Electric Grandbaby
My daughter prefers that my impending grandson have more fun clothes to wear. Nothing "yuppie-fied" is what she said so I'm having a blast getting ready for his arrival in September. This is a recent purchase from Baby Wit. There are many original designs by exceptional artists for Mom, Dad, home, dog, toys.

Neon Bible by Arcade Fire is officially out today ($9.99 if bought through their label) though many have been listening to some of the songs since December or so. When riding in the car, it is the one cd my daughter won't try to change so I'd say it has broad appeal.

The eagerly anticipated second album from Montreal's Arcade Fire exceeds all expectations. Neon Bible was written, produced, arranged, and performed by the Arcade Fire and recorded throughout 2006 in Quebec, New York, Budapest,and London with recording and engineering help from Markus Dravs (Bjork, Brian Eno) and Scott Colburn (Animal Collective, Sun City Girls). With string and orchestral arrangements by the band's own Owen Pallet (also Final Fantasy) and Regine Chassagne, Neon Bible is full of both half-assed punk rock mistakes and meticulously orchestrated woodwinds. Processed strings and mandolin. Quiet rumbles and loud rumbles. But mostly just eleven songs that the band thinks are really good!

link

Lynn Rockwell has just passed away from lung cancer. Lynn was a photographer and lived in Halifax, NS.

This is Lynn on the left, with her daughter.

We will all miss her madly.

*UPDATE: Obituary
ROCKWELL, Eleanor Lynn - 53, Halifax, passed away February 3, 2007. Lynn is survived by her mother, Eleanor; daughters, Jennifer Lynn, Lindsay Sara; and her grandson, Noah David. She was predeceased by her father, David. A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Saturday, February 24, in J.A. Snow Funeral Home, 2666 Windsor St., Halifax. In lieu of flowers, donations may be to the Lung Association of Nova Scotia or Canadian Cancer Society.
E-mail condolences to: snowfh@alderwoods.com

I got your alt news right here.

Read about the recent bombing at Baghdad?s Mustansiriya University from Zeyad of Healing Iraq.

Can you imagine the scene? Try. Think of your own schools, your own college campuses. Think of how you would feel if your own son or daughter had to go to school in the hell that is called Iraq. Think of what you would do if you heard the news that the school was bombed.

Eyewitnesses said cell phones were still ringing urgently in pockets and purses lying around human body parts. Try to imagine the person on the other line.

A man searched for his son and finally found his head and torso, but no legs. ?Where is his other half?? he asked, before he started shaking with violent sobs.

Over here, the above scenes elicit a 20-second sound bite in the news, perhaps immediately followed by dog food or deodorant commercials. At best, politicians would use it in talking points, to justify even more bloodshed and destruction.

Daily news and comments on the situation in post Saddam Iraq by an Iraqi dentist, this weblog's been around a long time and is where I go for the truth about Baghdad.

saturday morning me//
wokeup/fellouttabed/draggedacombacrossmyhead/
daughter texting/husband twisting/j-on his mac/
k-on her cell/mom's sipping espress-ieio/
waiting for my yayas, uh-huh/
everyone's all plugged in one way or the other/
holiday hangover/must.begin.healthy.regimen.stat/
listening: intervention by the arcade fire-wow!/
so what about you?/


* Banksy Opens Xmas Shop - Banksy said: "I felt the spirit of Christmas was being lost. It was becoming increasingly uncommercialised and more to do with religion, so we ­decided to open our own shop and sell pointless stuff." link

* Hangman, hangman, upon your face a smile

* George W. Bush QUOTES:
"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace."

GREY GARDENS

A paper bird sits in a rusty gilded birdcage by the window in one of the 28 rambling rooms in Grey Gardens by the shore. We watch Little Edie place a loaf of bread onto the attic floor for the raccoon that crawls out from behind the wall and heartily digs in.

With no running water and cat feces everywhere in this dilapidated house, Little Edie always managed to dress each day in one of her "revolutionary costumes". She would knot up a turban and wear makeshift skirts with a lovely brooch decorating her daily headgear, always in high heels, and red lipstick. Under the skirt were hose. Always. Color: Suntan.

After all, socialites must look presentable.

Are you a "staunch woman?" Does your "best costume for the day" involve a moth-bitten sweater wrapped around your head and pinned with a jeweled brooch? If so, you're likely a devotee of Grey Gardens, the 1975 documentary about an elderly society mother and her aging daughter living in isolated squalor in an East Hampton, NY, mansion. The film, which fixates on the day-to-day insanities of Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, 'Little Edie' (the now-deceased aunt and cousin, respectively, of Jackie O), has acquired an enormous cult following over the past 30 years, mainly due to the extreme eccentricity and campy joie de vivre of the women. Nowhere is this popularity more apparent than in last spring's loving adaption of the film to an off-Broadway musical, starring Christine Ebersole in the roles of both the elder and younger Edies (in separate acts). Ebersole entranced sold-out crowds during that first run, and now her powerhouse portrayal will hit the big time when Grey Gardens opens at the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway opening night November 2.

Related:
* Fansite
* Documentary
* Yahoo Group
* The Musical

This post brought over from http://easybakecoven2.blogspot.com; date and time adjusted.

FROM GAZA WITH LOVE

As a mother, I fear for our children. I can see the effects of the continuous sonic booming and artillery shelling on my daughter. She is 13 years old and she is restless, panicked. She is afraid to go out, yet frustrated because she can't see her friends. When the Israeli planes break the sound barrier, which they do at all times of the day and night, the sound is terrifying. My bed shakes tremendously. My daughter usually jumps into bed with me, shivering with fear. Then both of us end up crouching on the floor. My heart races, yet I need to pacify my daughter, to make her feel safe. Now she knows that we need to pacify each other. She feels my fear. When the bombs sound, I flinch and scream. I can't help myself. I am a doctor, a mature, middle-aged woman. But with the sonic booming, I become hysterical. I am only human after all, and we all have our threshold for fear and pain."

Dr. Mona El-Farra is a physician by training, a human rights and women's rights activist by practice, in the Occupied Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territory. See the Gaza Strip through her eyes.

link [via]

I'm certainly not taking sides in any Middle East conflict nor am I skilled enough to debate it. I just find it more interesting to hear a Mother's viewpoint than a newscaster's.

Sex (Circa 2006)

Is "oral" the new 2nd base? The "mostly" girls (as in mostly straight) keep on kissing girls. Do you have a friend "with privileges"? And the "bro job" has also arrived.

"So are you, like, gay now that Ernie sucked your wang?" "No! It was totally just a bro job. I loves the ladies."

No one is inhibited whatsoever. Everybody's "bi" or "mostly". My daughter is so free and uninhibited. We used to tell her to put some clothes ON. I never thought anything could compete with the sexual revolution of the sixties. What was once considered slutty-hoochie is now acceptable in dress and attitude and sexuality. I can't believe I'm saying it but pondering the evolution of today's sexual young adult is a mother's nightmare.

link

saturday morning me//
long burgundy gown/moon & stars sox/
hazelnut coffee #2/orange juice/
sandalwood scents/3 candles burning/
listening: Leonard Cohen - One Thousand Kisses Deep/
& chatting with my daughter/
getting ready to do the laundry--wheeeee!/
so how about you?/


"I kissed goodbye the howling beast on the borderline which separated you from me.
You'll never know the hurt I suffered nor the pain I rise above,
And I'll never know the same about you, your holiness or your kind of love"

~Bob Dylan - from "Idiot Wind"

Here we go, Marie.

Marie sez: "What I'd really like to see is the random list of music from our teenager's iTunes..."

So I asked darling daughter for her random list of ten.

1. bleeding through:"love lost in a hale of gunfire"
2. trivium:"pull harder on the strings of your martyr"
3. walls of jericho:"there is no 'i' in fuck you"
4. martyr ad:"american hollow"
5. bury your dead:"bring the mosh"
6. it dies today:"threnody for a modern romance"
7. matchbook romance:"monsters"
8. bleeding through:"kill to believe"
9. jack johnson:"sitting, waiting, wishing"
10. bloc party:"banquet"

Sugar and spice and everything nice. That's what little girls are made of. Thanks, Sky.

What does your teen listen to?

Unconventional Marriage - Conventional Daughter

Throughout my life it seems I've either been taken care of, or have taken care of someone else. My long ago retired and widowed Mother is now all alone. Alone and a little frail with some health issues, but she's still sharp and witty as she ever was and she cooks, cleans and goes through the usual daily household grind.

My nurturing gene is strong. It gets stronger as I get older. Since my youngest child entered teendom, I've been dreading the time that she'd be ready to go out on her own. That time will soon be here. And through the unfortunate death of my sister on Thanksgiving, who also took care of our Mother, I feel it's my time to move in and take care of her.

This leaves my husband and teen daughter 90 miles away, which I admit is unsettling. The 'away from my daughter' part. She's in her last year of high school and wasn't thrilled about the option of moving in with her Nana and I didn't force it. My husband and I have always maintained an unconventional union, so a long distance marriage is certainly doable. And he really is a hell of a father. So I'm having some trepidation about being away from Skyler.

Many people my age are faced with tough decisions about their elderly parents. For some of them, it's the right thing to do to put their father or mother in a good nursing home, particularly if they require medical attention. Some are fortunate to have a sibling that can care for them so the parent moves in with the child and the child now becomes the caretaker. The traditional role of parent/child is often blurred. Some will hire a sitter or home health care nurse to come in to care for them there in their comfort zone of their own surroundings. It's never an easy decision to make, and many times life events make that decision for us.

For now moving in with my dear Mother feels like the right thing to do. One day my daughter may also comfort me in my twilight years.

Random-ness

* Full Moon in Taurus on Tuesday
On Tuesday, Nov 15th, the full moon takes place in the sign of Taurus at 7:57pm EST. With all the astrological tensions happening right now, even some of the astrologers are suggesting to 'take up knitting, and just ride it out..." Link

* So long Sitemeter? Google launches Analytics so I'm test driving it.

* I read on an old post of mine from 2003 that we were paying an average of $1.65 a gallon for regular gas here in North Carolina. I remember thinking it was way too high at that time and we're happy and complacent with $2.00 per now.

* Napalm In Iraq? That's old news, kiddies. US admited napalm use in August 11, 2003. New Report

* Tip For Today: Hold down the CTRL key and the mouse wheel will zoom text size in Internet Explorer most of the time; and in Mozilla ALL of the time.

* I've finally dumped AOL. I decided to use them as my ISP at home for my daughter who was a young girl at the time and for computer-illiterate Cap'n Cook. Anyway, all this to say to anyone out there who may still have an AOL email address for me, that my main address is the susan AT easybakecoven DOT net now. Get it? Got it? Good.

* Ample Sanity is where you can go to explore daily fresh links and and the web's diverse offerings. As an ex-bartender, I say the site's positively 'top shelf'.

* What about night life in Charlotte, NC? Paid To Party will tell you all about it. She writes for the Charlotte newspaper and keeps an excellent blog where the comments sizzle with plenty of activity.

* Got a website of your own? Google is paying $1 for each new Firefox user you refer (each soul you save from IE-hell). Link

Quote For Today
When comes the time to leave this world someday, what you get to keep is what you gave away. You can't take that u-haul to heaven with you, can you?

saturday morning me//
tie-dyed pjs/lapquilt/black fleece hat/
oatmeal/hot white tangerine tea/
daughter away with drummer friends/
hubby flipping tv channel changer
faster than the speed of light/
so how about you?/

Web Trail

Best quote of the day--
"From the desert to the White House, there are so many asses being covered, it looks like a Christo art project." --Paul Krassner
Link

18th Cannabis Cup - November 20-24, 2005 in Amsterdam.
Link

November 10th - On November 10th, 2005, stand with the Ogoni people in remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa.

Bhagavan Das will do a live interview with Virato on Asheville's The Revolution radio this Saturday morning. Link

Ben Frost Gallery - Art as freeform popculture assault. I like it.
Link

Take revenge. Shit on a pigeon.

Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.
--"When The Levee Breaks", Led Zeppelin

I can't get that song off my mind, and I'm probably not the only one. Jimmy Page's sinister slide combined with the thrashing thud of Bonham's drums in tangent as Robert Plant begins to howl, well, it takes on an eerie edge after Hurricane Katrina.

:: skippy is challenging everyone to pledge to the Red Cross by matching his donation of 100.01, blog about it and pass on the message. We had already pledged 100.00, so I'm off by .01...not sure what that penny is about, although it's true to form for wild and wacky blogfriend skippy. [via]

:: Our daughter just left for the annual Ozzfest in Charlotte on Friday night. She told her teachers she'd be out for two days and they were accommodating. Then again, she's now going to the very progressive Balfour School. No homework. Zero. Zilch. Nada. If a fight breaks out, they let them get it out of their system right on the spot. Swearing is permitted as long as it's not personally directed at anyone. In some ways, it's similar to the Montesorri school she attended as a much younger student. Later she wanted to try the public school system, and now she's back to a more alternative way of teaching and learning and we all couldn't be more pleased.

Say "NO" to drugs. That will bring the prices down.

EdgyMama writes in BlogAsheville today that some NC cites are completely out of gas... [via]

I'm not in panic mode yet, although I recall very well the gas rationing in 1974, buying gas on odd and even days, acccording to your license tag number. I paid 2.95 a gallon for Regular this morning in Hendersonville, NC, and didn't see any gaslines. By this afternoon, gas stations on Asheville Hwy 25, all had long lines waiting to pump gas. My daughter has a date to go to the movies tonight--on a motorcycle. Our local news report at 11pm last night sparked a fear in everyone here when they said the area gas stations may not be able to get any more gas this week. Is everyone else experiencing the same problem?

*UPDATE--Oh, shit. Gas can't be distributed for at least another week. The NC gas pipeline has no electricity due to the problems caused by Katrina, and many gas stations here are already out of gas. Well, it suppose it could be much worse.

saturday morning me//
still sniffling/snorting/sneezing/geez/
enjoying a cooler morning breeze/
long gauzy gown/hempwrap holding up braids/
cuppa matè/daughter watching pink flamingos/
husband asleep/chow guarding the front porch/
all's peaceful in my little country hamlet/
so how about you?/

INK, NOT MINK
"Be comfortable in your own skin and let animals keep theirs," says Lee in a new PETA ad, which features him wearing nothing but his trademark tattoos alongside the slogan, “Ink, Not Mink.”

The ad—shot by Mary McCartney Donald, daughter of Sir Paul McCartney and longtime PETA supporter—will be unveiled at New York’s new nightclub Home, which will mark the occasion by announcing a door policy banning fur coats.

I can't look at him without thinking of ..... anything but PETA, but still applaud anyone for taking a stand.

Link

ME: sitting at my desk, paying bills: "Hi, sweetie!" I say to my 17 yo daughter as she returns home from a sleepover.
DAUGHTER: "ughhhh", she replies with a pained look on her face.
ME: "Don't you feel well?"
DAUGHTER: "Mom, we ate at this vegan restaurant in the mall last night.
ME: "Nice."
DAUGHTER: "No, not nice. I had this atrocious tofu crap and it made me sick and I haven't eaten anything since."
ME: "Can I fix you something?'' How about some quesadillas?''
ME: Stir fry some veggies & rice?"
DAUGHTER: "No!" she yells. "You trying to make me hurl?"
HUSBAND, overhearing and entering the dining room: "Don't yell at your Mother."
ME: "Want a Pepcid tablet? It's good for upset stomachs."
DAUGHTER: "No!", she's still yelling.

I get up and do the dance through the cupboards tango, looking for something that might interest her that would also be mild on her tummy.

She spies a bag of Doritos, grabs it; opens the refrigerator and retrieves a 2 liter Diet Pepsi and disappears into her bedroom.

Where, I might add, it will go unnoticed if she hurls.

- - - - - - - - - - -

* "I also received copies of some FOIA obtained FBI files on Lennon, Yoko, Jerry Rubin and me and they are dumb to the max. In fact I've never read more misinformed FBI files -- their "informants" must have included The Stooges." (via Stew Albert)

* Anne, previously from Fishbucket, is back online with her usual style and wit with Antiquainted. Stop by and give her some love.

* "I Chain Scarf Brownies In The Dark", "Took My Brother To The Prom", "Emotionally Unavailable Men Rock" -- Neuroses T-Shirt Designs.

* Nice artwork - Murals on buildings. See the before and after.

It's always darkest before the dawn. so if you're going to swipe your neighbor's newspaper, you better get going.

saturday morning me//
sipping:Folger's #2/Gauloises Blondes #2/
breakfast: banana/tiny cup of wheatgrass/
Ramones t-shirt/camo capris/
chopstix holding up hair/barefoot/
husband left for work/daughter sleeping/
listening: "Here In This Place" by Annie Lalley/
going toTransformus tonight/
so how about you?/

Happy Birthday, Sky!

My daughter is 17 today. Does she know these may be some of the best years of her life? Yes, she probably does.

Love you,
Mommo

* Television station WLOS asked man to smoke pot for story. Case referred to Buncombe County district attorney and man on probation goes directly to jail. [more »]

* shamelessly trolling for blogwhored hits
Since I was his first fan, I want to acknowledge that the always fresh and funny skippy the bush kangaroo is turning three years old in about a month and is about 80,000 hits short of a million visitors. Stop by and say hello. (the skippy mystique: He keeps his identity under wraps, but you've more than likely seen him on televsion and didn't realize it.)

* The new INKED blog from the Wooster Collective folks has launched. Tattoos and the people behind them.

saturday morning me//
fresh ground hazelnut coffee #2/a peach/water/
slept-in pigtails/long gauzy batik dress/flipflops/
nursing: daughter sick with the flu?/
listening to: Nowhere Fast by The Smiths/
3 items on my desk: opium incense/candles/phone/
so how about you?/

If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution. ~Emma Goldman

We're beginning to see too much of a good thing. And as bad as I hate to grab onto a worn out pop culture reference, like 'jump the shark', by god, the blogworld (blogiverse, blogotopia?) has J'd The S.

After seeing the latest joint blog ventures, it's increasingly clear that all the weblogs will consolidate, leaving only 3 or 4 weblogs in it's wake.

We'll be left with Gawker Fawker Super Stawker, Meta-Nerds Inc, and PoliTickle-- why not combine your politics and your porn? Or some such shit as that.

The pace will get so fast and furious with fifty-eleven people posting at once that no matter how hard you tried, you'd only get 1% of the gajillion posts read.

Don't get me wrong, I think getting like minds together for a group blog is a great thing. I participate in a few of those myself and collectively we kick ass.

But as I survey the independent weblog landscape, the group thing just seems to have taken on a life of its own. Like Wal-mart barreling into town and gobbling up all the Mom 'n' Pop stores. Anyway, that's the view from my back porch.

**I'm probably biased because I believe those group blogs I'm involved with do it the way it should be done. With carefully selected members posting carefully selected items. Others have appeared to me like they're going for quantity over quality. And why the hell do I even care? Because I like the quaint independent publishing vibe or atmosphere of writing in your bathrobe, connecting globally, meeting people like you. I don't want us to ever lose that. And now I fear that blogs are we knew them, may be getting too big from their britches. Change sucks sometimes. As you were...

saturday morning me//
long white sleeveless cotton gown/pink flipflops/
rye toast/coffee/diet coke/leftover blunt/
daughter still asleep/husband gone for supplies/
listening: improvisation by acid mothers temple/
so how about you?/

Today's Quote
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.
-- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat cleaned up, showered, exfoliated, powdered, lipsticked, Gucci'd and dragged in."

Wanna play the Friday Random 10? Load up your media player, set to random/shuffle, and list the first ten songs that come up. Either here, at Feministe, or on your site. Gets your typing fingers limbered up, and while stalling, you can find something profound to bitch about. (Idea from Feministe)

MAY 20 - Friday Random 10
1. Eric Burdon - San Francisco Nights
2. Love - Forever Changes
3. Blind Faith - In The Presence Of The Lord
4. Bob Dylan - Under the Red Sky
5. Autechre - Uviol
6. Tangerine Dream - Beach theme (Live)
7. The Kinks - Lola
8. The Books - Lemon Of Pink
9. Animal Collective - Mouth Wooed Her
10. Daughter Darling - Broken Bridge

There are so many new ear piercing options today. To hear my teenage daughter and her friends talk about them or witness their latest piercings is a daily lesson in style and creativity. My son, who's much older, has always been artistic and displays a host of body modifications. When he was younger he liked to see me cringe when he appeared with a new tat or piercing. That was fifteen or so years ago. You didn't see it as much back then here in Smalltown, USA. He now owns a nice shop that does body piercing, tats, and henna apps and lives in another state so I don't see him as much.

Back to the earrings--the lower the number, the larger the pierced hole. You wear a larger earring to stretch the hole and ideally, you go up in size until you have a hole large enough to put a pencil through.

When I hear them speak in numbers and fractions I know they're probably talking about gauges or plugs or eyelets. I think. When I heard them speak of tunnels, orbitals and industrials, I had to step in and get educated.

I remember a time when two holes per ear were radical.

Damn. I am turning into my Mother.

My husband and I made flutes from bamboo stalks years ago in Venice, CA, and sold them to the tourists for $5.00 on the beach. He did the hard part of taking a steel rod, heating it over an open flame, and then searing the holes into the bamboo in the proper place for sound. I took another rod, wrapped sandpaper on it, and smoothed out the innards of the flute.

This past week, after Sky had had a particularly trying day, together they made bamboo flutes from some we had found in the back yard. He used his drill to make the holes this time so they made two flutes rather quickly. They took them down to Pritchard Park (in Asheville, NC, where they hold rallies, vigils, protests, etc,) to the Drum Circle. Just the two of them.

By the time they got home, she was glowing from the music and the dancing and the community spirit, and her earlier troubles now seemed so far away. An eventful day IS an event when you have a 16 year old daughter.

The Vomitus Maximus Museum

View R S Connett's original artwork. Paintings, drawings, animation and more. The closer you look at his larger, detailed pieces, the better it gets. Also listed on eBay


YES! Magazine's - The 'How Amy Goodman created Democracy Now' story is worthwhile.

saturday morning me//
what a glorious day!/coffee #2/oj/toast/
vitamins/nexium/(mondo spliff,rum & sopers)/
skyler had a sleepover..yawn/
time to make pancakes for 4 hungry teens/
Listening: jeff buckley/
so how about you?/

Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.

saturday morning me//
fresh ground hazelnut coffee #2/rye toast/orange juice/
keeping warm in black sweats/houseshoes/
dog at my feet/daughter asleep/
husband nibbling on cheesecake/
listening: safe in mind by unkle (with josh homme)/
reading: the weather updates/
hoping for a nice, fluffy snow/
after i make a store run/
so how about you?/

Can I Get An Amen?
A New Mexico church will get to use hallucinogenic tea as part of its Christmas services, despite government objections. The tea contains DMT, a controlled substance and the Bush administration contends the hoasca tea used by the church is illegal and dangerous. [more...]

saturday morning me//
java #2/cinnamon toast crunch #1/splifferoo #1/
listening: River Guerguerian - The Courting/
long indian print skirt/denim shirt/tights/houseshoes/
dog at my feet/daughter asleep/
anticipating: our first snow tonight/
so how about you?/

Is it still morning? Well, Good Morning! So what's new with you? I got an early start today running around. Teen daughter's (Skyler) last day of school is today and then she'll have a lovely 3 weeks off. Pass the eggnog, will ya? Okay. I'll behave.

Choose The Blue is another helpful tool that shows specifically where you money goes. Right off I see that I'll be using Barnes & Noble a lot more than I did previously. I should keep a list of these Blue-friendly companies in my wallet.


Earth First! We'll fuck up the other planets later.

News|Music

The more I hear from this cd, the more I like it. As in really like it. Local progressive radio station, WPVM, plays songs by Animal Collective quite often, specifically, the Sung Tongs cd with "Mouth Wooed Her" my favorite cut from it. After reading some reviews, they seem to be an either 'love them or hate them' sort of group and some say they're often trippy and psychedelic sounding. But very experimental with their sounds and instruments, almost child-like in their un-pretentiousness (is that a word?). Originality certainly goes a long damn way in the music biz in my opinion.

Band Aid 20. BBC News Online is blogging the recording from outside Air Studios. more »

For 16 years, Warren Haynes has coordinated the Warren Haynes Annual Christmas Jam. Like a family reunion, the annual, one-of-a-kind, semi-structured marathon of music brings together surprise guests and old friends on stage and in the audience at the Civic Center Arena in Asheville, N.C.

This year the event will be held again at the Asheville Civic Center Arena, Saturday, December 18 at 7:00PM. WNCW's Pre-Jam Jam Broadcast Live from the Orange Peel is on Friday, December, 17.
more »

Daughter dear is on her way back from Atlanta where she saw Cradle Of Filth and others last night at the Masquerade.

saturday morning me//
sipping hazelnut java/& tomato juice-straight, for now/
ché t-shirt/batik drawstring pants/sockfeet/
daughter-asleep/husband-in his overalls/
listening to: selene by planet gong via wpvm/
sweet, crisp autumn morn/time to exhale, carry on/
so how about you?/

{Favorite Quotes Dept}
"Walk gently, breathe peacefully, laugh hysterically." - - Nelson Mandela (1994 Inaugural Speech)

Practice Safe Hex.

Who should you vote for? High Times recommends John Kerry. Would you call that a glowing recomendation?

from the article: "Here's to all those foxy chicks in skimpy attire out there who can't get enough of Bill and want to play a little O'Reilly crossword." Bill O'Reilly Crossword Puzzle

"The army vaccinated me against Anthrax, Botulism, Smallpox, and Sarin. Once I get the Ricin vaccine I get a happy meal." -Stanley in Denver from: Enjoy The Draft Where do I stand on the draft story? I don't know if it's election year talk or not, but what I've read so far seems to indicate they're discussing that possibility. I still want to research it more; follow the rumors. It's what my 16 yo daughter and her friends are worrying about.

Hunter S Thompson weighs in: "Of course I will vote for John Kerry. I have known him for thirty years as a good man with a brave heart -- which is more than even the president's friends will tell you about George W. Bush, who is also an old acquaintance from the white-knuckle days of yesteryear. He is hated all over the world, including large parts of Texas, and he is taking us all down with him." more »

Because blood is thinner than oil. Bush Relatives For Kerry

WEHT Leslie West (Mountain)? I saw where it's his birthday today. 59 years old.

I feel a sin coming on.

From Cook Casa (or, All In My Bidnez)
Our car insurance is usually pretty reasonable because we're old, don't drive fast cars and haven't had a wreck in a year or two. But we've always been penalized because of dear old Stu. He always managed to have a speeding ticket, or a ticket for running a red light, or some other infraction that caused our insurance to give him "points" and charging more cabbage for coverage. This last time, we were penalized for 3 years. Yesterday we got our new statement and our annual amount is going to be 1/2 of what it used to be. So, yeah, it's about time. Drive carefully, Schlomo.

Sky (16) and her Dad walked to Main Street Friday night and he said they had a nice talk. They have their best talks when walking. It's their special time to share with each other. Their joy, which was contagious, extended upon return. He stirred a pot on the stove while I whirled around the kitchen in my long and full dress. It billowed out like some big breezy umbrella causing Sky to laugh out loud. Then she wanted to do it, so I slipped out of my dress, and she slipped out of teen mode and into daughter-child, twirling around and laughing. I mentally squeezed it for all it was worth wishing I could stop the ticking demon hands of time. On some days I'm sure she's that little girl in the Exorcist; spewing out ugly words to her folks. And on others, she still twirls hand in hand around the kitchen with her Mother.

{Web Trail} - Spirits Rising Division
Wildhunt
Institute of Noetic Sciences
Kosmic Bloggers
Wren's Nest

saturday morning me//
fresh ground hazelnut coffee #2/ half wheat bagel/apple/
long burgundy faux velvet gown/sox/ hemp headscarf/
dog, Buddy, at my feet/ cat, Gabby, on the mousepad/
daughter sawing logs/husband taking his meds/
listening: There But For Fortune - by Phil Ochs/
all's right in my corner of the world/
so how about you?/

{Fun With Haiku}
Tired of bickering
I wish you would hold your tongue
Cut off in your hand

{Saturday Quote}
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely... "
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Something wicked this way please.

We've decided to let Skyler (16) go to Raleigh, about 200 miles away, to Ozzfest Tuesday. It starts at 9:30 am and goes straight through til 11:00 pm. She'll stay overnight in a hotel with her best friend, Jessica, and Jess's Mother who are family friends we've known forever. That was the deal clincher. Believe it. And they'll all have their cell phones with them, if needed. My husband and I both told her not to drink anything after anyone. I've been jackpotted like that a few times long ago. Weighing it over, I can't really think of why I shouldn't let her go. Because she's growing up way too fast and I just don't want her to? Because I'd rather she stays home til she's 44, alone, with a lap full of catnip saying, 'Here, kitty, kitty, kitty'? She'll be fine.

Pagans Gotta Protest, Too. Live Protest from the RNC. Phoning it in. Literally.

Have a good Monday.

Generation S.L.U.T
A Brutal Feel-up Session With Today's Sex Crazed Adolescent Populace. (was released Feb 2004) S.L.U.T. is author Marty Beckerman's acronym for Sexually Liberated Urban Teens, and in this outrageous, chilling blend of fact and fiction, the 20-year-old author characterizes his view of his generation: hypersexual, emotionally vacant, and disturbingly tolerant of abuse.

This isn't in the book, but speaking of promiscuous girls, let me tell you about one thing that clued me in early on: I found it a little odd, as the parent of a 16 yo daughter, that all of the young girls wear thongs when they're 12 years old. Later I was relieved to learn it wasn't just my daughter and friends, but my nieces and friends' daughters all over the world. Maybe I'm just old and in the way, but no one wore thongs when I was young. And it doesn't equal promiscuity, but I see why some young girls may be mis-lableled.

The more I think about it, maybe I should read this book. And everything else I can get my hands on. No matter how great a relationship I may think we have, we're still a generation apart which is another say of saying 'I don't know shit'. It's going to be one long-ass ride. Link

Now You See It; Now You Don't - Gay Marriage in San Francisco

It's such a no brainer. Our universal rule or statute should be "As long as it's based on love, it can't be wrong." It's been my creed or dogma and has always served me well. Years earlier I referred to it as "Whatever gets you through the night." This is not to say it has to be to your liking and something you must believe in.

It can be as trifling as my mother-in-law telling my daughter to sit up straight and get her elbows off the table. It really chaps my hide, but it's based on love, so I set it free.

It can also be as life-altering and controversial as Gay Marriage. Now, where is the harm in that? It's certainly based on love, as is the way with marriage.

Two by two last Spring, love and hope descended on San Francisco in abundance to claim their legitimate place in society. Many sent flowers, congratulations and resounding Finally!'s. Still others disapproved.

But we don't live by creeds and dogma. People do, but nations don't.

In one fell swoop this week, the California Supreme Court struck down 4,000 Gay Marriages. Just like they never happened.

Poking around AOL Journals, I see the author James Patterson (Of the famed Alex Cross series) has a blog. I've run across several writers on the AOL Journals.

Upgraded my Mozilla .8 to .9. Thanks for reminding me meg. The tabbed browsing feature is my absolute favorite thing and the Noia theme is by far the best one.

The Zendik Farm people are moving from Western North Carolina to West Virginia with a farewell party August 21.

Periods, Bras, and T-cells is a father-daughter heart-to-heart in the age of AIDS.

(These links are all on the sidebar. Gonna try to keep any new quick links updated over there for now.)

saturday morning me//
hot coffee/cold water w/lemon/
visine/ginseng/wishing Karen well/
listening: badminty - by pj harvey/
cigarette ashes bouncing off the keys/
fetch the rake for my hair, please/
so how about you?/