Not asking too much. . .

so I thought wonderfully vindictive thoughts after finding this at The AntiCraft Website:

Bad Juju

They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and rightly so.

Beauregard Lerouge was an ox of a man, broad across the chest and strong of will, but he wasn't a smart man. When he married the powerful voodoun Marie Méprisant, he married untruly and unfaithfully. After the birth of his daughter, he took up with the belle du jour, Kitty Devareaux, beginning an affair that could neither escape the prying eyes of the community, nor the notice of Marie.

Marie knitted effigies of the offending pair and set about exacting her revenge. In short order, Kitty lost her lustrous golden hair, developed sores on her flesh, and suffered a stroke leaving her paralyzed on her left side, the side of her treacherous heart. No longer the beautiful treasure she had been, Beauregard, nor any other man, had a use for her, and she languished in poverty the rest of her days. Kitty, however, was lucky compared to the adulterous Beauregard, who disappeared on his way home from the tavern on a moonless night and was never heard from again. It is said he was attacked by an alligator which brought his body to Marie, ripped to shreds. Denied an afterlife by the voodoun's spells, he lived on only as the secret ingredient in Marie's famous red beans and rice.

by Zabet Stewart

Yay! and a Naked Baby Hug!

Yesterday I got word that I have been accepted to Grad School - yay! And today i hear that the article I co-wrote with Julie Frew, Director of the Milford Public Library will be published in January's issue of Indiana Libraries! yay! It is a basic article really-that anyone who works with teens in libraries could have written- and a trade publication, but I can't contain myself. It feels like young author day all over again, only i'm not 8 and i didn't draw awesome crayolas to go along with it. but still. i am 8 again. maybe i can get some crayola time in over the holiday. . . oh how i needed things to perk up. i will latch on to this.

also, must share that last night, whilst Zelle snoozed on the couch (splayed out in her boots and coat) Lena pulled herself up in the bathtub (dangerous, i know) to give me a hug!! as if the naked chubby baby love wasn't enough- she had to stand up and hug mama. she promptly returned her rump to tub and resumed eating the sailor she plucked from the safety of his sailboat. i love that girl. this little encounter is the greatest development at all, you see. Lena is growing up and her person ness is evolving and she is ready to share it. and so am i.

also, can't wait til you all see our holiday card. i love my work family.

House for Sale

So, here it is. He listed it. I won't profit from it, but the sooner it sales, the sooner I am off the mortgage. One of a kind beauty, with amenities not typically found in West Central. If you know anyone. . . it is worth a look. 1219 West Washington. 92,900 is the asking.
hardwood floors, roomy, front porch w/swing, 2 car garage, privately fenced backyard w/pear tree, grape vine, bricked in patio, walking distance to library, new insulation. 12 ft ceilings, 3 ceiling fans, new thermostat on timer with feedback. new water heater. new paint exterior front. sun porch on rear. dry basement. beautiful grand oak staircase. most updates 07. yeah, we had it all. the harder they fall.

for love of the book

preparing to make booksafes with teens tomorrow and remembered something i saw on boingboing that must be shared. these book autopies are done by Brian Dettmer. If you haven't seen them yet follow the link for much more. so much to say. i heart dictionairies comes to mind.

Slow Green

So, what I am liking about all this painting the town green madness, is that so much of the product appears to be coming from nontraditional outlets. Outlets, no less, and doubtful that these companies aren't watching their bottomlines, but hey, they aren't multinational. yet.

am happy about that. but also overwhelmed. is consumerism going to be so diverse from now on? i love it. but have been in a hurry when shopping. when doing everything. so, this all ties in with slow food then. against fast life. eat slow die old and all that. great slogans, but could this be the life for me? a revolution that goes backwards. i'm in. cuz, really, i have always been a little slow~

Pretty/Amazing

Went to the grassrootsgreen thing last night. Drove home feeling hopeful.

Just before turning through an intersection, watching petrol powered cars trekking through icey streets late on a dark cold Thursday evening, perhaps shopping for holiday fare, it occured to me that while hopeful, I feel a tinge of sorrow. Are we seeing the end of an era? Yeah, I'm cool with that- real cool with that. But wow, looking around, I just feel a bit sad. Life as I know it and all that.

I love the possibilities, don't mistake me. And am so hopeful that we can make some real, meaningful changes to our world and how we live on it. Just, hmm, how to say it, I feel mournful. A bit.

Ready to rock in the future soon enough. But for right now, wow, the past and present is quick dying around us. So many changes. Huh?

oh and the pic. photovoltaics from Sarah Hall Studio. Solar power, no kidding. Definately things to look forward too. Thanks for sharing this Jon Frincke.

Oh Great

Apparently divorce hurts everyone. I can speak to that, but little did I know that it hurts our home as well. (though I can say that we would both agree-holy cow, did i say agree?- that our one slim financial resources are now in shreds- i don't believe we (he) considered the earth in all this mess).
found on yahoo, so perhaps you saw:
Mother Nature Feels the Pains of Divorce

what is wrong with him?

he must have had a labotomy. i mean really. it was a tough year. the toughest yet, but why give up? i hope i never come to understand what it is like to give up on someone i love.

Seasons Greetings

Thanks for coming over Jennie. Sometimes I just can't document their sweetness enough. Now how will I ever choose an image for the holiday card?

Holy Green Telecommute

Wow. oh my. wow. really? wow. WOW.

I did it!

Shwew~ got my grad school app in on time! ahh!

Zelle and the Zen of Salty Green Doh

So, here goes with video. Hope this works, as could be just lovely to capture quick flics of the loves on my digi camera and share with the world. Mmm, hope you like~

Pomegranate

What an amazing natural wonder. Cross it off my list of things to do before I die. We cut into a pomegranate on Sunday evening and beheld its beauty. I popped the little juice capsules in a bowl of water to make Zelle and I a lovely drink. She did not appreciate the wonder of the pomegranate at first, but last night lavished me with praise for making her raspberry- i mean pomograte juice. ah, yes, that will do, Zelle. Just drink it in and that will do, my love.

Why not?

http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/index.php

Looking for a really cool $400 holiday gift? Who isn't (lol)? Actually, for that price you can get more than your money's worth x2. The ultimate cheap laptop movement has begun and you can get in on the giving by purchasing one for your sweet ones and during a special promo two week period, your personal purchase gives the same laptop to another child on this tiny lil rock we call home. It is all part of the one laptop per child scheme. Can I get behind this? Not monetarily speaking, but why not promote it?

Sweet Sweet *Skeletina*

we had so much fun for Dia de los Muertos! the teens loved collecting fashions but were very much put off by the labor intensive cutting involved in dressing Skeletina. i think the end results were well worth their efforts. and, i had a total blast making mine;0

All Hallow's Everafter

Oh my wee ones had fun this Halloween! And so did mommy!! Zelle was a cackling witch who whispered through yards, "I'm a witch. I'll get you my pretties," but then sort of just held a bucket out at the front door without a word. Very cute. Lena was strapped to mama's chest as her faithful companion's toad and a lovely toad she made. Still can't keep her tongue in her mouth, sweet sweet frog princess!!

disturbing truths

add this one to the list:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071015/lf_nm_life/gossip_power_dc;_ylt=AokojhY1SPHNhhAPvOD5d04DW7oF

Gossip more powerful than truth, researchers say

By Michael KahnMon Oct 15, 5:01 PM ET

Gossip is more powerful than truth, a study showed on Monday, suggesting people believe what they hear through the grapevine even if they have evidence to the contrary.

Researchers, testing students using a computer game, also found gossip played an important role when people make decisions, said Ralf Sommerfeld, an evolutionary biologist at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, who led the study.

"We show that gossip has a strong influence... even when participants have access to the original information as well as gossip about the same information," the researchers wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Thus, it is evident that gossip has a strong manipulative potential."

In the study, the researchers gave the students money and allowed them to give it to others in a series of rounds. The students also wrote notes about how others played the game that everyone could review.

Students tended to give less money to people described as "nasty misers" or "scrooges" and more to those depicted as "generous players" or "social players," Sommerfeld said.

"People only saw the gossip, not the past decisions," he said in a telephone interview. "People really reacted on it."

The researchers then took the game a step further and showed the students the actual decisions people had made. But they also supplied false gossip that contradicted that evidence.

In these cases, the students based their decisions to award money on the gossip, rather than the hard evidence, showing such information is a powerful tool, Sommerfeld said.

"Rationally if you know what the people did, you should care, but they still listened to what others said," he said.

"They even reacted on it if they knew better."

Researchers have long used similar games to study how people cooperate and the impact of gossip in groups. Scientists define gossip as social information spread about a person who is not present, Sommerfeld said.

In evolutionary terms, gossip can be an important tool for people to acquire information about others' reputations or navigate through social networks at work and in their everyday lives, the study said.

One example could be using gossip to learn that a potential mate had cheated on others, something which could make that person an undesirable match, Sommerfeld said.

Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Earth Action at home with sick ones

Home with 2 sick little ones today (pink eye and ear infection) so enjoying the chance to be with and watch them grow together. Took a moment to put some love into Lena's baby journal. Been wondering about how to tell her about these last few months, but today it was clear. She is wonderous and wonderful and pure loving joy, so what more would I write?


I love this journal - it goes well with Earth Action Blog Day what with all the berry picking and leaf raking, stick gathering and the hanging of the linens on the line. A wonderful artist (Nikki McClure) who chooses to pay homage to this place we call home with images of the work we do here for the bounty we receive. Especially thoughtful baby journal in that it allows free form jottings instead of the pointed questions typical of such books. It prompts for all the warm activities that we naturally do to celebrate our earthly presence. And the simplicity of the cut paper lines reflects her attraction to the basic good in life. A baby shower recommendation for your earthy friends~
http://www.buyolympia.com/q/Item=first1000days

browser friendly

so, who doesn't love window shopping. . .

Stumbled on to this, oh library lovers. http://bookstoretourism.blogspot.com/

Have to think, what with ACPL's niches and Hyde Bros, we have the makings for a really swell tour right here.

Still, to see what else is out there! Reminds me of a great audiobook I listened to in the spring: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Read quite dramatically by some Brits who fully capture the damp of the countryside and really the whole book plot is just captivating. Must look into working in books. . . .

Really?

"But, you did nothing wrong."~ a loving coworker offered me this gem on Thurs when I started pointing at the differences between grief, grieving and mourning. I sort of want to believe her.

But a large part of me still retraces my steps, looking again for where it fell apart. I know from all of the fine examples of upstanding citizenry around me that life goes on. I will sleep again.

For now, add blogging to the list of what to do when you can't sleep at 2 am.

Also, big thanks to the 2.0 genuises. And who knew, spilling your guts to the world could help?

HOLY COW!

In case you all missed this in the news, thought you might get as much enjoyment out of those thighs as I do. MMmmm good! What a chub! And a 10 pounder was my upper limit! LOL, this baby could eat Lena (and judging by those thighs, has already started nibbling her big sis too!) Mmm, much love out to sweet cheeks.

Checkout the caption:
REFILE - CORRECTING MOTHER'S FAMILY NAME Baby girl Nadia, who weighed 7.75 kg (17.1 lbs) after birth, is seen in a maternity ward in the Siberian city of Barnaul September 26, 2007. One Siberian mother has done more than her fair share to heal Russia's dire population decline. Tatyana Khalina shocked her husband by giving birth to a 7.75 kg (17.1 lbs) baby girl this month, her 12th child. Picture taken September 26, 2007. REUTERS/Andrey Kasprishin

Eventually

i will stop thinking of them altogether.

Wow, so my friend Jon Frinke and I were discussing Shaun Tan's beautifully amazing new book The Arrival and its potential Printz worthiness, though, in fact, it is a wordless story. . . when our conversation stumbled onto an old Chicago acquaintance of his, Wesley Willis. It seems Jon was one of the thousands? who on occasion lined up for the ceremonial head bang blessings. See more here.

It truly is a beautiful life and makes for some striking callouses.

Speaking of which, while dealing with an all too recent almost amicable divorce wherein he clearly moved on long before I delivered our sweet second child, I have become enamored of books on grief. Started with Here If You Need Me by Kate Braestrup and found her voice quite soothing, yet strong; warm and brave, as I am sure many of her wardens would say about her. Now I am into Joan Didion's Year of Magical Thinking and really digging it. I can relate even though he isn't dead and loves someone else, I find myself trying to think him back into my life and wanting the future I thought we were having. Make sense? Well, to Didion, perhaps. I feel like the last reader on the planet to get to this one, but hey, all in due time (and seemingly without warning but strong foreshadowing).

Well, I am looking forward to Amy Cohen's The Late Bloomer's Revolution. My dear friend has that now and I can see that soon I will seize the day and love the fact that the father of my children left me for his assitant while I was still post partum. Ah, here's to someday. Why not now? I'll tell you. Because every night that I have my children to tuck in, the nights when they are not staying in my big beautiful old warm house, with their strong, handsome daddy and his new, fresh, beautiful love, every night that I get to read their bedtime tales and snuggle them in beside me, I see his dark Italian eyes looking back at me. And that is the heart of divorce with children. The struggle to separate, the search for closure is just out of reach. Maybe not always. I see little signs of hope. But right now, it is the fall and I am remembering just how we fell together. And I am loving how we fell so hard so fast so strong once that I didn't notice who let go first.

way too easy

oh my gosh. i'm doing it? i mean, here goes nothing. could it really be that easy? I suppose actual content would help, but til i work up to that useless babble will have to suffice. we'll see. thanks for looking.