Video

Here's a Good Morning America segment on the ocean trash vortex:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLrVCI4N67M

Trash

I was talking to my sister's family today about the film Wall-E and how I used it at work. It provided the introduction to a brief lesson on trash.

I mentioned the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and some of the people in the room had never heard of it. If you'd like to learn more, try here:
http://geography.about.com/od/globalproblemsandissues/a/trashislands.htm

I also fret about space junk
(see http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/01/0119_060119_space_junk.html)
--and have since the late 1970s, when it was the subject of a Devo song.

I did some reading this week for a class that I'm taking. I had to identify myself on a broad spectrum of political persuasions. It looks like I'm a Green.

Blecch

Was I coming down with something last Friday? What I can tell you is, I sure have something at the moment. I cannot stop sneezing (well into my middle age, a sneeze is a high-risk moment), and my nose -- raw and sore -- will not stop running.

With my friend (shattered ankle) in mind, I'll stop whining. I'll complain instead about my cat.

My cat has four beds (tho' he is our only cat). For the past month, whenever he sleeps, he sleeps with his back to me and Victor. He did not used to sleep thusly. It was quite cute to see his various unconscious poses. But he dozes now with his nose to the bookcase.

I think it has something to do with the diet food. We put him back on weight-loss Iams, because he had gained nearly three pounds on regular kibble. And he's not forgiving us quickly.

On a related subject, I gained back half a pound, after losing a pound and a half.

Spare a Dime

Today I responded to a friend who is stuck in one location with a shattered ankle. She forwarded to me 25 facts and goals about herself, and she wanted me to reply with the same number about me.

I won't bore you with all 25 of the items I provided. But I am going to offer, say, 10... on the condition that some of you must respond with 10 of yours. (Don't you hate these sorts of emails?)

What I value about this exercise is that I suddenly recognize not only my commonalities with all, but also, narcissistically, such oddness in myself. Once, a question in a survey asked me what I had on the walls in my bedroom. I felt sure I was the only person in the survey to respond with "maps of shipwreck sites." I hadn't thought before about how peculiarly 'me' that was.

My facts follow. Now which facts make you peculiarly 'you'?

1. My biggest pet peeves are short-sightedness, especially in policy, and only getting bits of the whole story.
2. I only get up when my clock shows an even number, and keep my Inbox full of an even number of messages.
3. I need several projects, including creative/artistic projects, to be in progress at once.
4. I think that the manufacture of 'new' plastics and paper needs to be outlawed.
5. I am fascinated by tales of man’s arrogance and folly (e.g., disasters at sea).
6. I think that cars, with their many unfortunate impacts, symbolize our arrogance.
7. But I love my car, a manual Toyota Echo, purchased used, that gets nearly 40mpg.
8. I would love to learn Portuguese, and then Spanish.
9. I think that care in spoken language is more vital than people realize.
10. I hate air conditioning.

Hey Boy

I really like one of the weirdest movies I've ever seen. It's called The American Astronaut, and it is supposed to have won some-or-other prize at some-or-other film festival. Wait, I looked, and it received a number of citations and positive buzz, back in 2001:
http://billynayer.com/detail/116/
My guess is, 9/11 pushed it out of everyone's sight.

Absolutely terrible "effects" that nonetheless charm the viewer, odd props that aren't exactly explained... oh, and it's a musical.

Netflix doesn't seem to have it. We saw it on the Sundance Channel. Has anyone seen it?

Pearls

I think I may have conceived of an original way to use sea glass in jewelry. I realized I have an equally large collection of NC shells. Just you wait and see.

Groove

Anyone who has not, really needs to come up/down/over to Gloucester for a Groove show. They're mostly a cover band (with some original material). But they can play ANYthing, and they focus on funk.

Upcoming schedule can be found here:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=46366039

Exhaustion

This week was unbelievably tiring. Events at work, delays in the community, reading at home as prep for meetings and classes... and tomorrow I have class, a commitment to see my daughter at mid-day, and a third commitment for the evening.

Is it the lack of light in the winter season? Was it the inauguration, in which I was way invested? Is it anxiety over "my" new president and his safety? (Or am I coming down with something?)

I want Sunday for pure rest. But the Obama service website says that I should go to Wingaersheek Beach to help with cleanup.

Maybe that will make me feel better. I do feel better when I'm getting things done.

Night Skies

I think we should re-name the constellations. Seriously. Casseiopeia? Nothing about that star cluster says it's a woman, seated. It looks like mountains, or a crown, and it should be thusly named.

Does anybody know how and where to find the star signs? Please share, if yes.

Leftie

"I'm a leftie. Get used to it."

Now, exactly what kind of 'leftie' would that be??

MLK Day

Martin Luther King believed that "a change is gonna come" a bit sooner than it did. See here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/7838851.stm

Also, I misspoke in the prior post - not "tomorrow" until today. For tomorrow: I picked up a small radio to take to work, so that I can have visuals on my desktop (no sound on my desktop) and sound, I hope, from the radio.

I can't quite believe that I did not have a portable radio!

Poetry

The poet selected by Obama to read at tomorrow's inauguration is Elizabeth Alexander. Some of her work is available here:
http://www.elizabethalexander.net/poems.html

I just finished watching the Lincoln Memorial presentation and concerts, and I am full of hope and anxiety. I am told that there are people who have sworn to do ill deeds before noon on Tuesday, and I dearly hope that they are stopped.

Garden Girl

The thing about our annual pilgrimage to the Outer Banks (NC) is that we miss some of our garden's display. I try to plant complementary colors, blooming around the same times - when I can (zones and coastal conditions can interfere).

But going to the Outer Banks gives me a border for the garden. Do you see the whelks, above? We collect those on an abandoned island in the Banks string. Only state park people over there.

Buxton, NC

My obsession with things North Carolinian grows as the winter season deepens. I couldn't believe that yesterday's dunked plane was headed there!

I have scoured real estate ads, looking for coastal homes in NC that are under $100K. Not that we're going to buy one, mind you. I just want to know that they're there. (One of them is even on the Outer Banks... bet it's been stripped down to the studs or something.)

Soon I will begin my spreadsheet. Every year I put one together, of the menus and ingredients necesssary for our May trip. I get to peruse cookbooks, cooking magazines, and online recipe databases. I get to choose which 12 to 16 recipes sound the yummiest (and easiest).

I also get to pack. I truly adore the minutiae.

All Sweaty

Just got through my first DDR round and now I need a shower. I would have started yesterday, but my dad was here, and it felt weird.

I got through 6 cycles of game play and then 25 minutes of workout mode. Although I didn't leave game play until I got an A on each segment, I still struggled with workout mode. Even though, this time (ahem), I was completely honest with the PS2 about my weight.

Glass, continued

http://www.amaritimegirl.ca/drill.htm

Above is a link to the online video that helped teach me how to drill sea glass. (There you go, John.)

25 Pounds

I would really like to lost 25 pounds before my husband and I go to the Outer Banks in May this year. If anyone else hopes to lose weight in 2009, let me know! We can support each other.

My plan includes NO carbs, abundant DDR, and loads of water (#1 and #3 are Atkins strategies - it worked for me once).

Gold Plating

I played Trivial Pursuit last night, for the first time in years (if you don't count playing it on the PS2, solo). I =nearly= won... we didn't finish playing, as the hour was late.

Did anyone else in the world get, around 1980, gold-plated Trivial Pursuit playing pieces? They were just the coolest, a gift from my parents. I keep looking and looking and I cannot find them - though I'm sure I never decided on getting rid of them.

I love board games. We played Scattergories and Whoonu as well. Tell the truth, don't you love board games?

Hooray

And at last I find these:

http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/--2162795

http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/TreatHerRight/I-Think-She-Likes-Me--2148404;_ylt=AgRo8ha85slU38v0O6cTAffesyUv

Songs of Childhood

Memory Lane... most relevant to Gill, no doubt, but could be enjoyed by all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl-MFyCZXt8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-egSujAHGXo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJWHXE-8Pu0

Drill Baby Drill

I just learned one month ago how to drill sea glass. I got assists from an online video and Victor's know-how.

Making necklaces and earrings, maybe even bracelets, is obvious. Some of you got those for Christmas (and Gill, I have repaired your wire mesh). I enjoy using black cord and silver chain with the glass and with china shards that have been smoothed by years in the sea.

I've made some bookmarks, too, using laminated bookmarks that the kids at work made, and attaching sea glass and china with loops to one punched end. (I like a weighted bookmark). Some of you got those as well. These are, I believe, unique.

I'm wondering what else I can make. I don't want to copy established artisans. And it has to have relevance to me, to my situation, etc.

How to Be Heard

If you want to post a comment on this blog, click on "[#] comments".

A window will appear that you can type in. Under the window, the profile requested is a pull-down menu. Choose Name/URL from the pull-down menu and type in your name (leave URL blank, unless you have a blog). That should do it - you should be able to click Continue (and then Post Comment).

Garden Woes

I can't believe that I failed to plant an order of bulbs. It resides in my breakfast nook and not in the ground. Tulips, and some other bulbs I won't look at so as to avoid distress.

In the past year, I tried out an idea that I saw in East Gloucester during 2007: blue echinops paired with white lilies. It looked spectacular on Sayward Street. In my front garden, it failed spectacularly. Not one single successful flower, after laying in a 20-foot row.

I have a part-shade garden where few things seem to take, and where I =need= another monk's hood. I tried to move mine, and it died. Anyone know where I can get a monk's hood? Any suggestions on filling that garden?

Obama and the Status Quo

There have been only two moments besides this one, in modern American history, when an economic crisis caused a political sea change: the 1890s and the 1930s. Despite today's announcements of anti-torture national security personnel, I worry that Obama has little interest in advancing a progressive agenda. He named Larry Summers to his cabinet, after all.

When I say "a progressive agenda," I mean not only infrastructure but also training, public assistance, and arts programs. I mean re-working mortgages that resulted from predatory lending practices. I mean developing sensible regulatory frameworks (which respect the human tendency toward greed) and sensible tax brackets (which quite rightly expect more from those who have benefited the most).

We all benefit when we look after one another, imho.

Important Reading About the Financial Crisis

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/11/stiglitz200811

and

http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2009/01/stiglitz200901

(neither one is very long)

Christmas 2008 Pt 2

Christmas 2008

Save This Under Favorites; It Replaces Swartfam

Hello to all who venture here. It is my hope that this blogspot can replace Swartfam, whose signup process has caused some difficulty when email addresses change. This blogspot can be saved under "Favorites" (pull down the Favorites menu and click "Add to Favorites"). Visit whenever you would like to share information. Post the info as a comment, and daily I will post messages. You may also subscribe (see link below).