Diverting cutlery

Choices:

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (with Carl Sagan)

or

Reflections on Kid A

As much as I have enjoyed that Radiohead album, I'll carve out the time to watch the Cosmos episode first. But I will probably also watch the other sometime.

woe is the cough, but happy is the ear

Sskii Jjumpp

Where it was retrieved...
http://litlover.blogspot.com/2013/12/nighttime-car-tunes.html

Survey

http://www.concordma.com/magazine/winter03/thoreausurveys.html

When I took this Body Consciousness & Gender Expression survey a few weeks ago, I rated my feet highly. (My mother was once asked to be a foot model.)

~~~~

Oooo.

http://www.concordma.com/magazine/winter03/tuberculosis.html
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/8856.php
http://www.thetruthabouttb.org/stories/arthensias-story

Sounds like some advice:

“I was lucky because I’m really into the spiritual side of life, so I really submerged myself in it. That was what kept me going."

http://www.thetruthabouttb.org/stories/imla

Pro-vaccine

I think I'm going to become one of those who starts getting the flu shot.

Best recent thoughts in the shower

Garth Brooks thanks God for unanswered prayers, and I thank God for long hot showers.

(I thought the one thought repeatedly.)

Cat

http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/5850/485125.page

There's a new cat in the area. She belongs to people upstairs, and they had two different names for her, but they gave her a new collar, and now she just has one. She came into the apartment once. She kept crying outside the door yesterday. I went out to pet her and I heard one of the neighbors talking on the phone about how this cat was basically foisted upon her as she was about to go out on a date. She supposedly eats a lot, but she's still pretty skinny. But the neighbor doesn't want her getting too big, she says. I wonder if the cat likes it there...

Before & After

Before:
Getupearly, don'tmisswork, takethedayquilstuff, thinkaboutsomethings, hmmmmaybethere'saninsight, areyouinnerchildlysadaboutyourlostuncle?, letscry, okaycry, heymaybethecoldwillgo awaynow! gotothestoreandbuyremedystuff, getinthecar, Boleroisplaying, isn'titinspiring....

After:
Why do you go in, get sent home after a half an hour, and get sick in the parking lot? The White Anglo Saxon Protestant Work Ethic is not intelligent. Come home & peel off wet underwear (from nervousness and denim and a plastic bag filled with tissues and throw-up in your lap as you tried to navigate a detour since you took the streets in case you had to pull over and finally just ended up taking the freeway anyway.) And now you are too hyped up on the Dayquilish stuff you never seem to react to very well to really rest properly.

At least there's tea...

E is for eggzemplary

http://inhabitat.com/amazing-natural-packaging-eggs-what-makes-them-so-tough-anyway/

http://inhabitat.com/amazing-natural-packaging-eggs-what-makes-them-so-tough-anyway/

http://www.goodlightscraps.com/friendship-2.php

http://tacosnpolitics.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/eggs-for-breakfast/

Where's Molly?

I just read about a story/documentary that sounds sorrowful yet fascinating...

"Daly said his father, Jack, visited her every couple of months for several years. 'As soon as he would leave, Molly would cry and wonder why someone would show love and compassion and then leave,' Daly said. 'So the hospital asked him not to return because of the distraction.'

But Jack Daly, who was a Bumblebee cannery executive, formed an Astoria clown group, which would visit Fairview so he could secretly — under cover of an orange wig and white face paint — see his daughter."

http://tdn.com/news/local/siblings-to-share-unique-reunion-story-during-free-showing-of/article_fd5a0076-14d4-11e2-b40f-001a4bcf887a.html

~~~

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2615230/Woman-lost-5-decades-mental-institutions-brother-dies-aged-59.html

mejorando

throat is still awfully scratchy but at least for this morning I felt better-enough to load the dishwasher and sing along to Voice on Tape ~ Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...

http://cheezburger.com/1356162816

http://www.pinterest.com/bellabollewine/you-wine-some-you-lose-some/

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/kerry-parnell-knows-the-smart-thing-to-do-when-it-comes-to-dealing-with-her-dishwasherobsessive-husband/story-fni0cvc9-1226810283421

I love college radio stations....

Quisiera...

to not feel awful. But maybe more like:

http://flashfitportland.com/category/health/

Or perhaps...

http://flashfitportland.com/category/health/

Fourth Moon

From Lunaria calendar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Concert_in_the_Egg.jpg

With text (which I only noticed today) from Women's Mysteries of a Primitive People (from 1915)

"When, therefore, she saw that all the first earth-women were barren, long she pondered; then sent down to them a great white bird, which, on reaching earth, laid a gleaming egg--(the symbol of fertility. Old women tell that, after showing the people how, by honouring eggs and oval stones, and making sacrifice to the Great Mother, the gift of fruitfulness might be won, the magic bird flew back to its home in the sky; whence, with folded wings, soft brooding, she still watches over the children of men. Mortals call her 'Moon' and sometimes, when people are sleeping, the Moon-bird floats down from her place in the sky and pecks up grains or other food, which she finds lying about...That this is the simple truth and no fable, can be proved even to white people. For when you look up into the sky on a clear night, many or few, but plain to be seen, are the little star eggs--and how could these get there, if it were not that the great white Moon-bird had laid them?"

~~~

The Egg....

Third Moon

From Lunaria calendar.

http://www.henrirousseau.net/carnival-evening.jsp

With text from The Golden Bough.

"In Upper Lusatia the figure of Death, made of straw and rags, is dressed in a veil furnished by the last bride and a shirt provided by the house in which the last death took place. Thus arrayed the figure is stuck on the end of a long pole and carried at full speed by the tallest and strongest girl, while the rest pelt the effigy with sticks and stones. Whoever hits it will be sure to live through the year. In this way Death is carried out of the village and thrown into the water or over the boundary of the next village. On their way home each one breaks a green branch and carries it gaily with him till he reaches the village." 

"Cortical" issues and remedies and issues

“When people learn of errors they've made, the brain sets off what study co-author Michael Inzlicht calls a 'cortical alarm bell.' While this alert can be helpful in terms of self-correction, too much vigilance can lead to a frazzled state of mind. Religion, and its accompanying sense of order, provide insulation against such distress.

'These brain signals occur within a few hundredths of a second,' says Inzlicht, associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto Scarborough. 'Although that sounds trivial, (dampened alerts) over the course of a lifetime can translate into years in which a person enjoys greater equanimity and greater grace under pressure.'” 

http://michaelinzlicht.com/news/media/9%20vsun_jul2010_2.pdf

"Coping strategies, through the use of ritual, superstition, and even highly somatic experiences, remain pervasive. Nigerians, for instance, may have been deemed some of the happiest people in the world in spite of their challenges, but they also suffer to a significant degree from a culture-bound form of hysteria known as sleep paralysis. Sufferers of this experience will wake up in the middle of the night and find themselves completely stifled and unable to move. The feeling is understood as being ridden by a demon or a witch. Variations on this theme of being cursed or bound or transfixed by sorcery abound throughout Africa. A recipe or counterspell is then called for, and often purchased at markets." 

(page 115, A Brief History of Anxiety by P. Pearson)

(I have a feeling that people in many places have experienced that sleep paralysis...)

"Yoga works by turning off the sympathetic nervous system – your flight or fight response state-of-being, in the stressed-out mode – and restoring the body to its base levels of the parasympathetic nervous system – your relaxation response – through mindful breathing. Just one one-hour class can lower your heart rate and blood pressure, allowing beneficial blood flow to the digestive and reproductive organs and the endocrine and lymphatic systems"

http://sfbayview.com/2014/anasa-a-black-yoga-studio-in-oakland-an-interview-wit-founders-jean-marie-moore-and-katrina-lashea/


"And remember, somebody else has it worse."

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/431892/

Somehow, I ran across Phyllis Schlafly...

"Suppose the pay gap between men and women were magically eliminated. If that happened, simple arithmetic suggests that half of women would be unable to find what they regard as a suitable mate."

http://www.christianpost.com/news/facts-and-fallacies-about-paycheck-fairness-117959/

who I first heard about after Christine de Pizan was compared to her in one of my literature books. And then....

"Diana Davison is an artist, writer, and cartoonist with a background in the film industry. As a Canadian she has a good vantage point in the North for observing the insanity created by the Feminist lobby. With vast experience in being female she has decided to use her talents at having a vagina to speak out against her fellow Woxan."

http://www.avoiceformen.com/feminism/the-first-gender-war/

GIIC, the religious (and others) might say...

needzimprovement

Everyone has a different opinion, but to me, this is sad, like modern day witch-hunting, doing absolutely nothing to help anyone else who ever was wronged or devalued.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/08/amanda-knox-facial-expressions

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/oct/05/amanda-knox-making-of-she-devil

http://groundreport.com/how-the-us-state-department-failed-amanda-knox/

And heart

http://www.egreenway.com/yoga/heart.htm

specialspecialspecial...

throat

From divavillage

Othrooooat...

Salt water

From npr.org

Popsicle

From theatlantic.com

An idea.

~~~~

"The next day, Thoreau was lucky enough to go back to his nature studies."

http://www.npr.org/2014/02/17/274731963/dont-know-what-to-do-with-your-life-neither-did-thoreau

Sigh.

Blue

May the throat get happy.

http://balance.chakrahealingsounds.com/5th-chakra/

http://www.angeliska.com/2013/12/cold-winter-moon-solstice-blue/

What was that?

Felt the need to look up a curious dialogue snippet:

http://www.subzin.com/quotes/M45057617cd/Real+Life/Eat+your+pizza%2C+Honey.+Good+pizza.

• 00:26:27 Eat your pizza, Honey. Good pizza.
• 00:26:45 Honey, do you think it's safe...
• 00:26:47 for you to be eating with your heating pad in your lap ?
• 00:26:52 l have terrible cramps, l am bleeding profusely...
• 00:26:55 and l want to vomit on the table.
• 00:26:57 - [ Laughs ] - [Jeanette ] What are you doing ?
• 00:27:01 l just wanna let them know this is not the way...  


(Because of Bullseye, on the radio this weekend, around 48:00.)

Day of stories

I am just on page one of this really interesting story..

"My lover is experiencing reverse evolution. I tell no one. I don't know how it happened, only that one day he was my lover and the next he was some kind of ape. It's been a month, and now he's a sea turtle."

~ The Rememberer by Aimee Bender

~~~~

Also met a descendant of Edgar Allan Poe...and found an unexpected Tori reference!

Biking is like a Radiohead song

http://www.youbeauty.com/body-fitness/wearing-a-corset-every-day

mas TV enrichment

http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/04/17/fox-news-channel-debut-outnumbered-april-28th

"In the midst of a nationwide debate over whether Republicans are waging a war on women, Fox News is launching a new show called Outnumbered at the end of April. Outnumbered because the show will feature four female and one male host. The man will be 'outnumbered,' meaning that even though Outnumbered is supposedly a female-centric show, the male point of view is still so central that it gives the show its title."

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/04/17/outnumbered_on_fox_news_to_feature_four_female_hosts_one_man_we_re_gonna.html 

~~~

http://wizbangblog.com/2014/04/23/outnumbered-fox-news-to-debut-new-show-with-four-females-hosts-one-male/

~~~

http://www.ibtimes.com/fox-news-courts-women-viewers-outnumbered-female-dominated-daytime-show-1572789

le monde avant voustube

is hard to remember, and yet, it wasn't so very long ago...at any rate, Best of Unikitty made me a bit more interested in the LEGO movie...

Well.

"Not only did female and minority professors also respond most effusively to white guys, but 'there’s absolutely no benefit seen when women reach out to female faculty, nor do we see benefits from black students reaching out to black faculty or Hispanic students reaching out to Hispanic faculty,' Milkman says."

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/04/23/mentorship_in_academia_study_finds_that_professors_prefer_to_mentor_white.html

"It’s a little crass to push out book after book fawning over the success secrets of the world’s rich and powerful when so many Americans are living on the unfortunate end of extreme income inequality (and not because they don’t raise their hands enough in board meetings). Post-financial crisis, it’s not particularly progressive to write books idolizing America’s richest men and encouraging the rest of us to tug on our bootstraps to be more like them. But just inject a bit of feminism into the discussion, and it’s suddenly socially acceptable to distract from our fundamentally unfair economic system by focusing on gender equality at the very, very top."

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/04/16/the_confidence_code_another_self_help_book_for_rich_successful_women.html

Your MTV

Girls just want...



El: Do you want to watch Orange is the New Black?

Ella: (Original answer) No, I have books to read and other things to do. Who has time to watch all of these shows? (Revised answer) Not right now, but I might be getting kind of interested in Orphan Black...

"With one exception, the male characters of Orphan Black are purposefully insubstantial, bordering on feeble. This gender reversal is not an accident on the part of the show’s creators, Graeme Manson and John Fawcett; it’s clearly a conscious decision, and it effectively delivers the show’s most potent message about the nature, quality, and persistence of the enemy."

From:  http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2014/04/male_characters_on_orphan_black_are_undeveloped_making_the_show_s_feminist.html

99 cent delight

http://www.unclesgames.com/product_info.php/products_id/14624

(Smaller version available at the 99 cent store.)

I like my puzzles to have an outer frame before I begin to work on the inside. The blue sky part at the top is challenging...

thorsday's celebrity triangle

Katy, Jon, & Minnie

http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/katy-perry-stages-car-crash-dresses-as-clown-in-birthday-video-teaser-2014234

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/23/jon-hamm-penis_n_5200589.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

https://ca.celebrity.yahoo.com/blogs/celebrity-news/minnie-driver-hits-back-at-bikini-body-jibes-by-posting-naked-picture-online--twitter-explodes-131711055.html

Cavorting with the healthcare gods (part ii)

When I'd asked around about other people's experiences, one person told me he'd had success signing up at a clinic. I also ran into him at a little sidewalk folk music concert that evening. I hardly ever run into people from work where I live. So I was like, it's a sign! I reminded myself of this as I was waiting in line at DPSS.

I left and drove for about 20 minutes. I found parking at the clinic (YES! Thank you, parking gods.)

I walked in and the information desk directed me to a worker at a booth right away. NO LINES.

I pulled out all of my paperwork and explained my sad story to her. She was trying to tell me I needed to call another number.

I said "I've been told to call this and that number and I've tried so many and I can never get through and I want to don't want to call anyone anymore, I want to do this in person now."

She asked where I'd gotten my information from. I said I'd gotten some things from Covered CA and had also spoken to people at DPSS. A look of horror crossed her face.

"Oh, don't go to DPSS!"

She said "Do you have your case number?"

I said "I'll show you what I have," and as I pulled out the letter I got all the way back in January, she stuck her pink cell phone in my face.

"Give him your case number."

Someone on the other line was asking what I needed. I was like, "Um....well I'm visiting a clinic and talking to a counselor and she just told me to give you my case number..."

He waited, saying nothing. I gave him my number.

Over the phone, it sounded like he was doing lots of clicking around on his computer. After a few minutes, he told me that I had gone from "Pending" to "Eligible!" He said I could check online and see that my status had been changed.

He told me that I'd have to wait to get more information in the mail because they were still processing me, but if I went somewhere in the county for services, I would probably be okay.

I asked who I should contact if I wanted to talk to someone about receiving my information, and he was like "I don't understand your question."

I said "I mean, aren't I supposed to receive a Medi-Cal card? Who should I talk to if weeks go by and I don't get anything? Should I call the county?"

He said I could call back at that number (and then he gave it to me) but remember not to panic, because it can take 30-90 days to receive the information.

I said "But I've been waiting since December."

He sounded annoyed and said "That's because it was processing" and reiterated that now it's been changed.

I said, "Well, thank you for doing that for me."

We hung up. The counselor told me that if I come in to a county clinic, they should be able to look it up and accept me under Medi-Cal. She also said that in May, Medi-Cal would probably start offering some dental services.

I told her I was grateful for the help she had given me. I was definitely happier as I drove away. The music on the radio, though (I think it was the middle part of Stravinsky's Rites of Spring) gave the experience somewhat of an Orwellian feel...

My new online status!

Medi-Cal: Eligible – You can visit a doctor this month. Your local county office will contact you with more details within 30 days.

Cavorting with the healthcare gods

Visited two buildings in the morning and was fortunate in finding parking at both places...passed through security, and went up to the information desk.

I told them that I had applied for healthcare in December through Covered CA and received information that I was eligible for Medi-Cal.  The lady asked me to write down my address to figure out which district was designated for my city. (There were two.)

As she looked up my zipcode in a book of maps, I saw a sheet in her inbox that listed my city under one of the districts and pointed at it. "My city is listed here. Does that make a difference?"

"No," she didn't even bother to look at it. She handed me a slip marked with the name of the other district.

"You can reapply for Medi-Cal, but keep in mind that processing the application can take up to 45 days. We'll take you as a courtesy, but for future reference, next time you should go to Pasadena."

Then she directed me toward lobby C, for the El Monte people. So I went, with my little slip marked "El Monte" and "Medi-Cal" and "Courtesy."

There were many people at many different stations waiting on others. I saw a line of about 20 people and figured I might have to go wait in it.

"Do I need to wait in line to apply for Medi-Cal?" I asked a secretary. She nodded.

I got in line. More people quickly filed behind me. There was a young mother with an actually kind of cute baby right in front of me. There was a mother with a crying baby on the other side. I stood in line and read my book for a little while, but I was like, what grim, placid hell is this?

Icy

Winter! Leaving so soon?

From nationalgeographic.com

From nationalgeographic.com

SEA things again (more visual)

So totally for Earth Day

yenos part ii

voice of reason: you're obviously feeling better now

so get up and go to the dpss or a clinic and bother them in person about getting your health insurance already

noyesonyesooonnnnnnooooooyeessyessyessyessnooooosyeeeeeessssaooooueiu!o

~~~

First I might venture out to get my car's fossil fuels changed. It really needs it. Also, the results seem much more guaranteed. 

yenos

http://www.chocolala.co.uk/about/chocolates/lemon.php

No YES no YES

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bella/2012/01/lemon_chocolate_tarte_at_coup.php

nonononoyesyesyesyes

http://www.phamfatale.com/id_719/title_Lemon-and-Chocolate-Filled-Cardamom-Thumbprints/

NOyesnoyesnoyesnoyes?

http://cakewalkr.com/lemon-chocolate-cake/

tastebudspancreasendorphinsdehydration

ah, resignation

I don't watch this show. But....

"As a book reader, my immediate response to the scene was not an astonished  'Oh my god, I can’t believe Jaime did that,' but a resigned 'Here they go again, taking something horrible and making it even worse.' (Ross Douthat called it 'gore-ing the lily' in one of our roundtables last year.)"

***

"In fact, it’s easy to make the case that accidentally blundering into a scene this disturbing and controversial is worse than deliberately engineering one. And Benioff’s recent response to Vanity Fair’s questions about the show’s treatment of sex, nudity, and women generally were cavalier, to say the least.

So blame the scene on Benioff and Weiss and anyone else involved in its production. (It’s hard to imagine that someone didn’t point out that this was a really bad idea.) But don’t assume that it implies some dramatic shift in the moral trajectory of Jaime Lannister. Until further notice, he’s still a character we’re meant to root for, however much more difficult that may now be."

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/04/game-of-thrones-rape/361011/ 

~~~~

"Speaking of 'complete human beings,' Benioff also addresses the criticism the show has received regarding "excessive sex and female nudity".  Answering via email, the creator says "I'm sitting here next to my wife [actress Amanda Peet] and I just asked her.  She says: 'What matters is whether there are great roles for women of all ages and types and whether women in the story actually propel the plot. If they take their clothes off while they do that, so be it.'"  Adding, "I don't know if she's the right person to ask: She's showing her tits tomorrow in her HBO show," referring to her role in HBO's "Togetherness".

http://www.etcanada.com/blogs/etc_88548/got-creators-talk-nudity-casting-and-end-game-secrets-in-vanity-fair/tv/

~~~

"Please join me in supporting Shot At Life so we can be on the right side of history, and help give all children a shot at a healthy childhood.

Love, Amanda"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amanda-peet/every-childs-wishes-and-d_b_5185625.html

~~~

Dear Amanda,

I hope you feel the same way about the kids of the people who pick America's fruits and vegetables. 

ABCD

"The consensus is that this simple intervention helps prevent girls from dropping out of school after menarche."

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/04/sanitary-napkin-business/360297/

~~~~

"In 1926, the poet Dorothy Parker published the incisive rhyming couplet: 'Men seldom make passes / at girls who wear glasses.' It was typical of Parker’s cynical wit, but back then not altogether untrue. A New York Times obituary of Parker confirms that she did, in fact, eschew spectacles in public or 'when men were present.'"

"When people see an asymmetrical, vaguely medical-looking body augmentation—even something as technologically advanced as Glass—the 'sick role' detective work is applied. Something must be wrong. People are also scared deep-down that assistive technology allows for unfair advantages."

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/04/people-dont-like-google-glass-because-it-makes-them-seem-weak/360919/

~~~~

(http://collation.folger.edu/2014/04/buzz-or-honey-shakespeares-beehive-raises-questions/#identifier_1_7923)

"First, there are mute annotations: handwritten “underlinings, slashes, and other small marks” that don’t accompany any added words. Then, there are small spoken annotations, new handwritten words commenting on the dictionary."

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/04/has-shakespeares-own-dictionary-been-found/361019/

~~~~

"Would American society be better off if stakeholders in various corporations began to investigate leadership's political activities on abortion and to lobby for the termination of anyone who took what they regard to be the immoral, damaging position?"

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/04/mozillas-gay-marriage-litmus-test-violates-liberal-values/360156/

My body is a litmus test

http://www.dep.wv.gov/WWE/getinvolved/sos/Pages/AMD1.aspx

Being clever is a fine way for other minds to get their rocks off...not so much mine, it seems.

Insight comes courtesy of waking up sick again.

E

Ella: And this girl came by and she was all friendly and she gave me gardening tips and she said her name was "Gabi" on the morning of the day that Gabriel Garcia Marquez died! What do you think of that?

El: snore....

Can't believe I forgot about Erendira.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/news/erendira-and-her-heartless-grandmother

Inspirative

In an otherwise doleful day, the hours between 11 and 1 were much more upbeat...first, a young man actually wrote me a letter envisioning me as the person he writes in 8 years to tell me that he is a great success and has earned advanced degrees and still remembers how I told him to follow his dreams...also had the opportunity to talk to another who grew up moving around a lot with military family members, a big guy who is into football and gets regularly asked what "gang" he's in even though he has no interest in joining one...then, a very nice girl informed me of some creative writing opportunities I might want to investigate...

Sea things

Sea Stars ~ "Mind Over Matter"

This on a big screen is kind of like having your own aquarium:

Giant Sea Turtles in Coral Reef

Still unformed, embryonic

Interesting how J. T. in Cracks is a whole other entity from J. T. in The Brass Teapot...Early in the morning came a creative story idea: J followed A who was traumatized by an accidental mendicant assassin at the University of T so she turned around and said, why don't you go there and deliver a talk: destroying your own liver is no excuse for inflicting bodily harm on others, why not? Bonus points if the ama is one of J's biggest fans (no guarantees)...An aside to the ama, especially if accused of lying: you're an alcoholic amnesiac. After the alarm went off, a lizard in front of the fridge brought back a dream from long ago: an iguana clung to a bunch of garlic like it was medicine. One friend convinced another that it should be tossed out the window. She was laughing. It began screaming and secreting brown liquid. A la niña querida de lamancha: después de que los detalles acerca de las cremalleras y látigos de cuero ¿alguna vez piensas en escribir acerca de tu madre? The lizard was very still, but moved to evade the human hands and large tupperware container which sought to humanely catch it. It disappeared into a crack between the cupboards. However did it get inside? Perhaps it eats crickets.

An Easter resolution

Today my new phone actually "rang" (emitted inoffensive ringtone noises.) I've been mostly texting so I'm still a novice at answering it (and failed to do so) but I was able to call back. The caller was an older woman who used to take care of my sister and me when we were kids.  She has an aide who answered the phone for her. I guess her eyesight is not what is was, but her voice startled me. She sounds as sprightly as ever. The call was short because she is a live-in-the-moment type who is not one for long phone conversations. Her main question was when would she be able to see me next. She said she looked forward to meeting up with me again "when the time is right for us."

In the next 12 months, I will try to get better at getting "out there."

~~~

She also said it was good I am figuring what I want to be when I grow up....

Song drifting in from yesterday...

https://soundcloud.com/chillosophie/nightmares-on-wax-master-plan

Leads to flowers

"Since the advent of the viral rhyme 'stranger danger' in the 1970s (and the 90 percent reduction in roaming area for children playing outdoors), we've seen correlating negative health statistics. Most children in this country don't play outside anymore, they don't go far when they do, and their bodies and minds are paying the price."

~ Let Them Be Eaten By Bears, page 5.

The Let Them Be Eaten By Bears author on violent video games.

~~~

"In college I went shooting with my dad, sister and brother. I'd been playing Resident Evil for a few weeks. As soon as I had a little .22 rifle in my hand and I saw my brother a few yards away, I had this sudden urge. My brain screamed 'shoot him!'    

Seriously.

It only happened for a split second. It's not like it affected my actions at all, or was even close to happening. I felt sick about it, in fact. I wanted to throw up just for thinking it. Only recently have I thought about that moment and not felt sick to my stomach."

~ Temporary Focus post on violent video games.

~~~

Went looking for The End Of Boys and somehow wound up finding Otherhood.

~~~

Then the post about the flower artwork on the cover:

http://melanienotkin.com/2014/02/28/otherhood-meaning-behind-the-cover/

~~~

And then was looking for that book review that called the cover with a girl and flowers on it "feeble" but at first I couldn't remember the title correctly and wound up reading about A Taste of Honey.

~~~

"Ciezadlo tells the story of a young Iraqi girl about to celebrate her 11th birthday in 2003. She had been out of school for a week because of a bombing that occurred on the first day of Ramadan that year, and her mother decided she wanted to get her a cake, because she was beginning to go 'utterly stir-crazy' at home.

'This would seem like a simple thing, right?' Ciezadlo asks. But in Baghdad at that point in time, conditions had begun to deteriorate. Driving around town looking for just the right birthday cake was not only an act of bravery, but also a tremendous act of love, because it was so dangerous.

'It became this odyssey for her mother,' Ciezadlo explains. The cake, she says, became a symbol of everything they couldn't have — like normalcy."

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/13/134455829/day-of-honey-the-unifying-sweetness-of-food

More personal healthcare stories

Thousands of young California immigrants eligible for health insurance but don’t often know it

More than 200,000 Los Angeles County residents to be forced into managed health care

Peter Lee, California health exchange chief, reflects on successes and glitches

~~~

There actually are some articles that focus on people. They just seem quite a bit harder to find than the stories that are mostly talking about numbers. It is at least a little bit encouraging to see some media interest in these stories...

From Susan Abram:

"Jackson James, 29, of North Hollywood, said he enrolled almost three months ago and his coverage has yet to begin. He keeps receiving mixed messages about his Medi-Cal status, he said, and telephone and online chats with Covered California and Medi-Cal have yielded no answers.

'It’s unbelievable,' said the freelance camera operator. 'I did what I was supposed to do, which was to get insured.'

James said he carried a catastrophic insurance plan before, but he let that lapse after he was certain he had enrolled through Covered California. After meeting with a counselor Friday, he said the issue had yet to be resolved.

'I was told to call her Monday,' he said. 'I just kind of feel pinned down by the whole thing.'”

http://www.dailynews.com/government-and-politics/20140328/thousands-of-californians-expected-in-last-minute-enrollment-into-obamacare

Mural

http://livingnewdeal.berkeley.edu/projects/fullerton-post-office-mural-orange-pickers-fullerton-ca/

Mornings

This morning:

Felt trapped, as if I couldn't sleep or move because of ripples in my brain, followed by some chronic pain (always arresting.) But, that didn't last forever. So, the later morning could be better / more productive (possible trip to DPSS?)

Yesterday morning:

Weeded some plants and got stared at by a cow. A girl* I never met before came walking by and acted superfriendly. She told me of her love of theater and gave me some of her and her mom's tips for growing fruit and flowers. Actually, she passed by and talked to me about that twice. She skipped as she walked away the second time.

*She said her name was Gabi

NUMBersNUMBersNUMBersNUMBers

800,000 STILL WAITING IS STILL A LOT OF PEOPLE!

From http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/health/Covered-California-sign-ups-exceed-projections-255697171.html

"Overall, the Obama administration had projected California would enroll 1.3 million during the first enrollment period, which began Oct. 1. Covered California said the state had set a target of around 830,000.

The state also accepted the expansion of the low-income health insurance program that was offered under the federal health care law.

Toby Douglas, director of the California Department of Health Care Services, said more work should be done to make Medi-Cal, California's version of Medicaid, more user-friendly and efficient. While roughly 1.9 million people gained coverage through Medi-Cal as a result of the federal overhaul, about 800,000 people are still waiting for their applications to be processed."

This is literary?

I've seen references to Kafka, Vonnegut...I am not sure if this health insurance sign up confusion makes me want to read anything, except for maybe The Depression Workbook.

 

 

 

Room for debate?

Need yoga?

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-last-day-to-sign-up-for-covered-california-20140415,0,7539534.story#axzz2z9eDNH63

Need legislation?

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_25540051/norma-j-torres-covered-california-needs-more-diversity

Trying and failing to get health insurance as things keep chugging along and almost no one seems to care is pretty degrading.

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/04/05/should-los-angeles-new-yorkify

The Healthcare Hornswoggle Saga

Eat Pray Love Get Rich...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

http://www.theonion.com/articles/american-obesity-epidemic-traced-to-single-heavyse,35640/?ref=auto

http://www.theonion.com/articles/woman-takes-short-halfhour-break-from-being-femini,35026/?ref=auto

http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-appalled-at-date-who-lied-slightly-more-than-h,35777/

http://www.theonion.com/articles/company-president-started-out-as-fertilized-embryo,35484/?ref=auto

andwon'tsomeonethinkof...

phphphphphphphph

whatdoesitMEANwhatdoesitMEANwhatdoesitMEANwhatdoesitMEAN
whatdoesitMEANwhatdoesitMEANwhatdoesitMEANwhatdoesitMEAN
whatdoesitMEANwhatdoesitMEANwhatdoesitMEANwhatdoesitMEAN

Dear DPSS

Instead of giving me more phone #s and application #s and dead ends, why can't you invite me to come in and just apply in person? I can bring books and wait for half a day if you have a bathroom.

And OH! I can also bring my new phone! Loyalty plan = I don't have to pay extra for fancy phone I can watch videos on and such. I was only minutely disappointed to learn that I cannot use Leafsnap on it. 

It only took me 10 minutes to fix a problem with my cell phone company this morning.

Salient

He who introduces me to interesting films by female directors that I might not otherwise have heard of...

Cracks (http://lacinematkdejoemarlango.blogspot.com)

The Milk of Sorrow (http://stalepopcornau.blogspot.com)

Surprisingly Absorbing

The tiny pieces that make up this puzzle:

http://www.unclesgames.com/product_info.php/cPath/4_582_585_606/products_id/14622

And it's great to find a picture of it online, since "AMERICANA" and "500" are obscuring big portions of the corners on the box from the 99 cent store.

Fortuitousness

I found an online reference to a show about an artist I was curious about, even though I spelled his name "Tebow."

http://www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/2014/03/05/36332/pop-art-icon-wayne-thiebaud-the-old-pie-man-tells/ 

From http://ldavick.blogspot.com/2009/04/easter-treat.html

From http://ldavick.blogspot.com/2009/04/easter-treat.html

Squash excitement

http://eastofedenfarms.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/patty-pan-not-peter-pan/

http://www.lowcarbkitty.com/recipe-flying-squashers-with-tomato-ragout/

http://www.northernvirginiamag.com/uncategorized/2010/06/09/peter-pan-squash/

I feel excited about squashes.

I don't know if I am as excited about self-watering containers; I don't want them the squashes to get blossom-end rot.

~~~~~

Squash amusement!

http://www.lowcarbkitty.com/pattypan-squash-vegetable-or-ghost/

http://ohsheglows.com/2010/07/20/pretty-in-the-pan-stuffed-patty-pan-squash/

http://chickensintheroad.com/farm-bell-recipes/stuffed-patty-pan-squash/

http://andloveittoo.com/growing-up-isnt-so-bad-peter-pan-squash-spiced-oven-fries/

tired to tiresome

Is writing and getting published your highest calling? Do you find yourself able to teach a text, but perhaps less able to apply your principles to real life situations?  Do you mostly feel sorry for that accidental mendicant assassin because s/he's got so many problems, too? Do you suppose s/he's tenured yet? Is that problematic for you? Do you care that big schools are rampant with assault everywhere? Have you done anything about it lately? If you'd had enough experience with any of these types of old-but-still-going-ons, you might feel you'd got away from a very sick system that is horribly untrustworthy, low on self-critique, possibly even worse than the military, too much.

Just a song coincidence

Audio Bullys - Shot You Down feat. Henry Mancini - Lujon Remix

On Tuesday, sometime between noon and 1 p.m., I heard a remix of "Bang Bang" (possibly the one I posted above) while I was in the car. I am not sure, since I cannot find it listed on the radio station's playlist. (Frustrating!) But as I was searching for it last night, I happened to find out that it had been in a movie (which I didn't remember for some reason) and that the movie version of it was recently given the cabaret treatment... 

~~~~~

Lujon ~ Henry Mancini