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. ]

No one ever says we don’t have enough money to go to war.

[Matriotism]

I found this in an old issue of Crone Magazine from the early 90s (rescued from the free box @ the library, snatched for it’s collage potential).  It’s a piece that was part of an  exhibit in 1993, A Matriot’s Dream :An artistic response to the current health care crisis, consisting of 17 of photographs, poems, narratives, statistics by Kira Carrillo Corser and Frances Payne Adler.

I’m struck by how relevant this (and all the pieces in the exhibit ) are  still, 16 years later. Let’s hope we are finally ready in this country to progress past this dialogue that has gone on far too long.

Matriot (ma´ – tri – at) noun 1: One who
loves his or her country. 2: One who loves
and protects the people of his or her country.
3: One who perceives national defense as
health, education, and shelter of all people
in his or her country.

Matriot

There’s not much that’s important at my age
except making the world a better place.
What would I do?

I say we damn well better
get out on the streets again.
Everyone has to put their hand to the wheel
and get out and get off their butt
like in the sixties. We had compassion then,
and we’ve lost it. It breaks my heart.

I’ve lived through two depressions,
two of them. Everyone at that time
was just sick about the way things were,
just like now, only it’s worse now.
I see everything falling apart –
People, starving on the streets.
Children, beaten in their homes.
Sick people without health care.
Imagine this, in a country
that spends so much on the war machine.

I’d spend the money on health instead.
I’d see that children are born healthy
and make sure they stayed that way.
All children no matter what age.
I’d clean the air, the water. I’d take away
all that polluting shit they put on vegetables.
I’d promote the use of sun, sea, and wind
for natural energy. I’d save the forests,
especially the redwoods. I’d ban firearms.
I’d take away every nuclear device man to man.
No more wars, ever. Now we’re talking health.

How are we going to pay for all this?
No one ever says we don’t have enough
money to go to war. No one ever says
we don’t have money for national defense.

This is national defense.

The calliope crashed to the ground But she was… Blinded by the light,

Little memes I saved all week long  to “do later” but never got around to it until now.

[It's Tuesday,Where are you? ]

True to my usual reading habits, I’m in a few places at once:

• I’m a journalist ,returning to my hometown in Virginia, trying to figure out why the white underclass of America who live here vote the way they do, since it’s usually not in their best interest to do so, and other things that happen when you’re Deer Hunting with Jesus
• I’m in 19th century England, fighting zombies & having some love/hate thing with some guy named Darcy.
• I’m in Louisiana. The vampires are “out of the coffin” and my ex-boyfriend is one of ‘em.
• I’m having adventures like climbing Mt. Compost Heap and teaming up with some dumb robot dog in search of my sidekick Scrubbing Brush.

[Wednesday Media Mix]

[Listen] Any song stuck in your head right now? Or do you remember the last song to be stuck in your head–what was it?

“Blinded by the Light”. You know, once you get past the lyrics  that sound like “wrapped up like a douche another roamer in the night”, you realize that the entire song is a beautifully profound  lyrical composition. Really.

[Watch] Will you/did you see the new Harry Potter movie this week? In general, have you ever attended a midnight showing of a major film the night it was released?

I have a date with my 12-yr old twins to see it, but it won’t be this week. I have attended midnight releases…but it’s been awhile. I think the last one may have been one of the Lord of the Rings movies.

[Read] What is your favorite category of non-fiction? (History, culture, humor, etc.)

ooh,tough one. I read a lot of non-fiction and touch on all the categories but my favorite probably is biographies,particularly of historical figures.

[Thursday Tea]

Ok,so Byte Size and I kind of had a date to do our Thursday Saturday Tea around Dead Until Dark , book 1 in the Southern Vampire Mysteries series …buuuuuut ..I just started it,so I’m standing poor Kelly up for our date *sigh*

So, today I’m choosing Earl Grey Lavender Tea to read with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Is it a good match? Goodness,yes.It’s a fine English tea with the delicate aroma of lavender – perfect for enjoying a lovely morning in the English countryside while masking the aroma of The Unmentionables ravaging the good people of England.

[blog title from "Blinded by the Light", Manfred Mann]

“It is a happy talent to know how to play” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Time for Thursday Tea .

Page Beginning of "Tamara Drewe" by Posy Simmonds. The Littlest One in the background, in his element.

I’m reading “Tamara Drewe” by Posy Simmonds, a graphic novel ,which, as the synopsis explains, is “loosely inspired by Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd, Tamara Drewe follows a year at Stonefield, a bucolic writer’s retreat run by Beth and Nicholas Hardiman, where Dr. Glen Larson, an American professor and struggling novelist, is staying. The ambitious young Tamara Drewe, mourning the loss of her mother, has returned to her family home nearby. A bookish girl not so long ago, Tamara is now a gossipy columnist at a London paper and undeniably sexy. She quickly has every man in the vicinity—Glen, Nicholas, and the handyman, Andy—falling at her feet, while teenage best friends Casey and Jody become infatuated with Tamara and her ex-rock-star fiancé, Ben. Meanwhile, long-suffering Beth sees to the needs of the writers while managing the farm, the household, and the many affairs of her husband, a best-selling detective novelist.”

So far,Im enjoying this. Beth is just learning about her husband’s affair. Their marriage is defined as a more or less , “an open marriage”, yet she was blindsided and in the dark about his current affair. As anyone who has had an open-marriage can ytell you, when there is no reason to lie….but someone still is lying, there’s a reason and it usually leads to no good!

You can  read the entire graphic novel here,too.

My current tea is an Earl Grey , totally NOT intentional but as it so happens, the cliched English tea does seem to be the perfect companion to a book set in the English countryside. I’m drinking mine iced and  this particular brand of tea is Wegman’s store brand.

Now about that kid of mine, playing in the dirt. This kid is a testament to the practical parenting practice of buying second-hand clothing only. There is no way those pajama pants will ever be anythng other than dirt color now …and that’s ok. We could buy every cool & excitng outdoor toy on the market and this kid would still choose to play in this patch of dirt in the backyard. This 5 small patch of dirt is a biome supporting construction vehicles,dinosaurs, spaceships, robots,cars & trucks, jungle & farm animals and superheroes. It’s a good time for a 4 year old.

That paintbrush seems to be very important

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]

“You stay right here at the fire,Bear,and sleep in the warm”

It’s Tuesday…where are you?

I’m in a cottage in the woods, being groomed by 2 little girls and their mother. It’s all very odd…one minute I was running through the village in my bear suit, scaring children and the next,I was in the snow, making my way toward the door of this cottage. Starnger still, I seem to no longer be a man but a bear.

tender morsels by margo lanagan

This morning, in reality and not book form, it is very chilly in upstate NY. I was huddled under a comforter reading this morning. Hopeful last night was the last very cold night and Spring is finally here. The temp dipped down to low 30’s last night.  I’m so over the cold.

[blog title from pg 125 of tender morsels by Margo Lanagan]

“Bleed, girl, bleed!” he shouted at her one night, turning back to her after he had had at her and fallen away.

Thank to Kelly at Byte Sized Blog , I remembered that I forgot yesterday to do ThursdayTea, even after seeing earlier in the day  that Beth had done it .

My excuses: A small boy hijacked my computer all evening and then after he fell asleep, I stayed up until 1 a.m. watching Ken Burns’ The Civil War.

So,here we go with  Thursday Tea on a Friday morning.

Thursday Tea is hosted by Anastasia at Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog. Here’s how it works: Tell us what tea you are drinking (and if you like it). And then tell us what book are you reading (and if you like it). Finally, tell us if they go together.

The Book

For participation in The Printz Project, I decided to start with tender morsels.  Liga is a 14 year old girl ,living in Hell on earth. Her father uses her as a substitute for her dead mother (yes, in ALL ways)  and yeah…life pretty much just sucks. She’s ready to end it all when some magic stuff happens and she’s welcomed into a parallel world where life is perfect.

The Tea

If I was to pick THE perfect complimentary tea for this book, it would probably be Pennyroyal Tea, only because I’m assuming this is the tea the witchy midwife gave the father to give to the girl to get rid of the incestuous spawn conceived.  But I don’t have any pennyroyal so yesterday I had a nice cup of  The Republic of Tea’s “Chamomile Lemon” . For those moments in life you wish were a bad dream you could just wake up from, chamomile is the answer.

[blog title from the book,tender morsels by Margo Lanagan]

The Eco Reading Challenge

Finally, I’ve decided on which books I’ll be reading for The Eco Reading Challenge.

My Green Book List

1. Unbowed:A Memoir by Wangari Maathai

2.Make Room! Make Room!, Harry Harrison

3. A Sand County Almanac , Aldo Leopold

4. Green Thoughts by Eleanor Perenyi

5. American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau , edited by Bill McKibben,Foreward by Al Gore

My Green Act

We recycle and compost everything that can be and what’s left in our actual garbage is 90% packaging…and anyone who has known me long enough knows, this is a major pet peeve of mine.. We  do a pretty good job at reducing  the amount of non-recyclable, non-biodegradable packaging that comes into our house but I think we can still do better.  So, that’s my goal : To reduce our household waste that results from packaging by either not bringing it into our house or if it does come into the house, finding a way to reuse it. We put out one large bag of garbage every 2 weeks. I’d like that to be down to at least once a month  the end of the summer. Yes, one bag of garbage per month for our family of 7. I can hear you scoffing  but I’ll show you! *pumps fist in the air*

Did you really think i was ready to give up my one remaining disposable paper product I use?  Sorry – the toilet paper is here to stay

link love for today

["Dear Charles Manson"] In the late 90s, Bill Geerhart (a grown ass man and pop-culture historian) posed as a little kid and wrote to Charles Manson, the Unabomber, Richard Ramirez and other killers; as well as non murderous celebrities like Larry Flynt, Alan Greenspan, Dick Cheney (well, allegedly non murderous), Clarence Thomas, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, asking for advice on tough topics like dropping out of school and saving up for a speedboat.The letters and the responses are at the link. Larry Flynt’s might be my fave.

["I don't regret it at all" -Bristol Palin] Today is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Day or something to that effect.  Bristol Palin, Poster Girl for Teenage Pregnancy, was on the Today show acting as an advocate for teen girls. I admit…I was expecting an all-out Abstinence Only spiel but no – Bristol Palin is her own woman and not just an extended mouthpiece of her mother. Is it weird that I feel proud of Bristol Palin?  It’s the former teen mommy in me, just wanting the best for her. I’m SO happy she made it clear that she has no regrets and loves being a mother…but wants to advocate prevention and that abstinence only ed is unrealistic.  I am extremely tired of  the unsupportive & unrealistic  hysteria about teenage pregnancy & parenting. It happens. Once it happens, it can’t be undone and a young woman & child need support ,love & acceptance -NOT condemnation, judgment and damnation.

[Margaret & Helen] One of my favorite blogs, Margaret & Helen are 80-something yr old women,friends for over 60 years. They weigh in on topical events,politics and just stuff.  These are the kind of older women I wish were my neighbors.

[Raising Katie] What adopting a white girl has taught a black family about race in the Obama era. Eye-opening & thought provoking.