd. She lost her virginity at 10, was gang-raped & pregnant at 11 and at 12, committed murder. It took Shanae years to accept responsibility for her actions and understand the depth of what she did. Yet, with the remorse & the realization, came the desire to be more than her crime – to be seen as a person who is good inside and not let her past actions define her. Despite everything and overwhelming diversity, she shines & triumphs.
Megan on the other hand, sees that she is a victim caught in the loop of her family’s perpetual cycle and that her only hope is to break free of it. Still, her attitude is self-destructive & keeps her from achieving the goal – or at least makes the struggle to get there harder & longer.
You can see the whole documentary in 9 parts on You Tube, if you’re more inclined to watch on the web than be a rebel with a library card.
(Now you see why G was a good letter for this week?)
For the Grow Great Grub giveaway, simply leave a comment w/ a link to a picture or post about something that’s inspiring to you for your own edible garden this year. The Grocery Gardening giveaway is a bit more creative – you must kill a poinsettia, creatively, of course and document said killing.
The aim of this episode was to bridge the chasm between Americans who love their guns and those who hate them – and let me tell you, it can be one wide, gaping canyon. I have learned that ,as a woman who everyone perceives as being very liberal, when I share my own personal views on guns, it sometimes creates a huge gap in my relationship w/ a person who before may have felt like I was a kindred spirit. Others process the information more logically and explain it to themselves, like, “OH, so she’s a Libertarian.”. It helps some people to sort it out, putting a political label on it. I’m not exactly a Libertarian, just as I can’t identify completely as a Democrat. Most though, who are adamantly opposed to guns, can’t wrap their brain around my pro-2nd amendment stance in light of my other political & social views.
Act 1 in this episode of This American Life sums up perfectly my relationship when younger with my own Grandfather, who was my only father-figure growing up. Sarah Vowell shares her own relationship guns and her dad, a Republican-voting gunsmith in Montana. Like Sarah, I was raised around guns and wow, did I hate them when I was a teenager. Appalled, would be a better word. The heated arguments in our house between us centered around politics, religion, the way I dressed and guns.
Still, even as I grew older , I had this respect for guns, even if I didn’t want to own one right then. I saw the value, as a tool. The entire past decade ,I’ve lived with guns in my own home ,comfortably. Surprisingly, comfortable – considering how vehemently opposed I was to all guns 20 years ago. The girl comes around…
GMOs
I’ll be blunt here: GMOS need to GTFO of our food supply and stop trying to control it. I’m hell-bent on becoming a crazed seed-hoarder , just like those who hoard guns & amass huge weapons caches in shacks in Montana. What GMOs do to our food supply is frightening. Monsanto is an evil corporation that needs to be stopped now.
If you have no idea what I’m rambling about, check out Say No to GMOs! for a primer and watch this movie about the evil deeds of Monsanto. There’s also mention of Monsanto & GMOs in Food Inc, King Corn, The Future of Food and a slew of other excellent documentaries.
Gisele Bundchen reveled that she gave birth in the bathtub. Like many women who homebirth do. I love that she gave birth in the tub at home. Homebirthing is awesome. My annoyance? Well first, it was the commentary by stupid ,shallow celeb blogs that referred to it as unusual, strange,weird and downright bizarre. Then it was the fact that those comments were followed by commentary on how awesome she looks even after birth. THEN, it was the “Move Over Ricki Lake, Homebirthing has a New “Super” Spokesmodel” attitude.
What the fuck,society? Why do you need a supermodel to show you how wonderful & beautiful homebirthing in your own bathtub is? Pamela Anderson did it. Kate Winslet did it. Ricki Lake did it. LOTS of women do this. A model does it and we’re all supposed to be in awe?
Don’t get me wrong – like I said it’s awesome but home birth was awesome before Gisele did it,too.
I also don’t think because one ’supermodel” (I loathe that term) did it, we’re going to see the trend of vanity c-sections drop drastically. Would be nice but I don’t think it’s going to happen like that.
Not only is the Geek Details shop fabulous but I’m loving what Amanda is doing with her Decoratively Challenged house. Frugal, DIY , beautiful re-designs – check it on the blog
District 9 -Could not stay awake to watch the damn thing. Took me 3 tries. Finally got thru it and I was just like, “Eh” when it was all said and done. Plus, the main jackass who get exposed to the black stuff and starts to transform into one of them – he reminded me of Murray from Flight of the Conchords for some reason so I couldn’t help but feel amused.
Five Days – a British BBC/HBO mini-series. It’s a blend of family drama & crime drama. A mother leaves her kids in the car while she goes to buy flowers and never returns. The kids then start walking, to try to find their way home and end up missing. Lesson my kids learned: Yeah, talking to strangers is bad but when your mother doesn’t come back from just going to buy flowers , say something to someone,even if they are a stranger! And for heavens sakes, don’t let your little sister get in a van with a strange man!
Good series,overall. You can imagine it isn’t all hearts & flowers but it’s a good mystery that keeps you guessing until the end.
Breaking Bad was afraid it was going to be Weeds,gender reversed. Nope, it’s better than I thought. It’s sucked me in so far. I love a great tragic drama.
Read
Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from The Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank I read this for research a WIP (work-in-progress) that I’m writing. Surprised to find an entire chapter on Freebirthers. Overall, the tone is not a “These women are crazy!” point of view but more like ,”This is what these women are thinking and why they do it.” Laura Shanley & other positive unassisted birthing sources used. Still author questions some validity of freebirth reasoning, which honestly I don’t begrudge and by this time, I expect. I laughed at this quote: Freebirthers “definitely appear more Birkenstock than Prada”. Funny because it’s often true. (Although me personally, I don’t like Birks and would rather be barefoot than wear shoes at all but if i do wear shoes, I like Chuck Taylors. )
The book as a whole is a good look look at the evolution of pregnancy & childbirth and the intervention measures and the faults of many of these techniques.
I found the chapter on Twilight Sleep fascinating, mostly because my Grandmother gave birth to all 5 of her children this way and it’s always been a source of amazement (and horror!) for me. When I was in labor for my first child, she was there briefly at the hospital with me while I was in labor. It was her first experience with childbirth outside of her own, which obviously she didn’t actually experience at all. She could not understand why the doctors didn’t simply just put me to sleep and get the whole thing over with!
The Hand Sculpted Housemy favorite book on cob building. We’re currently house hunting and it isn’t going well ,so in crazier moments, I’m toying with the idea of buying land and living in tents while building a cob house. Of course, this might mean giving birth in a tent ….
Fun Home Alison Bechdel’s (Dykes To Watch Out For) graphic memoir about her childhood & youth growing up around the family funeral home (Fun Home) , her complicated relationship with her father and her search for her own sexual identity and gender role. Excellent.
Podcasts
Geek loves Nerd :Show 65 – Mean Girls Both my 8 yr old daughter & 4 yr old son have had to deal with mean girls recently in school. My older daughters were homeschooled until they went to Jr high and I remember when they went back to public school ,their reaction to the Mean Girls was, “What on earth is wrong with these people?” . They just thought they were stupid. Now I’m hearing news from one twin that her sister is becoming one of the mean girls. Oy. Anyway, this episode of the podcast offered some good discussion & insight about mean girls – why they are that way (in my 13 year old’s case,I think she’s just reacting to the example of other girls) and what to do if your kid is on the receiving end of mean girl shenanigans.
ALSO, at the end of the show, Geek & Nerd answer a letter from a young man who is not only waiting to have sex on his wedding night, but also saving the first kidd for the “I do”. Coincidentally, we have a family friend who recently announced her engagement to a young man she barely knows.Both are virgins and are saving it all for the wedding night. Um, in fact, they haven’t even been on an actual date so yeah…talk about an overwhelming wedding day. How will they know if they’re sexually compatible or not?
Anyway…
I think they answered the question ..well….better than I ever could. I’d be like, “Would you buy a car without test driving it first?” That’s me,though …the queen of tact and premarital sex.
Savage Love: Episode 171 It’s kind of weird how well that last podcast segued into this one but first question deals with sexually compatibility and how lacking it means the relationship might not be worth it or require some special adaptations to make everyone happy.
Good Enough Gardening: The Resent-a-cast Discussed : how gardening isn’t just for old people, even though that’s the imporession everyone gets from it and other things to be resentful of. Like slugs (my #1 Gardening Nemesis)
You know what I resent about my love for gardening? That it causes me to be labeled a hippie. I like growing my own real food and have a strong DIY Ethic. Punk, not hippie. That’s all.
On this edition of All Songs Considered, we’ve got two bands from Sweden that make gorgeous, otherworldly music: The duo known as jj has a warm and wistful new CD called No. 3, featuring the seductive voice of Elin Kastlander, while the band Fredrik has a mesmerizing new concept album called Trilogi. We’re featuring selections from both on the program, along with new music from The Besnard Lakes, Surfer Blood, Midlake, singer-songwriter Josiah Wolf and a group called The Hotrats covering a classic from Pink Floyd.
I remember very little of this podcast but I’m guessing the music was very relaxing. I fell asleep listening, hold a cup of coffee and was rudely awakened when it slipped from my hand onto my lap.
In the aftermath of The La Riots , the city of Los Angeles gave the citizens of South Central LA a piece of property as a healing gesture. The land was to be used for a community garden, in the heart of the inner city. For 12 years, about 350 families farmed the 14 acres of land, making it a jewel in urban America – the largest urban garden anywhere in the US.Then quite suddenly, The Garden residents were ordered to vacate the property. The original owner, through what can only be describes as suspicious political dealings, had bought the land back and wanted the farmers ..and the farm…off the land. He intended to use the land “as it was intended” – to develop the property & build warehouses.
The Garden documents the community’s struggle to keep the land that they had devoted so much time & energy into for 12 years. The land fed their families, taught their children the value of community ,nature & self-sufficiency. In a community of all low income families, primarily Latino, the garden is what kept them from slipping farther into poverty, maintaining themselves on food they proudly grew themselves. Not only it is a struggle for the land, it’s a struggle against greed,racism, dishonest politics & classism. The citizens also must deal with conflicts among themselves, as they try to sort out the anger that’s bound to result from one man & a city telling them that a piece of property is worth more than they are.
Intensely emotional to watch (or maybe only if your a rabid dirt-loving, real- food loving hormonal pregnant woman), The Garden is inspiring & infuriating all at once. The cause of The Garden was supported by some celebrity faces, who appear briefly in the film – most notably to me (since he’s one of my many Pretend Boyfriends) - Zach de la Rocha ,at a benefit concert organized to raise funds for the farmers to buy the land outright themselves.
A must-watch film for anyone concerned with sustainable food supply & urban farming, especially for low income families .
“Green Burials” for those who are concerned about reducing their carbon footprint in the afterlife. If someone is really concerned about leaving a trace of themselves behind, why would they want to take up space on a nice patch of land for eternity, even if they are doing it chemical-free?
People who eat meat and object to hunting. Especially when the meat they eat is purchased at supermarkets and likely come from factory-farm sources.
Why cheating on a spouse or significant other is more accepted & understood than polyamory.
Google Wave
Short-row wraps. Why can’t I get this, even with great tutorials? I feel like a knit-diot.
Some aspects of farm sanctuaries.
Why pro-life groups don’t show up in throngs at anti-war protests.
Lists of (expensive) things parenting magazines say are Must Have items when you’re having a baby. On my list? Breasts, cloth diapers,a comfy sling & some cute clothes picked up second-hand or given to us by those who have older babies. My list is simpler & cheaper.
non-alcoholic beer and decaf coffee
News headlines that belong on E! and Entertainment Tonight, not the Grown Up Real People News
How someone can graduate from high school without having read The Catcher in the Rye.
Walmart Love .Yes, most especially among those who claim to love America so damn much.
Apple’s Product Naming Department
Not giving a shit about what’s happening in Haiti.
This episode made me feel better : I am not the only one who still doesn’t have her One Little Word . Also, she reviewed Peter H. Reynolds’ The North Star, and i felt inclined to go check it out.
The North Star is everything Amy promised it would be. A delightful story of a boy who follows the well-beaten path but gets lost along the way & discovers that the path everyone takes doesn’t always take you to where you want to go.
Ok, first of all, this is a new podcast for me and I’m already in love. It’s the podcast for crafters who like books. I am both of those things. I do plan to play catch up with past episodes but for now,I’m just jumping in. Listening to the segments from Flatland are fascinating and now I’m wondering, how is it I’ve never read this before? In all honestly, this is a novella popular among mathematics,physics & computer science students and this…this is probably why it’s escaped being read by me. So, bonus..without CraftLit ,I would have never had any inclination to read/listen to Flatland.Now that I’ve been introduced, I’m kind of driving everyone around me crazy by asking, “Have you ever read Flatland? It’s so amazing! You must”.
Note: If listening to podcast w/ headphones on while knitting at the same time, be careful not to accidentally knit headphone cord into your work. Yes, I totally did that.
This is a beautiful essay by Phyllis Kirk called “Freedom from Fear”. Background on Kirk: She starred in House of Wax with Vincent Price and Peter Lawford in “The Thin Man” television series. She was active in social & civil liberties causes. It’s mentioned in the beginning of the episode that Kirk defended the innocence of Death Row inmate Caryl Chessman and it put a black spot on her Hollywood career (which made me go look more into Chessman) .
An excerpt:
I believe it is in fear that we commit the crimes of intolerance and prejudice and what seems to me to be perhaps the saddest, most grave crime of all, our resistance to change. Afraid, we fail to see that the change is the natural and good fruit of knowledge and growth. We cling to the familiar because it is familiar and seems, therefore, to be secure. We butcher the unfamiliar and slaughter justice with the same stroke. Frightened, we seek love only for ourselves and forget to search for love in ourselves.
A good question,indeed. I tend to think you don’t look for relationships, they will find you but in the poly world, it isn’t always that simple. Even if you meet someone you like and fully explain the “Poly Rules” to them, there’s no guarantee they’re going to get it, even if they say do or are open to it. Then there’s this little problem I found in the very beginning of our poly experiences – some women say they’re completely cool with being the “secondary” partner but really, they’re just Suzy Homewreckers.
This is a book that ended up on my “To Read List” after seeing it on someone’s “Best Graphic Novels of 2009″ list. I just so happened to pick it up in the midst of that ridiculous meme thingy on Facebook – you know, “Tell us what color your bra is”, which was supposedly “in support of breast cancer survivors” but most people didn’t actually know that’s why they were doing it (awareness fail ) and as some breast cancer survivors pointed out, it didn’t really do anything to promote breast cancer awareness and um, hellllooo….some breast cancer survivors don’t even have boobs to put in a bra anymore! (ouch)
Cancer Vixen is a memoir in comic form ,written by Marisa Acocella Marchetto about her experience with breast cancer. Not far into the book, I began to have this feeling that I was going to end up annoyed more than anything. (Ok, fair warning: I plan on being honest about my thoughts and I will undoubtedly sound like a bitch at points). As one review said of Cancer Vixen, it reads as if one of the Sex in the City girls got breast cancer & wrote a graphic novel about it….and I am not into that whole Sex in the City thing. Sex in the Cemetery,sure. Not so much for Sex in the City.
Part of my own personal issue while reading was failing to connect or be interested in The Cancer Vixen herself. Marisa describes herself as shoe-crazy,lipstick obsessed,fashion-fanatic…..yadadayada.Her cartoons are published in The New Yorker & Glamour mag. Her fiance owns the very popular Da Silvano restaurant in NYC (he is Silvano) and drives a Maserati. Me? I own 3 pairs of shoes - a pair of plaid Chuck Taylors, black slip ons and a winter boots picked up second-hand (kids’ size 4, previously owned by “Troy”, as indicated in permanent market labeled on the heels by Troy’s parental unit). I like peppermint lip balm & buy my clothes at yard sales. I get to stay home and be artsy in my pajamas on a daily basis but I don’t get paid for it (or anything else for that matter, even though one would think one should get paid just for being fabulous!). The man I happily live in sin with works in a grocery store and rides the bus. All of which I am perfectly contented with & would be miserable if I switched places with the flip-side.
I was also thinking,”Ok, it’s terrible for anyone to get breast cancer and I’m sorry about the speedbump that life has thrown this chick but what about women like ME? Uninsured, low-income women… with children they could leave motherless!” Because listen,people…if I were to be diagnosed with breast cancer (or any other cancer), I’d be totally fucked and NOT in a way I usually enjoy. The bad way.
FORTUNATELY, Marisa does mention this concern at some point in the story and on her website, there is a page devoted to The Cancer Vixen Fund, a fund dedicated to providing screening for women who could not afford to have otherwise ,since early detection is the key to higher survival rates. As stated on the page, “49% of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer and don’t have insurance have a greater risk of dying from the disease.I also added up the cost of treatment I would have paid out of pocket. The total? $192,702.04. Who the heck has $192,702.04?” . Indeed. Not I.
Cancer Vixen has it’s funny moments, as one might expect since the author is a cartoonists. I appreciated the honesty with which she tells and illustrates her story but I still felt like there was something missing – like a depth of emotion.Even in scenes depicting being in the middle of NYC on 9-11, I didn’t feel the tragedy of that day . In all dealings with anything cancer related, I obviously felt sympathy (albeit detached) but I didn’t get the impression that this was a woman grasping the fragility of her own mortality – that this was a mere inconvenience that halted and threw glittery & sparkly plans askew. I can’t believe that the authoress did not wrestle with really deep fears during this time in her life and I would have loved to get a glimpse at that. Those who aren’t familiar with a lot of graphic novels may say,”Hey, it’s a COMIC.It’s not supposed to be deep!”, but on the contrary, “comics” can (and often are) be VERY deep and delve into matters beyond the superficial.What I’m saying is, I appreciate dealing w/ a serious subject by using humor. After all, humor is an amazing survival technique when dealing with harsh reality but it felt too “fluffy” and not emotional enough. To me. Others might appreciate a very light take on a breast cancer survivor when so many memoirs dealing with the topic are obviously dark,sad & emotional. Hormonal & Pregnant Me only cried ONCE during the whole book – and I cry about EVERYTHING these days.
The saving grace of the book is the activist aspect. Like I said before, Marchetto has started a Cancer Vixen Fund and is outspoken on manners relating to breast cancer awareness. She is in a great and powerful position to give a voice to breast cancer awareness and it’s always awesome to be the person who can stand up for the cause and help prevent women from being cancer’s bitch.
I love charity projects, especially those that involve handmade crafts. Every time I come across one, whether it be on the web or in a book, I get all excited and add it to my “To Do List”. I’m part of the fabric of the quilt of the world and I must add my own stitches to help pull it together. I love opportunities that allow me to use my skills to help others in need, especially since I’m very rarely in a position to aid anyone financially. You don’t always need to have a fat wallet to contribute when you have time & skills to donate.
There’s one problems: I am one woman and to devote the time needed to each and every project I want to, I’d have to take my Sleep Time and use it for Craft Time.There is not enough time in my day to knit afghans for Afghans, socks for orphans,scarves & mittens for the homeless & children on the Reservations,helmet liners for soldiers, blankets for dogs in shelters or sew quilts for sick babies in Africa, diapers for orphans in Lithuania, comfort pillows & pillows for cancer patients and memorial quilts for the Alzheimer’s foundation….AND do the things that mamahood and life in general requires of me.
It happens at the end of the year, I think back about allll those uncompleted projects, both for me & for charity and I get all pissed off at myself for not being a better person & a better crafter. Even though, looking at the big picture, I’m a pretty decent Person overall and I do have to be proud of that. Let’s not discuss what kind of Crafter I am. I have already mentioned here before that I am one of those Chronic Unfinishers.
And why am I such a Chronic Unfinisher? We could label it as Adult ADD but what it all boils down to is, I lack focus. (FOCUS! Maybe THAT should be my One Little Word! Yes, 21 days into the new year and I STILL don’t have a word for the year..).
(I’m also easily sidetracked .Don’t know if you could tell)
I lack focus because I’m trying to squeeze so much into the time I have and in the end, all I’m doing is wasting what time I do have AND failing to accomplish 1/4 of what I intend to do. I overwhelm myself to the point where I just can’t complete anything.
Problem diagnosed. Awesome first step.
The remedy, in regard at least to my desire to be part of the Charity-Crafting movement, is obviously to not be so diversified in my endeavors. It is one time in my life that I can see that diversity is not a good thing. So, I’ve been thinking about it and decided to choose ONE charity project for the year and FOCUS on that. ONE.
Deciding which one was hard. Worth of my effort in terms of importance in the life of someone else and how close the cause is to my heart were the two biggest factors I took into consideration. When looking at all the handmade charity projects out there, I thought about the ones that made me feel the most helpless, even if I did manage to make something to contribute – how much is the item really going to matter in the long run? – and rejected those immediately. I also thought practically – how much use is the item I’m going to make going to get and is it easy & cost-effective for me to make it?
The Sleeping Bag Project provides sleeping bags to homeless people, for keeping warm on the street. Each bag is big enough for a large adult of an adult & a child to use together. The bags are made from recycled materials (all things I have hoarded in my fabric stash for similar projects already), are lightweight and roll up into a tidy roll , making the bag easy to carry during the day. When you make the bags, you can also add other things that make homeless life a tad easier – toothpaste,toothbrushes,shampoo,socks,tshirts,gloves,hats,scarves. The sleeping bags are also called Ugly Quilts – the less attractive the bag,the better so that the bag has no real market value . Also, this project is it’s very simple to make and it’s something my kids can help with.
To see how a bag is made, watch this video and to find an organization near you (or to add your own) , check out this list.
When my mother did not come home and did not come home,and the pains were near unbearable and the chill was creeping across the cabin floor and into my feet as I paced, I grasped the feather bed from my bunk and flung it atop her bed. In desperation, between spasms, I gathered all the gaudy quilts in the house, and then, leaving the latchstring out so I would not have to venture from my nest when she returned, I took to my childbirth bed.
Listening to MLK’s speech , urging the protest of the Vietnam War,calling America “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” . So much of it relevant to today.
We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.
@quazydellasue Ah,that was my next experiment , w/ my starter! This oven has to be as old as I am so I wanted to get all that down first 10 hours ago
2nd day of making my daily bread using Jim Lahey's No-Knead method. Good but I think I need to tweak timing/temp because of my stupid oven. 10 hours ago
I want to be a Raging Granny when I grow up! The Raging Grannies of South Florida made this amazing video that's bringing me so much joy to counter my disgust at CBS and Focus on the Family's propaganda: Transcript after the jump. I'm gonna be singing this all day. (Announcer voice) You're on CBS. CBS, CBS, Corporate bull shit, corporate […]
[ Editor's note: Before there was "Food Inc.", before there was "FRESH", "King Corn" and a host of other fine films about our food system, there was "As We Sow", a hauntingly beautiful short film by director Jan Weber. To purchase this DVD, please refer to details at the bottom of her post. Run-time: 23 minutes; 2 […]
I am incredibly pleased to announce that Edible Geography is poised to make its first foray into the physical world, by co-organising Foodprint NYC, which is itself the first in a series of international conversations about food and the city. The event will take place one month from today, on Saturday, February 27, from 1 to 5:30 p.m., and is kindly being ho […]
Out of 100 Circumcised boys:75 will not readily breastfeed post-op55 will have adverse reactions from the surgery35 will have post-op hemorrhaging to one degree or another31 will develop meatal ulcers10 will need to have the circumcision surgery repeated to fix prior surgical problems/error8 will suffer infection at the surgical site3 will develop post-opera […]
I am so excited to publish the very first Life on the Balcony Blog Carnival! Thank a million times over to all of the people who participated. Without further ado, I give you a plethora of great posts on edible container gardening for your reading pleasure… Grow Stuff You Can Eat Indoors Indoor Edible Container Gardening with an AeroGarden – Check out Viggie […]
Peter Guyer and Andrea Parish of www.weddingcans.com, standing by their collection of cans to recycle.Andrea Parrish and Peter Geyer are the amazing founders of the Wedding Cans project - a project which attempts to pay for their wedding in 2010 by recycling 400,000 aluminum cans. Both setting a green example, and coming together in love, Andrea and Pete are […]
photo credit: XOZ I text messaged to donate $10 to Red Cross. I sent money to a private group that I trusted. I emailed about sending supplies. They told me to wait, they needed it but getting mail was still so uncertain and unstable. I retweeted stories, shared links, wrote about a mom waiting for her son. Still I feel like there is so much I can do that I […]
photo credit: mysi anneEagle Creek luggage (100 cool points to everyone who knows where the title is from.) I was reading Havi’s great post on having a dammit list and I started thinking that this is something everyone should absolutely have. And maybe, especially so with women. We’re culturally molded to be soft and nurturing and not speak up for ourselves […]
I am a sucker for good package design in general. But when a cute package contains heirloom seeds, I cannot resist. These “art packs” are sold by the Hudson Valley Seed Library, a non-profit based in Accord, New York that offers (mostly) locally grown and regionally adapted seed varieties. Each seed packet in the series is designed by a New York-region artis […]
