Drawing nerd

It seems silly to pay money for a computer-friendly drawing tablet when I am used to mousing about in Photoshop. So, that is exactly what Curt picked up for me this Christmas.

Actually though, it is fabulous. I've only experimented around with it a little, but I'm already finding that it is much more intuitive & gives me better inspiration/ideas.

The tablet he got for me is a Bamboo and it is super user-friendly. In my first doodle with it, I was just getting comfortable. It'll take some getting used to the features for keystrokes, scrolling, zooming, etc.

Ooh, the bountiful harvest

So, I just innocently walked thru the door and came across a feast. I thought to myself, "Serena, this is rather a Wonderland moment you are having." I wondered if perhaps it were placed so obviously in my path with nefarious purposes. Would the mushrooms in this seemingly-delicious frittata make me loopier than the Easter bunny? Would it shrink me like Alice? Perhaps it was a creature evolved to look like a meal that would then latch on to me with a death grip when I went to give it a taste. Would I follow in the route my gluttonous tum suggested or would I learn from all those nature films? Ah, a dilemma indeed...

New neighbors

New neighbors have bought a house up the street. Here's the woman - Maria I believe they call her - raking up some leaves.

Her crazy husband was clambering around on scaffolding 'fixing' the roof. Glad I didn't inherit those genes...oh, wait a minute!

Painted panel

Dad gave me some old door panels to play with a while ago. They are kind of cool on their own, but I've been experimenting with painting in them. Here's two sides of one. I like the idea of being able to flip it around when you're sick of one side.

Feeling all Christy-mas

Here's our tree - if you look closely, you'll see Pee Wee is almost to the top. Now we just need some toy airplanes flying around him like King Kong!
In addition, I am showing off my new socks and jeans from Mum's gift card. There's also gloves and a scarf, but she'll have to wait to see me in person for the rest of the fashion show.
Notice the pups bright coats? They got their quarterly bath today. The poor little dingbats are so forgiving (that's why I only try to clean the cat about once every five years - it takes that long to be pardoned for such a heinous crime).

Beware the lycanthropes

I guess that yesterday was the official full moon. It was round, but seemed very small and bright. You could make out lots of craters and such with the naked eye, but somehow it didn't hold my attention much.
The moon tonight though, well that's another story. In fact, it's like a picture from a story. Big and yellow with thin wisps of cloudy bits across the front of it. I guess it's a sort of hunter's moon as it came out practically in conjunction with the sunset. Beautiful. Our little camera does not do it justice, but I still had fun out there...

Trashy girl

Here was my only job on Thanksgiving - besides eating - a lot...

Gobble, gobble...

Okay, I know it is a little hard to believe that we are from New England and had never roasted chestnuts before.
Since Aunt Patty sent Curt some from her trees as part of his birthday extraveganza package, we thought we'd give em a try for turkey day.
I don't know what recipe he ended up with, but the flavour was delicious - sort of caramelized chestnuts with brussel sprouts (I know, kinda yuck, but when the little cabbages are fully saturated with butter, they have no choice but to be yummy).
Anyhoo, here are some pics the old boy took of his process...

Visitors from the homeland

Yay! We had such a blast with Marcy, Terry, Jenny and Sarahbean.
I will refrain from posting the pictures of Sarah diapered on the floor sharing FunDip with Clovis. We are saving those for when the first slew of boys start showing up at the house to meet her family.

The birthday

So, a bit of catch-up as I've been rather lackadaisical with this journal.
Curt turned 35 - eeeks! That means I am....well, we won't discuss that.
We had a great night eating pub food & playing pool with Sean and Adam. It was perhaps the happiest birthday for Curt that I can recall.
Saturday, a week ago we had a proper party. It was a faboo chance to catch up with a bunch of friends and for us to show off some of the Boston clan as the Delehanty's were visiting (more on that later).
Curt didn't want gifts, but got some nice loot anyhow. Brad & Marti had the most creative idea - even the antiholidayman Curt might be decorating this year...

New space

We cleaned up our upstairs 'spare' room (the one that ended up with all the miscellaneous bits we didn't know what to do with); ripped out the carpet and scrubbed the hardwoods. Now I have a new office. We'll turn the old office in the next room over to an art room. Yay!
Curt gets me so motivated on these projects - if left to my own initiative, probably nothing would ever happen.
We even set up a little animal corner - although kitkat seems to think it beneath him to lay so close with the pups & ends up on the rug under the computer desk. It is a darker & smaller room, but since it's not filled with too much clutter yet, it's rather a relaxing spot to ruminate.

Napping on the rear

Needless to say, Clovis didn't put up with this for too long. I wonder if Ernie knew where he was resting his head?

The last bergman

Well, I think that this will be the last rose from the garden this year (unless we get a bit of rain and it heats up again). She is much the smallest of what we had, but rather cute in an old saffron bottle. We had three sets of blooms come from our Ingrid Bergman roses this year. So, I guess that they're some of the few that really thrive in the long, dry & hot summer.

Out of context

Having our own migrant worker in cliche head attire would be very un-p.c.
To give a bit of backing on this tale, we should mention that this is our fellow heathen neighbor Jim doing us a favour. Even by Monday, he just couldn't stop the partying that began with 2nd Saturday dinner at the Maxfields. Can you guess the theme? I wonder if Marti still has fake mustaches lining her cleavage?

Illustration inspiration

Mercer Mayer is selling giclee prints of some of his illustrations. They are too expensive, but what a pleasure just looking thru the gallerys.
Here are some of my favourites from the books I know - Shibumi and the Kitemaker; East of the Sun, West of the Moon (although I do wish he was offering prints of this beautiful fish); Beauty and the Beast & of course, Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like.
From this site, I see that he's also illustrated Grimms - so that's now on my list to find.
When I see these lovely pictures (some of which are old friends from childhood) it really inspires me. Guess it's a sign I ought to get off my duff & start sketching something beyond my geriatric dogs napping and the trees in our back yard.

The home gardener's song

I just heard a great song on 'A Prarie Home Companion' for us would-be home gardeners. This one is really better for those that have less trees and thus can grow things beyond ferns, hosta and creeping myrtle.
However, I have lived in sunnier locals and been thru these sentiments frequently enough to empathise. The singer is called Stephanie Davis and the song is 'Talkin' Harvest Times Blues.'
The best line comes towards the end..."You have to take zucchini-we're related!"

Rhapsodize

So, for years Curt has had us up on a monthly pay service for music. We use Rhapsody, but I'm sure there must be others. Anyhow, it has really been a big $aver for us.
We had hundreds of cds from before we got the service, but recently we just had them all transferred over and keep em on an external hard drive. Talk about space-saving! Plus we got mucho dinero for them at the local rerun book/dvd/music store (of course, not what we shelled out for them initially).
Also, we would be much more reticent to buy new albums without having had the chance to hear them first. Anyhow, a thought for my fellow music junkies. Now, back to making dinner and finding something fun to listen to.

Old news

Maureen Dowd over at the NYTimes gave over her column to Stephen Colbert back in October. Anyhow, I am just getting to it now...A Mock Columnist, Amok .
His description of old people makes me want to buy his book (I'm always the lowest denominator in the class - you'll find me looking for the cheap & easy laugh rather than studying for the deeper nuances).

Creepy

Thought a trailer for '2,000 Maniacs' by the godfather of gore, Herschell Gordon Lewis would be appropriate for today (being as we're in the south now y'all).

WQFS

Guilford college radio has a pretty neat schedule. In particular, I really enjoy Josh Neas' show in spite of it's dumb title. Also, when I was driving out to the farm every Thursday, it was neat to be heading down country roads listening to Mike Caudles' choices.
So, if you are around Greensboro, take a minute and check out 90.9

The Invisible Ray 1936

So, it's October and we've been watching old thrillers. 'The Invisible Ray' stars Boris Karloff & Bela Lugosi. There's a good synopsis & some pictures here.
Some others we saw were 'Black Friday' (the same team, but I didn't find it quite such campy fun), 'The Night of the Hunter,' 'Blood Feast 2' (by none other than Herschell Gordon Lewis beloved for 2,000 Maniacs - see the original), 'So I married an Axe Murderer' which is a pretty awful movie except for Myers character of the Scottish dad, and a whole mess of Hitchcock (avoid 'Frenzy' at all costs - we learned the lesson that not every Hitchcock is great)

Music for today

I am listening to Elvis Perkins today. Seems like good rainy day music. I really like the song 'Ash Wednesday,' but here's another that's eminently listenable...

Webb Pierce

Awesome! I found a postcard of an old album my parents had. Anyhow, a great collection of songs, but what really stuck with me was the cover. It shows Webb Pierce proudly standing with all his buddys around the famous guitar-shaped swimming pool he had put in at his ridiculously extravagant Nashville estate.

Raising Sand

Well, loathe though I am to admit it, I am really enjoying my first listen to 'Raising Sand' It is a collaborative effort from Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.
Their voices really complement each other nicely. I find Plant a lot more appealing now that his voice has some age on it and he no longer deems it necessary to attempt shattering glass.
I admire both artists in that they are always getting involved with interesting collaborative efforts (ie, Plant & Amos doing 'Down by the Seaside,' Krauss w. Watson & Skaggs doing 'Down in the Valley')
Okay, back I go to cutting veg for dinner (mnnn, the meat is marinating for Kabob-fest - soon the basmati will be steaming away) and enjoying the rest of this album. Maybe I'll even get into the new Springsteen.

Last harvest for '07

Well, yesterday was the last day for our CSA farm pick up this year.
I recently came across this article by Jason Hardin. He was at the WeatherHand Farm one time when I was out picking up our box.
Anyhow, I'll miss the weekly drive out there. I'd say that we'll miss the food, but we've enough yukons & sweet potatoes to see us for quite a while yet.
Next year, hopefully, it will rain a bit more than one inch ever forty-five days!
Alright, now it's back to genetically engineered, flavourless food picked by some starving person on the other side of the globe.

1989

Ha! I came across this doozy a couple of days ago. This is one of the first pics of us - Rhoney took it at the 795 house.
I'd forgotten the hat - Curt wore that thing for years until it literally fell apart (you can see the beginnings of the front visor starting to separate here). I wonder if he ever actually watched an Iowa Hawkeyes game?

Greenland wedding

Kimon and Stacie got married this year. I am waaaay behind on getting a picture up here, but wanted everyone to see it actually happened!
Now they are saving up for a house. I can't wait to see them settled in & turning the place into a work of art/bike shop.

Stencil madness

The process of vandalising our own mailbox is not yet fully complete. However, I thought I'd bring you up to date...

Step 3

Step 3 - test it out...

Step 2

Step 2 - simplify and cut...

Step 1

Step 1 - take a lovely doodle collaborative (after all, the couple that doodles together, noodles together...what? Whatever)...

Step 4

Step 4 - paint it baby...

Curt deco

We don't have much water in the lakes at this point. So Curt found a use for Dad's gift until the time comes when we need to demarcate a mooring (figuring that we are probably still a few years out from this being ocean-side property)...

In Rainbows - at what cost?

Today we downloaded Radiohead's new album 'In Rainbows.' Because they are wonderful, already no-doubt wealthy and also innovative, they put the album up for download yesterday at the customer's chosen price.

Therefore, if you want to pay zip you can be a jerk and do that. We chose 6 pounds, w. a 45p transaction fee. Without hearing the album, that seemed right.

By letting the listener choose the price, they had a lot more opportunity to experiment and also to take advantage (ha ha sucker, you chose to pay for something we pulled out of our rears in 5 minutes). But they have built up a trust with their listeners that they obviously respect.

I've only listened to the first six tracks thus far, and while they are not - for Radiohead - particularly experimental or groundbreaking, they are each beautiful and individual.

This is a move which I suspect will not only garner them greater respect and a larger audience, but which undermines the ridiculous stranglehold corporations have on the music industry. It gives hope that one day, listeners won't be fleeced and artists will be revered again for their talent not just their fashion (see the mother of them all on this one)

I agree that artists should be paid well and that there are certain costs inherent with putting out an album. But in this "modern age," it is great to see a viable alternative to buying a new yacht for the middle man.

Another plus is that when I clicked on 'Terms and Conditions' only a blank page came up. Those are my kinds of requirements!

I feel like maybe we ought to have paid more.

Former Bishop of Turkey

Some time ago we enjoyed an evening out with Adam, Sean & my Mum listening to David Sedaris. Anyhow, with the holidays bearing down upon us, I thought I should post something from the Santaland Diaries.
However, if you are patient there is a fabulous description of Saint Nicholas in the Netherlands titled '6 To 8 Black Men'

Reading flash widget

Here's the next few things on my to-read list. I have a bunch of books that folks have lent me or I picked up at Edward McKays which I haven't added yet. So, the list should get bigger before it gets smaller (and then gets bigger again).

Braidy bunch

Yay! my hair is getting long enough to braid again - sort of...

Carolina Gardens

At this time of year, you can find some great deals on many garden items. Even a lot of the hard goods are often on sale as nurseries try to make room for all their holiday stuff to go out on the floor.
If you are looking for some nice perennials to put in now, there is a local garden center called Carolina Gardens (4027 Randleman Rd Greensboro, NC 27406 (336) 275-6826). They still had a good selection when I went by a couple of days ago.
I've been looking for good deals on drought-tolerant plants. There were some really nice choices at this nursery.
We got several rosemary and thyme plants at $1.75 per one-quart pot (since they've had the summer to grow, they are really full). There was a lot of lavender, daisies, lambs ear, heuchera, etc. So, nothing too rare, but beautiful & healthy specimens.
I also found some great golden carpet sedum in larger 8" pots for $4.75. They are so vigorous. The owner was telling me how he'd started my plants from seedlings that had been coming up thru the pavement beside a display. So, I bought 2 and have already split one seven ways from Sunday.

Niche Gardens

Curt and I took a trip over to Chapel Hill a couple of days ago using back roads. We came across Niche Gardens. I'd heard about the place before and was curious.
What a neat nursery. It's not huge, but (as the name implies) there are a lot of interesting choices. We think that they must propagate much of their own stock since there is great variety, but only a handful of each type (ie several different hosta, but only two or three of each species). Of course, maybe it's just a sign that we are coming to the end of the season.
In any case, the plant life looks really vibrant and well-tended. It must be a satisfying place to work.
They also have a bunch of cool garden art that's mostly fairly affordable. So, if you're ever in the area we recommend checking the place out.

Elliot Smith

Curt has been listening some to Elliot Smith. I just know the hits as it were. Rather depressing stuff. 'Twilight' is a pretty tune. You may recognise his song 'Needle in the Hay' from the film 'The Royal Tenenbaums' (a great flick in it's own right)...

Bejeweled

Beatriz made me a pretty necklace...

Between this one, the one Coral made, the megalodon tooth Paula turned into a necklace for me and the one from Kirk - I'm stylin'! What cool gifts.

Visiting

Here's a photo of our friends Eva and Kara. Last week I went and stayed with them and their Mr. Muffin Man - Stephen. What a fun time we had playing games, going to the market, the yarn shop and just hanging out. They have a neat house outside Boston. Too bad it's so nice there, we'll never be able to convince them to move closer.

Salt Marsh

Here is a particularly lovely picture I found online titled "White Birds at Allens Pond" by Gina Purtell of the Massachusetts Audubon Society. I believe that they are egrets...

Home

Well, I went to the brrrr...cooool...brrrr state of MA for a week. It was great fun to go back for a visit. I first imposed on my dear friends the McCall's - more on that in another blog.
For the second half, I went to visit my Dad and Step mom. The old house is ever expanding - now there's a guest kitchen - fancy stuff! Anyhow, it is a magical place to me with great natural beauty.
At this time of year, everything is so alive. Driving, there are some tunnels of growth so dense that they throw the streets into darkness & the wildflowers are thick at the base of many old, stone walls. The grapes were hanging heavy at the vineyard too.
They took me to our favourite spot where Allen's Pond comes out into the ocean by Barney's Joy and East Beach. Another day we walked Horseneck. On the final day we went out to Sakonnet Point, RI (here's someone else's photo). It was beautiful, bright and still. The rocks were totally different than at other beaches.
Lucky me to be able to spend time with special people at such wonderful places! Thanks guys.

State of fear...

I don't know if this case is winnable, but I am impressed with Mr. Righi's decisions (except for my disappointment in his support of the niece's Disney addiction). He stood up for himself in a way that we all should be doing. Modern convenience has turned us into zombies. The corporations lead us along by our nose-rings to work harder at more meaningless jobs so we can buy more and disagree less.
http://newsite.michaelrighi.com/2007/09/01/arrested-at-circuit-city/

Doodle-rama

So, I was mucking about with a doodle in Photoshop and came up with this. Might make a fun base for a Mardi Gras mask or something...

Little ghost

So, I try to refrain from the overly cute/pathetic, but Clovis won me over on this one...

Destroying Earth

This top ten list from LiveScience.com has been around for a while. People talk about destroying our planet a lot. I think what they are actually thinking of is wiping out human life.
In this vein, I am looking forward to reading 'The World Without Us' by Alan Weisman. He was recently on 'The Daily Show' (one of the few shows I actually seek out on the evil I-Tunes).
Also, as a side note, Nathan Sawaya was on The Colbert Report

Resurrecting the Champ

So, we went to see 'Resurrecting the Champ' and it was better than I'd expected. Josh Hartnett is apparently the heir to Brad Pitt's universal character (a bit of eye candy without a lot else). But, he works well enough for the part.
Samuel Jackson really does a good job on this one though. Between this and his study of beloved R.L. for 'Black Snake Moan' I've almost forgiven him for 'Deep Blue Sea' I was even able to get past Alan Alda's annoying voice and into his character in this film.

Caring about health care

I would bet that the folks who make major decisions about health care in this country are all very well insured themselves - isn't that funny - ha!

Anyhow, I came across this article today in the NY Times "Cancer Society Focuses Its Ads on the Uninsured"

This is an exciting development and one which I hope builds up to a fevered pitch by the next presidential election. While other countries may have some problems with their health care systems (I mean those that even have systems), and while we are a country based on (supposedly) keeping the government out of our lives as much as possible, obviously the track we are on now is not the right one.

To be truthful, I am more than a little despondent about the state of coverage in the U.S. My own mother was ill for many years. She kept going to doctors and hospitals here and they didn't want to run extra tests that might have told them she had cancer.

It was only when she moved back to London to take care of her own ailing mother and got into the National Health that her Lymphoma was discovered. It was a slow-growing variety and she has been done with treatments (or poisonings as I refer to them) and in the clear for over a year now. However, they assured us that this was something that had been brewing for a long time.

What ifs are rarely useful, but I find myself wondering how much easier would it have been and how much less would she have suffered if the Doctors here could have just run those tests? Maybe she wouldn't have to live the rest of her life with such sever chest pains from the scar tissue that the chemo left behind.

Stealing an email

Curt wrote this, but I think it is interesting and that's why I am stealing it for here. He wrote:

A nation of babies...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20441775/

Ok, so the stupid drinking/running club *could* have been a bit smarter and used something other than a white powdery substance to mark their trail and realized how goddamned stupid Americans are these days, but this is ridiculous.

Everyone's afraid of a "terrorist" attack.

Since 2003, we have had almost 3000 people killed by "terrorist" attacks - almost all in the towers on 9/11/2003.

If we look at 2003, here are the numbers (for only that year) of people who died from:
car driver - 44,757 (this doesn't include trucks and vans)
pedestrian - 5,991
car passenger - 15,797
drowning - 412
falling - 17,229
killed by machinery - 640
choking - 3,004
fires - 2,761
hypothermia - 620
unexpected complications during surgery - 2,855

So, that puts the terrorism threat (for 2003 - much lower if we average it out since 2003) somewhere above hypothermia, but below walking across the street. It's just about on the same level as choking to death (got $500 billion we can spend for the War on Choking?).

But, we've sold out the next two generations with these stupid wars, and who knows how many generations will end up mentally screwed up because a good percentage of people in this country now think it more likely that their kid will be killed by some arab than on a four-wheeler or sticking them in the passenger seat for a drive to the water park.

We're sending people to jail for pouring flour on the ground, for chrissakes, but Bush and his buddies are running this country into the ground and we're going to give them pensions, lifetime secret service protection, and a library.

What the hell is happening in this country?

Right-wing assholes like to use the phrase "Freedom isn't free" to back up their idiotic positions on military spending. Well, I got news for them: Freedom doesn't exist.

"Welcome to the new Soviet Union... Papers, please."

Guess who's coming to town

Or close enough. I love 'Slow Show' from the National's new Album 'Boxer.' The whole album is great, but this song has the classic line:
"Looking for somewhere to stand and stay,
I leaned on the wall, the wall leaned away"...and to think we were afraid they'd lose that dark edge they had in Alligator.
Curt got tix for us to go see them in Chapel Hill next month! So, I'll get to really hear it. Hopefully by that point in the tour they won't be completely sick of playing.

'I Don't Want to Grow Up'

Since I couldn't find you any Morphine, thought I'd pass along this treat...

What could be better than Tom Waits covering a Ramones song?

Morphine

Okay, okay...so I am a born and raised Massaholian...should have been worshiping at the altar of Morphine for years you say.
Whatever, they always seemed so booooring! I'm not a talented listener. If I get bored 15 seconds into the first song, then that's it (must have wasted too much time trying to listen to whole songs as a kid or something).
Anyhow, figured that I should give them another go when listening to Redbird's self-titled albumn. They do a beautiful cover of 'Patience.' Also, we recently went to see the Mammals & they came out with a lovely cover of 'Do Not Go Quietly Unto Your Grave.'
So, thought I'd give 'em another whirly. A lot of it I still find kind of dull. However, there are some really great tunes mixed in. So far, my favourite is 'In Spite of Me' off of 'Cure for Pain.'
Anyhow, can't find any quick links for these, but when searching them, it is interesting to see how everyone covers them.

The Madonna and Child

Ooops, I mean the Adoration of the Clovi...

When Mum comes to town

I always forget to take photos and then at the last minute annoy everyone. So, here are a slightly irritated Curt and Caroline...aren't they sweet to humour me so?!

Calling all stars...

Listening to 'Weekend America' on NPR. They were just replaying a story about sidewalk astronomers. I love the idea that people are so enthusiastic about astronomy that they, a: build their own telescopes, and then b: run around setting them up on quasi-busy corners and get passersby interested too.

Pretty cool art

This guy Phil Hansen does some pretty neat projects. I like that he ends up with such interesting pieces, but the thought he puts into making them and the creative steps to reach his goal are more impressive. Check out his site.

Secret identity revealed!

Okay, so the fairy stairmaster turned out to be Dad. He's just looking out for his granimals.

Thank you fairy stairmaster

Ernie and Clovis received anonymous gifts in the mail today. They each got a matching set of padded pet stairs. Clovis thinks that they are a bed though, so he'll be napping on them. Here are some pictures of them trying out getting to the sofa in luxury...

Haircut

I got my hair cut short yesterday. It looked like a dead animal on the floor when all was said and done.
Anyhoo, that's not very interesting. What was interesting to me was the social interaction I got to have with the hair dresser.
Let me preface by saying that it was an $11 deal by one of the chains (I'm sick of getting ripped off just because Curt's too much of a wuss to take a set of scissors to my locks).
It was amazing, I walked into this depressing, empty place and this woman was putting inventory away. She looked weary, but when she saw me a giant smile broke out and customer service was at it's best.
She began to tell me all about her life and I got to see pictures of her new baby daughter as she laboured away on my head. She told me about her interesting history classes at college, her husband's dogs, her immigrant parents, and about moving here from Brooklyn.
I don't know what her situation is, but she was one of the most comfortable people I've come across in a long time. If I ever feel the need for a psychiatrist, I'm just going to go back and get another hair cut from her. What a wonderful person.
Here's the end result...

...I looooove my hair cut!

The Mammals: with a vengeance

What a great show! Sadly for them, the audience wasn't very big. Happily for us, the audience wasn't very big.
They played with a wonderful enthusiasm and showed us just how fun going out to a show could be. They really know how to weave a tale and to keep up a presence between the lovely pieces.
If I had to choose, their song '1952 Black Vincent Lightning' was my favourite. The way they harmonized was so beautiful - it was actually much better than even this very good version. It's such a sort of classic Americana song besides. How could a girl, even a non-red-head, not totally go for it?
If you ever get the opportunity, definitely check them out!

The Mammals

We are really looking forward to seeing the Mammals perform next Friday. They are here in town as part of the Eastern Music Festival. We are more familiar with some of their earlier, perhaps less subtle music.
However, the new album looks to be really great too. It is called 'Departure' I believe. So far, I've heard one song off of it called 'Alone on the Homestead' which is really good.

Earth from above

So, AOL is good for something. Dad sent us a link to http://reference.aol.com/space/earth-from-above
"The Earth from above is an amazing sight. NASA's Landsat satellites capture the view in all its splendor. "
My personal favourite is the picture from off the coast of the Bahamas.

Wasabi

Yum, I met up with the book club for another evening out not talking about books. It was great! We ate sushi at 'Wasabi' (4630 W Market St. Greensboro, NC 27407 336.632.4567). Really tasty. When my rainbow roll came out, Barbara got a couple of pics...













It was so pretty I almost didn't want to eat it. I felt much better when we saw them take the 'flower' back into the kitchen. Hopefully it got used all night (hmnn, usually when one says that it sounds a little, ummmm, dirty?).

It was really neat to finally meet some of the people I've seen in email format. Sometimes I really enjoy the company of like-minded, relaxed folks.
It seems that many people have unwavering, concrete beliefs. It is nice to be able to go out and not have anyone getting too preachy, or worse yet, attempting to convert me! Of course, nobody ever thinks differently if they only interact with those who agree. A dilemma indeed.

Tracking votes

So, 'SaveNetRadio.org' has set up this tool to let you know what your Senators and Reps have voted on in the last week. Pretty cool!

No cars go

'No cars go' is one of the better songs off the new Arcade Fire album. I really liked 'Funeral.' 'Neon Bible' is interesting as a follow up - Curt thinks some of the tracks are a little like Bruce Springsteen songs (circa 1985). Anyhow, they do seem a little like kids from the high school a/v club. So, I embrace them as my people!

Gluttony

Okay, I think that summer is supposed to be a time of light eating and lots of outdoor fun. However, in the last four days (I am counting Friday night and yesterday as weekend time - since Curt gets Mondays off) we have only been outside for brief walks, evening bbq's and shuttling between the house and cars. Light eating - well, let's just say that we'll need to subsist on celery for the next week to undo some of the damage.
Okay, time to clean out the left-overs and get to the market for some produce. Let's see if I can zip up my jeans!

Supporting troops

I think being in the military must be dreadful and have a hard time figuring why anybody would want to join. I don't support any of the conflicts I am currently aware that the U.S. is engaged in either. That having been said, it is easy to judge from my nice, comfortable and semi-secure home office.

One thing that Curt turned me onto is www.booksforsoldiers.com
It requires getting an application notarized (which meant a 20-minute drive to my local ups store). I'll update how it's going in a few weeks when they've processed my application.

Funding cuts

The Greensboro Urban Ministry recently had a bad jolt. They learned that they were getting a big chunk of their funding cut. Happily, a local church stepped up and made up the difference. That covers this year, but where does it leave them in the future? Read here for the full article in the News & Record.

While we are not religious, Curt and I volunteer at G.U.Ministry once a week. We searched around and while there are many worthy, local organisations, we felt that this one was helping people with the most dire need. We encourage you to get involved if you have the time & means...the contact is Nita Johnson - nita@guministry.org

Also, check out their website - www.greensborourbanministry.org - where you can find out more information regarding what they do, and making donations/contributions (food, clothing, time or money). Anything helps.

Too sweet?

Okay, I was just a tad disturbed by my breakfast banana today. It was tasty and perfectly ripe. However, when I finished eating it, I looked for the sticker on the skin (sometimes, if it's a monkey I still put it on my hand - look everyone, Serena ate a banana!).
Here is what I found...

Now, I am all about the sugar.
But, when they start advertising candy on bananas, I kind of have to wonder if we haven't taken the whole marketing thing a shade too far.
Of course, chances are that my banana was injected with some sort of high fructose corn syrup - or at the very least rolled around in some splenda.
I wonder if I had to eat a banana that was just normal if I might have an allergic reaction - what, no sugar!
Time to go consider this over a coke and a healthy snack of reese's pieces...