Two Views, One Super Moon

One was taken by a friend of a friend in Alaska, and the other by a friend on the same (sorta) night in Australia.  Notice a difference?

Trayvon Martin Rant

Has anyone else listened to the opening arguments of the prosecution or defense attorneys in the Trayvon Martin trial? It's stunning--STUNNING--in its scope and depth of profound simplicity versus abject incompetence. There were a thousand opportunities for the defendant, George Zimmerman, to choose to de-escalate the situation. At no point in time did he back off. A 17 year old kid, armed with only a cell phone and a bag skittles who was being stalked by a stranger with a GUN died for no other reason than that stranger provoked a confrontation. George Zimmerman is a psychopath who needs to be imprisoned for the safety of civilized society. Why is this so FUCKING HARD to understand?

How absurd is this? I man of means buys a gun, buys the bullets, loads the gun and stalks a kid whom he referred to as a "fucking nigger" several times on the 911 call, and then the kid, pinned down and facing a loading gun is treated like a criminal for desperately attempting to save his own life!!!?? On what planet? In what universe? And believe me--if Trayvon was a white kid named Trent, and George was a black guy named...well, George...who would be strapped to a gurney on his way to a fatal injection? This is just beyond conscionable.

When a person leaves his home with a loaded gun and drives to a neighborhood that is NOT his own, a neighborhood that asked him NOT to police it anymore--a neighborhood that he could NOT afford to own a home in....What does he expect to happen? 

When I load my guns, I wait until I arrive at the place, and I expect to hunt animals. Not human beings!

DNA Comparisons From National Geographic Magazine

The July 2013 issue of National Geographic had a really lovely little article on the comparative percentages of DNA that we humans share with other species. I enjoy layout design, and also thought that the information was really interesting.

Oh yes, I used the Zesty Salad Dressing Guy to represent we humans! Did I mention that I am also onery?--did I have to!!!?

Zesty Salad Dressing Guy

I posted this image to the FB page as a jibe against the ridiculously named Million Moms organization's moralistic protestations to it.  What a pack of Mississippi racists, homophobe, troglodytes.  And then some of my friends played the "Oh, I have the vapors!" card of moral offense.  

My beloved cousin wrote: "I actually think these kinds of ads are uncalled for.  Salad dressing is not what they are selling."

Which just goes to show how shallow her understanding of the Ad business is.  And Salad Dressing is exactly what they are selling--muscular, sexy, erotic, zesty motherfucking salad dressing!!!

So in response, I also posted these other images of Zesty Salad Dressing Guy for my FB friends.

And for my fellow dog loving FB friends, I posted this one, too.

Sweet Italian Sausage Meatballs Florentine!

Yes, I just made that up!  And why not?  I made up the dinner, I can make up the name--with appreciation to Catherine de Medici...

Meatballs:

Sweet Italian Sausage
Italian Parmesan Bread Crumbs
1 Egg

Combine and brown in a little olive oil.  Once browned, add a little water and cooking wine and cover to simmer.

Add:

1 Onion
3 Carrots
1 pkg Baby Spinach

Cook 1/2 a box of large Shell Pasta.  When pasta is done, 12 minutes drain in a collander.

Add one container of Alfredo Sauce, I like the Giant store brand, but used Buitoni.  Stir up sauce into the ingredients and then add the pasta and mix it up, too.

No additional salt, pepper or other spices were used in this recipe.

Nelson Mandela, Khulu Tata

Everyone will have something to say about this man when he transitions to Ancestry as he is apparently on the cusp of doing. I cannot imagine a purer soul who has walked the face of this planet in the same time as I have than Nelson Mandela. He went through a crucible of injustice and hatred like so many millions and millions of our fellow human beings all over this planet, but unlike too many of the rest, he came away purified. That is my definition of a saint.

In 1990 I had the great good fortune of living in South Africa for a month. One day my hosts and I traveled to the top of Table Mountain where we had the most amazing view of Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was spending nearly his last month in prison. That was in December of 1990.

In February of 1991, I was baby sitting the son of friends and we were laying on the floor of their living room surrounded by blocks and watching the television together as Nelson Mandela walk free. He was only three and so I'm fairly certain has no memory of that day, but like other touch stones in my life, Neal Armstrong stepping on the moon, the Challenger shuttle explosion, 9/11... I will NEVER forget where I was. 

Ndiya kuthanda, Uhambe kakuhle.

Pride Birthdays and Memorials for the Week ~ June 23rd to June 29th

Random Quote #158

Post Walk Sunshine!

A Walk In A Soggy Sligo Creek Park

 What's that, Romeo?

 A Squirrel!

Rainy Sunday Farmer's Market

Neighborhood Improvements

Went to a neighborhood meeting tonight to see what's up with our hoped for sidewalk and other measures to mitigate traffic passing through the main street in the subdivision. It's 
way past time something happen here.

The meeting was delightful. The plan is presented and appears to be on track. By this time next year sidewalks ...slowly grinds the wheels of democracy!

Wildflowers

Some of the latest flowers blooming along the trail in the park.

 Pokeweed, Phytolacca americana

 Crown Vetch, Securigera varia

 Orange Jewelweed, Impatiens capensis

Pink Knotweed, Polygonum pensylvanicum

What I'm Reading #54

Just finished the 1960 classic Sci Fi novel, "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter M. Miller.  It is a story trapped in time and in the clutches of a Catholic world view.  No question, well, nay--very well--written.  Miller tells a tale of cynicism and abject existentialism wrapped in mindless devotion to Roman Catholicism that ultimately offers nothing redeeming to the world it struggles to survive in.  For the life of me, I can't think of a reason other than a fascinating looking into the heart of an historically hysterical response to a desperate, paranoid era in the not too distant past of world history.

Garden Jewels

While Romeo slept off his day at school.... I watered and found some jewels in my mid-June garden.

 Swamp Milkweed, Asclepias incarnata

 St. John's Wort, Hypericum perforatum

 Firecracker Loosestrife, Lysimachia cilata

 Blackberry, Rubus fructosus

 A volunteer petunia.

My annual favorite: Begonias!

Romeo's Excellent Adventure!

Here he is hanging out in my office at school.  It was bring your dog to work day now that the children are gone, and I would say about 12 to 15 dogs came to school!

But all good things must come to the end.  Someone is ready to go home!

Where someone slept like a rock for 72 hours!  Well, okay, not THAT long.  But I long time.

Port Ugal

The Good Life

Rescued just 10 weeks ago from the streets of San José, Costa Rica.  In this country with me since April 27th, and Romeo is acclimating himself magnificently.

As I sat reading on the deck today, I snapped these pics--post a vigorous morning walk, just in time for a mid-morning nap.

Out Of Death...LIFE!

Last October, a storm whipped through that left my beautiful "wiggly willow" felled and impossible to repair.  In removing it, I gave a few of the piece of the trunk to a wood turner friend of mine and then forget about it.

That is, until Friday, when Tim presented me with this amazing bowl that he created from one of it's remnants.  It is the epitome of his art: organic, true to the wood's natural characteristics, impeccably crafted and finished.  20 years in the making, I can't think of a more fitting memorial to this once magnificent tree.

Pride Birthdays and Memorials for the Week ~ June 16th to June 22nd