To Do List

Note these are not resolutions, but things I need to do in the coming year.

Books I must continue researching: Balancing the Circle, Moonripples, Urban Renewal.

Books I need to format and proofread: The Numenous Star Book for Ministers, Holding House, Pattern Manual, Pizza Boy of the Asteroids, A Thousand Days to Freedom, Blood Bond.

Gardens: Layout and install raised bed in back. Set up gazebo. See if the Zombie Maple will die this year for real. Fence front yard for Itzl. Get Beaners to clean up all his mechanical detritus. Build patio panels from Zombie Maple limbs, and build rustic ritual gazbo to place under the cedars and spicebush in back. Remove excess saplings and prepare ground for small orchard. Prepare new plot for blackberry canes. Plant rosebush over Eris’s grave (appropriate – she was a beautiful, prickly cat).

In House: Reorganize library and install yet more shelving. Find a second sofa for the living room, then rearrange it to fit. Reorganize kitchen so bakery smallwares, Chantria’s things, the House’s things, and mine all fit into it conveniently – maybe get more shelves…or a separate freezer. Knock down wall in laundry room to expand it, add a pantry. See if there’s enough in savings to complete plumbing repairs (need $3,000.00, haven’t looked at savings all year…). Take out carpet in computer nook, sand and refinish the wood floor beneath. Paint the rest of the living room and install the ceiling fan that’s taking up floor space in the kitchen.

Other stuff: Replace the camera I clumsily broke. Replace the computer that died. Buy a vacuum cleaner for which I can find replacement filters and belts for at least the next 5 years (and I prefer the next 10). Get rid of the vacuum cleaner that has no replacement filters available even from the manufacturer. Finish painting the bedroom and install the bead curtain for the closet. Finish sewing the Flying Spaghetti Monsters. Finish sewing Beaners winter coat. Sew MedFaire costumes for Itzl. Build Itzl’s Pirate Ship for MedFaire. Find my boardgame book. Sew MedFaire costumes for me that I can tuck Itzl into when he gets tired or overwhelmed. Work on the new SoonerCon as a volunteer. Buy tickets for SoonerCon. Buy tickets for ConEstoga. Reserve hotel room for ConEstoga.

Religious To Do: Complete second Elder Project. Conspire with Moon Lily House to open Blue Moon Keep to non-Numenists for a few interfaithing events. Plan a few extra social events for Blue Moon. Make sure all the celebrations go without a hitch (ie – rinse waters are ready before the celebration, make folks ‘fess up to allergies so we don’t have any more panics, etc.), attend more Clergy Breakfasts, hold a NDP celebration concurrently again – try for the Capitol once more – it was good there last year. Also, see if any of the other local Pagan groups want to participate – none did last year.

Political: same old same old – letters, legislative lunches, keeping an eye on what’s happening, documentation.

Charity: resume Sandwich Saturdays, continue Meal Moments, Pagan Pantry, Pagan Power Project, Teddy Bears for Troops, Cookies for Soldiers, Pennies for Wildflowers.

Cornucopia: Visit more with friends. Zoo. Souper Sunday. Ice Cream Social. Vacation – visit Z and B, or K and R.

Now, let’s see if I do all of this…

Personal Reflections

The year started off with Blogging for Books via The Zero Boss and culling and talking about culling that badly misnamed Friends List. And then the tsunami came.

Being halfway across the world, there wasn’t much I could personally do. I did contribute some extra to Heifer International because some of them would need their livestock replenished.

Then I considered the issue of aging Pagans. Not all old Pagans are Elders, but all old Pagans will need some assistance as they age. This is particularly poignant with me because as far as I know, I am now among the oldest Numenists, and my closest Numenist Elder and teacher passed away after spending several years in a nursing home because of Alzheimer’s.

I planned out a Smoking Garden and didn’t get it fully built because other things came along. It’s still in the works.

I did a lot of political stuff. A lot. OK, it may not seem like much becaues it was mostly research and documentation with just bits of action between, but it was still a lot of letter-writing, phone calls, lunches with legislators, and such.

Our ferrets decided to remodel the livingroom to suit their needs, and in the process ate an entire raspberry cane I was planning on planting. It took days to clean up all the scattered potting soil and bits of plants they artfully placed in such creative places as the niche under the shelf, that odd place where the shelf boards don’t quite meet (I never claimed to be a carpenter) and inside books.

I had 9 books published – none under my own name, as they were all “write for hire” books.

I mowed in March!!! Usually the grass doesn’t need mowing until mid-April.

I got the Unitarian Jihad Name of Sibling Garrotte of Looking at All Sides of the Question, petitioned and successfully had it changed to Sibling Dagger of Mercy.

I shared photos of my Yeast Beasties and revealed 10 dumb things I did as a child.

I broke my hand tripping on air.

I acquired my Desk Puppy, Itzl.

During high school graduation hi-jinks from the high school behind my house I lost the back window of my car. It would take more than 7 months to find a replacement window.

I participated in the Rockridge Spiritual Conference and doctored Itzl’s ear infection.

I started the masterherbalist journal (which I really must update more often) and discovered Itzl is really a Vampire Puppy: he likes cool, dark places and detests the sun.

I drove to Texas for the express purpose of showing off my puppy.

On July 4th, we held a vigil for our Consitution and freedoms.

I got my computer fixed only to have it die again.

I built shelves, sewed costumes and dealt with the Zombie Maple.

I coined the word “spogging”, which hasn’t caught on. It’s a combination of “spam” and “blogging” and refers to those blogs and blog comments which are nothing but advertising.

Itzl poisoned himself on nandina, and lived to tell about it.

I purchased the Magic Bullet and am pleased with the purchase.

I wrote up a list of the entire house’s inventory.

I presented several Eating Local lectures, with cooking lessons attached.

Katrina and Rita shaped the last third of the year, with disaster preparedness classes, timelines of the events, praise for the average American who showed their true colors by dropping everything to help. I drove to Louisiana to deliver much needed supplies and to ferry college students to colleges that would take them in.

We discussed funeral plans, both within Numenism and on a personal level (Clown for MC).

In spite of hte busy-ness generated by Katrina and Rita, I spent time with friends going on a piratical treasure hunt (and we found it, too!).

I traded a 30 pound lasagna for computer repairs. Unfortunately, the repairs lasted as long as hte lasagna did.

There was a suicide by bomb at the local university.

I bought Soft Paws for Itzl. And want to report they are the finest product I’ve ever bought for a critter. I put them on him in October, they are supposed to be good for 6-8 weeks, and here it is January and he’s still wearing the original set. The package comes with 20 and enough glue for them all. He did lose a few caps, but I found them and re-glued them on. My fault, most likely, that he lost them as I may have glued them on improperly.

My daughter had to euthanize her pet rat Astrael for cancer, and consoled herself with getting Thing One and Thing Two – dwarf Russian hamsters. They were eventually named Spooky and Creepy.

Just before NaNoWriMo, I broke a finger on an ice chest, so I wrote my NaNo with a broken finger. I did finish, though. And I discovered the coolest wiki to use for writing – and other things.

I watched the dreadful TV show about spouse trading – the one with the berserk dominionista. I won’t give more power and profit to her (I hear she’s made quite a name for herself on talk shows and news shows and become a dominionist hero for her terrible behavior).

During all of this, I had a Katrina survivor as a housemate. On Thanksgiving weekend, we drove him to New Orleans so he could claim a trailer to live in while his house was remodeled and return to his old job. It was a flying trip, we drove down Saturday night and returned Sunday night so I could be at work Monday morning. My daughter financed the trip (which was less than $100.00 – a surprise in itself).

And I was completely taken by surprise when my co-workers presented me with a new back window for my car – and had it installed.

It was a quiet year. I guess I’m slowing down in my old age.

Favorite Recipe Meme

This time, shamelessly lifted from blackthornglade: “Your meme mission, should you choose to accept it, is this – post 1-5 of your absolute favorite recipies. Easy stuff that you routinely do off the top of your head. Y’know – the kind of thing us average citizens could do w/ minimal prep time. You may also share one “hard” recipe from a book or other source, if you desire. Bonus points if you provide color commentary, or explain why this receipe is your favorite. Tag 5 friends and prepare to drool…”

1. Graveyard Stew. This was a childhood favorite I’ve never truly outgrown. Take a tall glass and crumble it full of saltines. Pour in whole milk. Sprinkle on extra salt. Eat with a spoon. It’s cold and white, and both gooey and crunchy, especially if you top it with oyster crackers….

2. Watered Bread. I know it sounds gross, too, but honestly, if you use a good, sturdy German bread like bauernbrot (a light sourdough rye), it works great. Don’t use American white bread – or any mass produced American bread, actually, because they can’t stand up to this recipe. Take a slice of bread, dampen the top of it and sprinkle on chocolate sprinkles or sugar, and devour. Sprinkle the chocolate sprinkles or sugar on thickly it’s supposed to be a “stolen treat”. We kids used to sneak this back behind the schoolhouse because kids weren’t supposed to eat chocolate or sugar when I was growing up (nor were we allowed sodas, coffee, or cigarettes, but we could drink all the beer and wine we wanted).

3. Egg Toast. Cut a hole in the middle of a slice of bread (here, American white bread works just fine, but I prefer sourdough). Spread butter on one side of the bread, including the part you cut out (I like to butter after cutting so the cutter doesn’t get icky. I usually use a goldfish or acorn shaped cookie cutter.). Melt some butter in a skillet, and lay the bread in it, buttered side up. Break an egg into the hole and cook until the white is set enough to flip the bread. Flip both the bread with the egg in it and the cut out piece and cook until that side of the egg white is set. The yolk should still be a bit runny. When you eat it, dip the bread in the yolk, and scoop the egg that was in the hole onto the cut-out piece of bread and eat like a second, smaller open-faced sandwich.

4. Potato Pancakes. Take 3 or 4 potatoes, peel them, then shred them into a bowl of cold water. Rinse the shredded potatoes until the water runs clear, then dry the shreds as best you can. Now, shred a bit of onion and add summer savory, thyme, parsley, cracked pepper, and ground celery seed to the shreds and toss well. Add 2 eggs. Melt butter in a skillet and pour 1/4 cup of shredded potato in (you can usually fit 3 such pancakes in a 10″ skillet) and fry until crisp on both sides, adding butter as needed. Serve with ice cold applesauce, or with sourcream and chives, or with ketchup, or with gravy.

5. Bacchus Bites. Take the Ritz Cracked Pepper crackers (you can’t buy them separately around here, only in a box of wheat, garlic butter and cracked pepper Ritz crackers). Lay them out and top with slices of Seriously Sharp Cheddar and a black olive, cut in half so it stays on. Eat with a nice, full, grape country wine (or for total decadence, Eiswein).

Wierd Habits Meme

sarahswampwitch tagged me for the Weird Habits Meme. I just did the Guilty Pleasures Meme and am wondering if some of them cross over into weirdness, particularly the rocks and lemons. But, hey, I have enough weirdnesses about me that I don’t need to duplicate them from other memes.

“Ground rules: The first player of this “game” starts with the topic “5 weird habits of yours” and people who get tagged need to write an LJ entry about their 5 quirky habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged and list their names.”

1. Turtlenecks. I wear them with everything. Honestly. From silk business suits to T-shirts and jeans, I wear a turtleneck underneath. And when I wear swimsuits, I wear a turtleneck as a cover-up. Granted, I will have it be almost knee-length, and it can be sheer, and even be open down the front, but it must be a turtleneck. Not a mock turtleneck, either, but one that can be pulled up to my eyes, if I wanted. I have multiples in my more popular colors (red, green, brown, white, black) in case I need to wear the same color more than once between laundry days.

2. I have a drinking problem at work. I have had as many as 8 different beverages on my desk and been drinking from all of them: hot tea, cold tea, water, juice, hot cocoa, milk, coffee, Dr. Pepper. I haven’t exceeded 8. Yet.

3. Unless my hair is long enough to braid or pull up into a ponytail, I don’t brush it. Wash, towel dry, and that’s it. My hair dries curly that way, and a quick finger-combing is all it needs to look tidy. If I brush it, all the curl goes away.

4. Words. If it is written, I must read it. Billboards, street signs, T-shirts, books, brochures, notes scribbled in bottles or released with balloons, scraps torn and tossed on the lakeshore, or paper crumpled up in the trash can. It doesn’t matter how trite, trivial or boring it is, what language it’s in, or even if I’ve read it before – if it is written and I can see it, I must read it.

5. Catalogs. I like to go through catalogs and cut out all the pretty things I like. To me, owning a picture is almost as good as owning the real thing. This is kind of like my rock thing – owning rocks from different places makes me feel I’ve been there. Having pictures of stuff makes me feel as if I own what is pictured. It certainly helps reduce clutter. A picture of a sofa takes up far less space than the actual sofa.

No tags because I’m usually at the “tag-end” and everyone I know has already done this. But if you haven’t – feel free to play!

Guilty Pleasures Meme

Snuck from manycolored and blackthornglade.

The first player of this “game” starts with the topic “5 Guilty Pleasures” and people who get tagged need to write an LJ entry about their 5 Guilty Pleasures as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged and list their names.

1. Fireplaces. I adore fireplaces and am saving up to build one in my home because I need a fireplace.

2. Salted lemons. I don’t want them often, but I love pouring a thick coat of salt onto the cut side of half a lemon and licking it off.

3. Books. Anything written. I’ll even take the backs of cereal boxes, torn ads on walls, cryptic notes fluttering down the street, skywriting, and light-up messages on blimps. If it is written, I must read it. And since I have bad eyesight, I frequently mis-read it, and am endlessly amused by what I thought I read instead of what was actually written. Some of these misread items have spawned stories.

4. Chocloate Dr. Pepper. A close runner up is Spearmint Dr. Pepper, but that’s harder to get. No one sells it so I have to make my own.

5. Rocks. Not just any rocks – rocks from places where I know people. They can be plain gravel-type pebbles, as long as they came from someplace someone I know has been. Or from places I’ve been. I like to jumble them up in a nice box and run my fingers through them. I can feel everywhere they’ve been, get glimpses of sun and clouds and grass and dirt and tires and wind and shoes and bare toes. I really like that.

Meme

From nolawitch and sunfell: Ground Rules: The first player of this “game” starts with the topic “5 weird habits of yours” and people who get tagged need to write an LJ entry about their 5 quirky habits as well as state this rule clearly.

No tags, play if you want.

Hmmm. I don’t think I do anything weird or quirky. Other people don’t agree, so I asked a few friends and family members. Here’s what they came up with:

1. I have sweaters, coats, snowboots, blankets, wraps, rainboots, 3 beds, and special cooling mats for my little dog, but don’t have a coat or bed for myself.

2. I will start a trip of over 2,000 miles with a less-than-20 minute preparation time, yet agonize for hours over a short trip around the corner.

3. I keep a pot of soup simmering on my stove all winter long (except when my youngest and his friends come over – they devour the entire pot and I have to start over again).

4. When my hair is short (mid-back or shorter), I never brush it. It doesn’t tangle, and a finger-combing is sufficient to set it in order.

5. I almost always wear turtlenecks or very high necked tops. Summer, winter, 110ºF outside or -20ºF windchill. I have at least 3 of each color I wear so I can wear the same color more than once in a week.

My Flawed Utopia

Is there a word that is balanced between dystopia and utopia, leaning more towards the utopian end of things?

I ask because my utopia is flawed, but not so flawed it’s a dystopia.

See, I love the idea of America: the vision of an America as portrayed by our Founders, with a few changes because they didn’t know about some of the things that have come about and are yet to come.

I want to be able to say “Land of the Free” without wincing, without any feeling of guilt or irony or sadness.

I don’t believe in absolute freedom, because I want to live in a country that is inhabited by others than myself. When other people become involved, freedoms must be adapted to allow the maximum possible freedom for myself and for each of them. Certain basic freedoms must be granted to each of us for this to work: the freedom to access information (with qualifiers), the freedom to speak, the freedom to assemble peacefully, the freedom to work, the freedom to confront their accusers, the freedom to be fat or skinny or dirty or clean or blonde or black or old or young or male or female or anything in between, the freedom to belong to any organization, the freedom to be reclusive, the freedom to be eccentric and different (or a copycat), the freedom to create, the freedom to own property and use it as one will (with a few qualifiers), the freedom to keep that property and not have it taken away and given to someone else who “will use it better”, the freedom from excess taxation, the freedom to be both represented in government and to speak for themselves in their governance, the freedom to procreate (but not a mandate to procreate), the freedom to refrain from procreation, the freedom to love, the freedom to partner with any other consenting adult, the freedom to own things, the freedom to travel unmolested by government officials and authorities within our borders (with qualifiers), the freedom to believe what one will, the freedom to shop as one will, the freedom to decorate and celebrate as one will, that sort of thing. I’ll get to those qualifiers in a minute.

I want people in my utopia to have equal access to opportunities. They should have the chance to try, even if others may think they don’t qualify or want to exclude them based on various factors, including but not limited to: where they live, how they dress, their accent, their degree of wealth, their family, or their choice in organizations and friends. They may not succeed, but they should have the chance to try.

Now, those pesky qualifiers. Freedom to access information is important, particularly public information and actions performed by our elected employees. Personal information should be deeply protected, released only with the permission of the person to whom that information relates – this includes information regarding health, wealth, safety, and habits, and permission applying on a case-by-case basis. In other words, if a person gives permission for someone to access a portion of their personal information, that permission is only for that particular piece of information, and only for that single instance. It cannot be permission for unlimited access to all of their personal information forever and forever, nor does giving permission to one person constitute permission for others to access it. When personal information mus be accessed (say by law enforcement), then accessing it must be difficult and require complying with strict standards and passing through a variety of barriers. It must not ever be easy or routine. Any infractions must be severely punished. In the computer age, this means privacy of personal information is even more important.

Freedom of speech carries with it certain responsibilities. Speaking deliberate falsehoods to cause disruptions and to inflict harm upon others is a misuse – a criminal use – of that freedom. This extends to any sort of communication, not just verbal. Now, I’m not stupid. I know that sometimes, in order to right a wrong, hurtful things have to be said. The difference, as any intelligent person knows, is a combination of documentable fact and intent. So, libel and slander stay on to keep the utopia just and fair. And under speech, I include copyrights and patents. Copyrights and patents are limited and have expiration dates. Once something enters the public domain, it remains there and cannot be re-copyrighted or re-patented so long as it remains in common usage. If something becomes “forgotten”, and isn’t commonly used anymore – and it can be proved that it isn’t in common usage, it can then be re-copyrighted or re-patented. Things like the “Happy Birthday Song” or the smiley face, for example, could not be copyrighted in my utopia because they are entrenched in the public domain. Trademarks and licenses are different, because they are created and purchased and as long as the fees are paid they belong to the payer (individual or corporate).

There wouldn’t be any of the “pc” nonsense. If a person is “offended” by what someone else says, does, watches, reads, paints, or owns, they just have to politely look away. No one is required to participate in everything everyone else does, and in my utopia, they can’t prevent others from doing things that give them pleasure.

The qualifier to this is that they can’t inflict actual measurable harm on others by what they do – a criminal act is criminal no matter who commits it. Now, what constitutes a crime? Any act that is performed to deliberately harm another is a crime – most notably acts of violence or theft. Someone singing religious songs is not causing deliberate harm or damaging property (unless they have my singing voice, but that’s different, isn’t it?). Someone wishing someone else a “blessed day” isn’t causing harm, no matter how much the listener hates hearing it. Being “offended” is not justification for preventing someone else from saying or doing or being something.

And in my utopia, anyone who reacts to someone else’s pleasure by committing an act of violence is a criminal. If someone gets drunk, wears skimpy clothes, wears lots of bling bling, walks alone after dark, or does other such things, and they are robbed, raped, beaten, killed, or even verbally harassed or threatened for doing those things, the person doing the robbing, raping, beating, killing, threatening, and harassing is at fault and a criminal. In my utopia, there is no “victim-blaming”, the person who commits the act of violence is the one on trial and the one who will be punished if convicted.

Children are a special case because they lack the knowledge and experience to protect themselves – any crime committed against a child by an adult carries a triple penalty. Any adult male who impregnates a minor is automatically convicted of rape because in my utopia, any man who “loves” an underage girl has the self control to wait until she is of legal age, and if he doesn’t, he has to pay for it both in prison time and in restitution to the girl – restitution will depend upon the girl and whether she chooses to give birth and keep the baby.

I put qualifiers on owning property because in my utopia, only full citizens could own property. Immigrants, visitors, and businesses that are not owned and operated by resident citizens can only lease property, not own it in my utopia. and those citizens who own property can do pretty much what they want on their property so long as it doesn’t obscure, block or damage someone else’s property. I’m not talking property values – I’m talking actual physical damage. If one person has a child who’s heavy into restoring old cars, then they have the right to have car parts scattered on their property, so long as the parts don’t cross into anyone else’s property. That includes cars up on cinder blocks. The most neighbors can do is ask that such cars be covered with a tarp. They can’t fine and harass the property owner witha car-mad child. If one person loves growing roses, and a neighbor is allergic to roses, the rose grower still has the right to grow roses. If one person likes to paint their house in bright colors and string up lights and fill their land with tacky plastic flamingos, well, it’s their land. They can do that. And no government agency or business can take the land away from its current owner. They can offer to buy it, and if the owner refuses to sell, they can offer higher prices for it until they reach their limit, and explain their reasons for wanting that particular piece of land. If the owner still refuses to sell, they have to accept it and plan around it instead. In my utopia, a person’s home is their own personal mini-kingdom. And , in keeping with property ownership, we must discuss property taxes. There will be no ad valorem taxation. Period. Nada. Property taxes will be tied to the actual value of the land and cannot exceed 2% of that value, ever.

I put qualifiers on travel because while I firmly believe people should be able to move around in their own country without hindrance, I also realize that sometimes some restrictions must be placed on methods of travel for safety reasons – hence traffic laws and carry-on baggage restrictions. In my utopia, no citizen will ever be barred from traveling in our country. They may have to comply with speed limits and traffic signs, and weight restrictions and availability, but they shouldn’t have to be strip searched, forbidden to use a particular method of transportation, or delayed so they miss their scheduled buses, trains, or flights. Non-citizens, however, don’t have those protections.

And I put qualifiers on taxes, too. When we get large groups of people living together,t here are administrative costs to keep things all smooth and comfortable. That means either placing fees on everything or collecting a general tax to distribute between the services best performed by a government rather than private agencies. That tax amount should never ever exceed 5% of a person’s total income. 5% should be enough money, collected from every single citizen, to provide the needed services. There are a lot of services our government attempts to provide that it shouldn’t even be dabbling in – and that’s a waste of taxpayer dollars. Of course, we could go to a fee-based society. I kind of like that idea, but as I’m not too sure how workable it would be, this is a blurred part fo my utopia. In a fee-based society, we’d pay fees for specific services: auto tag fees would be divided between traffic law enforcement and road maintainence; property fees would be divided between sewage, water, schools, public facilities and park maintainence; gasoline fees would go towards fuel regulation oversight and road maintainence; licensing fees would go to support agencies that regulate whatever’s being licensed; there would be usage fees for maintaining public facilities – either through an entry fee or an annual fee billed to the local residents – kind of like zoo asses, we could buy park passes for our favorite parks and such. People who couldn’t afford essential fees might prefer an annual taxation that would give them access to the fee-entry public facilities – not to exceed 5% of their annual income. Maybe we could have both a fee-based system and a tax based system, with the taxes waiving certain fees. I think I like that. Let’s put it in my utopia.

I also have qualifiers on governance. As it currently stands, American government is no longer for the people by the people. Our elected employees who are supposed to represent us don’t. In my utopia, all government officials must be accessible to the people they represent – any person in their constituency has the right to call them, email them, or visit them in person at any time during normal business hours. Their constituency takes precedence and priority over everyone else – even the president of the US, who is after all just another elected employee. And every citizen has the right to visit or contact any of their elected employees – including the president – and receive back a personal reply that actually addresses their concerns, not form letters written by some attorney and signed by an undersecretary.

There’s more, but you get the gist. My utopia requires a lot of personal responsibility and awareness. It’s probably not for everyone, which is why it’s a flawed utopia.

So, what’s your utopia like?

Re-Memed

Meme ganked from foxesdaughter, done another way, the way I see things without my “normal human” filters (life as a synesthete is never boring):

1. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR KITCHEN PLATES?
Once, when hiking through the Hartz Mountains, I saw a patch of blue sky that reminded me of a parakeet I would one day own named Archimedes Al, a darling little female who loved Pokemon and sliced peanut butter. Pity she will die before sliced peanut butter is created.

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
Time is not necessarily linear, and memories will speak from the future as well as across the miles. To remember what will be is no more difficult than remembering what once was or what is now.

3. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
Living in the Now is the best method of coping with a wandering time sense.

4. FAVORITE BOARD GAME?
Recalcitrant memories can be consigned to campaigns and hacked and slashed with sharp pointy pretties.

6. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING?
Edges are important, as well.

7. FAVORITE COLOUR?
Of course, mixing fantasy elements into those memories makes it more colorful.

8. LEAST FAVORITE COLOR?
Some people prefer to ignore the flashes from the future to live consistent lives.

9. HOW MANY RINGS UNTIL YOU ANSWER THE PHONE?
Me, I prefer the synesthetic pulses of space and time.

10. FUTURE CHILDREN’S NAMES?
My children are blurs of energy that extend across many different times and extrude their personalities across the aeons of me.

11. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?
They spill like a staccato red on the tongue.

12. DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST?
Or perhaps the swish of orchids.

13. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
I will have grown purple feddies and sizzling frips in the garden of Nod.

14. DO YOU LIKE THUNDERSTORMS?
Sacralizing the earth by my bare foot – touch the earth, touch the sky.

15. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?
I ride the cloak of starlight that shields the sky from the blaze that is the soul.

16. WHAT IS YOUR SIGN?
And by this sign shall you know my presence: a spoon of oats and a drop of mead.

17. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI?
Trim the cloak with that which connects root with blossom, a conduit for life itself.

18. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB WHAT WOULD IT BE?
You know death is the price of living, but what is death?

19. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY COLOR HAIR, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Death is the opposite of life, and if one doesn’t live, can one truly die?

20. IS THE GLASS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY?
The afterworld is populated with zombies, and I will be one of the reverse living.

21. FAVORITE MOVIE?
Muted existence lived with simulacrae tempts those who would live in the future at the expense of the now.

22. DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS?
Connecting with pixels extends one’s perceptions to realize, in virtual frames, how chaotic time truly is.

23. WHAT’S UNDER YOUR BED?
It’s a lesson hard to grasp, yet one that appeals to the younger people.

25. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
They understand the ephemeral aspects of life lived on the fringes of the time flow, catching eddies and making swirls.

26. YOUR SINGLE BIGGEST INTENSE PAIN?
Even they get caught by the larger current that is reality, and sometimes, they get locked in to a stream they never consented to, and drowning, they live.

29. KETCHUP OR MUSTARD?
Lives spiced with awareness of past, present, and future fill hungry minds.

30. HAMBURGER OR HOT DOG?
But it is the heart that seeks the undertows.

31. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON?
And it is the body that seeks the graph of cycles.

32. THE BEST PLACE YOU HAVE EVER BEEN?
The soul, itself, seeks ever for the path that leads to divinity.

33. WHAT SCREEN SAVER IS ON YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW
Pools and patterns merge to display portions of the whole.

34. FAVORITE FAST FOOD?
And in the end, we demand speed, instant gratification, and connection now, in splashes of tomorrow and tugs of yesterday all purple and revolving.

Meme

Meme ganked from foxesdaughter:

1. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR KITCHEN PLATES?
Blue and white – blue onion design, various manufacturers.

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
Oddly enough, I am between books, having just finished three yesterday and not started any today.

3. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
Corporate propoganda.

4. FAVORITE BOARD GAME?
Wizard.

6. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING?
”Wakey, wakey, Itzl! If I have to get up, so do you!”

7. FAVORITE COLOUR?
Dark emerald green.

8. LEAST FAVORITE COLOR?
Muddy green. Or babyshit yellow.

9. HOW MANY RINGS UNTIL YOU ANSWER THE PHONE?
16 kazillion – I had my phone disconnected months ago and am loving it. And no, I don’t have a cell phone either. What, email’s not good enough for you?

10. FUTURE CHILDREN’S NAMES?
Not gonna happen. Kidlets are past tense.

11. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?
Bavarian cream……

12. DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST?
Ayup. But I don’t.

13. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
Nope, a real live wiggly little Chihuahua sleeps in his little bed nestled beside my pillow.

14. DO YOU LIKE THUNDERSTORMS?
Yes, and so does Itzl – he sits on the sofa and looks for the pretty lights. His first exposure to loud noises was fireworks, now he expects pretty lights when he hears loud booms.

15. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?
A 1956 Nash Rambler, brand spanking new, and green. I drove that car until 1979.

16. WHAT IS YOUR SIGN?
Taurus

17. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI?
Yes, raw, steamed, boiled, pureed, fried, baked, grilled.

18. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Full time priest and author instead of part-time

19. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY COLOR HAIR, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Red, to cover the gray that’s starting to show.

20. IS THE GLASS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY?
Who cares, as long as it tastes good.

21. FAVORITE MOVIE?
Varies according to my mood, about 30 different ones rotate around as being my favorite.

22. DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS?
Nope, not since that dreadful accident with the cockroach.

23. WHAT’S UNDER YOUR BED?
The carpet and puppy potty pads. 25. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Gunching, followed by swishypoking.

26. YOUR SINGLE BIGGEST INTENSE PAIN?
Hmmm – it’s a close call between the tandem skateboard accident (11 broken bones), the duck in the thigh (42 stitches), the fall through the ceiling (deep boob bruising and 8 broken ribs), getting crushed hauling a dead horse out of flood stage river (a cracked hip and 4 broken bones), the caesarian without anesthesia, or possibly the week after that first chemotherapy treatment when my ankle length hair fell out and I went mostly bald (after being told repeatedly the treatment wouldn’t make my hair fall out).

29. KETCHUP OR MUSTARD?
Butter

30. HAMBURGER OR HOT DOG?
Beer butt chicken

31. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON?
All of them.

32. THE BEST PLACE YOU HAVE EVER BEEN?
Nostalgia aside, Austin TX suburbs or southern Pennsylvania or Amish Ohio or the French Quarter.

33. WHAT SCREEN SAVER IS ON YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW
Some standard MS one.

34. FAVORITE FAST FOOD?
Chick-fil-A sandwich or Taco Bueno’s bean burrito or chicken potato burrito

Food Meme

Below the cut is my response to a Food Meme. You can play with it or not.

What is your first memory of cooking/baking on your own?

I was perhaps three or four, and my grandmother let me peel the potatoes for kartofelpuffen and the apples for the applesauce. And then, then, she let me make the applesauce all by myself! For weeks after that, until the apple harvest was done, I insisted on making all the applesauce – enough to give every neighbor their own jar of it. I was 6 before she let me make the apple jelly.

Who had the most influence on your cooking?

You’d think it would be my grandmother, but actually, it was my grandfather. He’s the one who showed me how to properly shred the potatoes for kartofelpuffen, and he’s the one that bought me my very own “pattypan” stove – a child sized woodburning stove just like my grandmother’s upon which I could cook anything I wanted. He supplied me with pots and pans and cookie sheets, mixing bowls and spoons, made me my very own apron, and built me my very own pantry in which I could store my cookware and my very own vegetables and fruits for cooking. He made me my first cutting board and knives, too. He’d take me out to plant and harvest the foods I cooked, and taught me the right way to tend geese, kill chickens, and castrate pigs. We’d go on long hikes to gather wild plants to eat, and hunt ducks, and once, we hunted a deer together. He taught me what food was all about, how sacred it was, and how special. He taught me that I need never be hungry because there was always food free for the gathering. It might not be the tastiest food around, but it was edible. He also taught me not to fear making food I’d never made before. I got my best recipes from my grandmother, and Herr Strunkl the baker, and Frau Herta, but my concept of food was shaped by my grandfather.

Do you have any early photographic evidence of your early exposure to cooking, and would you like to share it?No. I think I pre-date photography. Well, at least I pre-date the era when everyone had cameras. Photographs were for the wealthy, and were rare. I didn’t get my picture taken until I was in my 20’s after I came to America. Even now, I don’t have the habit of photography – either taking pictures or having mine taken.

Do you suffer from any cooking phobia – a dish that makes your palms sweat?

Nope. Hmmm – maybe the Japanese Blowfish of Death – fugu. And I have no plans to remedy the situation. Ever.

What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest letdown?

My most valued kitchen gadget? Since I smashed up my hand and lost a good 60% of the use of it, definitely the bread machine. I use it to knead the doughs, although I shape and bake the breads outside the machine. Following that, it would have to be the “handicapped” knife that was custom made for my gimpy hand so I can chop and peel and cook. Those “Good Grips” tools they sell – my hand is too small to wrap around them and I can’t get a good grip on them at all, so I treasure the tools I can hold.

The biggest letdown was definitely the Eggstractor. I could get it to work, all right, and it worked exactly as advertised, only it takes longer to peel eggs that way than the traditional way and it’s messier, too.

Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you like – and probably no one else!

Fried bologna sandwiches – with peanut butter, mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomatoes on toast. If tomatoes aren’t in season, a slice of canned pineapple replaces them quite well. I learned this dish from some trailer park friends when I was in college – and that was some good eating! You have to score the bologna around the edges or it curls up. When it’s fried, it looks like a circle with little “V”s cut around it (my kids say it looks sort of like a shuriken) and the edges are all crispy. You have to get the good all beef bologna – kosher is best. Toast the bread, slather one side with chunky peanut butter and the other with mayonnaise. Slap the hot bologna on the may, top with lettuce, then the tomato or pineapple slice, and then the peanutty side of the top slice of toast. Yum!

What are the three eatables or dishes you simply can’t live without?

Eggs. Garlic. Salt.

What dish would you probably never eat?Okra.

What is your own signature dish?

I’m old, so I’ve developed several over the years.

Probably the most requested is my 30 Pound Lasagna. I can almost prepare this dish in my sleep, especially since I do not pre-cook the lasagna noodles. It puts together very fast, it bakes quicker than a nutbread, and it feeds a small army. It’s the perfect dish to bring to college kids for Study Nights or any of their parties, it’s great for Work Nights when folks come over to do heavy labor, like chopping up fallen tree limbs, and since it freezes well, it’s perfect for make-ahead meals. I started making it because my kids wanted a “Garfield-sized” lasagna. Since I detest ricotta cheese (it tastes grainy and gritty to me), I use a variety of cheeses – sometimes as many as 8, chunky tomatoes, bell peppers, scallions, thick tomato sauce I canned weeks ago (probably), slivers of crookneck squash, spinach, mustard greens (I like the spicy), oregano, rosemary, basil (and I spread a nice pesto on each lasagna noodle before I layer it into the lasagna) – and the lasagna is 4 layers of noodles thick, topped with pine nuts and more cheese. You can’t have too much cheese in my lasagna.

Then there’s the Tuna Waldorf Salad. It’s another simple dish, combining celery, pecans, apples, grapes, scallions, bell peppers, boiled eggs, and tuna in a mayonnaise/mustard blend spiced with dill weed, tarragon, thyme, and parsley. Served on leaves of red leaf or buttercrunch lettuce, it’s amazingly good summer food.

My Bacon Bread is a smash hit with many people – it incorporates an entire package of fresh bacon, crisp fried and crumbled, the grease from the bacon, oregano, parsley, garlic, cheeses, and the flour is replaced with a blend of cornstarch, wheat protein, and wheat gluten to reduce its carbohydrate load. It’s very high in protein and flavor, a bit “moist” for my tastes, but folks love it.

And then there’s my “Peter Max” bread – four different vegetable breads swirled into buns and loaves. I vary the vegetables, but usually always include spinach and tomato breads. The others can be corn, carrot, beet, parsnip, pea, greens (other than spinach), bell pepper, or any of a variety of beans (kidney, garbanzo, lentil…) – it all depends on the color and flavor scheme I want. This bread is a hit with small children, who frequently refer to it as “cake”.

My sauerbraten steaks are summer grilling favorites – thick cut buffalo steaks marinated in sauerbraten seasonings, then grilled and served up with dollops of sour cream, grilled onions, cabbage, and carrots, grilled rye bread, and followed by grilled apples in cream.

My fried bologna sandwiches always receive rave reviews from my kids’ friends: All beef bologna, cut around the edges so it doesn’t curl up as it fries, served on toast with mayonnaise spread on one piece and chunky peanut butter on the other. Put the fried bologna on the mayo side, top it with lettuce, some spicy radish sprouts, a slice of pineapple, and the peanut butter toast.

So, how about you?