MI REF 10¢

I have a variety of poorly-formed thoughts floating around in my brain, having to do with poverty and wealth and happiness, the deserving poor versus the deserving rich, and old shabby houses with flowers everywhere outside and old people within.

I am reading an article in the New Yorker about how the level of happiness has not changed much in America in the past fifty years. In spite of people working a lot more and owning a lot more, they are no happier than their grandparents were, generally speaking.

I googled "deserving poor" last year, because many charities, food banks, and clothing closets seem to focus on them. The obverse of this is the fact that no one questions or wonders about the deserving rich.

So right, Poor Guy here has had a bad run of luck, but is a hard worker and goes to church and deserves a bit of a hand, especially if he has children. Does he deserve his poverty?

And there, Rich Guy, scion of a wealthy family, is a gambler and reprobate and all around jerk. Does he deserve his wealth? What about his kids?

(Alright, time to be quiet and discuss this among yourselves.)

The rain falls upon the righteous and the evil. Nothing new there.

Then I think about little shabby houses that I have been welcomed into, usually by poor and old people, and given a drink of water or tea, and other small tokens of neighborliness. The warmth and friendliness was palpable, and their smiles were genuine.

And I have been in much nicer homes and felt the welcome not so much. (Please don't touch that or sit there.)

I drove around and took pictures today of some small and shabby houses, and so my poor brain has been thinking.

I have never wanted to win the lottery or have bunches of money. It would be such a burden. On the other hand, I feel rich having running water and a roof over my head.

Hello, My Name is .....

So.

Thanks to facebook, I know that my 1975 class from Huntington North High School, (Go Vikings!) will have their 35th reunion this fall.

Know what? I plan to attend! As far as I can tell, no other reunion has been planned in all these years. I called my old High School back near the 30th, and was told to contact my class officers. Snort!

I used to be an angry young man woman, that pledged never to return to the scene of so much hate that was directed toward me. Then, later, I said, Okay, I'll come, in my limousine and I. Will. Fucking. Show. You.

And now? I'll come in my Mercedes Benz sedan, in order to testify!

Long live the love of the 60s and 70s! Long live Social Justice! (Screw you, Glenn Beck!) Long live the life of Seks, Drugs and Rock and Roll! They've have always worked for me. Long Live Art and Altruism!

I have it all, you all! The better life of home ownership and driving a good car, (it's an '83) plus doing what I can to make this a better, more caring world.

I gave up Christianity quite a long time ago, but that has nothing to do with the love I have for my fellows and sisters here on earth.

Order Now!

Is Lenin Rolling? Or Rocking?

Accordions.
Balalaikas.
Pointy Shoes.
Silly Hair.
American Rock.

And a chorus of Red Soldiers.

WTF?



When is it coming to my town?

A Lap full of Lapins

Just a moment ago, I saw and rescued a tiny little bunny baby. In the front yard! It had been chewed on a little bit, but how and why it was in the yard, and how and why I happened to see it in time is A Mystery.

And a little gift.

Here it is with two of Blue Jean's newborns.



And Sweetie, crashing after a hard day of work. With the dogs.

Happy is as Happy does

When I had to close down my bricks and mortar store, Arts & Artisans, I was depressed for about two years afterwards.

Selling off Fuzzarelly? Makes me giddy with delight. The new owner, Jodi, came and took away several more cages and bunnies and bags o' fiber, and I am so happy! There are only about 8 more bunnies left to transport, plus more cages and supplies and fiber. (It is amazing how much stuff one can accumulate in just a few years.)

I am keeping two angoras, Sugar, a cinnamon male, and Oscar Wilde Hare, a grey/black female. I know, sometimes the names don't quite fit, but, there ya go.

Blue Jean, the fuzzy grey wild bunny that I took back from the little girl who desperately wanted her back in October, has birthed four little kits, and that makes me happy.

Nibbler, the daddy, and Tan & White, are loose in the wilds of our yard, after escaping from the Palatial Summer Hutch in the back enclosure.

Everything here has gotten green almost overnight. Previously drab fields are now brilliant emerald, and the daffodils have sprung up and bloomed along roadsides and old homesteads.

Whozanna Barbee?

A Very Cute Australian Guy makes Pasta Dough.

Your taks dollars not working.

I don't hide the fact that I am a liberal democrat. At least, I don't think I do. Actually, I try to not comment about political matters much on my blog, do I? But in the side bar, it does say that I am a little to the left.

So with this health care reform effort, now that it is almost law, I feel I must say a few words, well-chosen or not.

I am ambivalent about abortion. I have never needed one, but my body performed one on me in 1986, much to my dismay. In that case, it is euphemistically called a miscarriage. This happens to about 15% of all pregnancies. I know several women who have, in fact, had abortions, because of wildly varying reasons. I am glad that abortion is still legal, (albeit fraught with difficulties,) in the United States.

The anti-abortionist democrats, aka pro-lifers, have held the health care reform vote in their hands and many nods have been made in their direction to secure their vote. Sigh. They say they represent their constituents that don't believe in using Federal dollars for abortion.

I remember back in the early 70s, when the anti-war movement was at its height. There were people then that did not want their taks dollars used for bombing innocent villagers in North and South Viet Nam, much less used for bombing countries that we were not at war with, i.e., Cambodia and Laos.

Those people's representatives did not seem to hear their pleas. In spite of the huge support that the anti-war movement had, conservatives were quite willing to support killing non-combatants with taks-payer money.

That is what I don't get. These same pro-lifers seem to support bombs that kill indiscriminately, (now in Iran and Afghanistan) yet they don't want to support seks education, free condoms, or any sort of birth control for unmarried women. Let's not even mention how pricey it is to adopt.

My belief about abortion is that is should be legal, which it is, and safe, and rare. I don't want to return to the time of back alley abortionists and those incredible maternal death rates. In all cases, wealthy women could always have a D and C done, it there was enough money paid to the right doctor.

I always want to ask them that if their daughter, niece, granddaughter, sister, aunt or wife were raped and conceived, would they accept that baby into their life? Only if the rapist were the same race? Had no diseases? Held the same political views?

The hypocrisy of these democratic naysayers makes me sick. If they would all adopt about four unwanted babies each, I might reconsider.

Then there are the Republicans.

Side A

Your Monday Giggle.

*look inside

Alas and alack, Tutu finally passed, three weeks after the Benadryl didn't kill him. He had been eating and pooping mostly in a normal way, until Wednesday. Yesterday afternoon, I put him outside in the grass while I cleaned his container and when I came to get him, he was gone. Peacefully.

Today, I took three more bunnies and several cages to their new home down in Breckinridge County, Kentucky. Yay! Saw the new quarters and surrounding area, and I am happy. Jodi will be a good mom to them.

I am down to 14 bunnies yet to move. I plan to keep Oscar Wilde Hare and Sugar as fiber pets.

The weather here has been loverly! Highs near 70º and blue skies. The first daffodils have bloomed, and there is a mockingbird across the street that sings at night.

Knitting consists of a pair from Cat Bordhi's Personal Footprints for Insouciant Sock Knitters. The book, methinks, is a one trick pony. The general architecture of the sock is interesting, but all of the patterns are mostly ho-hum. I have never done toe-up socks, so that part is interesting and the heel treatment is clever and easy. I think this could have been a much cheaper book. I have more sock yarn and her first sock book, so that shall be my nekst project.

The chicks are all well, save for one that bit the dust on day 2. They are growing apace. My two grown hens have been giving me an egg almost every day, again.

Naturally Pure

So what I am about to write will piss off some of you. It's just my opinion.

I am now a certified second level Reiki practitioner as of yesterday. That's what $125, seven hours, and a piece of paper will get anyone.

My general opinion is that Reiki is 80% unadulterated horseshit, 10% placebo effect, and 10% real and/or uneksplained as yet.

I know for a fact that merely laying hands on a person will almost always make that person feel better. As human beings, as tactile beings, we need to be touched. Massage, either light or deep, is healing.

I also think that if a person pays $60 an hour for a Reiki session, they are ekspecting to feel better, they want to feel better, and so they often will feel better. I believe that people are susceptible to suggestion, some more so than others. If they are told that this particular crystal has been energized by some healing force, they will believe and maybe even benefit from that belief.

I believe in science, and science eksplains a lot, but so much is still waiting to be understood. I particularly like quantum physics, and believe that that field of study is going to reveal a lot in the coming century. (If humans live that long, that is.) I think there is indeed something real about being literally grounded as well as chi.

So, for what it is, I do feel more comfortable doing my own form of healing, my gentle and intuitive massage and laying on of hands after the class yesterday. I'll not charge money for it, though, as I feel my little talent is a gift to be freely given.

eat rabbit and die

Enjoy with Caution

Hey, chitlins!

Because I just can't help myself, I bought 7 beautiful pullets today. Pullets are hens, aka girl chickens. Five different varieties, and all of their names have vanished from my memory. Wait, there are two barred rock, and they shall be black and white. Otherwise, the other five are assorted non-white hens.

They are ensconced in a cage in the kitchen for the time being, with Zander and Princess properly abjured from messing with them.

Sweetie told me tonight, that although he is seldom home, he does love me to bring home my various creatures, especially chickens. Love you!

The new renters are so awesome! Before they have even moved in, they have done so much work on the house! You go Girls! They have pulled out the old tub and surround, and repaired the drain. Then, it was discovered that the drain from the tub just sort of petered out into the ground.

Jayzus!

They emailed me, saying that they hoped Sweetie was not responsible. I can gladly say that he was not. But still, it only reinforces my opinion of the local population. It is not good.

Oh well, it is a minor thing really, to pipe the grey water to the sewer.

Live form Old New Ork

Crazy shit on a Saturday Night. Live

Yield!

And still, Tutu lives. He is totally immobile and the only things still working is his food intake and output systems and his lungs. Bless his little heart.

We are keeping him in a large plastic bin on the kitchen table. Both dogs seem oblivious to him, and that is a good thing.

I spoon-feed him water, and offer him apple and banana pieces. And today, I gave him the last of the Cherry Flavored Children's Benadryl and so he is even more placid.

I can only hope that my last days are so comfortable.

Weather is warming, highs in the mid-50ºs forecast for the weekend. The daffodils have risen, and there are pregnant blooms laying and waiting.

My hands froze so badly this morning tending the bunnies, that they positively hurt when I ran warm water over them. Jiminy Cricket! I now have two buyers interested in Fuzzarelly. Other things in my life are also good, thanks for asking.

Also, I am kicking the combined asses of my sister-in-law and my brother-in-law at Scrabble on facebook. They are such worthy opponents! Our total games are almost equally divided between each pair. And I am so Secretly Pleased to beat them.

Do Not Chew.

A nice little bit about the The Madonna of the Yarnwinder from Spinning Fishwife.

Brave New World

MY PLAN

From my fitness diary:

"MARCH

February 28 – Commenced eksercise regime with 15 0z. cans of beans for weights, which I thought was ridiculously light. Ha! Felt achy all over 6 hours later, not painful, just achy.

Also began eating plan, 1600 calories a day. I had forgotten how much food that is. No booze.

March 1 – A little achy, but not bad at all. No workout today."

I am following the book, Strong Women Stay Slim, by Dr. Miriam E. Nelson. The workout is very sensible and I will start aerobics in two weeks, and the food plan is also sensible. Not about counting calories at all, but rather, eating a variety of good food. She has such an encouraging attitude.

My BMI is 32, which is horrible. My goal, in ten weeks, is to have that down to 30, which is merely overweight.




Also? Tutu? He lives. Still! I gave him enough Benadryl to fell a 6-year-old, and he just slept it off. I am keeping him close, as he is almost totally immobile, and feed him banana and water, and I pet him.

My business may have found a buyer, much sooner than I thought. A very good person who would give them the care that I cannot. So, things are looking up.

Outside, the roosters are mounting the hens, trying to shake those eggs out, and the male bunnies are even friskier than usual. The temps this week are forecast to be 40º and above during the day, and only slightly below freezing at night.

This visible light is 12 hours. Looks like we've turned the corner.