~FRIENDS ONLY~

** this journal is pretty much friends only .. comment to be added **

my left hip is killing me

but it was fun

I'm glad I didn't sign up for bellydancing, I don't think I'm cut out for this sort of activity

in front of the post office on the way to the library.

it was cathartic

a must have for all cat owners

ThinkGeek :: Control-a-Cat Remote Control

Posted using ShareThis

went to get my car inspected, made a lunch date of it with the husband (he needed his emmissions tested too)

forgot leftover pizza on roof of car as I pulled out of the lot

many cars honking and pointing, but it was too late

:(

pizza roadkill

it's a damn shame, that was one good pizza

I am so bummed out


*sigh*

carival squash from the garden

it got cold on Saturday, but no frost
the few remaining tomatos are safe! and the kale was covered

( Braised Carnival Squash )

from Sugarlaws


( and about my bees... )

I just bought an IMF mug at Goodwill for 50c.


:-/

very tired

have tons of laundry and work to get to

kayak washed away in remnants of Hurricane Bill :(

very saddened by this

more later

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day
August 18

canicular

\kuh-NIK-yuh-ler\

adjective
Meaning
: of or relating to the dog days (the period between early July and early September when the hot sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere)

Example Sentence<

During the canicular heat of August, many of the town's residents venture to the local swimming hole in search of a way to stay cool.

Did you know?
The Latin word "canicula," meaning "small dog," is the diminutive form of "canis," source of the English word "canine." "Canicula" is also the Latin name for Sirius, the star that represents the hound of Orion in the constellation named for that hunter from Roman and Greek mythology. Because the first visible rising of Sirius occurs during the summer, the hot sultry days that occur from early July to early September came to be associated with the Dog Star. The Greeks called this time of year "hemerai kynades," which the Romans translated into Latin as "dies caniculares," or as we know them in English, "the dog days."

A few weeks back I heard that Joan Root died a violent death back in 2006


Timmy the Mongoose looking for hand creme, Kenya 1999

I met Joan Root when I was on an Earthwatch trip in Naivasha, Kenya. Her mongoose Timmy ate my Skin So Soft and suntan lotion. (Root apologised for his behavior, and told me she kept all her hand creme in jars because he had full run of the house and quite an appetite.) We visited with her for about two hours and had tea. She was soft spoken and gracious and did not hesitate to open her home to us. I thought she was older than she was (she was 69 when she was killed, so when I met her she would have been about 62), but everyone in Kenya looks a little older than they actually are. The sun is strong and the live isn't always easy in Naivasha.

I remember thinking, I should take a photo of her.. but it seemed so intrusive. She was very polite and open to answering questions but I got the sense that she was a fiercely private person.

There were bars on every single window in the house, and the home was well off the beaten path. It was very isolated, but the location was breathtaking. I don't think I've ever seen a more lush, beautiful landscape.

When we were leaving her compound, I saw a sign written in Kikuyu. I was told it said "Trespassers keep out". Why was in in Kikuyu and not English? I was told the sign was not meant for english speakers.


a Lilac Breasted Roller that Joan Root had rehabbed. He'd often come back for a visit when he saw her about. Here he is sitting on my hand

RIP Joan Root. You were truly badass. There's an amazing video of a spitting cobra spray venom at her face (she was wearing glasses) on cue for the camera. She made Steve Irwin look like a sissy. I've been looking for quite some time for the Root films on DVD, but have not been able to find them anywhere.

Like Joy Adamson, you loved Naivasha. And like Adamson, in the end it killed you :(

Wildflower: An Extraordinary Life and Untimely Death in Africa by Mark Seal


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book left me torn.. I wasn't sure if I loved it or if it came up short. Turns out, both are true

I was fortunate to meet Root in 1999. I had gone on an Earthwatch trip in Naivasha and she was kind enough to open her home to the 'volunteers' because of her relationship with Dr David Harper, one of the principal investigators. My memory if Joan Root is a tall, slender, older woman who I had trouble keeping up with as she showed us the lake, who grabbed her pet mongoose Timmy by the tail and carried him off when he began nipping at our ankles. She didn't strike me as a woman who could easily be duped, or a wilting flower crying because she was barren. Quite the opposite.

The first half of the book provided so much insight into Root's colorful life. I wasn't so pleased with the second half of the book, it painted her as a woman who whined about 'not having a man to lean on'. Seal also glossed over the strife that was brewing in Naivasha at the time, which boiled over into horrific ethnic violence between the Kikuyu and Lao tribes shortly after Root's murder.

Naivasha is a magical but deadly place.. I can see why Root remained even when logically she knew she was in danger. To me there are so many parallels to the life of Joy Adamson, who also lived on the same lake and also died defending the animals that she loved.

These women are heros and I'm honored to have spent even a few hours in the presence of Joan Root. I wish this book had done her justice, and spent less time defining her as the broken hearted, abandoned wife of Alan Root.

( oh and one more thing that bothered me about this book... )

I used to self pay my insurance. My insurance company was Anthem (in CT). I heard this recently on the news, and sure enough...

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has proposed increases averaging 23 percent and ranging as high as 32 percent for people under 65 who bought individual plans on their own.

if I was changing 'age range' it may well have been a 40% increase.

there is NO WAY I would have been able to afford this. I now have coverage through my job (we got funding for the company, knock wood, so we have a group policy).


of course, now I'm an 'untouchable' so Anthem would never take me back, anyway.

this is disgusting.

the thought of it all is enough to make a person ill

no it's not a small rodent

this was in my fan

my computer was shutting off for what seemed to be no reason.

this is the problem with having four cats. it's actually the second time this has happened to me in the past two years

it's a good thing I love them

LONDON (AFP) – Notice anything exceptional about today's date? It's July 5, 2009 (05/07/09) -- and three consecutive odd numbers make up the date only five times in a century.

This nugget is pointed out by Californian high school maths teacher Ron Gordon, a self-confessed "mathemagician".

"This really is a day to celebrate. OK, it's true there will be another one in two years' time on September 7, 2011 (07/09/11), and one on November 9, 2013 (09/11/13) but then it won't happen again for 92 years. And I sure won't be around to see it."

( the rest here )

from AFP via Yahoo

Sometimes its the little things that make us scratch our heads and smile :)

HERE'S YOUR PRESENT A DAY EARLY!!!

Palin to Resign as Governor of Alaska

Trouble at the hives

:(

more on this later

uh... wait I guess people wont be able to say stop the presses in the near future, but whatever..

I'm growing quinoa. The mid summer beets have been jettisoned. I may plant some in another part of the garden.

It was gorgeous yesterday, I was weeding


so today.. garlic mustard pasta and later next week.. Garlic Mustard Mashed Potatoes (same page, sans pork of course).

what better way to battle invasive plants than EAT THEM :)

xposted to gardening

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
WOW



I read this book on an overnight trip on Amtrak. I started it at 3am and DID NOT PUT IT DOWN until I left Union Station at the layover



Midway I thought I had the 'surprise' ending figured out but boy was I ever wrong.. plot twist at the very end just when I thought it was over



I loved the way the author wrote in the voices of the main characters, you really felt empathy for all people involved.



great book, heavy but quick read.



I look forward to reading more from this author.


View all my reviews.


( and a LOLCAT spoiler )

note to self : share Seattle Tilth site with jaynefury

to do 'family time'

I'm gonna miss my honey, husband is staying home :(

Steve, the guy who owns the 'outyard' (where the bees are located) got a new job, he has to go to Guadalajara next week..

I didn't ask if he's working as a drug mule

I hope not, his wife would be frightfully upset.

Obama was just sworn in





that is all

:)

January 1, 2009

The United States marked the five-year anniversary of the
war in Iraq. Over four million Iraqis had fled the country
or been internally displaced, and the total cost of the
war, currently about $650 billion, was expected to rise to
$2 trillion over the next five years. Oil rose above $147
a barrel, and Abu Dhabi bought New York City's Chrysler
Building for $800 million. Somali pirates stole a Saudi
supertanker. President George W. Bush announced that North
Korea was no longer a state sponsor of terrorism. The CIA
expanded its covert operations in Iran. Bozo the Clown
died, as did Jesse Helms, William F. Buckley Jr., Paul
Newman, Heath Ledger, Indonesian dictator Suharto,
comedian George Carlin, didgeridoo master Alan Dargin,
and, at age 110, Louis de Cazenave of the Fifth Senegalese
Rifles, one of the last two living French veterans of
World War I. "War," he once explained, "is something
absurd, useless, that nothing can justify." Ariel Sharon
was still alive, and Israel bombed Gaza in retaliation for
ongoing rocket attacks. Tom Jones insured his chest hair
for $7 million.

( Australian police tasered a ram. France banned TV shows for babies. )


Permanent URL for this column:
http://harpers.org/archive/2008/12/hbc-90004107