Makes me feel

actually good about living on this planet:
Evan Lysacek's 2006 freeskate to "Carmen."
Also on UK TV since I can't watch the other on my older Mac.

Olympic Ice was GREAT

I LOVED this show in 2006!!! I want it to come back sooo bad!!!
Olympic Ice part of Episode 10
Olympic Ice part of Episode 13
I guess that on a channel called "Universal Sports" there's supposed to be a figure skating preview show which might be similar...

How weird

Yes, I said to myself. Almost 3 years, no raises, and then more or less let go on account of snow which shut down the federal government for four days. The hours I'm not there, I will be improving my situation. Studying. I will be progressing, I will be back-on-the-career path tracking...
Yes, or, eating half thawed frozen berries, and watching T.V.
(Not even the Olympics! Pretty Woman and Jersey Shore! WTF)

I believe in repetition

And re-meeting the creative ones who put out the books, music, art you like, like
Ropes &
Shapeshifters
tonight.

Progress?

Not long ago, when my sister married a veteran, he was told that they should not live on the post where I was born (Ft. Bragg), because it was not safe enough for a young woman. When I was little, there were times my mother was furious that she had to stay in all day at Ft. Sill, because my Dad didn’t think she should go out by herself. But I also remember being in the car and seeing him pull over on base or post so he could jump out and salute the flag. He graduated in the same class as someone who is in the news a lot. (Petraeus.) I shook little gold and black pom poms at Army football games. I used to wear a “My Daddy is a Paratrooper” t-shirt. I cried in an airport when he had to go overseas.

West Pointers always impressed me as a bunch of adults who were fit, happy, and nice to little kids at their BBQs. I remember one who joked around and showed me how to squirt water out of his hands, pretending there was a frog in the swimming pool at the Watervliet arsenal. But as I grew up, I learned that bad things can still happen among good people. In high school, I heard the story of someone whose 12-year-old daughter had been assaulted on base by a group of GI’s. She never told anyone until she wound up in the hospital years later. A girl that used to live here told me a story about her friend, a very intelligent, scientifically-minded guy who went to West Point. She said it had been his dream to go there. But a female classmate told him about a classmate who assaulted her. She made him swear not to tell anyone because she was afraid of negative consequences. After this, her friend became obsessed with watching this guy’s every move, and entertained fantasies of revenge. Finally, because he felt consumed with anger and so helpless to do anything about it, he quit. (She said he went back to school somewhere else though.) I guess that would have been in the ‘90s.

Today for some reason I had “Proud to be an American” running through my head. I understand this song gives many people good, fuzzy feelings of pride and patriotism. Not just the WASPy Christian types either. (Which is what I am if you look at my heritage.) As this song was bugging me, I turned the TV on and found a hearing on the Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military. While some can listen to that patriotic song and automatically get those warm feelings, it is not so easy for me to feel that way. But at least some things are improving. Incidents that probably were routinely swept under the carpet when I was a kid, or in my teens and twenties, have begun to be seriously addressed, most recently by:
Rear. Ad. Louis Iasiello (Ret.)
Brig. Gen. Sharon Dunbar (who pointed out that there are both male and female victims)
Rep. Loretta Sanchez
Rep. Niki Tsongas
Chairwoman Susan Davis

After the maelstrom

of the upcoming chocolate-gorging, bouquet-buying, hallmark holiday, spring will be coming so EAT DAISIES! Hee hee.
Not being a person who eats everything raw, lately I'm curious about cooking non-wheat types of grain.
How about this little episode on Amaranth.

Iceskating is coming!

This weekend! Yay!!!!
I still love watching this clip of the Canadians at the 2002 Olympics.

guess what a really awesome food is

pumpkin seeds.

I kind of like this article about the snow.

Some books I'm liking

Dr. Atkins Vita-Nutrient Solution (not the famous diet!)
Angel Therapy (my copy, from a library booksale, has a different cover.)

Seeing other people's side, too

I guess that the whole health insurance (I'm looking for some now) situation is a challenge to us to see how open we can be to finding a solution and that involves seeing others' sides of the story. So if you have good insurance, but you're afraid of losing it, or even if you only have okay health insurance but you're afraid of things getting worse, this is something that shows how much you are able to see another's situation. If you don't have good insurance, and need it, and want change, how compassionate can you be towards others who seem to be blocking that change?
If you are sick, and stressed out, how can you be compassionate towards other people? And if you hit a wall or feel like your limit has been reached, maybe all you can do for a moment is pray. I personally know people who have worked very hard in their life and now are out of options because they had cancer when they were younger and no insurance company will accept them. This is a funny quote too: "I think it's the height of hypocrisy that a single-payer system is American-as-apple-pie if you're 65, but a socialist nightmare if you're 64." From: Do You Want to Be Right, or...

Some people I've known

Some people I don't talk to know...(Now? Know?)
Is it okay to eat the green part of garlic?
What is aioli anyway?
Oh was that like the mayonesa they used to put on pizza.
What happened to some people.
Remember when the staff at the lodge made a good dinner and dressed up and painted their faces and ran around the diningroom half naked and beat drums and acted "native" because the boat the day before hadn't brought sufficiently scrumptious food and the tourists were complaining and they knew the show would make them happy?
What if this girl is someone I once knew, someone who slept in my bed, along with her cousin, because the family thought the reason I was sick was because I was sad her brother had to go up river and work in the lodge and they felt sorry for me because I was solita?
I brought them a book. Obrando Como Si El Dios...
Is this cat really that smiley, or photoshopped?

New turn of events

Hah, I sort of, like, got fired from a job today. That's a first! Well, I couldn't go in. There's snow, you see. There's roads, you see, that aren't good for my car to be on right now. There's 13 miles of that sort of road, you see. The buses weren't running. The Metro stations by me weren't open.
Yeah, but someone just didn't see.
(Responsible things I did: warned in advance, called people, tried to get shift covered, asked them if they want to send out a truck to pick me up.)
Instead, I'm told I have a "bad attitude." Ha. I guess that attitude is shared by my other employer & school and the fact that the federal government is getting shut down tomorrow. And the roads...
Nature must have a bad-ass attitude.
It's a sign!!!!

Something of a surprise

Lately all I want to read is about how to heal yourself. I thought, ugh, afterall, what use do I have for literature. Especially after I read a fiction book from the library that seemed to make me feel worse. I thought, give up on that stuff, old English Major. But who knows, maybe I still do like "literature." Maybe Samuel Johnson was quite interesting...

Came to mind

She's Leaving Home.
She's Leaving Home.

This is still cool :-D

Perelandra Soil-less Gardens

Heigh ho heigh ho

I think tomorrow it's off to the allopathic Dr. I go.
I keep getting better and then worse and I just can't keep doing that. It's too unpleasant and nerve-wracking. Think you're better? BOOM. Sorry! Just kidding! So I will also try to contact an allopath.
Probably my subconscious self is making me do that.
I suppose some part of me finds it absolutely amazing that some people could actually care more about the deficit and some future fearful, politically motivated predictions than the health of the human body and what is going on RIGHT now at this very moment with people who work in all the lowest positions in society. People who serve you, who take care of your food and produce in the grocery store, who chop your salad in the kitchen, who do all sorts of things you probably take for granted every day, and that you don't care if that person gets sick, lies in bed crying with a fever, feels they can't afford to go to the Dr., can't get insurance coverage because of a pre-existing condition, or if they can afford to, has to pay something like 2 k a month and then even that doesn't cover what they need. When I worked with a Dutch publisher, NONE of them complained about health insurance. They were also quite happy with their days off and longer maternity leaves and their benefits. None of them wanted to be American. Why? And supposedly there are horror stories about Canada...I've met a few Canadians who weren't unhappy with their benefits. Sure there are problems there as anywhere. There are plenty of problems here too! The only Canadians I have actually heard of complaining of anything was hearing a third-hand account about the neighbors' parents having to wait in line for a flu shot. In the grand scheme of things...Bothering to notice and caring about other people's well being, even if you might have the privileged position at the moment, which you are afraid of losing, is what is important.
Well that is how I feel about that.
I bet Jesus would want everyone to have health coverage.
Anyways for some reason I think I have to go the Dr. so I will improve my attitude about it. Since I have to go, it's beginning to seem to me...
I'm going to get better. I have been told so.
Roses, roses, roses, roses roses...
;-)

Cool, interesting stuff.

Soiiiless Garrrdensss ;-D

I feel better. Or then worse. I get knocked down but I get up again!
(oh illness, how it makes one okay with any positive song!!!)
I hope I can find the bottle of Kyolic garlic capsules.

Progressing beyond kefir and ricecakes.

Praise Jesus, it's possible that the money I've spent (er, charged) on supplements and expensive organic food, and the diligence with which I've been using essences, seems to be paying off. Not cheap, but perhaps still cheaper than the allopathic route.
Today on FB I saw a link to this new article.
Maybe it was partly inspired by this, written two years ago?
Sigh. I feel that the older I get the more I am saddened or (much better) amused by people who appear to think they know it all about politics. Liberal, conservative. Spread your negative analysis all over the internet. I daresay if you publish and present at a conference you will meet with great success. Rise, O rise to the top, spout of wisdom, as you travel with your gospel and toss their fears back to their faces, for they will feel reaffirmed, and in a wobbly sort of way, momentarily safe in their convictions. It will probably be enough to for them to pay to see you, for a while.