Edibles

I have made a date with a friend, who has been busy traveling and doing some Earth Day stuff, to go hunting for some edible greens next weekend. How exciting. :-) Lambsquarters (with cat), Purslane, and Chickweed (with some kind of critter.)

Strange days

Today I found myself watching the new Harold and Kumar movie with some people, including a friend of mine who said "I felt the need to watch it because of the political content." Kind of silly ;-) Here is a link to her article about effective communication at an IMF protest. Also, an interesting quote from a speech I attended around Earth Day: "Pollution should really be considered a silent form of violence." --Ralph Nader

++++++++

Useful to consider: after achieving success (in art, business, etcetra) regardless of who you are or where you're from, if you get a signal from the universe that it might be a good idea, then don't forget to work hard on the part about not-making-people-feel-just-used-by-you. Terrific, beautiful idea. It may be that there's an absolutely incredible amount of room for growth in that arena. And if so, then why not embrace that challenge. Also: internal journeying as well as external journeying can be of great benefit, yes?

Jessica of the 80s

Jessica and I became friends because all the other girls were mean to her on the bus and made her cry. Girls On Film I was a first grader; they were all third graders. We lived in the same, newly-built apartment complex, where life could be very dull. Jack and Diane Sometimes, the highlight of a long day was to find some construction worker's old beer bottle, fill it with pebbles and water, and smash it. Save A Prayer She was the most deviant girl I'd ever met. I remember her shoving me in front of a construction worker when she was caught almost sneaking into a building. He briefly looked me over and then turned angrily towards her. Maybe he could see a little would-be thief. (Jessica had a habit of breaking into and taking money out of people's cars.) Electric Barberella Jessica had two scary uncles who always had giggling, skinny blond girlfriends. I saw one of her uncles beat her in the street as a punishment for almost running across the road when a car was coming. She told me that once, he had jumped through a glass window. Is There Something I Should Know In the apartment she shared with her mother and uncles, Jessica kissed posters of her "boyfriends" Mickey (Micheal Jackson and Duran Duran) while twisting her body into memorable little snake dance. Union of the Snake But perhaps the most memorable incident involved the time she made me jump off a balcony. When I tried to leave, she actually blocked the way to the staircase. All She Wants Is I must jump, as soon as I went, she would follow me, she promised. Finally, I closed my eyes and gave myself a push...The Reflex and then my butt was on the beautiful grassy ground, my head was swimming, and she was running toward me, saying "Are you okay? I can't believe you really did it!" She helped me off the ground and I followed her back up the stairs. There, I watched my friend, the bully, swing her legs over the edge of the balcony. I Don't Want Your Love She looked down, then at me, and said, "I'm scared. Can you show me how to do it again?" Come Undone

Recent works that were put into my hands

A free copy of Born Into Brothels, by my landlord, who has to evict me and the one remaining roommate (he actually doesn't own the house and his mother is going to move a family in--see if they like those rooftop squirrels!!) and The Queen's Fool because my friend wants me to read it. She called today and left a message asking how I was doing with the book. I called back and left a message saying that after I read a part about Lady Jane Grey being scholarly, I decided to use my free day at a good library.
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Also, some kite-flying pictures. ('Cause I was struck by Manik's love of kite-flying in Born and b/c Gasworks Park is a very cool place to fly a kite.)

food/mood/humor

One of my friends sent me Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life last fall. Picked it up again today. Went out, did some stuff, came back, ate a few too many "seedy little currant cookies" and looked at it again. It's kind of funny, I thought. However, it can also be very funny. (I had thought, earlier.)

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I was thinking. I really like Maria by Blondie.
I bet Dante would like that song.
I think it could be a song for anyone.
(Thats a girl with a southern accent.)

Lambsquarters

I kind of want to try lambsquarters.
They are supposed to be quite nutritious. However, I am scared to pick something that will poison me, which is why I will probably never pick wild mushrooms to eat. I have some friends who know how to identify all those plants; they used to do it for a living in Washington State, and now, how lucky, they are in Northern Virginia. I shall have to ask them to take me on an edible foods nature walk.

Ideas processing

Argumentatively, with slightly cynical undertones, and liberal use of the word "I." As this moment is occurring...I must say I don't think I feel very supportive...frankly, if it has anything to do with anything, I also really don't feel very sorry for you...I'm sure you are a very nice and sensitive person sometimes...however...also at times think you're kind of not...and by the way, why don't you get off the depresso track...*yawn*...sorry if that sounds sort of mean...do you really want future generations to find your work more boring than need be...well, afterall, you are the accomplished one in the field...absolutely unnecessary to put up the display of a humble response...just a few questions to possibly ask oneself...in a light way...

Processing ideas idea

Two people (or more) stare at a picture and form different interpretations of it which quasi-simultaneously interlap and overfeed; i.e., one person's ideas are influenced by and influencing the other's, but this occurs without any actual verbal exchange.

Spiritual practice(s)

Here is a clip about something called Dzogchen. In posting it, I'm reminding myself that besides being interested in things like films, music, art and literature, I'm also interested in the forms of spiritual practices that can be found on this planet. From many different backgrounds. Also, after I read my friend's grandfather's obituary and found out that he was known for his great love of nature, I want to remind myself to cultivate that more in my life, too. More Wildflowers. More Wildflowers again! Life is short.

mewsic (& other...)

So, Bob Dylan won a prize! Hmmm. Cool. Thats another artist whose music used to come through my wall in that apartment next to a bar in upstate NY. The one that I used to actually wait for the patrons to play was Color My World, though...Anyway, I digress...Over the fall, I went and saw the I He I'm Her Not Here (didn't the words do something like that in the very beginning of I'm Not There?) movie--which was actually released on my birthday, I found out later. One of the things I thought was, "Wow, I never really listened to the lyrics of Like A Rolling Stone before," and another thing I thought was, "there are a lot of songs in this movie I'm not that familiar with!" But I guessed that some of my old friends whose parents were more into his music would already know most of them. I have a Vashon Island memory of pulling giant horsetail weeds out of a hillside I used to live on (my friend and I were weeding it for my mother's ex-boyfriend) and listening to the Beatles and Bob Dylan blaring out of the open windows of the living room. Later, he informed us that we'd blown out the speakers. Thus, I learned that electronic equipment could be delicate.

What is a "mania?"

At this moment, my answer is: its when life gets really, really bright, like a super potent juice pureed with all sorts of berries and fruits, and then many things on the planet start looking really extraordinarily fascinating and you want to learn about them in a big gulp, and they all whoosh through your head very very very fast, yes, but then...you take a breath...
(I wish it were so simple for all people to Simmer Down.)

Burdock

Personal encounters with burdock: As a child, I put the burrs in my hair a la Ramona Quimby. Well, sort of. I think Ramona made an elaborate crown out of her burrs; I'm not sure if I got that far along with it. I probably got the girl next door to put some into her hair, too. I have also eaten the root in a sushi roll.

Sigh

Sigh sigh sigh SIGH sigh sigh SIGH sigh sigh SIGH sigh sigh.
I wonder how one would replicate sigh in other languages. Huh.

Wildflowers

The other day, I was flipping backwards through Wildflowers of the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains and I was rather struck by the similarities and differences in shape between Smooth Solomon's Seal and Bladder Campion. Just one of those things...

"Arianna"

Heard it long ago in a bookstore I worked in, listened to it recently in the car, found this version.

(not) writing

Sometimes I have a writing group with some of my friends from school, over the phone. We have used some exercises from the internet and also ones from school or ones we've found or made up. We were going to have it again this weekend until one of my friends was affected by a tragedy.
So swift, sudden, and sad.

*****

Well, went away from internet for a while, came back, and got a little bit shocked in several different arenas. Then I got a call from a friend. Mr. J.P. tells me that Mr. Oh is going nuts with random marriage proposals to strange women and raving about the end of the world. And I, for some reason, simply must come out and help this situation. Me: "Are you lying?" J.P.: "Do I lie?" Me: "Well, you've been known to stretch the truth." J.P.: "Do any of us really know the truth?" Well, I guess I will make a trek out.
Sidenote: Spring is here. Flowers are very important. None of us would be here without flowers.

Recent memoir read

A View of the Ocean by Jan de Hartog.

Old Songs

These songs are like being a kid in the back of a car my Dad was driving around in part of upstate NY near West Point. Caribou, I mean, Carribean Queen by Billy Ocean, and I Ran by Flock of Seagulls. Little did I know that soon I'd be tossing french fries in the air for the seagulls on the West Coast at Ivar's. (Good grief, those birds sound squawky.) And I didn't know that soon I'd be seeing what my sister would call "Mountain Reindeer" all the time. (Well, on clearer days.) Or do what seemed bizarre in summertime--walk on the mountain, through snow, wearing sunblock and shorts. Or tag along on shopping trips to REI. Or lose a jelly shoe in the stony bottomed river running through the Hoh Rainforest. Or do all the cool stuff at the Pacific Science Center. This song is off the record my mom's boyfriend gave to us, maybe for Christmas, before we went to Seattle: Abiyoyo. Also, he gave me Johnathan Livingston Seagull to read sometime in the winter, before we left. Besides reading Laura Ingalls Wilder books, and some book by Shel Silverstein, I remember listening or singing along to One Grain of Sand and I thought it very beautiful, in the off-and-on flooded basement in the old woman's house in Renton. The song has been made into a book.