[NoJoMo '09] Currents

November is Journaling Month. I shall attempt to blog daily this month. Considering I started this post yesterday AND it’s just a lame survey basically, my expectations are not high for a daily posting of quality

Current book:

What is the What by Dave Eggars

Copied & pasted synopsis:

What is the What is an astonishing, eye-opening, and heartbreaking book that defies classification. Once you’ve read it, the story of Valentino Achak Deng refuses to leave your mind. Even if you’re not familiar with the Lost Boys and their struggles to escape from war-torn Sudan, you’ll be drawn into this pseudo-autobiography. What is the What tells a devastating story but never plays for sympathy. Instead, the hope, complexity, and tragedy of the situation take center stage.

Stories of The Lost Boys & other victims of the atrocities through out Africa, not just Sudan, have always been ones that get me right in the heart. this one makes my heart hurt.

Also,fluffy sidenote: I have a helluva Brain Crush on Dave Eggars

Current video:

 

Current shame-inducing guilty pleasure:

Stealing the kids’ Halloween candy.
Current food:

Still in 1st Trimester of pregnancy (wait..did I even mention that here on the blog? Oh,yeah…I’m pregnant again) , there’s 2 categories of food in my life: Food I Can Eat Without Retching and Food I Can’t Even Look At Without Retching.  On the first list is baked potatoes w/ sour cream, tofu,sweet potatoes, avocados, quesadillas & cottage cheese. Those would be my current foods
Current drink:

Fucking Caffeine Lite coffee.

The first thing that happens when I’m pregnant is The Man revokes my caffeine privileges AND he forces horse-pill sized prenatal vitamins down my throat. I’ve  always cheated and had at least 1 cup anyway and never took the prenatals  but in the spirit of our open & honest  relationship, I confessed all. He struck a bargain – I willingly take the prenatals & he’ll  “allow” (oh, the patriarchal overtones are killing me!) me to have my morning coffee BUT it has to be Caffeine Lite.

 

Current link:

10 Reasons Abortion Should Be Covered By Healthcare

Current outfit:

A purple corduroy skirt (the top button won’t button but I’m wearing it anyway) , a purple & green layered tee with argyle cut-out & overlay design on the front (I can’t explain it any better than that. It’s a DIY T-shirt surgery thing)

Current fetish:

I think my current fetish is people who have the pregnant sex fetish. That’s all I need right now.
Current fragrance:

My kitchen smells like pumpkins
Current celebrity crush:

Alison Mosshart

Current film:

I had plans for some Halloween-inspired movie marathon but sleep won me over. Last movie I watched (without falling asleep) was Il Postino – absolutely beautiful movie.
Current mood:

snarky
Currently playing on my iPod:

oh,i don’t have one of those new fangled things. But playing at this very moment? “Magnet” by Bikini Kill is playing
Current colors:

Fall leaf colors

Current wish-list:

sun,temps in the 80’s,endless summer

Current needs:

health insurance would be nice
Current triumph:

I recently spent an entire morning & lunch with my mother and didn’t snap. HUGE triumph.

Current bane of my existence:

oh,the usual – laundry.

Current indulgence:

Creme filled mint chocolate Pirouettes, dipped in my coffee. I should add these to the list of foods I can eat.

Current #1 blessing:

My fambly,as crazy as they are.

[Tuesday Tunes] Sick sick sick, don’t resist

This week’s Tuesday Tunes : What is the creepiest music video you’ve ever watched?

The very first video that popped into my head is probably not the typical definition of creepy but seriously, I’ve never been more skeeved out watching a music video. This one by Trace Adkins:

That man makes my tummy feel funny and not in a good way. I refuse to believe that those girls didn’t pick up on the creepy factor ,too. Damn good actresses, all of ‘em!

More traditionally “creepy”? Maybe I’m only thinking of it because I was reminded of it by this “How to Make A Meat Hand” tutorial but Queens of the Stone Age’s  “Sick Sick Sick”  is kind of delightfully creepy. Although it’s a little sad seeing your favorite band being eaten by some very hungry woman.

There are definitely some more disturbing & creepy videos out there. I just don’t feel like thinking about them right now.

I’m laughing at clouds So dark up above The sun’s in my heart And I’m ready for love

[Win]

I don’t see how this could possibly be seen as a FAIL

[Also Not A Fail]

from here

Conversation my uber-geek hubby & I had over this photo:

Him: Why? Why would a storm trooper be singing in the rain?

Me: If you had a storm trooper costume, you’d do all sorts of goofy things with it,too

Him: Would not.

Me: Would so.

Him: Well…. not THAT I wouldn’t.

(I think he would)

[Library Loot]

This was my Book Club Book for next months meeting, chosen for it’s macabre & creepy storyline to accompany the month of October.

Set in Medieval times,  the story features a female doctor who “the dead speak to”. Meaning, she’s a sort of a Temperance Brennan or Sara Sidle during a time when women were most definitely not supposed to be doctors,let alone speak to dead bodies. .Educated & raised in Salerno, Adelia is ordered by the King to travel to England  to investigate the gruesome & brutal  murders of 4 children in Cambridge that the Jews are being blamed & persecuted  for. Under the guise of  acting as assistant to her manservant, she avoids the inevitable questioning and accusal of witchcraft.

The mystery of the novel is a gripping plot on it’s own but it’s the character of Adelia ,with her early “feminist” views  and examination of anti-semitism,anti-woman, superstition and plain churchy stuff in Medieval England that give the story depth & interest.

[blog title: "Singing in the Rain", of course]

“No wire hangers, ever! “

[Twitter Digest,Aug 28-29]

Actual tweets bolded.Expanded commentary not bolded

Part of me wants to say “kudos” but mostly I just want to get the baby out of that plastic bucket ( http://bit.ly/Q0VTk )

Huge Pet Peeve: Babies stuck in plastic buckets with a handle on them. Get a sling,people! #babywearing

Ok,so it’s awesome that someone was clever enough to write a code to babysit for them.Yes,kudos.  Personally,though? No real kudos. Babies don’t belong in plastic  buckets,unless they’re in the car.

Laughing at: “The Snuggie Sutra” ( http://bit.ly/upEwT )

You have a Snuggie.You have sex.This was inevitable. Actually I don’t have a Snuggie, but I guess if I did, I would put it to some good use besides the obvious.

If considering Gardasil vax,please read,including comments RT: @thecatenelson: Research speaks out against Gardasil. http://bit.ly/14PL5x

Seriously, if you’re a young woman within the vax range for Gardasil or are the parent of young girls, read this article and every other one you can get your hands on about the product. I have 3 daughters. Not a single one of them will be getting this vaccine.

Listening to: “When Children Are Wanted « This I Believe” ( http://bit.ly/OA4pZ )

This was a nice edition of “This I Believe‘, featuring Margaret Sanger’s words on not just working for herself, but for a greater good in the world.

I believe that Margaret Sanger is one of the the  most influential people on our society as we know it today. Without her dedication & commitment to ensuring women the right to take their reproduction into their own hands, women might still be slaves to their own biology.

“Trouble the Water” – 1st person account/amateur footage documentary about Katrina.It was good… ( http://bit.ly/CGpHk )

Anniversary of Katrina needed to be marked somehow. This was a different kind of docu, in that a lot of the footage was firsthand citizen documentation from someone who  stayed in NO thru the hurricane and then chronicles the weeks after

” When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts” is still (IMO) the best film about Katrina I’ve seen ( http://bit.ly/USGsf )

It’s a beautiful film,truly.

This is awesome:Atheists who will take care of Christian pets after The Rapture comes ( http://bit.ly/17OGt2 )

I guess this is assuming that not all dogs & kitties go on to wherever it is,too.

Oh,my. I lack words,too. RT: @geekgirls: I….I dont even know what to say http://peopleofwalmart.com/ (via @pcweenies)

Since I don’t shop at Wal-Marx, it’s nice to see what I’m (not) missing. I have mixed feelings about blogs like this,though. I don’t judge a book by it’s cover. I mean, these people..sure they shop at the most evil store on earth but they might be awesome people. They might look like outcasts, fashion violators or just clinically insane but  hey…who the fuck cares?  Of course I’m laughing my ass off over some of the examples but I do it with some ounces of shame, knowing that I’m laughing at superficial quirks. As someone with plenty of superficial (and internal) quirks , I’m typically against judgment of external features that don’t conform to some odd standard society has made up.

One site like this that particularly pisses me off: Why the fuck do you have kids? Most people get their panties in a twist about the bad parenting shown but if I wore panties,they’d be more in a wad over the stereotyping of teenage and young parents.

Honestly, if I were to post any picture from my first child’s baby & toddlerhood with myself in it, I’m sure the people at Why the fuck do you have kids? would use it for fodder.  They’re no different from any fucktard I encountered in the dawn of my Mommyhood.  See, you can’t tell from a picture based on the age of the parent how inept or capable they are at parenting. Have you seen pics of Joan Crawford?  Sparkly,pretty,over 25 doesn’t always equal balanced , Mother of the Year.

[blog title: quote from Mommie Dearest....but it works in reference to Margaret Sanger's work,too. ]

Digestable bits from Twitter

The Conversation

Friend: You don’t blog anymore. I miss reading your posts.You should blog more

Me: Well…I do ….Tweet.Or Twitter. Or whatever you call it.

*pause*

Me: I microblog.That’s something ,right?

Friend:  No.Not the same. I don’t Twitter.Or Tweet. I don’t get Twitter AT ALL. Maybe you could just take everything you Tweet or Twitter & put it on your blog.

Me: Oh…like a digest.

Friend: Yes.

Okie dokie,then.

Twitter Digest – 8-25-09

→ Adding to Bucket List: Hike the entire Appalachian Trail ( http://bit.ly/3Mo3RL )

→ It’s ridiculous that we actually need an activist movement like this one: Drying For Freedom ( http://bit.ly/2mNtnh )

Ooohh…on my blog, I don’t have just 140 characters! I can elaborate. Drying for Freedom is an entire  film about clotheslines. The premiseBy 2010 more than 50 million homeowners will be banned from line drying clothes outdoors for the sake of preserving property value and prudishness, the ban which infringes on a homeowners civil rights is contributing to the environmental and energy crisis, considering the dryer is responsible for 6% of the average households energy bill, as well as costing the U.S. an estimated $5 billion annually. For the record,I like my clothes line dried,even when i do have a working dryer,which hasn’t been for a very long time.

→ Another Bucket List addition RT: @TheBellWitch: @JupiterSinclair and then there’s the Pacific Coast trail too http://www.pcta.org/

→RT: @geekgirldiva: RT @geekgirls Top 10 Women Comic Book Characters | http://bit.ly/R9HRA (written by @MariBiscuits)

→ Watching: Mastodon – Cut You Up With a Linoleum Knife. (lolz) ( http://bit.ly/3AnQ98 )

→Well,hell..might as well add “Hike Continental Divide Trail” to Bucket List & go for the Triple Crown ( http://bit.ly/jLg7S )

→ Simply awesome RT: @crookedvultures: Gunman x Lowlands http://vultur.es/19

For Under-Rock_Dwellers (or people who just don’t care about music all that much), Them Crooked Vultures are John Paul Jones ,Josh Homme & Dave Grohl. I’m reluctant to use the term “supergroup”.it sounds so cheesy & undermines the epicness of this.

“What’s the worst thing on a woman? A drunken Irishman. “-Pearlman

[John Taylor Gatto speaks about schools and brainwashing]

Reflects a good deal of my issues w/ public school, particularly elementary level….children processed like raw materials, schools expecting parents to surrender their own parenting style to allow others to uniformly indoctrinate children, blanket education regardless of learning styles & individual personality needs….

[Link Love]

Rough Sex with Vampires what True Blood tells us about women & sexuality

A few facts about the Honduran military coup

100 Best Blogs for School Librarians Well, and for teachers,homeschoolers,parents and book sluts

Cinemash:Sid & Nancy/(500) Days of Summer Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt cinemashing

A New Control of Destiny wonderful edition of “This I Believe” ,focusing on words of Margaret Mead. Margaret Mead says she can’t separate what she believes as a person from what she believes as an anthropologist. And she believes humans beings, as part of a greater biological whole, have a responsibility to everyone else on the planet. True dat.

DIY Deoderant recipe to help you not smell

Nouvelle Vague The two sexiest voices in English-speaking Frenchpop, covering Sex Pistols, Violent Femmes, Depeche Mode, and Talking Heads. Personally, i love them but their cover of Modern English’s “Melt with You” was met with severe criticism by my dear psuedo-hubby, who said,”What they just did to that song was criminal”. Can’t please everyone, I s’pose.

[Library Loot]

current goodies out from the library

Best show on TV,ever.

[blog title from The Wire,Season 2. Which episode? I can't remember. Towards the beginning of the season.]

Your voice is like a meadowlark But your heart is like an ocean

Tuesday Tunes: Week 93

Its time for another word association episode of Tuesday Tunes!

Remember tell us the first song/band/artist/album that comes to mind when you see these words:

School: “Real Wild Child (Wild One)” ,Iggy Pop
End: “The End” ,The Doors
Trip: “The Way”, Fastball
Letter: Alex Chilton (or I suppose The Boxtops, if you want to be specific)
Drink: “One More Cup of Coffee”, Bob Dylan
Relax: Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Age: “What’s my Age Again?”, Blink 182
Baby: “The Hardest Button to Button”, The White Stripes
Find: “Can’t Find My Way Home”, Blind Faith
Symphony: Bittersweet

[blog title from"One More Cup of Coffee", Bob Dylan]

Too hot for tea but I’ll drink it anyway, it’s a nice day

[The Sittin' in the Sun, Sippin' Iced Tea, Readin' a Book While The Kids Make Mudpies & Leaf Soup Playlist]

from today,anyway.

1. “River Man”, Nick Drake
2. “Across the Wire”, Calexico
3. “See Line Woman”, Nina Simone
4. “Doesn’t Remind Me”, Audioslave
5. “Mykonos”, Fleet Foxes
6. “Bang Bang”, Nancy Sinatra
7. “Sunshine Superman”, Donovan
8. “History of Lovers”, Calexico/Iron & Wine
9. “Denton,TX”, Damien Jurado
10. “Happiness is a Warm Gun”, Beatles
11. “The Killing Moon”, Nouvelle Vague
12. “The Wine Song”, Cat Empire
13. “Carry On My Wayward Son”, Kansas
14. “Deep red Bells”, Neko Case
15. “Lazy Eye”, Silversun Pickups
16. “Advice for Young Mothers To Be”, The Veils
17. “Nice Day”, Persephone’s Bees
18. “Deus Ibi Est”, Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell
19. “Jesus Christ”, Brand New
20. “Pepper”, Butthole Surfers
21. “Filipino Box Spring Hog”, Tom Waits

I was at the mercy of shuffle on my media player on the computer but I couldn’t have planned a better playlist for the afternoon.

[Library Loot]

checked out currently

My only faith’s in the broken bones and bruises I display

[Library Loot]

An idea taken from here…. these are the items we have checked out from the library right now. Too bad the CD titles don’t photograph well and I’m too lazy to list them all.

Media Whore Sampling. Thanks to the library for supporting my addiction

[Backyard]

Tigerlily

[Garden]

The first beans, "Royal Burgundy" . they turn green when you cook them. My kids love these.

[blog title from "The Wrestler" by Bruce Springsteen]

When she’s on her best behavior Don’t be tempted by her favors

[Listening To] Coverville has become part of my morning routine, at least on the mornings that there’s a brand spanking new podcast up. I’ve always loved cover songs and hearing an artists interpretation of what another artist created so no brainer – I love Coverville. The latest is a listener request edition, started off with “Never  Turn Your Back On Mother Earth”, both the original & Neko Case’s cover. In  other words, it’s started off great.

[Read] Les is 10 and his Mother has died from cancer.As the local gas-station owner/damaged & broken ex-NHL star Jimmy says, “That’s fucked up”, and it is. Les is fatherless so he now lives w/ his Uncle on a farm in Southwestern Ontario. Les wears a superhero cape & a mask, spends most of his time alone in his room creating his own comics or reading comics or acting out fantasies that involve alien invasions & Lester features as The Hero. Jimmy feeds into the fantasies,becoming his only friend and his relationship with his custodial Uncle goes through awkward & strained development. Black & white illustrations are  emotionally charged & evocative. This received a thumbs up from both me & my 12 year old, who can’t wait to read the next one.

[Watched] Shine a Light

Ok, truthfully – I did not watch the whole thing. I appreciate that it’s Martin Scorcese AND The Rolling Stones but for me, it was all about Jack White.

[Backyard] Along w/ the lilacs,the hostas are full-fledged now.

Why do I have an urge to replicate these using paper? I'm such a Craft Geek

[blog title from "Never Turn Your back On Mother Earth", originally by Sparks]