Pardon My Assumptions

Tags

appetizers, bible, cake, Catholicism, Christianity, crochet, election, embroidery, founding fathers, Gardening, Iraq, quilting, racism, vegetables, Women's issues, world history

Oh no doubt you guessed this one already. Done by Picasso in 1932, it is called “Girl before a Mirror.” It can be seen at MOMA. It is said that the “model” was Marie-Therese Walter, Picasso’s mistress at the time. The Artsy people claim that the reflection in the mirror is a death mask and that the painting is a confrontation with mortality. Also it can be seen as daytime and night time and her reaching out an attempt to integrate the two.

I am always suspicious of art critics and their psychological interpretations, but I sure know that I feel like this some mornings when I look in the mirror. Well, it looks to be a long post today so we better get at it. It’s raining steadily here in Iowa and I have chili on the stove simmering and cornbread ready to begin its final incorporation for baking, so I am at your disposal for a couple hours.

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Abby Sweets comes up with a nice looking cake perhaps for a special occasion. She doesn’t name it so I will. Based on the picture and recipe ingredients I call it Lemon-Raspberry Coconut Cake. It looks good and sounds good. Add it to your to-make list for sure.

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Today is the anniversary of Ronald Reagan being shot. It was also the official end of Tecumseh’s Curse. Unclear what that is about? Slip on by Martin’s American History Blog and find out what that was all about.

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Who are the 11 Biblical characters you should know and why? Travel by train, bus or plane to Gill’s Ancient History Blog and find out the lowdown.

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I’ve linked you to the main page of Sandi’s Crochet Blog. She has three entries today that I thought you might like. One is a new afghan pattern for beginners, another is a multi-tier rose, which will work as an addition to a dress, sweater, etc, and a textured stitch she developed which of course can be incorporated into any pattern if your at all adept at crocheting.

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The costs of the war in Iraq are of course varied and large. One of the most painful is what is happening to women there. Of course, we might well have hoped that women would have been freed from bondage in the same way that we expected to free Afghani women. Iraq of course was not nearly so religiously constrained as Afghanistan was, but still, there had been expectations that Iraqi women would move forward in individual rights. Of all those forced to flee their homes, 70% have been women and children. Efforts are now much stronger for women in Iraqi to conform to more stringent Muslim traditions in clothing and activity. Such has been the wonderful US legacy. Read more by Nadje Al-Ali.

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I bet you didn’t know this. I sure didn’t, and if I didn’t, no doubt you didn’t. You clear about that? Okay, well, the truth is, that this is not the first election where race has played a part, and no, I am not referring to slavery as an issue. Well, mostly I’m not. Read all about VP Richard Johnson, and his wife, at American Presidents Blog.

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As you no doubt know, there is an attempt on various fronts to pursue the idea that American was based on “Christian” principles and thus we are a Christian nation. While it is undoubtedly true that most of our founding members were Christians of one sort or another, it is not true that they believed American was a religious nation. With plenty of excerpts from Stephen Waldman’s new book, Founding Faith, American Revolution Blog gives you a good overview of the subject.

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Many of you are old enough to remember the Kerner Commission Report issued in 1968 and documenting the state of racism in this country. Bill Moyer’s Journal offers a 40-years later review of where we were, and where we have come to on that subject, with a couple of interviews. One is with a Kerner Commission member, Senator Fred Harris; the other with Newark Mayor Cory Booker. An interesting retrospective you shouldn’t miss.

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Copycat Restaurant Recipes has wonderful stuff. I just wanted to tell you that I signed up for their free cookbooks. It’s very simple. The cookbook downloads to Adobe. The problem is, the cookbook I chose was desserts (surprised?) but there is NO index or table of contents. So you cannot find anything. There is a search on Adobe of course. I typed in cranberry and it gave me an apple cranberry pie. It did not bring up the Wisconsin cranberry pie at the end. You see it’s in alphabetical order by the name of the recipe.The cookbook is over 400 pages long, so you can see the problem. Worthless in my opinion. There are just way too many recipes around to bother with this. I have no idea why they would take all the time to do these cookbooks and then do them so poorly. Today’s recipe from them is from a chain called Houston’s and is Spinach Artichoke Dip.

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I have always wanted a water garden. (The Contrarian tells me to plant something at the creek if I so desire.) If you would like one too, and need some help getting started, then Sally’s Gardening Tips has some help for you. More help than the Contrarian in any case!

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Feeling stitchy has some really cute embroidery to show you. A neat little trick of mailing a tea towel around the world and having each embroidery expert add their own little spot. There is a giveaway there, so stop by and leave a comment and perhaps you will win a kit to make your very own treasures. I’ll probably win this one, so you might want to wait for another one. LOL.

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Free Sample Forager has a free sample of Nutrasweet for you.

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This election cycle of course has us asking the question–which is more important? Do we elect an African American or a woman to the presidency? The History News Network has a very good post on this subject and the dangers this fight can cause to both sides. It is one of those odd moments in history when two worthy sides both vie for the same office. Somebody is going to lose, one side will have to wait. Which one? Look at it from a historical prospective and see what you think.

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Home and Garden has some advice about structure in your garden. Arbors, trellises and fences provide shape and interest to any garden. Find out how best to utilize these additions to highlight special plants and create that special welcoming flair.

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Inspired by antique quilts has a lovely little wall hanging she made. The pattern is simple and its a scrappy quilt. If you don’t have the patient for a full quilt, you might well want to try one of these. I’m sure you could get this one done in no time, and it would look great hanging somewhere in your home. I just love it myself. This lady’s block is the single driving force behind my spring cleaning. I can’t wait to get my craft room fixed up and running again after the long winter. (We close it off to conserve some heat.) It’s used as the dumping ground for all manner of stuff, old computer, old coffeemaker, you name it, and plenty of clutter. I’m started on the bedroom now, so its only two rooms down!

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Russell, over at Iowa Grasslands has a nice post about Lincoln, gleaned from a book he is reading. You will certainly enjoy his thoughts and you might decide to buy the book yourself as well.

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I tend to assume that everything about the history of Christianity is Catholic in nature. I do believe that, for whatever it’s worth, the Catholic church was the original church. Thus I assume the Council of Nicea is something that I am well familiar with, but assume (probably quite wrongly) that no one who is not Catholic much is. Live Science has a nice article that makes the case that this Council was one of those things that changed the world. See what you think.

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Billy Kristol, (no not Billy Crystal) is superbly funny. He is the neo-con of all neo-cons but of course he doesn’t come by it honestly, but inherited it from his Daddy who was originally a liberal of the old school, who became a conservative during the “red scare” and…oh you get the picture. Billy boy appears regularly on Fox NoNews and is editor of the Weekly Standard. He is kind of an idiot of course, his side has got most everything wrong for the last 8 years. This does not of course keep him from giving bad advice to both sides. He reminds Mr. McCain, that “democracies don’t always elect the man who has done the most for his country.” I’m not sure what that means exactly, and I don’t know that McCain has “done the most for his country.” Did he sustain a horrific sacrifice in his life for his country? Sure. Beyond that I’m not convinced he’s done much of anything. He touts for election campaign reform then ignores its precepts because they hamper his election plans. Anyway, Kristol says that McCain is not resting on his laurels, right after he informs us that McCain’s first big ad is a reminder to us all (like we need it) of his POW days. A thoroughly mixed up post, but then it’s Kristol, what can you expect?

Pardon Moi, but Con’t

Tags

Archaeology, cupcakes, economy, founding fathers, Gardening, God, Iraq, Italian, John McCain, medicine, pasta, world history

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I’m not sure about you, but I am fairly puzzled at the “help” Bush and the boys are offering to this beleagured country in this current economic crisis. I’m not jumping for joy at the idea of our measley check. We are by temperament not likely to help by spending it in any case, except to pay a bill or two. No big splurge for us at the adult candy store. Paul Krugman from the NYTimes calls it the Dilbert strategy, just bells and whistles to make us think they are really doing something. No, they agree more with our boy John McCain that we just better suffer it out. After all, the government can’t be to blame with its ridiculous blind eye to consumer lending practices, its bloated war funds, and other such nonsense. Did I say that I can’t wait for this atrocious administration to be over and confined to the deep dark recesses of history? Oh, right, I want this administration confined all right, just not in history, but in a very big and very strong jail. Let them eat cake!

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I may be wrong, but I think I’m hearing that the Bushies and the “Iraqi government” are declaring a sort of victory in Basra. It would not seem that that is true if one gives a careful look at what has been happening there and what is being released officially from the Sadr side at least. I personally loved the “buy-back” offer. We like to throw money around. We think it helps. Buying Sadr’s Mahdi army weaponry is laughable. The weapons are primarily, it seems being secured from Iran. So the Mahdi army gets money, and new weapons, not a bad deal for them. We get the shaft as usual. Are there any thinking Americans in Iraq these days, or is everybody watching Marx brothers movies?

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Religion in American History has a fascinating report of a new study underway to determine how religion and the brain square. I’ve read a thing here and there about this subject over the years and its endlessly interesting to me at least. Read all about it with a link to the Economist. The article, entitled, God on the Brain, won’t be finished for three years, but learn about how its structured and what it intends to investigate.

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Rogueclassicism has a couple of interesting reads today. The first is about a clay tablet that has “baffled” scientists for 150 years. Turns out it records an asteroid, or meteorite that may have been the cause of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Or maybe it does anyway. See what you think. Or if you are so inclined, look at the post about efforts on the part of Greece to recover the “Elgin marbles” that were part of the Parthenon and removed during the 1800’s by Britain. As I’ve said before, I have an issue with countries retaining artifacts that belong to other countries and were usually removed when one country had political/military control over the other.

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Glenn Greenwald has a superb essay on the latest Newsweek article by Michael Hirsch on John McCain. First and foremost is the need to demolish the idea that the Mac is a centrist. Contrary to popular belief, often foisted on us by a gushy media, John McCain is no centrist at all. He is, insofar as foreign policy is concerned more right wing than Georgie boy. The fact that Joe Lieberman now tags along with him everywhere is proof of that should you need any more. It’s another read it and knash your teeth.

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This is the kind of story that just leaves me flumoxed. I have no idea what this actually means. But here it is: all I get is that two molecules get together and somehow have formed their own mini-lab and well, scientists are skippy happy about it, that I did get. They entitled the paper which was dutifully printed in Science, a most prestigeous mag, “Self-Assembly of Large and Small Molecules into Hierarchically Ordered Sacs and Membranes.” And oh boy, at the end of the article, you can watch a video of them making their little laboratories. I bet the science guys and girls didn’t sleep for days on this one!

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Oh, whew, a break from all that serious stuff. Pasta! oh I love the stuff. This recipe is just about the perfect one in my book. See if you like it too: Penne Pasta with Meat Sauce is simply sure to please anyone who eats!

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Tip Junkie has two things you might be interested in. One is an apron swap. You make one, You swap it. The ladies claim they have tons of fun with this, so take a look and give it your considered thought. Or, if that’s not your cup ‘o tea, how bout making a Tile clock? Directions and links provided for your convenience.

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Cupcakes are the new “in” thing these days. Martha Stewart featured a cupcake blogger site on her show today, so you Know I’m right in this. Anyhow, there is a lovely gooey, yummy recipe called Black bottom cups over at Uncommon Artistic Endeavors. I think this one is a winner for sure. And she made them as mini cupcakes. Great for little kids, or for adults who want to eat two and not feel bad. LOL.

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The US History Site Blog has some fun facts and long commentary on John Adams and Benjamin Franklin when they were in Paris together. Of course, many of you are seeing the HBO series on John Adams. Lucky you! We got 3 of the episodes for free last weekend but haven’t watched them yet. Enjoy the post, it’s a good one.

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Veggie Gardening Tips gives you a running commentary on what lived and what didn’t as her garden begins to return to life. Since she is in PA, i figure it’s not too far off Iowa’s climate. So you might get some good ideas of what to try, not try as the case may be. I’ve been thinking of those globe artichokes and I’m rethinking that idea now based on what she says.

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For as long as time itself, (not really), Catholicism has been the foremost religious denomination in the world. That is no longer the case. Islam is now the largest single religion in the world. This does not frighten me, but it does give pause to those who think we can confront Islam with guns and other weaponry. No, this makes it clear that accommodation and reconcilliation must occur and they must occur by peaceable means. War is not an option. Christians still dominate overall, but I suspect that is only a matter of time as well.

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World History Blog has a link to read Cornelius Nepos Commentaries of various ancient commanders, such as Alcibiades, Hannibal and others. Nepos was a Roman historian and lived between 100-24 B.C.E. This seems modeled on Plutarch’s Lives, although it doesn’t seem he does the juxtaposition of a Greek and Roman.

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Two days without the Farmer’s Almanac and you must be nearly frantic. Here’s the latest:

Don’t store leather in trunks, lest it mildew. (Does anyone use trunks anymore?)

Vitamin E–place a small amount in animals ears to rid them of ear mites.

No vanilla extract? This substitute can work–none! lol…they said there was no substitute, so I thought I would save you from the trip. I have a recipe for making your own, and I’ll post it tomorrow!

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It is a mathematical fact that the casting of this pebble from my hand alters the centre of gravity of the universe. -Thomas Carlyle

“At the age of eleven or thereabouts women acquire a poise and an ability to handle difficult situations which a man, if he is lucky, manages to achieve somewhere in the later seventies.” P.G. Wodehouse

“Everybody hates me because I’m so universally liked.” Peter de Vries

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” Douglas Adams

“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Okay, this is truly sexist and blondist, but I cannot resist once in a while. Some of these are new to me. Twenty-nine blond jokes at Dave’s Daily today!

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You need to sit down for this one. Seriously, sit down, and if you got a seatbelt for your computer chair, I’d urge you to strap in. This is fall on the floor, kicking your legs, laughing so hard you can’t breath funny. Just go look! Oh thanks to E-Mail from Grandma for these. What a site. How does she find this stuff?

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Just a note to tell you that some days the spell check doesn’t work on this site. Some days it works sometimes and then stops. Today it’s not working. Sorry for any typos you find.

So I’m made of Stars? So what?

Tags

Mortality, Sunday Editorial

Mulling is a favorite occupation of mine. Better than day dreaming which has connotations of wasted time. Mulling is not quite so serious as thinking, but it involves letting thoughts marinade around, mixing and infusing each other. What comes out is often a surprise. I thought it might be useful to save one day a week for a more prolonged look at something. What that something is, well is, fluid? Fluid works with marinade. See I stay within the metaphor. Perhaps a topic I mentioned in passing, a post or article I think merits a bit more attention, or perhaps nothing more erudite than the fact that some Madison Avenue ad really cheesed me. And believe me, plenty of Madison Avenue really do cheese me.

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It simultaneously occurred to me, if thoughts can occur simultaneously that is, that there might be a person or two out there who does similar mullings. Some of you out there leave rather deep and well thought out comments, and some of you are for whatever reason, not bloggers. So I thought that I would open the portal at least for submissions by others. So, if you have a particular itch that needs scratching and have waiting impatiently for me to arrive at your subject so you could vent, well then, your time has come. Send me an e-mail and on Sunday, I’ll post those that I deem worthy.

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Now that sounds mighty presumptuous doesn’t it. What I mean, is that if it is readable, and not overtly offensive in the obvious ways, I’ll post your rant. So consider and if so disposed, send your larger thoughts on to me. I’ll post my e-mail on the sidebar for your convenience.

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A few days ago, I made mention of the death of Richard Widmark. Fine you say, so he was a favorite actor of yours. Move on. And indeed I expected to do just that. However, a few days later, I found myself inexplicably still thinking about him, and I became troubled. Troubled as to why this event was staying with me, and a degree of sadness continued to prevail. What was going on?

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I mentioned it to the Contrarian. This brought a strange look indeed. Now, the Contrarian and I have our stated favorites in the world of cinema. We consider this natural of course. I tend to drool a tiny bit at Johnny Depp (we’ve watched the first Pirates movie three times I believe, and several others of his at least twice). He favors Halle Berry, though I draw the line at ever watching Catwoman again. That was a real stinker. So it wasn’t the idea that I was admitting some hidden lust for some actor that caused the look. No it was something else, more like eww, I have bubble gum stuck to my shoe. That kinda look.

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I hurriedly continued, wanting to erase that “look.” “I mean, really, dear, I haven’t thought of the man in months, perhaps a year, other than that google I did to prove he was still alive. No this is something quite different. ” I assured him, “I think I have it figured out.” Little did I know that that statement was the prelude to really seeing what was going on in my complicated head.

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The Contrarian and I were both born in 1950, and our birthdays are a week apart. His is the 8th of April, and I am on the 15. So our childhood experiences vis-a-vis the popular media are quite similar as one would expect. I noted that as we became old enough and of course had a TV at least, the first stars that we ever knew of for the most part were those of the 40’s. The group at the top is representative, but of course there were dozens upon dozens. John Wayne, Red Skelton, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Shelley Winters, Betty Grable, the list is seemingly interminable. These folks were in their youthful prime in the 40’s and many went on to live long lives and had equally long careers.

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Young as we were, there were no teen idols for us in those early days of television. The only stars we saw were largely movie stars making the careful step into this new realm of TV. What I realized I was mourning was that this group, once filled with so many was quickly dwindling away to no one. All of them, all of them, were at best in their late 80’s to early 90’s. Soon, like WWI veterans there would be no more. It leaves me vaguely uncomfortable.

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I mused further. Once upon a time, I was young. I saw elderly people, and I remember, oh so well, I remember. They would sit and discuss the passing of those who had been noteworthy in their lives. Friends, relatives, and yes, even a star or two, but in that case, many or most had started out as silent film stars. I was becoming of course just like them. I was now bemoaning the passing of yet another of those strangers I had known of since childhood.

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What seemed normal and natural to me then, . . . “the great die off,” is going on as it always has. But something now was different. I stood at one end at the age of 10 or 12, and saw in the far distance people I barely recalled, or had seen but briefly in some grainy piece of film, falling off the abyss into death. I could barely make out their image, so far from me were they. But of course time does not stand still. The gap is narrowing, the abyss is not so far from me any more. The images of those falling off into death are crisp and clear. It frightens me. I cannot ignore the fact that some day, I too, will fall, yes fall into that abyss.

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That was my immediate explanation of why I was so troubled by the passing of yet another 40’s star. But of course, like most things, this was but the tip of the real issue. The mulling continued and the elephant in the room became more apparent.

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It is not just that the gap is closing and my own mortality is being set before my eyes in ever closer proximity. “It’s really more than that,” I exclaimed. It’s way deeper and more philosophical, more metaphysical, more God-entwined than just that.

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There has never been a world for me when Richard Widmark was not in it. “Do you see now?”

All these people have been part of my world as long as I have lived. All of them. We are sentient beings, remember. Okay, perhaps sometimes we don’t act like that, but we are supposed to be special. We define ourselves and what life is and what it is about by all these foundational things. I center myself and so do you by certain standards, certain givens that I have come to define as eternal. The pyramids, Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, the Empire State building, the USA. Unfortunately, I chose that part of my foundation was to be based on people, and I’ve now learned that that is not such a good idea. So the 40’s stars were some part of my foundation. And now they are nearly all gone. Imagine how you would feel should you awaken tomorrow and find out that the pyramids had been blown up last night? You would be shaken no doubt, even forgetting for the moment what international crisis this represented. Just the sheer loss of the structures themselves would be unsettling. You have never known a world where they did not exist.

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It comes at us this way you see, because contrary to the truth, we all live as if there were some way to secure our existence. Oh we “know” that life is not forever, yet every fiber of our being struggles for this security that cannot be attained. See a lone dandelion growing up between the cracks in a sidewalk, and you will understand the tenacious desire to endure. We think it is marriage, children, money, fame, power, oh we think it is a lot of things. It is none of course. There is no freakin’ security folks, no matter how badly you want it. There is not a thing under heaven and earth that we can cling to that will protect us from disease, war, accident, and just plain old age. There are ways to lessen the impact, lessen the chances, but in the end, raw luck can be the final determiner. We cannot forever put off the inevitable.

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The Buddhists and Hindus have this issue solved. I am convinced they understand it. The Buddha suggested that suffering is caused by our clinging to what is in fact unreal and passing. We suffer because we fear the demise of ourselves and those things that we identify as “stable.” When we accept that there is no stability, they we are freed from fear, and attain “happiness.” All religions are directed in the end to ease this fear thing. Christianity promises a great reward after death to those who are good. Islam does the same. The more radical forms of either are those who are the most fearful and need the greatest reassurance.

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Psychologists tell us that we don’t for the most part deal with these issues. We mostly shove them into the back of our troubled minds and spend our time discussing the rising price of milk and the best way to prune the roses. We become uncomfortable at deep philosophic discussions of mortality and the meaning in life of life. We prefer to mumble that we believe in God, and rush away to immerse ourselves in more meaningless exercises in futility. Another stock purchase, a good sale at the department store are more reassuring than attempts to feel at one with the cosmos by remembering that we are all the stuff of stars. Something a bit more concrete for me, please. A paid-off mortgage will make me feel better!

Behind Closed Doors

Until I reached the age of 15, I would have been shocked had anyone accused me of having anything but a normal family. My parents were, of course deeply flawed, but comparing them to other parents I was in constant contact with, they seemed fairly the same. I was not physically mistreated, and I knew kids who were, or at least some who were subject to more emotional “torture” than I.

The father who lived across the street from us was such a one. Bud was a thin wiry man, smaller in weight than his plumpish wife, Betty. His children were frightened of him. He was a yeller, and he was a mean man. I know I steered clear of him. There were tons of rules in their house. No one was allowed to touch the newspaper until after Bud had had his fill. To be caught having snuck a peek at what was at the drive-in for instance could result in having to stand at attention behind his chair for 30-60 minutes for punishment. Routinely, as one of the teen girls was just finishing her toilette as a snappy car drew into the driveway, he would roar, “And just where do you think you’re going?” A timid reply of “to the dance at school,” was answered with, “And who told you you could go?” As Carol or Pat stammered some reply, the refusal hung in the answer, someone went out to alert the young man he could depart alone, and a tearful girl climbed the stairs no doubt cursing this thoroughly obnoxious man. Betty knew better than to intervene. She did so on the sly of course, but never in all my days did she confront him head on.

Bud’s reactions always seemed arbitrary, depending largely on how long he has spent at the bar before coming home. That is why he was so disliked and avoided by all us kids in the neighborhood. My parents, like most, were more predictable. We pretty much knew when we were on thin ice, we knew when it was dicey to ask for a special thing like $5 to go shopping, or permission to stay up an extra hour. I was spanked and slapped, mostly by my mother. My father had little truck for violence, perhaps that had something to do with his own childhood. I never heard.

The most effective type of abuse, and indeed I thought of it that way, was the “silent treatment.” Both of my parents were experts at the craft, and practiced it both on me and each other. Again, I had no reason to believe that this was outside the norm. I didn’t realize that until years and years later. I often would walk into the house and be met with stony stares and the turning of the back. I would feel my belly grow hard immediately as I raced through recent events attempting to figure out what I had done now. Sometimes I knew exactly what it was, but a surprising number of times I did not. If you asked a question, you received a curt one word answer, if you made small talk, no response was given. If you stayed around long enough and kept quiet, sooner or later a question would be posed.

The question would go something like this: “Boy, did you know how much it costs to fix an electric typewriter?” This of course was the innocent question that forebode a bad end. I would quickly sift through memory trying to find the catch to the question and end up feebly responding, “No, was it a lot?” (My typewriter was broken and had been taken into a repair shop.) “Forty dollars!” he yelled. “Wow,” I exclaimed, “that’s certainly a lot.” “Well, of course it is, especially when the key arms are bent. How did they get bent?” “I don’t know,” I stammered ineffectually. “What do you mean, you don’t know? They didn’t get bent by themselves did they.” “No,” I murmured, waiting now for the tidal force of reprimands. “Next time leave you God-damned hands off stuff when you don’t know how to fix it.” “Yes,” I said. “Do you think we are made of money?” “No,” I glumly sighed. He grabbed his magazine and opened it angrily, dismissing me with the cold removal of his glare.

Such was what one could expect on any given day entering my house. I was in my 40’s and still feeling that cold hard lump in my stomach when I would hear that innocent question; the question that would lead to some condemnation for my ineptitude, laziness, or general unworthiness to be considered a human being. The older I got, of course, the more it angered me that I would let them “get to me” like that. I was grown, yet still unable to quell that frightened despondent child who felt less than good enough.

Nobody in my circle of friends or family had ever been divorced. I mentioned Judy earlier. Her mother was divorced, but our parents had no involvement with Judy’s. Judy lived in an area of the subdivision that was “lower” class, whatever that meant. It meant that in the scheme of things, her working mother was a notch down from our working mothers because she didn’t have a working father at home. That was the only child of divorce I had any real contact with.

So far removed from divorce was I, that I had no real idea why divorce occurred. I recall when it was announced that Lucy and Desi were divorcing, I offered as a possible reason, that finances might be the issue. This of course was met with derision by my father who laughed heartily as I recall, and said prophetically, well just hope it never happens to our family. Of course that is exactly what did happen.

My mother worked at AC Sparkplug, where she helped make sparkplugs, air filters and other parts to automobiles. She worked the assembly line, putting the same widget into the same whatnot over and over. There after some number of years, she met Tom, another employee, one who worked a fork lift and moved the assembled pieces to somewhere and moved other things other places. I guess it started with having lunch with a group, and then to his camper where they all played cards during their time off. It became an affair.

I was blithely deaf and dumb to the entire thing until the shit hit the fan as one would say. I recall sitting one weekend night watching TV. Dad had been out of the room for some time, when he entered suddenly and hugged me, said he loved me, and headed toward the door tearfully. I was of course dumbfounded and started bawling like a kid. My mother angrily followed him and began a tirade about upsetting me with such a stunt. (Dad’s suitcase was at the door) Things calmed down quickly and I was sent to bed. But I heard.

What I heard was the sordid tale of how my father had hired a PI to follow my mother, thereby discovering that she was meeting Tom after work and they were making out in the parking lot of the shopping center across the highway from our home. I am not at all sure how long this had been going on. I do know that Mother made no attempt to deny it. Of course, I could then look back and see the “evidence” that something had been wrong for at least some few weeks, but heck one doesn’t look for what one has no reason to suspect could happen.

My Father did not leave, but neither did my Mother. He moved his shift to hers in some vain attempt to put pressure on her to arrive home on time from work. They did not speak to each other hardly at all. My father drank a lot more, and sat on the steps to the basement and cried a lot. I’d never seen a grown man cry, and it scared me badly. My mother often cried as well, loudly, in fact loud enough in the summer for the neighbors to hear. Embarrassment often replaced fear. The knot in my stomach was nearly always there. I now never knew what to expect when I entered the house. Mostly my father just sat morosely and no amount of chatter by me made any difference. His depression was thorough.

One day, I was in my room, Dad had left, after a strong hug. I figured he was off to the bar. My mother went downstairs. Then a few seconds later, she raced up the stairs, grabbed the phone and made a call. I did not hear it. She ran into my room, ordering me to get in the car immediately. I was confused and tried to ask what was up. She refused to answer, but we tore out of the drive and down the road at record speed, pulling into my aunt and uncles and screeching to a stop.

I was ushered to the screened in porch off their garage, with Cheryl my cousin. I of course was still reeling with confusion. I asked Cheryl what was going on. She told me. It seemed my father had left a note that he was on his way to kill my mother’s lover and then himself. My uncle called the sheriff’s office and state police and they went to Tom’s house. My aunt, Dad’s sister went back to our house to wait. Thankfully, he came back. All was over. My mother was furious, I was scared and still even more confused. My father was morose, contrite and pretended to not know what everyone was all excited about.

This misery continued for a full year and more. In those days, it took a goodly time to get a divorce. My mother messed it up in the court the first time, and they had to reset the date. But those two wounded miserable people lived in the same house for a full year. I cannot tell you how lousy a year it was. At Christmas, Mother did not wish to go to Dorothy and Ray’s for the holiday. Dad and I went down in the morning to exchange gifts. We stayed maybe 2 hours. When we returned, Mother had gone. She felt we didn’t care about her, and had gone to her brother’s in Grand Rapids, a good two hour drive. I finished the Christmas dinner as best I could and we sat and ate it alone, quietly. The most miserable Christmas I’d ever experienced for sure. She arrived back after I had gone to bed at near midnight. That was my mother. She was quite fond of jumping to conclusions and then berating you, only to find out she was wrong half the time. No apology was ever forthcoming.

She moved out the day the divorce became final. I breathed a sigh of relief, now sixteen years old, and ready to take over as the “woman of the house.” I helped her pack her car with her personal belongings, and felt a great relief when she pulled out. She and Tom were married a few days later. His divorce had come through before hers. They bought a house not more than about 10 minutes from ours. All my father demanded in the divorce was me. She agreed. I agreed. I had no desire to leave the only school or friends I had ever known. She has a new husband, my dad had no one. I expected life to return to some normalcy. Since there was very little in my life that was normal, it had little chance to become so now. But change, change it certainly did.

Next: Gram, War and College

Pondering Issues of Mighty Import

Tags

casserole, chicken, evolution, Gardening, George Bush, hearing, John McCain, Limericks, Rome, tex-mex

This painting hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago. Painted by American, Thomas Wilmer Dewing in 1911, it is called “Lady in Green and Gray.”

This was still a time when the wealthy regularly sat for portraits. Although photography was done of course, this was still the norm I suspect among the rich.

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A busy morning. Bread is on the second rise, two cake layers are cooling on the table, and frosting is kept cool in the fridge. Salad greens are soaking in cold water subject to spinning and dressing is made. I’m a regular kitchen maven this day. We are having chicken salad for dinner, made from the brined and roasted bird of a couple of days ago. Brining is my newest best friend, it makes the chicken so very moist and tender. We learned about brining when we did the turkey for Thanksgiving and well, we wowed all through the meal. It was excellent. That said, lets get on to todays exciting news and tidbits of gossip, and helpful , we hope, links.

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This was not a good day in 193 C.E. Emperor Pertinax, pictured to the left, was murdered by his own soldiers. He of course was no stranger to violence and intrigue, and the murder of emperors by the military was beginning to be common place long before he assumed the purple. Read more about his life and death at Ancient Classical History.

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Folks who are pro-choice on the issue of abortion are typically mislabeled as pro-abortion. I’ve yet to meet a person who was for abortions. Many, in fact perhaps even most are against the idea of abortion, but see the issue framed mostly as a religious one, and thus not subject to being forced upon others who don’t agree. A rather important post is located at Alternet, which debunks a few of the claims of the right to life crowd. Now I am not apposed to people making their claims in the public arena, but suggesting that hormonal contraceptives are abortive devices is just plain wrong science. The Catholic Church is of course one of the worst offenders, claiming that all contraception except the weird “natural” method offend God. Somehow having sex by calendar does not, but I haven’t yet figured out the logic of it. Read the post and see what you think.

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David Michael Greene asks the question, “How Lethally Stupid Can One Country Be?” He documents Dubya’s otherworldly clap trap about the economy. Only Barack Obama so far as I know has been willing to call a pig a pig, and and what we have here folks is a true blue absolute dang nab it recession on our hands. You wouldn’t of course know that listening to boy wonder. George has gone into the “let’s have fun mode” given that even he seems to think he can do nothing to help anything, so mucking up a few more things is his only option. Here’s just a flavor of his vituperative reaction:

“. . . [Y]ou cannot but stop and gaze in stark comedic awe, realizing that the most powerful polity that ever existed on the planet twice picked this imbecilic buffoon as its leader, from among 300 million other choices.

Now that’s some Bush bashing I can get behind. Enjoy the post. By the way, his references to Hermann Goring are chilling to say the least. Wake up folks!

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The Contrarian claims that Dubuque got 4 inches of new snow and set a record this year. The jury is still out in Cedar Rapids. Okay, it’s mostly getting ready to melt again, but it still is more water that has to go before it can dry, and I am angry at every teaspoonful now. I want it dry and warm and I want to sit out and feel the sun on my face. I’m beginning to depend on An Iowa Gardener and the pictures of those brave little flowers to see me through these mostly dismal days. It’s a little picture, but it is ALIVE when nothing else much looks so.

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Having said that, As the Garden Grows, just has to remind us that when in fact some semblance of spring does actually start being obvious, we have plenty of the yech work to do outside to prepare for a new growing and planting season. Hop on over and get your list of to-do things this spring. Oh, I just want to plant radishes and spinach.

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This tale, one of those stories that make you rethink your life, comes from an unlikely source today. Usually we point you to Sally’s Gardening Tips for duh, gardening tips. Today, we send you there for another reason. She asks are you a coffee bean, a carrot, or an egg? Read the story and think about how truly awful your life, day, hour really is?

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Free Sample Forager has a couple of freebies for you. Gold Bond lotion, and Seattle Coffee. Hurry and get yours while supplies last as they say. I got the coffee sample with no problem.

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Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas has some for you. Ideas and tips that is. If you are interesting in going green in the garden, (and we all should be) here are some practical ways to reduce your use of fossil fuels, water, while getting some good advice for other ways to be more eco-friendly.

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Russell over at Iowa Grasslands really tickled my fancy with his talk about Sky King, the old TV show. I didn’t like it, ever. I was more along the lines of Flicka, and Roy Rogers. I liked horses. I could not feel that warm fuzzy feeling about a dumb plane. I argued often and hard to get that pony of my very own and keep it in the garage in our suburban home in Flint, Michigan. You may laugh, but the guy down the street actually did buy his daughter a full sized horse, a pinto, who got loose, ran across the highway, and well the horse soon departed for more rural environs. Thanks for kicking the memories up for me Russell!

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Ever wonder how when you are in a very crowded room you can pick out a voice you recognize? Well, the answer is Pitch. It’s all about pitch. Mongolian gerbils provide the key to understanding how the brain does this neat little trick of sifting out the wheat from the chaff. Ain’t science just weird and wonderful?

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Mad Kane is at it again, with another of her excellent limericks. This time she skewers John McCain and his dance around campaign financing. As always, better than the average limerick.

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Jeannelle takes us on another nostalgia trip as she travels the back roads and takes photos along the way. I remember also being told not to take those back roads lest I get stuck. And of course, you guessed it, I did. The Contrarian was most politic and did not mention the warning until a whole lot of time had passed. Otherwise that ole frying pan might have whizzed by his head. He kept his head down and pulled that car out with nary a word of “I told you so.” Smart man. Jeannelle has some nice pics of the Wapsi.

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Midwest Neurotica has an interesting recipe. It’s both tex-mex and northeast as she notes. I would change the recipe a bit. I don’t use canned soup, so I’d make a sauce from canned broth and a roux but other than that, this looks like an interesting list of ingredients and one I should like to make soon. It’s called Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas.

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I’m afraid I don’t much get John McCain’s continuing public persona. He looks more like George the Idiot every day. Amazing when you consider what Bush and the boys did to poor old John back in 2000, with the black baby thingy. John wanted and wants to be prez so bad he’s willing to let that vicious bygone by well, gone, and embrace his beleagured and buffoon fellow GOP wacko, George. You would think, with the way clear, he would step out and separate himself from the repudiated Texas-swaggerer, but no. It seems Mr. McCain, alleged and former Maverick, really is a neo-con at heart. He actually supports the lost-our-minds foreign policy of the Darth and Squiggy show. Enjoy Glenn Greenwald’s excellent post. PS, David Brooks is considered somewhat of a frivolous boob by the liberal blogosphere, in case you were unaware. Read this depressing post about the Mav’s foreign policy ideas. Scary indeed!

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Science Daily suggests to us that evolution slows down in environments containing near saturation levels of life. In other words, before a new species can emerge, there has to be a place open for it. That sounds fairly reasonable to me. I don’t know exactly why it happens, and that’s reasonable too. I’m not a scientist. How competition for space slows down mutation is a puzzlement to me. They would not seem related, but of course I say that after having announced the salient fact: I AM NOT A SCIENTIST. I sure do love all this stuff though. Follow the link and read the full story and check out the right side for similar stories.

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Butterscotch, oh I love it. Yummy yummy, much more delightful than caramel. Want to make your own? Okay, just follow the link and visit Simply Recipes and get the recipe of course. Now the recipe calls for brown sugar, which I am verboten to eat, (I can’t digest the molasses) so I’m wondering, can you just use sugar? After all, you use plain sugar to make caramel, and butter is the operative ingredient in butterscotch I believe. I think it’s worth a try. I’ll let you know should I try it.

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One way we all can help to save the environment is to get beyond those horrid plastic bags we get each month by the hundreds it seems. I recycle a few of course as wastebasket liners and such, but I cannot even begin to make a dent in the pile. The only way out is to stop using them, and the only way to do that is to find something to replace them with. That would be your very own fabric bags. The Baking Beauties give you links to several online free pattern sites. I would need like 40 of these babies to take care of my grocery shopping, but hey, a start is a start.

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Finally, we come to the end as we always must with the Yarn Harlot. Yes, we proceed in alphabetical order for no reason other than that the feeds are done that way. And, if I put everything in categories, you’d only read the one you liked and I’d missing boring you with having to skim and skip the stuff you find worthless chatter. I read her posts most of the time, glare with anger as she talks about doing simple things like knitting socks without a pattern and while watching TV, and know I’ll never reach this level of expertise. The bane of a jack of all trades crafter like me, is that you are master of none, and can never really get to the point of designing your own patterns or even making anything without firm attention to the instructions. She also said “pre-signing” and the Contrarian points out, you can’t pre anything, you simply do it when you do it. But I am envious of her abilities and her following which is gynormous ( is that how that is spelled?).

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The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else. -Martina Navratilova

“Never explain–your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.” Elbert Hubbard

“Setting a good example for children takes all the fun out of middle age.” William Feather

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You know you are getting old when. . . . Dave’s daily

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An interesting take on the morning commute and women drivers from E-Mail from Grandma today! Don’t miss it.

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Aired Thursday night on NBC: Barack Obama back from his vacation in the Virgin Islands. He played a lot of shuffle board down there. See, he’s pretty smart. He was doing that in case John McCain challenges him to a duel.

And MSNBC is reporting there’s a chance that John McCain will pick Condoleezza Rice as his vice president. Well, actually, I think that’s a perfectly balanced ticket, right? I mean, he’s white, she’s black. He’s a man, she’s a woman. He’s always steamed, she’s Rice. See what I mean? ~~Jay Leno

A True Star and Thawing Tundra

Tags

chocolate, dessert, drugs, environment, FDA, Gardening, Iowa, Iraq, John McCain, Literature, meat, meatloaf, medical, puddings, quilting, Rome, tex-mex, Women's issues

I just wanted to say a fond farewell to a wonderful actor, Richard Widmark who died on Monday at the age of 93. I was a very young girl when I became infatuated with him, although goodness knows he was nearly 40 years older than me. I had a crush on him for many years, and remember faking illness one day when he was scheduled to appear on the I Love Lucy show. It was part of their “California trip.” I saw a very large number of his movies in those years. He was not the type of person to appear on the usual talk show circuit, and actually I think thought of acting as a workman like employment, deserving of no special appelation. He definitely did not feel that his status as actor meant that his opinions were important. He kept a low profile. He died in Connecticut at home where he had lived for several years with his second wife, Susan. He had been married to his first wife from 1942 until her death in 1997. The bizarre thing is that just a few days ago, we saw his picture flash on the TV during something or other and I commented that he must really be getting up there. Parker thought for sure he was dead, and I “googled” him and found that he was indeed alive and living in Connecticut. These weird things happen to us all.

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On the update side: I have finished spring cleaning the master bath. Hurrah for me. It only took a week and a half. Slow but steady that is me. It will work until I get danged tired of it by about the 4th room, and then I start getting sloppy. But for now, it’s clean enough to operate out of! Now it’s time to get on with the news before I run out of time! Tip: if you hate housework like I do, commit to 15-20 minutes only on some significant job. In a week or so, it will be done, and you will feel most accomplished. I can hear the applause out there in the blogosphere now. Send any gifts of congratulations to my email and I’ll make sure you get my address to send my gift!

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The sad thing, is that where once we depended on the regular media and newspapers to keep us properly advised on what’s going on in the world, we can no longer do so. It’s all about money. The conglomerates are pretty much only interested now in the bottom line of profit, and so news stories are followed depending on whether they produce viewers/readers or not. We are now required to seek out the real news through news outlets that never existed a few years ago. Iraq is not much in the news anymore. The powers that be apparently think that we are tired of seeing it, reading about it, and having it commented upon. It is still a big story. And as we have reported here, things are not going nearly as well as we are led to believe. Read an important take on the war from Alternet‘s “Five things you need to know to understand the latest violence in Iraq.” I would urge you to read it, lest you fall into the trap of thinking that this war is about done. We have simply been horribly mislead about what is going on, and who is responsible.

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Begging for Bargains has a couple of things you might be interested in. New moms will like a number of free offers for samples of formula, diapers, and whatnot. There is also a new website that promises to making your coupon experience easier. I’m not quite clear yet, because I don’t have time at the moment to go through it, but check it out. I added the link to my favorites and will go back and try to figure out what a loyalty card is!

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Like, chicken, there can never been too many meatloaf recipes. Each one promises you a new delight in flavor which of course is most appreciated. I love meatloaf and it’s taken me a long long time to develop one that really works. Once you find the magic formula (not too much filler, but one that doesn’t fall apart when slicing) you can vary a lot of the ingredients. Coconut & Line has a nice one that has a southwestern flair. Hope you like Southwestern Meatloaf!

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Okay, calm down, just whisper cheesecake and people start herding toward you with whimpering eyes and forks in hand. This one is from Copycat Restaurant Recipes, and is from the Cheesecake Factory. What could be better than Key Lime Cheesecake? Perhaps some of the puddings she also lists?

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Love roses but have trouble growing them? I sure do. Sally’s Gardening Tips will give you some help to grow these magnificant beauties that never fail to bring a smile. I think I’ve managed to kill 3 here so far. Perhaps I can figure out what I am doing wrong and correct it with Sally’s help.

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An important note from Iowa. The state legislature is poised to enact a bill requiring insurance companies to cover the HPV innoculation. This is the new treatment to prevent cervical cancer. Why they need to be ordered to do so it of course a conundrum. Why the only opposition to the bill comes from Republicans is another. I am simply dumbfounded that we have to do this. It’s the most obvious thing in the world to me. It passed the House by a margin of 81-16, all 16, Republicans and six of them were women! I’ll be sending off some e-mails to both of my Republican senate and house reps today for sure! A big big thanks to Essential Estrogen for this heads up.

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As I peer out the window, I see of course that white crap is falling all around, in some demented scheme to return to winter. It is spring, damn it! So instead of becoming even more gloomy at this kick in the spring pants, hobble on over to inspired by antique quilts and take a gander at some of the lovely new blocks this woman puts out every day. They are so lovely. Oh boy, I’m starting on the bedroom cleaning tomorrow, getting ever closer to my pathetic cluttered dump of a craft room. It’s gonna be great when I’m done!

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Just in time, Russell comes along with tales of ditches and lovely native plants. I know that I love it when I pass a place that has stopped mowing and started seeding the ditch with the wonders that were the norm in this part of the country before we stomped all over it, tore it up and planted most of it. It must have been something to see when those first traders, explorers, and indian scouts first laid eyes on the great Iowa prairie. Stop by his blog and read his soothing words and smile at the lovely photos.

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Knitting dragonflies gives voice to a truth that is present in any type of crafting project. The sense that one is fully engaged and resides in the moment. These are important concepts to our psychological well being I am convinced. We are all creative, that is part of our DNA. Finding out in what we are creative is perhaps the trick. When we do so, we have the ability to lose ourselves, and do it without effort, something we can almost never accomplish when we simple resolve to “pay attention.” She and Buddhists call it mindfulness. Try it, you will see what I mean.

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Talk about your unintended or unexpected consequences of global warming? This one is well, yech! Thawing Tundra Releases Infected Corpses, is not exactly the kind of thing one wants to read as one is sipping morning coffee. Up in Siberia, there is a unholy thaw going on and bodies being uncovered, and the bad thing is that many died of smallpox, something essentially eradicated in the world today. It has all scientists and certainly archaeologists worried. The virus appears not viable, but the antigen has been discovered in some corpses. It has raised quite serious problems on what to do.

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You know I never can remember a time as a younger person, or even for most of my adult life when I was literally afraid to take medication. I’ve been lucky for the most part, and have seldom had the need, but today, we are faced with increasing questions and recalls and demands for new warnings almost daily. This is no doubt fueled in part because the FDA no longer does it job or even tries. The asthma drug, Singulair is now being questioned as to whether it causes suicidal behavior in some who take it. Of course Merck has been adding warnings to the label for some time, and has “no comment.” The FDA, bastion of super intelligence has asked the company to “re-evaluate” its data. Oh that will surely tell us the truth won’t it?

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I love all things Roman, historically speaking. Heck I love Italians for no good reason as well. I would dearly love to travel to Rome and see this newly opened site. The home owned by Augustus Caesar, on the Palatine is now open to sightseers. Although the 4 rooms were discovered a long time ago, a restoration has just been completed and tours are now beginning. A very lovely photo is enclosed for your enjoyment. The frescoes alone are said to rival those of Pompeii.

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I suffer from depression, but I don’t require, and will not take medication. Getting off it was the worst experience I’ve ever gone through in a good while. Nevertheless, depression is a disease suffered by untold undiagnosed persons without any question. For those whose suffering is intense and requires medication, this new study may be of importance. Should you switch or keep the same class of medication when the medication you are on fails to work? The article is short but includes a list of the primary researchers, plus plenty of related stories for those who are trying to figure out what to do.

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This recipe says it’s a brownie recipe. It sure doesn’t look like one to me, but the more I looked at it, the more intrigued I got. It takes very little to intrigue me most days however, and you should know this. A moth trapped between the windows has been known to intrigue me too. Anyways, it’s more of a cake than a brownie, but whoa, if you like chocolate and only really not nice people don’t, try this one out and let me know. I’m making a chocolate cake probably tomorrow or I might try it myself.

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Just when you thought it was safe to pick up the newspaper again, here comes another story that makes you wonder what planet you have skipped over to when you last innocently blinked.

There is a company, and the name is AEY, and its owned by a 22 year old who is assisted by a 25 year old masseuse. Now you may wonder why any of this is anything you should care about. Here’s why. Because its the chief weapons supplier to Afghanistan. Based in Miami, this sorry outfit may well blow Blackwater off the maps of seedy, illegality. The US govt. gave this heap of manure 300 million bucks to supply Afghans, and of course the crap they sent was unusable. It just makes one sick to see our tax money used so cavalierly. Read it and weep!

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Yesterday, the Tip Junkie gave you some nice shots of redecorating for a girl’s room. Today she does the same for boys. Drop over if this type of redecorating is on your agenda. Like I said yesterday, one can often adapt a piece here or there to more adult fare.

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A day or so ago, I remarked on the 4,000th death of American servicepeople in Iraq. The Urantian Sojourn has a nice piece on the subject and the stubborn position taken by the Mav that this surge is sure working, as he says, “no matter what anyone says.” I guess when you build your entire campaign on the surge being right, and you being right about it, you are stuck with it. John McCain knows he got cheated of the Presidency by Bush the Kid, and he’s determined to get it this time, even if he has to try to scare us all to death to do it. He’s sad, he’s old, he needs to get over it. He did not win, he will not win. He’s just another in a long line of, “dad are you proud of me yet?” chasers of the White House. And the mosaic of dead service people is awesome enough to make the trip to the site for that alone.

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For reasons that escape my ability to figure it out, a lot of history sites spend a lot of time on historical novels for some reason. Now I am certainly a fan, and have read a goodly number. I appreciate that I’m getting a little free history along the way. Actually, a lot in some cases. In any event, World History Blog has noted a book that sounds most enjoyable, and is written by an author I am unfamiliar with. Harry Turtledove has written other books, but they all follow the same basic format. He takes history and kind of turns it on its head, like Hitler winning WWII nd how the world would look now. Opening Atlantis is his latest offering and its the beginning of a trilogy. You may decide to give it a try. Read the review and decide.

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The Farmer’s Almanac has this for you today:

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I leave this rule for others when I’m dead: Be always sure you’re right, then go ahead. –Davy Crockett

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What’s the best way to propogate cacti? Sometimes!

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First woman in space? I’d give it away if I said she wasn’t American no?

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“If all the girls who attended the Yale prom were laid end to end, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised.” Dorothy Parker

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“To err is dysfunctional, to forgive co-dependent.” Berton Averre

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A new study says global warming is killing frogs. Sceptics dispute this conclusion and claim that long before global warming frogs were croaking. – Sid Knowles

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A U.S. Airways pilot accidentally discharged his gun during a flight. It was an unnerving experience. The other crew in the cockpit were so shocked, they almost spilled their drinks. – Alan Ray, Stockton, Calif.

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Aired Tuesday night on CBS: Here’s news from Hollywood. You know Pamela Anderson? Well, she recently had her marriage annulled. The marriage lasted two months. I mean, she goes through husbands like New York goes through governors. David Letterman

That’s a Spicy Mea….err Blog

Tags

Catholicism, creationism, environment, evolution, fundamentalism, Gardening, Italian, John McCain, meat, religion, Women's issues, world history

The work is entitled, “The Intervention of the Sabine women.” It was done by Jacques-Louis David in 1799. It hangs in the Louvre, France.

The Sabine women had been captured and raped by the Romans. The Sabines came to war in an attempt to retrieve their women. The women intervene to stop the bloodshed. David allegedly did this painting in an effort to encourage reconciliation after the French Revolution. The central woman is the wife of the Sabine chief and stands between him and the Roman King.

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I had not heard anything about any threats that Buddhist monks plan on immolating themselves at the Summer Olympics to protest Chinese policies. I hope it is not true. But apparently such an action is not new. It was done first in 195 A.D. by a Christian. Reported by Lucian, a Syrian writer who claimed to have witnessed it, Peregrinus Proteus allegedly lit his own funeral pyre. It does not appear his motives were considered selfless.

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Tamar Hennessey died yesterday. You may not have known of her. She was the daughter of Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker. There is a very lovely article that was written about her experiences growing up in the movement done in 2003 by National Catholic Reporter. She was quite a lady, as was her mother.

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Josie at C’est La Vie has a most interesting post today about a tsunami. We all of course remember the “big one” that killed so many in the East, but most of use don’t recall this one that hit the Pacific Northwest. Josie tells us what it was like to be in one. Read her first hand account, and be glad you live inland!

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It’s good news for women in Iowa. It appears the numbers are going up in terms of women running for office here. Iowa previously has ranked 23 in the nation. Read the good news at Essential Estrogen as well as review the upcoming races across the state.

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Family Style Food promises that this is the definitive original real, not fake, Classic Italian Meatball Recipe. Yes, indeed. That is a mighty big promise, especially when you start out saying that meatballs are a very personal thing. Still, it looked awfully good to me. I have a great one I got from Alton Brown’s Food Network show a year or so ago, and frankly I love it. I make a batch and freeze them and then take them out in the quantity I need when I make my sauce. But I surely will try this one. Tip! I put my meatballs in the small cupcake pans, they don’t fit quite down, and it keeps them out of the fat that drips as they cook. This is a saute recipe and not a baked meatball.

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Free Sample Forager has a number of new finds for you. Free Starbucks, cereal, and a few others are on tap. Slide on over and take a look to see if there is anything you are interested in. I haven’t checked the links so good luck.

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It’s always a good day when Garrison Keillor has a new post. This time he explains the financial crisis to us and believes that somehow, its the fault of those who cannot spell. I don’t know if he’s right, but he attacks the right group and well, that passes as vetting to me. I trust he is right, and I distrust all those non-spellers too. The Contrarian has read, yes I said read, the entire dictionary ( yes I know it matters to some degree which one, and I don’t know the answer. Ask him!) and still can’t spell a lick. I dunno what that means, but it’s suspicious to me. I intend to question the Contrarian quite thoroughly to see if he looks the least bit guilty about the economy or not. I’ll report back. If I don’t, I have left a letter with my attorney.

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Everyone is more than aware that this country can turn out some really wacko folks from time to time. These folks often form cults and tell us that the end is near or a spaceship is on its way to collect them, or other just plain dumb and crazy things. It’s nice to know that we are not alone in this madness. It seems the Russians have their own problem with a group in a cave awaiting the end and calling themselves the true Church. I think there are a goodly number of televangelists in this little part of the world who would beg to differ.

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If you have wisteria, no not the lane. We are not talking about television right now, but since you asked Bree or Brie or Brea, whichever, is my favorite character. I always fall victim to hero worship for anyone, pretend or otherwise, who actually appears to be organized and can do nearly everything. I digress. Wisteria is a plant-vine, and from time to time it needs a haircut. If you are unsure how to do this, then Homegrown Gardening will help you.

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Sticking with gardening for the moment, if you are interested in garden lighting, get some ideas here. Personally I hate outdoor lighting. I live where I live to get away from all that. I want to see the stars at night, not the glow of somebody’s yard lights. I can say that there are places in the meadow during the summer when a look around produces not one offending bulb of enlightenment. So there.

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Knitting dragonflies has been decluttering her sewing room and otherwise decorating. She’s now interested in a Feng Shui kind of new look. See what you think. Personally, I have no issue with anybody who thinks it works. However, most of us do not live in large enough circumstances to make it practical. My bed only fits perhaps two ways in the room. The headboard can only fit either the east wall or the north. So, if I’m somehow out of some cosmic alignment, well what am I to do? Get your Gua number for sure! Mine was 1. I am strutting about that for sure. I’m off to buy dragon figurines.

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I suppose you heard about this. A big chunk of ice has broken off the ice sheet in the Antarctic. I’m told this weakens a whole ice shelf the size of Connecticut. I am sad. Scientists appear to be shocked at just how fast this melting is going on, and truthfully, I wonder if it is already too late to stop it. The photos do not lie. The only bright note, is that this break off, or calving as it is called will not cause rises in water levels. The piece was already afloat.

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On a lighter note, we can talk about a quick little critter. Named the fastest evolving creature, the famous tuatara, is found in New Zealand. It has a long career, having walked among the dinosaurs. It has the fasting evolving DNA of any creature examined so far, and this is while not changing physically, a lot, in all that time. And this is true although the cute little gecko-looking reptile grows slow, reproduces slow, and metabolizes slow. Go figure.

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As the tuatara continues to evolve at lightening speed (relatively speaking that is–is there a joke about Einstein in there somewhere), John McCain and the GOP worry about those evangelicals. The unholy and unnatural alliance is falling apart as polls say that most of the evangelical vote is going to the Democrats. First of all, the evangelicals for the most part are the not wacko variety we talk about so frequently, ala John Hagee and the televangelist crowd. No, most evangelicals believe in Christian “morals” but they also believe in addressing problems like the environment, poverty, justice, war, and things like this. What tickles me the most is that Catholics are voting Democratic by a whopping 32% lead. Take that weirdo CAF ranters! The wildly funny wacky and backward National Review tells McCain how to win back the folks he can’t stand but needs so desperately. Just talk about war, John, and terror. The politics of fear! Keep talking James Dobson, keep talking.

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The Family Research Council is but an arm of the fundamentalist right and their quest is to make everything in America reflect “made by Christians.” It sends out some wacko mailings to average folks and misleads them about all kinds of nonsense. First of all, they equate atheism with evolution. Of course that is purely insane, but when you are willing to do anything (and wouldn’t Jesus do just anything) to win your point of view, I guess you might consider that fair. Even the Pope accepts the basic principles of evolution and last time I checked he was not touting atheism as the way to get ahead in the afterlife. This latest mailing reflects their anger that two reputable institutions, the NAS (National Acadamies of Science) and the Institute of Medicine, both have argued for better science in classrooms, and have called creationism what it is, religious doctrine not remotely connected to science. Read Bob Boston’s informative post in Talk2Action, “Deceptive by Design: The FRC and Creationism.”

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Today, American Prospect publishes the next in Susan Posner’s series, Fundamentalist. Since you are in the area, stop by and get her latest updates on what is happening on the religious right. This week she discusses Barack Obama and his pastor problem, the GOP “otherness” strategy, and what is on the agenda in the anti-Gay marriage movement. Always informative, always important. I never miss this column, and hope you don’t either.

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I’m all for starting foundations and charity marathons and other stuff of this ilk. The Contrarian always wanted to run a Thinkathon for some charity. He thinks real good, most of the time. Until the pinball starts bouncing and the lights start blinking and the bells go off. Then you can be sure that right in the middle of Big Brother, he is gonna pipe up with some utter nonsense not meant to invade my brain like, “Do you think the run-off from Mt. Everest reaches our aquifer in 1 year or 5?” I mean, this is mind numbing insane stuff. We all know the brain can only place so much in memory. Eventually well, overloading is what causes aneurysms, or maybe Alzheimers, I’m not sure which. Anyway, if you are interested in this gentleman’s foundation to support pole vaulting, you can probably sign up or something. I’m, err, trying to keep that thought at bay, since I fear that ouch…pain in my head.

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I know you gals and guys were all over at the fabric button covering tutorial yesterday, but in case one or two guys missed all the fun, today you can go over, leave a comment and be in the running for a kit to make your very own. Go to the Village Shop or be out of the loop on these important things. I did not win her last giveaway, so it would seem that I should win this one for sure.

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I always thought those statues on Easter Island were, well impressive? mysterious? portents of dark throbbing pagan religion? It’s sad to find out that people do not respect these massive remains. Vandalism is a problem it seems. The material is spread over such a distance that park officials cannot maintain thorough security. Learn a bit about them and the efforts to prosecute those who disfigure or damage them intentionally.

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Oh, I realize people visit this blog only for the Farmer’s Almanac information, so here it is:

If a bluebird flies in your house, it brings wealth with it. (I doubt it brings much, they are quite small birds. But it beats the hoe at least)

Where did the expression “behind the 8-ball” come from?

What is both a food item, the name of a vessel, and the name of a flower?

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“It is impossible to travel faster than the speed of light, and certainly not desirable, as one’s hat keeps blowing off.” Woody Allen (I know, but he is funny.)

“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Will Rogers

“Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There’s a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.” Bill Gates (See, nerds do think differently than humans)

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This is a dumb criminal report. And it occurred in a muffler shop?

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Aired Tuesday night on “The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson” on CBS: Hillary Clinton has been caught telling a lie about a trip she took to Bosnia, and the whistle-blower was Sinbad, the comedian. Nothing says great journalism like the co-star of “Jingle All The Way.”

But wouldn’t it be funny if Hillary Clinton’s campaign is derailed by a comedian? It has happened before. When John McCain first ran for the Senate, he was called a liar by the most famous comedian of the time, Mark Twain.

Barack Obama called Hillary today to thank her for distracting everyone from his crazy pastor.

Aired Tuesday night on NBC: The White House has announced that during President Bush’s last year in office, he’s going to visit more countries than in any other year of his Presidency. Bush says he’s going to accomplish all of this in one weekend by going to Epcot Center.

In news from the world of business, Old Navy announced today that it will now be known as John McCain. – Marc Ragovin, New York