Mamassage

a quick Maya update...

Maya's flight from Washington got in last night. It is really great to see her. We've missed her around here so much.  She had a great time visiting everybody and going to Camp Orkila on Orcas Island  in the San Juan Isalnds of Puget Sound.

Today we went to Mile High Middle School to get her schedule for eighth grade. I cannot believe she starts school in only eleven days!

We were quite pleasantly surprised to find that as well as accelerated math, she has also been accepted into (and scheduled for) honors English. How fantastic…all this along with being the editor of the yearbook.

I think its going to be a very busy year.

Dish

A couple of weeks ago, I post this:

 

 

Last night I was reading over at falling down is also a gift, when the phone rang, and who should it be but my friend Gem.

I was so excited to hear from her. I admit it. This is partly because I am truly one of the worst people in the world when it comes to keeping in contact. I think about the people I love daily, but it is always when I’m driving into town, lying down to go to sleep at night, or some other inconvenient time. My parents live on the East Coast and I inevitably think to call them at 8:00 (11:00 their time). 

So Gem called, and I was so happy. Gem is one of the people I’ve known for the longest continuous amount of time in my life. For much of this time I’ve considered her to be my best friend. And this is not because we get together all the time and giggle about cute boys and shoes – although I think that may have happened once or twice. Come to think of it, it was usually more akin to guffaws.

And, frankly, I haven’t spoken with her in, like, five months. But, (and she would heartily disagree with me on this) that doesn’t so much matter, because when we do talk, its as though no time has passed.

You see, we have history. We have great memories together – sitting on the porch together with Aaron (Freedom) playing guitars (them) and singing Bob Dylan (all of us), while six week old, Maya contentedly cooed and nursed away in my lap. We have bad memories, too. Neither of us has always been the family centered, mama oriented gals we are now. We’ve had our share of angry betrayals and even fist fights as well as other stupid mistakes. (I’d write more, but that’s for another day and only with permission first.) 

Gem watched Maya for me daily as I went to Massage School . She considers it to be her breaking in time for learning how to really be there for a kiddo. (She and Jordan now have two truly amazing and lovely daughters of their own.) 

She was my Matron of Honor at my marriage to Chris. Maya was my Maid of honor and seeing them there together was a beautiful sight I will always remember. Yes, we have history.

So last night when she asked me, “Rowan, how come when it had been 5 months since we’d talked you didn’t call? Why didn’t you think to yourself, ‘Maybe Gem lost my number.’?” Well, I didn’t have a whole lot to say. “Ummm…you know me. I’m bad at that stuff...always have been…you know that.” But between you and me, I know that the reason is so much more simple. Down in my heart of hearts, I know that our friendship will always be there. No matter what changes we may go through, (from living in our vans down by the park, to Masters Degrees and second mortgages – or - living with goats and kidney disease) we will always be there for each other. She’ll always be the friend I can relate to on the most heart-felt fundamental level. And I’m not worried that that will change.

Yes, I’m going to make an effort to be a better friend…one who actually calls. I’ll even write it on my calendar if I have to. But even if I get distracted by my full life, sometimes; I’m not too worried. I know that I can pick up the phone and within a matter of a couple of sentences, we’ll be right back to guffawing over husbands and shoes.

So you can imagine my surprise when out of the blue, Gem called me last night. She told me that she’d had dinner at her brother’s house in Issaquah, last night, so she’d swung by and picked up Maya. They had a really nice time.

We got to talking about how quickly kids grow up. She expressed regret at having not sent the “Wild Child” dress that we’d passed down to

Soleil

and Ella.

We talked about how each of the kids had fit this persona in their own ways. You can read more about disparate personalities here.

Then, Gem said that she’d send it along to me, and that maybe I could send it back to her for her next kid…unless it was a boy and then she wouldn’t need it…

Wait a minute – Hold the phone!

“Gem, are you pregnant?”

pause - pause

“Yes.”

Yippee!

Gem’s going to have another baby. She is about 6 weeks along, and they are very excited.

Jordan is, of course, hoping to have a boy this time. We’ll see.

Either way, I’m so excited for her.

Seemingly meme

I really like the idea of the Meme as a tool for self exploration. It allows me to sit back and truly evaluate my views of the world. I especially love to read the meme's of other people, as I inevitably find that there’s some new way of seeing things that I hadn’t previously experienced.

So when Running2K’s meme’d me a week or so ago, I was excited. I copy/pasted the questions into my word program and stared at them…for a

week. Nothing came to me. Eventually, I began to think that I’d lost my gift of gab. Frustrated I read the questions to Chris. His response was, “That’s pretty negative.” “Well”, I thought, “maybe.”

I reread the list and realized why I’d been stuck. Most of the questions were pertaining to ideas that I just don’t foster very often. Things like - the three stupidest things I’ve ever done, what I regret my hometown not having or would warn people against, etc. I think that on some level simply couldn't relate to some of the questions, so I blanked out with it.

(I want to be sure to say that I know that R2K's did not write this meme.  I have no idea who did.  & I in no way want to pass judgement upon the person who did.  We may simply have different interests.)

Therefore, I’ve decided to only answer the questions that didn’t make me cringe. If that’s not enough, well, I’m sorry, but it is my blog.

O.K.

Here are the questions I have answers for:

If you were given a time machine that functioned, and you were allowed to only pick up five people to dine with, who would you pick?

Albert Einstein
Physicist

1879 -1955

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

                         —Albert Einstein

---

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Wurttemberg, Germany. Einstein contributed more than any other scientist since Sir Isaac Newton to our understanding of physical reality.

Einstein worked at the patent office in Bern, Switzerland from 1902 to 1909. During this period he completed an astonishing range of theoretical physics publications, written in his spare time, without the benefit of close contact with scientific literature or colleagues.

The most well known of these works is Einstein's 1905 paper proposing "the special theory of relativity." He based his new theory on the principle that the laws of physics are in the same form in any frame of reference. As a second fundamental hypothesis, Einstein assumed that the speed of light remained constant in all frames of reference.

Later in 1905 Einstein showed how mass and energy were equivalent expressing it in the famous equation: E=mc2 (energy equals mass times the velocity of light squared). This equation became a cornerstone in the development of nuclear energy.

Einstein received the Nobel Prize in 1921 but not for relativity, rather for his 1905 work on the photoelectric effect. He worked on at

Princeton until the end of his life on an attempt to unify the laws of physics.

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the 'Universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security. - New   York Post, 28 November 1972

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Buddha
Religious Figure

• Born: c. 563 B.C.
• Birthplace: Kapilvastu, Nepal
• Death: c. 483 B.C.      (possibly food poisoning)
• Best Known As: The      founder of Buddhism

Name at birth: Siddhartha Gautama

Buddha ("the awakened") was the title given to Siddhartha Guatama, the son of a Nepalese rajah. According to tradition, Guatama left a life of luxury at age 30 and devoted himself to years of contemplation and self-denial, finally reaching enlightenment while sitting beneath a tree. Henceforth known as Buddha, he spent his life teaching disciples about his beliefs (embodied in the Four Noble Truths) and the goal of achieving the enlightened state of Nirvana.

Teachings

• The Four Noble Truths: that suffering is an inherent part of existence; that suffering is caused by craving; that craving can be ceased; and that following the Eightfold Path will lead to the cessation of craving (and suffering).
• The Eightfold Path: proper understanding, proper thought, proper speech, proper action, proper livelihood, proper effort, proper  mindfulness, and proper concentration.
• The law of dependent causation: that events are not predestined, nor are they random, but that events are caused by the actions that preceded them.
• Rejection of the infallibility of accepted scripture: teachings should not be accepted unless they are borne out by our experiences.
• Anicca: That all things are impermanent.
• Anatta: That the perception of a constant "self" is an illusion.

 

Richard Brautigan

Author

Richard Gary Brautigan (January 30 1935 – September 1984) was an American writer, best known for the novel Trout Fishing in America.

Brautigan was born in Tacoma, Washington and is best known for the works he produced while living in San Francisco in the 1960s. In the spring of 1967, Brautigan was Poet-in-Residence at the California Institute of Technology. At age 49, Richard Brautigan died of a self-inflicted .44 gunshot wound to the head in Bolinas, California. The exact date of his suicide is unknown, but it is speculated that Brautigan ended his life on September 14, 1984 after talking to Marcia Clay on the telephone. Robert Yench found Brautigan’s body in Brautigan’s house on the living room floor on October 25, 1984.
(http://www.brautigan.net/brautigan/chronology1980.html)

Brautigan’s prose and poetry often dealt with the tenuous and often impossible relationships a person tries to form with the world. Whether it is by history (A Confederate General from Big Sur), geography and time (The Tokyo-Montana Express), or memory (Sombrero Fallout), Brautigan’s gentle protagonist/narrators often find their plans thwarted by the sometimes inexplicable vicissitudes of existence. Sometimes solace can be found in either a new love (The Abortion) or just a casual participation in the world (In Watermelon Sugar).

Brautigan’s writings are also characterized by a remarkable and humorous imagination. The permeation of inventive metaphors lend even his prose works the feeling of poetry. Brautigan’s work became identified with the counterculture youth movement of the late 1960s even though it is noted that Brautigan was contemptuous of hippies (see Lawrence Wright article in Rolling Stone Apr. 11, 1985
(http://www.brautigan.net/brautigan/obituaries.html#wright)).

Brautigan’s eccentric appearance and manner did not help to dissuade this conception of him and his work. During the 1960’s several of Brautigan’s short stories appeared in Rolling Stone and were later collected in Brautigan’s The Revenge of the Lawn. The critical backlash of the late 1970s and early 1980s did much to hasten his suicide despite Brautigan’s literary fame in

Japan in the late 1970’s. Brautigan once wrote, “All of us have a place in history. Mine is clouds.”

Books

Fiction:

• A Confederate General From Big Sur, (1964 ISBN 224619233)
• Trout Fishing in America, (1967 ISBN 0395500761) Omibus edition
• In Watermelon Sugar, (1968 ASIN 0440340268)
• Revenge of the Lawn, (1970 ISBN 0671209604)
• The Abortion: An      Historical Romance, (1971 ISBN 0671208721)
• The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western, (1974 ISBN 0671218093)
• Willard and His Bowling Trophies: A Perverse Mystery, (1975 ISBN 0671220659)

• Sombrero Fallout: A Japanese Novel, (1976 ISBN 0671223313)

• Dreaming of Babylon:  A Private Eye Novel 1942, (1977 ISBN 0440021464)
• The Tokyo-Montana Express, (1980 ISBN 0440087708)
• So the Wind Won’t Blow It All Away, (1982 ISBN 0395706742)
• An Unfortunate Woman: A Journey, (1982, but first published in 2000 ISBN 0312277105)

Poetry:

• The Galilee Hitch-Hiker, 1958
• Lay the Marble Tea, 1959
• The Octopus Frontier, 1960
• All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace, 1963
• Please Plant This Book, 1968
• The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster, 1968
• Rommel Drives on Deep into Egypt,      1970
• Loading Mercury with a Pitchfork, (1971 ISBN 0671222635. 0671222716 pbk)
• June 30^th, June 30^th, (1978 ISBN 044004295X)
• The Edna Webster Collection of Undiscovered Writings, (1999 ISBN 0395974690)

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jimmy Carter

President and more

(1924- ), thirty-ninth president of the United States. When Carter took the oath of office in 1977, he inherited a nation divided by the social turmoil of the 1960s and disillusioned by the cynical political practices of the Nixon White House. Within minutes after his inauguration, Carter left his heavily armored limousine and, holding hands with his wife, Rosalyn, walked the parade route to the cheers of spectators. Carter's stroll down Pennsylvania Avenue seemed to symbolize the end of one era and the beginning of another. In retrospect, however, the Democratic victory in 1976 was a historical anomaly in an era of Republican domination of the presidency.

Carter, the son of a Georgia landowner and businessman, was part of the first generation of moderate southern politicians who emerged in the aftermath of the civil rights movement. His term as Georgia governor (1971-1975) was a modest success, marked by an emphasis upon governmental reorganization and aggressive actions to end racial discrimination. Still, it hardly seemed a springboard to the White House, and his announcement in December 1975 that he would seek the presidency evoked incredulity or amusement from most knowledgeable political observers.

But they underestimated Carter. American voters were disgusted by the Watergate revelations of corruption, and they responded warmly to the soft-spoken southerner with his perpetual smile and his often repeated promise: "I'll never lie to you." His moderate economic views, his commitment to civil rights, and his background as a southerner helped him assemble a coalition of traditional Democrats, blacks, and southern whites who had become increasingly alienated from the Democratic party. Carter narrowly defeated incumbent Gerald Ford with 50.1 percent of the vote.

Carter's administration was not without achievements. The drive and focused intelligence that carried him to the White House made it possible for him to push through (by one vote) the Panama Canal Treaty in 1978 and to broker a peace agreement between Israel's Menachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat in the fall of 1978.

But failures in domestic and foreign policy overshadowed these accomplishments. He had been elected as an outsider, and he often proved inept in dealing with his own party. He also seemed unable to mobilize public support for his policies of restraint and sacrifice.

He was dogged, too, by events beyond his control: the energy crisis that triggered double-digit inflation, the fall of the shah and the seizure of hostages in Iran, and the chill in Soviet-American relations following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In retrospect, many of the crises Carter confronted were insoluble, but his style of hands-on management led a restive American public to hold him personally responsible for failure. The seizure of American hostages proved his final undoing. Americans' increasing frustration over the nation's inability to effect their release focused upon Carter. When an attempted rescue ended in ignominious failure in 1980, his fate as president was sealed. He went down to a smashing defeat at the hands of Ronald Reagan.

In 1986 Carter founded the Carter Center of Emory University, an institution devoted to mediating international conflict and ameliorating health problems in the world's developing nations. In a departure from the usual quiet retirement of presidents, Carter has played an active role in numerous diplomatic and domestic efforts after leaving office. In this, he is especially known for his successful international mediations in countries such as North Korea and Haiti.

Jimmy Carter has been a relatively prolific author. He has written the following:

• Why Not the Best? (1975 and 1996)
• A Government as Good as Its People (1977 and 1996)
• Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President (1982 and 1995)
• Negotiation: The Alternative to Hostility (1984)
• The Blood of Abraham (1985 and 1993)
• Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life (1987 and 1995), with Rosalynn Carter
• An Outdoor Journal (1988 and 1994)
• Turning Point: A Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Age (1992)
• Talking Peace: A Vision for the Next Generation (1993 and 1995)
• Always a Reckoning (1995), a collection of poetry, illustrated by his granddaughter
• The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer (1995), a children's book, illustrated by his daughter
• Living Faith (1996)
• Sources of Strength: Meditations on Scripture for a Living Faith (1997)
• The Virtues of Aging (1998)
• An Hour before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood (2001)
• Christmas in Plains: Memories (2001)
• The Nobel Peace Prize      Lecture (2002)
• The Hornet's Nest (2003), a historical novel and the first work of fiction written by a U.S. President
• Sharing Good Times (2004)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isaac Asimov

Writer / Chemist

• Born: 2 January 1920
• Birthplace:      Petrovichi, U.S.S.R.
• Death: 6 April 1992 (AIDS)
• Best Known As: Prolific writer of popular science and science fiction

Isaac Asimov was born in the former Soviet Union, but grew up in Brooklyn, New York.

He taught biochemistry at Boston University until he retired in 1958 to become a full-time writer. Asimov had been publishing short stories since the late 1930s, and in 1952 published his first novel. The author of the classic I, Robot series and The Foundation Trilogy, Asimov wrote more than 400 books and won every major science fiction award. He also wrote popular books and essays on science and technology, earning him the nickname "The Great Explainer."

According to the Isaac Asimov FAQ, the author died of "heart and kidney failure, which were complications of the HIV infection he contracted from a transfusion of tainted blood during his December 1983 triple-bypass operation." HIV was not revealed as the cause of his death until 2002, when his widow Janet published the memoir It's Been a Good Life.

Asimov Quotes

• "If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster."
• "Early in my school career, I turned out to be an incorrigible disciplinary problem. I could understand what the teacher was saying as fast as she could say it, I found time hanging heavy, so I would occasionally talk to my neighbor. That was my great crime, I talked."
• "I prefer rationalism to atheism. The question of God and other objects-of-faith are outside reason and play no part in rationalism, thus you don't have to waste your time in either attacking or defending."
• "If I could trace my origins to Judas Maccabaeus or King David, that would not add one inch to my stature.  It may well be that many East European Jews are descended from Khazars, I may be one of them. Who knows? And who cares?"
• "In 1936, I first wrote science fiction. It was a long-winded attempt at writing an endless novel...which died. I remember one sentence, 'Whole forests stood sere and brown in midsummer.'. That was the first Asimovian science-fiction sentence."
• "Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers."
• "Night was a wonderful time in Brooklyn in the 1930s. Air conditioning was unknown except in movie houses, and so was television. There was nothing to keep one in the house.  Furthermore, few people owned automobiles, so there was nothing to carry one away.  That left the streets and the stoops. The very fullness served as an inhibition to crime."
• "No one can possibly have lived through the Great Depression without being scarred by it. No amount of experience since the Depression can convince someone who has lived through it that the world is safe economically."
• "True literacy is becoming an arcane art and the United States is steadily dumbing down."
• "Until I became a published writer, I remained completely ignorant of books on how to write and courses on the subject...they would have spoiled my natural style; made me observe caution; would have hedged me with rules."
• "When I read about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that American society has found one more way to destroy itself."
• "What I will be remembered for are the Foundation Trilogy and the Three Laws of Robotics. What I want to be remembered for is no one book, or no dozen books. Any single thing I have written can be paralleled or even surpassed by something someone else has done. However, my total corpus for quantity, quality and variety can be duplicated by no one else. That is what I want to be remembered for",  September 20, 1973

 

 

If you had three wishes that were not supernatural, what would they be?

1. That both of my daughters would grow up healthy, happy and fulfilled.

2. That we could find a way to stop make enemies of the rest of the world.

3. That more research would be put into renewable resources such as solar, wind, and water – thereby making fossil fuels and nuclear energy obsolete.

Name one event that has changed your life.

Getting a massage in 1995. 

When Maya was three, I was working in a car repair shop, when my boss died of lung cancer. Granted he smoked Camel straights non-stop and sniffed tail pipes to troubleshoot. But, generally the whole environment was fairly unhealthy. I didn’t think that this was the way I wanted to present myself as a role model for my daughter. So, I was definitely searching for a new job.

A friend of mine’s girlfriend was going to school to be a massage therapist, and needed to do some homework. Naturally I volunteered. As I lay on the table, I thought to myself, “I can do this.” The next day I called Seattle Massage School and was enrolled later that week. Over the course of the next year, I gradually lost touch with some of my more unhealthy acquaintances and realized that I loved the more scientific aspects of massage … kinesiology, anatomy, physiology, etc.

I started tutoring at the school and eventually became an instructor.   It was during this time that I met a massage student named Chris. We became friends during his last quarter of school, and I asked him out immediately following his final test.

We were married a few years later. Five years later, we have a lovely family. Maya is now thirteen and Kajsa, two.

I Married Charlie Brown

One of those days…

Today, Kajsa had physical therapy at 1:00 pm.
I got her up and bathed, and was heading out the door when Chris arrived for his afternoon time off. (Because of the heat, Shaun and Chris work  8:00-12:00 and 6:00-10:00 ) He said that he was also going in to Prescott (45 minutes away) to register his car, buy a shock absorber, and replace the front tires. I asked if he’d like to meet me at Subway for a cheapo lunch. He thought that sounded like a good idea and asked me to meet him at 2:00 at Discount tires. Super, I thought, a date with my husband - a rare and happy event.

P.T. went well. Kajsa charmed her way out of the hardest of activities, but did work on her kicking, stair climbing and backward propulsion. Its pretty cool. Her P.T., Darcy, has a very low swing. Kajsa can push herself back and then raise both legs to swing. Little does she know that she’s working her quads and abs. We got some new orthothics and away we went.

I got to the tire store and circled around for a few minutes. Not seeing Chris, I parked and chilled out for a few minutes with NPR. They were having a nice interview with The Daily Show's host John Stewart. (Did you know: a recent study showed that watchers of The Daily Show are in fact better informed than those who watch the network news?) Well, anyway, the chilling out didn’t last very long – on a couple of levels. Kajsa got bored and I decided that I was being incredibly politically incorrect by running my AC in a parking lot. So I rolled down all the windows and turned off the car. I left the key on in order to listen to the radio. Kajsa was promptly moved to the front passenger seat, which she thought was a fine treat, indeed.

One hour and fifteen minutes later, I was a stinky, sweaty mess, who couldn’t care less about current events or the song writing career of Carole King. Kajsa was by now also very sweaty and smelling quite suspicious, herself. So I went into  Discount Tire Center to inquire as to any personal messages which may have been left on my behalf. Nope. I called my house. No answer. I called Shaun and Chrissy’s. No answer. I began to seriously worry. Flashes of fiery crashes flew through my head. My husband being hauled off to jail for lack of license plate or registration also crowded out rationality. I told the guy that I was going to go cool off at the Goodwill and would be back in one hour. After trying on five outfits and leaving with nothing but a new $0.49 board book for the toddler, drove back over to the tire store. No hubby. Now I was truly worrying!

On my way home, I drove through the Napa, Checker’s and Auto Zone parking lots. The whole way back, I scoured the shoulders and cliffs below for a sign of my love’s demise. Once back in Yarnell, I checked his work site, thinking that perhaps he was just terribly inconsiderate. I struck out, again. So I went home. NO messages. NO note. 

A couple of hours later (7:00) Shaun came over to ask where Chris was. Apparently he was to meet Shaun in Prescott Valley to help him load doors at Home Depot. I wanted to say Cheese and crackers. I didn’t. I did; however, say, “Crap.”

Chris got home at 8:30 pm. He was literally red from frustration. Evidently, he was pulled over immediately upon entering town. Well, not exactly pulled over. The cop followed Chris for a couple of miles before Chris just pulled into the hospital parking lot to get it over with…or so he thought. Officer Unfriendly began with, “Do you know anyone at the hospital?” The guy harassed Chris for not having a plate or registration. When Chris said that he in reality was on his way to the DOT, police dude acted like that was simply an excuse. He then observed that the notarized title was dated two weeks ago (because the fellow we bought it from knew he was going to sell it). This man actually got on his personal cell phone to try to track down and call the seller. Upon failing to do so, he told Chris that he was lucky that he didn’t get a hold of him. Chris, suffering from heat induced senselessness, told the guy that, no, he wasn’t. The cop then made him sit there for another hour while he continued to try to reach the old owner. FUN! 

He then gave Chris a ticket and followed him to the DOT, where he sat in the parking lot for an additional hour and a half waiting for Chris to emerge. This is our tax dollars hard at work, folks. Chris came out and put the new plate in his back window to go over to the auto parts store. Lights on and he’s pulled over, again. “Did you know that you are not properly displaying your license plate?” Chris said that he just got it (duh!), had no screws, and was on his way to buy them. He asked if the horrible little man would like to follow him there, as well. Get this, his response was, “No, I don’t want to waste my time.”

I think he just needed a doughnut fix. 

So, then Chris heads over to pick up his shock and is told that they forgot to have it sent from the Prescott Valley (PV) store. Irate, Chris tells him that he’s driving on 3 new shocks and really needs the 4^th in order to not screw up his car. Bob gets on the phone with Javier – yells at him, and tells him that Chris is on his way. Chris drives to PV. Javier tells Chris that he’s never heard of said part. Chris (waving receipt) bellows at Javier that he had heard the entire conversation and could easily repeat it word for word. Shocked, Javier gets shock.

Chris drives back over to Discount Tires, where they take 1&1/2 hours to put on two tires. Then he comes home, yes, red with frustration.

Oh, did I tell you that his trip started out with him running out of gas just as he was rolling into the gas station at  Skull Valley?

What a day.

I guess sitting in a hot car with a baby was kind of mild by comparison.

How does your garden grow?

...and pretty maids all in a row...







Can you believe the size of these zucchini?

They are as big as Kajsa's legs!!

That's what I get when I don't visit the garden for a couple of days.

Be all that you can be.

A Beautiful Point of View

The Affirmations of Humanism:
A Statement of Principles

• We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the     universe and to the solving of human problems.
• We deplore efforts to denigrate human intelligence, to seek to explain the world in     supernatural terms, and to look outside nature for salvation.
• We believe that scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of human life.
• We believe in an open and pluralistic society and that democracy is the best guarantee of protecting human rights from authoritarian elites and repressive majorities.
• We are committed to the principle of the separation of church and state.
• We cultivate the arts of negotiation and compromise as a means of resolving differences and achieving mutual understanding.
• We are concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with eliminating discrimination and intolerance.
• We believe in supporting the disadvantaged and the handicapped so that they will be able to help themselves.
• We attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, and strive to work together for the common good of humanity.
• We want to protect and enhance the earth, to preserve it for future generations, and to avoid inflicting needless suffering on other species.
• We believe in enjoying life here and now and in developing our creative talents to their fullest.
• We believe in the cultivation of moral excellence.
• We respect the right to privacy. Mature adults should be allowed to fulfill their     aspirations, to express their sexual preferences, to exercise reproductive freedom, to have access to comprehensive and informed health-care, and to die with dignity.
• We believe in the common moral decencies: altruism, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, responsibility. Humanist ethics is amenable to critical, rational guidance. There are normative standards that we discover together. Moral principles are tested by their consequences.
• We are deeply concerned with the moral education of our children. We want to nourish reason and compassion.
• We are engaged by the arts no less than by the sciences.
• We are citizens of the universe and are excited by discoveries still to be made in the cosmos.
• We are skeptical of untested claims to knowledge, and we are open to novel ideas and seek new departures in our thinking.
• We affirm humanism as a realistic alternative to theologies of despair and ideologies of violence and as a source of rich personal significance and genuine satisfaction in the service to others.
• We believe in optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than despair, learning in the place of dogma, truth instead of ignorance, joy rather than guilt or sin, tolerance in the place of fear, love instead of hatred, compassion over selfishness, beauty instead of ugliness, and reason rather than blind faith or irrationality.
• We believe in the fullest realization of the best and noblest that we are capable of as human beings.

Al-soy-mer's?

Here is a conversation that I recently had on my family’s website. I responded to Robin’s question the best that I knew how, within a limited amount of time. I extend this submission to all of you. Perhaps you will know more about this subject than I, and be able to provide further enlightenment to us all.
Thank you~Rowan

Hey Girl! How's life in Arizona? We're practically neighbors these days!
I have a question for you. I have been getting a lot of requests from brides asking if we bake a vegan cake. One bride in particular was concerned if we use soy in any form in our recipes. The answer to that is no, but she went on inform me that she was trying to stay away from soy because she has investigated that it is actually bad for your health. Something was said about soy causing thyroid malfunction, and can also be attributed to Alzheimer’s developing in later years in those   who were fed soy based formulas in infancy. Now, I have been using soy milk and tofu to off set the hormonal imbalance of premenopause, which I do find to be of great help. But if I am going to end up with a thyroid issue, is the cure worth the bother? You being a vegetarian who uses soy products, may I ask what your thoughts are on this subject, or have you even heard such news?
Btw, I think that your Blog is great, and if you indeed decide to write a book, girl, you already have one in the making!

Interesting questions, Robin...

I had heard a bit of general murmuring about this. So when you asked, I figured it was a good time to do some online sleuthing. After weeding out the soy promoters and such, I found some interesting info.

As for the Thyroid issue:

I found a lot of people railing against the FDA for even suggesting a link between soy and anything even remotely negative. I can thoroughly understand this emotional response; however, it was not what I was looking for. Then I found a few thoughtful articles. One of the ones I like best was at About.Com. It stated that there has been a link, but the issue appears to primarily affect individuals who already have thyroid issues which may be exacerbated to the symptomatic stage. Sort of like an alcoholic would not show signs until they’d had a drink. Further investigation uncovered the fact that the amount of soy found in a regular diet seemed to have no real effect upon the individual. Thyroid problems generally did not appear unless the person was taking a soy supplement. So, I figure, eat those tofu dogs if you like them. Just don’t pop the pills.

Regarding Alzheimer's:

I found no direct link. What I did find was a lot of advice about treating your brain as you would your heart. - low fat, low cholesterol, regular exercise, etc. Some data referencing this was found at USPharmacist.com

I did come across some info regarding soy and brain.

It follows:

Soy isoflavonoids are plant phytoestrogens available as dietary supplements and are increasingly advocated as a natural alternative to oestrogen replacement therapy. As weak oestrogen agonists/antagonists with a range of other enzymatic activities, the isoflavonoids provide a useful model to investigate the actions of endocrine disruptors. Here, the activational and organisational effects of these compounds on the brain are reviewed. In spite of their preferential affinity for oestrogen receptor (ER) in vitro, isoflavonoids act in vivo through both ER and ER . Their neurobehavioural actions are largely anti-oestrogenic, either antagonising or producing an action in opposition to that of oestradiol. Small, physiologically relevant exposure levels can alter oestrogen-dependent gene expression in the brain and affect complex behaviour in a wide range of species. The implications for these findings in humans, and particularly in infants, largely remain uninvestigated but are a subject of increasing public interest.

Unfortunately for me, a subscription must be paid to be able to read more about this.

To sum up:

Soy seems to be great in moderation. Just like everything else…Martin gals can’t eat gluten or their bodies attack themselves. My mom & dad can’t eat red meat very often or they’ll have a heart attack or stroke. Diabetics should greatly limit their carbohydrates. People with a propensity toward thyroid issues should avoid soy supplements. I think the Alzheimer’s information just reiterates life’s need for moderation.

Some things should just be common sense. Unfortunately, the general public usually only gets sound bytes in the evening news, and then never follows through. I’m glad that you did. I hope this helps.

Now, I must finish by saying that being a vegetarian does not make me an expert. But it does (despite my attempts not to be) make me somewhat biased. The articles above can be read any number of ways, and that is why I posted them…please feel free to let me know your interpretation - or the findings of any more info you may turn up. Meanwhile I’m going to ask my parents. My dad reads JAMA regularly, and my mom is a super research fanatic about her nutrition and supplements.

Thank you for thinking of me. I’m glad you like my blog. I enjoy it a lot, too. Hopefully soon we can see each other so that you don’t just have to read about my life.  Just be forewarned, you may be featured in a future a post.

plant life

This on the other hand was my last frivolous purchase. 

I bought this plant a few weeks ago.  It is called a Croton. 

And I thought it only looked like a creature from Star Trek. 

Any minute now it will fully emerge from fluidic space to eliminate all Human life. 
Meanwhile, I will love it and give it much water and sunshine. 

I bought this during a Safeway 2 for 1 special for $4.50. 

Here is Croton’s buddy in annihilation, Pothos.

boy toy

Here is my husband’s newest acquisition.

 

 

And I thought he only looked like

 someone from Mad Max.

 

 

 

 

 

Or The Goonies.

No, but seriously, folks. Chris was rear ended about a year and a half ago while driving our van. The woman who hit him had an insurance card, which she showed the police. Alas, we found out a few weeks later that she had stopped paying for it six months prior. So, our insurance had to cover the damages. Any smart person would have used the money to fix the rear end of the car. We unfortunately are not smart people.

What we actually did with the money:

Chris has this old 1969 Dodge van that is really a very large pit that he keeps throwing money at. It’s a sad thing. Can you say MOPAR? Well, anyway…he starts school in a couple of weeks, so we decided that it would be a wise investment for him to have more reliable transportation for his travels to and from Prescott.

We looked into purchasing a mid-eighties Chevy Blazer or Ford Bronco. But their gas mileage was enough to give me nightmares. They were also slightly out of our price range.  So, Chris decided to go for a bug. Living in the desert, he additionally thought a Baja would be fun. That way he can take it out fishing on the weekends. So, yesterday we drove all around Phoenix until we found one that was both reasonably priced and had a few amenities.

I have to tell you, it was so incredibly hot down there in the valley of no shadow - and death. I think I have found hell. Anyway, we went down to see this bug that was in the paper. Weeelll, on paper was about the only way that this Baja looked good. It had no brakes (or turn signals) to speak of; in fact the brake lights were activated via a button on the dash. The seats were welded to the floor so that they couldn’t be adjusted at all. Chris could barely reach the pedals, so there was no chance of my ever driving it. It further had no rear view mirror, which makes a great combination with the lack of breaks. And he wanted the very top end of our budget for this thing. 

Did I mention that the kid selling this thing looked way worse than it did? He was on crutches, had pins in every bone in his left leg, and a face like ground hamburger. He was selling his bug to pay off the Harley he’d just wrecked. Asking about this brought on more accident stories – such as the time he bought his “crotch rocket” and got the hospital bill before his first payment. Oh, and he looked like he was in his late teens – maybe early twenties – I doubt he’ll make it much past thirty at his current rate. As we parted to look for more options, he was leaving to get the title notarized for sale. “You’ll be back. I’ve lived here all my life, and this is the best Baja in town.”

Being a bit disgruntled (don’t worry, there’s a happy ending), we began calling more ads from the bargain trader. Chris talked to another kid out in Mesa, AZ who had a Baja that had been his project in high school. He was ready to sell it in order to have money for payments on the new truck he’d bought. So away we went… 

Mesa is far, far away from northern Phoenix. It feels even further during rush hour. The guy didn’t know very well where he lived, so his directions were spotty at best. We drove around in some new subdivision with identical houses for a while until we eventually found a lady who was out watering her lawn (Grrrr!). She was; however, kind enough to let us use her cell phone, and it turned out that we were only two blocks from his place.

This bug was way better. It needed some of the same things that the other did. Let me say that again…It needed SOME of the same things – not all – and the kid was asking $1000.00 less. Chris took it for a quick spin around the block while the guy apparently told Chris all about what a chick magnet it was, and how many girls he’d “had” in the back seat. May I just say how cool that is? That is so cool that I may very well be buying both Costco portions of bleach and Lysol.

Chris pulled in chuckling. Evidently, he was able to hear the engine over libido dude’s tales of romance. Chris offered $300.00 under the asking price and the guy accepted. He threw in the tow bar, some extra parts and tools, and away we went. We even have enough money left from the purchase to fix the shocks, buy the master cylinder, and have the brakes fixed on both of our cars! Vroom vroom.

We maintained a steady 65-70 miles an hour on the freeway and Chris actually beat me up Yarnell hill (2700 feet in nine miles). Now that's pretty good for a car that’s as old as I am.

The New Digs

I’ve moved “Livin’ it Bupp”. Some of the limitations of blogger were just driving me nuts. My new site address is http://bupp.blogs.com/

I do hope you update whatever info you may have for me, and swing on by. I’ve put up a few of my more recent posts so that it doesn’t feel so lonely. I don’t know how to move comments, so I’ll be holding onto this site while I figure out some logistics.

Please feel free to give me any feedback, or to simply let me knowthat you stopped by.

So without further ado…come on over!