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Tag: April 2012

well... maybe?
sun 1 apr 2012

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Entry #1 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


I decided that I don't really want to do a daily blog posting month. But here I am, typing anyway.

(There's a possibility that I'll change my mind.)

a normal sunday evening activity for me: assess how the weekend went...

The one thing I needed to do: my taxes. I did that this morning, everything documented and paid up!

Another thing I need to work on: my mom is visiting this summer and I should get this disaster area picked up and tidied a little. It's completely overwhelming, but this afternoon I went through one of my piles.

I found a bunch of postcards... a few sent to me that I didn't remember at all! I might have to work on some belated replies. and some of the postcards were ones I had printed up with addresses and never sent.

*shakes head*

My lack of organization. It's amazing anything gets done!





spring
mon 2 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120402.html
Entry #2 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


tree buds

A blue sky day, and the first day in weeks that it's not been raining and cloudy.

Days like this, it's a joy carrying my camera around because I know even the crappiest pictures could have something interesting in them.

It's supposed to rain the rest of the week, tho.





huh.
tues 3 apr 2012

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Entry #3 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


an interesting day.

Not quite in the Chinese curse way, but still... interesting.

Never mind about the majority of my time, wasted at the day job. It was "interesting" in a more boring, annoying way which I chose not to type about!

In my mailbox, amongst the real postcards and junk mail, are THREE "Return to Sender" postcards. Sheesh. Would you people stop moving and/or closing your PO Box?!

*laughs* I'm actually amazed that my postcards didn't just end up as dead mail. An added bonus: I get to see how my postcards survive the post. The oldest one, I dated "2 Feb 2012", had a few chunks torn out of it, plus the normal tears on the addressed/right side, where the machines grabbed it. But they are all good enough that I might just re-send them, if I can get a new address out of these people!

;)

And then! Significant Other says he signed for some mail as well! That's interesting: it's from Mexico, and it's to Rift Vegan. Is it something from SendSomething? Or Swap-Bot? But why would those be delivery confirmation?

As I'm opening it, I realize it's probably a response from one of my Amnesty International protest letters! I can't wait to see what they have to say!

It is! It's a simple typed letter, underneath all those layers of mailers. But...

I can't read it! It's in Spanish!

dang it.

fortunately, I know someone. ;) So maybe I will report on this issue maņana.





wednesday
wed 4 apr 2012

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Entry #4 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


Rain, rain, and then some hail.

red rhododendrons

These have just started blooming and I get to admire them -- from beneath my umbrella -- every time I walk between our two buildings at the day job. Would like to catch them in the sunshine... but doesn't sound like that's going to happen this week.





thursday
thurs 5 apr 2012

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Entry #5 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


Today I got a postcard with a bright pink water lily. Thanks Jill! It reminded me of a garden I visited in Colorado. They had a little water garden, the lilies were blooming, and underneath...

koi





Mexico Mail Report
fri 6 apr 2012

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Entry #6 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


20 Jan 2012, I received an email alert from Amnesty International. Mexico: Military Threatens Family of Tortured Men (UA 019/12)

The case sheet says that four men were arrested by the Mexican military in June 2009 "on suspicion of kidnapping" charges; they were held and tortured for two weeks before they were allowed access to family and lawyers. The families had filed complaints with the National Human Rights Commission. In mid January of this year, family members of one of the men were threatened at their home, by the military.

I wrote letters of protest to several government officials in Mexico and the Mexican state of Baja California. I expressed my concern for the families' safety. My letters were mailed on 23 jan 2012.

3 apr 2012, I received my very first response from an Amnesty International letter! Dated Mexico, D.F. a 20 de febrero de 2012 from Subprocuaduria Juridica y de Asuntos Internacionales. The letter is entirely Spanish. I can't read it!

A friend of mine translated it for me. I should have written it down because I don't remember the exact words she said! It's okay: it was a good response.

The letter mentions the family members by name and acknowledges that they have been threatened and intimidated by the Mexican military. And they are working to correct this problem.

It's more than just a form letter, or so I want to believe! The letter was signed... and it's initialed by someone else in different coloured ink. Plus it was sent "delivery confirmation". That has to be something, right?!!

Well. I will be checking with Amnesty International, I'm sure they'd like to see a copy of the letter. And my translator friend thanked me for sending my letters of protest.

Yeah. IDK... I figure since I am all crazy about mailing stuff, typing up a few letters of protest for Amnesty International is the least I can do!

  Urgent Action Network





normal saturday
sat 7 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120407.html
Entry #7 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


gosh, I really wanted to be lazy today.

But I woke up at 5:30am and my brain started screaming at me almost immediately. gah. On a work day, I would kill to be able to sleep just a couple more hours... But on the weekend, when I have those hours, my stupid brain demands action.

Usually I start my saturdays with some postcards. My mail man comes a little after 9am and I like to have a good handful in the out-going mail. But today I had a package to prepare... and at 9am I was walking to the nearest blue USPS mailbox.

Back at home, I had a week's worth of mail I needed to sort through and record. I'm keeping a list of all my mail. When I keep on top of the list, it works really well and I can see at a glance who I need to send postcards or notecards to!

Which means, I can see I am about three weeks behind on responses. oops.

A couple loads of laundry... the laundry room is in the second building over. I notice the cute little lawn daisies are happily blooming. The snow had killed off the crocuses, but the daffodils that bloomed after the snow haven't been stolen yet! And at least two people in the neighborhood are mowing.

Clean laundry is hanging to dry and let's go to the community garden! It's our first trip of the year.

And our new left-side neighbor is there and just starting to make a dent in her plot. We introduce ourselves and she tells us she's been gardening for decades (oh great.) but this is her first time in a community garden and she's here mostly for the social aspects (run away!).

I let my Significant Other chat with social lady. I try not to be rude, but...

I am not social. I am asocial. and I do not like to talk to strangers. I am pretty sure social lady is going to be the bane of my gardening existence!

I pick out the weeds from last year's failed carrot patch. The carrots are all big and slug eaten. But there are a couple that are putting up new leaves. Maybe they'll bloom and make seeds someday.

SO has forked a little section right behind the strawberry patch and we toss down some snow peas, heirloom carrots and cilantro. And then I do run away from social lady! I wonder if she'll be there on sunday as well. :P

On the way home, we stop at Divine Cupcake for some vegan goodness. SO got the plain chocolate cupcake and I tried the Warm Fuzzy, a Chai latte spiced cake with vanilla/cinnamon buttercream frosting. I don't like chai, so this was an experiment. A very tasty and delicious experiment. *thumbs up*

Back at home again for some reading. The daily blogging has taken a bite out of my reading time. But that's okay. I'm only reading a couple of books and none of them are very exciting. I need to find something new to read...

maybe tomorrow, I'll look through my book piles.





sunday
sun 8 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120408.html
Entry #8 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


Wide Eyed Guinea Pig

haha.





ted talks science
mon 9 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120409.html
Entry #9 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


Camellia

We switched tv services recently and now we're getting the Science channel. I had Significant Other record one of the Ted Talks Science episodes and we watched it this afternoon.

Quite interesting. Bill Gates talked about getting the world down to zero CO2... we need a lot of people churning out a lot of ideas in every single area of renewable energy and nuclear.

Another guy talked about how important trial and error is: everyone has a god complex, we think we completely understand a situation and our one idea is definitely the solution. It's not. Through trial and error, we'll get a lot of stuff wrong, but we'll also be able to refine the correct solutions.

I didn't really understand the guy talking about quantum theory. He had a tiny piece of metal that was in "two" places at once: both vibrating and not vibrating. He was very excited about it, but Huh? He never explained how they knew the metal was vibrating and not vibrating, how did they measure that!

and the last guy spoke just a couple minutes about how we all have bias.

They were all very interesting, but so many jammed together into an hour show... doesn't give me time to think about what is being said.





rain
tues 10 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120410.html
Entry #10 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


I've been a little bit frustrated lately, about not being able to do everything I want to do. The weekend was not long enough, and evenings after the day job are crammed.

It's a bit of spring fever, as well. It's warmer, still with the clouds but some hazy sunshine has made it down to the earth. And I would just rather not be stuck at work all day!

ha. It started raining again on my walk home this afternoon... so maybe the spring fever will, what? go into remission? And this evening I will be sure to set aside some meditation time.

But I do need to start getting serious about the garden plot. And I've not done any of my Lettering Class assignments in ages. And I'd love to bury myself in a book. And I must keep going on the spring cleaning. And there are postcards to get out, of course. And it'd be nice to take a photo for the April postcard. And the bread machine is dying and I can't live without a bread machine! And why do I keep signing up for Swap-Bot trades? And I need to go for a walk in the park to listen to the birds. And my house plants need to be re-potted. And the million other things my brain has to contemplate.

ha. see? meditation.





yes, rain
wed 11 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120411.html
Entry #11 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


It's rained on and off all day... and I feel better.

No more complaining; there's plenty of time to do a little bit of the important things. I can play on-line for a few. And spend some time with little Rhino. I can write a few postcards and maybe read a few pages. And I can get a good nights sleep.

Plenty of time.

On my walk home this afternoon, little sprinkles but not enough to get the umbrella out. Up ahead, a homeless guy is working the traffic at the corner. It's a fairly busy intersection, plus there's a grocery on the block, so occasionally there will be a person or a couple begging there.

Almost always, it's someone I don't recognize. Today it was a guy with a dog. Little tan mixed breed with a boxer looking face, with the short coat and no body fat he was probably chilly in the rain.

Two people came bounding across the street, chatted for a moment with they guy, then bounded back towards the KFC, all smiles and laughter. They had left a big bowl for the dog who was chowing down on mashed potatoes and gravy and corn. And the homeless guy was all smiles as well, as I walked past him.





currently reading
thurs 12 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120412.html
Entry #12 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


I love to read, but lately I... have found it difficult to find my next book. I'm not sure why. and I am down to reading just three books:

  Henry David Thoreau's Journals I read journals #1 - 7 (of 14) a few years ago when I was a jobless bum, and now I'm reading #8 - 14. I am currently in the end of journal #10, May 1858. Thoreau has definitely found his voice, and some of the entries are very long. Enjoying it!

  The Sea Around Us, Rachel Carson I love Carson's writing and this book is incredible. I am not an "ocean" person, but through Carson, I could be!

  The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Okay, technically this is a digest-form magazine, but at 258 pages I'm going to call it a book! :) The stories are great and I am so glad I finally re-subscribed to this one.

I think I need more fiction in my life, and I've decided to go back to Pern. Dragons make me happy.

*laughs*

I'm going to start with the Todd McCaffrey books, rather than at the beginning. Dragon's Kin. I've read it and I remember I didn't love it as I loved Anne McCaffrey's books... (and that may be why I quit reading Pern books.) But this is the start of a new series, and Anne McCaffrey has died so this is what we have in the Pern world.





friday the 13th
fri 13 apr 2012

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Entry #13 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


Day job has been interesting the last two days. The computers went down on thursday morning -- Server down, Internet down, Phones down -- and still down all day today. Our tech guy jury rigged a couple computers at the other building, so we did actually make some money today. But it's all awkward and annoying.

So YAY weekend!

My greatest wish in the world is to be a permanent home-body and never leave the apartment again. But there are some interesting things going on tomorrow that I might... think about going to...

  Saturday Market! It's always super crowded, which I really really do not like. But Significant Other does a good job of getting through the crowds to the couple of places I like to visit. And then he does a good job of getting me out of there quickly!

  Friends of Eugene Public Library's 34th annual Book Sale This is a huge event, and I am quite tempted... even tho I dislike used books. But all those books!

  And the community garden plot calls! Forecast calls for "Morning fog, then partly sunny". So, hopefully no rain, and maybe we can avoid Social Lady in our left neighbor plot, but that might be too much to ask for! ;)

  Cornbread Cafe Vegan Comfort Food. With this crazy week, I should have been eating there every day!! and oh my: they've added a new entree, Jerk Portabello.





garden
sat 14 apr 2012

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Entry #14 of 30 on this page (tagged: april, )


Saturday Market was crowded, full to bursting, but I survived. And we went to the community garden with a couple new experiments!

A couple stalks of garlic, six little mustard greens. and a beautiful hyacinth...

hyacinth

Pretending to be gardeners is hard work. So we swung by for some vegan cupcakes on the way home. Me: Rockin' Raspberry, SO: Black Forest. Yum!





Postcard Day
sun 15 apr 2012

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Entry #15 of 30 on this page (tagged: april, )


I decided to make today a homebody day -- even tho it's warm and not raining and I could put another dent into the garden... But my poor introverted self needs to recover from the shock that was Saturday Market! ha.

Good thing, too. I glanced at some of my postcard projects, and I have quite a few deadlines looming! So I am printing postcards today, which I'll work on and send out through the week.

  Most important is the GoodReads postcard exchange that I host. Today was the sign-up deadline, and I assigned partners for everyone and sent out addresses to all the players. This is a special round, and I'm sending out postcards to all the participants, and all the past members as well!

Yay Mail! 13 postcards. I haven't decided on the photo yet, but it'll be from the same batch as my March Postcard... So I'm not going to reveal the photo here yet.

  Yeah: I am still sending out March Postcards! This is another project, but it does not have a deadline. Altho, at some point embarrassment will provide a deadline, say if I'm still sending out spring postcards in november. heh.

  Send a PC #1, a Swap-Bot exchange for three postcards. I decided to send an old one:

aster

We planted this aster plant in our community garden in 2010, and it bloomed like crazy all autumn! This is one of my favorite photos of it.

  Serial PC Swappers - Week #58... PIGS This was a swap from the first week of april, but one of the postcards I sent, got returned to me because the address got ripped up. ack!

sunshine

I love all of my photos and memories from my 2010 trip to Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary, a vegan sanctuary in Colorado. This is Sunshine, isn't she wonderful?!

  Serial PC Swappers - Week #60... And this is the current weekly swap. A vegan friend of mine runs the Serial PC swaps. I don't sign-up for all of them, but they are always good and fun. I've got all new partners for this one, so I think I'll send out my March postcard.

  Photo Bookmark: April, Blue... Yeah, photo bookmarks are a different format! 2 inches by 7 inches... whoa! It's hard to figure out what will look decent in these dimensions! I've still got next weekend to work on this one, and I'm taking the extra time because I am stretching myself a little and I want my bookmarks to be lovely! ha. something blue:

borage

  and then, too, I have a bunch of returns I need to send. (never enough time, need vacation!)





it's definitely monday
mon 16 apr 2012

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Entry #16 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


sheesh, what a day. First thing, I knew it was going to be off. This morning, before I left for work, I went to grab the out-going mail... and there wasn't any! In the craziness to make all those sets of postcards, I never actually got around to the writing and stamping part! ack.

It was sprinkling as I left the house, but for some dumb reason I didn't feel like putting on my boots. It's just barely sprinkling! But I should have got out the boots. Half-way to work, my shoes got wet, waiting at the stop light, my socks were wet, and by the time I got to work, my feet were squishing in water.

sighs. nice way to start out the week, huh?

And then, because I was especially lazy on sunday night, I had packed a blah lunch for myself. ugh! I really need some serious re-arranging in my lunch thought process!

My standard, quick and easy lunch is a handful of corn chips, three or four baby carrots and a sandwich. It's homemade bread, so that's healthy. But today the filling was just a Boca burger.

I don't like convenience foods, except that they are so convenient! ha. Plus I got tired of nut butter sandwiches about ten decades ago. ;)

I used to bake up a batch of tofu to put in my sandwiches. or I would make my own hummus in the blender: one can of chick peas, one can of black olives. I've not prepared either of these in ages, it's just too much work even tho the change would be good, not to mention tasty.

I just don't like cooking. Or spending time in the kitchen. Or washing up dishes. None of it is the least bit fun to me!

So I make the easiest and quickest foods possible... and I am completely bored with my boring options!

I keep thinking that one day I will get so sick and tired of the boring food that I will get radical and actually make something wonderful! Unfortunately, it looks like I'm just going to die of boredom and apathy instead!





Pern
tues 17 apr 2012

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Entry #17 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


The other day I mentioned that I was going to start reading the Pern books again. I was going to type more about the series, but apparently I got distracted or something. :)

Anne McCaffrey started the Pern series in 1968... A few years after that, I was born! And then a couple decades after that, I grew up and discovered her books.

Anne McCaffrey kept writing books that entire time, and then her son, Todd, helped her write some books, and he's now continuing the series alone. Anne died 21 nov 2011.

The stories are both science fiction and fantasy. It's in the future and it's about humans on another planet! There is no technology, so it's not really science fiction. There are dragons! There is no magic, so it's not really fantasy. heh.

Anne McCaffrey was the first woman to win a Nebula, and she was also the first woman science fiction author on the New York Times Best Seller list.

I enjoy the series. The first three books are definitely among my favorite books of all time. and I hope that Todd is doing it justice. (I'm currently reading his first book, Dragon's Kin, and, I remembered correctly, it's not that great.)





Rhino Report
wed 18 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120418.html
Entry #18 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


Little Rhino the guinea pig has been part of our family for six weeks now.

He still has no manners. And when I am working with him to improve those manners... he is quite liable to snap at me, or even bite me. I get frustrated because of this; I've never known a guinea pig who gets so upset, so quickly, and I don't really know how to deal with it!

But, for all that, he is settling in and becoming a more active part of the family. He starts talking when he knows a carrot is on the way. And when I clean his house on the weekend, he actually plays.

Rhino the guinea pig





Booking Through Thursday
thurs 19 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120419.html
Entry #19 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


Booking Through Thursday meme
Pet Peeve

  • What are your literary "pet peeves"?

I almost didn't click on this one, because I don't really have any pet peeves.

Specifically, I don't care about typos or bad grammar in the books I read. I note them and move on without annoyance.

And then I wondered about everyone else's pet peeves...

Oh my gosh. It is so interesting to go through all the posts!

Of course some people mentioned typos. They also don't like book snobs... sounds like a lot of people look down on YA. Too many characters. "Insta-love." Long descriptions. Book covers of a woman with her head cropped. Love triangles. Pathetic/whiney main character. Non-readers who say reading is a waste of time and money.

Fascinating!





Yay Vegan
fri 20 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120420.html
Entry #20 of 30 on this page (tagged: april, )


Cornbread Cafe

Significant Other picked me up from the day job this afternoon and we went directly to the vegan and wonderful Cornbread Cafe. I love the food there, and because we came at an optimal time, we had the entire dining area to ourselves!

I tried out the new Moody Portabello. Very good, but I think the Phish is still my fav. Also tried the cheesy biscuits, instead of my usual cornbread... hm, not sure which I like better!

We've never had any of their desserts because they give you a bit too much food for dinner. They make pies and cakes there. Also would love to try out their weekend breakfasts...


From a blog I read:
  The Vegan RD: Is Umami a Secret Ingredient of Vegan Activism?

This rather long article became suddenly interesting to me when it mentioned (If you know someone who has the annoying habit of putting ketchup on everything, it turns out that he or she is an umami trendsetter.)

*snort* yep. I do that. Up until now, I was slightly ashamed at myself! But now, I'm a trendsetter!

haha. I've even tried ketchup on my almond butter sandwich! Vegan Trendsetter!





a non-adventuresome day
sat 21 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120421.html
Entry #21 of 30 on this page (tagged: april,)


Sometimes I just need to hide in the house all day!

I put a couple postcards in the mail this morning. (yeah, still working on the March postcards.) Finished reading the Pern book, Dragon's Kin, and paged through the next one, Dragonsblood.

I spent an inordinate amount of time organizing this weeks incoming mail. I got a lot of mail this week, for whatever reason.

For the monthly exchanges that I'm in, I scan in the PCs and keep the files in a separate directory on my computer: that way I can see at a glance if someone isn't sending. For the Swap-Bot postcards, I need to go to the website and acknowledge everything that I've rcvd. For any other mail, I need to note the mail that needs a reply. That particular list is growing...

  The 52 Letter Project: Thoughts on Letter Writing

Ha, this post about not being able to send reply mail right away resonated with me! Currently, the oldest mail I need to respond to is from 22 March. *shakes head* I go through phases with mail responses... One time I actually got to the point where I responded to a note the very next day!! ha, that was an anomaly; usually I'm about a month behind, I think six or seven weeks has been my worst response time.


This evening I was thinking about watching some videos... I am still on Lesson 5 at the Letter Love 101 calligraphy class. And I've not even started on the March Strathmore Online Workshop (this one is free, check it out!)

But, then again, I've discovered Avatar: The Last Airbender... it's free on Amazon Prime. The story line is pretty good, plus it's got great creatures.





Earth Day
sun 22 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120422.html
Entry #22 of 30 on this page (tagged: april, )


Yep. I had a big, long rant here. You can thank me for hitting the delete button.

To sum up my rant...

Just go vegan!

For all the happy reasons, and for all the depressing reasons! You know all of the reasons, stop hiding.

  A Life Connected
12 min video, watch it.





monday
mon 23 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120423.html
Entry #23 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


Ugh. It suddenly turned into summer around here. A little too warm and a little too sun shiny for me!

blossoms on a blue sky day





garden woe
tues 24 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120424.html
Entry #24 of 30 on this page (tagged: april, )


A Garden must combine the poetic and the mysterious with a feeling of serenity and joy.
Luis Barragan

Unfortunately our garden combines the ugly and the slugs with a feeling of frustration and despair.

heh. We have a large patch of our plot which is covered with this horribly horrible thing:

damn weed

It has deep roots, it's impossible to pull up easily, it's impossible to fork out easily, and I hate it like I've never hated any plant before!

Fiskars Deluxe Telescoping Weed Remover

I'm going to try to murder them with this thing:

Reviews say it'll probably only last about 20 minutes. Hopefully that will be long enough.

And yeah, I don't know what the evil plant is. I thought it was marsh marigold, but the leaves are all wrong. I should have taken a pic of the leaves.

For now, we are just going to refer to it as: The Bane of My Existence!





wednesday
wed 25 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120425.html
Entry #25 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


periwinkle





thursday
thurs 26 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120426.html
Entry #26 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


pre-strawberry

Apparently I have been completely unconscious of the passage of time for the past week or so. possibly longer! My brain has completely thrown out all knowledge of deadlines.





friday
fri 27 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120427.html
Entry #27 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


urban deer

This is a (soon-to-be momma?) deer who likes to hang out in our apartment complex. I am pretty sure the grounds keepers aren't mowing this area because she likes it the way it is!





weed destruction
sat 28 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120428.html
Entry #28 of 30 on this page (tagged: april, )


Fiskars Deluxe Telescoping Weed Remover Fiskars SoftTouch Weeder

We went to the garden armed with these things and we put a good dent into our weed problem!!

Significant Other worked with the weed machine, the Fiskars Deluxe Weed Remover, and he was impressed! It pulled up each evil weed, with minimal effort and no back strain. The thing looks like a joke, but it works great.

The reviews said it was going to break after about 20 minutes of work. I was completely prepared for this to happen. And I'm happy to report that SO worked longer than 20 minutes (maybe close to an hour?) and it hasn't broken yet! If it survives to clear out the rest of the evil weed... it'll be well worth the 40$ I paid for it!

I killed some weeds with the handheld weeder. It worked, but not as well as the machine... the mud is just too soft to "pop" the weed out. I think it'll work better in the summer, once things dry out a bit!

Last weekend, after our first attempt to kill this weed, I was crying with frustration and was worried that we would have to give up our community garden plot. But with these tools, there is a glimmer of hope!

There's still much to do, but I feel much better about it now.





books
sun 29 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120429.html
Entry #29 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


I made the mistake of looking at the "Lifestyles" section in todays newspaper, which included several book articles.

I try to avoid book reviews at all costs because I have about 50 books lying around that I haven't had the chance to read yet. And I am easily enticed to buy new books. To say the least! ;)

  A Lifetime of Writing For 56 years now, author Kate Wilhelm of Eugene has been publishing stories for generations of fans

omg. Kate Wilhelm lives just a couple miles away from me!!!??! Wow.

Kate Wilhelm is a giant in the science fiction community. Her short stories make it into the "Best Science Fiction" anthologies, and I have read many of them, and enjoy them. I have not read any of her sf novels tho... and I need to remedy that!

She also writes a mystery series Barbara Holloway, set in Eugene. I have zero interest in detective fiction, but I might have to read some of these books as well!

Flip the newspaper page, to see the other enticing book article...

Garboloby by Edward Humes

  Dirty Business: Author Edward Humes enjoys digging through rubbish

Garbology was also talked about on NPR last week, and I already had the title written down to research.

Yep, here's all my money, just take it and give me stuff to read please. *rolls eyes*





end of the month
mon 30 apr 2012

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2012/20120430.html
Entry #30 of 30 on this page (tagged: april)


May is my birthday month and as a present to myself, I've decided to quit doing all my "daily" projects.

The daily projects are great... and I get a lot of happiness out of them. But I tend to obsess, and go a little too far in keeping my daily schedule.

And then I feel boxed in and not able to do any other projects that I come up with.

Over the weekend, I wrote a list of projects that I have either put off or not started because my day to day life is full. Just off the top of my head, I came up with 20 projects... some are an hour long, some are days long.

And during the month of May, I intend to work on them!





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