In Louisiana, the most common way to visualize the state’s existential crisis is through the metaphor of football fields. The formulation, repeated in nearly every local newspaper article about the subject, goes like this: Each hour, Louisiana loses about a football field’s worth of land. Each day, the state loses nearly the accumulated acreage of every football stadium in the N.F.L. Were this rate of land loss applied to New York, Central Park would disappear in a month. Manhattan would vanish within a year and a half. The last of Brooklyn would dissolve four years later. New Yorkers would notice this kind of land loss. The world would notice this kind of land loss. But the hemorrhaging of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands has gone largely unremarked upon beyond state borders. This is surprising, because the wetlands, apart from their unique ecological significance and astounding beauty, buffer the impact of hurricanes that threaten not just New Orleans but also the port of South Louisiana, the nation’s largest; just under 10 percent of the country’s oil reserves; a quarter of its natural-gas supply; a fifth of its oil-refining capacity; and the gateway to its internal waterway system. The attenuation of Louisiana, like any environmental disaster carried beyond a certain point, is a national-security threat.
Where does it go, this vanishing land? It sinks into the sea. The Gulf of Mexico is encroaching northward, while the marshes are deteriorating from within, starved by a lack of river sediment and poisoned by seawater. Since 2011, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has delisted more than 30 place names from Plaquemines Parish alone. English Bay, Bay Jacquin, Cyprien Bay, Skipjack Bay and Bay Crapaud have merged like soap bubbles into a single amorphous body of water. The lowest section of the Mississippi River Delta looks like a maple leaf that has been devoured down to its veins by insects. The sea is rising along the southeast coast of Louisiana faster than it is anywhere else in the world.
This is expensive enough that if one had a real sweet tooth, might be a financial problem, lol!
In my adult life, I've noticed that some years, I didn't go through a whole two pound box of sugar. And since I don't buy processed food nor drink pop, I'm not getting anything sneaked into my diet.
I've recently seen a rash of recipes from friends on facebook that contain a box of cakemix, and I just cringe. . . .
BTW, did check out the study where artificial sweeteners changed bowel flora. Not that surprised, grin--you change what's available for them to eat, the sugar eaters are gonna die if denied. But jus' to be safe: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JEKYNZA?psc=1
Shirlee that is strange!! I got the email telling me what you had posted but I cannot see them here! I'll chcck your settings but this blog just gets weird sometimes - for instance it doesn't like me posting new threads. ;-)
Jo, I have problems posting new threads all three places on blogger where I'm entitled. But the worst! is at HEP--where I can try for hours literally, and still fail.
puddle I would be happy to post Shirlee's posts that disappeared - I though everyone gets an email notification when people post!! here we go....
Shirlee in NC has left a new comment on your post "Yep!!":
So do I! Posted a short one yesterday that "your comment has been saved"-- the usual message. Don't see it now. Betting it is my I-Pad if no one else is having problems. Interesting discussion on sugar and it's effect on the body. It certainly can tear up my total digestive system during a flare. Thanks for the health tips, friends. Master and Mistress of The Rock expected in GSO for an overnight stay on their way to their winter digs in Florida. Two grand babies MD also have a draw! Love you all.
Just in case... Thank You, Jo! Guests arrived, had a fuss free GSO dinner. Send son-in-law down to a new middle Eastern restaurant. Brenda whipped some fresh cream and put over fresh berries. Left lots of time for catching up on everything from families to food and farming and plenty of laughter.
The aspens' gold is more intense than I've ever seen before in the 40 years we've lived in Colorado. The gold is deep, maybe like Spanish doubloons, just beautiful, and already the winds are taking the leaves.
Congratulations, Barb. A smile here for you.
Thank you, Puddle, for the information on Louisiana. It's very concerning. When will we as a nation as a world recognize we cannot continue to use the earth this way?! On NPR, the population in 1970 was 3.7 billion. It's now 7 billion. Half of all wild species have gone extinct. And, we increase our carbon emissions every year.
This is a beautiful time of year, the grasses, trees, bushes all changing colors; yet oddities are present. We still have a few blue flax blooming and some yellow flowers, and the weather is in the 70s and near 80s. In October???
yes Pat I can ask for a review, they were missing some key info in their findings, so it was probably overlooked. I'm going to get an attorney to file the appeal for me, they take a percent of your claim if you win the decision - SS even offers a list of atty's that are free or reduced fee - I should probably qualify for free.
congratulations Barb! babes are such a sweet part of life!!
Jo, don't know as I'd automatically go for free. . . . May be the paid types try a bit harder? And if I recall correctly, you don't have to pay them until you're paid, and there IS a lump sum there.
Jo, so sorry to hear of your denial. Hopefully Plan B will be better for you. Yes, they do tend to overlook some things. I know that they are probably busy as heck. It took them 6 months to finally acknowledge that they had taken out my Medicare payment double and pay it back. I did have one person that I worked with at the local SS Office and I would not work with anyone else.
Even she could not speed up the wheels, but at least she kept up with it and kept me informed.
There is so much on this rich blog to comment on, and little time in which to sit here.
So I will begin with the most important:
Jo, it is just WRONG that you were denied. Yes, get an attorney, and I agree with puddle that one who isn't free will do more for you, and sooner. Sometime the last week of this month, let's do lunch again.
Some week, here. We've been training on the new computer system, but only in a workshop, not on our actual computers. We're getting new computers NEXT weekend, then we Go Live. No dress rehearsal…! I have decided not to be freaked by this. Enough of the staff is already freaked, and I've changed computer systems at work 3 times in the last 17 years ~ twice at the Bookshop and once when I learned the Library's current system. I have the perspective of knowing that one does eventually learn the system, and anyway it's not brain surgery, it's just giving people free use of books! Ha! It will indeed be disconcerting and it will get worse before it gets better. So I am thinking of wearing mismatched clothing (at least mismatched socks!) during our catawumpus phase, just to help people loosen up a bit.
It is so good to come by and see what is happening in each of your lives…the sweet and the difficult. I am grateful for this caring community. ♥
Shirlee, ahhhh, laughter and berries & cream! That sounded wonderful! I, like Barb, do not receive email notifications, because I opted out of them from the start. My email Inbox has over 4000 messages and I can't keep up. Coming here is far more efficient for me.
Barb, there's nothing like the birth of a new Grand! :-)
Pat, I am almost ready to write some real words in response to your meaningful book of verse. Ironically what is keeping me from it (in addition to the Library training) is that I am taking a retreat day tomorrow. But soon. For now I will say generally that I find your poems very companionable, and the flow of them matches what I too have experienced in times of retreat…the initial exhaustion, the slow letting go, the hope of some wisdom entering into the time, and the ultimately deepened opening to the Reality of unknowing.
Here's a link to my album showing the flowers that are STILL blooming in my yard today! We may have snow on the mountain tonight.
Listener--just remember the Vermont Lady's slogan-- "Life is too short for matching socks." They are all I wear now and with everything -- tights, dressy dresses, robes etc.! Makes me happy just to put them on.
Happy Day All! Friday and Brenda arrives this evening for our Friday night dinner at 216. No fussy cooking, just good food!!!
A cold, chilly, foggy day today. I'm wearing a shirt, two sweaters, a scarf, and some warm slacks.
We just listened on NPR to a debate between our Governor Hickenlooper and Bob Beauprez, his Republican challenger. EWWW! The attacks, the old style of labeling and accusations by Beauprez, haven't we about done with that kind of useless, demeaning campaigning?! I guess not.
Listener, thank you for your thoughtful and discerning words. I'm delighted and glad that there is a recognized reality on retreat. Thank you again.
Yes, a smile here, Shirlee. Socks are socks, and if they are warm and comfortable, that's more than good enough.
On the run with a Grand here overnight. But here's the link to our foliage photos from Saturday. The first one is my favorite! The one with the smiles is another Fave! Enjoy!!
nice photos listener, thank you for sharing! that first was my favorite as well, that should be enlarged and framed and gracing you wall - it is fabulous!
I love the pics of your granddaughter too - she is so sweet! I am guessing that she is the one who now has horses and it looks like chickens too! what fun!
Lovely photos. What a nice mix of chickens. I love the one with the grand running with the chicken. Chicken doesn't look fazed a bit.
Just finished my taxes with the extra Social Security they accidentally sent me in 2013. What a fight to get it straightened out. I started trying to get them to take back the extra money in January and they finally sent me a final number at the end of September. Problem was they took Medicare out of both portions, my widows benefits that they over paid AND my own SS. The problem was them trying to figure out exactly how much Medicare they over deducted and pay that back to me.
So, bottom line, I have to pay taxes on the extra $5,000 plus, but get to deduct it next year as I had to return it to them. That should help with taxes for that year. Fortunately, I stashed the extra money that I knew I'd have pay back and have been stashing a bit each month for the extra taxes I had to pay. Sigh... they get you coming and going.
Sounds like all is well in Deanland. My love to you all.
listener mentioned somewhere that her doctor thought that stopping eating cheese would help one lose weight faster. I'd kind of agree: cheese is not low calorie, so if that is your frame of reference. . . . So I was kinda tooling around the inner tubes, checking stuff out, and found this.
So, here's the deal: A high menaquinone intake reduces the incidence of coronary heart disease. (Press releases here, here, here). Well, there are significant questions, but the bottom line?
For every increase of 10 micrograms in the amount of vitamin K2 consumed daily, the risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) drops by 9 percent. This somewhat stunning statistic was noted as a result of a recent cohort study from the Netherlands evaluating the dietary vitamin K intakes of 16,057 post-menopausal women and their association with the incidence of CHD.
The chief question stems from the finding that it was the longer chain menaquinones (K2; MK-n) 7, 8, and 9 that provided the benefit. Readers know that I've been blogging about menatetrenone (K2; MK-4) for quite a while. However, it should be noted that this was a study that gaged the coronary heart disease incidence of women over eight years while analyzing their diets specifically for K2 content, coming up with the finding that more K2 was associated with (not caused -- that must be determined by intervention study where K2 supplementation is set up against placebo) less coronary heart disease. In other words, this is plenty to justify more research -- like an intervention trial -- but it does not tell us whether other variables may have been in play, i.e., the same people who eat lots of stuff high in K2 also tend to do x, y, and z, and it turns out that those are the more causal factors. Unlikely, in my view, but that's how science is done.
Truth in lending: I've been taking a K2 supplement for a couple of years now. Off and on. Just restarted after this last "wallow" . . . . I'm taking so many things now that all aim to restore health and vitality and protect against glucose damage that I couldn't say for sure it's only been the K2, but I surely am feeling better. . . .
K2 seems to be in that class of things that we didn't need to develop because the food we ate (animals) has it in abundance--the parts we ate, anyways. Vitamin C is another: animals synthesize C just fine, and if we don't boil/bake/cook our meat till it's dead, we won't get scurvy.
Same with K2--its animal sources are highest in the parts we don't eat any more--because of mad cow, but which our ancestors certainly would have. Barring that, cheese is superior!!
Momentous day. We went for a long walk with our son and granddaughter. This evening, for some reason, I rubbed the area above my left eye and felt what seemed like a little skin flap. Tugged on it and YIKES!!! it was a TICK!! I was fortunate that it was "just" a dog tick, not the kind that carries Lyme disease. But it was still wiggling and I'll tell you it freaked me out (but I didn't let go of it and it is now a goner). Just as we calmed down from that, Mah*Sweetie found a little deer tick on his side!! That's the kind that carries Lyme, but we got it off plenty wary enough. Some of you are probably old hands at such things, but neither of us has ever encountered a tick before. Then we each found one the same day! Y.U.C.K.!!
Add ticks to the list of things that need stamping out!
We wake up here about 4ish, and then by 8 PM, I'm ready for sleep.
The photos, Listener, are beautiful, what a wonderful place to live: meadows, mountains, trees, space. Also, glad you got rid of the ticks precipitously.
We stayed in Nebraska over night a few years ago and contracted chiggers. The doctor had to extract one from my back. We've since named the motel we stayed at, The Chigger Motel.
Thanks for the nutrition information, Puddle.
Yesterday cold, windy, rainy. I think today's supposed to be about the same. Ah, winter approaches.
Met some neighbors yesterday while walking Molly. I think I understand why some people feel betrayed by the government. Social Security and Disability setbacks. I also think I understand why liberals are resented. If you're not middle class, have depended on the government and corporations for fairness, and have the rug pulled out from under you, all that liberal talk is demeaning and empty.
We as a government need to be accessible, fair, compassionate, and serve the people, not bring up roadblocks and snarled bureaucracy.
A quick clarification: When I said middle class, I was thinking of the manufacturing jobs in assembly and other similar areas. Then there were pensions, health care, and good salaries. With NAFTA, the outsourcing left nothing here for people who worked hard and thought they had something of a safety net. So much for no longer being in the middle class.
Those of us lucky enough to have social security and even a pension are not in those straits. Frankly, every job ought to offer health care, a pension, and sick leave. No one is this rich country should be wanting, worried, and feeling betrayed.
Kinda cloudy and cool--very livable weather we've been having! One or more of the supplements I've been taking has been allowing me to sleep wonderfully well and long. For which I am very grateful!
For friends not on facebook, thought I'd bring this here. . . .
Julie Li 19 mins ·
Where but in America could one be in need of wicks, sit down at the computer, and in minutes discover 900 plus instances of such things? All to be delivered to your very own domicile in one fashion or another. If your need is great, and you have cash money, you may have your wicks tomorrow! Life is good! LikeLike · · Share
Julie Li But *then*--existential questions arise. . . . will I live long enough to USE 100 feet of large, zinc core, square braid wick? Should I be more modest and only go for 50 feet? Is it too depressing to think of only buying 8 dozen precut wicks with anchors? Eight dozen may *seem* like a lot of candles to the lay person, but really? To think of only 8 dozen more warm, smooth, sweet smelling lovely layered lumps of light in one's life. How sad. How many more boxes of Crayola 64 colors crayons would one need to color that many candles? Bearing in mind that not ALL the colors get used. Don't think, for instance that I've ever used a black one.
Pat, when I turned 50, my culture broke its pact with me. I'd always imagined that if I was willing to work any job, I would be allowed to live. The two years I spent looking for work when the doll bidness and my marriage both failed, were beyond enlightening. If I looked where my skills placed me, I was too old. If I looked upward, too old and not qualified. If I looked downward, too old and over qualified.
I can't think of any place but exactly *here* where I'd have been allowed to do the jobs I've had here: nurse's aid and in home care.
I was, for different reasons, in the same place as Scott and Helen Nearing were when they moved out of the main culture to a kind of subsistence living. And testified how good and satisfying it can be.
Mayhap because I grew up in a fringe religion, I was more accustomed to not expecting to find a mold that fit. I was never going have or dream mainstream anything, lol!
Yesterday,just beautiful: sunny, warm, clear skies. Today supposed to be the same.
Puddle, thanks for sharing your experience. I admire your creativity, persistence, and risk taking. Those two years searching must have been very stressful.
When we came to Colorado, I knew it would take two of us to survive here. I remember walking down Pearl Street in Boulder, stopping in shops, asking if they needed any help. I worked as a proofreader for the university (they even let me paint the hallway to earn extra money)and a small film company. But, mostly my working life has been pretty safe as a teacher.
I remember my teammate telling me that during the Depression, some teachers starved, and that was why unions were essential. I joined the union, and subsequently David was President for four years.
I admire the independent person who creates her own business, works as an artist, crafter, poet, musician, and the sacrifice and courage it takes. Still, our society can well afford to provide opportunities and protections for every citizen. Not to do so is irresponsible and cruel, I think.
Life is very interesting and odd. . . . Last night, thinking about my thesis advisor, googled him, and he just died last October.
His second novel was "Lilith" and at 21, I just fell madly in love with the book (a reaction, according to the Amazon reviews is still happening fifty years later). A few years later, someone pointed him out in the halls of Taliaferro. He was teaching creative writing. Around that same time I read another novel, "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" by Hannah Green. The similarities were spooky. Turns out he'd worked as an orderly at Chestnut Lodge in Rockville, Maryland, during the years she was a patient there.
But funny--I'd started my second novel with a main character I intended to actually kill (she was the first sociopath of my life, and that seemed to be a good way to exorcize the evil she'd brought me). I never told anyone at the time who she was based on, but she was also a woman he'd had an affair with. He loved my writing, and the plot, timing, etc. He could NOT bear Clare. In the end, I had her have an epiphany rather than a funeral, but I think he'd rather have had her dead, lol! I never told him.
Good Morning, Congratulations, Novelist Puddle. Have you thought of having it published on Amazon? Or has it already been published?
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn had a psychopath heroine, and it was a mesmerizing read. I also thought of Ann Rule's books, who seem to have the psychopathic personality as a main character. There's something awful, makes me shudder, about that. When there is no empathy or conscience, it's as if we are confronted by something that all our rules and standards can't deal with.
I think I read I Never Promised You a Rose Garden when I was teaching reading at Boulder High. It was an iconic book, one of the first that dealt with teenage mental problems.
Jack's book came out about three years before hers. I was soooooooooo in love with Lilith, but at least partly because of Jack's mile wide streak of romanticism, lol!
Love the tips on favorite books! I think our birds have finally headed south. For the last couple of weeks they have been fussing around the shrubbery as though they couldn't make up their mind. Love to all.
The difference between my original ending and the final was, simply, outcome. In the original, she was whacked up along side the head with a piece of a loom, owned by the guy she was tormenting. First version, she dies. Second, she ends up in critical care, her husband is called, and she has a temporary reconciliation. Which doesn't work out, and she goes off, once again, alone, but not using anyone.
Since the book was my master's thesis, I simply paid to have it typed. My typist cried the ending: she wanted the reconciliation to work out.
At my thesis defense, Jack kept trying to bring the other two around to his point that there was something deeply chilling about her. (There was.)
What I discovered was that if you spend enough time inside someone else's head (and you have to to write them), you end up understanding them "well enough" that you no longer wish to kill them.
I sent it out, Little, Brown kept it for over a year, and I got a three page rejection letter, wishing they might have published it, but it needed work. But by then, I was so into the next one that I didn't wish to go back and play with it. Still don't.
My friend Mary, a brilliant critic, and my literary executor (until she died), said it was like if you read all three, it was clear they were by the same author, but that one expected several between two and three. . . .
"What I discovered was that if you spend enough time inside someone else's head (and you have to to write them), you end up understanding them "well enough" that you no longer wish to kill them."
That is one of the most beautiful things I've read in a long time. Thank-you, puddle. ♥
Welcome, listener! Though that might be a companion piece from a friend of mine: You can forgive them; that doesn't mean that you have to invite them to lunch. . . .
Weirdly, several years later, I had a dream where she called me asked me to come over, and I did, and we had a reconciliation. When I woke up that morning, I got a call from her, asking me to come over. I did. We did NOT have a reconciliation. A couple of hours into that visit, she started again, and I just said: Too much water under that bridge, thanks for lunch, goodbye. Never saw her again, though news floated back from time to time.
Wow, some day. I got a haircut, and before I could leave for work learned that with the A/C now off at work and the day humid and 70's, it was feeling hot and muggy at the Library. I was advised to wear cool clothing. So I wore white top, stone pants, with sock and blue sandals. And for the first time ever, I wore my hair in pigtails! LOL! I got bug smiles from the staff and several compliments from patrons. :-D
Just wait until next week when we go Live! with the new computer software and everything will be Catawumpus!
So I have some pretty wild outfits to wear all planned! I have a Cat in the Hat tee shirt on which the Cat is trying to hold a high stack of mismatched items. I'll wear that with black kitty ears and a tail. :-D
I have a purple Menopause the Musical tee shirt that I plan to wear unmatched socks with along with doing my hair in funny ways.
How often does a hurricane develop a double eyewall? That seems so wild and crazy. My heart goes out to Bermuda, even if their buildings are built with hurricanes in mind. A Cat 4 is a bad dude.
It was warm and muggy here today. We'd already turned off the A/C at work for the year, and our blood has thickened up some. So a coworker [the famed head clerk!] called to forewarn me to wear light clothing. I wore all white and for the first time in the 5 years I've worked there, I wore pigtails! Ha! That got some smiles. :-D
But, no, puddle, next week will be far from fun. It will be tense and kerflummoxing at every turning. All the more reason that two of us have resolved to be the comic relief! Ha! I already have a standup scarecrow that's carrying a sign which reads: "Please be patient while our new computer software gets used to us." Plus a woven basket (looks like an Easter basket made in dusky Autumn colours) filled with hard candies and also sporting the sign. Could help! :-)
Been warm here, today, and sunny. May be the last warm day till next spring, lol! Tomorrow the cold begins in earnest. Which is okay--all the heaters have been located and are working.
Beau continues to be the most pleasant and funny of companions. Makes a better watch dog than I care about (don't need to know about every deer, bunny, skunk and turkey in the field).
I saw this on Daily KOS and thought you'd be interested in it.
" Why would someone running as a Democrat attack a fellow Democrat for wanting to repeal the reckless Bush tax cuts? That's the question I had after seeing Ro Khanna's latest attack against Rep. Mike Honda.
George W. Bush's tax cuts were fiscally irresponsible. At a time when the nation was at war -- and when we had important investments to make here at home -- President Bush pushed Congress to pass a huge and unprecedented tax cut that favored the rich and caused our national debt to soar. Yet Ro Khanna is now attacking Mike Honda for opposing Bush's disastrous tax cut. His congressional campaign is sending mailers to voters in California's 17th District calling Honda an "old-school liberal" and criticizing him for wanting to do the right thing in repealing Bush’s tax cuts.
Being a "liberal" isn't an insult, it's a badge of honor -- one shared by Senators like Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown. But there's nothing good about supporting reckless tax cuts that benefited the super rich and exploded our nation's deficit. Mike Honda showed true leadership and fiscal responsibility in pushing to repeal Bush's tax cuts. It's just one big reason why I endorsed Mike Honda.
As the former Chair of the Democratic National Committee, it's obvious to me that Ro Khanna is campaigning like a Republican. Real Democrats don't use "liberal" as an epithet or attack fellow Democrats for standing up for progressive values like making sure the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes.
This race is a battle for the future of the Democratic Party. Don't let Ro Khanna get away with moving our party to the right by attacking Democrats for standing up for our values."
Thanks puddle. Also leaving message here for Shirlee. Hey mom, my phone ended up in the washer -- its dead!! If you need anything overnight call Rachelle or Peggy. Hope you see this message!
Still fighting AFib. dr putting me on 24 hr metropolol twice a day. seems to be really concerned about breakouts. I think I'll call the other Dr and see if I can't be put on a sooner appointment if someone cancels. Right now, my apt is for mid November. too far away for my thoughts.
puddle, how could you forward what Brenda could not? Funny! I do hope the message was seen in a timely way.
Okay campers, I'm off to slumberland. When next I awake it is to head over to the Library and WE ARE LIVE with the new software! Yikes!! I will be wearing a Cat in the Hat tee shirt, which shows the Cat trying to balance many things on end, and it all looks very precarious! LOL! I also have little black and white striped bows for my hair. When I wear that tee shirt on Thursday, I will also be wearing black cat ears and tail! LOL! On Tuesday, for our first day open to patrons, with the new software, I will be wearing my Menopause the Musical tee shirt and a flower ring on my hair.
Hilarity will be necessary and welcomed! Wish me luck!!!
Wait wait! I forgot to tell you that when I worked with the Head Clerk on Thursday, she was so worked up about the changes that her hands were shaking. So I stood by while she tried something out and gave a few pointers. She was so relieved when it worked that she called me a good coach and then she said, "You're lovely!"
Barb, thoughts and a prayer your way, hoping you can see a doctor as soon as possible.
Here's a letter to the editor I sent yesterday to the Reporter Herald.
Dear Editor:
In my lifetime, I have not witnessed such disrespect and deceptive statements about a President. A struggle for power has dominated Congress and the media to the extent that we the people reflect fear and anger instead of debating and discussing issues with the goal of working for the good of this country.
This is the most obstructionist Congress in our history with the House accomplishing nothing. Voting 50 times to repeal the health care bill, to shut down the government, refusal to appoint members of the cabinet and judiciary, for instance the Surgeon General, and the budget of the CDC being cut by hundreds of thousands of dollars is a disservice to the people of this country.
Over a billion dollars has been spent on ads and campaigning with the majority of the money from the likes of the Koch Brothers (mining and oil-with hundreds of safety violations) and Karl Rove. We don’t solve problems with 1 minute ads on TV that are deceptive.
President Obama, despite the obstructionist Congress, has achieved Health Care reform where now 13 million more people have health insurance, has saved us from a major depression when in 2009, there was13.5 percent unemployment, the possibility of bankruptcy of auto companies, and 2.5 million jobs lost.
He has made correctives such as outlawing torture, equal pay for equal work for women, rebuilding infrastructure, educational initiatives for reform, ensuring the sustainability of Medicare, reducing the Federal Deficit by a third, getting us out of Iraq, putting the responsibility for the negotiating peace on the countries in the Middle East, addressing climate change, and other initiatives.
When did we stop being willing to read, discuss, and understand the issues, respecting the truth and each other?
Pat and David -- a great summary of President Obama's accomplishments and the Republicans obstructionist positions. I may have missed this -- but I would add the courage it took to plan and carry out the hunt for Osama bin Laden. It was a great relief. That evil man was still out there tormenting us with threats.
Thanks for the forward about Brenda's phone. Puddle. She should have a new one by the end of the day.
All Clear! Brenda just called and has a new phone! I think maybe, maybe she has solved the disappearing comments problem. It seems I had two gmail accounts. I wasn't aware of any -- she deleted one and hooked this up to the other. So far, so good!
Hmmmm--I just saw recently, past few weeks, a notice flashed (somewhere): GOOGLE ONE ACCOUNT ALL ACROSS GOOGLE. I had no idea what that meant, so didn't worry. I only have one gmail account, unused for six or seven years, but it uses the same email addy as my regular blogger account.
Today, at the Library where I work, we went LIVE with a new computer system, new software and a whole new way of doing just about everything. I discovered two glitches that the IT guy will look into. Please send vibes for stamina, good humor and perspective. It's not surgery; it's just the loaning of books! :-)
Heart is with you (all) as you scale this learning wall. Could ya'll jus' pretend you were going to a new job where you know and like (nearly) everybody?
Good idea for Listener, Puddle. Now let me try posting this. The All Clear post stuck but also remained in the comment box no matter the tricks I tried-- so I dumped it in the trash can icon. Let's see what happens here.
Lovely, but cooler weather in GSO. Still loving. LOTR!!! And you all!!!!
Glad for Brenda's phone and for seeing you on a more regular basis, Shirlee!
Congrats on the computer switchover, Listener. It will get easier the further along you get. I think software and hardware people are in cahoots trying to keep us buying new stuff all the time.
Hi, Brenda. Just a note: I some times get a sticky comment box here--when I try to post, it asks if I want to leave the page, and say yes, it eats my post. So I say no, highlight and copy the post and then say yes. Sometimes it does post, other times "your browser can find blogger" and it posts--or doesn't. Either way, I'm prepared, lol!
95 comments:
Howard's most first!
In Louisiana, the most common way to visualize the state’s existential crisis is through the metaphor of football fields. The formulation, repeated in nearly every local newspaper article about the subject, goes like this: Each hour, Louisiana loses about a football field’s worth of land. Each day, the state loses nearly the accumulated acreage of every football stadium in the N.F.L. Were this rate of land loss applied to New York, Central Park would disappear in a month. Manhattan would vanish within a year and a half. The last of Brooklyn would dissolve four years later. New Yorkers would notice this kind of land loss. The world would notice this kind of land loss. But the hemorrhaging of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands has gone largely unremarked upon beyond state borders. This is surprising, because the wetlands, apart from their unique ecological significance and astounding beauty, buffer the impact of hurricanes that threaten not just New Orleans but also the port of South Louisiana, the nation’s largest; just under 10 percent of the country’s oil reserves; a quarter of its natural-gas supply; a fifth of its oil-refining capacity; and the gateway to its internal waterway system. The attenuation of Louisiana, like any environmental disaster carried beyond a certain point, is a national-security threat.
Where does it go, this vanishing land? It sinks into the sea. The Gulf of Mexico is encroaching northward, while the marshes are deteriorating from within, starved by a lack of river sediment and poisoned by seawater. Since 2011, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has delisted more than 30 place names from Plaquemines Parish alone. English Bay, Bay Jacquin, Cyprien Bay, Skipjack Bay and Bay Crapaud have merged like soap bubbles into a single amorphous body of water. The lowest section of the Mississippi River Delta looks like a maple leaf that has been devoured down to its veins by insects. The sea is rising along the southeast coast of Louisiana faster than it is anywhere else in the world.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/02/magazine/mag-oil-lawsuit.html
Wow Puddle. Astounding! will have to check it out more.
NonGMO 0 calories/carbs sweetener: http://www.amazon.com/Pounds-Erythritol-Gluten-Natural-certified/dp/B00FKZ5TL0/ref=pd_sbs_hpc_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1WQZH073PH2ZH22N14PP
This is expensive enough that if one had a real sweet tooth, might be a financial problem, lol!
In my adult life, I've noticed that some years, I didn't go through a whole two pound box of sugar. And since I don't buy processed food nor drink pop, I'm not getting anything sneaked into my diet.
I've recently seen a rash of recipes from friends on facebook that contain a box of cakemix, and I just cringe. . . .
BTW, did check out the study where artificial sweeteners changed bowel flora. Not that surprised, grin--you change what's available for them to eat, the sugar eaters are gonna die if denied. But jus' to be safe: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JEKYNZA?psc=1
Jo, been thinking, mushing on ya since Friday! Hoping for good news for you, SOON!
Shirlee's been having some trubble posting. Hope that gets fixed soon, too!!
thankee puddle, I haven't heard from them yet. I've been checking the status of my application online and there's no change so far.
Shirlee that is strange!! I got the email telling me what you had posted but I cannot see them here! I'll chcck your settings but this blog just gets weird sometimes - for instance it doesn't like me posting new threads. ;-)
Oh, poo, Jo! Waiting is so damned hard!!!! ♥
Jo, since you get Shirlee's posts via email (I don't), maybe you can repost them for us all?
Jo, I have problems posting new threads all three places on blogger where I'm entitled. But the worst! is at HEP--where I can try for hours literally, and still fail.
puddle I would be happy to post Shirlee's posts that disappeared - I though everyone gets an email notification when people post!! here we go....
Shirlee in NC has left a new comment on your post "Yep!!":
So do I! Posted a short one yesterday that "your comment has been saved"-- the usual message.
Don't see it now. Betting it is my I-Pad if no one else
is having problems. Interesting discussion on sugar
and it's effect on the body. It certainly can tear up my
total digestive system during a flare. Thanks for the
health tips, friends. Master and Mistress of The Rock
expected in GSO for an overnight stay on their way to
their winter digs in Florida. Two grand babies MD also
have a draw! Love you all.
Shirlee in NC has left a new comment on your post "Yep!!":
Wow! Success!!!!
Shirlee in NC has left a new comment on your post "Yep!!":
Well that was strange--the first longer post said saved, did not appear. Short one did. Maybe I need to quit being
Mouthy Murphy!
Shirlee in NC has left a new comment on your post "Yep!!":
Hmm, now the short one is gone!
Gosh, that's a lot to lose! No wonder she's so frustrated!! Thanks for the yeoman's work!!
I do not get email messages when someone posts.
Just in case... Thank You, Jo! Guests arrived, had a fuss free GSO dinner. Send son-in-law down to a new middle
Eastern restaurant. Brenda whipped some fresh cream and put over fresh berries. Left lots of time for catching up on everything from families to food and farming and plenty of laughter.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/10/07/354304166/in-gay-marriage-s-new-landscape-glee-confusion-and-resistance
Wish jc were here to witness this. . . .
For those of you not on FaceBook, I became a Great Gramma for the 5th time yesterday. All Boys! ranging from 10yrs to 1 day.
I'm happy!
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2010/03/saul-alinskys-interest-in-excrement-and.html
Good Morning,
The aspens' gold is more intense than I've ever seen before in the 40 years we've lived in Colorado. The gold is deep, maybe like Spanish doubloons, just beautiful, and already the winds are taking the leaves.
Congratulations, Barb. A smile here for you.
Thank you, Puddle, for the information on Louisiana. It's very concerning. When will we as a nation as a world recognize we cannot continue to use the earth this way?! On NPR, the population in 1970 was 3.7 billion. It's now 7 billion. Half of all wild species have gone extinct. And, we increase our carbon emissions every year.
This is a beautiful time of year, the grasses, trees, bushes all changing colors; yet oddities are present. We still have a few blue flax blooming and some yellow flowers, and the weather is in the 70s and near 80s. In October???
Have a wonderful day.
Shirlee, sounds like you had a lovely time!
Congrats, Barb!!
And yay on your lovely weather, Pat.
AND prayers that Jo gets her good answer!!!!
I was denied. Time for Plan B. ;-(
Damn!! I'm so sorry. ♥
I'm sorry, Jo. Can you reapply? Did they give a reason for the denial, and is there something you can do for reconsideration?
Darn.
yes Pat I can ask for a review, they were missing some key info in their findings, so it was probably overlooked. I'm going to get an attorney to file the appeal for me, they take a percent of your claim if you win the decision - SS even offers a list of atty's that are free or reduced fee - I should probably qualify for free.
congratulations Barb! babes are such a sweet part of life!!
Jo, don't know as I'd automatically go for free. . . . May be the paid types try a bit harder? And if I recall correctly, you don't have to pay them until you're paid, and there IS a lump sum there.
Just got, and have watched twice, *Love Actually* which I last watched with Edwin. It's also Thankful's favorite movie.
Stuns me that a movie can be put into the R category for nekkidness, but not cruelty or violence.
Good Morning,
Cloudy, cool day to day. Errands to do.
Jo, thoughts and a prayer your way. I grew up with the saying, "Where there's a will there's a way." I'm glad to hear of your Plan B.
Have a good day today friends.
Jo, so sorry to hear of your denial. Hopefully Plan B will be better for you. Yes, they do tend to overlook some things. I know that they are probably busy as heck. It took them 6 months to finally acknowledge that they had taken out my Medicare payment double and pay it back. I did have one person that I worked with at the local SS Office and I would not work with anyone else.
Even she could not speed up the wheels, but at least she kept up with it and kept me informed.
Good to see you all here.
There is so much on this rich blog to comment on, and little time in which to sit here.
So I will begin with the most important:
Jo, it is just WRONG that you were denied. Yes, get an attorney, and I agree with puddle that one who isn't free will do more for you, and sooner. Sometime the last week of this month, let's do lunch again.
Love and Hugs coming your way!! ♥
Some week, here. We've been training on the new computer system, but only in a workshop, not on our actual computers. We're getting new computers NEXT weekend, then we Go Live. No dress rehearsal…! I have decided not to be freaked by this. Enough of the staff is already freaked, and I've changed computer systems at work 3 times in the last 17 years ~ twice at the Bookshop and once when I learned the Library's current system. I have the perspective of knowing that one does eventually learn the system, and anyway it's not brain surgery, it's just giving people free use of books! Ha! It will indeed be disconcerting and it will get worse before it gets better. So I am thinking of wearing mismatched clothing (at least mismatched socks!) during our catawumpus phase, just to help people loosen up a bit.
Suggestions?
It is so good to come by and see what is happening in each of your lives…the sweet and the difficult. I am grateful for this caring community. ♥
Shirlee, ahhhh, laughter and berries & cream! That sounded wonderful! I, like Barb, do not receive email notifications, because I opted out of them from the start. My email Inbox has over 4000 messages and I can't keep up. Coming here is far more efficient for me.
Barb, there's nothing like the birth of a new Grand! :-)
Pat, I am almost ready to write some real words in response to your meaningful book of verse. Ironically what is keeping me from it (in addition to the Library training) is that I am taking a retreat day tomorrow. But soon. For now I will say generally that I find your poems very companionable, and the flow of them matches what I too have experienced in times of retreat…the initial exhaustion, the slow letting go, the hope of some wisdom entering into the time, and the ultimately deepened opening to the Reality of unknowing.
Here's a link to my album showing the flowers that are STILL blooming in my yard today! We may have snow on the mountain tonight.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152941397341754.1073741982.637766753&type=1&l=e79866c778
Listener--just remember the Vermont Lady's slogan--
"Life is too short for matching socks." They are all I
wear now and with everything -- tights, dressy dresses,
robes etc.! Makes me happy just to put them on.
Happy Day All! Friday and Brenda arrives this evening for
our Friday night dinner at 216. No fussy cooking, just good food!!!
...ah, that should be "Vermont Sock Lady's....
Hi Friends,
A cold, chilly, foggy day today. I'm wearing a shirt, two sweaters, a scarf, and some warm slacks.
We just listened on NPR to a debate between our Governor Hickenlooper and Bob Beauprez, his Republican challenger. EWWW! The attacks, the old style of labeling and accusations by Beauprez, haven't we about done with that kind of useless, demeaning campaigning?! I guess not.
Listener, thank you for your thoughtful and discerning words. I'm delighted and glad that there is a recognized reality on retreat. Thank you again.
Yes, a smile here, Shirlee. Socks are socks, and if they are warm and comfortable, that's more than good enough.
And soon to watch Bill Maher. Good Night friends.
Shirlee, glad for your lovely diner and daughter!!
Been watching a lot of Love Actually. There's this. . . . http://eatapyzch.blogspot.com/2014/10/love-actually.html
On the run with a Grand here overnight. But here's the link to our foliage photos from Saturday. The first one is my favorite! The one with the smiles is another Fave! Enjoy!!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152949795046754.1073741983.637766753&type=1&l=f8e1c66da2
nice photos listener, thank you for sharing! that first was my favorite as well, that should be enlarged and framed and gracing you wall - it is fabulous!
I love the pics of your granddaughter too - she is so sweet! I am guessing that she is the one who now has horses and it looks like chickens too! what fun!
Lovely photos. What a nice mix of chickens. I love the one with the grand running with the chicken. Chicken doesn't look fazed a bit.
Just finished my taxes with the extra Social Security they accidentally sent me in 2013. What a fight to get it straightened out. I started trying to get them to take back the extra money in January and they finally sent me a final number at the end of September. Problem was they took Medicare out of both portions, my widows benefits that they over paid AND my own SS. The problem was them trying to figure out exactly how much Medicare they over deducted and pay that back to me.
So, bottom line, I have to pay taxes on the extra $5,000 plus, but get to deduct it next year as I had to return it to them. That should help with taxes for that year. Fortunately, I stashed the extra money that I knew I'd have pay back and have been stashing a bit each month for the extra taxes I had to pay. Sigh... they get you coming and going.
Sounds like all is well in Deanland. My love to you all.
listener mentioned somewhere that her doctor thought that stopping eating cheese would help one lose weight faster. I'd kind of agree: cheese is not low calorie, so if that is your frame of reference. . . . So I was kinda tooling around the inner tubes, checking stuff out, and found this.
So, here's the deal: A high menaquinone intake reduces the incidence of coronary heart disease. (Press releases here, here, here). Well, there are significant questions, but the bottom line?
For every increase of 10 micrograms in the amount of vitamin K2 consumed daily, the risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) drops by 9 percent. This somewhat stunning statistic was noted as a result of a recent cohort study from the Netherlands evaluating the dietary vitamin K intakes of 16,057 post-menopausal women and their association with the incidence of CHD.
The chief question stems from the finding that it was the longer chain menaquinones (K2; MK-n) 7, 8, and 9 that provided the benefit. Readers know that I've been blogging about menatetrenone (K2; MK-4) for quite a while. However, it should be noted that this was a study that gaged the coronary heart disease incidence of women over eight years while analyzing their diets specifically for K2 content, coming up with the finding that more K2 was associated with (not caused -- that must be determined by intervention study where K2 supplementation is set up against placebo) less coronary heart disease. In other words, this is plenty to justify more research -- like an intervention trial -- but it does not tell us whether other variables may have been in play, i.e., the same people who eat lots of stuff high in K2 also tend to do x, y, and z, and it turns out that those are the more causal factors. Unlikely, in my view, but that's how science is done.
http://freetheanimal.com/2009/03/vitamin-k2-reduces-heart-disease.html
What foods in the western diet contain significant amounts of K2?
Figure 4: Vitamin K2 Contents of Selected Foods22, 26
The percentage of vitamin K2 present as MK-4 represents that synthesized by animal tissues, while the remainder represents that synthesized by bacteria during fermentation.
FOOD
VITAMIN K2 (MCG/100G)
Natto
1103.4 (0% MK-4)
Goose Liver Paste
369.0 (100% MK-4)
Hard Cheeses
76.3 (6% MK-4)
Soft Cheeses
56.5 (6.5% MK-4)
Egg Yolk (Netherlands)
32.1 (98% MK-4)
Goose Leg
31.0 (100% MK-4)
Curd Cheeses
24.8 (1.6% MK-4)
Egg Yolk (United States)
15.5 (100% MK-4)
Butter
15.0 (100% MK-4)
Chicken Liver
14.1 (100% MK-4)
Salami
9.0 (100% MK-4)
Chicken Breast
8.9 (100% MK-4)
Chicken Leg
8.5 (100% MK-4)
Ground Beef (Medium Fat)
8.1 (100% MK-4)
Bacon
5.6 (100% MK-4)
Calf Liver
5.0 (100% MK-4)
Sauerkraut
4.8 (8% MK-4)
Whole Milk
1.0 (100% MK-4)
2% Milk
0.5 (100% MK-4)
Salmon
0.5 (100% MK-4)
Mackerel
0.4 (100% MK-4)
Egg White
0.4 (100% MK-4)
Skim Milk
0.0
Fat-Free Meats
0.0
http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/abcs-of-nutrition/on-the-trail-of-the-elusive-x-factor-a-sixty-two-year-old-mystery-finally-solved/#fig4
Truth in lending: I've been taking a K2 supplement for a couple of years now. Off and on. Just restarted after this last "wallow" . . . . I'm taking so many things now that all aim to restore health and vitality and protect against glucose damage that I couldn't say for sure it's only been the K2, but I surely am feeling better. . . .
This is Brenda doing a test for Shirlee! Hi ladies!
This is Shirlee hoping both posts from 216 stick today
Very, very glad you are feeling better, Puddle!!!!!
K2 seems to be in that class of things that we didn't need to develop because the food we ate (animals) has it in abundance--the parts we ate, anyways. Vitamin C is another: animals synthesize C just fine, and if we don't boil/bake/cook our meat till it's dead, we won't get scurvy.
Same with K2--its animal sources are highest in the parts we don't eat any more--because of mad cow, but which our ancestors certainly would have. Barring that, cheese is superior!!
Interesting vis a vis K2 and diabetes. . . .
http://nutristart.com/more-benefits-of-vitamin-k2-part-1/
Of course, my favorite cardiologist, Wm. Davis, is half Japanese, and is fond of natto, lol!
Brenda and Shrilee, good to see you both here! AND that both posts stuck!!
Momentous day. We went for a long walk with our son and granddaughter. This evening, for some reason, I rubbed the area above my left eye and felt what seemed like a little skin flap. Tugged on it and YIKES!!! it was a TICK!! I was fortunate that it was "just" a dog tick, not the kind that carries Lyme disease. But it was still wiggling and I'll tell you it freaked me out (but I didn't let go of it and it is now a goner). Just as we calmed down from that, Mah*Sweetie found a little deer tick on his side!! That's the kind that carries Lyme, but we got it off plenty wary enough. Some of you are probably old hands at such things, but neither of us has ever encountered a tick before. Then we each found one the same day! Y.U.C.K.!!
Add ticks to the list of things that need stamping out!
wary = early
Good Morning,
We wake up here about 4ish, and then by 8 PM, I'm ready for sleep.
The photos, Listener, are beautiful, what a wonderful place to live: meadows, mountains, trees, space. Also, glad you got rid of the ticks precipitously.
We stayed in Nebraska over night a few years ago and contracted chiggers. The doctor had to extract one from my back. We've since named the motel we stayed at, The Chigger Motel.
Thanks for the nutrition information, Puddle.
Yesterday cold, windy, rainy. I think today's supposed to be about the same. Ah, winter approaches.
Met some neighbors yesterday while walking Molly. I think I understand why some people feel betrayed by the government. Social Security and Disability setbacks. I also think I understand why liberals are resented. If you're not middle class, have depended on the government and corporations for fairness, and have the rug pulled out from under you, all that liberal talk is demeaning and empty.
We as a government need to be accessible, fair, compassionate, and serve the people, not bring up roadblocks and snarled bureaucracy.
Well, another day, may it be good.
A quick clarification: When I said middle class, I was thinking of the manufacturing jobs in assembly and other similar areas. Then there were pensions, health care, and good salaries. With NAFTA, the outsourcing left nothing here for people who worked hard and thought they had something of a safety net. So much for no longer being in the middle class.
Those of us lucky enough to have social security and even a pension are not in those straits. Frankly, every job ought to offer health care, a pension, and sick leave. No one is this rich country should be wanting, worried, and feeling betrayed.
Kinda cloudy and cool--very livable weather we've been having! One or more of the supplements I've been taking has been allowing me to sleep wonderfully well and long. For which I am very grateful!
For friends not on facebook, thought I'd bring this here. . . .
Julie Li
19 mins ·
Where but in America could one be in need of wicks, sit down at the computer, and in minutes discover 900 plus instances of such things? All to be delivered to your very own domicile in one fashion or another. If your need is great, and you have cash money, you may have your wicks tomorrow! Life is good!
LikeLike · · Share
Julie Li But *then*--existential questions arise. . . . will I live long enough to USE 100 feet of large, zinc core, square braid wick? Should I be more modest and only go for 50 feet? Is it too depressing to think of only buying 8 dozen precut wicks with anchors? Eight dozen may *seem* like a lot of candles to the lay person, but really? To think of only 8 dozen more warm, smooth, sweet smelling lovely layered lumps of light in one's life. How sad. How many more boxes of Crayola 64 colors crayons would one need to color that many candles? Bearing in mind that not ALL the colors get used. Don't think, for instance that I've ever used a black one.
Pat, when I turned 50, my culture broke its pact with me. I'd always imagined that if I was willing to work any job, I would be allowed to live. The two years I spent looking for work when the doll bidness and my marriage both failed, were beyond enlightening. If I looked where my skills placed me, I was too old. If I looked upward, too old and not qualified. If I looked downward, too old and over qualified.
I can't think of any place but exactly *here* where I'd have been allowed to do the jobs I've had here: nurse's aid and in home care.
I was, for different reasons, in the same place as Scott and Helen Nearing were when they moved out of the main culture to a kind of subsistence living. And testified how good and satisfying it can be.
Mayhap because I grew up in a fringe religion, I was more accustomed to not expecting to find a mold that fit. I was never going have or dream mainstream anything, lol!
Top of the Morning to you.
Yesterday,just beautiful: sunny, warm, clear skies. Today supposed to be the same.
Puddle, thanks for sharing your experience. I admire your creativity, persistence, and risk taking. Those two years searching must have been very stressful.
When we came to Colorado, I knew it would take two of us to survive here. I remember walking down Pearl Street in Boulder, stopping in shops, asking if they needed any help. I worked as a proofreader for the university (they even let me paint the hallway to earn extra money)and a small film company. But, mostly my working life has been pretty safe as a teacher.
I remember my teammate telling me that during the Depression, some teachers starved, and that was why unions were essential. I joined the union, and subsequently David was President for four years.
I admire the independent person who creates her own business, works as an artist, crafter, poet, musician, and the sacrifice and courage it takes. Still, our society can well afford to provide opportunities and protections for every citizen. Not to do so is irresponsible and cruel, I think.
Enjoy today.
Life is very interesting and odd. . . . Last night, thinking about my thesis advisor, googled him, and he just died last October.
His second novel was "Lilith" and at 21, I just fell madly in love with the book (a reaction, according to the Amazon reviews is still happening fifty years later). A few years later, someone pointed him out in the halls of Taliaferro. He was teaching creative writing. Around that same time I read another novel, "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" by Hannah Green. The similarities were spooky. Turns out he'd worked as an orderly at Chestnut Lodge in Rockville, Maryland, during the years she was a patient there.
But funny--I'd started my second novel with a main character I intended to actually kill (she was the first sociopath of my life, and that seemed to be a good way to exorcize the evil she'd brought me). I never told anyone at the time who she was based on, but she was also a woman he'd had an affair with. He loved my writing, and the plot, timing, etc. He could NOT bear Clare. In the end, I had her have an epiphany rather than a funeral, but I think he'd rather have had her dead, lol! I never told him.
Good Morning,
Congratulations, Novelist Puddle. Have you thought of having it published on Amazon? Or has it already been published?
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn had a psychopath heroine, and it was a mesmerizing read. I also thought of Ann Rule's books, who seem to have the psychopathic personality as a main character. There's something awful, makes me shudder, about that. When there is no empathy or conscience, it's as if we are confronted by something that all our rules and standards can't deal with.
I think I read I Never Promised You a Rose Garden when I was teaching reading at Boulder High. It was an iconic book, one of the first that dealt with teenage mental problems.
Anyway, beautiful day coming up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanne_Greenberg
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117985/joanne-greenbergs-i-never-promised-you-rose-garden-mental-health
Jack's book came out about three years before hers. I was soooooooooo in love with Lilith, but at least partly because of Jack's mile wide streak of romanticism, lol!
http://www.frathwiki.com/Lilith%27s_Conlang After fifty years, I only missed the W!!
Love the tips on favorite books! I think our birds have finally headed south. For the last couple of weeks they have been fussing around the shrubbery as though they couldn't make up their mind. Love to all.
John Francis Fields approved your request to join the group "The Wendell Berry Society". 22:53
Lol! At last!
Ah puddle. Why not write an alternate ending?
You were kind not to tell him. Now that he has passed on, you could write him into the story. Maybe have him be the one who does the deed. LOL!
Wouldyoubelieve it hit 80F here today? We broke our record high several days in a row!
The difference between my original ending and the final was, simply, outcome. In the original, she was whacked up along side the head with a piece of a loom, owned by the guy she was tormenting. First version, she dies. Second, she ends up in critical care, her husband is called, and she has a temporary reconciliation. Which doesn't work out, and she goes off, once again, alone, but not using anyone.
Since the book was my master's thesis, I simply paid to have it typed. My typist cried the ending: she wanted the reconciliation to work out.
At my thesis defense, Jack kept trying to bring the other two around to his point that there was something deeply chilling about her. (There was.)
What I discovered was that if you spend enough time inside someone else's head (and you have to to write them), you end up understanding them "well enough" that you no longer wish to kill them.
I sent it out, Little, Brown kept it for over a year, and I got a three page rejection letter, wishing they might have published it, but it needed work. But by then, I was so into the next one that I didn't wish to go back and play with it. Still don't.
My friend Mary, a brilliant critic, and my literary executor (until she died), said it was like if you read all three, it was clear they were by the same author, but that one expected several between two and three. . . .
"What I discovered was that if you spend enough time inside someone else's head (and you have to to write them), you end up understanding them "well enough" that you no longer wish to kill them."
That is one of the most beautiful things I've read in a long time. Thank-you, puddle. ♥
Welcome, listener! Though that might be a companion piece from a friend of mine: You can forgive them; that doesn't mean that you have to invite them to lunch. . . .
Weirdly, several years later, I had a dream where she called me asked me to come over, and I did, and we had a reconciliation. When I woke up that morning, I got a call from her, asking me to come over. I did. We did NOT have a reconciliation. A couple of hours into that visit, she started again, and I just said: Too much water under that bridge, thanks for lunch, goodbye. Never saw her again, though news floated back from time to time.
Wow, some day. I got a haircut, and before I could leave for work learned that with the A/C now off at work and the day humid and 70's, it was feeling hot and muggy at the Library. I was advised to wear cool clothing. So I wore white top, stone pants, with sock and blue sandals. And for the first time ever, I wore my hair in pigtails! LOL! I got bug smiles from the staff and several compliments from patrons. :-D
Just wait until next week when we go Live! with the new computer software and everything will be Catawumpus!
So I have some pretty wild outfits to wear all planned! I have a Cat in the Hat tee shirt on which the Cat is trying to hold a high stack of mismatched items. I'll wear that with black kitty ears and a tail. :-D
I have a purple Menopause the Musical tee shirt that I plan to wear unmatched socks with
along with doing my hair in funny ways.
OOpps!! It was Harper & Row that kept it, not Little, Brown. Brain gone.
Sounds like fun listener. Sure it will be in the event.
How often does a hurricane develop a double eyewall? That seems so wild and crazy. My heart goes out to Bermuda, even if their buildings are built with hurricanes in mind. A Cat 4 is a bad dude.
It was warm and muggy here today. We'd already turned off the A/C at work for the year, and our blood has thickened up some. So a coworker [the famed head clerk!] called to forewarn me to wear light clothing. I wore all white and for the first time in the 5 years I've worked there, I wore pigtails! Ha! That got some smiles. :-D
But, no, puddle, next week will be far from fun. It will be tense and kerflummoxing at every turning. All the more reason that two of us have resolved to be the comic relief! Ha! I already have a standup scarecrow that's carrying a sign which reads: "Please be patient while our new computer software gets used to us." Plus a woven basket (looks like an Easter basket made in dusky Autumn colours) filled with hard candies and also sporting the sign. Could help! :-)
Been warm here, today, and sunny. May be the last warm day till next spring, lol! Tomorrow the cold begins in earnest. Which is okay--all the heaters have been located and are working.
Beau continues to be the most pleasant and funny of companions. Makes a better watch dog than I care about (don't need to know about every deer, bunny, skunk and turkey in the field).
Hi Friends,
I saw this on Daily KOS and thought you'd be interested in it.
" Why would someone running as a Democrat attack a fellow Democrat for wanting to repeal the reckless Bush tax cuts? That's the question I had after seeing Ro Khanna's latest attack against Rep. Mike Honda.
George W. Bush's tax cuts were fiscally irresponsible. At a time when the nation was at war -- and when we had important investments to make here at home -- President Bush pushed Congress to pass a huge and unprecedented tax cut that favored the rich and caused our national debt to soar. Yet Ro Khanna is now attacking Mike Honda for opposing Bush's disastrous tax cut. His congressional campaign is sending mailers to voters in California's 17th District calling Honda an "old-school liberal" and criticizing him for wanting to do the right thing in repealing Bush’s tax cuts.
Being a "liberal" isn't an insult, it's a badge of honor -- one shared by Senators like Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown. But there's nothing good about supporting reckless tax cuts that benefited the super rich and exploded our nation's deficit. Mike Honda showed true leadership and fiscal responsibility in pushing to repeal Bush's tax cuts. It's just one big reason why I endorsed Mike Honda.
As the former Chair of the Democratic National Committee, it's obvious to me that Ro Khanna is campaigning like a Republican. Real Democrats don't use "liberal" as an epithet or attack fellow Democrats for standing up for progressive values like making sure the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes.
This race is a battle for the future of the Democratic Party. Don't let Ro Khanna get away with moving our party to the right by attacking Democrats for standing up for our values."
Gov. Howard Dean, Founder
Democracy for America
Thank-you, Pat!
Huzzah for Howard Dean!!
:-) puddle, when da boy does his job, he does it to the fullest! That dog has a good work ethic! ;-)
This is fascinating!!
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/03/how-your-cat-is-making-you-crazy/308873/?single_page=true&utm_source=FB1013_03
I especially liked the tiny factoid at the end which speculates that the flu virus makes us more social, lol!
Sorry if there are multiple posts! This is Brenda trying to help Shirlee figure out why her posts don't stick.
Checking out. The I-Pad again! Posts seem to be disappearing the next time I. Signin!!! Brenda fixing!
Good luck, you two! Hope we get to the root of the mystery!!
Thanks puddle. Also leaving message here for Shirlee. Hey mom, my phone ended up in the washer -- its dead!! If you need anything overnight call Rachelle or Peggy. Hope you see this message!
Will talk to you tomorrow.
Thanks ladies for letting me post here!!
brenda
Just forwarded that to your mom! xox
Lots of stuff going on, it looks like.
Still fighting AFib. dr putting me on 24 hr metropolol twice a day. seems to be really concerned about breakouts. I think I'll call the other Dr and see if I can't be put on a sooner appointment if someone cancels. Right now, my apt is for mid November. too far away for my thoughts.
I'll call in the morning.
In the meantime, mucho love to all of you .<3
You are always welcome here, Brenda!
puddle, how could you forward what Brenda could not? Funny! I do hope the message was seen in a timely way.
Okay campers, I'm off to slumberland. When next I awake it is to head over to the Library and WE ARE LIVE with the new software! Yikes!! I will be wearing a Cat in the Hat tee shirt, which shows the Cat trying to balance many things on end, and it all looks very precarious! LOL! I also have little black and white striped bows for my hair. When I wear that tee shirt on Thursday, I will also be wearing black cat ears and tail! LOL! On Tuesday, for our first day open to patrons, with the new software, I will be wearing my Menopause the Musical tee shirt and a flower ring on my hair.
Hilarity will be necessary and welcomed! Wish me luck!!!
Wait wait! I forgot to tell you that when I worked with the Head Clerk on Thursday, she was so worked up about the changes that her hands were shaking. So I stood by while she tried something out and gave a few pointers. She was so relieved when it worked that she called me a good coach and then she said, "You're lovely!"
I. could. not. make. this. up.!!
♥ Barb ♥
I'm concerned for you, am holding you in the Light, and will be grateful for regular updates…!
Good Morning,
Another beautiful day here.
Barb, thoughts and a prayer your way, hoping you can see a doctor as soon as possible.
Here's a letter to the editor I sent yesterday to the Reporter Herald.
Dear Editor:
In my lifetime, I have not witnessed such disrespect and deceptive statements about a President. A struggle for power has dominated Congress and the media to the extent that we the people reflect fear and anger instead of debating and discussing issues with the goal of working for the good of this country.
This is the most obstructionist Congress in our history with the House accomplishing nothing. Voting 50 times to repeal the health care bill, to shut down the government, refusal to appoint members of the cabinet and judiciary, for instance the Surgeon General, and the budget of the CDC being cut by hundreds of thousands of dollars is a disservice to the people of this country.
Over a billion dollars has been spent on ads and campaigning with the majority of the money from the likes of the Koch Brothers (mining and oil-with hundreds of safety violations) and Karl Rove. We don’t solve problems with 1 minute ads on TV that are deceptive.
President Obama, despite the obstructionist Congress, has achieved Health Care reform where now 13 million more people have health insurance, has saved us from a major depression when in 2009, there was13.5 percent unemployment, the possibility of bankruptcy of auto companies, and 2.5 million jobs lost.
He has made correctives such as outlawing torture, equal pay for equal work for women, rebuilding infrastructure, educational initiatives for reform, ensuring the sustainability of Medicare, reducing the Federal Deficit by a third, getting us out of Iraq, putting the responsibility for the negotiating peace on the countries in the Middle East, addressing climate change, and other initiatives.
When did we stop being willing to read, discuss, and understand the issues, respecting the truth and each other?
Thank you for your attention.
Pat Maslowski and David Maslowski
Pat and David -- a great summary of President Obama's accomplishments and the Republicans obstructionist
positions. I may have missed this -- but I would add the courage it took to plan and carry out the hunt for Osama
bin Laden. It was a great relief. That evil man was still out there tormenting us with threats.
Thanks for the forward about Brenda's phone. Puddle.
She should have a new one by the end of the day.
All Clear! Brenda just called and has a new phone!
I think maybe, maybe she has solved the disappearing
comments problem. It seems I had two gmail accounts.
I wasn't aware of any -- she deleted one and hooked
this up to the other. So far, so good!
Hmmmm--I just saw recently, past few weeks, a notice flashed (somewhere): GOOGLE ONE ACCOUNT ALL ACROSS GOOGLE. I had no idea what that meant, so didn't worry. I only have one gmail account, unused for six or seven years, but it uses the same email addy as my regular blogger account.
Today, at the Library where I work, we went LIVE with a new computer system, new software and a whole new way of doing just about everything. I discovered two glitches that the IT guy will look into. Please send vibes for stamina, good humor and perspective. It's not surgery; it's just the loaning of books! :-)
Well done, Pat & David!!
Thank you for writing that LTE; I hope you get some worthy responses.
Well, done Brenda!!
Thanks for the update, Shirlee. Good news!!
Heart is with you (all) as you scale this learning wall. Could ya'll jus' pretend you were going to a new job where you know and like (nearly) everybody?
Good idea for Listener, Puddle. Now let me try posting this. The All Clear post stuck but also remained in the comment box no matter the tricks I tried-- so I dumped it in the trash can icon. Let's see what happens here.
Lovely, but cooler weather in GSO. Still loving. LOTR!!!
And you all!!!!
Great letter, Pat! Thank you for sharing with us.
Glad for Brenda's phone and for seeing you on a more regular basis, Shirlee!
Congrats on the computer switchover, Listener. It will get easier the further along you get. I think software and hardware people are in cahoots trying to keep us buying new stuff all the time.
Mucho love to all!!!
Hey ladies. Pretty fall day in nc. Hope you are all behaving a d getting ready to VOTE! This is Brenda testing for Shirlee.
Hi, Brenda. Just a note: I some times get a sticky comment box here--when I try to post, it asks if I want to leave the page, and say yes, it eats my post. So I say no, highlight and copy the post and then say yes. Sometimes it does post, other times "your browser can find blogger" and it posts--or doesn't. Either way, I'm prepared, lol!
can't find. . . .
NEW THREAD!!!!
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