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Image003.jpeg
Originally uploaded by Storm.

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Image000.jpeg
Originally uploaded by Storm.

Can't think of a title...

Anyway. I am up. It has not started raining yet although it look semi-cloudy out. It does say we're going to have thunderstorms today. Looks like that is more likely here than in Wocester.

Watched Howl's Moving Castle last night. An odd movie. I don't know if something gets lost in translation or if Miyazaki is so into the visuals that he doesn't care if the plot seems to make any sense or not. Anyway - like all his movies it is beautiful. It really should be seen on the big screen.

And look what was on Make Magazine blog this morning! A link to a free download of a paper craft Howls Castle. Took me a bit to figure out what I was downloading from the Japanese site. And how knows if I will ever put it together but I have it if I want to.

Also I looked on PaperbackSwap.com and ordered one of Diana Wynne Jones's books. Not "Howl's Moving Castle" as they didn't have that - but "A Sudden Wild Magic". If I like it then maybe I will look for Howl's too.

So it's 8:30 and I have now been up too long to go back to sleep. I think I will get myself out for a walk this morning. My heels hurt - but I will do some good stretching.

Pretty good Friday

Possible new glasses
Originally uploaded by Storm.

There is nothing in the world like a sunny day! It makes me feel so good. And today it got up over 70 degrees! Crazy huh?

Anyway I took the old lady to an ENT appointment at 2:30 and did not have to go back to work. SO afterwards we stopped at the optometrist to drop off her glasses to have a new prescription put in and I tried on some glasses there. These are the ones I think I would like. I made an appointment to have my eyes checked - I know I need a new prescription. And they will probably try and talk me into bifocals. But I don't want bifocals - perhaps it is pure vanity, but I think I will put up wearing reading glasses separately for a while.

Tomorrow Ken should be back from MA to pick me up in the early afternoon and then we will head back down in time for him to set up for his show tomorrow night.

OH! I almost forgot - I EXERCISED tonight. Yes it's true I went out for a three mile walk. I don't think my heels can stand running anymore, but I did some speed walking. I feel pretty good and just may go out tomorrow morning. See what a little sunlight does for you?

Exercising!
Originally uploaded by Storm.

Time Flies

Where has the week gone? And yes I know it's Thursday but I keep feeling like it's Friday. A combination of the nice weather (finally) and the fact that Ken is off to MA this evening.

We've had a couple of weeks of ups and downs and ups. I end with up because I think we are on an up swing. After getting the old lady totally off Topamax - and sometime I will come back to this and document the craziness of that drug - we also got appointments back down in Boston. So April 7th we are back to Brigham and Women's to see - a cardiologist, a dermatologist and a Behavioral Neurologist. It's gonna be a full day let me tell you! Also started her with a new new primary care doctor up here at Grace Cottage. I am a little disappointed that he hasn't answered her call about her swollen feet/ankles though. AND I got her down to Bratt to see a ophtamologist. SO you can see why sometimes I simply freak out about the sheer amount of time I am spending away from work and taking her to doctors. OH and I didn't mention that she also had a CT scan the week before last at Dartmouth (half a day off) and I have to take her to an ENT tomorrow and leave work early again?

Anyhow as I mentioned last Friday Ken and his son and I went to see V for Vendetta. We had dinner out first at the Eagle Tavern in Newport NH. That was fun - B and I got to make fun of Ken together. B also got to make fun of me and I got to be all sarcastic - which I think he likes. Between that and the movie things went really really well. I do like the kid. He has a good sense of humor, he is dry and sarcastic, and yes kind of geeky. But underneath you can see that he is really a good kid and thinks a lot about what is going on. I think it was the most relaxed with him that I have been. And the most relaxed he has been around me.

Unfortunatly some other stuff happened that weekend so it wasn't a total sucess. But I think we are all coming out of that funk.

Ken and Cold Duck are performing at Vincent’s on Suffolk Street in Worcester this Saturday night. He's got a mention in Charlene Arsenault's column in the Worcester Magazine. (Thanks Charlene!) He has already headed down to MA so he can get a little practice in before the gig. He is coming back to get me Saturday morning ( as his car is in the shop and he's got mine). I wish I could have gone down tonight with him. But between the old lady and work it wasn't possible.

The one thing that sucks (and this is really bothering me) is that the weather this week has been GREAT but guess what? That's right - rain again on SAaturday. What the hell is going on? Last Saturday I was so happy to wake up and see the sun that I went right out early and raked the front garden, but as I went alog it got cloudier and cloudier and colder and colder. From Saturday noon on it was awful That flat cold depressing sky. I don't want another weekend like that.

What else has been going on? Oh I know - I have been trying to get my taxes together and done. I use Turbo Tax which I love, but the old lady doesn't trust me to do hers. Like H and R Block is going to be better. Hey - I have seen what they do now - exactly what I do with Turbo Tax. I am going to work on her to let me do them. Why pay H&R $200 when I can do just as good a job? Anyway that brings me to my shocking discovery of the day....

I stopped at the bank to get papers out of the safty deposit box so that I can at least pull all the old lady's tax papers together. While looking through them to find everything I needed I found Tulip's papers. Now all these years for some reason it stuck in my head that she was born in April, but guess what - her birthday is March 16th! The poor old thing is already 14 years old! And we didn't have a party. I feel awful. So here's to you Mrs. Schnoodleheimer - Happy Birthday.

Sleepy Tulip
Originally uploaded by Storm.

Schnoodle
Originally uploaded by Storm.

V!

Just saw V for Vendetta. Loved it. A lot.

Also had a lovely time with Ken and his son. Really a nice night.

But go see the movie.

At Loose Ends

I am both stressed and bored. - AS Ken said that's a dangerous combination. Unfortunately there are no bars around here any more and I am too lazy to go anywhere. Ken’s out at a friends. The old lady is sleeping. So it's just me.

So I am reading and commenting on other people's blogs. And looking at Flickr pictures. It is interesting to see pictures others have taken of the same things you have. I love Flickr!

I could blog about what's been going on lately - but I am too lazy. Suffice it to say that things have been up and way way down.

But I am working on it. Ken's a big help - more than a big help - he is the best thing ever happen to me. Sappy perhaps, but true. I think that there are certain people who just fit together well at certain times. 10 Years ago I don't think we would have fit so well. But now we complement each other perfectly.

Anti-Consumer

OK - I admit I am a bit of an anti-Consumer police person. NO! do not buy at Wal-mart! And you all know the Gap is evil too, right?

But here's some interesting facts - Urban Outfitter, Anthropologie and Free People are owned by the same company. And their president Richard Hayne is a big supporter of... wait for it... Sen Rick Santorum (ruff ruff).

And how about Chipotle, which seems so wholesome and good? Owned by McDonalds!

As the Common Dreams article says

"Rather than avoid every company on a list put out by a boycotting campaign, consumers should decide for themselves what their values are and which companies they do and do not wish to support. The trouble is, it's harder than it should be to find and keep track of the information it takes to make these decisions -- which is why consumers, even those who strive to shop ethically, find it so difficult to do so."

We can only do our best to decide which evil is the least evil. And perhaps join the Church of Stop Shopping and follow the Reverend Billy. Or at least use our influence on these companies to try their bext to be socially responsible,

Remember just because it's cheap or chic doesn't mean that it isn't hurting someone.

Here I am

I am in the Inn - Isaac Harding House on Harvard St in Cambridge. It is very quaint. They have internet access obviously - but it's a mac which always throws me - makes me feel like the non- computer professional public.

Anyway Ken's practicing in Hudson. I am going to wander around and then eventaully meet up with him at TOAD as about 9 p.m. I was wrong about then they are playing - it will be more like 10 pm than 8 - but hey what do I know!

Tangled Weekend SOlution

Tangled Necklace Solution
Originally uploaded by Storm.

Getting ready to go away for the weekend last night I thought of this marvelous was to keep an unruly necklace tamed.

I was very proud of myself and so I post it here to help you, my loyal and numerous readers.


And if you happen to be in Porter Square, Cambridge this evening stop into TOAD
That's my boyfriend playing in the opening band, like 8 to 10 p.m. I think. He's the cute one. Buy me a drink if you like! I won't say no.

Spring up people!

The old lady just sent me this:

-----Original Message-----

From: The Old Lady
Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 3:36 PM
To: Her best
Daughter
Subject: RED WINGS


I just awoke from a long nap to
discover a perfectly enormous flock of
red wings in both the front and back
yards - I'd bet 100 altogether and
I have the impression they just arrived
together from the south- isnt
that neat? I dont recall ever seeing a huge
flock of redwings like this
before- just a few at a tiime other years.

Spring is here! and I am going to Boston for the weekend.! wheee!

South Dakota Taliban

Via Bitch|Lab:

Sexist Asshat, Senator William M. Napoli.

Let's get 'em.

Town Meeting 2006

Town Meeting 2006
Originally uploaded by Storm.

I thought I was going to write a big post about town meeting, but I am not in a big writing mood. So I will start typing and see what happens.

Last night was town meeting, "the practice of direct democracy". At town meeting we get to discuss and vote on the amount of the school budget, the amount of the town budget, approve town expenditures and vote on other articles that are brought before the town.

Most towns hold their meeting on the first Tuesday in March and then have their Australian Ballot (what the rest of the country considers democracy) the following day as we do here in Chester.

Town Meeting is a chance for the people of the town to come together and speak about the issues at hand. They can ask for clarification of issues and try to convince others to vote in a certain way.

I love town meeting. The first one I went to was three hours of fun. Really - you can not imagine the thrill of it. We are talking and voting for the way our town is run. We get to hear arguments for and against the issues. Even though most articles up for the vote have to do with finance there is something unbelievably exciting - unbelieveably American - about being able to say AYE! or NO! to an article.

I love it. Ken went with me this year and was of the opinion (obviously shared by others) that the volume that you say AYE or NO at makes a difference. We also sat in the front row so that increased our affect on the vote ;)


This year we had the argument-rousing ARTICLE 18 "To see if the Town of Chester will vote to approtiate the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) to be used to properly display and preserve our Town's Historic Treasures, artifacts such as 18th Century Letters and Documents, large amounts of Clothing and 1000's of Postcards" which took us quite some discussion (including an amendment to reduce the amount to $3000) but did eventually pass after a "Division of the House". Oh by what I think about 20 votes.

Then after much talk about all the other articles asking for money - we got to ARTICLE 25: "Shall our State Legislators support legislation that will protect young girls by requiring clinics to notify at least one parent prior to providing a surgical or chemical abortion to their minor daughter, with special provisions to protect girls in abusive situations. (By Petition).

Article 25, anticipated , dreaded. And so it came up to vote. Ken said afterwards that he felt me tense up as Bill Dakin, the town moderator, read it. And then.... and then... before a motion was even made a man stood up, jumped the gun, and said he was making a motion to table the article. "Table the article"? I had never known you could do that. What a stroke of genius. His name was Steve something. I was so flabbergasted I couldn't even follow.

Bill Dakin reminded us that FIRST the article must be moved and seconded - which it was and then BOOM! Somehow because of the surprise factor the motion to table it was moved and seconded before any of the supporters could argue for it. They tried but they had to speak not to the ARTICLE itself but the motion that it should be tabled because it was not an appropriate subject for Town Meeting. And BOOM we voted and BOOM due to the "loudness factor" we had to Divide the House. And the motion to table passed something like 78 to 52. And this was at 9:45 p.m. after 2 hours and 45 minutes of other wrangling.

Truely it was a thing of beauty. We never needed to argue for or against the article itself. They were headed off at the pass. The wind was taken from their sails. Really a stroke of genius.

And we were home by 10 p.m. HA!

Oh and I forgot - all the people who stood up in favor of bringing the Article to a vote (and I think by extension all in favor of the Article itself) were old men. Does that creep you out just a little bit? That some 60 or 70 or 80 year old man is thinking a lot about under-age girls getting pregnant? It creeps me out.

Heroes pass: Octavia Butler

Octavia Butler has died at the age of 58 of an accident.

Suddenly it seems that all the heroes are going and who will take their place?

What I liked best about Ms Butler was her ability to make you empathize with an alien being; whther it was a person of another sex , another race or from another planet. When I reflect on it, that quality is what draws me to women science fiction writers in general.

As I looked at her list of books I find that I haven't read as many as I thought I had. How did I miss reading "Kindred"? I think part of the problem was that a lot of her books were put out in the more expensive Trade Paper versions. I am stopping at the library tonight to see what they may have that I don't own.

The Vermont Hat

Ok not the best picture - but you get the idea. Also the shape of Vermont got a little screwy becasue of the decreases at the top of the hat. But I am on a tight schedule and the hat needs to go out to Iraq tomorrow. It is very warm and the wool is very soft - I really love it. I think the hat will fit very well under a helmet. I used the same yarn I used for the skull hats I made at Christmas. Knitusa by Lane Borgosesia, a superwash bulky wool.

Overall I am pleased - although next hat I will not carry the pattern so far up. 

Kiri is done! and the hat!

Yea! I am going to wait to post a picture until after I block it. Was going to get right to that but decided that I have nowhere near enough pins and maybe I should get some blocking wires. Also I think I am going to either have to use my bed to block it or push two of the twin beds together – It is big. I did not complete the last 2 rows of the edging because I go nervous about having enough yearn to bind off and I was not going to spend another $9 just to bind off. I think I made the right choice – I may have just made it by completing the last 2 rows but probably not and then I would have been really ticked off.

Now I think I will take a break and have an ice cram soda and then maybe work on the VT hat I should complete for my friend’s son with the VT National Guard in Iraq. By the time I get it done summer will be back in the desert and he won’t be able to wear it.

9:25 pm have finished the hat for my friend's son. Will post a picture when it is done blocking. The shape of VT came out a little screwy because of the decreases at the top. I should have either made it smaller -shorter or compensated for the decreases. Well - it is a very soft wool and the hate is comfortable - so that is the main point.

The Blizzard of Aught-Six

Sounds old-timey, doesn't it?

We're getting a little snow here so far- looks like it started around 6 or 6:30 this morning and we have a bit over an inch at 8:30. It is a very fine snow and falling steadily.

According to the news - they have heavy snow and freezing fog down in the Worcester area- I don't expect to see Ken until tomorrow. And I bet my friends S and B who went to Connecticut for the weekend will be there till at least Monday too.

There is also a chance of thunder snows in the lower NE areas. And the weather service says " AT THIS TIME...A WIDESPREAD SWATH OF 8 TO 14 INCHES APPEARS
LIKELY WITH EMBEDDED HIGHER AMOUNTS WHERE THUNDER ENHANCES SNOWFALL RATES." Hmm - why does thunder enhance snowfall rates? I shall have to look that one up.

Plans for the day #1 not kill the old lady. I don't know if it is the Topamax or what but she is so fixated on things lately and talks about them incessantly. She's worried about the yellow-bellied sap sucker that was in our area last summer. Has convinced herself that he has died in the hurricane down south. Is all crazy about some old books of my father's. First wanted me to go find them and has now over night come to the conclusion that we never had those books - that her failing memory is playing tricks on her. I am taking this as a reverse psychology move on me to make me go find the damned books to prove her wrong. HA! Not going to work, Old lady! I am not poking through that freezing attic. Those are just 2 of her latest obsessions. There are more - but I won't bore you with them. Most involve having me do something - like search for those damned books. ** and I haven't even recorded the hysteria ( yes I don't think hysteria is too strong a word) of Friday night when she couldn't get hold of me on my cell phone for 25 minutes - during which time I was driving home from Springfield.

#2 Try and finish that Kiri Shawl.

#3 Now that I unraveled that old dress I had - I also have a 3/4 finished sweater to unravel. It was from a Perry Ellis design from Vogue Knitting - oh probably 12 years ago. I LOVED that sweater - but heaven knows what I did with the pattern and now that I am not so skinny as I used to be I can see that it will be too short, especially in the front if you know what I mean. So no matter what, I will have to frog it. Perhaps if I find the pattern and it looks up to date enough I might try it again. I was telling someone a while ago about these almost finished projects that wouldn't fit me and whoever it was said - well why you don’t finish them as is and give them away. GIVE THEM AWAY!?! No one would ever understand the effort put into them and there are a few hundred dollars worth of yarn in there and hundreds of dollars worth of labor. I may make little presents for people - but I'm not giving away something big like that. That's right - I am selfish!

#4 Through all of the above - watch the Olympics.

Saturday's almost gone

Well I was supposed to go the Worcester with Ken today. But since the weather is supposed to be so bad down there and because the old lady is totally having melt-downs about me being away I decided to stay home. So Ken is down having fun at the Lucky Dog AM 70's Show tonight and here I am with the old lady. I am definately going with him when he and his trio play in Cambridge in March though. I am hoping that I can find some one to stay with her then. Going to start asking around now to make sure I am covered. Maybe I can find someone through the visiting nurse association.

I decided that there was no way I could join the Knitting Olympics as I KNOW I will not finish something by the closing ceremonies. Howver I am trying to do knitting-type things. Besides working on the Kiri Shawl (almost done - just about ready to start the edging), I also took care of the below - frogged an almost-done DRESS from years ago and am working on getting it ready to be made into something I will actually wear. Here's the yarn dripping over the kitchen sink. It's Coco from Reynolds - 50% wool , 50% rayon, 136 yards and I have (I think) 10 skeins. More than enough for a couple of tops. I might try to start Picovoli with it.

 
 

sky

Take Sky and Ask Yourself Why

Funny enough (or not) I didn't mean to post this picture here - but oh well - Here's the sky this morning thru my phone's eye. At least there is blue sky and I don't have a headache - After more than a week of headaches - let me tell you THAT is a big BIG thing. I am also a little headache shy - if you can call it that. I keep stopping what I am doing to "check" my head - do I feel soemthing? Is it coming back? OK OK - I'll stop.

Irony isn't a big enough word

So that asshole says we're addicted to oil? WE are addicted to oil? My god that's like your pusher telling you you're addicted. No - it's like the fucking Pablo Escobar telling you you're an addict.

I don't have words to express my outrage. I cannot believe that not one person stood up and walked out at that point. Come ON, don't any of you son-of-bitches have any balls? DOn't any of you have any integrity?

whew.

And worst of all - he has worked the old lady up to a frenzy.


*** update 02-02-06 ***

It's OK - thank heavens - He was just lying. Man, I feel so much better now. And rather foolish - I guess everyone sitting there listening to the SOTU knew he was lying when he said it and so that's why they weren't bothered by it. Silly me.