Each day starts and we choose how to live it. Certain hours are devoted to sleep; others to work and finally, time to play.
Walking the dogs this morning I was struck at how our choices have changed over the centuries. Reading The Woman in White, nearly all the characters would take time each day for a walk. The expression, Morning Constitutional comes from that I believe. The author clearly valued such behavior, as all the good people were disposed to activity, while the villains were not known for having any physical habits.
It got me to thinking - what do I value? Where do I put my time, money & energy. The recent trip with Marc to attend his step-mother's funeral was a value decision. For me, time with Marc and being with his family during the funeral embodied the value I place on family; I spend my time, energy & money on family.
Likewise, I am invested in our upcoming trip to Peru. Having read about it in the guidebook, researched the guide options and assisted with the deposit. Yet, I realized I've been thinking more about a trip to Alaska. I have always wanted to visit Alaska- see Denali, cross into the Arctic Cirlce and check out the glaciers. That's supposed to be for next summer, yet I'm already there.
On the smaller end, I organize my day to have work time, time for home life (cooking and tending my garden) and time at the gym. I like to have a walk with the dogs. This morning they were running in the sprinklers with the biggest grins on their faces. Funny the sense of accomplishment I felt for giving our dogs that joy. They are family too and I want the best for them.
Watching TV makes me itch - as I can feel time passing and know I'm losing hours that could be spent in more engaging pursuits. I buy audiobooks to both enhance my learning and make use of time in the car that might otherwise be lost. At times, I realize I get compulsive about it all. I schedule these things - in the last few years, I've tried to get to Boston & Austin to see friends & family on an every other year schedule.
But then I think, yes I am compusive, yet those I'm visiting don't do the same. And I start to think and look at where those around me put their time, energy and money. They make the same choices I do each day, maybe not as compulsively analyzied, yet they are the same choices. Who should I see? How should I spend my paycheck? What show should I watch? What book to read? Gym or Work? And then I step back and compare. If I'm investing me into these things, shouldn't others be matching me?
Where do you put your resources? What does that say about you and your values?
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Garden Report
Today I took to the tomatoes. They had grown taller than me - really, a tomato plant that was over 5'9"! However the plants slumped this weekend. I blame it on the wind that was blowing this weekend. The gusts pushed & tossed my vines, so that they are now expanding. In an effort to trim the fabulous five plants back a bit, I tried to take off all non-flowering, non-tomato producing growth. It was a herculean task and the entire creation still appears to be flopping about. There are flowers on nearly every stalk as well as little tomatoes and bigger green tomatoes.
On Monday I was tending them and found the first red cherry tomato. I took it in, showed it to Marc and then enjoyed it. The rest of the tomatoes are stubbornly holding on to their Green like Irish on St. Patty's Day. I check daily for any signs of red within the expanding green mass. Each day I'm disappointed. How could there be just one red tomato? Wouldn't it have little tomato-mates that grew with it? If so, they are well hidden among the rich smelly branches.
On sadder note, I had to pull up yet another broccoli plant. I feel so bad. I helped created these plants. I put them in the ground and encouraged them to take root. But, after they didn't perform, I have cruelly removed them from the plot - in a plan to make way for more productive things. I'm making the garden for growth and yet I reap and destroy plants in the process.
Back to the good news... the Zucchini plant is thriving. I've got a think - we're talking over 1.5 inches in diameter think - zucchini growing with two following closely. I think I'll harvest this round on Friday for dinner - we'll have Zucchini & steak and corn. And there's a fleet of little pre-zucchinis waiting their turn to grow big & sweet.
The corn plants have shot up and are now working hard on their ears. I don't know when to harvest and am trying to find that information on the web. Similarly, I'm trying to figure out why my cauliflower hasn't done its thing and grown a head either.
Here's the instructions:
http://www.ehow.com/how_9878_grow-cauliflower.html
Step 4: Keep cauliflower plants evenly moist; especially when they're small, they need about 1 inch of water a week, whether from rain or the garden hose.
Step 5: Start the blanching process when the flower head (also called a curd or button) is about the size of an egg. Make sure neither it nor the foliage is wet; otherwise the plant may rot. Loop heavy twine around the leaves, gently lift them up and tie them together. The aim is to keep light and moisture out, but to let air in and also leave room for the flower to grow inside its shelter.
Do you notice some dramatic lack of information... I put the plants into the ground and have been waiting for the head/curd/button... for naught. There's no indication of time. But I did realized the first paragraph states, "Though it's a cool-season vegetable, it can't tolerate weather that's too hot or too cold" Cool-Season veg - like growing it in 90+ degree heat might now work? I'll feel so sad pulling it out. I was just rejoicing my victory over the caterpillars - they seem to have disappeared.
Now, I did see a little something that made me happy:
http://www.growingpower.org/
Their mission: "Inspiring communities to build sustainable food systems that are equitable and ecologically sound, creating a just world, one food-secure community at a time."
Pretty neat - I wonder how that might get going in my community.
On Monday I was tending them and found the first red cherry tomato. I took it in, showed it to Marc and then enjoyed it. The rest of the tomatoes are stubbornly holding on to their Green like Irish on St. Patty's Day. I check daily for any signs of red within the expanding green mass. Each day I'm disappointed. How could there be just one red tomato? Wouldn't it have little tomato-mates that grew with it? If so, they are well hidden among the rich smelly branches.
On sadder note, I had to pull up yet another broccoli plant. I feel so bad. I helped created these plants. I put them in the ground and encouraged them to take root. But, after they didn't perform, I have cruelly removed them from the plot - in a plan to make way for more productive things. I'm making the garden for growth and yet I reap and destroy plants in the process.
Back to the good news... the Zucchini plant is thriving. I've got a think - we're talking over 1.5 inches in diameter think - zucchini growing with two following closely. I think I'll harvest this round on Friday for dinner - we'll have Zucchini & steak and corn. And there's a fleet of little pre-zucchinis waiting their turn to grow big & sweet.
The corn plants have shot up and are now working hard on their ears. I don't know when to harvest and am trying to find that information on the web. Similarly, I'm trying to figure out why my cauliflower hasn't done its thing and grown a head either.
Here's the instructions:
http://www.ehow.com/how_9878_grow-cauliflower.html
Step 4: Keep cauliflower plants evenly moist; especially when they're small, they need about 1 inch of water a week, whether from rain or the garden hose.
Step 5: Start the blanching process when the flower head (also called a curd or button) is about the size of an egg. Make sure neither it nor the foliage is wet; otherwise the plant may rot. Loop heavy twine around the leaves, gently lift them up and tie them together. The aim is to keep light and moisture out, but to let air in and also leave room for the flower to grow inside its shelter.
Do you notice some dramatic lack of information... I put the plants into the ground and have been waiting for the head/curd/button... for naught. There's no indication of time. But I did realized the first paragraph states, "Though it's a cool-season vegetable, it can't tolerate weather that's too hot or too cold" Cool-Season veg - like growing it in 90+ degree heat might now work? I'll feel so sad pulling it out. I was just rejoicing my victory over the caterpillars - they seem to have disappeared.
Now, I did see a little something that made me happy:
http://www.growingpower.org/
Their mission: "Inspiring communities to build sustainable food systems that are equitable and ecologically sound, creating a just world, one food-secure community at a time."
Pretty neat - I wonder how that might get going in my community.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Adult life in the 'burbs
At 9 months, my parents moved me & my brother to an Eichler settlement in Palo Alto, CA. As long as I could remember, our house was fire engine red with white trim. The house had few windows on the front and was a wall of plate glass in the back.
Eichlers were mass produced homes built in the 1950's for solders to move into with their young wives to raise their families. My house had 4 bedrooms, 2 baths and atrium with the most prolific lemon tree, the kitchen that opened in to the diningroom and a living room. All that was tucked into less than 2000 sq. ft, single story, detached house. The walls were thin and I'm still amazed I was able to sneak out at night without my mom knowing.
About 5 blocks from home was the Eichler Swim & Tennis club. Our little club had maybe 6 tennis courts, probably only 4; one big pool with 5 or 6 lanes and a deep bit off the laned portion that went to 10 ft deep and had a diving board. There was the baby pool which we grew out of but took over on occasion. 6 of us could get in and circle around the small round pool, creating a whirlpool. When the water started to splash out the sides the life guards often noticed and kicked us out. Fifteen minutes of every hour was Adult Swim when we all would like on the cement drying off, letting the adults have a chance to enjoy the water without their little ones clinging to them.
Fast forward 25 years and I'm again living in a housing development. Only this time the homes are built on an entirely different scale. Marc's house is over 3000 sq ft. We have 4 bedrooms, but 3.5 baths - with the master bath being bigger than the bedroom I had when growing up. The upstairs has the bedrooms, a loft area, laundry and a high, double height section. The ground floor has the gourmet kitchen, breakfast room, den, living room (we call that the library) and then the garage. Everything is bigger than my little place in Palo Alto.
The bigness extends to the neighborhood. The parks are bigger and more abundant. My new club - it isn't just swim & tennis, but also a gym, childcare, basketball courts and spa. Their are at least a dozen tennis courts - some are even covered in this massive dome thing. The pools are bigger - 2 hot tubs (one is adults only), the family pool with the baby pool attached, the lap pool with 6 lanes and then a covered lap pool that gets used for aquasize. The changing room has showers, lockers, a sauna & steam room. The cars in the lot are bigger - though that has more to do with the migration of sububan moms from volvo station wagons to Bloated Land-ships. The people also seem bigger, but maybe that's just my being judgemental.
I'm not sure bigger is better. I do feel a twang of guilt when we close the windows against the 100 degree heat and enjoy the airconditioning - another feature missing from my childhood home. I appreciate the yardage of counter space in the kitchen, yet could do without the breakfast nook. Where does it stop? Our massive over consuption - I'm living it. Get me some solar panels!
Eichlers were mass produced homes built in the 1950's for solders to move into with their young wives to raise their families. My house had 4 bedrooms, 2 baths and atrium with the most prolific lemon tree, the kitchen that opened in to the diningroom and a living room. All that was tucked into less than 2000 sq. ft, single story, detached house. The walls were thin and I'm still amazed I was able to sneak out at night without my mom knowing.
About 5 blocks from home was the Eichler Swim & Tennis club. Our little club had maybe 6 tennis courts, probably only 4; one big pool with 5 or 6 lanes and a deep bit off the laned portion that went to 10 ft deep and had a diving board. There was the baby pool which we grew out of but took over on occasion. 6 of us could get in and circle around the small round pool, creating a whirlpool. When the water started to splash out the sides the life guards often noticed and kicked us out. Fifteen minutes of every hour was Adult Swim when we all would like on the cement drying off, letting the adults have a chance to enjoy the water without their little ones clinging to them.
Fast forward 25 years and I'm again living in a housing development. Only this time the homes are built on an entirely different scale. Marc's house is over 3000 sq ft. We have 4 bedrooms, but 3.5 baths - with the master bath being bigger than the bedroom I had when growing up. The upstairs has the bedrooms, a loft area, laundry and a high, double height section. The ground floor has the gourmet kitchen, breakfast room, den, living room (we call that the library) and then the garage. Everything is bigger than my little place in Palo Alto.
The bigness extends to the neighborhood. The parks are bigger and more abundant. My new club - it isn't just swim & tennis, but also a gym, childcare, basketball courts and spa. Their are at least a dozen tennis courts - some are even covered in this massive dome thing. The pools are bigger - 2 hot tubs (one is adults only), the family pool with the baby pool attached, the lap pool with 6 lanes and then a covered lap pool that gets used for aquasize. The changing room has showers, lockers, a sauna & steam room. The cars in the lot are bigger - though that has more to do with the migration of sububan moms from volvo station wagons to Bloated Land-ships. The people also seem bigger, but maybe that's just my being judgemental.
I'm not sure bigger is better. I do feel a twang of guilt when we close the windows against the 100 degree heat and enjoy the airconditioning - another feature missing from my childhood home. I appreciate the yardage of counter space in the kitchen, yet could do without the breakfast nook. Where does it stop? Our massive over consuption - I'm living it. Get me some solar panels!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Garden Update
The latest garden dispatch contains sad news. I had to pull out 1/2 of my broccoli plants. I didn't realize they were ready for harvest. Their buds were so small, just bigger than a ping-pong ball. So I didn't think that they were ready for harvesting. Then they flowered. I thought that odd, as I hadn't expected the broccoli to flower before growing its head. When checking the wise internet, I learned that they had gone to far and were no longer useful. I pulled them up.
The seedlings I planted will soon be big enough to go in and fill up their gaps. One of the beet-lings has two red-stemmed growths and one green. I'm not 100% sure what will grow or why these other seeds are sprouting. Maybe this is why one is supposed to use that special, sterilized soil when getting seeds to sprout. Hmm will have to consider that in the future.
On a brighter note, I found green tomatoes tucked away in the massive tangle of greenery in my veggie plot. They are bright green and one is nearly the size of a gypsy pepper. I can't wait for them to get some red streaks and start to change into something edible. Checking on them scents my hands with that fantastic tomato plant smell. Every day I poke my head around there.
The zucchini plant has done so well since getting moved to a pot. It has produced a 7 inch zucchini and a 4 inch baby zucchini. I'm trying so hard not to pick them - instead letting them keep growing. The whole thing seems like magic. How did I get so disconnected from my food?
The seedlings I planted will soon be big enough to go in and fill up their gaps. One of the beet-lings has two red-stemmed growths and one green. I'm not 100% sure what will grow or why these other seeds are sprouting. Maybe this is why one is supposed to use that special, sterilized soil when getting seeds to sprout. Hmm will have to consider that in the future.
On a brighter note, I found green tomatoes tucked away in the massive tangle of greenery in my veggie plot. They are bright green and one is nearly the size of a gypsy pepper. I can't wait for them to get some red streaks and start to change into something edible. Checking on them scents my hands with that fantastic tomato plant smell. Every day I poke my head around there.
The zucchini plant has done so well since getting moved to a pot. It has produced a 7 inch zucchini and a 4 inch baby zucchini. I'm trying so hard not to pick them - instead letting them keep growing. The whole thing seems like magic. How did I get so disconnected from my food?
Sunday, June 14, 2009
DIY Triathlon
So Shawn invited me to join her on her next triathlon. I'm considering it. I went out and blew $200 on gear - swimsuit, bike shorts, swim cap & goggles (plus an ultralight fleece that was on sale). The bike shorts were deemed mandatory when Marc & I did a 10 mile, hellish ride the other night just to get some cardio in. Fifty minutes later I was barely able to walk, embarrassed at my exceedingly slow time and unable to sit down either. No fun, got me a bit concerned about doing this tri.
Friday I bought the suit and friday night I did an 8 pm swim. I did 20 laps of a 25 meter pool. I was able to swim some 1250 meters or what one tri training schedule suggested for a swim. It took a little under 30 minutes and I wasn't impressed, dark sky, cool water, shivers to-from the locker room.
Despite the not so successful start to my triathlon training, I decided to have an informal triathlon today. My desire to test my abilities combined with a why-is-the-scale-going-up? moment has spurred me to burn more calories that I intake, by a factor of 100%.
Here are the results:
7 mile hike - 2:33 - 748 calories - mind you, this was with the dogs and Zoe was taking every opportunity to lay down in the shade to rest, I also had to pull burrs from Tsui's paws several times and prevent Austin from mauling every dog we passed.
10 mile bike - 40:50 - 458 calories - this was on the expresso bike machine. I think I did pretty good. The new bike pants were a saving grace. Now,
1 mile swim - 36:45 - 474 calories - Calorie count based on random website.
Total Time: 3 hrs 50 min with 1680 calories burned.
While the Sprint I'm training for is .5 mi swim, 20 mi bike and 4 mi run - I did try to balance out the exercises, as there was no 20 mile bike option for the stationary bike and I have no bike.
However, the walking in the sun with the breeze and views delighted me. The bike ride challenged me and had me sweating. The swim felt fantastic with sun and water. I'm thinking that I might look at getting a bike soon.
Friday I bought the suit and friday night I did an 8 pm swim. I did 20 laps of a 25 meter pool. I was able to swim some 1250 meters or what one tri training schedule suggested for a swim. It took a little under 30 minutes and I wasn't impressed, dark sky, cool water, shivers to-from the locker room.
Despite the not so successful start to my triathlon training, I decided to have an informal triathlon today. My desire to test my abilities combined with a why-is-the-scale-going-up? moment has spurred me to burn more calories that I intake, by a factor of 100%.
Here are the results:
7 mile hike - 2:33 - 748 calories - mind you, this was with the dogs and Zoe was taking every opportunity to lay down in the shade to rest, I also had to pull burrs from Tsui's paws several times and prevent Austin from mauling every dog we passed.
10 mile bike - 40:50 - 458 calories - this was on the expresso bike machine. I think I did pretty good. The new bike pants were a saving grace. Now,
1 mile swim - 36:45 - 474 calories - Calorie count based on random website.
Total Time: 3 hrs 50 min with 1680 calories burned.
While the Sprint I'm training for is .5 mi swim, 20 mi bike and 4 mi run - I did try to balance out the exercises, as there was no 20 mile bike option for the stationary bike and I have no bike.
However, the walking in the sun with the breeze and views delighted me. The bike ride challenged me and had me sweating. The swim felt fantastic with sun and water. I'm thinking that I might look at getting a bike soon.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Time
I'm reading a book on Time. The interested came about after reading a book on life in England in the year 1000. Life back then didn't have clocks. The church didn't have a tower with time - those arrived in the 1300's. Days were marked by sunrise, noon and sunset. There were sun-dials that created hours as divisions of the day that changed as the seasons changed. In the summer, hours were longer, in the winter, they were shorter. If one woke in the dark, s/he had no way of knowing if dawn were almost there or if they had been sleeping for merely an hour. I find it nearly unfathomable.
My first thought, "How could two people meet for lunch?" and then I realized, there were no restaurants, so meeting for lunch wasn't going to be a concern. Hmm, life existed before lunch dates?
Speaking of noon, we have standardized noon. Before we divided the world into time zones, every town had noon on their own - why not? Was noon anything other than when the sun was highest overhead? Yet, as we now are divided, from Las Vegas to San Francisco our watches read 12:00 and the sun may not be at its highest point over head. We switched from sun time to clock time.
Clock time marks our days, for those of us raised in the digital age, imaging all towns setting the clock over their town hall to be noon at the local, sun-time of noon seems absurd. Yet, as recently as 75 years ago, that was the way it worked. The trains were the stimulus for the change to time zones. Think, if a train was leaving San Francisco at 12 noon and had a 10 hour journey to Las Vegas, when would it arrive? How would the stations along the way - each with their individual setting of the hour know when the train should arrive? Say the train reached Fresno after 4 hours - would it be 4 PM or something possibly later (as Fresno is father east, it would, presumably, have time running slightly ahead of San Francisco).
Only in the first quarter of the last century did people start to wear watches. This came about during WWI - as soldiers were issued wristwatches so that they might better sync up. Along with watches came migration and movement... the trains would have the say. They divided up the country so that they could make arrival and departure schedules. The time of sun defined noon came to a close.
It would be only a matter of years before the move from sun-time to clock-time was complete. Think, man started to mark the days with the sun dial - giving days divisions: night, before noon, noon and afternoon with changing hours. Then the clock was invented - a means to produce a regular marking of time developed in the 1300's and then hours were no longer divisions of the day, but independent. They were X-number of clicks of the clock. The day soon was divided into 24 equal hours - no longer 12 hours for the time when the sun was up & 12 hours of darkness. Now the hours were independent from the days. As the clocks progressed we got minutes - in the 1600's there were 4 divisions in the hour. But 1800 there were 60 minutes in the hour. By 1900, there could be 60 seconds within the minute. As our clocks developed, so did our divisions of time. Yet until 1967, the second was a division of a day: 1/86,400 (60 sec x 60 min x 24 hours).
In 1967 the second changed. From a part of a day, it was modified to a definition I can't quite understand:
"Since 1967, the International System of Units has defined the second as the duration of 9,192,631,770 cycles of radiation corresponding to the transition between two energy levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom. This definition makes the caesium oscillator (often called an atomic clock) the primary standard for time and frequency measurements."
Thank you Wikipedia.
Evidently, we cannot trust our second as a division of day, as the earth's day isn't quite the same. At some points in the trek around the sun, we spin faster or slower. Who knew?
Seeing the history of the hour, I realize how arbitrary my watch is. A part of me longs to return to the time we woke when the sun rose and retired as it set. Hard for many to understand me saying that, with my history of all-night parties, I know. But noon should be when the sun is highest. Sunrise should start the day. Why complain about the change in time from day light savings? The sun still comes up regardless of whether we call it 6 am or 7.
Not that I believe we could run our nuclear lives on solar settings.
My first thought, "How could two people meet for lunch?" and then I realized, there were no restaurants, so meeting for lunch wasn't going to be a concern. Hmm, life existed before lunch dates?
Speaking of noon, we have standardized noon. Before we divided the world into time zones, every town had noon on their own - why not? Was noon anything other than when the sun was highest overhead? Yet, as we now are divided, from Las Vegas to San Francisco our watches read 12:00 and the sun may not be at its highest point over head. We switched from sun time to clock time.
Clock time marks our days, for those of us raised in the digital age, imaging all towns setting the clock over their town hall to be noon at the local, sun-time of noon seems absurd. Yet, as recently as 75 years ago, that was the way it worked. The trains were the stimulus for the change to time zones. Think, if a train was leaving San Francisco at 12 noon and had a 10 hour journey to Las Vegas, when would it arrive? How would the stations along the way - each with their individual setting of the hour know when the train should arrive? Say the train reached Fresno after 4 hours - would it be 4 PM or something possibly later (as Fresno is father east, it would, presumably, have time running slightly ahead of San Francisco).
Only in the first quarter of the last century did people start to wear watches. This came about during WWI - as soldiers were issued wristwatches so that they might better sync up. Along with watches came migration and movement... the trains would have the say. They divided up the country so that they could make arrival and departure schedules. The time of sun defined noon came to a close.
It would be only a matter of years before the move from sun-time to clock-time was complete. Think, man started to mark the days with the sun dial - giving days divisions: night, before noon, noon and afternoon with changing hours. Then the clock was invented - a means to produce a regular marking of time developed in the 1300's and then hours were no longer divisions of the day, but independent. They were X-number of clicks of the clock. The day soon was divided into 24 equal hours - no longer 12 hours for the time when the sun was up & 12 hours of darkness. Now the hours were independent from the days. As the clocks progressed we got minutes - in the 1600's there were 4 divisions in the hour. But 1800 there were 60 minutes in the hour. By 1900, there could be 60 seconds within the minute. As our clocks developed, so did our divisions of time. Yet until 1967, the second was a division of a day: 1/86,400 (60 sec x 60 min x 24 hours).
In 1967 the second changed. From a part of a day, it was modified to a definition I can't quite understand:
"Since 1967, the International System of Units has defined the second as the duration of 9,192,631,770 cycles of radiation corresponding to the transition between two energy levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom. This definition makes the caesium oscillator (often called an atomic clock) the primary standard for time and frequency measurements."
Thank you Wikipedia.
Evidently, we cannot trust our second as a division of day, as the earth's day isn't quite the same. At some points in the trek around the sun, we spin faster or slower. Who knew?
Seeing the history of the hour, I realize how arbitrary my watch is. A part of me longs to return to the time we woke when the sun rose and retired as it set. Hard for many to understand me saying that, with my history of all-night parties, I know. But noon should be when the sun is highest. Sunrise should start the day. Why complain about the change in time from day light savings? The sun still comes up regardless of whether we call it 6 am or 7.
Not that I believe we could run our nuclear lives on solar settings.
Garden Update
Last week I harvested the collard greens and realized that I have reaped all the quick growing plants. Now I have to wait until the tomatoes, corn, peppers, cucumbers, cauliflower, broccolli and zucchini flower and bear fruit. That is going to take a while. My Farm Fresh To You newsletter noted that they are having great success with their tomatoes this season. That each week they grow another 10 inches or so. Soon though, the plants will stop their skyward trek and funnel their energy into making their red bounty. I cannot wait!
Until then, I'm doing daily caterpillar checks and giving some extra water to the relocated cucumber & zucchini. I took time this afternoon to dig my hands into the worm farm. I tried my best to harvest a bit of the poop - got about 2 cups worth. I mixed that with the organic soil and filled up the little containers I bought the other plants in. Into them I mixed seeds for arugula, onion and beets. Tuesday, after work, I hope to drop by the Plant Mart at the junction of 101 & 280 and get more seeds. I need leeks, green beans and potatoes. I may have to order the potatoes online.
The garden grows abundantly. It feels like god is smiling on my veggie patch.
Until then, I'm doing daily caterpillar checks and giving some extra water to the relocated cucumber & zucchini. I took time this afternoon to dig my hands into the worm farm. I tried my best to harvest a bit of the poop - got about 2 cups worth. I mixed that with the organic soil and filled up the little containers I bought the other plants in. Into them I mixed seeds for arugula, onion and beets. Tuesday, after work, I hope to drop by the Plant Mart at the junction of 101 & 280 and get more seeds. I need leeks, green beans and potatoes. I may have to order the potatoes online.
The garden grows abundantly. It feels like god is smiling on my veggie patch.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Utterly Fantastic
Mark Moford's column today - totally fantastic and not just because I can say that I know the guy. I'd like to say he's a friend, but with public figures who are smart and nice - I'm not sure that his willingness to talk to me at parties and return my emails qualifies as friendship. If I keep stalking him at his yoga class, maybe that will help - or just create a fun plot line for a cringe sit-com.
Art Jazz Lit Obama
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
As so many children, I've read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The story of the little guy green, mulit-footed critter who eats and eats and eats. I thought it was just a quaint tale to tell the little ones so that if they found a caterpillar in the garden, they'd know that the creepy crawly thing would eventually become a butterfly. A story to help train little minds into sympathetic and educated adults I did not realize it was a factual story.
But then, my collard greens were suddenly filled with holes. It was the Pearl Harbor of critter attacks. One day we're playing ball and having a good time, the next we're under fire from little green monsters who eat and eat and eat! My response was worth of a hunt the monster video game - picking off caterpillars of all sizes and dropping them into soapy water. But then I felt bad - killing the unlucky loopers (the ones I have are called, Green Loopers). So then I took to launching them into bushes that have leaves I was not inclined to eat and I felt marginally better.
Not only were they eating my collard greens, broccoli leaves and cauliflower leaves, they were eating my ego too. All while I was in England, there was a bit of gnawing away at my brain. Before leaving, I asked one of the nice people doing dog sitting shifts (we had three lovely ladies help us out -more on that later) to check my plants for caterpillars. I do think I'm strange - asking someone to go on a caterpillar hunt.
My only solace came from Tiger the cat. As she favors the silver moth as a toy. I realized this was one giant cycle. The moth lays its eggs on my plants, my plants serve as host to their babies and then my cat toys and kills the adults (too bad not before they lay their eggs). Mother Nature has such a sadistic streak in her!
Yesterday, I couldn't take it any longer. I harvested the Collard Greens. They got cooked in garlic, olive oil and lemon. Since they came from my veggie plot, they tasted better. However, I did have to wash them twice and do an extra find check to see that the little green guys weren't hitching a ride into the cauldron of boiling water that I put the leaves in. I let Marc know that I could say, with 95% confidence, that his dinner was caterpillar free. Good thing Tiger doesn't have to make that statement.
Time to go and do my morning sweep for Caterpillars to prevent them eating their way into the heads of cauliflower.
But then, my collard greens were suddenly filled with holes. It was the Pearl Harbor of critter attacks. One day we're playing ball and having a good time, the next we're under fire from little green monsters who eat and eat and eat! My response was worth of a hunt the monster video game - picking off caterpillars of all sizes and dropping them into soapy water. But then I felt bad - killing the unlucky loopers (the ones I have are called, Green Loopers). So then I took to launching them into bushes that have leaves I was not inclined to eat and I felt marginally better.
Not only were they eating my collard greens, broccoli leaves and cauliflower leaves, they were eating my ego too. All while I was in England, there was a bit of gnawing away at my brain. Before leaving, I asked one of the nice people doing dog sitting shifts (we had three lovely ladies help us out -more on that later) to check my plants for caterpillars. I do think I'm strange - asking someone to go on a caterpillar hunt.
My only solace came from Tiger the cat. As she favors the silver moth as a toy. I realized this was one giant cycle. The moth lays its eggs on my plants, my plants serve as host to their babies and then my cat toys and kills the adults (too bad not before they lay their eggs). Mother Nature has such a sadistic streak in her!
Yesterday, I couldn't take it any longer. I harvested the Collard Greens. They got cooked in garlic, olive oil and lemon. Since they came from my veggie plot, they tasted better. However, I did have to wash them twice and do an extra find check to see that the little green guys weren't hitching a ride into the cauldron of boiling water that I put the leaves in. I let Marc know that I could say, with 95% confidence, that his dinner was caterpillar free. Good thing Tiger doesn't have to make that statement.
Time to go and do my morning sweep for Caterpillars to prevent them eating their way into the heads of cauliflower.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Dude, that doesn't make sense....
So, it appears the California Supreme Court does agree that we can vote out the rights of our citizens by a simple majority - what we did when we approved Prop. 8 - yet the marriages that happened are still valid. How does that make sense?
I hope we're able to get a measure on the next ballot to revise our constitution and remove the shameful Prop.8. Maybe we can also get a measure on the ballot to remove the right to vote for old white people? Wouldn't that be classed as a simple revision/clarification of the constitution? If the justices lost suffrage with a simple 50% + 1 vote, do you think they'd see that removing the right to marry by the same method should also be wrong?
In the end, I'm tickled that my friends Mike & Ken are still married. Someday we'll get society to catch up.
I hope we're able to get a measure on the next ballot to revise our constitution and remove the shameful Prop.8. Maybe we can also get a measure on the ballot to remove the right to vote for old white people? Wouldn't that be classed as a simple revision/clarification of the constitution? If the justices lost suffrage with a simple 50% + 1 vote, do you think they'd see that removing the right to marry by the same method should also be wrong?
In the end, I'm tickled that my friends Mike & Ken are still married. Someday we'll get society to catch up.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
England
Marc & I arrive at Heathrow a bit early yesterday. But our 10:30 AM arrival didn't do us much good. His father had to battle 2 hours of traffic to get across London to get us. We're here for Linda, Marc's step-mother, Linda's funeral. She passed unexpectedly on Monday morning. We are all sad for her untimely departure.
After the rough ride through the city, Marc's father decided we would take the Northern route of the M25 around to his house in Rainham, on the East side of London. Not the best choice. We had a four hour journey which did include several country roads and a short pause to divest our bladders of their contents as well as refuel with a round of battered sausages & chips. Yes, I commenced my first day in England, in a similar way to my departure - sans-a-veggies. We had kabob for dinner, I'm not sure the shredded lettuce and bits of onion would be a very scant single serving of vegetable. All yummy and I do fear I'll need to shop for larger pants before my departure in 10 days.
As we were walking through Heathrow, down the long halls on our way to Immigration & Customs (where I did confuse the poor Immigration Officer by pointing out my British traveling companion who was already in England, technically) I had a David Sedaris moment. Marc lamented that he had forgotten his allergy medication. My response, "I'm sure you could get some from a local chemist." Boy did I feel smart - using Chemist instead of Pharmacy... look at me, picking up the local lingo! And then I was thinking of how Sedaris would smartly describe my pretensions and pride, right before skewering me or having some dark twist.
My focus on word springs from the book I'm reading, well listening to, The Woman in White and find it mesmerizing. Set in England in the mid 1800's, the characters are all so bright and fun. Probably people didn't really speak in such a vivid and luscious way, yet I do enjoy thinking they did and morning our current minimalist mode of communication. But I do find it plausible, as I'm provoked into hard listening here with the British form of phrasing not matching up with my Hollywood English ear. Between the locals, my novel and Angel Sedaris on my shoulder am dizzy with words. I hope I don't get pretensions in my speaking or blogging - maybe that's where my Sedaris angel comes in. He'll nudge me whenever I try to use the British tongue, as I am bound for failure as so many American women do in their attempt to wear the Parisian beret.
On a side note - Mom, please email me. I can't find your address.
After the rough ride through the city, Marc's father decided we would take the Northern route of the M25 around to his house in Rainham, on the East side of London. Not the best choice. We had a four hour journey which did include several country roads and a short pause to divest our bladders of their contents as well as refuel with a round of battered sausages & chips. Yes, I commenced my first day in England, in a similar way to my departure - sans-a-veggies. We had kabob for dinner, I'm not sure the shredded lettuce and bits of onion would be a very scant single serving of vegetable. All yummy and I do fear I'll need to shop for larger pants before my departure in 10 days.
As we were walking through Heathrow, down the long halls on our way to Immigration & Customs (where I did confuse the poor Immigration Officer by pointing out my British traveling companion who was already in England, technically) I had a David Sedaris moment. Marc lamented that he had forgotten his allergy medication. My response, "I'm sure you could get some from a local chemist." Boy did I feel smart - using Chemist instead of Pharmacy... look at me, picking up the local lingo! And then I was thinking of how Sedaris would smartly describe my pretensions and pride, right before skewering me or having some dark twist.
My focus on word springs from the book I'm reading, well listening to, The Woman in White and find it mesmerizing. Set in England in the mid 1800's, the characters are all so bright and fun. Probably people didn't really speak in such a vivid and luscious way, yet I do enjoy thinking they did and morning our current minimalist mode of communication. But I do find it plausible, as I'm provoked into hard listening here with the British form of phrasing not matching up with my Hollywood English ear. Between the locals, my novel and Angel Sedaris on my shoulder am dizzy with words. I hope I don't get pretensions in my speaking or blogging - maybe that's where my Sedaris angel comes in. He'll nudge me whenever I try to use the British tongue, as I am bound for failure as so many American women do in their attempt to wear the Parisian beret.
On a side note - Mom, please email me. I can't find your address.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Positivity
I was reading NPR's article on Positive Thoughts and found this quote so amusing:
"Physicists are very clear that the relationship is purely correlational and not causal," Sloan says. "There is nothing causal about quantum entanglement. It's good to be open-minded, but not so open-minded that your brains fall out."
So the garden goes very well. I did some early harvesting and served up lettuce to my mother, brother, boyfriend and sister-in-law. Then I went out two days ago and found that my collard greens were getting enjoyed by someone other than me! Little green caterpillars were having a field day on my broccoli, cauliflower and collard greens. Those little tyrants!!
Marc has been a hero getting the drip watering system hooked up. We are traveling back to England under unfortunate circumstances tomorrow and I am so thankful that he took the time to get the watering system fixed so that I wouldn't have to burden out house sitters with the task of watering my veggies. I did ask a friend to care for our house. He thought it would be just Tsui and said he'd consider, but no... I informed him that we have 3 dogs, 1 cat, a tank of fish, a worm farm and a veggie plot that all needs some attention.
The last three days I spent in my company's class learning the inner workings of our email product. The class was very useful and I was the star student the first two days - even doing a demo of the Encryption product for the class. However, the 3rd day we got involved in LDAP routing. It was on the very edge of my technical understanding.
At times I felt like I was having a elephant described to me with out having ever seen one. How do you describe a trunk? The wrinkly skin? They gray color, the tree trunk like legs and ball of a body? So was LDAP routing, domain profiles, SMTP and the other tid bits. I'm happy that I now, can confidently say, "My product can integrate with multiple LDAP servers and do group look ups and routing" I won't add that I wasn't quite able to configure it. I did follow the instructions well enough - however, I wasn't totally sure of what I did. But the mail arrived in the correct inbox with the correct addressing.
That's it for today. I hope things calm down enough that I can go back to my essay format. I'm not sure all my readers enjoy the recent stream of consciousness method.
"Physicists are very clear that the relationship is purely correlational and not causal," Sloan says. "There is nothing causal about quantum entanglement. It's good to be open-minded, but not so open-minded that your brains fall out."
So the garden goes very well. I did some early harvesting and served up lettuce to my mother, brother, boyfriend and sister-in-law. Then I went out two days ago and found that my collard greens were getting enjoyed by someone other than me! Little green caterpillars were having a field day on my broccoli, cauliflower and collard greens. Those little tyrants!!
Marc has been a hero getting the drip watering system hooked up. We are traveling back to England under unfortunate circumstances tomorrow and I am so thankful that he took the time to get the watering system fixed so that I wouldn't have to burden out house sitters with the task of watering my veggies. I did ask a friend to care for our house. He thought it would be just Tsui and said he'd consider, but no... I informed him that we have 3 dogs, 1 cat, a tank of fish, a worm farm and a veggie plot that all needs some attention.
The last three days I spent in my company's class learning the inner workings of our email product. The class was very useful and I was the star student the first two days - even doing a demo of the Encryption product for the class. However, the 3rd day we got involved in LDAP routing. It was on the very edge of my technical understanding.
At times I felt like I was having a elephant described to me with out having ever seen one. How do you describe a trunk? The wrinkly skin? They gray color, the tree trunk like legs and ball of a body? So was LDAP routing, domain profiles, SMTP and the other tid bits. I'm happy that I now, can confidently say, "My product can integrate with multiple LDAP servers and do group look ups and routing" I won't add that I wasn't quite able to configure it. I did follow the instructions well enough - however, I wasn't totally sure of what I did. But the mail arrived in the correct inbox with the correct addressing.
That's it for today. I hope things calm down enough that I can go back to my essay format. I'm not sure all my readers enjoy the recent stream of consciousness method.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Caught Up
For the first time in months, I feel caught up. I have no pressing tasks. I don't even have any food in the fridge that needs to be chopped, melted, seared or fermented. All my finances are in order, well, almost in order. I have no trips to pack for. There is some work I could do, but I'm in sales - there is ALWAYS some work I could do.
I guess I do need to go get my mother a mother's day gift, yes, I'm a week late on that. I love how Marc sends his parents cards for the American Mothers & Fathers Days as he cannot recall when the British ones are.
My work responsibilities have shifted slightly and I now drive to Los Gatos every other week. The last few weeks the windmills have been turning. Their arms move so silently and gracefully and watching them brings me a sense of peace, until I have to swerve to stay on the road. I don't know if any other form of energy harvesting feels so tranquil.
This weekend we have only 12 miles to run and we are debating if we want to run Saturday morning before visiting my mother - which will reduce our energy level or on Sunday, when we'll could be tired from Saturday. Either way, I want to do a road run and know that we'll need to be out by 6:30 - the sun heats things up by 9:30 AM.
It all should be fun and I hope to have some interesting things to report on. Have a great weekend.
I guess I do need to go get my mother a mother's day gift, yes, I'm a week late on that. I love how Marc sends his parents cards for the American Mothers & Fathers Days as he cannot recall when the British ones are.
My work responsibilities have shifted slightly and I now drive to Los Gatos every other week. The last few weeks the windmills have been turning. Their arms move so silently and gracefully and watching them brings me a sense of peace, until I have to swerve to stay on the road. I don't know if any other form of energy harvesting feels so tranquil.
This weekend we have only 12 miles to run and we are debating if we want to run Saturday morning before visiting my mother - which will reduce our energy level or on Sunday, when we'll could be tired from Saturday. Either way, I want to do a road run and know that we'll need to be out by 6:30 - the sun heats things up by 9:30 AM.
It all should be fun and I hope to have some interesting things to report on. Have a great weekend.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Justices
So, the hunt is on for a new Supreme Court nomination. I've been ignoring much of the hubbub around it. Until there are names out there I can't muster much energy.
However I have read some of opinions in print. What I'm seeing is everyone defending their particular minority. I cannot deny that I'm not part of that. I feel very strongly that the nomination should be a woman - and a young minority woman at that. I came to this conclusion when reading an opinion penned by a man - an older man. This assumption comes from his lament about the older white male justices who were going to be looked over due to the need to have a younger, liberal judge of some sort of minority.
What I found so amazing with some of these opinions was that there seemed to be an assumption that the best candidates were white & male and that there really was a best candidate. I do not accept either idea. I believe we have a pool of intelligent, liberal, rational, young and Constitutionally well versed scholars/judges that would make exceptional supreme court justices. Some of our current jurors, specifically Scalia & Thomas, do little to hold up the bar for rational or intelligent. So, from this pool of candidates, I cannot fathom that it would be devoid of women or minorities.
I firmly believe that race & gender should come into play for the current open seat. White males make up a small minority of this country, yet the majority of seats on the supreme court. I feel that not having a make-up of the court closer to our population disenfranchises our people. All that to say, I have faith that Obama will do the right thing and that he will nominate a good candidate. I wonder if his wife would consider the job.
However I have read some of opinions in print. What I'm seeing is everyone defending their particular minority. I cannot deny that I'm not part of that. I feel very strongly that the nomination should be a woman - and a young minority woman at that. I came to this conclusion when reading an opinion penned by a man - an older man. This assumption comes from his lament about the older white male justices who were going to be looked over due to the need to have a younger, liberal judge of some sort of minority.
What I found so amazing with some of these opinions was that there seemed to be an assumption that the best candidates were white & male and that there really was a best candidate. I do not accept either idea. I believe we have a pool of intelligent, liberal, rational, young and Constitutionally well versed scholars/judges that would make exceptional supreme court justices. Some of our current jurors, specifically Scalia & Thomas, do little to hold up the bar for rational or intelligent. So, from this pool of candidates, I cannot fathom that it would be devoid of women or minorities.
I firmly believe that race & gender should come into play for the current open seat. White males make up a small minority of this country, yet the majority of seats on the supreme court. I feel that not having a make-up of the court closer to our population disenfranchises our people. All that to say, I have faith that Obama will do the right thing and that he will nominate a good candidate. I wonder if his wife would consider the job.
Happiness!
Happiness comes in a very small package. Tsunami has a near 100% success rate at making me smile. Her little smallness that hops around and asks for love and fun. After 3 months of living with Marc & his pack, she's really been loosening up. Today her mission was to take out Tiger the cat. It was like watching a 6th grade bully trying to get the attention of the teacher's pet. Tsui would attack and nip and Tiger would pretend not to like it, but at no time did Tiger fight back or try to get away. So coy.
On other fronts, the broccoli has started growing. The heads are about the size of a jaw breaker from one of those coin machines we used to find in Safeways and Longs. I find it amazing how easy this garden thing has been. I put the dirt in the box, added the baby plants and then they grow and start to bear fruit. So simple.
The last bit of exciting news... Marc & I finally purchased the tickets. We're going to Peru. The deposit has been paid, the plane tickets purchased and now we've just got to get the shots and oh dear. I just realized I put the tickets in my last name and my passport is in my formerly married name. Nothing like that for motivation to get that last document changed into my name. Damn.
On other fronts, the broccoli has started growing. The heads are about the size of a jaw breaker from one of those coin machines we used to find in Safeways and Longs. I find it amazing how easy this garden thing has been. I put the dirt in the box, added the baby plants and then they grow and start to bear fruit. So simple.
The last bit of exciting news... Marc & I finally purchased the tickets. We're going to Peru. The deposit has been paid, the plane tickets purchased and now we've just got to get the shots and oh dear. I just realized I put the tickets in my last name and my passport is in my formerly married name. Nothing like that for motivation to get that last document changed into my name. Damn.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Successes
This morning I'm getting my fix of Mark Morford and this line catches my eye:
"Aren't we all merely a collection of assorted, slapdash decisions disguised as thoughtfulness? Aren't we made up of various projections and patterns and expectations, a toss of the DNA dice onto the cosmic craps table run by drunken angels? I'm going with 'yes.'"
I've had this post rattling around in my head for a few days. Things I've seen or enjoyed that have been total successes. What better way to start off the topic than with an amazing column by Mark Morford.
The worms are a HUGE success! I'm so proud of them, of me, of nature. I had tried my hardest to leave the little guys alone - to let them do their eating thing and not be that pesky waiter who think that a check-in every 5 minutes will assure a good tip. No, they had nearly 10 days to eat through the massive amount of food and bedding and such. And they were great - they nearly licked their plates!! I opened up the worm hotel, which, due to the trays and layers, more resembles a hotel and found healthy, happy worms on each floor, chowing down. They clearly had eaten their fill, yet there was place for a lot more.
I harvested only about 1/2 a cup; mixed in the new food and then packed it all down to the first two trays. I could just kiss them. They are doing me proud!
The next success - the rose bushes in my neighborhood. I've been doing my best to get the four legged crew out for their daily constitutionals (it amuses me to no end to call a walk a "constitutional", so dignified!). While out enjoying the 'hood, I've found that they have put the local rose bushes on steroids. Most of the shrubs have gone aggro with flowers. Some teem with white blooms that they, themselves are nearly 100% white. The green leaves can barely poke through the explosion of white flowers. Then, on Neroly, the red bushes abound. I don't recall ever having seen such ambitious rose bushes!
The last success would have to go to Dania for a lovely dinner last night. Cousin Dania & her husband Chris opened the BBQ season with grilled corn, pineapple & sausage. The meal included super conversation and some amazing cookies. Thank you!
Possible Future Successes:
With the introduction of Dale Carnegie into the Cohen-DeLano household, I have decided to try to implement 1 idea a week for the next 5 weeks. This week is "Live in Day-tight Compartments" - so no ruminating over things one wish to have or not have said. Next week we have "No Judgment" week where I let the divine to all the judging and keep those opinionated thoughts out of my head. The week after, much to Marc's enjoyment I'm sure, I'll have "No Complaints" week. I really shouldn't tell him, I have a suspicion that he might do his best to provide me with thing to complain about just to test my will. What doesn't kill me will make me stronger as well as very annoyed.
"Aren't we all merely a collection of assorted, slapdash decisions disguised as thoughtfulness? Aren't we made up of various projections and patterns and expectations, a toss of the DNA dice onto the cosmic craps table run by drunken angels? I'm going with 'yes.'"
I've had this post rattling around in my head for a few days. Things I've seen or enjoyed that have been total successes. What better way to start off the topic than with an amazing column by Mark Morford.
The worms are a HUGE success! I'm so proud of them, of me, of nature. I had tried my hardest to leave the little guys alone - to let them do their eating thing and not be that pesky waiter who think that a check-in every 5 minutes will assure a good tip. No, they had nearly 10 days to eat through the massive amount of food and bedding and such. And they were great - they nearly licked their plates!! I opened up the worm hotel, which, due to the trays and layers, more resembles a hotel and found healthy, happy worms on each floor, chowing down. They clearly had eaten their fill, yet there was place for a lot more.
I harvested only about 1/2 a cup; mixed in the new food and then packed it all down to the first two trays. I could just kiss them. They are doing me proud!
The next success - the rose bushes in my neighborhood. I've been doing my best to get the four legged crew out for their daily constitutionals (it amuses me to no end to call a walk a "constitutional", so dignified!). While out enjoying the 'hood, I've found that they have put the local rose bushes on steroids. Most of the shrubs have gone aggro with flowers. Some teem with white blooms that they, themselves are nearly 100% white. The green leaves can barely poke through the explosion of white flowers. Then, on Neroly, the red bushes abound. I don't recall ever having seen such ambitious rose bushes!
The last success would have to go to Dania for a lovely dinner last night. Cousin Dania & her husband Chris opened the BBQ season with grilled corn, pineapple & sausage. The meal included super conversation and some amazing cookies. Thank you!
Possible Future Successes:
With the introduction of Dale Carnegie into the Cohen-DeLano household, I have decided to try to implement 1 idea a week for the next 5 weeks. This week is "Live in Day-tight Compartments" - so no ruminating over things one wish to have or not have said. Next week we have "No Judgment" week where I let the divine to all the judging and keep those opinionated thoughts out of my head. The week after, much to Marc's enjoyment I'm sure, I'll have "No Complaints" week. I really shouldn't tell him, I have a suspicion that he might do his best to provide me with thing to complain about just to test my will. What doesn't kill me will make me stronger as well as very annoyed.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Traumatic Situations
I was just taking a peek at the news and came across this:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/30/galanos.plan.b/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
An News Host talking about "The Morning After Pill" - you know, the one that is equivalent to taking something like 8 birth control pills. The one that puts a hiccup in a girls ovulation cycle - changing the mucus on the cervix to not allow sperm to pass, delaying ovulation and/or making the uterus inhospitable to a fertilized egg. The pill that doesn't make a girl feel very good (I know, I've taken it), but neither does the stress of knowing that the fun sex last night might last in an 18 year hang-over and OMG, I really would rather not deal with pregnancy right now.
His words, "Think of a 17-year-old girl. Most of the time she's a high school senior, still living at home with Mom and Dad. She still needs her parents in the tough times. But they will be cut out of a traumatic situation."
She's 17 - do you think she asked Mom & Dad if it was OK to have sex in the first place? Why penalize the girls who are responsible enough to try to prevent pregnancy the next day by preventing them from getting the meds, or having them have to ask an adult.
I just laugh at the idea that "traumatic situation". She's not pregnant, just trying to prevent it becoming pregnant.
Here's another whopper, "Does it really take that long to get a prescription?" Yeah... getting a prescription at 8 AM on a Sunday - no problem!
I don't know what magical medical system he belongs to. As for me and my nearly all inclusive, upper-middle-class PPO option, I still can't get a prescription on a weekday except during a 7 hour window that usefully corresponds to the hours I work and I have to leave work to get a doctor's visit in before they hand me that little piece of paper. I don't even want to imagine trying to get anything on a weekend - it would involve hours of waiting at the ER or an urgent care clinic. And this 17 year old girl is supposed to know and navigate this system on a Sunday morning - is he going to sell us a bridge?!?
But wait, there's more, "The boyfriend will talk his girlfriend into unprotected sex with the promise of buying the "morning after pill" the next day."
Since teenage girls have NO sex drive of their own. They must be talked into sex. They are the responsible ones. BULL-HOOEY! Maybe he's trying to raise his girls to think sex is bad, shameful and should only be done for procreation. Poor things.
I'm getting angry... must go buy milk to make yogurt.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/30/galanos.plan.b/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
An News Host talking about "The Morning After Pill" - you know, the one that is equivalent to taking something like 8 birth control pills. The one that puts a hiccup in a girls ovulation cycle - changing the mucus on the cervix to not allow sperm to pass, delaying ovulation and/or making the uterus inhospitable to a fertilized egg. The pill that doesn't make a girl feel very good (I know, I've taken it), but neither does the stress of knowing that the fun sex last night might last in an 18 year hang-over and OMG, I really would rather not deal with pregnancy right now.
His words, "Think of a 17-year-old girl. Most of the time she's a high school senior, still living at home with Mom and Dad. She still needs her parents in the tough times. But they will be cut out of a traumatic situation."
She's 17 - do you think she asked Mom & Dad if it was OK to have sex in the first place? Why penalize the girls who are responsible enough to try to prevent pregnancy the next day by preventing them from getting the meds, or having them have to ask an adult.
I just laugh at the idea that "traumatic situation". She's not pregnant, just trying to prevent it becoming pregnant.
Here's another whopper, "Does it really take that long to get a prescription?" Yeah... getting a prescription at 8 AM on a Sunday - no problem!
I don't know what magical medical system he belongs to. As for me and my nearly all inclusive, upper-middle-class PPO option, I still can't get a prescription on a weekday except during a 7 hour window that usefully corresponds to the hours I work and I have to leave work to get a doctor's visit in before they hand me that little piece of paper. I don't even want to imagine trying to get anything on a weekend - it would involve hours of waiting at the ER or an urgent care clinic. And this 17 year old girl is supposed to know and navigate this system on a Sunday morning - is he going to sell us a bridge?!?
But wait, there's more, "The boyfriend will talk his girlfriend into unprotected sex with the promise of buying the "morning after pill" the next day."
Since teenage girls have NO sex drive of their own. They must be talked into sex. They are the responsible ones. BULL-HOOEY! Maybe he's trying to raise his girls to think sex is bad, shameful and should only be done for procreation. Poor things.
I'm getting angry... must go buy milk to make yogurt.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Going Nomad
In the same week, in two vastly different books, the topic of human tribes arose. Aside from some shows on the Travel Channel or National Geographic, I had believed that tribal consciousness didn't come into play in my life. Hubris, I realized after some reflection. And the question started:
The questions kept coming.
But then after I took out my bellybutton ring, I realized those ties run much deeper than I had realized. I've had that hunk of metal in my navel for 16 years. I didn't realize how tied to it I had become. Something clicked today - I didn't feel like I needed it any longer. It was a marking that I was alternative. I looked at it and felt the ties to my raving day, to burningman, to all the odd things I've done. But I'm not doing those things now; I don't see a space for them in my future so I felt it was not my marking any longer. I didn't think it was a big deal. Yet ever since I took it out, I've been in a bit of a daze.
Hilary and I got our navels pierced in a bonding endeavor just before going home on break during our first year of college. I recall my mother's horror and dismay when I showed her my stomach. I had left my family tribe and declared my allegiance to the young, alternative and wild. I still recall when Hilary told me she had taken hers out years ago. I felt sad and a bit violated. She had walked away from our ties. Our doing it together in the basement of some lesbian in Northampton had meant a lot to me, was It no longer meaningful for her?
I thought all that had faded. I didn't think I needed that badge any longer. I'm not part of the uber-hip tribe any longer. I don't go to raves, push fashion boundaries or live on the edge in any way. I grow veggies, compost with worms and culture my own yogurt. It seemed right that I leave behind that symbol. My life orbits different values now. I have no interest in raves and can barely tolerate bars now a days.
Taking it out and looking at my stomach, I felt as if I was looking at my body for the first time in years. I could see the contours of my abdomen in a different way; the sparkle of the metal didn't distract from my flesh. I was unadorned, truly naked. Washing in the shower, my hand didn't knock against anything, instead it slide on past my bellybutton without a notice.
The connection to the tribe goes deeper than I believed. I spent the afternoon reflecting on what I had done. I realized I was taking off the symbols of my former tribe. I had been leaving slowly for the last few years. Yet I didn't join a new tribe. I have no strong identification with any group or demographic. I'm an occasional social element in a dozen different groups. I don't identify with mothers or young professionals. I'm not tied into a sports activity or team. I try to connect with my family, yet with my cousins grown and brothers married, family feels more like a diasporia than a clan. I'm barely more than an acquaintance with anyone at work. I come and go. Partly I realized my wounds from breaking tribal taboos still smart and I avoid initiating myself into any tribe as a preventative measure. Partly, I don't see any tribe that encompasses me entirely - I distrust all group think.
I once believed that we had evolved with our Science. That we were beyond the ancient, as we now toy with space travel, nanotechnologies and the sublime Martini. Yet today I deeply realized how tied we are to our culture. My inner-self craves a marking of this passage. I don't know how to acknowledgment that I've moved on.
- What tribes did I identify with?
- Where do my values come from?
- What have I done to signify my belonging
The questions kept coming.
- Why do we stay?
- Why do we leave?
- What happens when we leave our tribe.
- What happens when we stop believing in the magic of our tribe.
But then after I took out my bellybutton ring, I realized those ties run much deeper than I had realized. I've had that hunk of metal in my navel for 16 years. I didn't realize how tied to it I had become. Something clicked today - I didn't feel like I needed it any longer. It was a marking that I was alternative. I looked at it and felt the ties to my raving day, to burningman, to all the odd things I've done. But I'm not doing those things now; I don't see a space for them in my future so I felt it was not my marking any longer. I didn't think it was a big deal. Yet ever since I took it out, I've been in a bit of a daze.
Hilary and I got our navels pierced in a bonding endeavor just before going home on break during our first year of college. I recall my mother's horror and dismay when I showed her my stomach. I had left my family tribe and declared my allegiance to the young, alternative and wild. I still recall when Hilary told me she had taken hers out years ago. I felt sad and a bit violated. She had walked away from our ties. Our doing it together in the basement of some lesbian in Northampton had meant a lot to me, was It no longer meaningful for her?
I thought all that had faded. I didn't think I needed that badge any longer. I'm not part of the uber-hip tribe any longer. I don't go to raves, push fashion boundaries or live on the edge in any way. I grow veggies, compost with worms and culture my own yogurt. It seemed right that I leave behind that symbol. My life orbits different values now. I have no interest in raves and can barely tolerate bars now a days.
Taking it out and looking at my stomach, I felt as if I was looking at my body for the first time in years. I could see the contours of my abdomen in a different way; the sparkle of the metal didn't distract from my flesh. I was unadorned, truly naked. Washing in the shower, my hand didn't knock against anything, instead it slide on past my bellybutton without a notice.
The connection to the tribe goes deeper than I believed. I spent the afternoon reflecting on what I had done. I realized I was taking off the symbols of my former tribe. I had been leaving slowly for the last few years. Yet I didn't join a new tribe. I have no strong identification with any group or demographic. I'm an occasional social element in a dozen different groups. I don't identify with mothers or young professionals. I'm not tied into a sports activity or team. I try to connect with my family, yet with my cousins grown and brothers married, family feels more like a diasporia than a clan. I'm barely more than an acquaintance with anyone at work. I come and go. Partly I realized my wounds from breaking tribal taboos still smart and I avoid initiating myself into any tribe as a preventative measure. Partly, I don't see any tribe that encompasses me entirely - I distrust all group think.
I once believed that we had evolved with our Science. That we were beyond the ancient, as we now toy with space travel, nanotechnologies and the sublime Martini. Yet today I deeply realized how tied we are to our culture. My inner-self craves a marking of this passage. I don't know how to acknowledgment that I've moved on.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Farmer Jen is Looking for Adventure
Thanks to Mom for posting a note! I never knew why we stopped growing tomatoes. I thought it was due to my eating them all, but no, she grew her best crop ever and was done.
I'm not there yet. I have my little plants all tucked into their bed. We've been careful to make sure they don't fry in this week's heat wave. I hear it is supposed to be back to down to 75 today. 95 or 100 was a bit much! But all the little guys look fine. So, I keep going out side and thinking, "Now What?". There's no weeding to do. It is too early to start the seedlings for the mid-summer crop - I think there will be onions, beets, more tomatoes and beans in that round. I will have to check my gardening book to see what I might be doing now. Last night I dreamt of beans, polls and wire. I think deep down I want to grow beans.
On the yogurt front, this last batch I made wasn't right. But I was pressed for time, so didn't try to re-culture it. The taste had a strong tangy, and it did not firm up at all. I put it all into containers and just decided to deal with it later. 3 days later and the containers haven't solidified. I've been feeding it to myself & the hounds - with Austin, aka Mr. Picky, eating the stuff up happily. This morning I realized that accidentally made buttermilk! From yogurt to buttermilk, a new adventure!
I'm not there yet. I have my little plants all tucked into their bed. We've been careful to make sure they don't fry in this week's heat wave. I hear it is supposed to be back to down to 75 today. 95 or 100 was a bit much! But all the little guys look fine. So, I keep going out side and thinking, "Now What?". There's no weeding to do. It is too early to start the seedlings for the mid-summer crop - I think there will be onions, beets, more tomatoes and beans in that round. I will have to check my gardening book to see what I might be doing now. Last night I dreamt of beans, polls and wire. I think deep down I want to grow beans.
On the yogurt front, this last batch I made wasn't right. But I was pressed for time, so didn't try to re-culture it. The taste had a strong tangy, and it did not firm up at all. I put it all into containers and just decided to deal with it later. 3 days later and the containers haven't solidified. I've been feeding it to myself & the hounds - with Austin, aka Mr. Picky, eating the stuff up happily. This morning I realized that accidentally made buttermilk! From yogurt to buttermilk, a new adventure!
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Veggies Go In
After work today Tsui and I went to Flowercraft and invested another $100 in the vegetable plot. Tsui was no more amused at being carried through the plant store than the helper folk who were clearly giving me the, "Does she really think she's Paris Hilton?" looks. But I didn't care... tittering around in 3" heels, dress pants, blouse, Tsui in my right arm, the list of plants to get in the other.
They were low on veggies. There weren't any of the onion family represented - so I don't have the garlic, onion, leek & shallot section. Instead I over bought - getting yellow & white corn, 5 types of tomatoes, 4 bell peppers, 2 zucchini, 2 types of cucumber, lettuce, collard greens, 1 watermelon, the last strawberry plant, broccoli & cauliflower. Some might say I over-planted my little 4 x 8 foot plot. I say I'm optimistic.
I enjoyed taking each plant out of its little container, breaking up the roots so they'd quickly & easily take over the garden, placing it in its little hole and then tapping the dirt all around it. I didn't enjoy that the last bit of soil I added was laden with wood remains, so I'm getting splinters in my hands and know that I'm going to have to move to gloved gardening. However that will help my nails, as they are not enjoying all the dirt contact.
Marc did the honors of watering the little plantlings. He got home as I was planting the last few green babies. I am dreading the day when I have to rip out the remains of the plants to make space for new ones. But they all got tucked in and I'm hoping they'll all be there when I check on them tomorrow morning.
More updates to come... that is if you tune back in. Was my life more interesting when my favorite band was My Life With The Thrill Kill Cult? Hope my blog doesn't replace Ambien in your life. Is reading about corn growing as exciting as watching paint dry? You'll have to come back to find out.
They were low on veggies. There weren't any of the onion family represented - so I don't have the garlic, onion, leek & shallot section. Instead I over bought - getting yellow & white corn, 5 types of tomatoes, 4 bell peppers, 2 zucchini, 2 types of cucumber, lettuce, collard greens, 1 watermelon, the last strawberry plant, broccoli & cauliflower. Some might say I over-planted my little 4 x 8 foot plot. I say I'm optimistic.
I enjoyed taking each plant out of its little container, breaking up the roots so they'd quickly & easily take over the garden, placing it in its little hole and then tapping the dirt all around it. I didn't enjoy that the last bit of soil I added was laden with wood remains, so I'm getting splinters in my hands and know that I'm going to have to move to gloved gardening. However that will help my nails, as they are not enjoying all the dirt contact.
Marc did the honors of watering the little plantlings. He got home as I was planting the last few green babies. I am dreading the day when I have to rip out the remains of the plants to make space for new ones. But they all got tucked in and I'm hoping they'll all be there when I check on them tomorrow morning.
More updates to come... that is if you tune back in. Was my life more interesting when my favorite band was My Life With The Thrill Kill Cult? Hope my blog doesn't replace Ambien in your life. Is reading about corn growing as exciting as watching paint dry? You'll have to come back to find out.
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