Sunday, October 28, 2007

Warning ...

The blue cheese stuffed olives from the deli department of the Super-Walmart are sinfully delicious and highly addictive.

You have been warned.

That is all. Carry on.

Lots on my mind ..

.. but too tired to create an articulate post.

So instead, I took a little quiz.



Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

Monday, October 22, 2007

The view from the trail, autumn edition

The hub of activity is the pond at the mid-way point of the trail. The Canada Geese are gathering in preparation for their journey south.

Their ballet is a graceful one, as the sun throws diamonds on their dance floor.

Skein after skein circled the pond, trying to find a spot for their gaggle.


Some amphibians grew bored with the noisy show, and decided to play leapfrog.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Symbolic


Bald eagle at Rosamund Gifford Zoo, Syracuse, NY

This bird's left wing is broken. Consequently, this once proud and majestic creature can no longer soar.

Sad, isn't it?

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Tag!!

Shaun has tagged me to list eight things I like about me. Aieee! It is a difficult exercise.

1. As Shaun says, I'm feisty, both here and in the real world. Although I tend to self-censor on my blog, I do write in my true voice.

2. I am positive, cheerful, and effervescent by nature, even at the end of a 12 hour night shift.

3. I am frugal.

4. I am reliable.

5. I am capable of seeing an issue from several different perspectives.

6. I have a knack for languages. I speak French fluently, and I can get by in Italian.

7. I am a good photographer.

8. I am creative and crafty.

I am not going to tag anyone in particular, but if you have a blog and can write about eight of your best qualities, leave a note in my comments!

Friday, October 19, 2007

Call for action



I'm actually finding myself at a loss for words right now. When the SCHIP legislation was vetoed, the Commander in Chief hurt more than our nation's children. The war pig president spat in the face of every family member of every wounded troop in this nation. Included in the now-defunct SCHIP bill were provisions to expand FMLA for family members taking care of severely injured soldiers, and to extend one year of employment discrimination protection to them.

Heckuva job, Georgie.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Quote of the day

From Paul Krugman's column in today's NY Times.

What is it about Mr. Gore that drives right-wingers insane?

Partly it’s a reaction to what happened in 2000, when the American people chose Mr. Gore but his opponent somehow ended up in the White House. Both the personality cult the right tried to build around President Bush and the often hysterical denigration of Mr. Gore were, I believe, largely motivated by the desire to expunge the stain of illegitimacy from the Bush administration.


Emphasis mine.

Enough said.

It's the little things that mean so much

The challenge: Write about the environment for Blog Action Day.

We do make a concerted effort to lessen our environmental footprint chez Rose, but it isn't something that requires a great deal of thought, effort, or even sacrifice anymore.

Let me take you through my morning so far:

I made the coffee at about 0545 when I got up to let the dog out. I was still pretty tired, so I just went back to bed for two more decadent hours. The java was still hot because our coffee maker has a thermal carafe, which preserves the temperature and flavour without using more electricity. It also came with a permanent filter, so no trees were harmed in the production of my caffeine fix. The grounds are composted, and will nourish my tomato and cucumber plants next year.

That coffee maker has probably saved us hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars over the past few years. It makes a very fine cup of joe, so we no longer purchase coffee when we are out and about, nor do we use styrofoam or paper cups.

For breakfast, I made oatmeal. My mother will be pleased to know that we do not use that instant, just-add-boiling-water chemically adulterated crap. In the same amount of time that it would take to boil the kettle, a pot of wholesome porridge can be made. It costs just a fraction of what the aforementioned "fast" product costs, and there are no envelopes to throw away.

While we were eating, the laundry was chugging away in the HE washing machine. The clothes are hanging on the line now, of course, thus reducing our residential electricity use by 5 to 10%.

Homeschooling commenced with reading. Both books were ordered from Amazon and delivered by those big brown trucks, whose parent company strives to reduce its environmental footprint. I think that Amazon could probably do a better job in reducing its packaging, but I promise that I recycle all of those materials.

So, that's the morning wrap-up. Saving electricity, saving trees, saving money .. it's all good!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

A haiku, brought to you by the letter F

Felt fatigue after
Finishing the third night shift
Frost on my windshield!

Friday, October 12, 2007

Just as I was getting comfortable in lapsed Catholicism ..

.. Catholics United had to go and do something brave, breathtaking, and brilliant.

They have launched a series of radio ads targeting ten members of Congress whose opposition to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) have compromised their pro-life voting records.

Could someone please refresh my memory? What church does our compassionate conservative, pro-life president attend?

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Watching ..



.. and waiting.



Turkey Vulture, Freehold, New Jersey.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Aiiiieeee!!!!

I think I just suffered whiplash.

It's from violently shaking my head at this article in the NY Times, about the "Mom Job" or "Mommy Makeover" - plastic surgery which aims to erase any and all evidence that a woman has had a baby. Last year in the USA, according to the article, 325,000 women between the ages of 20 and 39 went under the knife to correct the "defects" imposed by pregnancy and/or breastfeeding.

I guess it's too late for these women, but perhaps their daughters will catch this video from the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty:

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Fading away ...



Where did September go? How did it get to be October already?