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Best from around the web this past week….
- The Wizard of Oz,Steampunk Style Fabulous illustration by Jennifer L. Meyer. [via Nymeth on Twitter]
- recipe: Cream of Winter Squash & Tomato Soup . Yum.
- Add to my Must Read List: The Good Soldiers by David Finkel
- Help Make Puerto Rico Prosecute the Murder of 19-Year Old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercadoas a Hate Crime -Angering,horrifying,chilling. [via @The Undomestic]
- Tom Cruise’s Audition for New Moon
- Offset your Infidelity with Cheat Neutral Do you have difficulty being faithful? Fear not: CheatNeutral allows you to offset your infidelity by paying another couple not to cheat. Um,say what? Oh,I see. Carbon Offsets for those who haven’t figured out polyamory yet
- Vaccine Ingredient Calculator Nice to know exactly what’s in that stuff [via @NaturalPapa]
- Ten Webcomics You Should Read LGBT or Feminist friendly
- Crock Pot Recipe: Sweet Potato Stuffing Definitely making for THAT day – you know, some call it Turkey Day.Others call it Native American Genocide Day.Toe-may-toe,toe-mah-toe.
- Siblings who like each other and cooperate? oh,I understand – you must homeschool. Great article about the values homeschool teaches in regards to cooperation vs competitiveness. [via @Homeschool_Mom]
- Recipe: Pasta with Butternut Parmesan Sauce .Yes, I have squash I need to figure out what to do with.
- Must Have Children’ s Book: We’re Having a Homebirth! Looks like it tells it like it is. Always good, in my opinion.
- Four Good Reading Challenges for 2010 Oh,you book bloggers. Why do you do this to me?
- Top 100 Sex Bloggers of 2009 Quite a few of my regular reads made this list. Definitely going to make a point to check out the ones I’ve not read before
- An Open Letter To My Daughter Totally ditto to this. Not just as it applies to that stupid vampire crap but in the real world with real relationships.Also, isn’t anyone else alarmed that Edward is a little creepily obsessed with stalking Bella? As one of my daughters yelled at Bella while watching Twilight,”“Some guy tells you he could kill you & you say that’s OK??? Are you a freakin’ moron!?”.
- Even more to add to the reading list: 15 Books Written by Women in 2009
Day 17…wait.18? of November.That November Blogging Month thing went well for me,eh?
In my defense, I had kids with flu (most likely H1N1) and I had that first trimester thing going on.
Also in my defense, I just didn’t feel like writing every day.
I can never follow or stick to these online memes. That doesn’t stop me from joining them,though. Intention counts for something.
One thing I continually decide I want to committ to and never can is reading challenges. Being the Book Whore that I am, I follow a lot of great book blogs & see all these fantastic challenges and am immediately overcome with the desire to raise my hand and hop up & down in my seat, yelling,”Oh! MEMEME!!”
As it turns out, my reading habits are far too capricious to stick to a set list that needs to be read in a set time frame. Oh, I will eventually read all those books I chose for whatever challenge it was but definitely not by the time the challenge is over.I also inevitably end up with a ton more books added to my own To Read List after following the blogs of all the participants in the challenge. I participate vicariously through their commitment to the challenges.
One GREAT challenge going on right now is Women Unbound ,a challenge that focuses on books relating to women studies. I follow the blogs of quite a few women who are participating in this challenge and love seeing the book lists of what they’re choosing to read. Can’t wait to see the reviews as they delve into this challenge.
On a related note, Guerilla Girls posted a list of Best Books of 2009 by Women. Looks like I have more books to add to my To Read List.
[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]
[The Sittin' in the Sun, Sippin' Iced Tea, Readin' a Book While The Kids Make Mudpies & Leaf Soup Playlist]
from today,anyway.
- “River Man”, Nick Drake
- “Across the Wire”, Calexico
- “See Line Woman”, Nina Simone
- “Doesn’t Remind Me”, Audioslave
- “Mykonos”, Fleet Foxes
- “Bang Bang”, Nancy Sinatra
- “Sunshine Superman”, Donovan
- “History of Lovers”, Calexico/Iron & Wine
- “Denton,TX”, Damien Jurado
- “Happiness is a Warm Gun”, Beatles
- “The Killing Moon”, Nouvelle Vague
- “The Wine Song”, Cat Empire
- “Carry On My Wayward Son”, Kansas
- “Deep red Bells”, Neko Case
- “Lazy Eye”, Silversun Pickups
- “Advice for Young Mothers To Be”, The Veils
- “Nice Day”, Persephone’s Bees
- “Deus Ibi Est”, Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell
- “Jesus Christ”, Brand New
- “Pepper”, Butthole Surfers
- “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
[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]
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
[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]
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]
Thursday Tea via Beth Fish Reads.
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 Tea
Gunpowder Green Tea My oldest son, the tea afficianado, introduced me to gunpowder green tea and since then,I consider it one of my favorite teas. The tea leaves are rolled into pellets ,resembling gunpowder that unfurl when steeped. The tea itself is a darker,richer green tea than typical greens and has a more robust flavor.
The Book
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. Set against a backdrop of the thick of the Civil War, Joe Inman struggles to get back to Ada (who isn’t exactly having a fun time on the farm herself) in North Carolina. I’m not far but I’m enjoying it so far.
A Match?
Tea named after gunpowder. Brutality of war. Yep.They go together.
[blog title from the book, page 14.]
I lost a day somewhere so it’s still Tuesday in my world.
TMI TUESDAY
1. Are you pro-marriage? Why or why not? If someone feels the need to get married – whatever…go for it. I am not pro-marriage for myself . Yes, even though it looks like I’m headed that way…..I don’t really want to get married. For myself, it doesn’t make a lot of sense beyond the necessity of needing to be his legal wifey to get his health insurance. I would rather my relationships not be legally defined. The existence of love and whatever agreement passes between us as a couple is the only binding contract necessary.I don’t believe in monogamy so the idea of a union between just 2, for “forever & always” is silly. Plus, yes…i still have my issues over the symbolic repression of a woman in matrimony.
2. Have you ever invented or thought you invented a sexual position? I wouldn’t say invented but I can think of times I’ve found myself in a strange position I hadn’t tried before and thought, “Ok, this feels really good. We should do it like this more”. but the next day, I’m usually a hurtin’ unit and think, “Oh, so THAT’S why we don’t do it like that alll the time”
3. Do you like to be tied up? Always or sometimes? I do,indeed. Sometimes. Like with everything, if you do it ALL the time, it’s going to lose it’s flavor.
4. Do you consider online cybering adultery? Like with everything, the definition of what’s cheating and what isn’t kind of lays on the partner you’re committed to to decide, doesn’t it? If you think you’re doing something your SO wouldn’t be ok with, then you probably shouldn’t be doing it. Or maybe even have a conversation about definitions of what’s ok & what’s not. Openness is always good in relationships 
5. Do you prefer masturbation over real sex? No
6. Do you want sex more times a day than your partner? Currently, no. I’m just so damn tired all the time. I wish I could get back to my old sex kittenish state of being. We both would be thrilled,I suspect
7. Do you get offended when you partner openly flirts with others or are you okay with it? I’m fine with it. I figure if he’s flirting with someone in front of me, he wants to get my reaction to his interest in that other person OR he wants me to join in the flirtation
8. Do you think you’re flirty by nature? It depends. I know people who flirt with EVERYONE. They’re Flirt Sluts. Like, even if they would never be interested in the person they’re flirting with in any capacity, physical or otherwise – they turn the flirt on. I don’t get that. I’m naturally flirty with people who interest me.
Since we’re on the subject of marriage and sex and stuff, I started reading One Big Happy Family by Rebecca Walker last night. It begins with Jenny Block’s piece about polyamory. Even if how we arrived at our own polyamory differently, I found I could identify strongly with a lot. Especially this:
I have always liked sex. I mean really,really liked sex. I have been accused,in fact, of “thinking lke a man.” That is, of seeing sex as something wholly separate from love.
So very true for me. Even my dearest has stated the same about me, just in the context of how I approach the act of sex itself.
Also, let me take a moment to sing the praises of my library. I planned on just adding One Big Happy Family to my “To Read List” but when I walked into the library last night, there it was on the Newest Arrivals shelf, just waiting for me. Didn’t have to order or special request it or anything. My library is fabulous.
