Recently in some comments, the old, doddering DFH commenter known here as Bring It On was whining about his overly cautious concern and discomfort with New Ideas, again, and telling younger, prettier people like me that We Wuz Wrong, and our newfangled notions about garden beds were Dangerous to America. Now, he’s always saying something similar about my political ideas, but rarely do I get a chance to not only know I’m right and he’s wrong, but prove it with photos.
Heh. Today is that day. I have two words for you, Oldster: One. Week. That’s how long the plants I’m going to show you have been in their raised, grass clipping-infused beds. And it’s been a brutal winter, and dry as a bone spring. And I didn’t cheat: these have not received even the organic fertilizer I bought. Nope, this is just my method, about a 1/2 week of sunshine, my love, and the blessing of the Goddess. Look upon them and weep, you doubting, doddering, doltish Dylan wannabe, you.
Some of what I’m going to show you is more than a year old, some are perennials, some are annuals, some are big-box bought, and likely genetically engineered, some are home grown from heirloom seed. Some are in deep shade, some are in full sun. All were planted with the method I described to you in my previous garden post, and all have only been moving for the last week, or in the case of the perennials, the last month. Which for this part of the country this time of year, is actually exceptional. I had stuff coming up and blooming in April as well, I’m sorry I didn’t post on that more. But, if I may puff my chest this morning, no one else in my ’hood has anything close to the bloom/spread I’ve got right now; other than bulbs most people are still looking at little green shoots and leaves and not much else. Standard Warning: lots of big pics, so slow going for you dial up people.
These ferns got moved into an area that receives about 1-2 hours of light a day. Ferns always do well in the shade, but I confess I was sort of amazed by how fast they came up and uncurled. Ferns are like sprinters: once they get going, they explode with speed and performance. They also “walk,” that is, if you plant one in one year, the next year you’ll get 2 or 4 somewhere near the original, and more and more over a wider spread each year. They are also close to unkillable. I’ve found ferns pushing up from beds I deeply tilled, covered with organic material 2ft deep, etc. And gawd, aren’t they beautiful? Again let me stress that if you have a shady, “nothing will grow here” area, Ferns are your answer. Heh, I lifted this (I think they’re called) corm, put it in a raised bed, killed 1/2 it’s roots…and then it froze in a snap freeze for two days. And my babies are still comin on Strong! Eat your heart out, Republican neighbor who spends 0000$ on a pro landscaping service next door. She’s still waiting for hers to appear. Read more
Like you probably do, I get a lot of emails from folks who don’t, um, really understand what I think about politics but know I have an interest and want to share what they find funny. I suppose these guys are “famous;” they seem to have a lot of YouTubes and it looks semi-professional and/or backed with Republican welfare money. Anyway, I thought this was actually very interesting.
Crude as it is, I have only one thing to add: I’ve spoken with ~15 people this month on their choice of Dem candidates: my plumber, a couple of my neighbors, some folks at the grocery store. I’m chatty and curious like that, and I’m also struck by the theme I have heard from 14 of that group (yes, I have been counting). Read more
Good Morning! It’s a beautiful day here, sunny and bright, sunrise was wonderful to see this morning. I thought I’d make up for the prolonged lack of blogging with some photos. Warning: big pics, so this will likely load slowly for you dial up folks.
I have to apologize. To You, Gentle Reader. To my Blogmates, past and present. To America, lost and wounded. I am so sorry. as a sop, I’ll offer some pics of the gardens very soon, honest to Chuy I’ve been in them 12-15hrs/day for the last month and just too fucking tired to blog.
I love you. I really do. Love is easy for me; it’s why I have such a hard time in life, people who love to love are often those who do poorly in “business” or with money or things that “matter” in our society. But I’m not sorry; if I were religious, I’d consider it a ’gift from gawd.’ The ability to feel love for people is one that I wish more people could nuture; indeed I believe they can, and so I write this now.
Bottom line: the candidates, all of them, have little more than contempt, derision, and mockery for you, Little Person. If you’re not writing a 000000$ check, believe me, they aren’t thinking about you, let alone worrying about what you say, for whom you pull a lever, etc. This isn’t a “democracy” anymore, you’ve noticed that I’m sure. “Superdelagates” will decide who is to be our Next Leader; Iraq will slog on; none of us will enjoy universal health care or cheap gas any time soon/ever. No Bush Administration crony will go to jail for a long, deserved time, and the rich are going to get richer, at least until the Revolution comes. I hope you all know how I have used that term ironically and with black humor. Life for the Progressive is always hard, and we always fail to acheive our objectives…until the day we don’t.
But that day won’t come by fighting each other. Go ahead, mock me for being Missy Kumbaya. I can hack it. I will still love you, fellow progressive. And I will still love you one year from now, when these arguments are forgotten and President Gore/Obama/Hillary/McCentury is in charge, and our economy is still tanking, and the environment is still dying, and global warming is even more pressing…do you understand my point?
I am weeping, true and bitter tears, to learn and understand that the people I love and respect most in this world still succumb to the media game that is designed to keep us all down. Fight for your candidate! Yes! Be Nasty, be dirty, say untrue things, even…this is the age of the Bush Republican. I believe in “The Chicago Way;” if your enemy kicks you in the balls, you knife him in the back, send his to the morgue, etc. But not within the family. Goddess no. No, it’s just not worth it. Kerry/Dean/Clarke, anyone? Doesn’t anyone remember what that was like, or how little that all matters now? Please, try.
Like it or not, progressives like us, and I mean *you,* we’re all Family. If you were all Black or Brown people from poor circumstance, you’d know exactly what I’m trying to say here. Sticks and Stones… Blood is Thicker…A Rolling Stone… Or let me end on a brutal note:
While we all tear each other apart, millions are dying, millions more are going to die, for no good reason. As an American, like it or not, you have an incredible responsibility to do what you can to make sure your power isn’t used for evil, oppressive reasons. Turn off the TV, goddammit. Stop reading the Wanker of the Day’s latest bullshit. Reach out your hand to those who are on the side of Good. Learn to say, “I’m sorry. Let’s get down to business.”
Or, not. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. If you do the work of the Evil for them, you have no one but yourself to blame. Read more
Hey, Good People! image of me dancing on the platform handing you a cold one and inviting you to get jiggy wit me
It’s cold and rainy here, and I just finished major labor of the sort that is both boring and necessary. Which has been my life for like, the last few weeks. But for the first time in a while, I’ve dipped into the blogosphere, and for that matter, the world of politics. Krist, nothing is better than politics for those who need a breather and some sit down time from Actual Physcial Labor. That’s something I suspect 90% of the blogosphere “leadership” class doesn’t know so much about. Anyway…
So what’s up? What are you talking about? Who is the Villain and Heroine today? I don’t watch teevee, nor read corporate print-scum. I literally and truly have “no idea why you are upset.” Are you? Or have we reached candidate intra-party nirvana? LBJ/JFK baybee: it’s what “Americka” really wants, if you haven’t noticed.
It’s funny, for me. I’m not rich, important or powerful, and yet I do a little dogpile/googling and I see that despite my gardening-imposed blogospherical silence, I guess I’ve been “saying something” and pissing people off. Well, OK then! I like pissing people off. What should I go read in this lull between bed prep, and about what should I write? I’m so angry today, for stupid family reasons; it’s time to project that negenergy elsewhere. Tell me of whom you’d like me to beat up, intellectually and factually. My fingers are tired of digging dirt, but not the electronic kind; I’m all ears. As my Blue Lord says: your candidate sucks. I’ll add: you’re stupid and wrong and misinformed. How can I make you more mad? I really want to know.
…being naughty is hard, hard work. But you love it, or you wouldn’t be here. Also: Lambert, Leah and MJS are stupid and Shystee is stupider. But Xan and Sarah are the worst.
Can I have a high paying job in the next Dem administration now? I’ve “excoriated” my “traitorous” blogmates, is that good enough? It seems if I’m to retain my blogocreds, I must build some faggot* piles and burn some witches. Well, there it is: I’m orthodox and I hate and burn who you hate and burn. So long as they are Dems/Progressives. That’s the imporant lesson, right? Gawd will punish the Republicans, so I’m not worried about them, right? Read more
Just peeping in here before hitting the beds (I’m helping out an elderly neighbor today with his yard) to say that it’s almost over. Soon the Village will be making up shit about some other laughable aspect of our kleptocracy, and we won’t all be shouting at each other anymore. I hope. Anyway, see you soon. And get outside, durnit! In these parts the sun is a-shinin’ and I’d be a fool not to be in it.
Well, a blog is really good for people who like to play economist, like me. So I’m reading this post and two things occur to me.
1. Costco up 7%, Penny’s down 12%, Wal-mart down .7%. That’s good news. Costco pays a living wage and tries to sell stuff made in the US. Proving they are profitable in a recession is one way to help frame the argument to get rid of the idiots who got us into this mess, the ones who hate unions and working people.
We make a lot of jokes here, and around the blogosphere, about what “hard work” it is to blog. In truth, it is. No, really! I won’t bore you with the emotions and thoughts I have about the burdens of blogging, or not, but let me say that I can totally understand why it is these “for pay” type bloggers are dropping like flies. And frankly, I think it’s a future many will unhappily come to appreciate. This is what life is like, when the entire “economy” revoloves around poor, desperate people selling junk from somewhere else to other poor, desperate people who also need to convince someone to buy something. All so a few rich people can be richer.
We all disapprove of prostitution for a reason. Not because it’s “dirty,” but because it’s dehumanizing. When will we apply the same logic to our ’legit’ work environment?
In truth, has there ever been a war fought to protect women? Against those who hate women for being womanly and who abuse/kill/hurt them especially because they are women? War happens for a lot of reasons, and people explain them away with even more. But I find myself wondering, for all the bravado of those who advocate bloodshed and killing, is it ever because lots of women are being mistreated? In truth, I mean, not in rhetoric. This post made me have such thoughts, I’m not sure they are profound but I do wonder.
In the end, war and invasion and occupation seem mostly to be about penis-measuring, at least to me. Which stands in strong contrast to many of their stated aims, which since ancient times, frequently include, “protecting women.” Whatever. Read more
The plainest way to say it is that everything, every last fucking thing, is “constructed” in the SCLM product/discourse/fairy tale. Someone thinks about what it is in it, and what is not, and how, one word at a time. So when this happens, people should remember it’s a feature, and not a bug. What is funniest to me is that the WaPo, and the District, are queer havens, places where queer culture and thought and activity are open, vibrant. I guess I’ve just never been a part of that group of self-hating types who want to play these games.
But guys: trust me when I say, str8 America is over all this silliness. I look forward to the day, and indeed I believe it will come in my lifetime, when this sort of stunt is uncommon and quickly forgotten.
As the Blade reported last week, Maj. Alan Rogers, by all accounts a hero for his brave acts while serving in Iraq, was killed in January and buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Rogers lived as openly gay a life as he could, given the military’s discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. He had many gay friends in D.C., patronized gay businesses and even worked as treasurer for the D.C. chapter of American Veterans for Equal Rights, a group working to overturn the military’s gay ban.
But the mainstream media accounts of his death omitted any reference to his sexual orientation. These were not benign omissions. The Washington Post, in particular, worked overtime to excise any mention of Rogers’ sexual orientation. It did not even report his work for AVER. Several of Rogers’ gay friends told the Blade that they were interviewed by a Post reporter at the funeral, but their memories were not included in the paper’s coverage.
I say this as only one of my age and “race” can: there comes a time when people decide to hate others for different reasons. No construct lasts forever, and nothing cannot be changed. Yes, blah, I know it works ’both ways,’ but in this case, working with younger people and knowing what they tell me about sex and sexuality and gender, I’m confident that this country is on the verge of finally shedding our particularly vulgar and unimaginative form of homophobia. And that’s a good thing.
Feh, I’ll chalk it up to yet another example in which the WaPo reminds me that I’m not sorry I don’t read them. /tosses hair/ So tired, they are.
U.S. lawmakers have a financial interest in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a review of their accounts has revealed.
Members of Congress invested nearly 196 million dollars of their own money in companies that receive hundreds of millions of dollars a day from Pentagon contracts to provide goods and services to U.S. armed forces, say nonpartisan watchdog groups.
Plenty of Dems on that list. I think too often points like these are left out of discussions about the war, when it will end, why it goes on. Some argue the war is the only real stimulus to the economy, and when it ends the preznit of the time will be the guy/gal without the seat in an economic game of musical chairs (from the perspective of the rich). We’ll see. But the amounts this article mentions are peanuts, compared to the real profit being pocketed by those unelected, unrevealed by our press, figures who appoint and select “our” politicians. Trillions, that’s the relevant perspective. Where’d they go?
Defying the White House, Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday the House will change its rules to avoid a required vote this year on a hotly disputed free-trade agreement with Colombia.
Why then is it so hard to say, change some rules and make war funding votes not happen? I’m sure there’s a “reason.”
Via Big Blue, I came across something so Zen and perfect that I just had to post on it. Concerning some Villager I never read and a piece he wrote on BHO:
Number of references Tapper made to himself: 14
Number of references Tapper made to Obama: 16
That’s really it, isn’t it? They can’t understand that it’s not about them. Celebrity is a great evil, and clearly it’s utterly corrupted our press. But the next time you need an excuse to get drunk like a frat boy during pledge week, just count the number of times the Villager you’re reading makes reference to himself, and take a drink for each one.
What astounds me is that I think a lot of them believe that America gives a crap about their lives. Newsflash: we don’t. Bloggers should also take note of how little America could care for Insider Squabbles of the Moment, and the personal relationships relating to them.
“It’s dangerous for our children to even know your philosophy exists!” With Dems like these, who needs Iran? Seriously, I’m with Zorn: if this had been a Jew or Christian sitting in that chair and an elected rep harshed on their brand of faith? We’d never hear the end of it. But atheists are fair game, because we hurt children, or something.
Nice to see so many supporting comments at the original post, too. We’re legion, a true silenced but growing population and the fundies should fear us. Because they do our work for us, and make belief look bad all on their own.
All of this might make some sense if McCain didn’t have this ridiculously cozy relationship with the press that’s been solid as a rock for more than a decade. He is going to be terribly difficult to redefine. It will take everything they have to do it. And if they don’t do it, he could very well win this thing even if he is as old as Methuselah and has the campaign style of a pet rock.
I was talking to a staunchly liberal friend of mine over the week-end who told me that he really didn’t worry about the primary because if the party is damaged and McCain wins, it will probably be ok. The reason: he’s not stupid like Bush or crazy like Cheney. After I picked up my brains from the floor and put them back in my head, still reeling from the explosion, I tried to explain how that was wrong. It was pulling teeth and I don’t think I succeeded. He just likes the guy and doesn’t believe he’s really capable of being as bad as Bush because he “thinks for himself” and isn’t a GOP lackey.
The Democrats had better get themselves together. The Republicans picked the only candidate in the entire country who could elicit that kind of praise from my pal and others like him. He’s the only one who could possibly win, and win he may very well do if just let this congenial image continue without challenge.
Although old news, it’s news to me and worth talking about. What kind of people are these, really? We talk about sexism a lot on this blog, but as many have noted: what would it take to get you to use language like that, about your partner, in public? I honestly can’t imagine that.
My family is filled with passionate, flawed people who aren’t afraid to raise a voice (but never a hand) to each other. Harsh language is the salt of life, obviously I was raised to believe that too. But I don’t understand how something like this is ’normalized’ into the habits of two people married to each other and for whom public image matters. Recklessness? Carelessness? Lack of intelligence, tact? Hatred of women? Any answer is one that reflects poorly on McCain as a national figure, as someone we want to have a finger on the bomb.
Like I said, this is old news but it’s time to talk about it again, and again. Women will be really turned off by this, and should be reminded, McCain isn’t for us. I was reading some depressing statistics about low information people this morning, so let’s all do our part to keep the conversations and opinions properly focued. On McShame is a good place.
He’s a lawbreaker. That’s the fucking language we need to be using. If our Blue Laird is correct, and the battle this fall is “against the media,” let’s start with stuff like this. “John McCain is a lawbreaker and hypocrite who thinks the laws he writes only apply to other people.” You can come up with a shorter way to say that if you like. Correctly focused Jane:
Having accepted public financing last fall for the primary, then deciding to thumb his nose at it when it didn’t suit his purposes, John McCain is now laying the groundwork for accepting public financing in the general. Aided by reform groups like Democracy 21 who have hammered Obama for not accepting it but have uttered nary a peep about the fact that McCain is breaking the law, he’s obviously looking to play the “holier than thou” card in the fall — confident that a compliant press and the wouldbe watchdogs will all take a nap while he does it.
And do go on to contrast and compare Jane’s direct speech to the timid and weak writing of the Boston paper of record at the link. It’s pathetic. The press so loves this man, it’s kind of gross and sick. It’s like they are a thousand sycophantic twinks, all aiming to nail the ultimate Power Daddy. Ick.
Here is an interesting essay that makes me think about just how much the elite of the health professions have changed over the last few decades. Herb has always been with the program, so he’s more exactly an outlier, but I recall the days when to be a physician meant Republican identity as well, for all but the DFH Peace Corps type dogooders. I’m reading that more and more physicians are embracing “socialized medicine” and I hope it’s a sea change that represents a general evolution of the field as a whole. Anyway, Herb made two points that caught my attention. He’s talking about a health care situation, but also applying his thoughts more generally:
Good morning and happy Spring, everybody! Just a reminder: a blog isn’t a person’s whole life; it’s probably a mistake to think you “know someone” or what they think, entire, based on (some) blog posts. Jes sayin, as I was skimming the blogosphere this morning and read some strongly worded but rather incorrect stuff about various bloggers I happen to know in RL, including myself. It’s always amusing to learn “what I’m thinking” from people who have no idea what else is happening in my nonblogging life, nor the process by which I choose to (not) post on topic(s).
Hey y’all. Sorry to be dark so much recently, but it’s that time of year and I’ve been ramping up for Major Labor under the sun and stars. I want to build something like this, but prettier. That’s my rub with growing houses- it’s so spendy to make them look nice. I’m house-vain like that, I guess. Still, I don’t want an ugly plastic shack on my lawn. At the same time, using recycled and reclaimed materials really appeals to me/my wallet.
Feeling snooty? I’m realizing just how snooty the gardening classes can be. But in this country at least, that’s going to change. Can you eat that 40$ cultivar, honey?
They may or may not be snooty, but they are pretty hardcore about their plants: I was over at Monticello the other day and gosh! You can see how a grrl could love Jefferson, what a whiz with plants he was! And speaking of things to look at, anyone know any good sites for garden design? With lots of pics? Most places I’ve come across are only trying to sell me a book or magazine and that’s not what I want/can afford. Oh, yes- I am very, very disappointed with all of you. Medium is the best we can do? Fuck. That’s pathetic.
Sorry again for the short and infrequent posting, but this is what happens in an economy where some of us are realizing it makes a lot of sense to have a plot that will provide…oh, let’s avoid polemic and hysteria this morning and just say 30% of my diet. Read more
Good job, CHS. This is well above and beyond ’golf clap’ worthy, this is action, meaningful and real. I applaud you and those who’ve signed the list. Here’s my take.
Background para:
Even so, FEC Chairman David Mason sent McCain’s campaign a strongly worded letter (PDF), letting them know that even though McCain didn’t consider his word on accepting public financing binding, that the FEC was not about to let him off the legal hook. What did McCain do? He ignored the letter, secured a loan based on representations of obtaining public financing and then blew past the public financing law spending limits…and he’s still raising campaign cash, too.
Quelle suprise! This is the last chance to rescue the idea that we should have “the rule of law” in this country. Either McCain is held to this standard, or he is not. I believe he will not be. I believe the FEC will do nothing. I believe the SCLM will do nothing, and gloss over and/or bury this. I believe the Federal Government as presently constituted will enforce no truly damaging law upon any national-level, media-approved Republican. I believe no Democrat of similar station will speak critically of nor contribute to efforts like yours, because of a combination of ignorance, arrogance, the disease of Villagerism, and the desire to have these powers for themselves. But I still thank you for your efforts. Read more
Yes, another Latin blogger, two in a row even! Anyway, this is a subtle take on an issue that has always annoyed and plague me personally:
via sugar butch via creative xicana
Chivalry is deeply feminist to me. When in femmes, I expect femininity to be deliberate, done with the whole knowledge of the compulsory heteronormative restrictions which dictate that women must be and do certain things, particular that we must wear high heels, delicate cloth, restrictive clothing. Femininity is not made for comfort or movement, it is made to accentuate the sexualization of a woman’s body - and that’s why things like holding her doors open (so she doesn’t dirty her white gloves or expensive manicure), pulling her chair out (so she doesn’t have to awkwardly move a bulky piece of furniture, and risk getting it caught on her skirt or stockings and ripping something) or holding her coat (so she doesn’t have to reach around and risk ripping the tight seams in her shoulders or upper back) are necessary to me, as an acknowledgement of how restrictive femininity can be, and of how difficult it is to walk around the world in these clothes, as a celebration of the beauty of femininity on the body, and with deep respect for the courage to costume and perform femme to begin with.
I’m a total slob at home, I lounge around in utterly unsexy clothes unless I’m about to have that kind of sex and need the lingerie on first. At work I have a little bit of flare, but generally I’m pretty oblivious to fashion and trend. But when I step out in High Society, I turn it on. It’s just what you do. I’m totally cognisant of “the whole knowledge of the compulsory heteronormative restrictions” and yes, that’s the whole point. Women can be cruel to themselves, but sometimes when they do it’s a conscious choice for a purpose that outweighs the negative impact of conforming to those restrictions. Read more
Eventually, the courtiers at Versailles got too witty for their own good. Tired of our Villagers and their inability to speak with honesty and self reflection? Try this instead. It’s totally possible to love someone you’ve never met, and to be made a romantic again by a single post…
I HAD WANTED in some way to remember Lt. Ehren Watada, as this anniversary of the Iraq Invasion passed us. Remember him? Yeah. Mad respect for this cat. But the media has drowned out that story, it’s slipped away, they lost it…we’ve moved on to Jeremiah Wright and other pressing matters. Here’s to you, sir. You are one of the heroes of this war to me.
You know who was a real Citizen Journalist? Brad Will. I feel trapped into making cute video cookies with my weekly deadline. I want to haul my ass down to the ruins of Katrina or spend weeks getting next to some hidden or ignored truth that the public needs to know about spend time building a story, building rapport, investigating, planning…and really busting out wild with something that matters. This is jingles and I want to do a concept album. I feel I am chasing snacky, quickly rotating headlines. Hey, don’t get me wrong. It’s a way to pay some bills. And I am proud of winning it. But I long to do some good in the face of all the harm being dropped down on so many out there. And I’m more a part of a corporate entertainment empire now than I am in being a useful eye for the public. That’s how I’m feeling lately, at least.
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Cheney’s memory is a great fallacy that haunts us today, just as the misbegotten Iraq war will haunt us 30 years from now. It was a huge mistake to pardon Richard Nixon and I say that as someone who thought it was the right thing to do at the time. I was very young and had a soft heart and thought that it was gratuitous to punish him more after his terrible humiliation and that it would be good for the country to “move on.”
Allowing Nixon to get away with his crimes while his fellow Republicans angrily stewed over the injustice of his downfall is what led to the ongoing usurpation of the constitution under Republican rule. They believe the president is above the law and the constitution. Why wouldn’t they? They do these things and there’s no accountability so they do it again the first chance they get, always upping the ante. When they finally lose an election and take a breather from illegal wars and pillaging and shredding the constitution, the Democrats are so busy beating back political attacks and trying to clean up the mess that they decide accountability isn’t worth it. They “bind up the wounds” allowing the infection to fester until the next time it happens. Read more
commenter known here as Bring It On was whining about his overly cautious concern and discomfort with New Ideas, again, and telling younger, prettier people like me that We Wuz Wrong, and our newfangled notions about garden beds were Dangerous to America. Now, he’s always saying something similar about my political ideas, but rarely do I get a chance to not only know I’m right and he’s wrong, but prove it with photos. 
