Tiny Pinatas

I have plans for these. :D

Yesterday I went down to DC to meet up with friends. We went to the Museum of the American Indian, where, among other things, we watched series of short films about American Indian war veterans (thing I did not know: American Indians have the highest per capita rate of participation in the armed services of any ethnic group in the United States). The stories were moving and brave and sometimes heartbreaking. I hadn't known that American Indians didn't have citizenship rights until 1924, which was stunning in the context of veterans of WWI. The stories of veterans of more recent conflicts were moving as well, some painfully so (the veteran of the cavalry division who became suicidal after another tribe member yelled at him for joining the division that had slaughtered their ancestors), and some heartening (the images of the gulf war veteran at an outpost with a medicine wheel hanging from a staff by his outpost, or the Vietname vet who said he made it through because his CO, a Comanche, made him invisible the first night when he was sleeping, though it was decades before he had the gestures explained to him, and found the man again to thank him).

The museum was, as always, an amazing collection. There was an stunning display of works by artist Brian Jungen, whose works were interpretations of traditional items made from recycled modern materials, such as a sweat lodge made from recycling bins, totem poles made of golf bags, a raven mask made from air Jordan sneakers. There was a whale skeleton made from plastic lawn chairs that was truly breathtaking and I had a very hard time resisting the urge to caress it. There was a skull made from unstiched baseballs covers that made me squeak in delight. It was a gorgeous exhibit, a wonderful fusion of tradition and modern materials.

(some pictures here, although the pieces have such a sense of presence that it's a pity not to see them in person.)

In the evening I went down to dance class, which was fun, as always, although it did at one point involve a fairly aggressive game of "keep Verne away from the new girl".

At the end of the evening, the instructor said we had time for one more dance. We'd been working on dances for the upcoming Argyle ball program, but since it was Veteran's day we asked for the Reel of the 51st Highland Division (usually just called "Reel of the 51st") in honour of our veterans. After we'd danced, while I was changing out of my ghillies and into the boots I'd put on for a hike that never happened (due to rain), one of the older gentlemen said thank you, from a veteran, for thinking of them. I said thank you for being a veteran, which was the more important aspect of it.

In case you don't feel like following the link to learn the history of the dance, it's one of the first modern dances accepted into the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, and it was invented by members of the Scottish Highland Division who were held as prisoners of war in WWII, as a way to keep active in the prison camp.

I was thinking about that, driving home in the rain - the link between dancing and war, the war dances and welcome home dances for warriors in Native American culture from the films I'd seen earlier in the day, and the dance I'd done in the evening to honor people who danced as a way to stay sane and alive during conditions I cannot imagine. It was interesting to have that tie come up from two of my major activities of the day, and, I hope, an insight into the balances we try to keep in life, the multiple threads of history we try to honour, and the many ways of remembering that become part of our cultures.

(okay, maybe not such a short post after all.)

Not much to report this morning - I did do a picture post yesterday afternoon, if you missed it. :lol: Photos of the barn, chickens, etc.

Sweet Geek has been working late all week (except for Tuesday) - they are "moving the network" or..something. He's gonna be 1 tired cookie tomorrow. Poor guy....

Himself is excited - I told him he's in charge of pie-making for turkey day. He's already decided that we need an apple, a chocolate, and a pumpkin pie - FOR SURE. And maybe some others...I said, well....let's try to keep it at 2 or 3, OK? :lol: We'll see.....

Herself, of course, decided *she* needs to learn how to cook. Right. She's NEVER shown an interest - and claims now that I've never taught her. Uh-huh. I taught both of them how to cook eggs at the same time...she wandered off while Himself browsed the spice rack and asked how each one would work with eggs. :sigh: This'll get fun....

I just blew through $400.

Not that I was shopping, but I paid the car insurance and the water bill and the gas bill and the cable bill (which includes the phone).

By the way, I discovered something which may be useful to the rest of you if you ever forget to pay a bill because you set it aside for the next payday and then forgot about it.

Google calendars will let you set a reminder, say, "Pay gas bill." You can then have the calendar EMAIL you prior to that to remind you of it! The email goes to your Google mail, but if you don't use that very often then simply set a filter that forwards reminder emails to the one you check every day.

If you don't check email every day I can't help you :D

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If you don't know offhand who William Carlos Williams is, here's some help.

Is this the coolest thing in the Interfictions Auction?

Yes, it is a bee. Made of felt. "Carrying" an embroidered cleaver. Because that's what's in glvalentine's Genevieve Valentine's IAF Annex story, "To Set Before the King," by wool sculpture artist Lisa Bergin.

But I've held it in my hands, and it is justabout the most cunning object in creation. Cuddly & cunningly wrought. It's a felt Bee with Cleaver.

Of course, you may disagree. There are many beautiful and cunning objects currently on display, and more coming each day. There is a skein of yarn hand-spun of words and silk and mohair. There is an expandable book of handmade paper. There is a necklace of memory. Go take a look and see which piece you think is the coolest thing in the auction - or the one most meant for you.

[NOTE to Miss T--- B---: Stop bidding against me on that Key! Or you will get no more chocolate cake. Ever.]

OK, I promised pictures.....last week. And before. But that...that's ok, because I have pictures for you now!

The feeder was finished by 9 AM. All it needs is the metal fence panel for the hay - which I just picked up. I can't install it, though, until the feeder is moved into it's permanent position - the panel I ended up getting was 5' tall x 16' long. The guy at Tractor Supply was nice enough to cut it in half for me...but it was still a tight fit in the Jeep. (I wanted something a little smaller, but they don't have it. Premier 1 does...but I wasn't going to pay $21 PLUS shipping for a 30"x48" panel - I'd need 2, and I'd have to wait. This'll work, and it was local, and cheaper. PLUS I have a 8'x5' piece we can use for the doors - it's all good!)

Anyway, without further ado....( Here there be pictures! LOTS of pictures!! )

No pictures of my chullo v.2.0 yet - I figured I'd taken enough bandwidth with these. :lol:

I checked the website to give contact information to Rob, and noted, hey, the sisters have a blog. Brand new, just three entries so far, but I've syndicated it. stbensisters_feed and stbensisters.

It was probably a bit much to hope they'd have a twitter page.

I'm off, as soon as the socks get out of the dryer. I will have my cell phone with me if any needs to reach me.

Go Hug A Veteran today! Thank them for all that they've done to ensure you the freedom to live here.

My sweet husband got me a gorgeous orchid yesterday. We'll see how long I can keep it alive. :lol: He also took me to Ziziki's (Greek...:mmmmmmm:) We then hit Home Depot - yes, he is a romantic! :lol: I made the mistake of eating some baklava, though...I KNOW I am allergic to honey. I KNOW it makes me itch. But it was SO DAMN good......and I spent the evening itching. :sigh: Benedryl to the rescue....but that's not really the way you want to spend your anniversary, y'know? :wry grin:

Today, I am building a feeder. Normally, I'd use scrap...but because this feeder is 2'x8', there would have been too much waste in plywood. We bought some....I dunno what they're called, but I think it's a 2x8 for the bottom, some......look, I don't know lumber, but we bought all new for the base, front, and back. :lol: It's going to be one solid feeder when I'm done, that's for sure! Still need to get a hog/cattle panel for it, to keep the hay in, but we can do that this weekend. The feeder itself is the important part!

If I have time, I'll be running fence. Also, If I have more time, I'll start the milking stands (got the plywood for that last night, too - why is it that you can buy a full sheet of 3/4" plywood for 1/4 the cost of 4 2x4 sheets? The 2 cuts were free.........:shrug:)

This weekend is roofing time. The breeder said she'd keep the does another week - so we're not quite so rushed. We still need to finish the side of the barn (won't take too long - we have 4 new saw blades now), roof it, and build the door to keep the goats in their area. I will be SO Glad to get the barn finished!

Laundry needs to be rebooted. I'll try to post pictures later...no promises, though. I've got a full plate today!

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

---

"Approximately 900 American World War II veterans die every day."

Thanks to all those who served, in wartime and peacetime, overseas and at home, to those who gave their health and the best years of their lives in service, as well as those who died.

We will remember.

The video game business is like the movie business. We're in this because it's what we love to do and we all thoroughly enjoy a great game, even if it's from a competitor.

I have to say without reservation that Modern Warfare 2 is the best single player experience I've ever had in a video game ever. This game is unbelievable. I've never seen such an amazing and engaging game. That airport level was seriously intense. It took a second to even register what was going on, and then replaying it a bunch of times to try and figure out if there's a way out of the moral quandary.

The multiplayer game is spectacularly done too. I can't say I've played a lot of that yet though. What I have played has also been first rate and I plan on spending a lot more time playing it.

Congrats to the team at Infinity Ward on a job well done. They've set the bar very high.

Smed

The last time I went on a retreat, I asked people to send me trees, and I got many marvelous responses. Thank you.

I'm going on retreat again because as you know things have been hard lately, and so I've been struggling. This time, I'll simply ask for this: I'd just appreciate an encouraging note. Or an affirmation. Or a good wish. Or a prayer. Or simply something just to think about in the days to come. Tell me what you think I'm doing right, tell me I'll get through this (me and my family, both). Tell my why you like reading this LiveJournal.

Tell me anything you think will give me light in dark places. Lurkers, I'd really appreciate hearing from you, too.

Thanks.

Love,
Peg

I haven't been posting because I've been either been huddled in bed, sucking down pot after pot of Celestial Seasonings Bengel Spice tea, or lolling in the bathtub, reading mysteries and steaming out my sinuses. I had already asked for most of this week off, Tuesday (today) through Friday because I had planned another retreat at St. Benedict's. At this point, I think I'll leave for the retreat tomorrow. I didn't have a fever anymore yesterday, but I'm still coughing a bit. I certainly don't want to give this to the nuns (I'm guessing it's probably H1N1. Fiona and Rob had it last week, although they weren't as congested as me. In their case, it was more exhaustion). I'm using the Neti pot twice a day to ward off any secondary bacterial infections. I might choose to eat by myself the first day I arrive--they offer you the choice to do that, if you'd like to eat in silence--just to keep away from the sisters for another day, just in case.

I plan to work on soul collage cards, mostly: I have a new stack of magazines to destroy. Thanks to those who donated.

Yes, today is the Marine Corps birthday, and my anniversary. I don't know whether to yell Semper Fi or Love you....Semper you just doesn't have that special "ring" to it, know what I mean? :lol:

Himself is turning into quite the reader. He's slowly plowing his way thru my Star Wars Expanded Universe books - these are *adult* books (NOT that type!), not kids' books, so this is very impressive (Yes, I pre-read them. Not that I expect anything R- or X-rated in them - Lucas is VERY particular about what goes on in his sandbox, but you never know). For a 9-year old boy, this is very good. I foresee a trip to Half Price in the near future to get more reading material.

Finished his fingerless mitts this morning. I now only have Sweet Geek's sweater as my carry-around project. Oh, no - what to do? :lol: The Chullo is definately a Stay At Home project - it's hard enough for me to juggle 2 balls on the table....would hate to try and do it in a car or restaurant! I'm up to the sheep.....which means I'll soon be juggling 3 colors. :sigh: I remember why I wasn't too upset when I put it down earlier in the year - I LOVE colorwork, but hate the knitting of it. :grin:

Am off tomorrow - the plan is to build the feeders and get some fence work done. We're going out to dinner tonight, and Sweet Geek said he'd stop at Home Depot for me (my Jeep can't handle the length) to get the wood for the feeders, so I don't have to go out tomorrow. Hopefully, my plan will be successful....we'll see. I'm starting with Premier 1's plans, but changing them to fit our barn better. Fun stuff.....I don't think in 3-D. This'll be interesting. :lol:

Back from WFC & the triumphant Interfictions 2 debut week, I've now been to a few of the first rehearsals for the new cast of this year's production of my Golden Dreydl for Vital Theatre, The Klezmer Nutcracker, and done a number of revisions to the script - some during the rehearsal itself: on Saturday, Sara, the Fool and I did improv on their lines until we got something we all liked. Most of the cast are genuine dancers - there will be many entrances on pointe, my friends, with pirouettes galore, this year! The Queen of Sheba will OWN every 9-yr-old in the audience when she does her Arabesque . . . . Sara & the Fool are "merely" tumblers - watching them egg each other on to cartwheels with a "Comaneci Finish" was pure bliss! - they have great chemistry together already, and what's more, they Get the Fantasy . . . When the director asked, "So, how does the Fool know that the Peacock was supposed to be guarding the Demons?" (See? I told you I was revising lots!), one said, "Well, he's mythic - he just does!" and the other, "It's a small Land; all the magical people know each other." Mwa! The ensuing discussion made me pontificate on the fact that Fantasy has to work on 3 levels, all at once: the Mythic, the Metaphoric, and the Real. (As Delia pointed out when I told her: This means that [all together now] Fantasy is Harder!)

I missed this morning's rehearsal, but the Production Manager, Leah, faithfully sends out a Daily Report. To give you some sense of how groovy this year's show will be, I present here the bit on
Costumes/Wigs & Make-Up:

1. [We just lost a cast member, who got a job with a touring production, so] L-- will replace V-- as the Autothith in the riddle scene.

2. Now that we’ll only have one toy in the first scene we’ve decided to ditch the Transformer and just have a dinosaur-type creature.

3. Luke would like to play the Guardian of Flame as a very short person with shoes on his knees, is it possible to get him some knee pads for rehearsals?

4. The Carob Man’s costume will need a pocket for his carrot.

La, la, la (Sing:) . . . There's no business like show business!

And now I really must go type up the revisions I promised for tomorrow.

You didn't think I was blogging because I didn't have something more important to do, did you?

I went to Petsmart to get a curved scratching thing for The Boy. He can't really get up for the scratching post anymore, he's got joint issues.

I walked by the cat adoption area.

( and somebody said O HAI and... and I had to. And you'll probably see why. )

The other two are still in hiss-mode, but I think they'll adjust well enough over time. Raven is wrangling them and trying to keep them separated for feeding and such.

The Boy slept with me today and was super-super-affectionate, too.

I am officially sick and tired of people who complain (often and frequently) about things they know *nothing* about.

I'm also tired of certain web sites having their content taken as Gospel.  The concept of verification seems to be sadly lacking in a significant portion of the population.

I'm tired of news websites that contain ridiculous errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

I'm very tired of news-shows on television that think it's more important to blather about what a couple of Hollywood stars are doing than to fill their viewers in on insignificant little items like (from this morning) it being the 20th anniversary of the day the Berlin Wall came down.

Whatever happened to news shows that were actually full of news?