|
|
|
June 8th, 2009
07:15 pm - specialized in chemical terminology to denote the first of a series of compounds
Fauxhawk is getting too long and falling flat. As soon as I can fit 5 little beads on a lock of hair I'm buzzing and bleaching the shit out of the whole damn thing. Gotta anyway - that is my typical summer hairdo.
Speaking of summer, I may have missed the AHA con, but I recently found out that the writing retreat just happened to be scheduled for the one week left before I start my summer job - so I can go. Went to a Humanist Creative Arts Circle mtg recently and got some great input on a crucial chapter in my novel "Worhipping Chaos." Also, I'm back on my online writing workshop, doing reviews and have posted the re-write of that chapter for criticism.
Meethinks Notacat thinks he/she is at a dance club. Tonight we listen to Afro-pop music on KEXP's livestream. Boogie down proto-baby.
Current Music: Neko Case - "South Tacoma Way"
|
May 27th, 2009
07:49 pm - Don't grumble, give a whistle
First, I wrote in my "real" blog yesterday. Read it here.
Second, I will be exhibiting at the Highwire Gallery in a group exhibition with the Northwest Artists Collective June 5-28. The piece selected for this show is "Girl In Red Dress", a never exhibited before 18" x 36" color woodcut completed last year while fullfilling a residency at Artcroft in Carlisle, Kentucky.
Opening Reception is Friday, June 5, 5-9pm. Highwire's address is 2040 Frankford Ave., Philadelphia, PA. (But I won't be there 'cause I'll be in Phoenix, AZ at the AHA conference.)
Link to the flyer and more info.
|
April 3rd, 2009
10:59 am - And my hustle is trying to figure out the best ways to do what I like without having to do much else
Just watched Mos Def and Christopher Hitchens arguing about al-Quaeda.
It was slightly entertaining and certainly interesting to see that conversation. But I found myself wanting to hear what the conversation would turn out to be if they hadn't been permitting to talk all over each other like that and had a proper moderator to force each of them to clarify what they were trying to stay and refrain from ad hom attacks.
At the end, I found myself wondering the answer to Mos Def's question - what are the political objectives of al-Quaeda. Wikipedia's entry describes their objectives neatly in one sentence: "Al-Qaeda's objectives include the end of foreign influence in Muslim countries and the creation of a new Islamic caliphate." But that by itself is too abstract, especially for someone like me who is from the West and unfamiliar with the specifics of Islamic culture and history. Like most Westerners, I suspect because of what I hear in the news that al-Quaeda is dangerous and should be fought against. But like Mos Def, I'm also skeptical of Western media bias. I've heard interviews from journalists who are convinced that Osama bin Ladin is long dead, and others who think that's preposterous. Bin Laden is a bit of a ghostly figure at this point. I have no doubt that he was and maybe still is a leader of al-Quaeda, but any specifics get fuzzy and whenever I do hear thoughtful reports on various news sources, they contradict in their details other news reports which sounds thoughtful and reliable.
I actually do have some of an opinion about al-Quaeda which is quite harsh (harsh enough that I can say with confidence that I'll like to see the whole movement destroyed and disbanded) but I realize that my reasons for taking this stance is not because I view al-Quaeda as a danger to the West or because it is a religious extremist group or Islamic. It is mostly because of two personal experiences I had: the first watching a film called "Osama" about a little girl in Afghanistan whose mother dressed her as a boy so she could work and make income for the family (all women) to subsist on. This was because women were not permitted to work or even walk the streets alone, so they would have starved otherwise. The little girl is eventually caught and horrific things happen to her. I read an interview with the filmmaker - an Afghani. He had escaped Afghanistan before it was completely taken over by the Taliban, and then relied on not only news, but messages from people he knew who were still there. He based the story in his film on those stories. The other experienced which has most profoundly shaped by view of al-Quaeda was a speaker from Pakistan at the World Humanist Conference last year, who also shared his personal experiences. To sum up - my opinion about al-Quaeda is most shaped by what I've heard from non-Westerners who have lived in those parts of the world most impacted by al-Quaeda, and I suppose this is because I don't really trust news about foreign "enemies" either.
It isn't even that I think the media is deliberately lying, but rather, I suspect that like me, they are biased and blinded by their own cultural difference and so fail to understand what is really going on. Even if I have some vague notions which include concluding that al-Quaeda should go down, I also think that al-Quaeda will be most effectively beaten by an adversary which understands it from the inside out, rather than an enemey which merely demonizes it and ignores the history which lead up to its formation. I mean, I'm sorry, but just a glance at the encyclopedia recent history of Afghanistan alone shows that the basis for Islamic suspicion and hatred of the West is legit. Just because it has culturally morphed into extremist religious justifications for terrorism doesn't mean the roots weren't rational. Mos Def didn't have the time to get to the heart of his skepticism (and wasn't able to in the context of such a short segment and with such hostility coming from Christopher Hitchens who was clearly on one mind and quite condescending toward opposing views) but I found Mos Def's skepticism (he wasn't defending al-Quaeda, he was merely rejecting the mainstream Western view on them) refreshing and would have liked to see a more in-depth conversation about the issue.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/purplelemon/sassips/calm.gif) calm
Current Music: "Where Do Ideas Come From" - Ze Frank
|
April 2nd, 2009
10:40 pm - Do these pants look okay?
And now, in addition to feeling better, I wrote in my Humanist Mom blog
Current Music: running bath water
|
March 27th, 2009
07:38 pm - mad as hell
I lost lots of income from September-December of 2008 because of city-wide cuts to anti-truancy programs that the Mural Arts program that I work for was serving. I currently am teaching through Mural Arts again, but not truants because we couldn't find any anti-truancy after school programs to offer our arts education classes to. Instead I'm teaching kids at a charter school who volunteer to take my class. Basically I went from helping reduce truancy and mentoring kids who were starting to slip through the cracks in the system to being a basic after school art teacher. And then today, I heard on the radio...
Dear Editor,
This letter is in response to the March 26 article "Council votes to fine truants' parents"
Councilman Greenlee says of the new fine for truancy, "The idea of this is not to be punitive but to get the parents' attention, that their kids are sometimes not going to school," Get the parents attention? Isn't it the job of any school to contact the parents immediately when the kids don't show up? If not, then first the schools need to be held responsible for not notifying parents.
And not punitive? On television reports, people on the street clearly are expressing an attitude that this problem of truancy is the fault of parents, even if often it is not. These parents are getting labeled as "bad parents" and that doesn't help anything. Also, how "mild" the fine is is dependent on how much a family is struggling financially. A $25. fine hurts families who are on a tight budget - that could be a month's worth of gas for the car or a week of groceries. And $300 is over a third of a month's income for someone who works full time on minimum wage! How are single-income families already struggling financially supposed to cope with teenagers who skip school?
This measure is ridiculous. Just another way for the city to bring in desperately needed funds without regard to the people who are hurting the most these days. And how dare they claim to be doing everything they can to reduce truancy when they cut city-wide anti-truancy programs in the fall of last year!
Martha Knox
Teaching Artist and Resident of Germantown
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/purplelemon/sassips/mad.gif) angry
|
March 19th, 2009
06:32 pm - A dog owns nothing, yet is seldom dissatisfied.
Hurrah! I have developed a recipe for whole wheat, vegan Irish Soda bread that tastes awesome!!! One of the many recipes I plan to be able to hand down to my kids. Those of you with bread makers try this out:
Marf's Irish Soda Bread:
1 1/3 tb Vegetable oil
1 1/3 c Soy milk
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 1/2 c Bread flour
1 1/2 c Whole wheat flour
1 1/3 ts Salt
1/2 c Raisins
1 1/3 ts Baking soda
1 tb Caraway seeds
1.5 ts sugar
2 ts Yeast
Cook in bread maker set for whole wheat, 1.5 lb. (or large) loaf
Had to make it vegan to counteract the corned beef and cabbage. Heh heh. Happy St. Patty's Day!
|
03:59 pm - Bigoted clerks in PA blocking non-religous couples and clergy from having personalized ceremonies
The latest on marriage for nonreligious folks in PA
And my email to the ACLU:
I am a Humanist celebrant in Pennsylvania and I just read this article in the Inquirer about the marriage controversy:
I've read a couple stories before about this issue and I've tried to get information from various sources about how this might impact me as a celebrant and the couples whose weddings I legally officiate. I am certified by the Humanist Society www.humanist-society.org which is not an online church like the Universal Life Church, but we are non-theistic and often advertise our services as "secular" ceremonies. Technically I could be said to have a "congregation" since I'm a member of the Humanist Association of Greater Philadelphia www.hagp.org, but our organization is explicitly not religious (we are secular humanists) and we do not have a building.
Should I be warning couples who come to me to officiate their wedding that the legality might be questioned in the future? Should I warn the couples whose wedding I have officiated in the past few years? Also, I often advise couples looking for a secular but meaningful ceremony to apply for a self-uniting license and I have officiated one wedding by a couple who chose to apply for such a license and did so successfully even though they are non-religious. I don't see how the state can question people about their religious affiliation and deny that type of license to people who are not Quaker or Ba'hai. That is simply outrageous to me and clearly religious discrimination. But at the same time, I also understand that most couples are not going to want to deal with possible legal obstacles and if they feel discriminated against they will just accept that bigotry and make alternative arrangements for their weddings. I am disgusted by this controversy and want to help in any way I can keep legal marriage religiously-neutral in PA.
Please let me know if ACLU lawyers feel if Humanist celebrants such as myself in PA should be concerned about being discriminated against as not proper clergy. I want to make sure that I'm being completely ethical and honest with the couples I serve. Also, let me know if there is anything I can do as a celebrant to oppose the bigotry being exhibited by some clerks in PA against nonreligious couples, clergy, and the Universal Life Church.
Be well,
Martha Knox
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/purplelemon/sassips/cranky.gif) aggravated
|
March 16th, 2009
07:18 pm - 7 layer burritos at Taco Bell rock
Overcame my fear of needles enough to get my blood drawn today and then got to hear notacat's heartbeat for the first time. Pretty cool.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/purplelemon/sassips/accomplished.gif) accomplished
|
February 28th, 2009
12:11 pm - just like fruit falls from a tree after ripening
Will sent me this yesterday:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/27/jonathan-krohn-13-year-ol_n_170642.html
It is about a 13 year old conservative pundit who wrote a book and spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
I listened. What the kid said could be summarized as this: Conservativism is based on four categories of values: -respecting the constitution -respecting life -less government -personal responsibility That's it. Four vague and general platitudes being emphasized. Some liberal pundit could give the same speech replacing "conservative" with "liberal" and "Republican" with "Democrat" and throw out four equally random stated liberal "values", such as: -respecting the constitution -protecting civil liberties -government which balances power -social responsibility Equally nice-sounding and also meaningless on their own without the typical associations and further explanation. They are merely rhetoric.
Certain phrases only mean something because there are policies associated with them. Everybody knows that when a self-declared conservative says "respect life" they mean that they are anti-abortion, but that doesn't get to the value of why they are against legal abortion because those reasons vary. And when a liberal says "respect the constitution" they mean different things than when a conservative makes the same statement because there are differences in interpretation and emphasis. Nobody says things like Ignore the constitution! Piss on life! Civil liberties are stupid! I'm sure this kid has a great future career as a politician or pundit, because he has the qualities which are necessary both: the ability to assertively and charismaticly present himself in a way that makes it seem like he knows what he's talking about. But I doubt this is going to be any great political thinker. Oh, and Will also sent me this: Here is some monkey poop because it is funny. 
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/purplelemon/sassips/content.gif) mellow
|
January 7th, 2009
12:03 am - so this how the West was won? This is how things get done.
Inventory of 2008 New Year's Resolutions:
SUCCESS: Go out to eat (including fast food and ordering in) no more than once a week
SUCCESS: Apply for at least 6 grants (NOTE: all rejected)
SUCCESS: Apply to at least 6 residencies (NOTE: got one - Artcroft in Kentucky in September)
FAIL: Spend at least 6 hours a week in the studio (NOTE: I am so lame)
FAIL: Exercise an average of 5 days a week at least (NOTE: Kept it up January through mid-March, totally slacked off April-June, and then picked it up again in late July.)
FAIL: Finish the 7th and final draft of The Cousins of Sede and begin marketing it to agents
TOTAL FAIL: Finish the first draft of Worshipping Chaos (NOTE: I wrote about 25% more. Still about 50% to go)
2009 New Year's Resolutions:
Create a brochure for my art, create a list of at least 100 potential commercial galleries, and begin soliciting
Eat vegetarian at least 6 days a week
Exercise regularly every week
Finish the 7th and final draft of The Cousins of Sede and begin marketing it to agents
Finish the first draft of Worshipping Chaos
*waiting*
Current Music: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - "I Don't Know Where I'm Going"
|
December 19th, 2008
06:14 pm - turning once attractive bits of property into smarmy, single-subject cartoons
For some reason I'm not feeling my usual level of disgust with the holiday season, nor am I feeling my normal level of gooshy sentimentality about it. Either my past feelings have been made more intense in my memory or I'm just going numb and bored
I am enjoying the growing collection of holiday cards on my mantle.
I'm now two weeks away from adding:
"finishing final edits to my first novel then marketing to agents"
and
"finishing the first draft of my second novel"
to my New Year resolutions for the 3rd year in a row.
Lame.
*madly trying to finish the final draft of "The Cousins of Sede."
Current Music: "Vagina in the Sky" - The Tiger Lillies
|
December 16th, 2008
09:48 pm - nothing is worth more than this day
Give me the money that has been spent in war and I will clothe every man, woman, and child in an attire of which kings and queens will be proud. I will build a schoolhouse in every valley over the whole earth. I will crown every hillside with a place of worship consecrated to peace.
~Charles Sumner
Current Music: "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" - John Lennon and Yoko Ono
|
December 4th, 2008
11:28 pm - the name for any woman under thirty who is not actively employed in a brothel
I haven't been writing because I was out of town and have soooo much work to do on the computer that when I'm not working I get away from the computer.
I need to read more.
The latest Happy Human is out.
Thank Sagan.
PhillyCOR is putting up a secular holiday display, and we're still working out the details.
PhillyCOR is hosting a big HumanLight/Winter Solstice party. Much mailing to do.
HAGP's website needs some serious work.
It is the holidays.
Sunday I'm hosting the holiday party for the Women's Caucus for Art.
I do not feel like decorating.
Or writing in my real blog for that matter.
*sigh*
|
November 19th, 2008
11:49 am - It's like the good old Golgi silver stain, only in technicolor.
Fox News started reporting on the nontheistic billboards which are going up in Colorado early. In order to have an image of the billboard, they used the one from Philly, which has the www.phillycor.org website on it.
We've been getting many calls and emails, and I have to intercept them all. Most are positive, which is good since due to my migraines I've been really sensitive lately.
Here is the worst by far. This guy used the volunteer form, I assume because he didn't want us to have his email address or phone number:
Your Name: Fuck you
Your Email Address: NO TO NAZI ORGANIZATIONS.com
Address: Rot in Hell you fucking NAZI
Phone Number: 666-666-666
Area(s) of Interest: Please Choose:
Other: More than half of your organization has been molested or raped have mental issues and are products of inbreeding.
Skills: Your pictures look like an organized church. teach children choice not forcing atheism upon them. Your group is money mongering faggots
What compels a person to get this upset about other people simply questioning or disagreeing with beliefs about things which cannot be known for sure one way or another? I mean, sure, I sometimes get a little icky or annoyed feeling when I pass a billboard promoting religion, but that is usually when I'm already in a bad mood, and I'd never think to actually contact the organization, much less call them Nazis and faggots and accuse them of being inbred, molested or otherwise abused.
I feel bad for this guy. I feel bad for all the people who respond to PhillyCoR and the AHA in this manner - and there have been a few. I think they hurt a lot. I don't know why, and I won't pretend to understand or empathize with them. I just feel generally bad that they find it so hard to live in a world with doctrinal diversity.
And on a happier note - and I get to see PZ today! http://hagp.blogspot.com/
Woo hoo!
Current Music: "Kyrie" - Devi
|
November 3rd, 2008
07:50 pm - Whoaaaaaaaaaaa
Boy am I late with this next post. I'm so lazy. Lazy lazy lazy. Ironic considering the topic of this post. *smirk*
A Graph of the Heart
Current Music: Justin Hinds and the Dominoes - "After a Storm"
|
October 17th, 2008
11:38 pm - Till souls wax fair as earth and air
I finally did it - I added a new post to Humanist Mom: The Universality of Blue Skies and War.
It is now nearly midnight and I have to get up tomorrow for an early meeting. I hope you're happy.
Current Music: Ray Charles - "America the Beautiful"
|
October 16th, 2008
02:26 am - Alone I am with a colorless memory
So I lost the essay contest. But it's cool, because the Humanist Network News just posted the essay by the first of three winners, and he has a nifty blog that I now know about (I can't believe how many secular parenting blogs are out there now - it's awesome!) and can link to my blog.
You know, the blog I've neglected for the past 10 days. I was really busy this week. Really! I needed to sit in the tub, sipping tea, and reading fantasy fiction for 4 hours last night. That was important! I'll write in it tomorrow. I promise.
Oh yeah, and I never posted that print with the sunflower and fetus (titled "Uprooted") and such that I made at the residency. Here it is.
And here are the other two I made at Artcroft, "Sunlit Tomato" and "Girl in Red Dress."
Currently I'm making a small print of a sheep and butternut squash.
Tee hee.
Current Music: "Cada Beijo" - Bebel Gilberto
|
October 14th, 2008
08:42 pm - that lay intensely silent under old great trees
I'm having a hard time writing my next "serious" blog essay. I have an outline, and I could easily do it right now - it is only 8:45, and yet I really am just not feelin' it. Probably just lazy.
Current Music: "Breath In" - Frou Frou
|
October 10th, 2008
11:23 pm - Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower
Will and I are taking Tango lessons again. We'd been talking about it forever. Hopefully we'll be pretty good in time for my brother's wedding in January, and we can do more than bob and sway on the dance floor.
So I'm all about autumn right now. Dude, check out my mums!
When I left for Kentucky at the end of August, they were barely starting to bud, and a month later I came home to this gorgeousness! These babies were planted last autumn, and they survived the winter to bloom even bigger and brighter this year!
I bought a pumpkin, which later this month will be turned into both a Jack-o-lantern and soup. I also bought some decorative corn for the porch and gourds for the house. This season is just beautiful. Orange is my favorite color.
Current Music: "Inner Soul" - Bah Samba
|
October 9th, 2008
09:08 am - Baka þig, meðan eldurinn brennur (Bake while the fire burns)
I'm showing at a brewery and a church at the same time.
Why am I suddenly reminded of the Simpson's Movie?
Then I'm showing at Philadelphia's City Hall again for "The Green Exhibition" starting the end of October, and it'll be up for 3 months.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/purplelemon/sassips/tired.gif) lethargic
Current Music: BBC News
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
janeorben's journal
