Femminista della casa

Change a Life

2007-07-06T15:07:00.000-06:00

I haven't been up to blogging recently--I received creepy anonymous comments that just put me off the whole thing--and now I have so many things I could post about I am totally overwhelmed.

And I don't want to get into the cycle of the blog running me rather than me running the blog. So if it doesn't feel fun, I ain't gonna do it.

But I just found out about http://www.kiva.org/ - and it is AMAZING. You microlend to deserving entrepreneurs--you help fund them now and they pay you back so that you can refund another. Minimum loan amount is $25.

I just sent $50 to help build a $450 loan for Patience Erhunmwense, a 36-year-old mother of two and a client of Lift Above Poverty Organization (LAPO) . She sells ice cream in Benin City, Nigeria and wants to buy a freezer and develop more ice cream flavours.

Q Tonic

2007-06-14T17:50:00.000-06:00

A follow-up on G&Ts and the ultimate tonic water:

This may be the most exciting thing to happen as a direct result of this blog: free stuff sent to me to try out and report on. How cool is that?

Jordan Silbert, founder of Q Tonic was as good as his word: he sent me two bottles to taste, and Alan and I have just finished our tasting, having sat outside under the shade and languidly sipped our gin and tonics.

Sigh.

My review: attractively packaged in a small bottle that will make exactly two short G&Ts. Not too sweet and with only about 7g of carbs per bottle--which is only about 3.5 g of carbs per short G&T (!). No high fructose corn syrup. Organic ingredients. Hand-picked Peruvian quinine (*not* synthetic).

What's not to like?

This is what: at the moment it is available only in New York City at the following four places:

Milk and Honey
Little Branch
Gramercy Tavern
Blue Hill at Stone Barns

BUT Jordan says it will be available soon at gourmet groceries around the country. If you want to stock it, you can contact Q Tonic here to discuss possibilities.

This was really fun. I can't wait to be able to buy this regionally. I am sure it won't be sold locally, but I'm hoping some Santa Fe store will stock it. And I will stock up.

If anyone else is out there needs to test out a product--imported dark chocolate? vintage ports? artisan cheeses?--please do let me know. I'm game.

Doggy Pi

2007-06-10T11:49:00.000-06:00

Just finished a stash-busting project: a felted dog bed made from leftover Lopi.

I adapted the pattern from Wendy's felted kitty bed, which is based on the increases used in Elizabeth Zimmermann's Pi Shawl (hence Wendy's name of "Kitty Pi").

To make a circle grow, Zimmermann used the knowledge that a circle's circumference doubles as the radius doubles, which my math-teacher husband tells me has nothing to do with pi, but that's what EZ called her application of this fact and thus it shall ever be known in knitting circles...)

I followed Wendy's instructions exactly except that I made it much larger by doubling stitches an additional time at 24 rows--288 stitches--and I used size 13 needles. It was a super-quick knit-up--chunky yarn, huge needles, knit in the round (which is much quicker for me than straight knitting). I knit in the car during the last two camping trips, and it rolled off the needles lickety-split.

From her pattern, it looked like Wendy was counting on 40% shrinkage, which seems high, but I used that in my own adapted pattern and did indeed get the size I was after (about three feet in diameter). It will suit James for a while, since he typically curls up when he sleeps.

I didn't block mine as severely as Wendy did--in fact, I couldn't stop James from playing with it while it was still wet!

My knitting friends asked me about being worried if he will chew it. I'm not really. The felted knitting is super thick (like carpet), and James has a soft bite. Also, if he does a chew hole in it, it can't really unravel (thanks to the felting), and I can just throw it into the washing machine for re-felting to mend the hole!

Seven Things, Week 15

2007-06-09T20:41:00.000-06:00

Alan cleaned out our camping closet and found the following things that have become Week 15 of the project:

ONE blue tarp-bag (which held we know not what)

FOUR carabiners (which we have never used for anything)

ONE plastic flask (which is not as nice as the fancy leather-sided, stainless-steel bourbon flask we already own)

ONE water-bottle holder that says "For women who thirst for knowledge: Women's Colleges 2003"--given to me by a colleague because I attended Smith College (a women's college in Massachusetts)

TWO enamelware camping mugs that are oversized (which Alan deems too large to be decent)

ONE opened packet of unused rubber tie-downs

ONE hand-operated air-pump

Salvation Army Thrift Store gets the lot.

In addition I released TWO books that I had read and am unattached to into the wild: The Guide: A Novel and Telling Tales

Total for this week: 13
Total so far: 123

A Two-Day Camping Adventure

2007-06-09T19:37:00.000-06:00

Just got back from a semi-aborted camping trip. I thought we would be gone four nights--we were gone only two. Came back to a hail storm, so it was a good call to return early.

We left on Thursday afternoon in order to secure a goods site at Sugarite Canyon State Park. I'd read a great write-up in Christina Frain's New Mexico Campgrounds: The Statewide Guide. I'd never been to Sugarite, but Frain said it was one of the prettiest state parks of New Mexico, so we had to go.

It is indeed one of the prettiest. Breath-taking views, great trails, forest, water, mountains, even a ghost town.

As soon as we got there I realized that the camera needed new batteries. Drat! No cool picutres from our trip to share with you.

The best I can do is resort to Google. Here is one from explorenm.com. It is a wide-shot of Soda Pocket Campground, where we camped. It doesn't really convey the majesty of the canyon views, but there are copyrighted photos on the site where I got this un-copyrighted pic, so have a look if you are curious to see what the camping looks like close up.

I also realized that we needn't have worried about securing a good camping spot--this was one of the three "crowded" weeks of the park due to the annual Fishing Derby, and there were still many empty sites.

We hiked three trails while we were there, but it was windy and pretty cold the whole time--heavy frost/ice on our tent when we woke up on Friday morning. It had gotten down to 20-something degrees in the night and didn't reach 65 in the daytime, and the cold wind just blew and blew, making reading, cooking, even sitting difficult. So although we had paid for two nights, we packed up on the afternoon of the second day and headed south toward home.

We stopped by the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge--there is primitive camping allowed there, but again the gale was blowing by the lake, and although we would have seen some great waterfowl, it just wasn't going to be fun to sit unprotected in cold wind. We did see some beautiful deer on the drive in and a very nice assortment of ducks on the lake.

As a last resort before returning home, we drove to Cimarron (home of the haunted St. James Hotel and the Philmont Scout Ranch) and then into the protected Canyon to see if we could snag a spot in Cimarron Canyon State Park. It was late afternoon of a Friday, so we were doubtful.

Jackpot! An amazing site at the Maverick Campground--on the river, with trees and shade and view of high cliffs--and both drinking and toilets just across from our site. No wind, mid-70s--the warmest we'd been in 24 hours.

Again, my camera wasn't working, but this picture I found when I Googled gives a sense of the canyon. Thank you, edboyden.org.

The dog was in high heaven--lots of mud and water and wonderful places to dig.

However, we were pretty dirty at this point--having been frozen, having moved camp, having slept with a muddy dog, having failed to wash/shower for two nights and almost three days. The clouds were getting up and it looked like an afternoon thunderstorm was in the works, so we packed up after lunch and headed home via the scenic route--through Eagle Nest and Angel Fire and Guadalupita. It rained and rainbowed--and hailed soon after we unloaded the car.

So we're home tonight a bit earlier than anticipated.

I managed to send two books into the wild as part of the trip, one at each campground.

Victoria's Dirty Secret

2007-06-06T21:20:00.000-06:00

I have always disliked Victoria's Secret--overpriced lingerie, objectified female form, bombardment of unwanted catalogs and, like nearly every other bra vendor in the USA, they don't even sell my bra size.

(To get a good fit, I have to get my bras imported from Europe. I can mail order all my other clothes and they fit well, so I am a pretty standard size--but I can't buy a US bra off a rack. Given this weird state of affairs, I suspect many, many women in the US are wearing poorly fitting bras, and I have actually surveyed fit instructions online and have found most of them incorrect. But that's another blog topic to be covered in future....)

Today on Bioneers, I heard about the campaign against Victoria's Secret, who had been making its catalogs out of wood pulp taken the Boreal forest.

Victoria's Secret mails ONE MILLION catalogs a day. That's a lot of wood.

After two years of campaigning, Victoria’s Secret reached an agreement with ForestEthics and signed a new paper contract.

Which makes it sound reformed.

But no.

Consider the recent email I received from GreenDimes:

We contact thousands of catalog companies and mailers on our member's behalf every month. Each of these is cooperative and provides an easy way for us to take customers off of mailing list... all but ONE. Victoria's Secret. They require us to call them each and every time we take a customer off of their lists - which can mean hold times of 30 minutes! Odd given that people can request to RECEIVE and REDUCE catalog mailings on-line. I guess this is why they keep sending 350 Million catalogs every year.

GreenDimes stats as of May 2007 were 514,000 pounds of junk mail stopped, over 174,000 trees planted and over 1,313,000 gallons of water saved.

Not bad for a company that started just last autumn.

Good company = GreenDimes
Bad company = Victoria's Secret

Travels with James

2007-06-06T07:18:00.000-06:00

We took the puppy tent-camping last weekend.

It was an experiment. Would we get any sleep? Would the puppy behave bizarrely? Would we be slung out of the campground?

We decided to go for just one night in a state park close to home in case the whole venture was a total disaster. We went on a Sunday night, when we knew the campground would not be full. We camped high on a hill, away from other campers.

It was glorious.

We had a view of cliffs and mesas (which I failed to photograph). The park offers rock and adobe shelters. You can see our rock shelter here. So we had shade, view, walks along the Pecos River, and a dog who could not have been happier.

He barked only to welcome me back from the longdrop. We put him on a 30-foot cord, and he ambled around the campsite, somehow completely missing a snake we encountered while on a walk and and a fox that came to visit as we sat around the campfire.

That night, we had to coax him into the tent. He refuses anything unfamiliar, but once I lifted him bodily into our low-slung, three-person tent, he began to investigate. It took a little while to settle him down, but he spent most of the night curled up at our feet, dozing and enjoying the den experience with his pack (i.e., us).

The yucca and prickly pear were in bloom:

It amazes me how therapeutic just one night spent camping is. I was cheered and relaxed.

We're off again this weekend, this time to a park a bit further afield and for several nights.

Seven Things, Weeks 13 & 14

2007-06-05T19:49:00.005-06:00

Catching up from my hiatus, I didn’t take pictures for the project, but I did offload the following:

TWO bags of grout powder (a kind of mortar) that have been in our utility closet since we moved into the house ten years ago. Also, TWO other mysterious bags related to grout and tile that we also inherited when we moved in. I returned them to the workers who had used them in the first place (ten years ago), thus freeing up space for dog food and rawhide chews.

I forgot to count the ONE bag of pig-skin twisties that I had bought for our puppy and that he wouldn’t touch and that I gave to my friend Anne several weeks ago. Anne has two exquisitely behaved Blue Healers who also seem to quite like the twisties.

The other dog-related purchase which was a mistake was ONE bag of puppy training pads. The Dog Bible had them on the list of things to buy in preparation for one’s puppy, so I dutifully did—and never used them once. We’ve crate-trained our puppy and have never used the pads. So they will be put out in the break room at work with a sign that they’re free to a good home.

Also to put in the break room is ONE can of lighter fluid for barbecues. I hate this chemical stuff and have used either Chimney Starter to make fire or paraffin fire-starters (which are also fairly toxic, but for some reason they frighten me less than lighter fluid.) Don’t know why we even have a bottle of lighter fluid. Someone must have left some at our house…?

So that’s seven for May 26.

And then there’s last weekend, June 2: I do not think this can count toward any total number of things offloaded, but I did gather all the books that wonderful friends had lent us in the last month and returned them. As you can see from the picture, it was a rather huge pile, and rounding them up and sending them back to owners actually managed to de-clutter our home quite significantly!

Total for these weeks: 7

Total so far: 110

Blogging Hiatus

2007-06-05T19:21:00.000-06:00

Golly. I haven’t blogged for two weeks.

Since January, I'd been blogging very regularly—except for the odd week of Work Hell that prevented me from getting to it.

But, forcing myself to examine why I haven’t blogged lately, I see several factors:

One, of course, is the glorious summer weather. I want to be outside—camping, cooking, eating, drinking, walking my dog, gardening—and patently *not* inside at a computer. Life is meant to be lived, not just blogged about, and I’ve been doing a whole lot of living. And it’s been great.

And then there is the slightly shameful reason I haven’t blogged.

About three weeks ago, an anonymous print publication was circulated at work, and in it, I was roasted for my blog. Actually, the blog was not mentioned, but very silly pictures (taken from here and here) were lifted out of context, and I was lifted up to ridicule for all colleagues to see.

Not very nice. Still makes me shudder. And get a bit weepy.

I know I should have thicker skin, but it made me think I should drop the blog altogether. The experience was so embarrassing and mean-spirited. (I should mention that I work at a high school, and this text was, I think, student-produced. Thus, I was outed and ridiculed by the very students I serve.)

No matter how long you work for them and what you give, some teenagers just don’t ever seem to appreciate it, whether it be creating challenging and important classroom lessons or helping raise scholarship money so that they can attend the amazing school in the first place.

It makes my heart ache.

And then there were major work demands: another Board meeting, the end of our fiscal year, a graduation to help organize.

And then there was Memorial Day weekend, during which we looked at more houses to buy.

And there is, of course, the ongoing puppy experience.

And the first tent-camping trip with the puppy (which was glorious).

So now I’m back, but I am not sure how regularly. My need for blogging seems to coincide with cold weather and need for challenge. And I feel I've had more than enough challenge in the last few weeks.

Enough excuses. I have missed you all, and I'm sorry I've been out of touch.

Seven Things, Week 12

2007-05-22T18:58:00.000-06:00

Yikes.

This is for last Saturday's contribution to the project.

No pictures, I'm afraid. The batteries in the camera went. But I do have seven things to report!

TWO things to throw out:

a pair of Al’s stained and ripped jeans
a pair of worn-out shoes with actual holes in them (lovely Sesto Meucci loafers purchased new from eBay only last summer but worn rather incessantly since then

Next, TWO sets of coasters from Japan, one set depicting the Tales of Genji and the other of Sumo wrestlers, go to the Salvation Army Thrift Store. We've had them around the house for ten years, but now that I'm making the cd coasters, so we no longer need a pile of cardboard coasters. Alan always hated the Sumo guys....

Finally, THREE beautiful, almost-new books to be released into "the Wild" tomorrow (a la BookCrossing.com):

Life of Pi (Martel)
Founding Brothers (Ellis)
Second Honeymoon (Trollope)

(Feel like hunting a book? Click here to hunt for books in over 95 countries!)

Total this week: 7

Total so far: 103

How do you say "thank you" in dog?

2007-05-21T19:05:00.000-06:00

Slurp?

Having a new puppy gives me a (very faint) taste of what it must be like to have a new human arrival—a drastic change in one’s routine, some sleep deprivation (very mild, I’m sure, compared to newborn humans!), new anxieties, and tender love.

And presents.

I had no idea.

Starting with the gift of a fabulous book and loans of other books and DVDs, we have now received cards, emails and even beautifully wrapped presents from many very, very nice people.

So, along with thank-you notes that I am trying to catch up with, here's a public thank you to Anne and Judy and Janet and Stephanie and Winston and Nina and Larry and Debbie and Beth and Melissa and Tim and Rex and Rory and Harriet and Sue and DJ and Tyler and Andrew and Grant and Matt and Liberty.

Mwah!

Walking

2007-05-21T18:43:00.000-06:00

Or, as some puppy owners call it, "walkies."

My Vein of Gold work--sadly neglected since James arrived--has had one boost: the prescribed daily walk of 20 minutes or so happens regularly, and not just once a day but always twice and sometimes three times.

Before James, I walked only on special days--on holidays, on especially beautiful weekend mornings, and when we had company.

Now it is an integrated part of my life.

This morning, I finally remembered to take the camera on our regular morning (6:30 am) walk.

Unfortunately, it was overcast this morning--unusual for New Mexico--and so isn't as pretty as most days.

We start from our driveway and go up a wooded mountain path.

This is high desert, so the conifer woods are also prickly-pear woods and yucca woods.

We encounter rocks to climb, then a logging road and The View.

This ugly metal barn-like thing is what's behind me as I look at The View. (Not so lovely.)

Then back down the hill to home. About a 25-minute walk.

Lloyd Alexander

2007-05-19T19:10:00.000-06:00

Until this evening, I hadn't thought of Lloyd Alexander in YEARS.

He transformed my tenth summer--I read all the Chronicles of Prydain that summer and wept when they ended, all too soon.

I remember learning the word "bauble" from the first book.

I just heard on NPR that he's passed away.

He was the creator of some magical children's stories. I so wish I could make such magic.

Were you a friend of Taran the Pig Keeper and Eilonwy?

I wanted to BE Eilonwy.

(BTW, I sort of think he looks like Al, but Al says he looks like a skeleton with a nose. Hmmm....)

Congratulations, Ceri!

2007-05-19T17:35:00.002-06:00

Reader and commenter Ceri Nuala is graduating today from Hampshire College.

She's an amazing photographer, feminist and activist.

She will do great things.

(The image is not Ceri, nor is it me. It is borrowed from funkysofa.com. It expresses my happy-dance joy on Her Day!)

G&T Forever

2007-05-19T15:26:00.000-06:00

I delight in making cocktails and dip into my very aesthetically pleasing American Bar: The Artistry of Mixing Drinks several times a week.

Sadly, I had to swear off my favorite summer cocktail when I realized that high fructose corn syrup—a ubiquitous ingredient in US tonic waters—was my nemesis. I have substituted Campari and sodas, Sazaracs and Mojitos, but the perfect summer evening does indeed call for a G&T (gin and tonic).

So I am thrilled to have just read June’s Gourmet magazine which reports on two new tonic waters available in the US which do NOT contain HFCS (!!): UK import Fever-Tree (sweetened with cane sugar) and US Q Tonic (sweetened with agave nectar).

I have to say that, in looking at both products' web sites, Q Tonic is more appealing, since they report that Q Tonic is made with

• Hand-picked quinine from the Peruvian Andes
• Organic agave as the sweetener
• 80% fewer calories than regular tonic water
• All natural ingredients
• No high fructose corn syrup
• 85% lower glycemic rating than other tonic waters

Designer, diet and politically correct! For food snobs everywhere!

Q Tonic also has the history of the G&T (and, indeed, tonic water) on its web site.

Now the hunt is on: where can I buy this stuff? Does anyone know?

Shiny, Happy

2007-05-15T19:29:00.001-06:00

The Ideal Bite in my email inbox today was about natural metal polishes that make brass, silver and steel sparkle but are also non-toxic.

I once had a job as a household servant that required me to spend four hours on Thanksgiving morning polishing the household silver.

That may have been the last time I ever polished silver--bad, bad chemical smells and sore forearms. Besides, I rather like the tarnished-candlestick look...and yes, those candlesticks pictured are indeed my silver candlesticks although they now look like brass.

I'm a fan of non-toxic cleaners--in fact, my very first blog post was about them, and most of my subsequent posts on cleaners and cleaning promote, rather evangelically, non-toxic, homemade products.

So why choose non-toxic metal polish?

Better for your body: free of chemicals that irritate (like ammonia) and also less chance of putting something fairly caustic in your mouth as you fork in the turkey or tofu

Better for the planet: Ideal Bite reports that "the EPA estimates each U.S. household disposes of 1 lb of hazardous waste per year (including solvent-based polishes), which can make its way into groundwater if washed down the drain."

Ideal Bite lists several non-toxic products to buy--and also suggests the following home recipes:

For brass: equal parts lemon juice, salt and water

For silver: equal parts baking soda and water

For stainless steel: olive oil

Dontcha just love to use cleaners that you can also EAT?

Ideal Bite also offers this Fun Fact: If 10,000 households halve the amount of hazardous chemicals we use, we'll avert the weight of 833 sterling silver tea sets in dangerous waste.

833 sterling silver tea sets. Now there's an image that one doesn't often entertain.

Mother's Day Redux

2007-05-15T07:08:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I received my first Mother's Day card ever.

Thanks, Steph. It made a grumbly day MUCH less grumbly.

Spooky Blogger

2007-05-13T20:51:00.000-06:00

Don't know when this happened, but I just noticed that the months in my sidebar archive are now in Italian. And I didn't do it. A poltergeist in my settings?

Improved Living

2007-05-13T16:00:00.000-06:00

Well, that may be an overstatement, but it IS a neat idea for a blog: The Center for Improved Living posts daily actions "to make life just a little better." For example, today's post says

Write a haiku for or about your mom. (haiku = 3 lines, 7 syllables, 5 syllables, 7 syllables)

Isn't that sweet?

Ok, so here's my attempt:

Mom, working at the cabin,
Cleans the new hot tub
And forgets that it's her Day.

My own version of improved living for today is that I've discovered a non-dairy moussaka recipe in The New Basics Cookbook that contains nuts, fruit and acorn squash--and I've substituted brown rice for white for good measure.

And it unmolded successfully, which makes me feel like Queen of the Kitchen.

Mother's Day

2007-05-13T08:37:00.000-06:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

My own mom is at our log cabin in the woods with no electricity or phone, so she'll have to get her call from me later.

Ms T. alerted me to this very funny Mother's Day edition of The Onion--only for moms who don't take themselves too seriously!

Preppie Compassion?

2007-05-13T07:58:00.000-06:00

Yesterday at the Compassion Beyond Borders yard sale (which I blogged about earlier in the week), I found a Bloomingdale's Boys' Shop sport coat--wool and silk, beautifully made. The silk lining has a pheasant motif--it looks like a hunting jacket. Very English, really. Got it for $1.

Might any of the four nephews wear it? Playing dress-up as an English Country Gentleman? May I send it on?

Compassion Beyond Borders got about $500 from the yard sale--not too shabby, as it takes only $40 per year to educate a student at the Prajna Vihar school in Bodh Gaya, India, one of CBB's partnership projects.

In Sanskrit, Prajna means wisdom, Vihar means house. This school for “the very poorest” of children, was founded by a Buddhist meditation student 15 years ago. Today it has 440 students, over 80% of whom are low caste or outcaste--"untouchable” Hindus. About ten percent of the students are upper caste Hindus who are chosen to provide diversity to the student body. They too receive a remarkable education, being required to treat their classmates as equals in every way.

Prajna Vihar begins with two years of kindergarten and continues to the eighth grade. The schedule is rigorous, six days a week, with daily homework after the first grade. Instruction is in Hindi, the language of northern India, with English beginning in kindergarten. All students are taught “moral signs”, the ethical values of the Indian and world religions. The school offers physical education, art, and dance instruction to all students.

Parents pay only the cost of their child’s school uniform. The faculty receive an annual salary equivalent to about $3,500 a year. This salary is higher than that in Indian public schools, higher even than in other private schools in the area.

Financing for Prajna Vihar comes through a network of supporters in Australia, Switzerland, England and the U.S., with no income coming from the Indian government. Compassion Beyond Borders sponsors 100 children at Prajna Vihar, and would like to sponsor more, as many children are on a waiting list to attend the school.

I personally know both the Executive Director and the Chair of Compassion Beyond Borders, and they are wonderful, selfless people who are doing great work.

With its focus on the education of impoverished girls and illiterate women--the poorest of the poor in the developing world--it really is making the world a better place, and it is especially effective because it works through local groups that know the needs of their communities and how to meet them, thus strengthening existing grassroots organizations and avoiding costly intermediate structures.

This is one of those small charities that deserves much support.

Seven Things Meme

2007-05-12T12:35:00.000-06:00

Still catching up in Blog World--Sognatrice tagged me for a meme last Monday, and I've been meaning to get to it all week.

This one is called the Seven Things meme, and these are the rules:

Each player starts with seven random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose seven people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

Sognatrice riffed on the meme by basing her list on the Seven Deadly Sins and how they manifest themselves in her. This is hard, since my family and closest friends read this blog and so I don't really want to tell Mom about my secret lust. So ix-nay on the eadley-day ins-say.

As for the other, more boring option, I'm pretty transparent--not many secrets here. What wouldn't they know?

1. I think my brother already knows this because he shares this weirdness: I am not very brand-loyal, but I hate to buy anything other than Scott brand toilet paper--not the new "soft" version, but the one with 1000 sheets per roll so we don't run out of toilet paper all the time.

2. Speaking of Scott, I have always had a crush on Scott Simon's voice.

3. I no longer shave my legs in the winter time. That's what opaque tights are for. But now it's summer. Damn.

4. I really, really really hate anyone eating and drinking at meetings or in cars. It is endemic in my culture, but it really grosses me out, and were I Queen of the Universe, I would tell everyone to just eat before you meet (or drive)--on pain of death. Water is ok. Nothing else is, especially coffee. Gag.

5. I always set my alarm clock three or four times before I settle down to sleep. Just to make sure.

6. I have always wanted a karaoke machine, but I don't know how I'd use it. Alone? In a soundproof room?

7. I have a growing fondness for country western music--and a diminishing fondness for classical music. Is that a kind of atrophy?

Ok, so now I have to tag seven people, which I am scared to do because some people hate to be tagged.

But what the hell.

I'll avoid tagging the bloggers I suspect would really hate it and go for the following who seem like jolly good sports and, who, when I search their blog for "meme", don't seem to have done this one yet:

1. The Ravell'd Sleave
2. Beth in New York City
3. Taoknitter
4. Ruth’s Place
5. Crafting Chaos

Eek! Who else can I tag? There are some friends who read this blog but don't post comments, so that makes me shy; there are some new friends whom I only just met. I know there must be someone else I can tag...but who? What to do?

How Much Do You Know About Aromatherapy?

2007-05-12T09:23:00.000-06:00

Catching up on all the blogs I didn't read this week, I found this fun quiz link on Surviving the Workday. I scored only 11/16 and realized that I'm stuck in a rosemary and lavender rut!

Plant Identification

2007-05-12T08:12:00.000-06:00

A question from Ms T of Surviving the Workday which I can't answer--but maybe you can:

We have this mystery plant in the vegetable garden (see [images]). Since I let things go to seed every year sometimes some strange plants come up that I haven't planted in years. Is this a pepper? Or something else? I've planted a range of things (tomatoes, eggplant, lots of peppers), and can't identify it....

I am nervous about giving any advice ever since I sought online help for a mystery plant that I thought might be tomatillo and found out that tomatillo is in the deadly nightshade family and so my mystery plant could have been something unpleasantly toxic!

I'd hate to steer you wrong, Ms. T. Maybe someone more proficient in gardening and horticulture could educate us?

Doggy Knits?

2007-05-11T20:17:00.000-06:00

As soon as our small community found out about James, we were given congratulations, advice and loans of books and DVDs.

Along with the Jon Katz books I've mentioned, we have a loan of Dog Whisperer With Cesar Millan - The Complete First Season, the gist of which seems to be "Walk your dog on a short lead and be the boss."

I was also given a loan of the book Doggy Knits: Over 20 Coat Designs for Handsome Hounds And Perfect Pooches.

I have never been a dress-your-dog-up person, although I have knit a dog coat for a chihuahua I know (though I 've never seen her wearing my creation....).

Are dog coats just too weird? Why does a dog need a coat? Doesn't it already have a coat?

Is there any practical reason behind this--or are these just fun to knit?

Out of all the designs in the book, there is only one that I sort-of fancy, were I to knit my pooch some gear: the denim-style coat knit out of rugged denim yarn that would last a long while and soften and fade with repeated washing. (Although denim yarn is a bitch to knit with--it stains your hands blue and chafes.)

The more practical thing I should get into, given my long-haired, shedding breed of dog, is knitting with dog hair. The problem here is not just that I don't know how to spin but also that when I sat next to Karen, the dog-hair spinner/knitter, I couldn't stop sneezing and coughing.

Ahchoo!

Seven Things, Weeks 10 and 11

2007-05-10T13:15:00.000-06:00

So my life has been turned a bit upside down this week with the adoption of Sweet Baby James, who sleeps through the night but wakes up on the button at 4:48am and needs a pee.

We've had lots of walks and cuddles and training sessions--fitted into my part-time office work schedule and my examination marking and my online work.

I've let somethings slide--like this blog. :(

Having missed the project last Saturday, I'm making up for it this week. I've had two opportunities to give things to good causes and have taken up both.

One is my friend Edith, whose daughter is a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Senegal. Edith is leaving at the end of the month to visit her daughter, and she wants to take gifts to the whole village.

For the women, she wants to bring costume jewelry; for the men, headlamps and small DYI tools; and for the children, small soft toys. I looked around an unearthed

a lovely vintage glass pearl necklace which I haven't worn since college

five cool pearl bracelets which are, alas, too formal for my rural New Mexican life

a jade necklace, which I like but never wear

two pairs of hoop earrings and some other single pieces which I forget about

a fan I brought back from Japan ten years ago and haven't used

and a WebKinz monkey, which I got only a few weeks ago for my birthday. I love the WebKinz games I get to play, but I must admit to not playing with the monkey itself.

I also got an email for a campus yard sale to benefit Compassion Beyond Borders. Heading to the closets, I harvested

a black sports bra

a leotard

a pink nylon t-shirt that is too short and shows my midriff (yuck)

a reversible skirt that I like but that doesn't flatter

a striped cotton skirt I knit but am too old for

a dress that I sewed about ten years ago in a Jane Austen style. I wasn't too old for it then, but I am now.

a book on rugby
a wine dossier

a learn Spanish kit

a set of napkin rings

a blue Japanese oni mask

On a previous Seven Things Saturday, I had almost thrown out Al's old slippers, since he got new ones for Christmas, but James is putting them to new use:

Total this week and last week: 22

Total so far: 96

A few more pics, then I'll stop.

2007-05-06T18:14:00.000-06:00

The formal portait.

FLASH!

A serious threat to chew ropes everywhere.

It's a Boy!

2007-05-06T15:53:00.000-06:00

Meet James.

I haven't blogged because I have been too busy staring at my new, beautiful , sleeping puppy!

We drove 90 miles yesterday (which is nothing in New Mexico) to the farm where he was one of a litter of TWELVE.

We met the Golden mom and the Golden dad--beautiful, healthy, super-friendly dogs. (I think Alan actually fell in love with them instead of the puppies.)

We spent some time with the remaining four male pups. While we could distinguish some personality, it was hard to keep track of who was who as they romped around. Alan and I narrowed it down to the two calmer ones who were dozing on their own rather than chumming with each other. The other two were energetic and lovable but also, it appeared, inseparable, and we wanted only one pup. So we got one of the two calmer ones--but we aren't sure which one.

The 90-mile journey home was awful: the pup got very anxious (its first time in a car!), started to pant, then drool, then foam, then vomit. I was riding in the back seat with the pup, and it took me 40 miles to realize that I should put the puppy on the floor, where he was indeed much more comfortable.

When we arrived home, he was a miserable, limp noodle. It was heartbreaking. I thought we had blown it.

All the books gave advice on how to coax the pup into the crate--but this pup went into the crate and wouldn't come out for anything. Eventually I brought food and water to the crate, since he wouldn't leave it.

We were alarmed--he was so lethargic and docile and sad-looking. He slept and slept and, when awake, he didn't move at all. The car trip had taken a lot out of him, as did being indoors for the first time.

Then, a surprise.

We took the puppy outside to eliminate, and he became a different puppy: tail wagging, mouth laughing. He really likes being outside, which is where he has spent the first 10 weeks of his life. But he doesn't like going through doors to get outside.

This morning he was a bit livelier--venturing three and four feet from his crate and then retreating back to it. We played a game throughout the day where I moved his toys a few feet from the crate and he slipped out and put them back in the crate.

We've had three walks today, each one better than the last. He's getting used to the leash, not tugging much, learning the commands "leave it" as well as "sit," "come" and his name. (Jon Katz says that surprisingly few dogs actually know their names, so this is a goal!)

This afternoon the puppy actually came out of the crate long enough to make an inspection of the house, following me around as I dusted and washed floors. He's had a few sessions of Puppy Freak-Out Time--those hilarious energy bursts--and we chased each other around the living room table. He had a bath, during which he was silent and docile, and now he's sleeping again.

Such fun! I was a bit nervous about his first night and didn't sleep very well last night; consequently, all three of us are now lounging around in the living room now, being dozy.

This is exactly the kind of content Sunday afternoon I was dreaming of when we were planning on becoming Dog People.

When the puppy wakes up alert, we will have some more fun kibble-based training sessions--"come," "sit," "down." It's sounds far-fetched, but I think he is getting these commands already. (Not that he'll remember them tomorrow....)

Below is the full frontal shot--a good sign, I think, that he is feeling more comfortable in our home.

Puppy Love

2007-05-03T14:12:00.000-06:00

Puppies (and dogs) are this week’s obsession.

One year ago, my husband and I decided that we were ready for more commitment and love in our lives, and that meant a dog.

But we didn’t want to rush into it—we were traveling too much last summer and didn’t have time for puppy training, so we decided to research and plan and get one when we were truly ready.

Summer passed; we read up on breeds and breeders, rescue dogs and shelters and decided that as inexperienced (but devoted) pet owners we wanted a docile, well-bred dog that we could train as a pup. We decided on a breed: a Golden Retriever (which is what my family had when I was a teenager). We made arrangements to have a fenced-in area built for the puppy.

In autumn, we traded in our ten-year-old Camry for a more pet-friendly and camping-friendly car: a RAV4, with lots of room in back for dogs and tents and coolers.

Winter passed, and we thought about whether we would be able to give the time we knew a puppy would need. Summer is ideal, since we work at a school and our workload goes way down in that season.

Spring arrived and we started to read about training. We contacted a breeder who contacted her contacts and found a dam in Missouri (863 miles away) who would whelp in a few weeks—which means that we need to wait 10-12 weeks for the puppy.

So I bought a crate (for those aghast, it is what all of my training books recommend; apparently most dogs love their crates as safe, fun places and it is a favored training tool, along with positive reinforcement techniques). I also bought a bed, food and water dishes, a leash, raw hides, soft toys, puppy pads, liver treats, a barrier gate, etc.

And then we settled down to wait.

Yesterday, my great friend Anne, who is an amazing intuitive animal behaviorist and has guided our transformation from non-dog people to dog-people, called to say she'd spotted an ad for Goldens on a farm not far away. Both parents are AKC registered. These pups are WAY less expensive than the breeder in Missouri.

I called the farm and talked to a delightful women: this is their first litter. The puppies are nine weeks old on Sunday—the perfect age to adopt.

Now, I have read all about the risks of buying from inexperienced and local breeders, but I have also talked to people who have purchased dogs from nice homes and had great luck. We are not looking for show quality; we are looking for a healthy, socialized, happy dog. So going out to see this litter seems to be sensible.

So on Saturday, we are taking a drive out to the farm to meet the five remaining puppies and their parents. I'd like to do this with an air of detachment and caution, but if I am honest with myself, if the dogs in this family look happy and healthy, I can’t imagine not coming home with a pup. (!) We are SO ready.

We had thought we wanted a female, since they are smaller and books say females are less aggressive. But this farm has only males left. I googled more information about Goldens and learned that the difference between male and female Goldens is more about size and much less about temperament. In fact, one site said that male Goldens are friendlier than the more independent females.

We have been brainstorming names. When we were set on a female it was easy: Elsa or Clara. (Alan likes the name Elsa because of Born Free). For males, after a few glasses of wine last night, we got down to Darwin, Bingley, and James. Alan also likes Nelson (after Mandela). Many of my suggestions (Jack, Charlie, Moses, Harry, Ezra, Waldo) were rejected as not being dignified enough. Alan has a rather grand vision of our pup.

Born-Again Bread

2007-05-02T06:44:00.000-06:00

I don't know why, but I thrill to tips on how to be frugal and less wasteful. Like the reusing depleted soap bars to make laundry soap. Or making clean-out-the-refrigerator soup.

Today's Ideal Bite was a good reminder.

I am not a bread eater, but Alan is. When/If the bread gets stale, we usually just freeze it for bread crumbs when needed, but today's Bite has some nice recipe ideas for stale bread:*

Apple Pan Charlotte
Baked French Toast
Cheese, Onion and Bread Souffle
Chocolate Bread Pudding
Lebanese Bread Salad

Also, if you scroll down the Bite page, you'll learn how to pronounce bruschetta. It was news to me.

*I do not think that the sliced sandwich bread many people buy at the grocery store ever DOES go stale. They put dough conditioners and preservatives in it to prevent staleness; mold, however, still does happen, and you certainly do not want a moldy Apple Pan Charlotte. So I'd say these recipes are for those who make their own bread or buy it at a good bakery.

Birds on the Brain

2007-05-01T19:11:00.000-06:00

It's May Day and the Black-Headed Grosbeaks have just arrived!

A flock came to the feeders as we ate supper.

They'll stay until autumn and eat pounds and pounds of seed and amuse us while we drink our tea.

They are one reason why we can't have a cat.

A Sign of the Times?

2007-05-01T13:08:00.000-06:00

NOT.

Walking home today, I saw the universal symbol of peace fly over my head and settle on a telephone wire.

A flock of Eurasian Collared-Doves has settled in the neighborhood. We've had mourning doves around for years, but never these light grey, almost white doves.

Sigh.

Maybe this is a sign of things to come? I hope so.

Knit Nano Necklace II

2007-04-30T22:18:00.000-06:00

A follow-up to my last post.

I used this pattern and some leftover sock yarn, as Kristi suggests.

My execution of her pattern was not perfect, but the product is serviceable.

The fun new technique, which I haven't quite mastered, was i-cord all around the pouch--picking up and knitting while i-cording, which makes a very strong pouch and a very well-attached cord.

If I made another, I'd make a flap and a button hole. (But it is hard to imagine one would need more than one Nano Necklace.)

Knit Nano Necklace

2007-04-29T19:25:00.000-06:00

I like to listen to unabridged audio books (downloaded from Audible.com) while I dust and scrub the tile floors every Sunday morning.

The problem is that my iPod Nano gets in the way if stuck in my jeans pocket. It pokes me in the hip bone or falls out onto hard, wet surfaces as I bend and reach while cleaning.

So I stick it in my bra while doing housework or any other active, solitary activity.

But this looks very odd (and it feels a bit strange, too), so I have been looking for some kind of a Nano holder pattern.

I found this one and will give it a go tonight.

Staff of Life

2007-04-29T14:07:00.000-06:00

I should not eat bread.

My body does not like carbs, and so when I avoid bread and other starchy and sugary things, I am a nicer, healthier person.*

My husband, however, could survive on bread and jam and cake and still be a thin, wiry and emotionally balanced person.

Clearly, we have very different body chemistries.

So Alan makes and eats a lot of bread. He has done this for the past few years with a bread machine, which produces convenient and adequate bread.

But today he made bread in a new way, following a recipe given to us by a neighbor. It is a slow-food, no-knead kind of bread. I was very skeptical: no-knead bread sounds like fake bread.

But look at how beautifully it turned out!

What we got was a beautiful French peasant loaf.

And I ate three pieces, slathered with butter, even though I knew I shouldn't. It was worth it.

The recipe takes about 24 hours. You need a 6-8 quart heavy oven-proof pot with a lid. We didn't have this, but our neighbor let us use her heavy Creuset casserole.

Combine 3 cups of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of yeast, 1 and 1/4 teaspoons of salt and 1 cup plus 5/8 of a cup of water and stir until blended. It is a very sticky dough. Put in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest 12-18 hours at warm room temperature.

Dough is ready when bubbles are all over the surface. Put dough on a lightly floured surface, flour your hands and fold the dough over on itself once or twice. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 15-20 minutes.

Flour your hands and shape the dough into a ball. Coat a cotton towel (or flour sack) with flour or cornmeal; put dough seam-side down on the towel. Dust with flour or corn meal. Cover with another towel and let rise for two hours.

Put the heavy 6-8 quart covered pot into the oven and then pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Let oven (and the empty pot) sit at that temperature for 30 minutes.

Slide dough into hot pot, seam side up. Cover with lid and bake for 30 minutes; remove lid and bake for another 15-30 minutes until loaf is brown and crusty.

Et viola! Amazing bread.

* The book that changed my entire way of eating was Life Without Bread.

Seven Things, Week 9

2007-04-29T13:48:00.000-06:00

It's Seven Things SUNDAY this week because I missed Saturday because I was obsessed.

Not sure if this week's seven things is sort of cheating on the project, but it did involve clearing out an entire kitchen cupboard, so I think it is ok.

This week I have seven plastic food containers that were purchased (with original food), used, and then reused and reused and reused.

The trouble is that I keep buying yogurt and frozen green chile, and so my stash of plastic containers to use and re-use continues to grow.

My kitchen cabinet was BURSTING with them, and so I took the seven largest and decided they needed to go to the recycling center rather then remain in the cabinet. I still have at least seven others with which to store leftovers.

Most of my plastic containers are yogurt containers, and I am wondering if I should be making yogurt instead of buying it. Making it myself would be more in line with my food philosophy, and I would not accumulate unneeded the plastic yogurt containers.

I used to make yogurt when I lived in Tokyo--but it was so easy to do in that climate: you just mixed milk with a little yogurt and left it on the kitchen counter in a glass jar over night. In the morning, there was an entire jar of yogurt, which you ate, saving a little bit to start the next day's batch.

Here in arid, high-desert New Mexico, it just doesn't work.

So, recommendations, please:

Does anyone have a no-fail yogurt recipe tested in high altitude and dry climate? Or does anyone have a great yogurt machine that s/he would recommend?

Or, for those who regularly purchase yogurt (like me), do you do anything innovative with those pesky plastic containers?

Total this week: 7
Total so far: 74

Obsessed

2007-04-29T13:13:00.000-06:00

I have not blogged since Wednesday because I have been blind-sided by a few totally consuming obsessions.

No, not WebKinz this time.

One is that I applied for an exciting job in an exciting place. They may be reading this blog at this moment, so it made me a little paranoid about what I blog about.

So I didn't blog much.

It is also a HUGE long shot (since the job is in a place far away with a highly talented labor force and thus no reason to recruit from New Mexico). So I have decided to stop obsessing about that and just blog as normal.

The second is puppy adoption. In the very likely event that I do not get the far-away new job, we are soon going to get a puppy. We have been talking seriously about it for a year. I read books, surfed, talked to people who have wonderful, well-trained dogs, and now I feel ready.

But the puppy is not yet ready. In fact, it is not yet born.

So I'll just have to wait and try to obsess less, which is hard because I just read Katz on Dogs: A Commonsense Guide to Training and Living with Dogs and I REALLY would like a puppy NOW. And I think I need to read all of Katz's books. He's sensible and honest and good.

The third--and probably largest receiver of my energy these last few days--is the fantasizing about a Place of My Own, spurred by another great-sounding property I found. The pictures and description on the Internet made it look and sound very desirable:

This home was built in 2003. Has an open floor plan with lots of windows to let the sunshine in. It has one large bedroom and bath with a claw tub down stairs and two bedrooms and a bath upstairs. The flooring downstairs is a combo of brick tile and pine. Upstairs is pine and laminate flooring. Large workshop and a single wide in the back [which doesn't look that ugly in the one picture I found of it] could be a rental or guest house. Lots of pinon & cedar trees cover the ten acres. Only minutes from town. This home is constructed of straw bale and is 2250sqft.

Straw bale! Ten acres! Pueblo style! And easy commuting distance to work.

The photos on the site ARE beautiful.

But we made an appointment to look at it Saturday morning, and it was disappointing. It is a good effort from amateur, do-it-yourselfers, but it is unfinished, lacks closets, and the kitchen is not for people who actually cook.

But at least now we are looking. It's a start.

Creative Clustering

2007-04-25T14:07:00.000-06:00

I am about to set off on my first Artist Date, but first I feel compelled to ask you all once more: would you like to join a creative cluster?

A few days ago, I blogged an invitation to mine for gold; Ms. Theologian also posted an invitation on her blog.

We also emailed invitations, but we have not had many bites.

We are not sure why--this could be truly wonderful!

Today, Ms T has written more about what we are doing and why you might like it.

Don't be shy--if you don't have a blog of your own, this is a chance to participate in a creative, self-directed project as well as a blog as much or as little as you wish. You'll have a "home" in the blogosphere and you'll make some new friends.

Hope to see you there!

Beauty in a Blender?

2007-04-24T13:55:00.000-06:00

More catch-up.

In January, I posted about wanting to have less toxicity around the home--both in personal care products and in household cleaners.

I now routinely make lots of my own stuff--shampoo (a herbal infusion with a base of Dr. Bronner's Pure-Castile Peppermint Soap ), hair rinse (1/3 cup cider vinegar to 1 cup water), laundry soap, and floor cleaner (white vinegar and water).

My source of recipes for shampoos, rinses, toners and moisturizers is Secrets of the Spas: Pamper and Vitalize Yourself at Home (Life's Little Luxuries), a fun recipe book that uses ingredients that are accessible and wholesome.

I have wanted to make a facial moisturizer for some time, and today my Jason 100% Shea Butter ran out, so I had to get to work.

The hardest part was to grate beeswax. I could find it only in the form of a candle, so I bought one and grated it up in order to melt it for the moisturizer.

Here it is on our ugly faux-wood computer desk: I grated it while I waited for pages to l-o-a-d on my dial-up connection.

Then I melted the grated beeswax with lanolin, added olive oil and aloe vera, and finally blended it all with some rose water.

Et voila.

Catching Up On UFOs: CD Coasters

2007-04-23T16:42:00.000-06:00

Back in January, I made a coaster out of some old yarn and one of those junk-mail CDs that used to arrive without invitation in my mailbox. (They don't anymore, and I'm thanking GreenDimes.)

I had been wondering what kind of sustainable craft-type thing I could do with old CDs, and I found the CD coaster idea on the Frugalhaus knitting website.

The picture above shows my first attempt at a CD coaster—a bit too thick and fuzzy (more like a trivet than a coaster!), so I thought I'd have another go with lighter-weight yarn.

Three months later, I found the half-started attempt, pushed WAY back in a cupboard. It took me half an hour to finish, and below is the new one (right) next to the old one (left--which we have indeed been using as a coaster, not as a trivet).

There is a slight size difference, as well as the fact that one is clearly a re-used CD and the other is a bit more covert. I think I like the fuzzy, trivet-coaster (left) better than the lacy, "I'm Recycled!" coaster (right).

Which would you go with? I have at least six more old CDs to recycle....

Help Rural Communities Gain Access to Wireless Service!

2007-04-23T16:03:00.000-06:00

Just got this action alert, and it hits close to home.

First, some guilt about that:

This is not a question of human rights abuse or scary environmental degradation--and there are plenty of such problems that I deem far worthier of your attention than this. This is something that affects me as a 21st-century, middle-class, rural American, and I KNOW that my life is pretty darn good compared to millions of others on this planet.

Still, when my country spends billions of dollars on bombs and bullets and doesn't invest in things that could help people (including me) grow and prosper, I get pissed.

I am one of a shrinking minority on this planet who doesn't know how to text message. Why not? In my part of the world, cell-phone coverage is still fairly sketchy. Service exists--if you stand in the right place, preferably on top of a nearby cliff.

You can't rely on cell phone service--and so I don't. I hardly use a cell phone, and when I have, I haven't always been able to actually reach anyone out there in the wireless universe. I also live in a part of the world where I can drive 150 miles and see just one other car the whole time. Not good news for breakdowns or safety.

The lack of wireless coverage is surprising, considering that I live in one of the world's richest countries as well as its only Superpower. And I pay the same federal taxes as those living in New York, Seattle, LA, and other well-wired (or, more likely, wireless) places.

In The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded], Thomas Friedman notes the problem with access and connectivity in the USA, citing it as an inhibitor to economic growth and ultimate global prosperity.

He reports that investment in and subsidies of this arena of communications have occurred to a great degree in other countries. The most "plugged-in" country on the planet (according to Friedman)? South Korea, where a stunning percentage (was it over 90%?) have wireless access.

So, for US readers (who are, I hope, also US voters), here is a little domestic activism opportunity, via Care2.com:

Right now, Congress and the FCC are considering telecom policy changes that would jeopardize much-needed funding for wireless access. This would be especially bad for rural areas that need wireless access for economic growth and the safety of residents.

Reliable wireless access is essential for businesspeople that spend time away from the office and on the road, and it will increase the likelihood that new businesses will open up in rural communities. This funding would also eliminate "dead spots" in rural areas.

Tell Congress and the FCC that Americans everywhere should have the same choice of services. Sign the petition today!

A Haiku for Earth Day

2007-04-22T18:43:00.000-06:00

A frog in water
Doesn't feel it boil in time.
Dude, we are that frog.

(Heard on Living on Earth; reportedly the official Grist haiku.)

An Invitation to Mine Gold

2007-04-22T16:57:00.000-06:00

What Julia Cameron calls my Skeptic is feeling a wee bit icky about that upon which I am about to embark.

It is just a bit too self-helpy, too new-agey, too arty-farty, too flakey.

All of which cause serious revulsion in me.

But.

Women I trust and love have followed Julia Cameron's Artist's Way and found the journey very meaningful. Ms. Theologian has just finished the Artist's Way and seems to have learned much.

A next step, once one has reconnected with one's creativity, is healing and reconciliation. Cameron guides one through this process through experiential tasks that she puts forth in The Vein of Gold.

My mother worked through The Vein of Gold with a group of women several years ago. She was so touched by the experience that she sent me two copies of the book so that one day I might make the journey with a friend.

These books were collecting dust on my shelf, and I almost added them to the Seven Things Project. Reading Ms. T’s occasional blog posts about her discoveries made on the Artist's Way made me re-think the whole idea, and I wondered whether a team blog might be a perfect way to form a supportive, interested group for such a journey.

I pitched the idea to Ms. T, sent her my extra copy of The Vein of Gold, and we have now formed a new blog: http://veinofgold.blogspot.com/

It is a team blog for those who wish to follow The Vein of Gold.

It is a space to ask questions, share discoveries, write out tasks, report progress.

It is a work-at-your-own-pace space.

You are welcome to join.

Blanket for Erin's Baby

2007-04-22T12:11:00.000-06:00

The baby shower is in 45 minutes, and I have spent the last three hours finishing the blanket I am going to give the expectant mom.

Sunday morning chores were delayed.

The blanket is not as large as it ought to be--clearly, I ran out of time (or, more truthfully, did not work hard enough on it these past few weeks)--but it will work for a changing pad or a comfort blankie.

It is all cotton and some linen--a mixture of fibers from stash, including some cream Crystal Palace cotton chenille to make it soft. So it is machine washable, pretty strong and should get softer with repeated washing.

The design is based on Barbara Walker's seamless square concentric-strips in mosaics (found in A Fourth Treasury of Knitting Patterns), and I used Elizabeth Zimmermann's garter stitch-border bind-off (from Knitter's Almanac) in fuchsia--which doesn't look as abrupt in real life as it does in the picture but which sounds like it will be quicker to execute than it actually is...

Being Cheesy

2007-04-21T16:36:00.000-06:00

Is anyone out there a cheese whiz?

What is a good substitute for Fontina?

I'm looking at Gourmet's May 2007 recipe for Roasted-Vegetable Lasagne.

Cook-from-Gourmet Day

2007-04-21T14:03:00.000-06:00

Today, Alan is running an all-day chess tournament for 127 people. He's down the road, and one of my jobs for the day is to be here and feed him delightful things when he pops in for a break.

In addition to making about a thousand cups of tea, I have been inspired by the May issue of Gourmet magazine which arrived a few days ago.

I subscribed because I was offered the "professional rate" of $12/year. (Pretty cheap for twelve issues.) And I'm a fan of its editor, Ruth Reichl. But I have been disappointed in my first few issues--a lot of eye candy but not much I actually wanted to make.

Until this issue. Today is Cook-from-Gourmet Day.

I made Tunisian Briks for lunch--very easy and very tasty. They made me remember that whole scene in one of Reichl's books (was it Tender at the Bone or Comfort Me with Apples?), in which she tastes her first brik.

For dinner we are having the Moqueca Capixaba (a Brazilian fish stew from Espirito Santo) with Pirao (a kind of polenta cooked in a fish and vegetable stock).

I had also planned on making Chuchu e Palmito (chayote and hearts-of-palm salad). Yes, you can buy fresh chayote at Wal-Mart. But you can't make the salad if you forget to buy the hearts-of-palm.

I also admit, with no small guilt, to being influenced by Haagen-Daz's advertisements in Gourmet for their new sticky toffee pudding ice cream. Wal-Mart just got it in, so it appears on today's menu, along with Ben and Jerry's new Creme Brulee flavor (which I just sampled--a bit disappointing, like slightly crunchy, very cold marshmallow fluff).

But what I really, really want to make is Gourmet's Fig and Sesame Tart with Cardamom Orange Cream.

Alas, no figs in Wal-Mart today.

Seven Things Saturday, Week 8

2007-04-21T13:36:00.000-06:00

Week Eight of the project: more linens go this week, plus a few random casualties.

A set of FOUR maroon and blue cotton placements and a set of TWO red and green cotton placements.

They are nice place mats, but we use tablecloths daily, since our table is too ugly for place mats only.

I have a minor anxiety about shedding these mats, since if I ever get around to painting the table (as I had planned to do last summer), I am going to want these place mats back. Hmmm.

In addition to not using placements regularly, another reason to get rid of these place mats is that I have matching fabric napkins (which we do use daily) that my husband has difficulty distinguishing from the place mats.

Did you know that British place mats are fundamentally different from American place mats? It's true. British place mats are hard, cardboardy things; American place mats are like mini-tablecloths.

Alan is British, and he sets the table. This explains is why I sometimes wind up with an American place mat in my napkin ring or on my lap.

So the place mats definitely go.

There is also ONE small runner with a Picasso-like print on it, given by my lovely surrogate grandparents in Japan. I think it was a gift or freebie that they didn’t want. I got some mighty nice stuff that way, but I have not used this pink runner for years (I now try to avoid decorating in cotton-candy pink) and have kept it because I was being sentimental.

There is ONE random fabric napkin (burgundy) which is much smaller than our other napkins and simply waits in the closet to be selected. It never is.

I also shed ONE large-ish length (a few yards?) of tartan/plaid material (poly/cotton broadcloth), which I have used as a Christmas tree skirt. But we no longer ever get a Christmas tree—we have no kids and usually travel at Christmas--and Alan doesn’t like chopping down a living tree for our seasonal amusement.

Then there is ONE rusty spatula which Alan has begged me to throw out. He doesn't like rusty kitchen implements, whereas I get attached to my favorites. But this one is actually cracked and about to break, so it goes in the garbage.

Lastly, I sold ONE music CD on Amazon: Africa: The Music of a Continent.

All except the cd and the spatula go to Salvy Army.

Total this week: 11

Total so far: 67

Weighing Cho's Heritage and Identity

2007-04-18T18:24:00.000-06:00

Robert Siegel gave a brilliant radio commentary this evening about the international media coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre: how the rest of the world just doesn't get our country and how Seung Hui Cho was a screwed-up, homicidal AMERICAN kid: "Despite being a South Korean national living in America, his upbringing, and his problems, were distinctly American."

I wish the transcript of his commentary were available, but it is still pending, so, for the moment, I encourage you to listen here.

One Goal Exceeded; One to Meet

2007-04-18T16:35:00.000-06:00

For the Walk for Breast Cancer, Beth has met and exceeded her goal already--in less than 24 hours. Wow.

Sue still needs sponsors. Please support her if you can.

More Positive Action for a Better World

2007-04-17T20:51:00.000-06:00

Just heard that my sister-in-law Sue has also signed up to walk for Breast Cancer with her sister, Beth, whom I blogged about below.

Confused?

Beth is my sister-in-law's sister. And she blogs.

Sue is my sister-in-law. I've blogged about her here. She lives with my blog-reading-never-commenting brother and their seriously cute four boys.

The image is Sue at age eight, running a race with her mom (also Beth's mom).

Our moms had breast cancer. Beth and Sue's mom very sadly passed away in 1999.

We are angry about this disease.

Both Beth and Sue need sponsors.

To donate to Beth, click HERE
To donate to Sue, click HERE

(Sue, I sort of shot my wad with my donation to Beth, so I may need to get you next month....)

Positive Action for a Better World

2007-04-17T19:02:00.000-06:00

When facing sadness and devastation, I just want to ACT. Do something meaningful in the face of what seems, at times, such a senseless world.

An email today from Beth in NYC provided an opportunity.

Both of our moms got breast cancer at the same time, and Beth's mom very sadly passed away after a hard fight. My mom was very lucky to have responded well to treatment. My mom's mom died of breast cancer at age 53.

I have less than 20 years to contribute in some way to finding a cure before it's my turn.

Beth is contributing to finding a cure by committing to spending a weekend next October walking, along with thousands of other people, in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. She'll walk the distance of a marathon and a half - a total of 39 miles.

I am contributing by helping to sponsor Beth.

The money raised goes to the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade, a 501(c)(3) public charity whose mission is to provide access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer. They provide funding to organizations all over the country for medical research, education and early detection programs, and clinical care and support services, all with a focus on the medically underserved.

Beth needs to raise at least $1,800 to participate in the walk, but she's set her goal even higher--she's going to raise as much money as she can.

If you want to support Beth or check her progress in funds raised, click here to view her Personal Page.

According to Beth's email, every three minutes, another woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer. This is unacceptable.

Avon also has a global effort (39 countries across six continents) for those of you outside New York that might want to take action: a Walk Around the World for Breast Cancer.

My Poor, Sick Country

2007-04-16T14:29:00.000-06:00

Gunman kills 30 at US university.

Feeling very sad. So senseless and so wrong.

Catch and Release Books

2007-04-15T18:48:00.000-06:00

Reading the amazing Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century, I find BookCrossing.com in the chapter about global culture.

BookCrossing's goal "is to make the whole world a library."

It's the upside of globalization: sharing something inherently good and watching how others have taken pleasure in it (or not).

The "3 Rs" of BookCrossing are:

(1) Read a good book .

(2) Register it here.

(3) Release it (for free!) for someone else to read and get notified by email each time someone records a journal entry for that book.

So you share your book and then are able to track what happens to it: where it travels, who reads it, what others think of it, etc.

And then there's bookhunting--the optional, interactive, task-oriented element:

After registering and releasing a book, members have the option of making Release Notes, specifying where exactly (or approximately) they left a book. You can browse through these active releases here, by Country, State, City, and Crossing Zone. When someone finds a book listed here, and makes a journal entry, it will come off this list.

There's also a special Earth Day project.

I think I'll have to add this to my Seven Things Project routine.

Casa Femminista?

2007-04-14T15:03:00.000-06:00

Still thinking about a home of my own. On a whim I stopped in at an open house of a Victorian that has caught my eye every time I have driven past it for over ten years.

Definitely not the sustainable vision I had been entertaining. It is about 4,400 square feet, with six bedrooms, an office, a study, a dining room, a three-car garage, a basement. WAY more house than we need. And it costs about a half a million dollars. ("Is that all?" my brother in CT asks.)

It has been remarkably restored. New stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, new gas boiler, new fireplace insert. The photos on the realtor's web page do not do it justice--all you can see are the chotchkies and the heavy drapes. What you can't see are the maple floors, oak moldings, high ceilings, very beautiful porch.

But we'd be crazy to want a place so big and, for us, so expensive.

Unless we ran it as a bed and breakfast.

Imagine Craft Mafia weekends (or weeks!) where crafters from all over the blogosphere unite in my home for several days of great food, good wine, crafting workshops, field trips.

Or birding weekends with expeditions led by my own excellent birding mentor, Al.

Or a secrets of the spas weekend, where we make (and use) our own spa products.

Or historic tours (Billy the Kid, anyone?) of our own corner of the world.

And then there is my family.

When my family wants to visit, we now actually have to rent a house to accommodate all of us. But with this house we could easily accommodate everyone. And if Mom and Dad wanted a winter retirement location, they could just move in. As long as we established rules about the kitchen. I can see Mom and Dad really enjoying being B&B hosts.

So it could become

a) a bed and breakfast business

b) a Femminista della Casa Social Center (guest lectures? a variety of lessons and demonstrations? book signings? )

c) the family's Southwest compound, of which Al and I are caretakers.

d) a combo of all (if the family decided to become investors in the B&B--which is probably the only way we'd be able to afford it, although I might be able to swing some special funding/loans for a new small business owned by a woman...)

Seven Things Saturday, Week 7

2007-04-14T07:58:00.000-06:00

For Week Seven of the project, I tackled the linen closet.

I still have old sheets given to me when I was first living on my own--cast-offs from my mom's linen closet. But they still have years of life left in them.

Cheryl Mendelson's Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House advises that "It does not pay to overstock bed linens, for they will simply age on the shelf. An overstocked linen closet also makes more work for you. It is prey to odors and dust" (p. 672).

So I took her advice--somewhat. She advises stocking three sets of bed linens per bed. I kept some extra pillow cases and a few extra top sheets that I really love--but the rest--especially the polyestery sheets and pillow cases--go to Salvy Army:

TWO cotton flannel sheets (a fitted sheet and a flat sheet)
FIVE top sheets (white)
THREE pillow cases

Total this week: 10
Total so far: 56

Help, please: writing and photography

2007-04-13T15:40:00.000-06:00

I would like to encourage a retired writer/photographer that I know to start a blog. I think he would be very, very good at it, but I do not think he is very familiar with the blogosphere.

I would like to show him some good photography and writing blogs to get him motivated. Can anyone recommend any such blogs that would make his juices flow? I want high, high quality--nothing as frivolous as this blog. (Showing him this would kill the idea completely.)

Also, which blog platform works best for Macs? My potential blogger is a Mac user. I use a PC and quite like Blogger--but would Wordpress, for example, be a better option for a Mac user?

Going Zero

2007-04-13T15:15:00.000-06:00

I am a fan of buying by the case--more bang for my buck and I'm always well stocked.

I like to use earth friendly cleaners, and I recently bought a case of Seventh Generation dish soap from Gaiam.com.

Gaiam looks very, very fancy and thus too upmarket for me. But they had a pretty good price on a case of dish soap, so I placed my order.

At checkout, I was given the option to Go Zero--cancel out the carbon footprint that the shipping of my item makes by inviting me to pay/donate two bucks to plant trees. The trees offset the carbon dioxide emissions that result from shipping the order, helping to make a difference in the race against global climate change.

It is, apparently, the nation’s first carbon-zero order shipping program.

I live in a rural location and buy MUCH online: wine, cleaners, books, clothing. I hope other online retailers (Amazon, Wine.com, Sierra Trading Post) will also offer such carbon-neutral programs.

My case of soap arrived today, nicely packaged (no leaks) along with a certificate informing me that I am an official Hero of Zero. Which makes me feel good. And nudges me to shop with Gaiam again.

Roomba Rumba

2007-04-12T05:01:00.000-06:00

I don’t think of myself as a gadget person. Among the reasons I so love knitting is that it is low-tech and time-honored.

But when the Roomba first came out, I was one of the first customers. The NPR Gadget-Guy's review coincided with Al throwing his back out so that he could not vacuum. And I wasn’t keen on adding vacuuming to my lists of chores.

The solution? A robot vacuum cleaner, of course.

The original Roomba worked ok for a few months but then rapidly declined, losing charge and effectiveness until it became sluggish and downright annoying. Then it sat in my house for a long time while I tried to figure out how to responsibly dispose of it or trade it in. Having failed on both counts, I sent it to a landfill somewhere in New Mexico and racked up many bad environmental karma points.

Several years have gone by—and in the last few months I have noticed the accumulation of dust bunnies under the couch and bed (I can see them when I do my floor exercises). That didn’t happen when we Roomba’d, because the pizza-shaped robot went under the furniture. Too cool.

So I wanted to have routine removal of dust bunnies again. And pet hair. Daily. We do not have a pet yet, but we are very close to getting a puppy—a long-haired, shedding breed of puppy.

And then I saw that Amazon sells factory refurbs of newer models of Roombas.

New ones can costs $300+, but my factory refurb of a recent (but not newest) model was $84. This one has several improvements over my first early model.

One is that it the new one charges in a docking station (Home Base) and returns itself to the docking station when it is finished vacuuming. (It knows when it is finished when it stops sucking up dirt.) The newer models recharge faster. And they come in fashion colors.

Craft Mafia

2007-04-11T06:24:00.000-06:00

I just learned, through the BUSTline, about the Craft Mafia:

The first Craft Mafia was founded in 2003 by nine crafty buisness women in Austin, TX. The group originally came together through a shared love for craft, DIY ethics and mutual respect. As the Craft Mafia developed it became a forum for networking, promotion and shared ideas.

Other Mafias have popped up accross the continent and beyond:

Austin DC Houston Detroit Round Rock Lafayette, IN Philadelphia St. Paul Omaha Anchorage Boston Grand Rapids Toronto Baltimore Sacramento Chicago Denton Louisville Richmond Fort Lauderdale Vancouver Pittsburgh San Antonio Kansas City, MO Seattle Albuquerque Charlottesville, VA Pleasanton Leeds, UK Tulsa Lubbock, TX Cincinnati New Orleans San Francisco Atlanta St. Louis Dallas San Diego Minneapolis Nashville New York City Wilmington San Jose Charlotte, NC Burlington Hollywood, FL

Is anyone out there a member of one of these clubs? If so, do tell something about what happens, how it's organized, etc. Is there more to it than just a great name?

The Richmond (VA) Craft Mafia is holding its Spring Bada-Bing on April 22: According to the BUSTline, this is

not your mother's craft show! Modern and edgy are the keywords here as the RCM continue to offer local consumers a new and socially conscious way to shop. Spring Bada-Bing (SBB) will be hosting an array of artists and crafters from all over Virginia and the east coast!

If anyone goes, please, please, please tell us all about it.

A Thinking Blogger

2007-04-10T18:34:00.000-06:00

I think this post is haunted. I have tried to write it three times and have lost it three times when I have hit "save." My third try was the best, and I am afraid this attempt will not be as eloquent, since I am now pissed off.

What I have attempted to write is that Bridget of The Ravell'd Sleave has nominated this blog for a Thinking Blogger Award.

Thanks, Bridget!

Blogging certainly has made me think. It forces me to live an examined life. Documenting what I do and why I do it, shaping text into themes and messages, rants and raves--this exercise has taught me much.

Now I get to nominate five blogs that make me think. This is hard.

I now read many blogs, but I read them for different reasons. I go to some blogs to laugh, to others to view beautiful things, to others to be silly. They do not all make me THINK, but a few do.

Here they are:

1. Surviving the Workday: Spirituality at Work: this was the first blog I ever read, having discovered that its author was a long-lost college friend. Ms T writes about important things--social, spiritual, personal things. She is my social conscience alarm clock. It was she who inspired me to try blogging.

2. Taoknitter: this is a window onto a very busy and hugely creative life. Ann has a very, very different life from my own, and yet there are moments of complete commonality and recognition. This is what is magical about friendships made through blogging: you discover treasure.

3. Ruth's Place: I came to Ruth's blog because she seemed to knit a ton of very nice things for South African orphans, and I thought she must be a very good human being. Hers is a craft blog interspersed with nuggets of living in a new country; negotiating culture, race, history; and now, happily, emerging motherhood.

4. Feministing: this is one that I should read more regularly but I forget to--or sometimes I wimp out. It is a blog of serious and important issues that are sometimes painful. Usually Ms. T steers me to posts that I should read.

5. Unsure. I don't want to force it, so I am open to suggestions and recommendations. Clearly, I need to think MORE.

Now each of the nominees gets to nominate, if they are so inclined. Here are the rules:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think

2. Link to the thinking blogger post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme

3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote

Geeked about Fels-Naptha

2007-04-10T14:35:00.000-06:00

More birthday goodies!

So does my brother know me or what?

He sent a whole CASE of Fels-Naptha Laundry Bar Soap as well as some lovely Olivella Face and Body Soap from Italy.

Yep, I love good, old fashioned cleaning supplies. Like chocolate but without the calories. And not edible.

Fels-Naptha is a product of yesteryear which boasts, according to Soaps Gone Buy, "100 years of stain fighting power...."

Their listing of specialty uses and recipes includes details on using Fels-Naptha for

Poison ivy prevention and treatment
Cleaning the shower
Reducing the itching and discomfort from bug bites
Removing ink, grease, or a variety of other nasty stains
Cleaning paint brushes
A spring and fall lawn tonic
An aphid spray and other insect control
Treating black-spot fungus on roses
Cleaning black powder guns
Tanning hides
Ridding pets of fleas and ticks
Washing your face

I might also grate it for my homemade laundry soap.

My brother and I remember Fels-Naptha, along with Lava Hand Soap, as the soap used for personal hygiene in my grandparents' home. You had to be tough to shower there.

Distraction

2007-04-09T20:51:00.000-06:00

I haven't been blogging the last few days.

And why not?

Because I am totally consumed by Webkinz.

I spent hours this weekend playing the Tile game (online Mahjong), Candy Bash ( in which a sombrero-wearing chihuahua throws beans at pinatas), both Cash Cow and Cash Cow 2, and DiceKinz. I have dressed my monkey, decorated its room, gone mining for jewels, played a kind of slot machine...HOURS of my life that I will never get back.

But oh what fun I had. I played until my hand fell asleep from holding the mouse.

I was just about to renounce this whole deal--after all, I am an adult with Important Things To Do.

But then my four nephews all received Webkinz from the Easter Bunny.

Which means that I now might actually have friends to play with...

Before you heap too much scorn upon me, let me explain:

My nephews have two aunts. The Super Aunt lives but an hour's train ride away and spends mucho time with the nephews. She even blogs about them.

I am the Bad Aunt. Not only do I live 2016.05 miles away (according to MapQuest), but I forget their birthdays and do not call or write very often.

But I really, really like my guys.

So how cool would it be if I could play with them once a week--or even every day--online?

Tonight I played (virtually) with their mother: she visited my room, I visited hers; we played DiceKinz; she won.

With Webkinz, I can send their animal counterparts virtual presents; we can play games, chat, eat, exercise--until we're exhausted.

Birds of Spring

2007-04-07T11:48:00.000-06:00

It is disturbingly frigid this morning. We’ve gone from warm, sunny, flowery spring to another weekend of snow--not light, wet spring snow but rather hard, icy November snow. What happened to global warming?

It being the coldest April 7 in living memory, we naturally got up this morning at 6am for some bird watching at the local National Wildlife Refuge.

The sensible hawks and larks and kestrels did not make much of an appearance. But the ducks seemed happy enough; we saw hooded mergansers, ruddy ducks, buffleheads, ring-necks, mallards, blue-winged teals and a canvasback.

After a seriously large breakfast of carne adovada, fresh tortillas and hot coffee at the local greasy-spoon, we came home and heard...the first grosbeaks of the year!

Al set up the spotting scope in the warm living room and aimed it at a tree some way down the hill. There they were, a whole flock of evening grosbeaks, the first of the season to arrive. The black-headed should not be far behind, and the hummingbirds should be on their way.

By putting my camera lens in the spotting scope's eyepiece and zooming, I managed to get this shot:

Seven Things Saturday, Week 6

2007-04-07T10:16:00.000-06:00

Onward with Week Six of the project:

TWO old towels that have now been transformed into rags for chores.

TWO nightgowns: I have finally realized that I am not a nightgown person. I am a pajama person. Nightgowns twist around and ride up while I sleep--and they are just not warm enough. I like tops and bottoms! Nightgowns go to Salvy Army.

TWO old very math books from Al's collection: he doesn't use them any more, and they are too old to sell on Half.com or Amazon. To Salvy Army.

ONE brown leather purse-type thing (designed for neckties?) which came with a piece of luggage. Have had the luggage for a few years but have not used the weird necktie-holder thingy once. Off to Salvy Army.

Total this week: 7

Total so far: 46

Political Knitting

2007-04-06T16:38:00.000-06:00

In the chapter called "Art Meets Technology", Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century mentions microRevolt's knitPro, which I had to investigate.

The site is fascinating.

First of all, KnitPro itself is a web application that translates digital images into knit, crochet, needlepoint and cross-stitch patterns. Just upload jpeg, gif or png images of whatever you wish--portraits, landscapes, logos--and it will generate the image pattern on a grid sizable for knitting, needlepoint, cross-stitch and crochet patterns

KnitPro is "based on the tradition of pre-industrial craft circles who freely shared patterns and passed them down from generation to generation." MicroRevolt uses knitPro to make "logoknits"--knitted garments with the logos of sweatshop offenders, which out and shame these offenders. See some Logoknits pictured here.

From microRevolt's blog, I also found out about Stitch for Senate, another activist project in which knitters make helmet liners for their state senators. US knitters submit helmet liners along with testimony about their Senators' positions on the war in Iraq. Photos of helmet liners and testimonies will be posted on the website, and the helmet liners will be presented to all 100 senators when all are completed.

And microRevolt is also organizing the Nike blanket petition, a project coming from an international collective of knit and crochet hobbyists who have stitched a 14 foot wide blanket of the Nike Swoosh. Each crocheted pixel (square) acts as a petition for fair labor policies for Nike garment workers. MicroRevolt has collected virtual signatures and hand made squares from over 20 countries and almost every state, and they are still updating the list. Once the border of the blanket is knitted together, the Nike Blanket Petition will be delivered to Phil Knight, Chairman of the Board of Nike Corporation. To send a hand stitched square, here are more details.

Finally, there is the Needlecraft Art Show which features some projects made using the knitPro application, and the patterns for each are available from a link within the Show: among others, you'll see a crocheted Snape Graph-ghan, a crocheted Plant Ovary, bomb-hugger cross-stitch, a Fender Knit Guitar, a Kurt Cobain Laptop Cover, and a needlepoint recreation of a spacesuit patch for the international communist space program based in the former USSR, Interkosmos.

Book Lust

2007-04-05T12:54:00.000-06:00

I am very, very spoiled.

In addition to Cranium Whoonu and the Webkinz Lil' Monkey that my parents sent for my birthday, I just received a box of books from them. One book would have been a delight; THREE is nirvana.

I now want the world to go away so that I can tuck into what were the top three books on my Wish List:

1. Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century: I found this book when I was led to the worldchanging web site by a piece I heard on Living on Earth. I blogged about it and put the book on my Wish List. It is beautiful and BIG: a textbook for how to change the world--"providing you with ideas for rethinking your own life, and providing approaches to change" (p. 25). You'll all be hearing more about the ideas from this book.

2. The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't: Mom hates the title, as she highly disapproves of the vulgar word used therein, but she acknowledges in her note that the reviews for this little book are rather good. I discovered the book through a post on Surviving the Workday and immediately added it to my Wish List. A quick glance through it made me laugh out loud--it is FUNNY and, I hope, will help me survive a few rough months that are on the horizon.

3. The Anti 9-to-5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube: Not sure why or when I put this on my Wish List--someone must have recommended it, but I can't remember who. Anyway, it is chick-lit, job-oriented self-help, and I hope it amuses. In the chapter called "i want to find a career i'm really passionate about", Step 1 is "Go to your happy place." Sounds flaky, I know, but I'm in the mood for a lighthearted approach.

Fun with RIT

2007-04-04T20:31:00.000-06:00

My great friend Anne invited me to Salvy Army today for some after-work thrift-store shopping.

Our goal was a pair of jeans and a summer outfit for her. I needed nothing, since, as you know, I am trying to divest myself from extra possessions on a weekly basis.

So you know what happened, right?

Anne left the shop with nothing.

I acquired a pair of chinos and two summer shirts for me and an oxford for Al. For $14.

Huh.

One of the shirts was a nicely shaped summer shirt from The Gap, a blouse which once was white but was now sort of a yellowy, dingy white with a faint brown stain on the front.

I bought it knowing that I had a bottle of Rit Liquid Dye (navy blue) squirreled away and at least two other light-colored shirts that were too stained to wear in public.

Less than an hour later, I now have three very wearable blue shirts instead of three stained white shirts. Yippee!

A Perfect Square

2007-04-03T17:00:00.000-06:00

Today, my number-geek husband informs me I am a Perfect Square, something that hasn’t happened since I turned 25 and won’t happen again until I turn 49.

So, boys and girls, how old am I today?

I have had lovely calls and messages from my brother, my parents, my friend Edith.

I got a naughty, naughty card from my naughty, naughty English relatives. Both text and illustration made me blush and Alan cackle.

I got a haircut—which I don’t particularly like, but it happens only twice a year and will grow out quickly, as I am a very hairy person.

And, for her pet-free, child-free daughter, my Mom sent a Webkinz Lil’ Monkey—which is what my six-year-old nephew is pining for.

Do you know about Webkinz?

Apparently it is THE THING for a certain set (ages nine and under).

I registered my monkey online and now I am part of a virtual Webkinz world, where I can interact with my monkey and other people’s monkeys. And lions. And unicorns. Etc.

And I have to say, it IS sort of fun. DiceKinz--an online DICE game--is sort of addictive. And, of course, I totally conquer all (five-year-old) foes in the word games.

My brother suggest that the other over-30s on the site are probably paedophiles.

YUCK.

But I do wonder about online gaming for little people; by playing games, I "earn" cash so that I can feed my monkey, take him to the doctor, furnish his room, etc.

Do you detect something vaguely sinister in this whole set up? Or is it simply introducing kids to the 21st-century realities of consumerism and video games?

Ah. I'm off. I've blogged as I waited for Husband to shower so that we can go out for something cooked by someone else. Adios. Mwah.

Witchy Woman

2007-04-02T14:58:00.000-06:00

I know. This looks REALLY out of season, but I needed to report that I finished the black stacked star hat for Sylvie from my Kaffee Klatsch.

She wanted a star hat from 45 Fine & Fanciful Hats to Knit: Berets, Toques, Cones, Stars, Pentagons, and More, but she wanted no colors, no fair isle--she wanted black, black, black.

Since that sounded very boring, I added some fun-fur trim around the edges.

The resulting effort is a bigger hat than I intended (I guess the yarn was a bit thicker than worsted), and it looks distinctly witchy on me.

The good news is that I used up two and a half skeins from my huge stash of random yarn.

A side note: Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of yourself? I tried the mirror but got only flash (couldn't figure out how to turn off the flash...) and then just stuck my arm out in front of me and randomly clicked until I got some shots that actually showed the hat (as well as the scary bug-eyes).

April Fool

2007-04-01T13:12:00.000-06:00

Sognatrice deserves some acclaim for her highly successful April Fool's post. She totally got me. Zing.

Unrelated to above, except for the fact that Sognatrice links to her and she also made me laugh this morning, is The Other Girl, whose Blogger icon (image right) is the best one I have ever seen. Her caustically funny blog is Lately Bothered, and I just had to share her amazing photo with you.

Slow Food

2007-04-01T10:39:00.000-06:00

I thought about posting some kind of elaborate April Fools post this morning—but I am not feeling clever enough. Perhaps next year?

My knees are still wet from Sunday Chores, and I am content with the thought of things happening in my kitchen.

I am a great believer in Slow Food. The Slow Food Movement was started in Italy (where else?) "to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world."

I was an official member of Slow Food for a few years--until I resigned from full-time employment and had to cut back on a few expenses. But when my employment situation becomes a bit more fixed/reliable, I hope to rejoin Slow Food. I try to incorporate Slow Food into my life, even though I am not a purist.

One Slow Food routine I've made a habit is the soaking and roasting of nuts, as described by Sally Fallon in Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats.

Fallon notes that nuts contain enzyme inhibitors that make them difficult to digest and hard for the body to take up the nutrients therein. Traditional cultures almost always soaked or sprouted seeds and nuts before eating them. This rings true if you've ever eaten so many pecans that your tongue becomes sore: that sore feeling is from something in the raw nut that irritates the tongue; soaking the pecans and then roasting them leaches the irritant out, making the pecans taste sweeter and also eliminating that irritation.

Fallon's method is to soak raw seeds and nuts in lightly salted water for about 12 hours, drain and rinse the nuts and then slowly roast them until they are dry and crunchy (about another 12 hours) on a very low oven--150F max.

So it is a 24-hour process (SLOW FOOD!), which takes some planning but very little effort and which yields something tastier and better for you than the raw product. I like to eat nuts not only because they are good but also because they are a local New Mexican product--pecans and pistachios especially. I use nuts as snacks but also in curries and baked goods, as a way to introduce texture and protein and fat.

Another Slow Food favorite is to poach a chicken in my slow cooker.

Poached whole chicken yields two amazing products: (1) jellied stock that serves as an amazing base for soups and sauces and (2)wonderful, cooked moist chicken that can be eaten in salads, sandwiches, curries, pastas, etc.

As a lunch option, poached (or roasted) chicken is so much better for you than the sliced, pressed, processed deli variety, which is full of nitrates, sugars and other additives. It is also much less expensive.

Poaching in the crock pot, while indeed slow, is, like the nuts, not at all labor intensive. The chicken goes in with a bit of celery, carrot, onion, a bay leaf, some fresh ginger, some herbs if I have them (parsley, savory, thyme)--and then 1/2 cup of white wine (or dry sherry or vermouth), and 1/2 cup water. I cover it, put it on low, and let it cook for 8 hours. I then take out the chicken to cool and also strain the stock and let that cool. Once cooled, I bone the chicken and separate the fat from the stock (fat rises to the top and solidifies in a cool environment). I save the fat to fry with (Schmaltz!) and the resulting chicken and stock feeds us for several meals--soups, sauces, sandwiches, salads. Yum.

The only problem with the poached chicken is that I am not happy with my source for chicken-to get real, responsibly-raised chicken I need to drive 60-120-miles one-way; my local options are a bit dodgy, although not long ago, the labels on these factory chickens changed to say "100% natural" and "No artificial ingredients; minimally processed; no added hormones; no added steroids." I am suspicious of this sudden label change and suspect it means little; I just don't trust the agricultural industrial complex and the way they manufacture chickens.

Seven Things Saturday--Week 5

2007-03-31T10:50:00.000-06:00

It is far too easy for me to find seven things every week to give away.

Clearly I have way more junk than I had realized. Thank goodness for this project.

F0r this week:

TWO lampshades, brand new, that fit no known lamps in our home.

TWO Asian chotchkies, one Thai and one Japanese, given to me by very sweet students. Have collected dust on bookshelf for far too long.

TWO black purses, one leather, one velvet. Both have traveled with me to abodes in three countries; neither has been used more then three times.

TWO Christmas chotchkies from the top shelf of my closet--one cookie tin and one Dickens-themed tea pot with no lid.

ALL are on their way to Salvation Army Thrift Store, which I'll stop by on the way to the knitting demonstration that I am about to do with others from my Kaffee Klatsch.

I should be home working at the computer--but I won't be.

Total this week: 8

Total so far: 39

Odes to Spring--the Winners!

2007-03-30T20:35:00.000-06:00

Yesterday it looked and felt like spring.

Today it snowed.

But signs of spring are unconquerable. I checked my email just now and saw that the finalists to the Prairie Home Spring Poetry Contest (Lhude Sing Cuccu) have been announced. Alas, my 20-minute dog poop poem did not emerge as a winner. Did any of you enter? Does your name appear on the winners' list? Is there a Bed of Roses in your future?

I am still feeling punky from my lovely spring cold, so I didn't work as hard as I should have this Friday afternoon/evening and instead watched a wonderful French film (J'adore Audrey Tautou), made apple crisp and knitted.

I am doing a four-hour knitting demonstration tomorrow at a local fiber arts gallery/show, and I am not sure what I will take as a working piece. Certainly not the bizarre black hat (with faux fur trim) that I am knitting up for a new friend who is sort of middle-aged Goth.

Need to go sort through yarn and needles and patterns....

A Home of My Own

2007-03-28T18:29:00.000-06:00

Having spent my entire adult life in rented or provided accommodation, I have an intense yen to have a home of my very own.

While my employer-provided housing is very convenient, efficient, comfortable (and virtually free), it is not mine. Nor is it anything that I would chose, given a chunk of money and time.

(The image? NOT my house. An amazing Earthship I found on a Belgian Earthship web site.)

I am very lucky to have been providing housing, and I know that this opportunity elevates my security and financial stability--but I also wonder what it would be like to put down roots, to make a real connection with a place, to invest myself in my domicile.

When in these increasingly frequent moods , I dream, I fantasize, I surf--and I find marvelous--and probably unaffordable--ideas: Solar Row in Boulder, an Earthship in Taos, a co-housing community where I'd find new friends to garden and recycle and knit and cook with.

Sigh.

Wild Thing

2007-03-27T15:46:00.000-06:00

Watch me turn into a
Chimp at YouWild.org

You Wild is an initiative from Defenders of Wildlife to raise awareness about endangered species and about our connection to all wildlife.

It is also really, really fun. You can upload your photo and morph it with an animal of your choice. I couldn't find a photo of my current face, but I did find a baby picture. If you click on the link above, you'll see what a great looking chimp I was.

I've had a soft spot for chimps ever since I took a group of teens for a week of service to the captive chimp sanctuary in Alamogordo, New Mexico four years ago. At the time, it was the largest captive chimp sanctuary in the world, home to over 250 abused and ailing chimps who had been used for experiments by US pharmaceutical labs and military.

Now renamed Save the Chimps, the organization's goal is to build families out of chimps who have lived most of their lives indoors in isolation and then relocate them from what is a fairly harsh environment in New Mexico (a former experimental laboratory that looks like a maximum security prison) to a better place: a group of islands in Florida.

I worked with the group for two years, organizing two week-long service projects with my own students, and the school where I work continued to send volunteers down for two more years, Sadly, this year, we didn't send a group, but the work at relocating the chimps continues and is very successful.

I learned a lot about chimps through the volunteer work there--and I also met some amazing people who see as much value (or possibly more value) in chimps' lives as they do in humans' lives. It was humbling to be around such selfless people who are absolutely devoted to helping creatures who are helpless and in great pain.

Even if you don't think you could ever be interested in chimps, I recommend you take a look at Next of Kin: My Conversations with Chimpanzees by Roger Fouts. It is an amazing story and a great read. The cross-species communication will make you think.

Achoo!

2007-03-26T18:06:00.000-06:00

It was inevitable.

I overextended myself last week, so of course my immune system has decided to have a holiday. Major sore throat last night, stuffy head and very gross post-nasal drip all day long. I feel grouchy and very, very ill.

I am online in search of effective treatment.

My Slovak grandmother's remedy was a fairly lethal two-step concoction: (1) a drink of hot water, lemon, goose grease and whiskey and (2) Vicks Vapor Rub smeared all over the chest and onto an old sock, which was tied around one's neck. Mmmm. I think I may even have some Rub in the cupboard--but the goose grease is going to be a challenge.

My father's remedy is garlic soup in a chicken stock base. This one is fairly effective and fairly palatable. And when one's congested, one can go extra heavy on the garlic and not even notice (although everyone else around one will). Alas, I just don't have the energy to cook*--and I am a bit afraid of the Wal-Mart chickens to which I have ready access.

I did take echinacea as soon as I started to feel my throat go scratchy and have had several capsules since--but I am a bit sceptical as to the effectiveness of that herb. It doesn't seem to be doing anything at all.

As an alternative natural supplement, I think Mom prefers zinc, although the Mayo Clinic seems to doubt its effectiveness as well.

In Googling around for other remedies, I discovered the following fun items:

According to the Mayo Clinic, glands in one's nose and sinuses produce 1 to 2 QUARTS of mucus a day. And that's when one doesn't have a cold. The production only increases when the body tris to clear viruses or allergens from one's nasal passages.

The Mayo Clinic also has a lovely video demonstrating nasal irrigation (nasal lavage) for adults. Not very tempted, although it looks very effective.

Do any of you have any other remedies which you have found helpful? I'd love to know. Sniff.

*Spouse, bless him, cooked dinner: a British fry-up (fried mushrooms, tomatoes, bacon, eggs, bread and canned beans), and somehow the smell of bacon even penetrated. I ate it all.

Food Fight

2007-03-25T18:23:00.000-06:00

Just had huge fight with husband.

Post Hell-week, I made a meal using up the leftover rice and leftover potatoes that were still in the fridge:

curried rice (with Madras sauce from Quick After-Work Curries)
spicy potato patties stuffed with peas, spinach and chile from Ismail Merchant's Passionate Meals

Two different items, two different flavors, two different colors. Served it up, looking healthy and appealing. Smelled great.

Spouse shoveled up a forkful of one dish and then added a good helping of the other onto same forkful.

The same forkful.

Why did I bother making two things? Why spend an hour cooking two dishes when I could have made one thing with one taste in 20 minutes?

When I pointed out that I had made two dishes from two different recipes and that each had a different taste to enjoy, my spouse told me that I was being too directive. That it all gets mixed up in the digestive process anyway.

Maybe so.

But he is now going to be a recipient of one-pot-meals until he begs for mercy.

Grounds For Your Garden

2007-03-25T16:01:00.000-06:00

My northern Michigan hometown--which used to be a rather charming backwater--now boasts a Home Depot, a Wal-Mart and a Starbucks. It has become Suburbia without being in proximity to an Urbia. Huh.

But this morning I learned something sort of nice--or at least sensible--about the new Starbucks from my mom.

Starbucks, Mom informs me, will give you 5 lbs of coffee grounds for your garden when you purchase a cup of coffee. Upon goggling this, I find that they've been doing this for years--but it is new to us, since Starbucks is new to town.

Mom is working in the garden today because it is a balmy 52F out. Dad's brought out the patio furniture so that they can lounge in the new spring sun.

Mom's grounds are still warm from the brewing. And Mom is too impatient to actually compost them. (At the moment, her compost pile is frozen). So she's digging the grounds directly into her garden. We are not sure this will work ("Does lettuce like coffee?" she asks), but she reports that the new garden smells pretty good.

I'm back!

2007-03-25T15:31:00.000-06:00

The International Board is gone. I got my life back this afternoon, and now I have to catch up on all the things I have been ignoring since last Wednesday.

I'm a bit sleepy and overwhelmed--not sure where to begin. I need to dig out from under my backlog and also keep up with this week. It's all a bit scary.

What I really want to do right now is catch up on the blogs I 've missed last week and cook something really spicy.

And drink Scotch--which I didn't think I liked, but I now have in abundance. My excellent South African house guest brought us a huge bottle of single malt, and we savored a bit into the wee hours on Friday night.

And then I was awarded a bottle of private label blended Scotch last night by the Major General, who thanked me for "keeping the troops in order."

I was bossy as hell all week with people who were intimidatingly important. An ex-SAS guy actually came up to me (as I was hunting for him, since he was late for a meeting) and ask me if he was in trouble. He absolutely was. And I told him so.

It was like herding cats. I think I prefer teenagers--who are moodier but less maddeningly independent.

Seven Things Saturday--Week 4

2007-03-25T15:20:00.000-06:00

I continue with the project a bit late this week—but here they are:

1. Aluminum tent stakes which are not macho enough for my spouse. We now have very, very big steel ones that go into rocky New Mexican ground, so we don’t need these wimpy ones that actually came with our tent. Salvation Army Thrift Store gets these.

2. Kitschy metal flowers that I had outside in a pot one year during the drought to break up the horrid dusty brown. But this year we have real flowers and even rain! Salvation Army Thrift Store gets these, too.

3. Le Nozze di Figaro —full opera cassette tapes and libretto book—sold on eBay; payment pending.

4. Cosi fan Tutte-- full opera and libretto on cassette tapes – listed on eBay, didn’t sell, so off to Salvation Army. One can’t list cassette tapes on Half.com or Amazon—the technology is too old. I am offloading these lovely operas because last week I offloaded our only working tape player.

5. Brown wool skirt purchased at Salvation army for $1; worn several times, but difficult to iron and not as flattering as I need it to be…so back to Salvation Army it goes.

6. An Illustrated History of Australian Cricket which has been in the bookshelf for years, has been listed on Amazon and Half.com and has never sold. Perhaps there is some Australian cricket fan other than my husband in New Mexico who also shops at the Salvation Army Thrift Store.

7. Set of four VHS tapes of lectures on understanding wine which had been listed on Amazon and Half.com and eBay—never sold. They are rather old, but the information is still rather interesting. Maybe the Salvation Army shopper who likes Australian cricket will also want to learn about wine?

Total this week: 7

Total so far: 31

Up for Air

2007-03-23T16:16:00.000-06:00

I have 45 minutes until the next event--and not enough braincells working to tackle the next project on the pile on my desk. All is going smoothly with the international visitors, who are a very nice and impressive lot. But I've lost my lipstick and my hairbrush and I am wearing yesterday's shirt. And I smell.

Last night, I sat next to a former Norwegian Minister of Education and Church Affairs and of Petroleum and Energy and a retired British Army General. I took them to the local New Mexican family restaurant for the margaritas and the good green chile. Unfortunately, the green chile was a bit too hot for the General.

And in between meetings and during the cocktail hours, I've been hanging out with Dr. Rodrigo Carazo (a former president of Costa Rica) and his wife Etsrella--charming, beautiful people. Luckily I have been to Costa Rica (for only eight days!), so I can ask some questions that are not completely clueless.

Have been doing mostly Girl Friday-type things--copying, phoning, scheduling, reserving, herding, corralling, bus driving--and also hosting a social event each evening.

One more very full evening and another very full day--and we'll be done.

Can't wait until Sunday.

First Flower

2007-03-20T13:43:00.000-06:00

Our first flower of spring has sprung--the first timid daffodil.

My life is not my own this week, as I troubleshoot logistics for an International Board Meeting of about 40 people from about 20 countries (including at least one former Head of State and a Baroness).

We are 120 miles from an airport and 60 miles from a classy hotel. They arrive tomorrow (to a New Mexican welcome of Frito Pie and beer!), and I am their slave (aka copy girl) until Sunday morning.

So, no cooking or knitting or cleaning or blogging for me.

Sigh.

I'll miss you all in the meantime, and I'll post if I can....

Braai on the Cobb

2007-03-18T19:22:00.000-06:00

The last two days have been glorious—it was around 74F (that’s 23C) with clouds (unusual in New Mexico) and mild breezes.

We put the screens on the windows today so that we could have them open (otherwise the dreaded stinkbugs totally take over my house), we turned on the sprinkler for the first time (water restrictions which have prohibited watering anything for the last four summers have not yet gone into action), and we grilled/barbecued/braaied.

“Braai” is the South African term for cooking outside over a heat source. I use the term because my grill is a South African product, and it is fairly amazing.

It was developed for use in rural African villages where fuel is scarce—and so it is designed for maximum efficiency and limited fuel. It is called the Cobb because it was initially designed to cook an entire meal using a few corn cobs.

Tonight I cooked two huge steaks and four potatoes using only seven pieces of charcoal—and the Cobb is still hot enough to cook more. To compare, my last charcoal grill—a Weber Hibachi—generally used 20-30 briquettes for the same menu.

The Cobb is designed with a fuel holding area surrounded by a moat; the moat is a space where I can bake potatoes, roast vegetables, etc.,while I grill meat or other veg above the fire (see picture below—I didn’t have any nice potatoes for good jacket potatoes, but I had some oldish, shriveled ones that I peeled, brushed with olive oil and sea salt and wrapped in foil; I know: cooking in foil weirds me out too, but it works well here).

Instead of using the uniform, pre-formed briquettes that I grew up with, I have switched to natural hardwood charcoal. This means that my fuel is real hardwood as opposed to…what ARE briquettes, anyway? They’re not really wood. Some kind of processed wood product?

I first used natural charcoal when in South Africa at the Kruger National Park (which is, I think, my favorite place on Planet Earth). There was a local economic development scheme in the park where people were combining forest management with the local production of natural charcoal—and the charcoal worked beautifully. Ever since then, I’ve been sold on “real” charcoal.

But back to the Cobb: the Cobb is great because it is very portable and easy. I first bought one for my Dad to use on his wooden boat—it is self-contained, so you can grill ANYWHERE, even on a lake in a wooden boat.

I then bought myself one, not only for use at home but for use while camping--see the carrying case? It just goes in the car with the tent and the cooler!

As noted above, it takes very little fuel and is relatively safe in my dry climate because of its efficient, self-contained design.

If you are interested in getting one (after this stupendous, pro-bono product endorsement), I got both of mine from Overstock.com but have also just discovered The Cobb Store.

Seven Things Saturday--Week 3

2007-03-17T07:37:00.000-06:00

I'd almost forgotten! I got rid of my stuff so early this week that I'd forgotten that today's the day to share.

So, in adherence to the rules, here is this week's offload:

For the first four, I have no pictures (because I completely forgot to take them in the delight of ridding myself of four things!). They are two CDs I sold via Amazon Marketplace and two that I sent off in Lala trades. These were CDs we owned but didn't listen to--so no difficulty there.

But the rest of the load was a result of a major closet clean out. I have a guest coming next week, and I couldn't even close the sliding closet door in the guest room. Most of it was just stupid--empty boxes saved for shipping or gift-wrapping, etc.--and much of the rest just needed to be organized better. But the salvageable/donateable were:

a mostly functional boom box (the tape-player and radio work; the CD player does not); a hand-knit bag with a backgammon design (???); two old racquets (squash?) that no one ever uses; an adapter from my early Audible.com days that would let me use an MP3 player in a tape deck (since our old car had only a tape deck); and a red and black Chinese runner, a gift from a student that was very sweet but that we just haven't used. All went to the Salvation Army Thrift Store with no qualms whatsoever.

Total this week: 10
Total so far: 24

Flower Power

2007-03-16T19:07:00.000-06:00

Educate me.

My local Wal-Mart sells bouquets of Colombian flowers for $3.88.

That is pretty darn cheap. What used to be an unaffordable commodity for special occasions now becomes mainstream: I can afford to have fresh flowers in my house all the time, and so I do--for less than the price of a few cups of fancy coffee at the local coffee bar.

Having just read The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works--and How It's Transforming the American Economy, I also know that Wal-Mart is not making any kind of sacrifice in offering me this low, low price. It is able to offer this low, low price because it has driven down its own costs by demanding lower and lower prices from its suppliers.

I have seen Maria Full of Grace. And I have read reports on the abusive flower industry in Colombia and Ecuador. Apparently YouTube also has some amazing video interviews with flower workers (which I can't watch because I am still on dial-up and they just won't load coherently).

But I also know some actual Colombians. And they tell me that I should buy this Colombian export product in order to support the struggling Colombian economy. They say that in buying Colombian flowers I am supporting a Colombian industry that could be a real alternative to the narcotic crops that are so profitable in Colombia. (Wouldn't it be nice if my country's demand for imported flowers exceeded its demand for imported cocaine?)

So what to do?

Should I not buy flowers at all? Should I buy flowers only if I know they are grown in pesticide-free and humane conditions? (These would probably NOT be Colombian flowers or flowers from any developing economy.)

While I would love to buy flowers from Organic Bouquet, their prices are such that I could afford bouquets only a few times a year, for special occasions. No more weekly purchases. And their sources are probably not Colombian, since they demand sustainable, pesticide-free conditions.

Is it better to provide consistent support for a Colombian product---or occasional support for a (probably domestic) product that protects the environment and improves farm worker safety?

Feminist Knitting

2007-03-15T21:30:00.000-06:00

I forgot to tell you about a fabulous post from last Monday on Taoknitter's blog: it's Elizabeth Cady Stanton, her friend Eliza Osborne and "the waste of the female intellect when a woman is reduced to knitting." !!!

Knitting with Dog Hair

2007-03-15T20:41:00.000-06:00

Sigh. I've had a hell of a day. Adrenaline flowed freely at work today, and we all just sort of rolled along , bumped and bruised as we turned corners and confronted the next bugbear.

But I did take an hour off to go to my weekly Kaffee Klatsch, where we knit and craft and paint in a local coffee bar. I then went out to dinner with a colleague. And now I feel human again.

At the Kaffee Klatsch, I further investigated knitting with dog hair.

One of my fellow knitters in the Klatsch not only knits with dog hair but spins her own yarn from it. And she does this for others--dog owners who pay her to create something useful and beautiful from their dogs' shed fur.

After carding and spinning, she shampoos the yarn with deodorizing dog shampoo before she knits it up into scarves, hats or sweaters for the dog owners. I saw a selection of her work last week at a local fiber art show; on each knit item, she had a picture of the dog from which the yarn was spun, its breed, its name.

The yarn she was using today was snowy white and angora-like. She did not know the breed of this dog, as the hair had been mailed to her from a client. Very, very beautiful.

For those of you who are intrigued, there is actually a book published on just this subject (yes, that's the image above): Knitting With Dog Hair: Better A Sweater From A Dog You Know and Love Than From A Sheep You'll Never Meet

My boss, a fairly intense animal lover, might be interested in hiring my dog-hair knitting friend.

My boss is also a horse person, and I inquired about whether one could spin and knit horse hair trimmed from manes and tails.

Sadly, no. Horse hair doesn't spin (it's too coarse)--but, I was told, there is a whole industry of braiding horsehair and making jewelry from it. (Who knew?) Check out Suzanne Storms' fairly astonishing work.

And the Emmy goes to...

2007-03-14T17:44:00.000-06:00

Given the content of this blog, I find it very amusing to tell you all that I know someone who works for THE MARTHA STEWART SHOW.

Even more amusing is that I have never seen this show. The mountains get in the way of any television signal, and there is no way I am going to pay a cable or satellite company to watch mostly advertising. I watch Netflix—a lot of Netflix—but I miss out on Martha.

BUT back to the topic: this someone who works for Martha also blogs, and she has just been nominated for a Daytime Emmy for her work on the show.

She probably doesn’t want me to “out” her—if I did, you’d know her name and be able to stalk her at will—but here’s a big Hurrah to her! How exciting!

Cross your fingers and hope she gets that golden statuette!

Upcoming Femminista Fests

2007-03-14T03:58:00.000-06:00

Two upcoming events that caught my eye from the BUSTline email--one on each coast of the US, neither of which I'll get to attend. (But if any of you do, I hope you'll fill us in!)

March 23 - Second Annual Feminist Film Festival, CA

The Davis Feminist Film Festival is a grassroots effort of local activists, students, and faculty affiliated with Gender and Global Issues at UC Davis. This festival strives to create a community space where issues of gender and its intersections with race, class, age, ability, and spirituality can be talked about in order to raise consciousness and create social change.

I like what their web site has to say about the word "feminist":

The word feminist can mean many things. To some, it is a dirty word, describing a “man-hating lesbian,” or a woman who dominates and verbally attacks men. Self-identified feminists, though, use the same word lovingly, to describe those who work to end any sort of gendered oppression. Academics frequently use the word to describe those with a critical awareness of the intersections of gender, race, and class.

. . . [W]e define a feminist as a radical supporter of human rights. Feminists address power differences in society and promote equality and understanding . . . .

March 24–25- National Young Women’s Leadership Conference, DC
Young feminists from around the country will come together and network to change the world. [Sounds good to me!]

The weekend, which includes two conferences, will focus on how young women can have an impact on domestic and global issues such as reproductive rights, sweatshops, big oil and war, the environment, the media, and violence against women. Speakers will include national leaders and experts of all ages to share knowledge, experience, and information.

Appreciation for new friends

2007-03-13T17:58:00.000-06:00

In the last two weeks I have made many, many new blogging friends. This blogging thing is getting better and better, and I am tempted to quit my day job, hole up and just BLOG. (I am not sure my family would find this a very healthy response...but they don't blog.)

I was stunned today to visit two of my new regular reads and see my very own blog cited right there in today's posts. (Huge super-blush.)

I get to be one of Cherrye's desert island five (!), and Taoknitter very generously includes this blog in her list of what she reads and why.

I am chuffed! It's like getting a hug. I am all alone this week and a bit overwhelmed with work (which I am not doing...because I'm blogging), so such warm fuzzies are all the more welcome and effective.

I feel completely gushy and grateful. As Ms. T would say, "Mwah!"

Post 100

2007-03-13T12:43:00.000-06:00

In the sub-culture of blogging, I have learned that when one posts for the 100th time, one is supposed to post 100 things about oneself.

Yawn. Sounds like a drag to me.

However, I did discover a meme at jenandtonic which looks fun and considers 100 things that I love: books.

Instructions: In the list of books below, bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a ten-foot pole, put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*)
the ones you’ve never heard of.

I can't figure out how to stikethough with Blogger, so I'll put the ones I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole in red.

I am NOT counting the movie versions that I've seen of many of these books, but I AM counting the unabridged audiobooks that I've "read"--since I've had full exposure to the words of the author. I am NOT counting the books that I attempted to read but never finished.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. +Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. *Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. +A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry) (probably my favorite on this list!)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. +A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald) (attempted; failed)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. +Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. +The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. +Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks) (saw movie and hated it)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) (attempted; failed)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. *I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. +The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. *She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. *Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. +The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. *Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller) (attempted; failed)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. +Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. *The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. *The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. *Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. +Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. +Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. *The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. *Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. *Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. +The Good Earth(Pearl S. Buck)
94. +The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. +Ulysses (James Joyce) (attempted; failed)

I learned from this exercise that I don't really keep books--even ones that I like. I try to give them away or sell them so that I can buy more. Audible downloads are in my virtual library forever once I've bought them--so I counted those.

I'm pleased that I've read this many--but this is a very arbitrary list of books; I can't make out what the organizing principle is. A huge mix of genre.

My brother and SIL got me 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die* for Christmas, and I've only read about 140 or so off that list. So only 861 more to go!

*I think this is that list. The book is a heavily annotated list--each page is a description of the book. Beautiful images throughout.

An Important Message

2007-03-12T19:47:00.000-06:00

Another extraordinary (and oh-so-useful!) find as I search through 300,000 public domain images for my several-hundred-page publishing project.

Age

2007-03-12T18:01:00.000-06:00

Today I plucked my first GREY eyebrow hair.

Aberration? Albino hair?

Middle age?

Tablecloth Rug

2007-03-11T17:03:00.000-06:00

Regarding my attempt to recycle old stained tablecloths (pictured in Seven Things Saturday--Week 2) into rag rugs: I frogged the first one last night, as it was evident that one tablecloth would not make a very big rug. It makes a strip.

I then used both tablecloths to make one rug, alternating colors.

It is amazing that two rather large tablecloths (the rectangular kind, for a table that seats six) knit on 15mm needles (US size 19) will make a rug that is just 31x19 inches--doormat size. (Sorry, Steph, not big enough for furniture! I think it will relax and stretch a bit with some use.)

I often measure my knitted projects in terms of audiobooks or movies. This one took two movies--Off the Map and The Corporation--and it was done.

Odes to Spring?

2007-03-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

Someone has to write them . . .

Am listening to A Prairie Home Companion (it's a spring-break archived compilation opera show--Renée Fleming is fabulous!), and Garrison has announced a spring poetry contest:

Minimum: fourteen lines. Must contain reference to spring. Must be original. Must be submitted by March 28 at midnight Central Standard Time.

On March 31, Prairie Home will present the best poems and lyrics, and the grand prize is

a Queen-sized Sleep Number 5000 bed (with foundation legs) along with three dozen roses — a bed of roses delivered to your door — a renaissance in your
domestic life — a source of untold joy, not to mention untold sleep.

So let's get to work! You can submit yours online here.

Ongoing education: La-la 101

2007-03-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

As recently blogged, I've discovered Lala and am trying to participate. (Lala facilitates getting rid of CDs no longer listened to and getting CDs wanted but not yet acquired.)

So far, I've made 9 trades--and it would've been more, had I known this: Lala doesn't email you when you have what someone else wants.

No, it expects you to check in to Lala. Often. Daily. Multiple times per day. Before someone else decides to send the "wanter" the CD that you've been waiting to offload.

No wonder I hadn't traded anything for weeks! Sheesh! I'd been sitting back waiting for an email summons that never would come.

So now I know. And you do too, whether you need to or not.

(In mild protest, I listed all the Lala CDs that I want to get rid of on Half.com and Amazon Marketplace. That pile of stuff IS going away, one way or another!)

Seven Things Saturday--Week 2

2007-03-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

For this week's seven things to chuck, I have

TWO old tablecloths--one irreversibly stained with wine or curry; the other, a hand-embroidered Hungarian cloth purchased about ten years ago and used regularly despite it being weirdly shrunk (by me) so that it is really too lumpy to use (polyester embroidery thread + cotton fabric = puckering).

I decided to try to transform these useless tablecloths into something useful and borrowed the idea of the Alterknits t-shirt rugs. I cut each of the tablecloths into a one-inch strip (one very, very long spiral strip, from outside edge to center)...

...and then knit each up into a rug. (To be honest I am still knitting, but the transformation of each table cloth is imminent.) I was thinking of sending them to my friend Steph, but I am not sure if they will be nice enough.

Onward!

I also chucked ONE collective thing: the crap on my refrigerator.

I threw most of it away. It was a bit tough to throw away photos, but the ones I threw out were those of kids of people we never see, photos that had been sent in Christmas cards several years ago. I kept the pics of my amazing nephews, and I tossed the schedules that we never look at along with the recipes that I have not yet made despite the fact that they've been on the fridge for over six months.

Before:

After:
Lastly, ONE cd sent to Lala and THREE items for Salvation Army: a CD too obscure to list on Lala or Half.com, a strapless bra from the days when I was frequently asked to be a bridesmaid (goodbye, 1990s!), and a sun-faded teddy bear that I have inexplicably kept for the past 20 years.

Total this week: 7.

Total so far: 14

Foolish Femminista

2007-03-10T06:26:00.000-07:00

How dumb am I?

After my last post about being able to see you, I inadvertently removed the tracking code---so I have no stats at all from about 3:30 yesterday until now. It looked like everyone dropped off the face of the Earth! I thought I was being shunned by all. I only just figured out what I had done...

Who you are and what you're looking for

2007-03-09T15:13:00.000-07:00

For those of you who read blogs but don't actually blog yourself, you may not know that I can see you.

Well, not you, actually. More like your IP address.

Like most blogs, mine has a little tracking device embedded in the code, and it shows me all sorts of information.

For example, I know that I have a new reader in Farmington, New Mexico. (Hi, Farmington! If you feel comfortable, please post a comment so that we can "meet"! If not, please feel free to keep lurking--it's just nice to know I have a relatively local reader.)

I know that of the last 100 views, readers have visited from the United States, Costa Rica, Canada, South Africa, China, Argentina, Indonesia, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, and Portugal.

Most readers come to my blog from other blogs that have linked to me, but at least eight readers in the last 100 have come from a Google search. What were they Googling?

Two Googled me (!)--the keywords were "femminista della casa". The others searched on

empowered
jemez pueblo
busty
raising chickens
radical lace subversive knitting skull
vodka as cleaning agent

How's that for variety?

("Busty" comes up nearly every day. I'm thinking it's adolescent boys hoping for an entirely different sort of blog. Along with disappointment, they get a little education on breast cancer.)

I don't know if most bloggers check out their stats, but I am new and I am trying to figure out the whole blog demographic thing. It has been great to watch the readership grow from my parents and my friend Stephanie to a real international group!

TamPontification

2007-03-09T13:03:00.000-07:00

I learned about this effort last year and emailed it on to one or two femministas...but that was before my new blogging life. A reminder came in an email today from my SIL, who got it from her sister, Beth in New York City, and so I pass the information and the opportunity on to you:

Seventh Generation is a company that sells, among other earth-friendly things, organic and bleach-free personal care products. Although I am a rather loyal advocate of the Keeper, I know that not everyone can or will use it, and Seventh Generation has made a commitment to provide fairly-essential-but-oft-overlooked products to women in need:

Women’s shelters in the U.S. go through thousands of tampons and pads monthly, and, while agencies generally assist with everyday necessities such as toilet paper, diapers, and clothing, this most basic need is often overlooked. You and I may take our monthly trips down the feminine care aisle for granted, but, for women in shelters, a box of tampons is five dollars they can’t spare. Here’s some good news: you can help us contribute to rectifying this situation by making a virtual donation below! For each virtual donation, Seventh Generation will send a pack of organic cotton tampons or chlorine-free pads to a shelter in your state.

Click here to make a virtual donation.

And, for some slightly gross entertainment, check out their list of reader-submitted euphemisms. (You can submit your own at the bottom of this page.)

They also have a sort-of blog, written last fall by their mission-fairies--"think Betty & Veronica meets Cagney & Lacey meets Lucretia Mott & Elizabeth Cady Stanton".

The mission-fairies spent 30 days (October 13th - November 12th, 2006) touring the West for Seventh Generation, talking to women (and men) about menstruation, hand-delivering product donations to area shelters, and spreading the good word about the importance of natural feminine care while blogging.

It IS advertising for Seventh Generation, but a by-product of the propaganda is more awareness regarding healthier choices and, I hope, less use of chlorinated, super-absorbent products. You can read their trip here; the photos seem to have gone offline. :(