TAX the RICH!

We took a weekend off from the protests. While I kind of felt guilty and bummed about missing it, we were due for some time home with each other and the animals. I've been gone so much lately it feels like I pop in, change clothes, give kisses, then leave again.

As I've been sleeping so little and so poorly lately, I've really appreciated that I finally found a product that works somewhat for for the very dark circles under my eyes. I always have them. I haven't found anything that takes them away or minimizes them, but the Erase Paste covers them well. I hesitated initially, because the price seemed a bit ridiculous for makeup. I finally gave in after several frustrating days where I applied several different products together to find even layered, they still did very little to conceal the black circles. Now that I've been using the Erase Paste, I can see how inexpensive it is per use. That little jar contains a ton, and it takes very little to cover. It will last me forever.

Now I can get rid of the other products I've been trying to work with. These pictured are only the current stockpile, which doesn't include the many others I've tried in the past and used up or given up on and tossed out. I have tried so many other things over the last 25 years! Nothing has come close to Eraser Paste. It mskes me very happy!

We had a horrible, horrible scare last night! We tucked L in for the night after watching a family movie (H was at his Grandma's) and were doing our very exciting Saturday night activity--side-by-side surfing and chatting. It was around 9:45, and we heard a loud stomping. I told M it was nice to hear her practicing dance, as she hadn't been very good about practice over the last couple of weeks and has a performance coming up in March. We tuned it out and went back to our surfing. About five minutes later, we heard a VERY LOUD thumping--way too loud for dance practice. M went running upstairs to check out the noise. He quickly came back down to tell me what happened and to send me up to L's room.

She was in her room, shaking from head to toe, sobbing, and very pale. She had not been practicing dance at all. She was cleaning/reorganizing her room, and was just finishing up. She was trying to straighten a hutch that is on her dresser. It sits on it very securely (unless it's shoved too far over) but was not attached. It slid off the edge, and she tried to catch it. Many large items fell off, hitting her. She was stomping for help, as she couldn't get it back up but couldn't hold it much longer. We heard her last and most desparate stomps, which were finally louder than dance-practice-volume stomping. She was very emotional and sore, and it took quite a long time of cuddles and a couple of hours to calm her back down so she could finally sleep.

We were pretty shaken up afterward. It was such a horrible thing for her to go through, and it could have turned out much worse. :( Today her muscles are sore, she has a nasty bruise and cut on her shoulder, a bruise and lump on her head, and several more little bruises and scratches--poor little thing. We also established a distress pattern for any future emergency stomping or banging, so it's immediately clear to us that it's not dance. We're going to attache the hutch to the dresser too.

Today's thought

"When a person places the proper value on freedom, there is nothing under the sun that she will not do to acquire that freedom. Whenever you hear a person saying he wants freedom, but in the next breath she is going to tell you what she won't do to get it, or what he doesn't believe in doing in order to get it, he doesn't believe in freedom. A person who believes in freedom will do anything under the sun to acquire...or preserve his freedom." -- Malcolm X

Rock on Fab 14!

Obviously I’ve been completely focused on this mess the glory hole also known as Scotty Walker has created and think of little else. I don’t sleep anymore. The long-term, wide-spread devastation of this poorly informed move on his part will be destructive beyond words. While I’ve spent a great deal of time up at the capital, and I’m very proud that Dej has also, it feels quite pointless at this point in the game. Power concedes nothing without demand. These non-violent protests are nothing more than asking—a far cry from demand. Until they are stepped up and one or more of these evil individuals is made to face the consequences of such destructive behavior, nothing will change. Still, I wait for the revolution. How much worse will it get before the masses of the lower and middle class folks demand what is ours? We have the numbers. We have the power. Do we have the determination to step it up as necessary? That remains to be seen.

We will continue with our protests by boycotting Koch Industries (Kochs & Fitzgeralds are Walker’s owners) and those who have donated to this devastation of WI by financially supporting Walker. This means avoiding many companies and local businesses but most notably for us means we will not spend any more money at Woodman’s. They have contributed thousands to this war. We do 95% of our shopping at Woodman’s, mostly due to their large veggie/vegan selection. That will have to change now, so we will be in a bit of a grocery upheaval until we track down all the products we need and find new ways to shop for our groceries. Farm & Fleet is also high up on the donors list, so we will not spend any more money there, as well as the Armory. We, as a community need to turn on them as they have done to the working families of WI.

Solidarity rocks and the firefighters in our state are awesome! I’m really far too angry to discuss this matter any further for a while at least, so that’s the end for now.

On to new and brighter topics. I am working on a new project—I started it during better days (BW-before Walker’s rape of the state) and have been plugging away at it when I’m home and should be sleeping but can’t. I’m slightly embarrassed to say that I purchased this antique letter press tray several years ago (three or four probably) at a flea market with grand intentions of creating something with it. I looked at it for years then, because it just seemed like an overwhelming project to start, and I only had a very vague, general idea of what I wanted to do with it.

I decided to just jump in a few weeks ago. The biggest project was actually scraping off the old stain. It was chipped and peeling, so I had to scratch and peel all the stain pieces from each of those little nooks (seemed like thousands!)—it was a long, unpleasant task. I knew that I ultimately wanted to be able to put photos in it, but didn’t know of what, what size, how many, etc. I decided then to back each little nook with a piece of patterned paper. Since they were such small areas, I was able to use up lots of scraps.

At some point, late at night while thinking about this, I decided that each and every little paper rectangle should have a gold embossed border. This is probably not something that anyone would notice without being pointed out. It also was a very long, laborious task. Each of the 89 squares of paper had to have all four sides’ edges inked, then sprinkled with gold embossing powder, then heat set to melt the powder. Though probably nobody else would notice, I went ahead with it, because I knew if didn’t, it would always bother me when I looked at it. Once that was done, I secured each paper inside its corresponding nook. This is the stage it is currently at.

After pondering for ages, I finally settled on filling it with pictures of my girls together—photos that capture their sister relationship. I went through all the old photos and ended up selecting 45 that I like. I converted each to black & white and digitally cropped as necessary. Now my big job is winnowing those 45 pics down to a more realistic number. I’m not exactly sure what that number will be, but probably under 20. All that remains then is to print the photos, cut to the size to fit the nook(s), secure them (I’m hoping to do so in such a way that it’s fairly easy to swap out pictures in the future if I want to do so.), and then add some little pretty things/embellishments to some of the nooks.

Sometimes I lose interest in a project before it’s completed and put it aside until I feel inspired to work on it again (like the photo album of our 2005 San Diego trip that I just finally finished). I don’t think I will end up doing that with this one, as I’ve got the least pleasant tasks out of the way and have already put so much time in on it. I’m hoping to have a photo of the finished project up within the next month.

Our lives right now

are dominated by this.

WI republicans...let the games begin

Because I wasn't thinking, I didn't bring my camera along today, and I'm so disappointed in myself. I snapped this with my cell phone. I spent the afternoon up at the Capital enjoying some solidarity with my fellow union members and intelligent citizens of WI. It was envigorating, and there were many, many awesome signs. The tragedy is that I don't have photos of some of the winners to share. It was so much fun, but I also stupidly wore shoes that are definitely NOT good walking shoes and am so paying for that tonight.

I met some friends there and ran into many other old friends. It was great to see so many people there! L and I are going back tomorrow. Can't wait.

While we were marching, chanting, and waiting for the revolution to get started, Scott Walker, the worthless pussy, was hiding in an undisclosed location in Juneau. Typical. I have no doubt if he had been anywhere on the premises, he would no longer be in existence, which is exactly the way things need to be.

I wish I could wear/carry signs everywhere I go in my day to day life. Since I can't, and since republicans are so goddamn stupid they are unable to figure out even the obvious, let me lay this out in very clear terms. I will be polite and mannerly until I am in an appropriate situation to behave otherwise, but don't mistake my civility for affection. Because my close friends are all intelligent, educated (formally or otherwise), and compassionate, I know that none of them voted for Walker. As for the rest of you, I don't know who voted how, but know this about me. If you voted republican in the last election, particularly for Walker, you sicken me. You have betrayed me, my children, and millions of other hard-working citizens of our state.

This cluster fuck he's created is not a surprise--he made it very clear that this was his intent well before the election. xI am going back tomorrow, because it is important, and because I want L to be a part of this experience.

Thank you Firefighters of Wisconsin for your support! It will never be forgotten.

People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people. ~V

Happy Vegantines

I'm still working on getting over this crappy virus, which seems to be just a cold with a cough at this point. I cannot wait to be phlegm free! M has been traveling and working every night & weekend. I won't see him much this week either.

We made it to Vegantines last night but had to wedge it in between M spending the weekend at the garden expo, as he was presenting both yesterday and today.

By the time I got all of the Saturday chores done, I was left with only about a half hour to get ready. I was dirty and smelly after cleaning the herbivore room, in sweats, no makeup, with horrible hair. Of course my hair simply refused to cooperate and I didn't have time to start over. I ended up doing it completely different from what I had intended. It left me no choice! We made it out the door, almost on time, but I was feeling very tired and incoherent.

My drink

Mark's drink (vodka & cranberry juice)

Lynn & Rick did their usual bang-up job on Vegantines, and it was a great night for all. The food was good, and so was dessert (chocolate cake with cherry topping). The speaker, Rae Sikora, was very good, though she had half the room in tears. Anyone who could sit through Rae's talk and not walk out of there as a vegan, simply has no soul. After the speaker was the dancing. It's the one time of the year I get to dance, which I really enjoy and I even had friends to dance with, as M prefers to sit and photograph and watch the drinks, and I can rarely drag him out to the dance floor. My damn cough was interfering, as it started to get bad and my chest was kind of hurting. I had to cut the dancing short, dammit.

The very dapper Rick and his gorgeous wife Lynn (they are the co-directors of AFA).

Rick and I

They didn't have the photographer taking 'prom pictures' this year. L took one of us at home before we left, and one of the women at our table took a shot of us at dinner.

I made dal and naan for dinner tonight, which all three of us enjoyed a lot. In the process of making the dal, I proceeded to drop one of the lentil cannisters, causing lentils to fly everywhere in my kitchen. I mean everywhere! I could not believe the distribution. It took me quite a while to sweep up the floor, remove everything from the counters to get the lentils up, etc. I thought I was all done cleaning, finally, until I opened the freezer and found that there were hundreds of them lodged on the refrigerator door. It was such a ridiculous mess, that I could only laugh.

When we got home from dance this afternoon, L found a woolybear caterpillar crawling around outside near our side door. It was around 42 degrees today, but I'm very surprised the little guy was just out and about like that. For the moment, she has him in a jar with some plant material and grasses from our indoor plants. She's going to need to put him out in the garage tomorrow morning, though, so he get can back to his normal life cycle. I just don't think we can keep him happy and healthy in this house until spring.

Oh, and lest I forget...my lovely new blog header was created by Luciana.

Goosebumps

I'm still recovering from the mega-virus-of-death and trying to catch up with life.

Here is Walter's statement to the court, from yesterday's sentencing. Original posting is on his support site: http://www.supportwalter.org/Articles/11-11-2_Final_Statement_to_the_Court.htm

Final Statement to the Court

I'm here today because I burnt down the Sheepskin Factory in Glendale, CO, a business that sells pelts, furs and other dead animal skins. I know many people think I should feel remorse for what I've done. I guess this is the customary time where I'm suppose to grovel and beg for mercy. I assure you if that's how I felt I would. But, I am not sorry for anything I have done. Nor am I frightened by this court's authority. Because any system of law that values the rights of the oppressor over the down trodden is an unjust system. And though this court has real and actual power, I question its morality. I doubt the court is interested in the precautions that I took to not harm any person or by-stander and even less concerned with the miserable lives that sheep, cows and mink had to endure, unto death, so that a Colorado business could profit from their confinement, enslavement, and murder.

Obviously, the owners and employees of the sheepskin factory do not care either or they would not be involved in such a sinister and macabre blood trade. So I will not waste my breath where it will only fall on deaf ears. That's why I turned to illegal direct action to begin with, because you do not care. No matter how much we animal rights activists talk or reason with you, you do not care. Well, Mr. Livaditis (owner of the Sheepskin Factory), I don't care about you. There is no common ground between people like you and me. I want you to know that no matter what this court sentences me to today, you have won nothing! Prison is no great hardship to me. In a society that values money over life, I consider it an honor to be a prisoner of war, the war against inter-species slavery and objectification! I also want you to know that I will never willingly pay you one dollar, not one! I hope your business fails and you choke to death on every penny you profit from animal murder! I hope you choke on it and burn in hell!

To my supporters, I wish to say thank you for standing behind me and showing this court and these animal exploiters that we support our own and that we as a movement are not going to apologize for having a sense of urgency. We are not going to put the interests of commerce over sentience! And we will never stop educating, agitating and confronting those responsible for the death of our Mother Earth and her Animal Nations. My vegan sisters and brothers our lives are not our own. Selfishness is the way of gluttons, perverts and purveyors of injustice. It has been said all it takes for evil to conquer is for good people to do nothing. Conversely, all it takes to stop the enslavement, use, abuse and murder of other than human animals is the resolve to fight on their behalf!

Do what you can, do what you must, be vegan warriors and true animal defenders and never compromise with their murderers and profiteers. The Animal Liberation Front is the answer. Seldom has there been such a personally powerful and internationally effective movement in human history. You cannot join the A.L.F. but you can become the A.L.F. And it was the proudest and most powerful thing I have ever done. When you leave this courtroom today don't be dismayed by my incarceration. All the ferocity and love in my heart still lives on. Every time someone liberates an animal and smashes their cage, it lives on! Every time an activist refuses to bow down to laws that protect murder, it lives on! And it lives on every time the night sky lights up ablaze with the ruins of another animal exploiters' business!

That's all Your Honor, I am ready to go to prison.

Good and Evil and whining

Luce's newest creation, called Good and Evil.

I've spent my Friday, which would have been a great day, sick. I've been awake coughing since 2:30 last night (this morning?) and feel like death. I can't stop coughing, and it's at the point that it's agonizing. Every single part of my body is in pain. I might be dying. Or it might just be the same virus Dej was dying from early this week. She called me at 9 one night, crying that she was sick and wanted to come home, so of course I told her to come so I could baby her. I knew that would probably end up unleashing what she had, but it's not like I would ever deny my child to protect my health. Now I really wish I would have bathed in Purell while she was here convalescing.

So I had to cancel two bright spots in my week--my standing Friday lunch date and a massage. That was a tough call to make, because I've really looked forward to this. Plus, every square inch of soft tissue on my body hurts so badly, that I think a massage would have been great. I couldn't even mentally get through the process of getting dressed and driving there, let alone the obnoxious non-stop hacking cough. I may end up with six-pack abs by the time this is done. I'm hoping it's the flu and not just a virus, as no virus should be this horrible.

I've been awake for so long, and tv has absolutely sucked. I'm running out of things to do, and I'm getting crabby. Though it hurts my hands to type, I've gotten bored enough at this point that typing (whining) despite the pain is preferable to staring at my wall.

If I could manage to muster the energy to go down two flights of stairs, I could probably pass several more hours watching Bollywood movies (my latest addiction) on the Roku. I'm not up to that yet, though, and the kids will most likely be camped out down there for the night. They have great plans of building snow forts and tunnels this evening with the remaining daylight. L has been anxiously awaiting H's Friday after-school arrival, because it's just not fun to build snow forts and tunnels alone.

The two will start their Lego Mindstorms programming class tomorrow morning at UW Rock. They are very excited about it, but I may be more excited. I have long been planning to enroll them in this super fun and educational class, because they will definitely enjoy it and be good at it. (Plus if they love it enough, it give me an excuse to buy them the Lego Mindstorms robot I've always wanted). The class is every Saturday morning for the month of Feb.

The blizzard has kept me working from home this week, which has been great. I'm actually much more productive at home, because there are fewer distractions and irritants. I LOVE working with my animals around me. I'm always at my happiest and best around animals, and this helps my productivity. I don't have to type one-handed for 30-60 minutes at lunchtime to avoid the stench of flesh as various corpse-munching coworkers heat up their bits of flesh. That smell really, really disgusts me and often makes me queasy. I've started eating my lunch later and later to avoid the smell while I'm trying to eat, so it's been quite a treat not to have to deal with that. I've had so much work and not nearly enough time to keep up lately, so the productivity increase this week really helped me to feel caught up again.

My Tuesday night class was cancelled due to the blizzard, but Thurs. night was a go. I have another new group of awesome students and am enjoying getting to know them and how their brains work. This time of year especially, it's hard for me to drag myself out into the cold, dark night to go to class. Once I get over that hurdle, though, I LOVE it. I truly love teaching, which I guess is a very good thing for my college students and my homeschooled child. I have a reserve of unlimited patience that is nearly effortless for me in my teaching role. I can't figure out why patience comes so easily to me in that respect but not any other area in my life. Someday I will figure it out and transfer that patience to the rest of my life. Maybe.