Check this out - Survival Research Laboratories. http://vimeo.com/95489
and http://vimeo.com/95493
I have been into them again lately. I saw them in the Austin area at the local speedway (Lone Star? Texas? I can't remember). I will forever be fascinated with that huge Tesla coil they use, which throws out lightning at passing remote-control robots. These robots happen to be flame-throwers or pinchers or spinning hooks, or some other rather dangerous weaponry, although some of the robots happen to be crawling, seemingly-vulnerable ones that creep around. When I saw Survival Research Labs in Austin, they had also built a mock U.T. Tower with a robot human holding a rifle, aimed out at the audience. It shook in such a way that it looked like it was shooting the gun around the top of the tower. Over the course of the evening the tower caught on fire due to some flame-throwing robot and eventually burned all the way to the ground. Some of the other robots had pigs' heads and steer horns attached to them that they seem to have gotten from a local farm or slaughterhouse, because yes, they were definitely real.
I went to this show sometime in the middle of a Texas spring because Tmo and I drove down there together in my truck, and I still have pictures of us in the bluebonnets. It was such an excellent time of year, because the weather stayed warm during the day but never quite too hot yet. We stayed with a long-time friend of his and Dan Wilkes' who had purchased a house with a family inheritance. The house was set deep into the woods of central-downtown Austin (near Lamar and 35th). It looked Japanese to me from the outside because of a low-red-tiled roof and porticos. This was just before I adopted Bill the skink because I remember learning about skinks from Tmo and finding out that his friend, whose house this was, had a monkey skink. Let's see... I believe we went down there sometime early in our relationship, probably 1995... or 1996. Those were the days when he and I did a lot of trips down to Austin to see various bands play, from Glowforce (formerly "Wookie" - I still have a "Wookie" bumpersticker from that band.), Powersquid (used to be a trio).
Woops! I just discovered this about 2 weeks after I wrote it and never posted it. Well, I suppose I will post this because I forgot to go back to it!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Baby Lettuce and Baby Marigolds
I am about to go outside and retrieve some potting soil and pots so I can pot some of the baby lettuce and baby marigolds (possibly) before it gets dark. The lettuce is particularly mature now for planting. About 40% of the 20 lettuce babies are beginning to show a tiny green bud in the center of the first two leaves. They want to expand, so they get first "dibs" on my soil and pots. I want to grow them a little bigger and then perhaps give some of them as a gifts to Merle's neighbors. They have been really cool to me and I thought it would be fun to share the wealth, so to speak. The marigolds, which are just 5 really well-sprouted plants, could wait a few days before being potted, but I might do them tomorrow. In about 4 days' time I think the "batchelor's buttons" or whatever they are called, will also be ready. I think it might be interesting to pot a couple of the marigolds and the "batchelors' buttons" together, although the "buttons" would be planted a little bit later because of their maturity. These two would go well together, I think, because each of them are relatively woody and similarly hardy. I believe they would be complementary for each other and also be interesting colors - the marigolds being a fiery kind of orange-red to yellow-orange and the "batchelors' buttons" being either a hot-pink or a gentle periwinkle, or perhaps a white. The marigolds have rather supple petals but the "batchelors' buttons" will have a papery, origami-like structure and texture. But both are similarly hardy in drier climates.
I keep using quotes around "batchelors' buttons," and a plural possessive ending for the most part. However, I really don't know how accurate either of these things are. A friend in Austin, named Dan, called them this name. I have called them this because of him. But some time ago, someone corrected me and said they were not "batchelors' buttons," or "batchelor's buttons," but something else. This person, whoever they were (I can't remember; it was during my seminary career) didn't know the name of these flowers.
I have been growing these flowers ever since I lived in a duplex in Dallas. It was near my friend Mikey, before he got married, even though during the time that I lived there, for about 2 years, Mikey and I never hung out. I first started planting these really cool, paper-like structures. They look a little like the shape of the amaranth cone, but they don't have flower petals around the cone like the amaranth flower does. These flowers are just the cone itself, set atop a dais of 4-6 green leaves. I can't remember for sure the number of green leaves. The plant grows a little woody in the stem and branches off from a main stem. The flower has a dry texture to it and is dried easily for decoration. Okay, I'll look it up in a minute and tell you.
I used to cut the flowers at their branching-off points and mix them with cuttings of various herbs (rosemary, scented geranium, etc.) into dried bouquets for gifts to others. I remember for a while when I lived in Lakewood, Dallas, TX, I had a brick patio. It was really just a flat area in the grass that had bricks laid into it. They just sat there with stuff growing up between them. I had a really neat window at that house which was really a mini-greenhouse with a shelf inside it. It was a glass box that stuck out from the side of the house over the brick patio. That's where I adopted Bill the lizard. Bill was named after the lizard in Adventures in Wonderland (is that the correct title?). He went up the chimney. I believe the only person in the whole world who got the reference was my cousin, Reagan. She is the only one who immediately guessed the book reference.
Reminds me of more-literate days. Perhaps I am still recuperating from seminary. Perhaps it's because I don't have but a home office right now. Or perhaps I am waiting until life isn't spent thinking about finding a job, and is more living the vocation I want. I confess that I haven't been as motivated as I should be over the last few months. I guess I know that now because I recently did my taxes and it was a little scary.
But I have been stepping up my involvement with Kelly services and I hope they can help me out in the interim. I broke off my involvement with High Desert Staffing, but I think I was frustrated with lack of work, and with their lack of communication. I also think that that was precisely when the recession must have been starting because all of a sudden they had nothing at all, around early November. They called me for approximately 32 hours of reception work. I never got a call from them again, except just to see how well I could do medical transcription. I don't mean to be negative about them at all because I wanted to be a part of a locally-owned business. But then I was "driven" to Kelly Services because they are an internationally-known company which I figured must have at least something for me to do. They did, even though it was not for much more time than I got with HDS. The economy just took a nose-dive, that's all.
Anyhow, I am more intentionally trying to build a relationship with the local Kelly agency and see where it goes this summer. I think that I have hung in there for a while now and am trying to show I am proactive and eager for work. I heard last week that they have had a few new requests that might be appropriate for me.
Well, I think I am going to get going. I would like to sort of tie down the valences over the patio out back because of the gusty wind.
Amy
I keep using quotes around "batchelors' buttons," and a plural possessive ending for the most part. However, I really don't know how accurate either of these things are. A friend in Austin, named Dan, called them this name. I have called them this because of him. But some time ago, someone corrected me and said they were not "batchelors' buttons," or "batchelor's buttons," but something else. This person, whoever they were (I can't remember; it was during my seminary career) didn't know the name of these flowers.
I have been growing these flowers ever since I lived in a duplex in Dallas. It was near my friend Mikey, before he got married, even though during the time that I lived there, for about 2 years, Mikey and I never hung out. I first started planting these really cool, paper-like structures. They look a little like the shape of the amaranth cone, but they don't have flower petals around the cone like the amaranth flower does. These flowers are just the cone itself, set atop a dais of 4-6 green leaves. I can't remember for sure the number of green leaves. The plant grows a little woody in the stem and branches off from a main stem. The flower has a dry texture to it and is dried easily for decoration. Okay, I'll look it up in a minute and tell you.
I used to cut the flowers at their branching-off points and mix them with cuttings of various herbs (rosemary, scented geranium, etc.) into dried bouquets for gifts to others. I remember for a while when I lived in Lakewood, Dallas, TX, I had a brick patio. It was really just a flat area in the grass that had bricks laid into it. They just sat there with stuff growing up between them. I had a really neat window at that house which was really a mini-greenhouse with a shelf inside it. It was a glass box that stuck out from the side of the house over the brick patio. That's where I adopted Bill the lizard. Bill was named after the lizard in Adventures in Wonderland (is that the correct title?). He went up the chimney. I believe the only person in the whole world who got the reference was my cousin, Reagan. She is the only one who immediately guessed the book reference.
Reminds me of more-literate days. Perhaps I am still recuperating from seminary. Perhaps it's because I don't have but a home office right now. Or perhaps I am waiting until life isn't spent thinking about finding a job, and is more living the vocation I want. I confess that I haven't been as motivated as I should be over the last few months. I guess I know that now because I recently did my taxes and it was a little scary.
But I have been stepping up my involvement with Kelly services and I hope they can help me out in the interim. I broke off my involvement with High Desert Staffing, but I think I was frustrated with lack of work, and with their lack of communication. I also think that that was precisely when the recession must have been starting because all of a sudden they had nothing at all, around early November. They called me for approximately 32 hours of reception work. I never got a call from them again, except just to see how well I could do medical transcription. I don't mean to be negative about them at all because I wanted to be a part of a locally-owned business. But then I was "driven" to Kelly Services because they are an internationally-known company which I figured must have at least something for me to do. They did, even though it was not for much more time than I got with HDS. The economy just took a nose-dive, that's all.
Anyhow, I am more intentionally trying to build a relationship with the local Kelly agency and see where it goes this summer. I think that I have hung in there for a while now and am trying to show I am proactive and eager for work. I heard last week that they have had a few new requests that might be appropriate for me.
Well, I think I am going to get going. I would like to sort of tie down the valences over the patio out back because of the gusty wind.
Amy
Housesitting right now
Here am I, in the East Mountains, watching the house and dogs for my significant other, Merle. He said I can refer to him that way in my blog. I am preparing to go to the grocery and I might buy a six-pack of really good beer, some italian-type cheese, and cat food. My cats are here with me. Last night when I arrived, Periwinkle immediately found a place to hide under the furnace and didn't come out until we went to bed. She jumped on the bed twice last night and landed on Merle's side then jumped back off again, probably in shock and surprise to see that I wasn't on that side, he was! Today she has been very happy and outgoing with me, although it's also because he is gone. I wonder if she will ever feel very comfortable around him? I am sure she would learn eventually if we end up moving in together.
Misty, the complete opposite, came out as soon as I opened the cages and was eager to go all through the house and figure out where she could and could not go. She has located a convenient nook in between the stack of wool blankets that is on a shelf by the bedroom window. She is very gregarious. These cats are so different! Misty is a weird kitty from Austin, who is always doing silly-looking things, but is totally adorable. Periwinkle is from Dallas, who is shy and kind of territorial, a little bit "prissy" too.
It's kind of overcast and windy here. I think it's warm enough to go for a walk, because I think I am going to do that and then check the mail. So, I suppose I should eat something before I get going on those errands. More maybe later. I have some plans for that beer.
Amy
Misty, the complete opposite, came out as soon as I opened the cages and was eager to go all through the house and figure out where she could and could not go. She has located a convenient nook in between the stack of wool blankets that is on a shelf by the bedroom window. She is very gregarious. These cats are so different! Misty is a weird kitty from Austin, who is always doing silly-looking things, but is totally adorable. Periwinkle is from Dallas, who is shy and kind of territorial, a little bit "prissy" too.
It's kind of overcast and windy here. I think it's warm enough to go for a walk, because I think I am going to do that and then check the mail. So, I suppose I should eat something before I get going on those errands. More maybe later. I have some plans for that beer.
Amy
Thursday, April 23, 2009
yay! the 10 bucks is real!
I just found out that check I got yesterday was actually real. I am skeptical of online stuff that I don't remember, with good reason.
On a sad note, I have been processing the death of Tmo. I am really shocked. I also can't believe that he had moved to Austin sometime before I moved away to ABQ. I feel sad that I didn't get a chance to see him one last time. He is everything and more that those obits I posted below said about him. Tmo was a larger-than-life sort of guy, who had a warm, sensitive heart for others, yet was a total misfit who wore skirts and mohawk to school when he was a high school student in Dallas. It reminds me once more of that Butthole Surfers song popular back in the mid-90s: "...they were all in love with dying and were doing it in Texas..." from Electriclarryland. In fact, I think I will put it on right now. It's been a while since I listened.
Tmo and I met at Grinders Coffee Shop on Lower Greenville Avenue, way back before Erykah Badu was the barista. She came soon after and jammed sometimes on the patio with Tmo and his band, SofaKingdom (later called Fukarwee and then Myrrh). I would go there after work each day because I was so bored and was new to town. I would see this hulking man pull up on a reddish BMW cycle around the same time each day and we finally got to talking about stuff. I think he was curious because I was always there writing in a journal. I was curious because he was cute, unusual and he had a bike. We started dating way back when I lived in this divey efficiency apartment off of Park Lane and Upper Greenville Avenue. Tmo helped me move a couple of times, even after I moved in with Scott in an apartment off of Steppington Lane (a place I call "Apartmentland"). Finally Tmo convinced me to move out of that apartment because of Scott's massive alcoholism. Tmo was so supportive of me then, although I was slightly skeptical that he might have also wanted me to move away for other reasons too. I was dating him, not Scott, at the time. But my heart really did belong to Scott.
Later on, when Scott got himself more together, his drinking had hit rock-bottom and he ended up in a treatment program, I broke up with Tmo because I realized that I truly did love Scott. I know that I also broke Tmo's heart. It kills me to think of that now. I was such an idiot but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I hate that I hurt him like I did. Gosh. I can't believe my life was like that. Let's see... Tmo and I split in November '99, Scott died in 2002 from lymphoma, Tmo showed up one day at my door and told me he nearly got married and she dumped him. I felt angry at him at that time because I felt he had no sympathy or interest in the fact that I was also grieving for Scott. Perhaps he had no reason to feel that way for me, but then I felt that he had no other business showing up unannounced like that. I can't believe that I went to seminary to study for ministry after all that!
So a second ex-boyfriend is now dead, although technically I guess Scott was my fiance when he died. What is up with that? I can't believe how flippant that looks when I write it. I certainly don't mean it flippantly. I am still in shock and I start crying as soon as I say that. I believe my grief is intensified by a sense of guilt over how I treated him. All I can do is tell myself that Tmo is no longer here for me to call and say I am sorry. And all I can do is give thanks for all the love that is in my life.
I should call my S.O. and talk to him, which I will do later but he is presently super busy getting a quote together for a contract to do low-voltage wiring down at The Pit at UNM. He's under a deadline, so I don't want to interrupt that right now. Merle's under a lot of stress at the moment and having me call him up crying about the death of an ex-boyfriend doesn't seem like the best thing. I will tell him about it later tonight.
Something reassuring for me to remember is my faith that in life and in death we belong to God. I really believe that even a misfit like Tmo belongs to God. I heard that at his funeral service everyone was supposed to come dressed as only he would want. I can only imagine wacky wigs, fishnet stockings, t-shirts with offensive or offbeat messages, safety orange Dickies jumpsuits, and so forth. I am sorry that I wasn't there, but maybe it was appropriate that I wasn't. He was the one who gave me my very own Carhartt overalls as a gift. I wore them a few months ago when doing demo on a construction site.
Well, I need to be doing some other stuff. I have some job searching to do and need to clean the kitchen. Thanks for reading this. Tmo is not dead but moved to a new place. I think I will look up his family tonight and see if I can find them.
Peace out.
Amy
On a sad note, I have been processing the death of Tmo. I am really shocked. I also can't believe that he had moved to Austin sometime before I moved away to ABQ. I feel sad that I didn't get a chance to see him one last time. He is everything and more that those obits I posted below said about him. Tmo was a larger-than-life sort of guy, who had a warm, sensitive heart for others, yet was a total misfit who wore skirts and mohawk to school when he was a high school student in Dallas. It reminds me once more of that Butthole Surfers song popular back in the mid-90s: "...they were all in love with dying and were doing it in Texas..." from Electriclarryland. In fact, I think I will put it on right now. It's been a while since I listened.
Tmo and I met at Grinders Coffee Shop on Lower Greenville Avenue, way back before Erykah Badu was the barista. She came soon after and jammed sometimes on the patio with Tmo and his band, SofaKingdom (later called Fukarwee and then Myrrh). I would go there after work each day because I was so bored and was new to town. I would see this hulking man pull up on a reddish BMW cycle around the same time each day and we finally got to talking about stuff. I think he was curious because I was always there writing in a journal. I was curious because he was cute, unusual and he had a bike. We started dating way back when I lived in this divey efficiency apartment off of Park Lane and Upper Greenville Avenue. Tmo helped me move a couple of times, even after I moved in with Scott in an apartment off of Steppington Lane (a place I call "Apartmentland"). Finally Tmo convinced me to move out of that apartment because of Scott's massive alcoholism. Tmo was so supportive of me then, although I was slightly skeptical that he might have also wanted me to move away for other reasons too. I was dating him, not Scott, at the time. But my heart really did belong to Scott.
Later on, when Scott got himself more together, his drinking had hit rock-bottom and he ended up in a treatment program, I broke up with Tmo because I realized that I truly did love Scott. I know that I also broke Tmo's heart. It kills me to think of that now. I was such an idiot but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I hate that I hurt him like I did. Gosh. I can't believe my life was like that. Let's see... Tmo and I split in November '99, Scott died in 2002 from lymphoma, Tmo showed up one day at my door and told me he nearly got married and she dumped him. I felt angry at him at that time because I felt he had no sympathy or interest in the fact that I was also grieving for Scott. Perhaps he had no reason to feel that way for me, but then I felt that he had no other business showing up unannounced like that. I can't believe that I went to seminary to study for ministry after all that!
So a second ex-boyfriend is now dead, although technically I guess Scott was my fiance when he died. What is up with that? I can't believe how flippant that looks when I write it. I certainly don't mean it flippantly. I am still in shock and I start crying as soon as I say that. I believe my grief is intensified by a sense of guilt over how I treated him. All I can do is tell myself that Tmo is no longer here for me to call and say I am sorry. And all I can do is give thanks for all the love that is in my life.
I should call my S.O. and talk to him, which I will do later but he is presently super busy getting a quote together for a contract to do low-voltage wiring down at The Pit at UNM. He's under a deadline, so I don't want to interrupt that right now. Merle's under a lot of stress at the moment and having me call him up crying about the death of an ex-boyfriend doesn't seem like the best thing. I will tell him about it later tonight.
Something reassuring for me to remember is my faith that in life and in death we belong to God. I really believe that even a misfit like Tmo belongs to God. I heard that at his funeral service everyone was supposed to come dressed as only he would want. I can only imagine wacky wigs, fishnet stockings, t-shirts with offensive or offbeat messages, safety orange Dickies jumpsuits, and so forth. I am sorry that I wasn't there, but maybe it was appropriate that I wasn't. He was the one who gave me my very own Carhartt overalls as a gift. I wore them a few months ago when doing demo on a construction site.
Well, I need to be doing some other stuff. I have some job searching to do and need to clean the kitchen. Thanks for reading this. Tmo is not dead but moved to a new place. I think I will look up his family tonight and see if I can find them.
Peace out.
Amy
Tmo forever
He died. I dated him for 6 years.
Here is a quote from "Unfair Park," a blog on the Dallas Observer, by Robert Wilonsky on January 30, 2009:
That picture you see here is from my 1983 Thomas Jefferson High School Document yearbook. It's of a guy named Tim Watson -- or Temo, as most knew him throughout much of his life. Figured I'd share it, since Tim happens to be the subject of Jeff Liles's Echoes and Reverberations piece for DC9 this week. That's because Tim died last week in a motorcycle accident in Austin, and his funeral, packed with familiar faces, was yesterday, on what would have been Tim's 42nd birthday.
Tim was a year ahead of me in school, but I'd known him most of my childhood; he grew up a couple of blocks from me. Always seemed 10 years older -- couple feet taller too, even without the Mohawk he started sporting his sophomore year. He annoyed the jocks, intimidated the underclassmen and amused the teachers -- that's what happens when a guy skirts the school's no-shorts policy by wearing, well, skirts to class.
I spent the better part of my freshman year at TJ being schooled by Tim on the finer points of American hardcore -- JFA, Dead Kennedys, Fear, all the bands whose logos were stickered over every inch of his skateboard. By the mid-1980s, he'd become a permanent fixture in Deep Ellum just as it was transitioning from ghost town to Thrill City. The Class of '85 TJ Patriots had a real way of making their mark on Deep Ellum way back when -- and a bad habit of leaving too soon. Only last April, Tim's classmate and Da Nu Man drummer David Bindler died in Los Angeles of a bleeding ulcer. Said an old classmate earlier this week, "I miss my friends.
"So, yeah, anyway. Read Jeff's piece.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m97XhAdLTM0
Tim Bradley (Temo) Watson Tim Bradley (Temo) Watson, 41, of Austin, Texas, passed away on January 22, 2009. Temo was born on January 29, 1967 in Dallas, Texas to Nick and Betsy Watson. Temo is survived by his mother, Betsy Watson; father, Nick Watson; sister, Lauri Watson; three brothers, Moose Watson, Marty Watson and Tom Watson; many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and countless friends who loved Temo as a brother. Temo was born and raised in Dallas, graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School and resided in the Dallas area until he moved to Austin in 2007. Temo was a unique, big hearted individual who lived life to the fullest, slowing down only to make a new friend, help an old friend or to celebrate life with friends or live out an adventure. Through his adventures, he made friends all over the country which enabled him to ride his BMW motorcycle or skateboard to almost any location across the USA knowing that he had friends to stay with. A memorial service to celebrate Temo's life will be held at 2:00 p.m. on January 29 at Holy Cross Lutheran Church at 11425 Marsh Lane in Dallas, TX. Dress code for this celebration will be "As Temo Knew You".
Here is a quote from "Unfair Park," a blog on the Dallas Observer, by Robert Wilonsky on January 30, 2009:
That picture you see here is from my 1983 Thomas Jefferson High School Document yearbook. It's of a guy named Tim Watson -- or Temo, as most knew him throughout much of his life. Figured I'd share it, since Tim happens to be the subject of Jeff Liles's Echoes and Reverberations piece for DC9 this week. That's because Tim died last week in a motorcycle accident in Austin, and his funeral, packed with familiar faces, was yesterday, on what would have been Tim's 42nd birthday.
Tim was a year ahead of me in school, but I'd known him most of my childhood; he grew up a couple of blocks from me. Always seemed 10 years older -- couple feet taller too, even without the Mohawk he started sporting his sophomore year. He annoyed the jocks, intimidated the underclassmen and amused the teachers -- that's what happens when a guy skirts the school's no-shorts policy by wearing, well, skirts to class.
I spent the better part of my freshman year at TJ being schooled by Tim on the finer points of American hardcore -- JFA, Dead Kennedys, Fear, all the bands whose logos were stickered over every inch of his skateboard. By the mid-1980s, he'd become a permanent fixture in Deep Ellum just as it was transitioning from ghost town to Thrill City. The Class of '85 TJ Patriots had a real way of making their mark on Deep Ellum way back when -- and a bad habit of leaving too soon. Only last April, Tim's classmate and Da Nu Man drummer David Bindler died in Los Angeles of a bleeding ulcer. Said an old classmate earlier this week, "I miss my friends.
"So, yeah, anyway. Read Jeff's piece.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m97XhAdLTM0
______________________________________________________
Here is a little more on him from the Dallas Observer obits.Tim Bradley (Temo) Watson Tim Bradley (Temo) Watson, 41, of Austin, Texas, passed away on January 22, 2009. Temo was born on January 29, 1967 in Dallas, Texas to Nick and Betsy Watson. Temo is survived by his mother, Betsy Watson; father, Nick Watson; sister, Lauri Watson; three brothers, Moose Watson, Marty Watson and Tom Watson; many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and countless friends who loved Temo as a brother. Temo was born and raised in Dallas, graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School and resided in the Dallas area until he moved to Austin in 2007. Temo was a unique, big hearted individual who lived life to the fullest, slowing down only to make a new friend, help an old friend or to celebrate life with friends or live out an adventure. Through his adventures, he made friends all over the country which enabled him to ride his BMW motorcycle or skateboard to almost any location across the USA knowing that he had friends to stay with. A memorial service to celebrate Temo's life will be held at 2:00 p.m. on January 29 at Holy Cross Lutheran Church at 11425 Marsh Lane in Dallas, TX. Dress code for this celebration will be "As Temo Knew You".
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
no more YouTube for you!
blah - I forgot to mention I have to take down the YouTube video feeds/links because Google said it will not longer be available. Bummer! You can still go there by clicking on http://www.youtube.com/. My new favorite is http://www.hulu.com/. I have been OD'ing on Mary Tyler Moore show lately. And since our Bible study has moved to Thursdays, I will have to go there for The Office now! So my page is going to get a bit rearranged in the coming days.
I have been enamored by Ruthie Foster for some time now. Here she is on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZH7022c7G4 Now...about that wine...
I have been enamored by Ruthie Foster for some time now. Here she is on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZH7022c7G4 Now...about that wine...
Filter for Good on Earth Day!
Pledge this Earth Day to use less plastic and get a coupon for a Brita Water System or filter. Go to www.filterforgood.com.
Sadly, I took my coupon to the local Smiths Food and Drug and they don't appear to have the water filters! Oh well, the one I have now has been expired for about 3 months now anyways. The water still tastes okay. I'll take that filter coupon to another store.
Tonight I used a lot of coupons and the original grocery bill would have been 104.00-ish. With coupons, I saved like 18 bucks. I purchased mostly frozen items because I am home a lot but at weird times.
I got a check in the mail today for 10 bucks, and I am not sure if it is real. I take online surveys sometimes so it could be real, but I am skeptical. They are a company called . They are a good company, but I just don't remember making 10 bucks. What's up with that?
Surveys have been a useful way to supplement my irregular income, since I'm not gainfully employed yet. Looking at my little Excel Spreadsheet, I have made about $133, with another $90 on the way, since August 2008? That's not much, but in this economy, it helps. Hope that check is real!
The other night I had the Bible study with the women at the Episcopal church in Edgewood. I got really useful feedback about it. I just realized that I was thinking of the one on the first Tuesday in April when we talked about the Syrophoenician woman. What was the one after that? I believe we looked at... Mary and Martha! That's right. I forgot. I got good feedback about how that one went too. One of the women told me afterwards that I said "sorry" quite a few times that night. I think she felt badly after telling me that, but I figure even though I felt a little embarrassed, it was still helpful. I was, as Mary-Louise Parker says in "Weeds," in the middle of "Shark Week" - the hormones were really flying around for me that night and I had hardly slept that week.
Next time we are going to have fun learning more about the "Sitz im Leben" of women in the Early Church by learning more about the household culture in the Roman Empire, and at their gender roles which were somewhat rigidly-defined. Of note, I am going to have to tread carefully because I do not want to give the impression that the Christian church did better at liberating women from their gender roles than the Romans or the Jews did. In fact, the Romans and the Jews (generally speaking) actually were undergoing their own liberation movements. The Romans were growing in acceptance of women in public places and the Jews were experiencing such a revolt against the Romans that was an economically-motivated movement. They both were highly patriarchal societies but had pockets of liberation around their homes and cities. Similarly, Christianity experienced its own challenges. Some Christian homes accepted women as leaders in their churches and other homes experienced a tension that struggled to suppress women's leadership. Because of this suppression, very little direct evidence exists to paint a very specific and clear picture of women's roles in the early church. I think that what we will do at our next Bible study is to look at some of those movements happening independently of Christianity, at the rigid gender-defined roles women were trying to overcome, and then to consider the tensions in society as a place to begin looking at portions of the Bible where women are being told to be "silent" or to "cover their heads" when prophesying, and to considering the enormous and rather revolutionary ways that Paul also included women in his address to churches. Paul tended to refer to these women by name, which was usually taboo for Greek and Roman traditionalists because it called attention to the woman's femininity and therefore her sexuality. By doing this, I don't think he was trying to call attention to her sexuality, but by including her as an equal in the church.
I would bet some people don't believe my opinion on this subject. Paul has often been labeled as "chauvinist" or even "self-centered" or "patriarchal." I am sure he was to some extent. But taking into consideration his fuller story - one that includes a drastic change from being a Pharisee who was championing the anti-Jesus movement, "holding the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen..." (Acts), to one who eats and drinks with those "impure/unclean" Gentiles and believed in fully spreading the Gospel to all who will hear (1 Cor 9), claiming that all he does is "for the sake of the Gospel," I think calling him names that smack of post-Enlightenment-Era self-consciousness is a low blow. Heck, I'm probably some sort of chauvinist too. And some of the things he says were in light of his expectation that Jesus would be back any day now, those passages which tell women and men to practice celibacy in preparation, unless they will have trouble staying so until the end times. (1 Cor 7) Other passages credited to him might not have been written by him (like Ephesians), so we have to take with a grain of salt those portions in which it says women must "submit" to their husbands just like we must do towards Christ. This is probably going to be 2 Bible studies. I think next time we should educate ourselves about what these "Household Codes" (in 1 Peter, Colossians and Ephesians) must have meant to women and men in the Early Church. Whoa - I keep writing a lot!
Here's a great photo my S.O. took from his front yard earlier this year. He lives in the East Mountains. I haven't seen a rainbow that is as squished down like that.
Sadly, I took my coupon to the local Smiths Food and Drug and they don't appear to have the water filters! Oh well, the one I have now has been expired for about 3 months now anyways. The water still tastes okay. I'll take that filter coupon to another store.
Tonight I used a lot of coupons and the original grocery bill would have been 104.00-ish. With coupons, I saved like 18 bucks. I purchased mostly frozen items because I am home a lot but at weird times.
I got a check in the mail today for 10 bucks, and I am not sure if it is real. I take online surveys sometimes so it could be real, but I am skeptical. They are a company called . They are a good company, but I just don't remember making 10 bucks. What's up with that?
Surveys have been a useful way to supplement my irregular income, since I'm not gainfully employed yet. Looking at my little Excel Spreadsheet, I have made about $133, with another $90 on the way, since August 2008? That's not much, but in this economy, it helps. Hope that check is real!
The other night I had the Bible study with the women at the Episcopal church in Edgewood. I got really useful feedback about it. I just realized that I was thinking of the one on the first Tuesday in April when we talked about the Syrophoenician woman. What was the one after that? I believe we looked at... Mary and Martha! That's right. I forgot. I got good feedback about how that one went too. One of the women told me afterwards that I said "sorry" quite a few times that night. I think she felt badly after telling me that, but I figure even though I felt a little embarrassed, it was still helpful. I was, as Mary-Louise Parker says in "Weeds," in the middle of "Shark Week" - the hormones were really flying around for me that night and I had hardly slept that week.
Next time we are going to have fun learning more about the "Sitz im Leben" of women in the Early Church by learning more about the household culture in the Roman Empire, and at their gender roles which were somewhat rigidly-defined. Of note, I am going to have to tread carefully because I do not want to give the impression that the Christian church did better at liberating women from their gender roles than the Romans or the Jews did. In fact, the Romans and the Jews (generally speaking) actually were undergoing their own liberation movements. The Romans were growing in acceptance of women in public places and the Jews were experiencing such a revolt against the Romans that was an economically-motivated movement. They both were highly patriarchal societies but had pockets of liberation around their homes and cities. Similarly, Christianity experienced its own challenges. Some Christian homes accepted women as leaders in their churches and other homes experienced a tension that struggled to suppress women's leadership. Because of this suppression, very little direct evidence exists to paint a very specific and clear picture of women's roles in the early church. I think that what we will do at our next Bible study is to look at some of those movements happening independently of Christianity, at the rigid gender-defined roles women were trying to overcome, and then to consider the tensions in society as a place to begin looking at portions of the Bible where women are being told to be "silent" or to "cover their heads" when prophesying, and to considering the enormous and rather revolutionary ways that Paul also included women in his address to churches. Paul tended to refer to these women by name, which was usually taboo for Greek and Roman traditionalists because it called attention to the woman's femininity and therefore her sexuality. By doing this, I don't think he was trying to call attention to her sexuality, but by including her as an equal in the church.
I would bet some people don't believe my opinion on this subject. Paul has often been labeled as "chauvinist" or even "self-centered" or "patriarchal." I am sure he was to some extent. But taking into consideration his fuller story - one that includes a drastic change from being a Pharisee who was championing the anti-Jesus movement, "holding the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen..." (Acts), to one who eats and drinks with those "impure/unclean" Gentiles and believed in fully spreading the Gospel to all who will hear (1 Cor 9), claiming that all he does is "for the sake of the Gospel," I think calling him names that smack of post-Enlightenment-Era self-consciousness is a low blow. Heck, I'm probably some sort of chauvinist too. And some of the things he says were in light of his expectation that Jesus would be back any day now, those passages which tell women and men to practice celibacy in preparation, unless they will have trouble staying so until the end times. (1 Cor 7) Other passages credited to him might not have been written by him (like Ephesians), so we have to take with a grain of salt those portions in which it says women must "submit" to their husbands just like we must do towards Christ. This is probably going to be 2 Bible studies. I think next time we should educate ourselves about what these "Household Codes" (in 1 Peter, Colossians and Ephesians) must have meant to women and men in the Early Church. Whoa - I keep writing a lot!
Here's a great photo my S.O. took from his front yard earlier this year. He lives in the East Mountains. I haven't seen a rainbow that is as squished down like that.
And down there is a photo of "Merle" and Me on April 17th! We got like, 6 inches of snow, and it even snowed in town. Here is one more pic of me in the snow with Buddy, one of the best dogs ever!
So the snow was amazing and it lasted all day and the next morning, it began to melt right away. Now everything is starting to green up because the desert got a jump-start.
I think I am going to take a break and clean the kitchen up a little bit. There are dirty dishes in the sink. This will not make Periwinkle happy because she just sat down next to me and laid her head on top of that questionable check. Maybe I will write a little more later. I have more to say. I am also now on Twitter.com, under the ID "popsicle33."
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
see my cat as a bobble head
I haven't written in a while. I promise to write more soon. I found this goofy thing on the CiCi's pizza website where you can post your head on a bobble head. Silly waste of time. I did it though. Check it out here. http://www.beapennypickerupper.com/?mId=29907529.3
What else to say? I don't feel like writing much tonight because I need to post an updated resume on all my various job search websites. I am heartened to see some positive things happening in Albuquerque - a few new businesses are opening up.
I am also hooked on a site that some of you have heard of: . I have been kickin' it with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (first 3 seasons only though), NewsRadio (except for the last season), Mary Tyler Moore show, WKRP in Cincinnati, Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends.
My beau, Merle, and I went down to see the Very Large Array on April 4. (He told me I was allowed to refer to him on this blog with his nickname) It was only 1 of 2 days that they have an open house every year. I think they do it again in October. An astronomer gives a lecture to us geek-wannabes about how the VLA works and some of the history and future of the VLA, then they show us around the facility. I found out that they are just replacing their wave guides with fiber-optics to increase their data capacity by like, 1000 times or something. The VLA is an array of 27 radio telescopes about 45 minutes west of Socorro and they collect radio transmissions from space in order to create a composite image of galaxies and so forth. They all point at the same direction at the same time to take a "snapshot" of the same place and then with many large computers (they still have some analog data tapes!) the radio waves from the 27 telescopes are converted into an image. Each telescope is actually a dish-shaped receiver that is 230 tons and 82 feet in diameter. Here is a pic "Merle" took of me. (yes, I designed and knitted that hat myself)
It was REALLY COLD! There were lots of jackrabbits running around, I guess because it was not good weather for rattlers.
I always say I don't feel like blogging and then obviously I did. What else to say? Oh - our Bible study went really well last Tuesday night. I led a study of the Syrophoenician woman and we talked about the differences between Jews and Phoenicians regarding how they viewed dogs (Jews viewed them as unclean scavengers but Phoenicians actually viewd them as having healing power). Remember, Jesus essentially refers to the woman and her non-Jewish race as a "dog" - perhaps more to express how Jews commonly viewed her and to state the "obvious" - that he came first to the Jews (of course, since he was also a Jew). But she uses what she knows about dogs, children and the household structure to make a great comeback that somehow proves her faith to Jesus. I have a feeling that the situation was more like a rabbinical debate to hash out the truth, in light of the new ways Jesus was being called to serve humanity, not only Jews but all the world. I doubt it was the first time Jesus had healed a non-Jew, but the way she approached him, he just had to respond to her in the proper way for a Jewish teacher.
The next class will be on Mary and Martha, who appear in Luke and John. I look forward to that because I have preached about them before and the sermon went pretty well. I think we have much to learn about "carpe diem" with their stories because each of their stories involve moments in which Jesus is en route to his crucifixion and they do things to make the most of that time with him. Of course there is more to it than that.
Another of me at the VLA (watching jackrabbits)
Well, I think I will head out of this blog and see what else is going on on Blogger.com. I see there is a new tab that I should investigate. More to come. Bye.
What else to say? I don't feel like writing much tonight because I need to post an updated resume on all my various job search websites. I am heartened to see some positive things happening in Albuquerque - a few new businesses are opening up.
I am also hooked on a site that some of you have heard of: . I have been kickin' it with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (first 3 seasons only though), NewsRadio (except for the last season), Mary Tyler Moore show, WKRP in Cincinnati, Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends.
My beau, Merle, and I went down to see the Very Large Array on April 4. (He told me I was allowed to refer to him on this blog with his nickname) It was only 1 of 2 days that they have an open house every year. I think they do it again in October. An astronomer gives a lecture to us geek-wannabes about how the VLA works and some of the history and future of the VLA, then they show us around the facility. I found out that they are just replacing their wave guides with fiber-optics to increase their data capacity by like, 1000 times or something. The VLA is an array of 27 radio telescopes about 45 minutes west of Socorro and they collect radio transmissions from space in order to create a composite image of galaxies and so forth. They all point at the same direction at the same time to take a "snapshot" of the same place and then with many large computers (they still have some analog data tapes!) the radio waves from the 27 telescopes are converted into an image. Each telescope is actually a dish-shaped receiver that is 230 tons and 82 feet in diameter. Here is a pic "Merle" took of me. (yes, I designed and knitted that hat myself)
It was REALLY COLD! There were lots of jackrabbits running around, I guess because it was not good weather for rattlers.
I always say I don't feel like blogging and then obviously I did. What else to say? Oh - our Bible study went really well last Tuesday night. I led a study of the Syrophoenician woman and we talked about the differences between Jews and Phoenicians regarding how they viewed dogs (Jews viewed them as unclean scavengers but Phoenicians actually viewd them as having healing power). Remember, Jesus essentially refers to the woman and her non-Jewish race as a "dog" - perhaps more to express how Jews commonly viewed her and to state the "obvious" - that he came first to the Jews (of course, since he was also a Jew). But she uses what she knows about dogs, children and the household structure to make a great comeback that somehow proves her faith to Jesus. I have a feeling that the situation was more like a rabbinical debate to hash out the truth, in light of the new ways Jesus was being called to serve humanity, not only Jews but all the world. I doubt it was the first time Jesus had healed a non-Jew, but the way she approached him, he just had to respond to her in the proper way for a Jewish teacher.
The next class will be on Mary and Martha, who appear in Luke and John. I look forward to that because I have preached about them before and the sermon went pretty well. I think we have much to learn about "carpe diem" with their stories because each of their stories involve moments in which Jesus is en route to his crucifixion and they do things to make the most of that time with him. Of course there is more to it than that.
Another of me at the VLA (watching jackrabbits)
Well, I think I will head out of this blog and see what else is going on on Blogger.com. I see there is a new tab that I should investigate. More to come. Bye.
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