Tame yourself

A poem and complementary picture from Luciana.

"I feel a slight breeze, one that

barely sitrs the trees Yet the rain pours

down

Life comes out of trees and holes.

Birds sing, they enjoy the rain.

Tis a sodden boy walking in the rain, but

the rain floods the countryside. The world

is sodden but yet the beauty grows, green pops

up from the earth. Yet I sit and wonder what is life without Death?"

I so enjoyed this Monday off but am now starting to stress about going back to work tomorrow. I know that my computer is still in the same erratic, crappy condition I left it in, and I'm going to have to go in tomorrow morning and deal with that. Yuk!

I've been working furiously away at getting everything in order for L's homeschooling. She starts her first full week of learning tomorrow. I'm all ready and excited for her to get going. She will be working on a lot of new subjects this year, but they were all subjects that she indicated an interest in, so there shouldn't be too much opposition. I'm so jealous that she gets to spend everyday learning! That would be a dream come true for me!

I haven't have much leisure computer time for the last couple of weeks, but I'm hoping that will be a little bit better now that I have my college class and L's classes prepped.

We had date night Saturday and went out with some friends in Madison. We had a great night! We went to see the movie, District 9. It was quite good. The graphics were fantastic! The aliens were extremely well done. It was a movie that leaves a lot to think about and talk about, particularly in regards to how humans define "other" versus "us". It's always interested me greatly, mainly because that "us" status is granted so rarely, usually after a fight or war of some sort, and because they seem so incapable of learning from the past and applying it to new situations.

We got carryout from Ban Thai (which included a couple of orders of sticky rice with mango) and enjoyed a fun evening at their home, with good company and good food. They are, of course, AR vegans also, so we were on the same wavelength in our thoughts and discussions about the movie. The only bad part of the night was the drive back from Madison so late.

I had some nice grown-up time on Sunday. I was supposed to go to my friend's house after L's Bharatanatyam class to photograph her foster cat. L returned home from my parents' feeling horrible. She went with a cold Saturday night, but by Sunday morning, she was miserable enough that we felt she should stay home and rest. That freed me up to go to Julie's and enjoy some visiting time. We enjoyed a few beers on her big deck that overlooks the lake. It's always nice to visit with her.

I was hoping Julie would drop some wisdom on me. She's my original mentor from way back when I was in college. She was an AR activist and vegan long before I was, and she always has good advice and guidance for me when I need it. In talking to Julie as well as with Rick & Lynn Saturday, I was looking for direction. I'm feeling very stagnant right now and am struggling with the most effective way for the movement to make some progress. They are feeling the same way. We're all kind of plodding along, trying to figure out what the fuck to do now. They were supposed to have all the answers for me! I count on them knowing everything that I don't, and it makes me very nervous when they don't. Since it really makes me feel better to believe that the "parents" of the AR movement really do have all the answers, I plan to try to delude myself that they do indeed know everything, but they are choosing not to share it with me yet because I'm not ready for that knowledge. It works well for the godbots, so I've decided to try it as well. ;)

This blog entry is taking absolutely forever! I've spent way too much time today watching the Cesar marathon (dog whisperer). He's another one I choose to grant 'god' status to. When it comes to dogs, Cesar knows absolutely everything. He is infallible. I keep looking up at the show and then I get sucked in and forget about my blogging. Okay... I am now giving up on the blog (after breaking away from another 15 minutes of watching). The Cesar is too strong to ignore.