You need a little bit of levity...

"I'll be in charge of the turkey!!" Said Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Not in charge of the view, apparently.



Think about all of these things while eating turkey over the next few days.

NO, I'm not against eating meat, or eating turkey, or knowing where my food came from. I'm the proud granddaughter of an Illinois beef and dairy farmer. Grandpa also raised sheep and chickens. I know, and have ALWAYS known, where my food has come from. Sometimes I played with it and named it. And sometimes it was no longer there on our next visit to Grandma and Grandpa. I just think this was a lousy view for the general public.

Seeing firsthand the actual slaughter of turkeys is not pretty, though it's a very different sight from when Grandpa, Daddy, and my uncles used to slaughter Grandpa's flock of chickens. Much smoother, much cleaner, much less running around with heads cut off. Still, it's got to be disturbing for the people who have never set foot on a farm and just think of turkeys as those shapes you pull out of a grocery store freezer, all cleaned and wrapped in plastic.

There HAD to be a different camera angle.

I'm thankful this woman is not going to be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.

 

Garcia WINS!!

Beautiful. Just fantastic performance. Well done, Leonor!!

 

Final Battle!

 

Garcia v Steinway: advantage Garcia!!!!

In this shot Leonor is playing a piece that is entirely playful and completely wacky. It is thus far my favorite of the evening. There are many yet to come, though, and I fully intend to be just as delighted with the rest of them!

 

Garcia v Steinway: point, Leonor

 

Garcia v Hamburg Steinway

This is my beautifuul sister-in-law Leonor, whose talent is awe-surpassing. I am so proud of her, and thankful I am so blessed to be able to call her "sister".

 

No trucks on the Innerbelt Bridge????

So much for THAT rule. And, while we're at it, so much for 3 lanes of traffic on a 4 lane bridge.

 

With just over 13 minutes left in the 4th quarter of the Big Game...

...it now appears that Michigan in fact did NOT make it past Toledo.

Sad, sickly, little Wolverines. Clearly, there's no Adamantine in these pups.

Current score: Michigan 7, Ohio State 42.

O H!!!! I O!!!!

Next rivalry game: Michigan State at Penn State. We (ouch) want (ouf) the Michigan (ugh) State (ow) Spartans to win so the Buckeyes might possibly go to the Rose Bowl. It is a yucky feeling to cheer for a Michigan team. ANY Michigan team. Almost like wanting Pol Pot to win the lottery, and I'd *never* want that. (Fortunately, he's dead now, so I only have to wish him a nasty place in hell.)

Not the greatest season in Ohio State football history, nor the worst, but still: we beat Michigan!! It's the most important game of the year, and as of this game, the Michigan seniors have never had a chance to beat a Buckeye. >grin<

Beating Michigan is always what matters most.

 

Today's Ohio State game against the Wolverines has been cancelled...

Michigan can't get past Toledo!!!

(cue rim shot.)(or not...)

 

I'm Thankful for This Experience

Given the historic nature of last week's election, I wanted some time to reflect and digest before recording my memories. Today is my "How I Spent Election Night" Post. If you continue scrolling down, you can follow (in reverse order...) my day on Election Day. I blogged from morning until Ben & Jerry's. I didn't blog about post-poll-closing because I'd left my cell phone at home accidentally, which let me enjoy the evening fully immersed, rather than trying to record as I went (Rick appreciated my full attention for a change). Here are my observations after the fact.

On election night, after the polls closed and we'd gotten our free ice cream, Rick and I went to our favorite sports bar to watch the election returns, expecting that at least one of the TVs would be tuned to a station covering politics. Heh. Boy, were we unprepared. And given our city, I don't know why!! Here's the scenario.

We live in Cleveland Heights, the most liberal and most integrated city in the most liberal (by many accounts) county in the state. Cuyahoga County is reliably "blue". But Cleveland Heights is seriously crunchy granola. It's situated between 2 large universities and 2 small colleges, with 2 huge competing research hospitals flanking one of the universities. Our population tends to be students, faculty, and highly educated folk from all over the world that feed into the hospitals, research spin-offs, and academic world. Which means we also are balanced in a racial manner, too: my immediate neighborhood is interestingly mixed. 2 blocks north is the Hassidic neighborhood. Our own street is only 2 blocks long, yet is almost a tiny sample of the world as if it were on a prepared slide for a massive microscope. I love it.

"Our" bar is called The Winking Lizard. The closest one is practically walking distance from us, only about 2 miles away. The interior has multiple rooms, and each room has multiple TVs. Each room had only one TV dedicated to a sporting event, and the volume was selected to the CNN tv! :-) What? Worry about missing the election returns? I say again, "Heh!" EVERYONE in the bar was engaged with the goings-on, and talking with neighboring tables. It was an emotionally electric atmosphere.

And friendly!!! I have never seen such friendliness before, and this is a very friendly neighborhood! I felt so warm towards my fellow Cleveland Heightsians (or whatever we are...), and it wasn't just because 98% of us were there to cheer on then-Sen. Obama. Everyone was polite, too. No one got vulgar about the opposing ticket, though the opportunity was there. I really feel good about that. I mean, a few snarky comments were made, sure! But nothing foul, nothing that couldn't be said in front of a child or say, your great-grandmother. In fact, all that I heard that was said that night was considerably milder than things already said in the media or on SNL. I don't know if we were acting out of superstitious fear of 'jinxing' the election. All I know is that I appreciated the considerate behavior.

Many people left before the end; whatever the outcome, Wednesday was still a work day, after all. Rick and I stayed to hear the speeches, which beyond what could have been imagined, given the campaigns. We stood there in stunned relief with other bar patrons and workers, sometimes just listening, sometimes smiling at each other, sometimes spontaneously hugging each other.

There were lots of joyful tears.

Out on the street, people were honking horns and yelling cheerfully to each other. Strangers and friends hailing each other from across the street with the good news made it seem like New Year's Eve or some other grand, universal, secular holiday.

I've never experienced anything like it. I think it's unlikely I ever will again.

 

Serious Cause for Thanks

A year ago this month I was recovering from a lumpectomy.

It was my first time participating in NaBloPoMo, and I chose to participate specifically because I thought writing everyday would be a good diversion from whatever I might need diverting from, and perhaps a helpful therapy device.

As a diversion, writing about the experience wasn't always successful. As a form of therapy, I was grateful for the outlet.

My story from last November (which is accessible by clicking on the "November 2007" link in the archives section, just to the right) has a happy ending. The surgery, performed on the 6th, was textbook perfect. The results, which I received on the 9th, showed that my breast was cancer-free. My recovery was rapid; I never needed all the pain-killers provided in the prescription.

For all of these things I am deeply thankful.

I am also thankful for preventative medicine measures such as mammograms. Having said that, I should explain that my mammogram did not find my lump. I found it while in the shower. (Soapy water is the best method of discovery!) In fact, after I found the lump, neither mammogram nor ultrasound could definitively find it, although the lab techs were very able to confirm that it was there.

That was a terribly, profoundly, disgusting moment!! I had to admit to a small amount of relief that someone else was able to find the cause of worry that I had, yet it confirmed for me that I really did have something to worry about!!! The machines told me there was no lump. The humans in charge of the technology agreed (with me, not their tech-toys) that something was there. At least the humans were able to laugh with me and relate with me about the emotional conundrum I faced: "The good news is that we know you're not crying 'wolf', however, the bad news is that you may have something life-endangering growing inside you."

Again, that ended up not to be the case. I DID learn that the greatest benefit of preventative medecine is not always the procedures used, but the contact and reassurances one receives. I felt well-cared-for at each turn. That made a tremendous difference.

I have an obligation and an opportunity to get a mammogram every year. While I still must do my own self-exams, I feel like this clinical reminder is as helpful as anything else. It's as official as doing taxes and renewing license plates and voting. By putting that appointment on the calendar, I am making a commitment to my health.

I check my husband's breasts now and again, too. Breast cancer runs in his family. Never forget that men have breasts, and can be vulnerable to breast cancer! Because breast cancer awareness is not as promoted among men, it tends to be more lethal when it is finally detected, as it often goes undetected until a late stage of growth and has metastasized.

I celebrate my grim and joyful anniversary much as I spent my recovery: snuggling on the couch with my pets. Just for a moment, though. Life marches steadily forward, so I cannot stay here long! I embrace the activities with which I will fill the rest of my day.

I do enjoy this quiet moment as a gift.

 

Las Calacas Danzantes

S. O. C. K. S. In other words: ¡Eso sí! ¡Que es!

Say it out loud and you'll probably get it.

(pronunciation hint for Rick and Daddy: there's no "w" sound in "que".)

Brilliantly designed exclusively for The AntiCraft by Erssie Major, a prolific and talented knitting designer in the UK. I am completely delighted by this pattern. It is at once challenging and entertaining, and I really like how it is turning out. I mean, it is simply just too much fun to knit!! I'm deeply impressed with Erssie's gift for design and whimsy.

 

Oh, GOD! Indeed, divine inspiration!

I love Cleveland Heights.

later edit: This is the one that came home with me. Marvelous. Went splendidly with spicy vegan spaghetti sauce and chicken parmesan. Afterwards, I had it with a Malley's pretzel bar. Another good pairing, and it nailed my PMS.

 

November NaBloPoMo Badge

If you've been following my blog at all, you know that I participate in a strange phenomenon called "NaBloPoMo".

Na = National, Blo = Blog, Po = Posting, and Mo = Month. National Blog Posting Month. Up until 2008, November was the only month of NaBloPoMo, but after last year's NaBlo, people wanted more, so the woman who moderates it opened it up to every month with a theme for each month except November.

The only big rule is that you have to post to your blog once a day. Minor rules have developed since the beginning include NOT restricting your posts to just being on the same blog every day (helpful if you post to multiple blogs; there are 3 I post to at times!), you can't spam people or solicit (I got hit with eye-rolling sales pitches last year), and there are a few other minor things that I can't think of. Mostly because either they don't apply to me or I haven't encountered them yet.

Some use NaBlo as a way to meet others and bump up readership. I use NaBlo as a way to keep myself on task with actually posting to this thing. Now that I'm hooked, it's become a monster; I often post several times in a day. Initially, I really did need something to prod myself a bit with this project!! I got teased about having a blog but never updating it. Well, now I make sure there's something to read. I like to think there's something interesting and worthwhile in these pixels.

So here's the badge for this month. It'll take you to the NaBloPoMo site on Ning (which is a social network akin to, but different from, Facebook. (Funny thing? NaBloPoMo has a group ON Facebook!!! AND there's a Facebook group participating in NaBloPoMo! It's kinda like Lily Tomlin's bit on the Cream of Wheat box as an illustration of infinity...)

Enjoy! And enjoy the month!

 

Thankful Thursday: My Cup Runneth Over

Time for another list. I am well and truly blessed.

I am thankful for:

1.) this glorious day. The sun is shining, the temp is up around 70 degrees F (I've installed a bright yellow button along the right margin that blinks and says "convert me" which you can use if you prefer Celcius!), the sky is brilliant blue, and our autumn leaves are vivid and gorgeous against the cloudless sky;

2.) coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffee; and while that is a daily given, I choose not to take it for granted;

3.) the Cleveland Browns, no matter how well or not well they do. They are a part of our city's heritage and football is an important part of our state's legacy! ON THIS DATE, Art Modell announced that he was moving our team -- OUR TEAM!! -- to Baltimore. Tonight we have a football game here at home on national tv. I am thankful that we have our team back with its colors and name and history intact!

4.) a clean kitchen and the tools and skills I use in it. They must be darn good, because my husband goes back for seconds and thirds every time.

Which reminds me, I've been cooking so much that we are out of key staples, and I need to replenish. Finally, I am thankful that I am both free and able to go to the grocery store and buy whatever I need from shelves that are stocked plentifully with a variety of items to suit my needs.

That's plenty for now!

 

Thirty (more or less...) Days of Thanks!!

Every day this month, I am going to try to be mindful about expressing thankfulness about something. I usually have many, many things for which I am thankful, so really, the only challenge ought to be the exercize in mindfulness.

I'm thankful right now for several things, so I'll make a list:

1.) for this opportunity to take the time to slow down and consider my blessings;
2.) for moments of self-editing and grammar-mindfulness (because I almost used a period instead of a semi-colon in that first line);
3.) for how joyful the whole world is, and universally embracing of our President-Elect;
4.) that yesterday's election resulted in a decisive victory, as opposed to a close battle requiring recounts and lawsuits and raw, bitter emotions;
5.) that I am free to write whatever I please in this forum, with no fear of repercussions.

I will save some thanks for another day.

Hmm. Perhaps I ought to add that I am grateful also for this challenge in mindfulness!!

 

Election Day, part 13: SWEET! SWAG *still* means "Stuff We All Get"!!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for FREE ICE CREAM!

Thank you, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream!! It was very yummy. Rick had the eponymous Cherry Garcia, and I nearly finished the very delicious Phish Food. Rick was delighted to finish that for me, as I intended.

 

... says it all, really.

 

Election Day, part 12

"In our secular world, elections are the closest thing we have to sacred." Heard on the Diane Rehm Show just now.

There are plenty of things in a secular world that are, in fact, sacred. But I agree that elections have a particular degree of 'sanctity'. With ALL the baggage of radical imperfection that cannonization brings!

 

How In America...???

This is gross.

I'm sad and desperately angry.

Saturday, Rick and I were winterizing the front yard when we were approached by two different Get Out the Vote pollsters. The first simply made sure we were going to vote, checked first to see if we'd already voted, and ascertained that we knew our voting location. He was also campaigning for Obama, and since we are sporting an Obama-Biden yard sign attached to our porch railing, that was pretty straight-forward.

The second pollster checked our names against the "registered voters" list she was carrying. Rick was there. A woman who hasn't lived in our house since before us is there. I'M NOT.

I'm not on the voter rolls.

There were no answers available from the poll worker.

I can vote tomorrow by provisional ballot. It will not be counted until the second count of the votes, the count which certifies the count according to the Constitution, and even then it may not count.

I am furious.

What makes it worse is that I suspect that it is because of my last name.

During the last presidential election there were a large number of voters removed from the rolls, ostensibly because they were "redundant" or "non-voting" or "believed deceased" or other lame excuses. Almost all of the names happened to be Hispanic-Latino names. One of the names removed was my husband Rick's name.

Rick is not Hispanic. Rick is not Latino. Rick is a mix -- a beautifully American mix -- of mixed European heritage on his mother's side and Filippino on his father's side. Filippino is not Hispanic or Latino. The Republic of Philippines is in Asia. If he can extract anything separately from that already honorable heritage, it would be a mix of very far-back Chinese and indigenous Island tribes.

So this year, aparently, it's MY turn.

I'm not Hispanic or Latino, either. My background is a Euro-mix, mostly British with a good dose of Swedish. But here's the thing. It shouldn't matter what a person's heritage is when covered by the curtain of the voting booth. It's supposed to be anonymous, anyway, right?

I suppose I should take comfort in the obvious fact that they didn't track me down to look at me to verify my ethnic status before eliminating me from the voting rolls. Anyone reading this who hasn't met me in person, you should know that I have strawberry blond hair, hazel eyes leaning toward green, and pinkish skin that burns severely in the sun, the sorts of traits that make strangers comment on my Irishness near St. Patrick's Day and Scottishness near Bobby Burns' Birthday or quote Braveheart to me.

Still, no one should be denied their right to vote based on their ethnic heritage. Not me. Not my husband. Not countless others that I don't know that have also been denied, that have surnames similar to mine.

Blind bureacrats desperate for power don't care about any of that. Nor do they care about justice. Because if they did, they wouldn't be tampering with the consititutional rights of citizens of this country at election time.

On the other hand, the current president and his administration have treated the Constitution like a bathmat. So there's really no big surprise there, right?

All the more reason for the current administration to be eliminated as fully as possible; so now, more than ever, I hope like screaming heck our next president will be Barack Obama. We need someone we can trust.

Until such a time as we get a trustworthy leader (it won't be John McCain, that lying, cutthroat, trash-talking jerk!!), this is not the America I know.