Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Goodbye to Freedom


Thanks to another lovely fallout of the Patriot Act, today my friend Darren will be sentenced and no doubt convicted as a terrorist (their words, not mine).

How can a country label people who disagree with the government, terrorists, just because they are environmental or animal rights advocates? In the U.S. you can bomb an abortion clinic and kill someone and not be convicted as a terrorist. You can beat a person to death out of hatred of their skin color or their sexual preference and not be convicted as a terrorist. But if you burn an SUV out of frustration with the destruction of the environment you are a terrorist. Or (in Darren's case) release wild horses that the government rounds up to auction off (often to then be sold for slaughter so that ranchers can graze their cattle for practically free) you are considered a terrorist.

With this gross misuse of the term "terrorist" none of us will ever be safe.

Don't buy into the Green Scare propaganda. Support eco-saboteurs before you lose your freedom of speech. You may not agree with the actions they took to defend the earth and the animals but they are not terrorists.

***Update: Darren was sentenced to 37 months (the amount of time the prosecution requested). The judge chose not to include the terrorism enhancement on Darren's sentence (three of his co-accused have received it and sentencing continues through June 5th for the remaining defendants) due to being unable to come to a strong conclusion about his particular situation. Darren will likely be sent to either Sheridan or Sea-Tac Federal Prison where it is expected he will be classified as a medium or minimum security prisoner.

I can name that tune...


I accomplished a lot this weekend...slept a lot, watched several movies, spent time with the ma (she turned 67 yesterday), played with the four leggeds, cooked a few meals, hung out with the gals...but mostly I bought and listened to music. I went through my cd collection and took out a big stack of recordings that I don't even know how I acquired. Went to Everyday Music (nearly the only place I get music because they have the best selection of used), traded in the old and got some new including Bridging the Distance, a collection of local bands remaking old classics (Christopher Walla from Death Cab for Cutie) doing Shattered Dreams (Johnny Hates Jazz) for instance. The other two cds I bought there were indie artists as well Helio Sequence (Com Plex) and Bright Eyes (Cassadaga), although I bought both of them used so I don't get too many points for supporting lesser known artists.

My other cd purchases this weekend all stemmed from Goodwill's as-is store. Cds cost $1 each there unless of course you hide them in with the rest of your stuff and therefore get them for $1.59/lb. I'm not generally passive aggressive enough to do that but from time to time...

The cds I got there were Frank Sinatra's Christmas Cabaret, soundtrack from "There's Something About Mary" (picture Jonathan Richman standing under the tree with his guitar), the Grease soundtrack (you may roll your eyes at this point but it remains one of my favorite soundtracks of all time, Dana Lyon's "Cows with Guns" (Dana is based in Bellingham, by the way), Lucinda William's (World Without Tears) and the Oasis double cd recording "Stop the Clocks."

So if you catch me humming "Grease is the word" under my breath you'll know why.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

This literally just gives me the chills. Ironically enough I was just purusing the Vegetarian Shoes website this morning and eyeing a pair of clearance Dr Martens and am now so thankful that I didn't buy them! Guess I'll go with my more radical idea of the Airseal.

Screw you Doc Martens. This was a tasteless, insensitive, disgusting thing to do.

He’s the one
Who likes all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means
Knows not what it means

Monday, May 21, 2007

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y...night


Saturday night my next door neighbors hosted a movie night under their carport. This wasn't just any movie night. This was a 3-D movie night on a old school silver screen with projectors and Super 8 and 16 mm films (thanks film dork Ned!).

The 3-D movies we watched were condensed versions of "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and Vincent Price's "The Magician." Not only was this event super funny (we should have turned off the sound and just made up dialogue because we were all yelling comments at the screen the entire time) it was also enlightening because in addition to the 3-D movies we also watched vintage education films from the early 60's about women in the workplace, airports and an anti-drug film narrated by (a much younger but still sporting the same moustache) Jesse Jackson.
The 3-D effect sometimes works better than others but it was always hilarious, if nothing else just for the comic effect of looking at each other.
The word at the end of the evening was there should be an outdoor movie night every month. I for one am all about that idea...what can be better than movies with friends, beer, a theater that is dog friendly and a very short walk home?

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Martha


Went to an ATC swap last night. For the unaccustomed, ATCs are artist trading cards...2.5" X 3" inch miniature pieces of art created originally as an artistic calling card. There are communities all over the world that create and trade these pieces, some online and some in person. Portland has a few different in person swaps and I went to one of them last night at Powell's.

The crowd (and consequently the cards) at these gatherings vary. Last night I really bonded with the folks and the art (funny how those two things generally go together). You simply pass your notebook to someone at the table ask if they would like to trade and if they are willing (which they nearly always are) you take a card from their collection as they take one from yours. Last night I traded with everyone and in fact swapped three with one woman and two with another.

It's a great feeling handing someone a book full of little treasures you toiled over and hearing their reactions. When you create art alone at home you don't get that kind of feedback. So the appeal of the swaps is the reinforcement that you in fact are not wasting your time cutting and pasting. The other draw is that you get to leave with a stack of other people's cards (and hopefully ones that you love).

The cards I traded for last night are some of my favorite yet. There were several cat ones which I snatched up as fast as possible, one featuring a pirate cat with a particularly bad attitude and dirty mouth. But the card that rocked me the most was one titled "Innovator?" and features a collage of a dress form with a clock (for those close to me you probably know I have a "thing" for old clocks), an image of Martha Stewart and the words "You discover treasure where others see nothing unusual." Sigh. So perfect for me. As I told the artist who made it, "This card chose me." She had made it nearly a year ago (July 2006) and it had been lingering in her notebook for someone to choose it, apparently waiting for me, The Alt Martha.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Duh.

The dairy council is finally being required to quit lying to the American public. It's about time. The dairy council has long been the funders of nutrition guidelines (look at old promotional posters from elementary schools and you'll always see "Published by the American Dairy Council" at the bottom which makes as much sense as McDonald's sponsoring education programs in elementary schools (How many Big Macs can Jane buy with her $3.00 allowance?) which really happens by the way.

Frankly, when I became vegan and gave up dairy I lost weight (although as my father is fond of saying...as long as beer and fries are vegan she'll look the way she does...thanks dad). And please don't comment with "I could NEVER give up cheese!" It's probably the most annoying (and most frequent) comments vegans hear besides "How do you get your protein?"

It's a verb, it's a noun, it's a magazine.

I've quoted my friend Amy in my blog several times and while she isn't a fan of blogs, I think she likes being quoted here. The most quotable thing Amy said while we were hanging out for happy hour at Alberta Street Brew Pub last night? Well Amy turned to me at one point and said "Are you gonna blog about that?" And the answer is, yes.

A few weeks ago while eating brunch at The Paradox Cafe (ah, Paradox, the cafe where I once ate three meals in one day -- an animal rights group I was involved with had an office across the street and we would hold our "action planning" meetings there as well as our "after action" follow up sessions and then the late night meal together because we didn't have lives outside of the movement) Amy mentioned that she wasn't happy at her job (being the development coordinator for a foundation that funds LGBQT issues). I asked her what she really wanted to do and she simply stated, "I want to work for Bitch magazine."

While I was familiar with the magazine (I've read it on and off for years...love it, respect it) I didn't realize they were actually a non-profit organization (and therefore had a need for a development director) and I also didn't realize that they had left their home in San Francisco and moved to Portland.

Fast forward to a few days later...I got an email from Amy saying, "I have a new job! I'm going to be working at Bitch magazine."

Just like that! Talk about realizing your dreams! She didn't even know there was a position open when she told me she wanted to work there.

Well, Bitch magazine (Feminist response to pop culture) now has a development coordinator that kicks ass and is so perfect for that position. And because I believe so strongly in both Amy and the magazine I have found myself having a renewed sense toward organizing with non-profits. We met last night to discuss action plans for future fundraising events for the magazine and for the first time in a very long while I was excited and motivated (and thankful to feel that way) to work towards a better world.

Maybe the reason for this is because of the lack of feminism in our culture lately? When I was growing up I wasn't satisfied that the female pop culture role models were the sisters from Heart and Stevie Nicks. I wasn't satisfied that strong women were expected to wear makeup and high heels. At this time I'm not satisfied that music is still filled with sexism, that women are still beaten and killed daily by their loved ones, that porn with "barely legal" girls is one of the most popular downloads on the internet (a man was recently arrested for raping his young daughter and then posting the video online). I'm not satisfied that I get labeled prude for questioning the glamorization of Bettie Page (how many saw the movie about her and were disappointed in the fact that the movie focused on how shitty her life was instead of showing more T & A)? I'm disappointed that my neighborhood association chooses to accept advertising from the local strip club yet rage forward in a campaign against Wal-Mart (yes the latter is bad, but is advertising a strip club building up the community?).

So, I think that Bitch magazine is as relevant now to our society as it ever has been and perhaps more importantly, it is as relevant to my own well being at this time and place in my life as it has ever been.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Okay, this time I really need help.


My veggie delivery came yesterday. Thanks to you folks I deduced that the mystery fruit previously delivered was in fact a mango (and I have since deduced that I'm not on the mango train like everyone else is...similar feeling to not being on the coffee train...guess I'm just different). Thanks to a few suggestions I have been able to put to use the leeks I've received (although I have requested to have substitutions in the future...I've eaten as many leeks as I need to for the moment...same with pears).

Now I need more suggestions. The "odd" (meaning new to me in a big way) item included in my current week's supply is about two dozen fava bean pods. My oh my, they just look like green peas for a giant. Martha has a recipe on her site using fava bean flour to make vegan brownies but I am quite sure the process of making whole beans into flour is a bit out of my reach. So...bring it on...what do I do with these puppies?

The other veggies and fruits included were: a portabella mushroom, 15 strawberries, several crimini mushrooms, radishes, 2 bulbs of garlic, snow peas, 5 apricots (I've never eaten a fresh one but have consumed many of the dried variety), 1 mango, 1 cucumber, 3 red pepper, 4 oranges, 6 apples, 3 onions (I could use some suggestions for the onions, like maybe decorating with them, because I have eaten so many onions these past few weeks that the aroma is seeping from my pores), 3 bananas, 4 tomatoes, 5 of the cutest Italian squash ever (who knew squash came that small?), 1 head of broccoli, 11 carrots, kale, spinach, lettuce and salad greens.

So far my great victories with these deliveries has been an apple pie and a vegetable pot pie. Both quite delicious and soon to be made again (although I didn't get any potatoes this week which I need for the pot pie and it seems silly to buy more veggies to use up the veggies I have). This week I plan on finishing up my leeks with the help of a recipe from my friends Rose and Teagen for steamed leeks with a tahini/mustard sauce. I also plan on attempting carmelized carrots.

I am particularly proud of myself for sticking to my food delivery these past few weeks as money has been quite tight due to unexpected vet bills (Twinky seems to have recovered fine, thanks for asking), expected tax obligations and semi-expected dental bills. But alas, I didn't take the easy way out, cancel my $45/week delivery and eat crap cheap food for two weeks. Instead I sold some Lite Brite pegs, Betty Spaghetti dolls, an old Avon ring my mom bought in the 70's ($61!), vintage little girl's perfume pins, etc. on eBay to raise funds for food. Yay for people who buy stuff they don't need.

Monday, May 14, 2007

I didn't even see it coming.


I did the Mother's Day thing with my mom on Saturday because my brother had scheduled to do stuff on Sunday (our family isn't one of those that do things together) so I had the day to myself. I know, I know...all you mom's out there would have appreciated a day alone yesterday over whatever gifts you received, right? Sorry to brag, ha ha.

Well, I've been without my creative muse for awhile now. And it has been killing me! I'm generally not one who ever gets stumped when it comes to creating little pieces of craft but despite many efforts I wasn't able to make anything I was satisfied with.

Enter yesterday. I was inspired. I spent the entire day sanding, painting, gluing, cutting and feeling more like myself. I completed four different projects for friends that were all way overdue (although none known about by the recipients so it was just my self determined deadlines), thoroughly contemplated a fifth (which is still in the "I don't know what to add to it" phase), as well as reorganized my collection of videos and cds. If only I could always be so productive. Apparently eating cookies and staying in my pajamas all day is the trick!

The rearrangement of my media collection was long overdue. I used to have all items in one cabinet but it had long been outgrown so instead I took all the magazines out of one cabinet (I rarely buy them but acquire my mom's discards often) to dig through to be sold on eBay (yes, you can sell anything there), put my cds in the cabinet and left the vhs tapes (and my few dvds) to the original cabinet. Storage of these items can be a pain and an eyesore and being the decorating diva that I am, a proper home for them is necessary.

The video tapes hide behind a floral tapestry in a book shelf and the cds are in a cabinet that was once someones potting cabinet.

Now I just need to do the dishes, mow the lawn, put away several loads of laundry, change the sheets on my bed, clean the cat box, sweep, dust, water the plants...why is that no matter how productive we are there is still so much left to do?

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Progress?

So yesterday was a big day in Oregon. Some politicians stepped up and finally accomplished what should have happened a long time ago (well, preferably we would live in a world where equality wouldn't have to be legislated)...granting gays and lesbians a future hopefully filled with more peace, dignity, respect, freedom and equality.

But alas, on that same day I had to take one of my coworkers aside and explain to him that several comments he made yesterday about one of our teammates were not appropriate (our coworker is gay). So, while laws may be in place we will no doubt need to continue calling people on the bullshit they say.

Saturday, May 05, 2007

It's what's for breakfast.

I don't know what is funnier, the picture or the comments.

My 3 day weekend.

I am taking Monday off from work. No particular reason. I've just been getting a tad burned out lately and a few weeks ago thought it would be nice to have an extra day to putz around the house so I scheduled a vacation day.

So much for the idea of some extra free time. My vacation day has turned into what looks to be "super errand day" instead.

At 10:00 a.m. Monday morning my car has an "appointment" that I must be present at. Later that afternoon I am escorting my mother to her "appointment" and in the early evening I am escorting my dog to her "appointment." Apparently my appointment is the task of assisting others with their appointments.

Far be it for me to complain however. I much prefer the idea of playing the role of chauffeur (Driving Miss Twinky comes to mind) than actually having any of these "appointment" procedures being done to me.

The first appointment is for my poor little car. The poor little baby that has just over 1,200 miles on it is already in need of some cosmetic surgery. Sure I owned my beater Honda for 6 years and never got so much as a door ding on it but I own this lovely brand new cutie and within weeks she has already received some unsightly blemishes on three different parts of her body.

For the attentive readers who might be shocked and outraged due to my referencing my car as one with a sexual identity -- in this case "she" -- yes, it was me who has made it oh, so clear in the past that I find it a bit misogynist to name cars and boats and other inanimate objects after women. I still feel that way. I just really, really like my new car and referring to her as an "it" in this particular context, well, just seems cold.

The first incident happened a couple of weeks ago when I drove ALL THE WAY OUT TO ST HELENS (which I put in caps because it is a lot further away from Portland than I realized) to see a horse that one of my co-workers just adopted. When I arrived at her and her husband's farm her three dogs, big dogs, surrounded my car excited about a visitor. This set off the security alarm in my car (namely a Corgi named Twinky). Well, the alarm in my car set off the security alarm on the farm (namely a Boxer named Cinnamon, a Rottweiler named Zeus and a cattle dog named Chloe) which in turn caused the alarm in my car to go off again which escalated the alarm on the farm (specifically the portion of the alarm named Cinnamon). By this point I had managed to get out of my car safely but I was in no position to protect it. The quite large and intimidating looking (I grew up with a Boxer so I know they are complete love bugs but boy can they look fierce) dog proceeded to jump up on both sides of my car as well as the rear, leaving scratch marks everywhere she went. The owner of the dog was 9 months pregnant (I say was because the alien from her body has since revealed itself) so she couldn't move fast enough to stop it and I was temporarily left unable to move both from a personal fear perspective as well as that moment forever memorialized in my brain in slow motion "Not my car! Oh, man not my car!" After nearly every angle of my car had been assaulted we were finally able to turn off both of the alarms. Apparently I need one of those talking alarms that instead of saying "Step away from the car" in a deep masculine voice, says, "Bad dog. No! Sit! Stay!"

Just days later my dog, my car and I visited the dog park just down the street from my house. This is a park that few know about so it is nearly always free of dogs. And yes, it is very close to my house so I could have walked there but Twinky and I were in the midst of errands and much like fast food, it was just more convenient to drive there. I spent a good 45 minutes or so talking to a guy who was playing ball with his dog. Yes the guy was cute and (seemingly) nice and I stayed way longer than was necessary to tire my dog, and alas the guy was married but hey, it does good for the soul to remind myself there are nice guys out there somewhere (even if they are married to someone else).

As we were leaving the park his dog ran towards my car. The back hatch was open and the guy yelled for his dog not to jump in. I wasn't particularly concerned as the inside of my hatchback is well protected with several layers of blankets just for that purpose. What I wasn't prepared for was the dog first going to the passenger door (apparently he is a front seat kinda dog) and jumping up to look through the window ("Oh, what nice upholstery," he might have been thinking). Then the dog proceeded to jump into my car from the back and I forgot about the front door because I was tyring desperately to discourage the dog from jumping into my front seat (which is not so well protected from the likes of canines). At this point the guy finally got control of his dog and was more concerned with whether or not his dog had dropped his ball in my car. Perhaps he was embarrassed, perhaps I was reluctant to yell at the guy because he was cute, I don't know...but the matter was more less dismissed. It wasn't until I got home that I saw that "Adler" had put a six or seven inch scratch down my passenger door (just below Cinnamon's previous work which in retrospect seems minor) similar to the work of a teenager with a key on a late night vandalism spree.

Since that time I figured out where the guy lives (thanks to the several years of my life dedicated to activism, being a informational stalker comes rather easy to me) and wrote him a letter indicating that I was going to be getting an estimate to send to him for the repairs. Well, he called yesterday and left me a message. To put it mildly, I am no longer a fan of this man. In fact, I am on the cusp of actually wishing him physical (or at least financial harm). He claims he is not going to pay for it, in fact he denies the door jump incident even happened. Oh, yes, you Adler's dad, just looked like you had so much money that I thought I would drive up and down the street looking for your car (I wonder how many dog scratches I might find on it and if I could match up the prints to the one on mine?) just to get you to pay for marks on my car that I probably put there when I drunkenly ran into an abandoned grocery cart. You're right, my mistake, please forgive me.

I'll be sending him the estimate anyhow, as well as a small claims court notification if he doesn't pay. Yes, the fees for filing the papers will probably cost more than the repair of my car but I'm a woman of principle.

Posession is 9/10ths of the law.

I stole this from one of my new favorite blogs who stole it from someone else.

Mahatma Meets Mary Poppins

Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail, and, with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him... a super-callused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Today

It's rainy outside which makes me want to nest. I love the rain but mostly when I can be inside looking out at it. There are so many things I would rather do than go to work.

Make a meal...



Read my book (currently halfway through Shampoo Planet by Douglas Coupland)...



Make pillows for friends...



Take a nap with the furries...



Or list salvaged items on eBay...



or go see my friends Kara and Robert who gave birth to Jacob Allen yesterday...




But alas, I am the dutiful employee who appreciates the paycheck every two weeks so off to work I go.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Oh, I have so had enough.


I'll admit to the fact that I watched American Idol last night (in my defense it was the first time this season watching it all the way through and I got off of work yesterday at 2 p.m. so by 8 p.m. I had already accomplished two loads of laundry and listing a dozen items on eBay). Frankly it was Jon Bon Jovi night so all the contestants (ah, I mean, pop culture drones) performed (or at least attempted) rocker style and I enjoyed listening to them. In case you are a fan of the show, my opinion is that Blake knocked it out of the park! I'd do that guy in a second baby! Frickin' awesome performance. But my real point in bringing this up is that the other special guests on the show (via satellite anyhow) were none other than George and Laura Bush joking around about whether or not he should sing and thanking the American public for helping to raise 70 million dollars for Bono's chosen charity project . As if stupid ass Bush had anything to do with it? That guy has got a lot of nerve. Perhaps if he wasn't out spending all of our tax money on war and killing people and stuff then people like me wouldn't be so burned out thinking about the state of our country and would therefore have more energy to do something with our evenings rather than watch a stupid show on tv where the president sticks his nose into something he has nothing to do with. It felt so much like 1984 I couldn't stand it. As if I wasn't embarrassed enough watching AI already, he came on. I had to hide my head under the covers.

Gotta love it.


This morning I was researching recipes for things to do with Kiwi as I got four in this weeks shipment of produce. The first one I found was all I needed. Melt chocolate, dip kiwi in it. Works for me.

I got one piece of fruit that I have been unable to identify. It's a big piece (softball size), a little yellow, a little green, a little red. A little squishy. Any ideas? It is the large piece of fruit in the middle of the picture. If nothing else I can mix it in with my morning smoothie. However, my work is having a veggie/fruit challenge (document how many you eat...aiming for at least 5 a day but ideally 7-9) and I'd like to actually name the item that I am using to record my daily intake.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

May Day

My boss is letting us leave work early today so that we can get home before the May Day protest begins. Jobs with Justice is estimating 10,000-45,000 people will gather in downtown Portland in solidarity for labor, dignity and equality. A memo was sent out to the entire Portland staff at our company so that folks could prepare. I like to think it is so we can leave to protest but I know that isn't the real reason.

People are afraid of activists. I don't get that exactly because revolutionaries aren't scary to me, just the cops that try to restrict their freedoms.

Regardless, on this day of solidarity I offer you comic relief. Cows with Guns has been an animal rights tradition for many years and now there is a video that even omnivores can appreciate.

Kittens and the women who love them.


It is kitten season. Tons of homeless four legged pure pieces of preciousness (can you tell that I'm biased) who were brought into this world accidentally and that deserve love just as much as anyone are looking for homes. Here are two for example looking for someone to open their homes to them.

I have three cats who share my home with me at this moment. It seems like a ton to some but to me it is an easy number and an easy combination. Max is 15 and pretty settled in his ways. Jingles is about 7 (humane society girl so hard to know for sure) and a pain in the butt in the best possible way. Zoey is going to be 4 in August and has turned into a lovely little girl. We all enjoy each other a lot and play together and sleep together (I know, I know...I need to get a life). Cats are my very favorite thing on earth. Consequently I always want more. Especially babies. So I have entertained adopting the two little tabbies in the pictures. In my heart I know they could fit into my life just fine and I always told myself that when I had my own house I would always have as many pets as I could house because they all deserve to have a place called home.

The reaction I get from others about this topic vary but most revolve around suggesting I don't do it, even to the extreme of telling my specifically not to do it, no questions asked. A few others (and a very few) tell me to go for it. I find it fascinating that people have such strong opinions about this. Why do folks care how many pets I have? If I'm good with it, and the pets aren't suffering isn't that all that matters? Regardless, I have decided to not adopt these lovely darlings (with the assumption that they will of course find homes with someone else...although that will be two less kittens who will get adopted from other sources). My decision was made more out of fear of being a cat lady spinster the rest of my life (why is it men have trouble with cat ladies?) than it was because it seems like too many.

So do your part. 3-4 million cats and dogs will be euthanized this year alone (and yet how many more will be brought into the world by breeders so that people may custom order their pets similar to the way they order coffee? "I'll have a female chocolate labradoodle easy on the attitude, please."). Spay and neuter, tell other people to, offer to pay for it for them if you think money is the issue, take in the stray cat in your neighborhood even if it is only long enough to get it spayed and neutered. Do something.