Category Archive:Observations

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Feels Good To Elect a President – Now look at these cats!

November 7th, 2012 / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , / categories: Cats, Cute Stuff, Observations, Pop Culture /

It’s the day after the Election here in the US and here in Southern California the weather is nice. It will probably get a bit too warm for an early November day, but for now the sky is a clear shade of blue, no clouds, with a good breeze. I’m not a morning person by choice but I had an early appointment today, so I was out of the house by 8:30am, and now I am awake and in a decent mood. Many of the propositions I voted for passed, with one major exception (Measure J- a small tax increase to support public transit), though some passed that I wish hadn’t. The big news is of course that my President was re-elected to the White House for his second term, and again this country has made history. In various state elections, historic decisions were made as well, and all of them make me proud to be in this country, now, while these choices are being made for the good of the country and for our fellow Americans as human beings with rights to live as they choose.

Isn’t that what this country was founded upon? The idea of Freedom for everyone? Sure, the definition of “everyone” has changed a little over time, but I can’t help but think that the Founding Fathers, if they were looking down at us from some heavenly place, would see this as a good thing. And I refuse to believe that any deity, be they fatherly, brotherly, motherly, or other, would judge the whole of society for the supposedly sinful actions of a few. Yes I know the Bible has stories that say otherwise, but I believe that if the Christian God exists, he’s more interested in that we have true, real, beautiful love for our fellows than whether that love is between a man and a woman or a man and a man or a woman and a woman. Somehow, to me, love itself is Divine, and part of what god is.

Hmm… I guess I can speak on religion and politics for a while: I found myself about to launch into a long discussion of both just now when I meant to keep it short and simple. Sorry about that. What I meant to say is, Yay, the Election is over. Now we can all go back to what the Internet was truly meant for. No, not that. The other thing. CATS!

I made another Cats Just Because magazine the other day, and waited a few days to post it here so as not to overwhelm you with teh kyoot. But it is time, Dear Reader. Enjoy with my compliments!

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She’s Not To Blame – Also, Sexual Harassment is Way More Common Than You Think

September 18th, 2012 / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , / categories: Observations, People /

My goal for this post is simple- If you take anything away from it, I hope it’s the fact that harassment against women is far more prevalent in every aspect of life than you probably think. I say this to you regardless of your gender. And, the “harmless” things you say and do on a day to day basis are not at all harmless, especially in the larger picture.

Every single day, a woman that you know is the victim of some kind of sexual harassment. At work, on the bus ride to or from work, at lunch, on her smoke break, at a bar or restaurant after work. It could be as simple and as seemingly harmless as a co-worker calling her “hon” in passing. It could be a customer who would rather talk to her décolletage than look her in the eye. Maybe it’s the stranger on the bus or train who deliberately brushes up against her, or uses crowded conditions to hide an inappropriate touch. Or maybe it’s that guy at the training seminar who, after a couple drinks at the bar that evening, asks her to smile so he can see where he’s gonna put his dick later.

I know lots of men and women who might say to a female that she’s overreacting or being too sensitive if she were to complain about the word “hon” or the guy staring at her breasts. But the truth is, she’s not. Even though, on their own, these types of incidents seem mostly harmless, added up into daily habits or things that people do without thinking, they become part of our culture, part of what makes the larger transgressions ok. Because once a woman gets blamed for overreacting or being too emotional about one thing, all her concerns start getting dismissed. And once one woman’s claims of harassment start getting dismissed, all women’s reports of this type of incident get called into question. There’s a phrase to describe this type of attitude towards women. It’s called “rape culture”, a culture where guys excuse their or another guy’s behavior as “not that bad”, or “joking”, or “just something that guys do”. Where boyfriends or husbands tell their girlfriends or wives that Bob’s a little crude, but he’s really a great guy once you get to know him. It’s a culture in which women must have been “asking for it” because of the way they dressed, or because they were in a certain place.

The problem is that almost every woman I’ve talked to for more than a few moments eventually will open up about an appalling situation they were in. Many of us have experienced multiple incidents over our lifetimes. Some face harassment on a very regular basis, because they’re a waitress maybe, or because they work in a male-dominated industry where guys think it’s normal to say off-color things about females and women are expected to put up with it or shut up.

This has lately been on my mind quite a bit because of some personal stuff I’m having to deal with from my past. In addition, the LAist blog ran a couple of stories about harassment on public transportation here in Los Angeles, and the number of women (I am one of them) who came forward to talk about what happened to them is appalling. Many of my guy friends are amazed at the prevalence in today’s culture. Isn’t our modern, enlightened society above and beyond this disgusting behavior? Shouldn’t women feel safe not only at home but also in the workplace, or at a restaurant? What about walking to their car? Riding a train in the middle of the day, not to mention at night? The answer is yes, but every time we excuse a “harmless” comment or tell a woman she’s overreacting to a situation, we’re empowering the part of our society that perpetuates this behavior.

Let’s talk about this. Ladies, if you have a story of harassment you would like to talk about, please do so in the comments. Guys, if you’ve experienced harassment I’d like to hear about it too! How have you all felt the impact of so-called “rape culture”, and what do you think can and should be done to stop it?

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Catastrophic Change – “Death” or “The Tower” in Tarot?

September 9th, 2012 / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , / categories: Journal, Observations, Random Geekery, Wicca and Paganism /

Lately, the tarot cards “Death” and “The Tower” have been resonating with me, but I’m not sure which one better suits the situations I’m lately finding myself in. First, an overview:

The Rider-Waite The Tower Card

Earlier this year, I went through a complete revision of my long-held desires. I went from being completely against having children (just me, not in general. I mostly like kids, but I like to give them back at the end of the day), to desperately wanting to have a baby. This was such a dramatic shift for me that I kept my thoughts on the matter a secret and started going to weekly therapy sessions to try to sort out what was happening to me. In the end, I decided that yes, I was really wanting to commit to the lifetime responsibility of raising a child and was ready to start on that path. So I told my husband, who responded encouragingly. He said “you’re my wife, I love you, and I want you to have my babies.” Which, really, was the most awesome, sweet, and loving thing he could have said to me at the time. It still makes me smile. Then, we started the slow process of telling our friends and family of our change in direction.

Before I told my husband that I was thinking of a baby, I had concerns about starting a family in Los Angeles. Neither of us have much in the way of close family out here, and there are problems with the area including over-crowding, over-urbanization, crime, overly expensive housing costs, and education concerns. So I mentioned to him, with none of my reasoning, that I was thinking we should maybe move to Minnesota to live closer to his family. This resonated with him, because his grandfather’s health is failing, and because he’s had a low level desire to move back home for some time anyway. We started talking about buying his grandfather’s 12-acre farm in Northfield, MN, with his grandfather and his parents. We would be neighbors to my husband’s wonderful parents on one side and his uncle Gerry on the other. We’d have a 3000sq ft house (if you included the basement) and about 5 acres of arable land to work with, including several storage sheds and farm related buildings existing on the property. The property would need some work – it hadn’t been a working farm in some time. Anyway, we went out to Minnesota to see the property and discuss the potential purchase with Grandpa but, at the end of the trip for various reasons, we ended up realizing we probably wouldn’t be able to move into that house after all. Uncle Gerry, however, mentioned he might be willing to sell his adjacent property – much smaller but much better kept and updated than Grandpa’s place, anyway. Due to illness in the family and other timing issues, we pushed back our original plan to move out there this Fall until next Spring.

In the meantime, of course, I ended up telling my husband about my desire to have a baby, and we decided not to try for pregnancy before we’d gotten moved to MN so we didn’t have to worry about the stress of the move and being pregnant at the same time.

Recently, in addition to all of this, a discussion with my sister paired with a session with my therapist that touched on it prompted me to evaluate how I’ve been handling something in my history that continues to affect my life to this day. I’m not ready to discuss this issue in any detail, but I may go into it a bit in the near future. In any case, almost overnight and with my sister’s help and support, I decided to go from not really dealing with the issue at all (almost ignoring it, in fact) to taking drastic steps to deal with it in the near future. This decision alone has been stressful and chaotic, but its something important to do before I go through the process of pregnancy and bringing a small, innocent life into the world.

Before I’d had a real chance to take actual steps on that problem, though, we got a call from my husband’s grandpa, asking us to please move to MN this Fall after all. He is now in an assisted living apartment and was planning to move his wife out of the farmhouse and into an apartment she wanted in town. This would leave the old house unattended through the harsh weather of Winter, and without someone there to keep it warm, weather damage and frozen pipes and things could occur. Despite his sons’ assurance that they could take care of the house in their absence, he wanted us to come up and house sit rent free for the winter months. In the Spring, we could negotiate a sale or rethink our housing plans as needed.  We decided that I could move out there alone to take care of the house. My husband would stay behind to wrap up issues with our condo – arrange for sale of the place and begin to move our stuff piecemeal to MN over the months. We determined that I’d move up there in mid-October.

The Rider-Waite Death Card

Meanwhile, after some research regarding the life-affecting issue I mentioned above through a few local organizations, it was determined that I’d have to travel back to Lafayette, Louisiana, to start working on this problem. Because of timing issues with the upcoming move, a cruise to Mexico we’ve had planned for like 6 months, and a trip to Phoenix in early November, we determined it’s now or never. So we bought a round trip ticket to Lafayette for the 19th-22nd of September.

Now, there’s been some question about the move to Grandpa’s house in October. Apparently he didn’t actually consult his wife before talking to Adam, and Grandma actually wasn’t planning on moving out this Fall. However, since that’s still in flux, it can go either way at this point. I’m not discarding the idea that I’ll end up moving to MN, but it’s not the definite thing it seemed earlier this week.

My question is this: Do the changes all of this stuff represents in my life more accurately fall within the purview of the tarot card, “Death”, or “The Tower”? I have heard that the Death card doesn’t tend to act as a reference to the act of death or dying itself, but rather to a change in one’s life. The Tower is most often seen as more a signifier of actual death or dying, but in reading up on it on the Web it seems it can also point to a great change. Which of these cards are more representative of my situation, do you think? Or if there’s another tarot card that is even better, what would you say that is?

Also, if you have any crazy restructuring going on in your life or your way of thinking this year, what is it? Anything life changing? Let me know!

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Past the Veil – A Wiccan Funeral Rite

March 29th, 2012 / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , / categories: Observations, Wicca and Paganism /

In the Northern Hemisphere it is the beginning of Spring, the season of Fertility, new life, conception and growth. Pagans of many stripes see this time as a time to start new things, as a time for fertility of imagination as well as biological fertility. It is a time in which the Goddess is a young, vibrant Maiden, and the young God, reborn in Winter, grows into a playful, virile young man. The two flirt and tease each other until the holiday of Beltaine, where the God and Goddess unite in love and cause the abundance of Summer in crops and beasts.

The Wiccan Wheel of the Year

The Wheel of the Year shows the relationship of the Wiccan holidays (known as Sabbats) and the seasons.

As a time of life’s beginning, it may not seem appropriate to discuss the end of cycle, Death, but all things are connected. Living things die and return to the earth, helping to create fertile soil from which plants grow and thrive. Living things feed on other things, causing death but also ensuring their own survival. The cycle is just that, a circle, connected both ways from beginning to end.

Unfortunately Death strikes when it will, and humans in all our wisdom can only sometimes delay that inevitable moment. Even in Death, however, all is not lost. The energy that defines us, our soul, continues on in its own cycle of reincarnation, a journey through lifetimes of new challenges and wisdom to be gained through them.

Several years ago, a friend of mine made the decision to take her own life and end her suffering here in the physical world. I am not going to get into the “morality” of that choice – I do believe it was hers to make, and whatever extra challenges in subsequent lifetimes she may have to face are also hers. It is not my place to judge her decision. However, because of the pain she felt here on Earth, I felt it was possible she may have too many ties here and it might have been hard for her to move on to what came next for her. Also, I was unable to grieve with others who knew her at the time. So, I created a ritual, based off of this rite I found on the internet at the time, plus some customized thoughts for the situation at hand. Later I wrote it into my Book of Shadows (a Wiccan’s guide to her/his personal Tradition) in a slightly less specific form in case I wanted to use it again for another funeral. Fortunately, I haven’t had occasion to use it since then.

Another Pagan blogger, Brenda Lee of PaganInMe and Four-Legged Mom, who is just beginning to explore the depths of her new Pagan faith, wrote today about previous deaths in her family, with questions about her own post-life choices. While I can’t answer her questions specifically, because the answers are hers to make, I thought I’d post my little (ok, not so little) funeral ritual as sort of a companion post to her. Because Death for us survivors sucks and can be traumatic. But the Other Side is not to be feared – it is a place of transformation only. We live on.

**Note: to include every step of the ritual the way I would set it up would make this post twice as long. Instead, I listed steps but did not elaborate for “common” ritual tasks like Casting the Circle, things that you might do the same every time you performed a ritual. Since this is customizable, feel free to perform these tasks the way you prefer, or in the way that makes sense to  you in the context of this rite.

This ritual can be performed with just 4 people (taking the roles of the Directions/Quarters in the rite) or adapted for an audience or other participants, as needed. Depending on your situation, you may even use this at the grave site or funeral home.

I hope you find this helpful. Please feel free to comment with questions or your own ideas about death/rebirth and funerary rites. I look forward to your thoughts.

A Wiccan Funeral Rite

Preparation/Cleansing of Self

Preparation/Cleansing of Space

Altar Setup

Casting the Magic Circle

Calling the Quarters:

The circle members should Call the Quarters in much the same way that they are normally called, except in reverse order (widdershins) starting in the West. That is to say that each individual in turn names their Watchtower, invites the spirits of the Watchtower into the circle, and renews his/her connection to the Watchtower as usual. However, after the connection has been renewed and before moving on to the next individual/direction, there is an added passage that each should say. These are listed below. At the end of this additional passage, the directional candle should be lit.

West: “As the Sun sets, so (name of the deceased) has left us. The water of our tears, like the salt water of the sea and the water of our Mother’s womb, blesses this circle.”

South: “As life is a day, so (name) has passed into the Night. The fire of our life, the memories and courage, and the strength given to us by (name) blesses this circle.”

East: “All that falls shall rise again, so (name) shall also rise again. The air we breathe, this treasure of our life, and the compassionate caring we give each other blesses this circle.”

North: “As the Earth forms us, so (name) shall return to the Earth. Our Mother feeds us and clothes us. She gives us everything, and in the end she takes our bodies back into herself. The earth that forms us and receives us after death blesses this circle.”

Invoking the God/dess(es)

Observance:

A photo and/or items belonging to or representative of the departed should be placed upon the altar.

At this time, those who wish to speak to the dead or say something about him/her may do so.

The following should then be read by the most appropriate person in the group, or the words can be divided up among two or more individuals if necessary.

“(name) has died. No one who has died should ever pass from this world to the next without knowing the loving grief and hope felt by those around him/her. We are here to share our grief and our hope and our love for (name) that it may aid in the transition from this life to the next.

Our lives are formed of many others, and we form other lives in return. And we are here after your death, (name), to honor your life.

There is only Love, the greatest Mystery. We open our hearts and our eyes in the light of this Love. The Love of the Goddess gives birth to the Universe. The love of our parents gives birth to us. The love of our friends and family sustains our life. Kindness, love, and pleasure – we are formed from these and we form each other. When we die, we leave them behind us as we prepare for the life beyond this one.

You have left your family. You have left behind sex and even gender. You cannot be a woman or a man to enter the other wold. You have left behind your body. None who have bodies can pass into the other world.

The Goddess is taking you back now (name), the Great Mother. Her womb is the Earth that will receive your body. Your body is a seed now, a seed of other lives. You will return to the mother and when the time is right, you will be reborn through Her.

In sacred space we have gathered to honor you and to give you some things to take on your journey with you.”

Each member should place an offering upon the altar, in front of the photo of the departed. The offering can either be of some significance to the departed or represent the relationship between the member and the departed (a photo, keepsake, letter, etc), or it should be symbolic based on the direction or element of the person giving the offering. The offering should be named at this time, as should its significance:

East: “The East is the direction of beginnings, birth, and knowledge, and the element of Air. Things that begin must end, but things that end can begin again. Please accept this offering of (item). May it aid you as you as you prepare for a new birth and new life through the Mother.”

South: “The South is the direction of fire and passion. Please accept this offering of (item), and may it help you remember the love that was yours in this life, and may it call forth an abundance of love in the next.”

West: “West is the direction of emotions, intuition, and endings. As every ending makes way for a new beginning, please accept this offering of (item) to help you let go of the pain and sorrows of this life and prepare for the joyful experiences of the next.”

North: “North is the direction of Earth, of the physical, and of stability. Please accept this offering of (item) as a reminder that, although you are for now formless and sexless, you will soon be reborn through the cycle of life and again experience the world through a physical body.”

Chant:

We All Come From the Goddess

“We all come from the Goddess,
and to her we shall return,
like a drop of rain
flowing to the ocean.

We all come from the Goddess
and to her we shall return,
like a drop of rain
flowing to the ocean.

Corn and grain, corn and grain
all that falls shall rise again
hoof and horn, hoof and horn
all that dies shall be reborn.”

(Repeat)

Cakes and Ale:

Be sure to save two offerings of cakes and ale, one for the God/dess(es) and one for the departed.

Closing:

The following words can be spoke by the same person(s) who spoke before, or by someone else if desired:

“Samhain is the time of the year when the veil between the worlds is thinnest. It is a traditional time to honor and call upon those who have left before us. We will remember you, and all those who are no longer with us, and bless you at Samhain.

Journey on now, (name). We will follow when our time is right. May you be reborn when you are ready in a place and time that best suits your needs for learning and spiritual growth, and may you also experience in your new life the love and happiness you so richly deserve.”

There may be a moment of silence as each member of the circle silently says goodbye.

Saluting the God/dess(es)

Saluting/Dismissing the Quarters:

The Directions are thanked and dismissed as normal, but as the directional candle is extinguished, the following words should be spoken:

East: “The Sun will rise again.”

South: “Life continues.”

West: “Love is all we can be sure of.”

North: “Only the Mother is Eternal.”

Banishing the Magick Circle

Note: The offering of cakes and ale to the God/dess(es) is buried with thanks, and the offering of food and items is left at the graveside (if possible) or near the ritual site for the departed.

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Leaving The City of Flowers and Sunshine for The Land of 10,000 Lakes

March 21st, 2012 / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , / categories: Observations, People /

I never meant to live in California.

In fact, I argued against it for several years, while married to my first husband who had grown up out here. I met him in Louisiana, we lived together in Oklahoma, and he always wanted to move back to his childhood home in Ventura, CA. After a week-long visit in 1997 or ’98, I found myself afraid of moving here – it was too big, too dirty, too different for me. There were no trees! Not like in Southeast Texas/Louisiana and even Oklahoma City. I hated palm trees. I felt so out of place.

When I got divorced, I stayed for a couple months with a boyfriend, then had nowhere to go when we broke up. My dad offered to let me stay at his place in Costa Mesa, CA, and because I had no real choice, I accepted.

I had a hard time making friends at first, and finally made some through the Camarilla Fan Club (now known as The Mind’s Eye Society) of which I’d been a member for about 4 years before I’d moved. A year after I came to Cali, I moved into my own apartment in Long Beach with a roomie and fully began to settle into California. Eventually, I loved it, especially after meeting my current husband and solidifying many friendships.

For a while, I thought I would never want to move away from here. I mean, let’s face it – Southern California is known for its exceptional weather, and it’s no lie. Sunny, warm weather is the norm here, with some grey days in May and June and a sprinkle of rain in the winter. In all my time in California ( almost 9 years now) I’ve never lived more than 2 miles from a beach, and mostly I’ve lived only a few blocks from one. Mountains with beautiful, scenic views are a short-ish drive away, and the stark beauty of the desert isn’t much further. Las Vegas is only a 4 hour drive (if you drive like a Los Angeleno) and is a great weekend get-away – Adam and I have a time share property there. One of the most fun things about living in Los Angeles County is being able to identify all the locations in movies and TV – much of the Transformers movie was shot in L.A. and Dexter (which is set in Florida) is shot down the street from my house, for the most part. Songs, books, movies, and T.V. shows are written about and in and have settings in the Southland, and I find it fun to be able to identify so readily with them.

There are so many reasons to love La La Land, but there are plenty of reasons to hate it also.

  • high crime rates
  • pollution
  • over-crowding
  • grime caused by lack of cleansing rain and too much smog
  • the huge sprawl of the metro area, unbroken by nature or pretty scenery
  • the SoCal image
  • housing prices
  • etc

One of the things I’ve disliked about California for a long time is it’s lack of proximity to family. My dad and stepmom moved to Phoenix not long after I got my apartment in Long Beach. Step-aunts and uncles, and my step-brothers either moved with them or aren’t too big on visiting. My extended birth family is mostly in Wisconsin, with the major exception being my sister, who lives in Indiana. And my husband’s family, probably the best, most good hearted people I know, mostly live in Minnesota. Except Adam’s sister, who actually lives in Riverside, CA, which is far enough away from us to limit trips to visit to 3 or 4 times a year.

Lately I’ve felt a strong urge to connect with family again. To live close to a community of people who love us. Adam’s extended family is not only huge, but they’re truly wonderful people. I’ve said before that they’re the kind of people I never believed existed outside of classic television. Not that they’re unnaturally perfect or anything – but they’re honest, kind, warm, steady, non-crazy, stable folks who are family oriented and genuinely decent people. There’s not a mess of them in jail, none of them should be kept away from small children for safety reasons, mental disease seems minimal, etc. No one punched anyone else out at the family reunion a few years back… stuff like that.

So, when I started feeling the pull to be around family, Adam’s was the obvious choice for me. I truly like them. I think they like me, mostly. So we’re looking into it, and we have a very tentative plan to move out there after my Barbershop chorus’ international competition in October. We even have a good idea on where we’d live – a large house in the rural area surrounding Northfield, MN. In fact, we may be neighbors with Adam’s parents!

It’s a paradigm shift for me – I’ve mostly lived in large-ish cities or their suburbs. I’ve never lived on a farm, or on property with more than a fraction of an acre footprint. But I’m ready. I can’t stop thinking of it, of all the opportunities it opens, all the changes it presents.

It won’t be easy. It won’t be fun all the time (especially that first Winter and it’s attendant snowfall). But I think it will be a very good thing. And that’s what matters.

Here’s hoping for the future, and the best it can bring.

Do you have any big plans in mind for this year? Any game-changers in the works for you? I’d love to hear about them!

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Opinion: Trayvon Martin Was Murdered in Cold Blood

March 20th, 2012 / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , / categories: Observations, People /

Lately there’s been an outcry about the case of the death of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old black youth killed in “self-defense” a month ago by George Zimmerman. Last week, The Sanford Mayor and State Attorney’s Office released 911 call recordings after first allowing the boy’s parents to hear them.

Trayvon Martin

Even in a hoodie, he looks like just a harmless kid...

I wasn’t a witness to this situation, and I don’t have any unpublished insider information, but what I do have is common sense. The 911 calls convinced me that, at the very least, George Zimmerman, the shooter, should have been arrested, investigated, and put to trial as soon as possible.

It  is my sincere opinion that Trayvon Martin was killed in cold blood, by an at-best-delusional, and demonstrably overly suspicious man. George Zimmerman, an Hispanic man and self-appointed captain of the neighborhood watch, has a long track record of calling 911 repeatedly and frivolously. The 911 calls released last week make it clear that the case is not a clear-cut act of self-defense as local police and the perpetrator have been claiming. Based on these calls and witness reports alone, the police are remiss not to have arrested Zimmerman and launched and in-depth investigation.

George Zimmerman's Mugshot

Something about his eyes makes him scary

Witnesses recount events including what sounded like a shot, then a physical confrontation and (what sounds like) Martin screaming repeatedly for help. 911 callers did not go out to help because they were afraid, which is understandable to a degree. But I believe neighbor involvement may have stopped the murder from taking place.

Martin’s girlfriend, unnamed at the request of her parents, was on the phone with Martin when the incident happened. She says that from his perspective, Martin became aware of a suspicious stranger (Zimmerman) following him through the complex, and that Martin tried to evade his pursuer and thought he’d lost the man. Instead, Zimmerman backtracked to cut him off. His girlfriend heard Trayvon ask, “Why are you following me?”

People who are attacking others, causing those other people to act in self-defense, do not scream for 30 seconds for help. That’s what victims do. This boy was minding his own business, walking back from the store on a quiet, rainy evening. He was then chased by an assailant and then shot, point-blank in the chest and killed, with no provocation on Martin’s part.

Think about this from the boy’s perspective. Many of us have experienced that eerie feeling of being watched or followed in an unfamiliar part of town. We may have hurried away, hoping to avoid trouble from a vaguely threatening stranger. If that stranger then cuts you off and shoots you dead, that’s unprovoked murder, no matter what delusions of suspected danger were floating through that stranger’s mind at the time. But this boy was black, and that made it OK for the Sanford, Florida, police to overlook his death and dismiss any claims of foul play.

Shame on the Sanford police for ignoring this. Shame on a community for hiding in their homes and not coming to Trayvon’s aid. Shame on people like Zimmerman, who demonize innocent people based simply on their race.

Aren’t we living in The Future yet? Aren’t we supposed to be past all this senseless violent crime and racial bias?

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Top 10 Upcoming Movies That Make Me Sad For Humanity

February 28th, 2012 / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , / categories: Observations, Pop Culture, Random Geekery /

As you may have seen in my previous movie post, I’m a sucker for scifi movies, fantasy, and childhood remakes. But sometimes remakes and reboots go too far and corrupt a good memory, or rehash something that shouldn’t be rehashed. Some movies don’t need to be made – they hurt my heart or my head or my soul. But Hollywood trudges on, making films that make you wish you had those two hours back.

The following is a personal list of films I’m not looking forward to seeing in the theatres. Full Disclosure: I’m so not a fan of modern comedies.

Robocop (original)

The first series was hokey enough

 

10. Robocop- Why are they rebooting this? The original(s) were weird and silly, and unless they get really interesting with the technology, no one really cares to see this rehashed. Do they? Am I just wrong?

KickAss 2

How many asses do we need to kick?

 

9. KickAss 2- I left the theatre after KickAss feeling very sad for humanity. Yes, the “heroes” win – but at what cost? The little girl is destined for life-long therapy, and the boy is not far behind her. I don’t think my soul could take a 2nd dose.

Bourne Legacy Poster

More jerky camera headache inducing action! With less Matt Damon...

 

8. The Bourne Legacy- Really? We need to REBOOT the “Bourne” series? Hollywood, I challenge you to be more original.

 

The Amazing Spider-Man

Go, go gadget web!

 

7. Amazing Spider-Man- Rebooting film series seems to be the way to go these days in Hollywood. But there’s just no excuse with the technology we have available to release this movie with the sorry excuse for CGI web-swinging we’ve seen in all the previews and trailers. Ugh.

 

Friends With Kids

He gets a girlfriend, and she gets the girlfriend's thongs...

6. Friends With Kids- The premise: Two friends who live in the same apartment building decide to have a child together, without any sort of romantic relationship. Their involvement with each other is strictly in regards to their mutual child and continuing platonic friendship. Because, I dunno, rasing a child is the best part of a relationship? I don’t know. This one confuses me. I predict they fall in love and get married at the end of the film.

Battleship

You aliens sunk my Battleship! Bastards!

 

5. Battleship- 1st, how does this really have anything to do with the classic board game other than having a sea battle involved? 2nd, Why are you stealing from Transformers? – Oh, right, it’s made by some of the same people…

National Lampoon's Vacation

Behold, I am God...er, Chevy Chase anyway...

 

4. National Lampoon’s Vacation- The National Lampoon movies are what I think started to turn me off of awkward situational comedies. They were the beginning of the end of my enjoyment of the Humor genre in film. We so do not need to revisit them.

 

Three Stooges and Snooki

Snooki isn't funny... ok, yes she is. Just look at her!

 

3. Three Stooges- Looks like a modern scene for scene rip off of the classic physical comedy TV series. Except with added Snookie. Really?? Oh, and don’t forget the nun in a barely-there bathing suit.

 

Project X

Yay, we get the award for stupidest movie genre mashup! Whee!

2. Project X- The title of this film invokes a SciFi-spy-thriller sort of feeling in me, but apparently it’s a new “found footage” film documenting a crazy high school party getting out of hand. No scifi elements like the recent Chronicle, this will be a high school sex comedy. I can’t see how the genre will benefit from the found footage style – But either way, it’s so not my thing.

 

21 Jump Street

This guy is so not Johnny Depp

1. 21 Jump Street- I love Johnny Depp; he’s dreamy, moody, quirky, hot, and did I say dreamy? He can almost do no wrong, even in his first claim-to-fame TV police drama, 21 Jump Street, that launched him headfirst into teenage heart-throb territory. What this goofy “remake” movie has to do with that gold nugget of 80′s television is an anyone’s guess. I want to slap the person who came up with this, and everyone else who endorsed it as a good idea.

 

Agree/Disagree? What movies are you not looking forward to in the coming months? Tell us in the comments!

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Top 10 Impending Movies or Movie Rumors I Want to See on the Big Screen

February 15th, 2012 / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , / categories: Observations, Pop Culture, Random Geekery /

Since I started reading blog posts by the hundreds every day (ok, skimming most of them! Thank goodness for Google Reader!), I have been exposed to more movie news and rumors than I ever had before. Did they always release so many new trailers,  animated movie posters and featurettes for new movies (such as the crazy amount of ‘new’ promo materials for John Carter) and I’ve just missed it because I tend not to watch TV, or is this new and it just happens to coincide with my new blog-article addiction?

In any case, every day it seems I’m seeing some rumor or news item about an interesting new movie/movie idea. Many of these are remakes of things dear to me from my past, either movies or books. Here I will compile the top 10 movies I’d love to see on the big screen, inspired by rumors or actual news of production on the properties.

Jaden Smith in After Earth

Starring Will Smith and his son Jaden

 

10. After Earth - M. Night Shyamalan’s new SciFi movie. I love a good far future/post apocalyptic scifi film, but I’m wary of anything made by M. Night Shamalamadingdong these days.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

My favorite was always Raphael

 

9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- not much info here. I loved the original cartoon series and enjoyed the few comics I read. The original “live action” films were hokey, but reboots of childhood favorites don’t have a great track record either…

John Carter of Mars Movie

I should reread the book but I gave it away on Bookcrossing.com

 

8. John Carter - When i first heard of this movie based on the classic pulp fiction novels, I was very excited. I saw the first trailers and it looked pretty good. But I’m nervous that the Writer/Director thought girls would be uninterested in a movie set in space. WTF?

 

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter poster

President by day, Hunter by Night...

 

7. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - I haven’t read the book, or any of the books done in the same genre/style (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, anyone?), but my husband has, and he’s a fan. His excitement for this film is contagious, and it has a great new trailer!

 

Riddick 3 movie still

From Vin Diesel's Facebook page...

 

6. Riddick – I liked Pitch Black. I even liked Chronicles of Riddick. I’m looking forward to the series returning to the look and feel of the first movie, though. And I do love me some Vin Diesel!

 

 

Emma Watson

She's so pretty!

5. Beauty and the Beast starring Emma Watson – I guess there are two Beauty and the Beast films in the pipeline – fairytale movies are “in” right now. But this one by Guillermo del Toro will star the gorgeous Emma Watson, and that alone puts it on my watchlist. Also, it’s Guillermo del Toro, which means it will be visceral and dark and well worth watching!

short circuit movie cover

Johnny 5 is Alive - again!

 

4. Short Circuit – A re-imagining  of the 80′s classic, this film will be geared towards children, but I wont hold that against it…

 

Transformers 4

I am in love with Optimus Prime...

 

3. Transformers 4 – the first live-action movie was OK; the second was confusing and sucked, frankly. The third blew me away. I’m excited that there will be a 4th film, and I’m glad that Michael Bay will direct, but the idea that it may be a “reboot” bothers me.

 

Magic Kingdom for Sale-Sold!

I hope they cast someone more attractive as Ben Holiday

2. Magic Kingdom for Sale – Sold! – Terry Brooks’ mid-80′s fantasy series is rumored to be brought to the big screen produced by Akiva Goldsman. I am a huge fan of these books about a grieving lawyer who gives up his safe but unsatisfying career in our world and purchases a fairytale kingdom complete with elves, wizards, demons and fantastic adventures, only to find out that it will take more than a fat wallet to to be the King Landover desperately needs. I really, really hope this book and its sequels make it to the big screen!

Katniss's Mockingjay pin

I also really want Mockingjays to be real

1. The Hunger Games – when promotion for this film/series began, I’d never heard of the books. They were recommended to me more than once afterwards, and I broke down and read the trilogy in the span of a few weeks. I dislike the Katniss character very much, but I ended up liking the series very well despite that. One of the recent TV trailers had me misting up with emotion all because of a particular 4-note musical sequence at the end. I am very much looking forward to the big-screen adaptation of this story!

Which of these movies are you most looking forward to? Or, if your movie isn’t on the list, tell me, maybe I’ve somehow missed it!

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Freegans, Suburban Gold Miners, Scavengers… Dumpster Diving in the New Millennium.

February 10th, 2012 / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , / categories: Observations /

Why is that in the trash? There’s nothing wrong with that! It just needs a little paint.

dumpster

Look at that, it's a perfectly good Dumpster!

Have you ever passed by a trash can on pickup day and heard yourself muttering that question? People in the United States are notorious resource wasters – the average U.S. office worker uses about 500 paper, plastic, or Styrofoam cups per year (click here), and the average American uses the equivalent of one 100-ft tall Douglas fir tree in paper and wood products each year (click here). As a culture that thrives on upgrading our gadgets, our cars, our homes, our pretty much everythings to the next big thing, it really is no big surprise that we can find tons of useful stuff in the trash.

Lately, the type of Dumpster Diving that’s caught my attention is “Freeganism”. Freegan is a term that was created by playing off the words “free” -because they are finding things in the trash and therefore getting them for free, and “vegan”. Vegans avoid animal products such as meat, fur and bone, or anything made from an animal byproduct, such as milk, cheese or honey. They avoid products that are tested on animals to avoid condoning animal abuses. Freegans take this a step further by realizing that in some way, manufacturing, farming, and production harms the environment, removes native plants, and pushes wild animals off their habitat because now they are seen as pests. Wars are fought over natural resources such as oil, people are killed, rainforests are destroyed, etc. The only way to stop participating in a system that propagates this type of behavior is to stop buying new products, including food. So, Freegans remove themselves as paying consumers, and instead they scavenge for their needs.

In a recent conversation with some friends, I heard about the practices of a rather large, dominant grocery chain whose image is based on healthy, wholesome foods. According to my friends, this chain has a practice of throwing out fresh produce simply because it is unattractive. This would ensure that all the produce on display appeared beautiful, tasty, and fresh, but perfectly tasty, perfectly fresh items were being tossed because they weren’t beautiful. Of course, this chain also tries to keep Freegans and other trash-pickers from pillaging their Dumpsters, ensuring that the items they waste go to landfills and not hungry bellies. I heard this story second hand, of course, and that’s why I’m withholding the name of the grocery chain – you don’t call someone out on an unsubstantiated rumor – but the events seem likely enough to me, considering our throw-away culture.

So there’s this growing subculture of people who dig around in Dumpsters and other trash receptacles and find perfectly good loaves of bread in their original, unharmed packaging, pounds of fruits and veggies that just need to be washed, cereals whose boxes had been crushed a bit, or cans with dents in them. These people are completely living off these types of food, making a political and economic statement by not spending money on production. They find other treasures in the trash as well, not just food items, and use these to furnish or decorate their homes – heck, some even turn to squatting in empty, bank owned properties to make use of homes that stand empty.

If you’re not ready to plunge head-first into the Freegan lifestyle, perhaps you’d like to make a bit of side money at flea markets and other resale stores. A practice called “suburban gold mining” is more what I think most of us think of when we hear the term Dumpster Diving. A surprising amount of useful furniture, bicycles, artwork, first edition books, working electronics, and other useful stuff is tossed into the trash and some of it has been found. Gold Miners scour the best neighborhoods for useful trash and take home their finds sometimes by the truckload. They clean up and/or fix the items they find, and turn them around for a good profit at local flea markets, resale shops, or sites like eBay. The practice is getting so popular that there are several articles on it on the popular how-to website Instructables.

Of course, you don’t have to have an ulterior political or economic motive for trash picking – you could just see something awesome on the side of the road and decide to save it! It’s up to you.

When I was about 13 years old, I found a woven mat of some kind in the trash. It was made of some kind of plant material and had beautiful circular patterns in it. It had been tossed because it was frayed in some places, but I broke out some of the round pattern pieces and used them as display mats under some of the decorative items in my room. It wasn’t much, but it opened my mind to the idea that “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.”

Have you ever picked something from the trash? If so, what was it, and what did you do with it?

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This Week Interrupted by Las Vegas

January 27th, 2012 / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , / categories: Observations, Random Geekery /

So now I have a posted schedule for blog articles I’ve failed to write this week. The only good it did me was to cause me some embarrassment at this point.

Me and my sister!

She's the pretty one (blue shirt if you have trouble rating beauty)

The reason I failed to update my blog as expected is because I had an unplanned trip to Las Vegas this week, where I’d found out that my sister was going to be for a work conference. So I jumped in my car and headed over to see her. LV isn’t *that* far (the drive’s about 4 hrs straight through), and I didn’t get to see my sister for Christmas so I thought it was worth it.

Still, planning ahead, I took my computer and my tablet thingy and a bunch of stuff so I could get my work done: after all, my sis was going to be at a conference during the day so I had plenty time to work… right? Hmm. First off, I forgot to bring the tee shirt I’d made with soft circuits and LEDs, but I did bring my parts container which had all the extra soft circuits materials – My intent was to show in photos all the different types of materials and the finished product, and describe how I put them together in the tee shirt I made. Well, no problem there either. I called my hubby and asked him to snap a few pictures of the shirt and email them to me.

My poor hubby is sick with some kind of sinus thing. He agreed to take pics of the shirt, but then he said he couldn’t find it. I found it today in the place I told him to look, so the problem probably was his sickness making him distracted and unable to find it. Tuesday, thus, passed without a blog post.

Red Rock Canyon

Thank the gods for the HDR Camera app on my android phone

Wednesday got weird for me, because I had trouble sleeping Tuesday night and I somehow managed to sleep all day. When I did get up, I made up for my laziness by going out to Red Rock Canyon to take photos and hike. Unfortunately, they close at 5PM so I only got about 45 minutes out there, but it was still good to get out.

My sister called to tell me her plans had changed and that she was available for dinner if I wanted to go. So we did. She surprised me by being into sushi, which she wasn’t the last time I’d talked to her, so I took her to a place called Tokyo Japanese Restaurant off Sahara. It was rated 4 stars on Yelp with a price symbol of $$ so I knew it wouldn’t be too expensive. Her boyfriend told her to try a bunch of different things, so I ordered for us – we had sashimi, california rolls, spicy yellowtail rolls,

Cute little caterpillar roll

This Caterpillar roll, with his octopus eyes, was almost too cute to eat. Almost!

spider roll, rainbow roll, crunchy roll, and a Caterpillar roll. We were sitting at the sushi bar, so they also gave us other things to try – some corn and cheese skillet thing, and a little bit of grilled salmon. Obviously it was too much food for 2 people! So we brought some of the rolls back to the hotel and I had them for a midnight snack.

Anyway, even though I had my voice recorder on me, as well as the notes from my interview with “Sam” the homeless man, I did not find time to transcribe the interview as I’d planned.

Thursday was spent driving. One of the things I really liked about this trip is that I was in no rush at all to get to Vegas or to get home – I had plenty of time for once. So I did something I’ve always wanted to do. I stopped and did sightseeing on the way! Now, I’ve been to Las Vegas by car about 8 times since I’ve lived in California, and never once did I get the chance to stop and see anything more interesting than “Alien Fresh Jerky“, which is just a jerky shop with a police car parked out front, with an alien diorama inside. Whoopee! Hehe.

However, on the way out to Vegas this time, I stopped at Calico Ghost Town outside of Barstow, CA. Every time we’ve passed by the sign for it on the freeway, I’ve wanted to stop there. So I did. I had the rest of my breakfast burrito as my lunch before I went in (remind me to talk to you later about my new health plan), and then walked up the main street of the old silver mining town. It was interesting. The best part was being able to go into a bit of Maggie Mine, which is where they found a huge vein of silver back in the heyday. They had a nice display of mineral samples and some of it glowed in a black light. I found the mine itself to be rather creepy. First, I was alone in my little self-guided tour, and they had little dioramas set up in different offshoots of the main tunnel, showing life as a miner. And every single one of the mannequins they used were creeptastic. I took some photos, I’ll have to upload them later so you can see. I finally made my way out and, after a quick stop at the town’s rock and mineral shop for some take-home samples, I decided to leave. Just before driving out towards the exit, though, I decided to take my car down into the lower parking lot, which was situated in a sort of ravine or arroyo, with rock walls on both sides. I picked up some samples of the rock there, too, only that was free. I haven’t done any official testing or whatnot but I think its agate or chalcedony, with something else. More info soon.

Soda Lake, off Zzyzx Road in the Mojave

The "dry" lake bed was a bit muddy under all that salt/soda

On the way *back* from Vegas, I was feeling a little bit distressed that I didn’t know of anything else I really wanted to see. So when I came up on the sign for Zzyzx Road, I decided to see what was there. Turns out that if you follow Zzyzx Road, you end up in the Mojave Wilderness Preserve, on the edge of a dry lake bed called Soda Lake – when I went there was a little pond of water surrounded by a vast dry bed covered in what seemed to be salt – but I read up on it later and its salt and soda (they made baking soda out of it as well as laundry soap at one time). I pulled over by the water to explore that and take some pictures, and it was very quiet. At first I thought it was truly silent but as my ears adjusted I was greeted with a great chorus of frogs! I also saw a roadrunner cross the road. I crunched my way across the white powder towards the pond’s edge and tried to capture the frogs on my recorder, but they were too quiet and were lost in the wind’s sound.

After a bit I went back to my car, scraped most of the soda and mud off my shoes and kept driving along Zzyzx. I had seen a semi truck head down the road and found that to be odd, so I decided there must be something down there. Turns out I was right. At the end of Zzyzx Road is a Desert Studies Center where they study the animals, plants, and environment of the desert. They also have classes and stuff sometimes, and are open to the public. I parked my car and wandered around, and though I saw people working, no one spoke to me. I took a bunch of photos, visited their visitor’s center (where I signed the guest book and reported seeing the roadrunner in a log book they had for such things).  They also had a great display of crystals and minerals found in the area, so I was disappointed that I didn’t find anything while walking around. I did, however, see several ducks in a pond, and watched them swim around and dive down for whatever treats ducks like to eat at the bottom of ponds.

After a couple hours I headed home. All in all it was a good little vacation, but I didn’t get any blog updates in like I wanted. Sorry ’bout that.

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