wed140508

I've let things slide. A bit.
It's good to let things slide a bit, isn't it?
I think so.

Reasons I've Let Things Slide (a bit), part 3;


A. The allotment is taking up a phenomenal amount of time! So far we've planted; early spuds, radish (red and white), beetroot (red and yellow), black salsify, broad beans, runner beans, american cress, sorrel, onions, tomatoes, nasturtiums, and cabbages. Our windowsills at home are chocked with seedlings of sweetcorn, french beans, and companion-planting marigolds, and on the hall table are chitted late potatoes, all waiting to go in, and I've still got to build the rainwater harvesting gear out of the salvaged scrap I've collected. (Did I mention there's no water supply?) And not to mention our herb kitchen garden planted in supermarket budget storage boxes out back; Sage, thyme, chives, tarragon, sweet basil, rocket, and two mixes of cut-and-come-again lettuces - plain leaf and spicy!

B. We now have a dog! Okay, the previous post was a bit fanciful but now we have a little breathing, eating, yapping, shoe-chewing, real live mutt called Ruby-May (I think). I went for plain May but was out-voted, 3 to 1. May is a better name to call in public than Ruby as it's short and almost sounds like a bark - but what do I know? Pictures to follow, I'm sure...

C. I've joined a Moleskine group. The idea is for everyone involved to get a moleskine sketcher and complete 7 pieces of art and pass it on to the next participant every month. That's 7 drawings in 3 weeks, allowing for posting time! I normally produce about 7 drawings a year. Up until 2 years ago, 7 drawings would have been equal to a lifetime's work! It's intense, but good. Have a gander at the link below to see who's involved and what we're up to.

D. I still have my other commitments like yoga class, life class, and salsa class. I'm worn out, guys!

Sorry about Radio:Fleas. Normal service will be resumed once I listen to the radio again..
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Moleskine-Exchange

fri020508

Family

I come from a nuclear family: Mum knew how to press all the right buttons to make Dad go ballistic. This would be a warning for us kids to hide under the table until given the all-clear though the fall out could go on for several weeks. During this time, we might be forbidden from going outside. Instead we’d play indoor games like Mr. Potato Head. When the potatoes ran out, we’d use the baby.

Ours is an very old family. It goes all the way back to the stone age. Unfortunately, after ten years investigation, we’ve only managed to trace back to Great, Great Uncle Ken, twice removed. Great, Great Uncle Ken, twice removed, it appears, was a brave, brave soldier and was considerably decorated. He fought in the Battle of Wapping Hill in 1843. He fought against Second-cousin Wilfred, three times removed, and Great Aunt Bethel. Ours was a balanced family if nothing else. We never did find out how many times Great Aunt Bethel was removed or what she was doing fighting for the other side. That’s the trouble with genealogy. Everyone’s related to William the Conqueror but no one knows what he had for breakfast the morning after.

Ours became an extended family once we bought the dog. I’m not sure the dog thinks he’s part of the family or we’re a part of the pack. At least you can chose a dog. You can’t choose your family, you’re born into it and that’s that. Some people are adopted but they don’t get a choice. It’s wrong: they should think of the kid. Kids should be allowed to choose their family! They should be allowed to go up to a house and say, ‘’that one!’’, and the family inside can’t do a thing about it. That’s the way it works in biology and that’s the way it should work for adoption. You can take precautions against unwanted adoptions by hiding under the table until the all-clear. Or until the potatoes run out.

But dogs are best. I tried to get my brother to fetch a ball once and he just sat there and said, ‘’yeah? Whatever’’. He’s no fun, even to talk to. He doesn’t even look up when you talk to him, not like the dog! I talk to the dog all the time and he always looks up as if he understands what I’m telling him. He cocks his little head to one side and has this expression which says, ‘’Is it dinnertime, or are we going for a walk?’’ Yeah, whatever.

There are many things in our family, too many for me to remember never mind list, that belong to the family and not one person. There’s the family home, the family car, the family holiday, and the refrigerator. About the only thing that doesn’t belong to the family in our family is my job. The money I get from my job goes to pay for all the family things we have and all the family things we don’t yet have. The money I get is turned over and renamed the family budget. One of the things I like is the family dinner around the family table. More often than not I suggest we sit around the table and enjoy the family. The family prefer to sit around the family television and watch other families. I’m left on my own at the table. Sometimes the dog might come and join me and I talk to him as there is no one else. He listens with that expression on his little face which says, ‘’after you’ve given me half that chop, shall we go for a walk?’’

The word family comes from the same root as familiar. That’s why families are generally good things: they’re familiar places. You don’t have to speak, you don’t have to say I love you every time. You can rely on the goodness of families. Friends may come, and friends may go but families go on and on. I love my old, balanced, nuclear, extended family and I hope they love me. I know the dog does.

(a lunchhour blurt for Sunday Scribblings : Family)
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sunday scribblings

fri250408

I’m very busy right now so this is going to be a rough, quick, unedited thought-post on the subject on the crisis and future of our world. It’s a subject that’s been on my mind recently and one which deserves a lot of serious consideration from everyone; I believe it’s the biggest single issue facing the world – and by that we mean humankind – for a longtime, if not ever! It’s bigger than all the wars, famines, poverties and crimes put together. I wanted to write about this prompt and I’ve given it thought and…

we’re all gonna die!!!

That’s inevitable really, isn’t it? I don’t know if it is a problem if we all go together, at once. It seems death is a bummer when we go off individually over time. It’s the separation of loved ones which is cause for grief. Is the planet itself worth saving then? Well, as a work in progress it isn’t perfect. I don’t know if this justifies destruction – some bits are just fine. In fact, I don’t know if it isn’t all just fine: it’s a miracle that it works at all yet everywhere you turn, there’s a micro-device in operation which keeps the whole thing turning, safe and secure, the ozone layer, the magnetic core, the weather-cycles, and the little bugs that save us in War of the Worlds. Yeah, it’s worth keeping, isn’t it? And we better be there to save it!

I’ve accidently come across a bit of Gaia theory and Gandhian philosophy recently. I feel like I’ve written about this before but I don’t mind because, hey, recycling is good. I’m not sure about the Gaia theory though, but if the pagans were ever found shorthanded I wouldn’t mind helping out. I am a freelance believer, whatever sounds good is worth a shot no matter where it comes from. Gandhi says, ''Be the change you wish to see in the world''. He didn’t do commandments as such but, if he did, that would be a pretty good one to follow. One of the main manifestations of this wisdom is in the belief in non-violence. Wars, torture, capital punishment never got us anywhere but more wars, torture and murder. On a more abstract level, this includes non-violent attitudes towards our beloved home, Planet Earth. Or, for the more spiritual, Mother Nature. Or, if you like, Gaia. This isn’t a worship thing as such, I believe, but a loving thing, an interdependence, respect! On a personal level, this allows each and every one of us to live a life and be the change you wish to see everywhere!

Currently I’ve gotten into this in a small way but already I sense it’s quite compulsive once you get going. Caring for the planet means I’ve started to grow my own food – fruit and vegetables, like - so I have some control as to how they're made for the plate. I also absolutely refuse a plastic bag when shopping, and I’ve almost stopped buying new books and CDs. On a daily basis I’ve thought about what I’m doing when I’m doing normally unconscious things. Like I now turn off the water while I’m actually brushing my teeth. I’ve shaved my head so I don’t need shampoo and/or conditioner, and I’ve started using both sides of the toilet paper.

Seriously, I urge every one to think about what they do and to ask ourselves if we shouldn’t change our little habits in the hope that everyone will notice that everyone is doing the same and, hopefully, the world – meaning us, mankind! – will change and be diverted from the path of destruction. I believe this will happen, but it is better if it happens with our co-operation and blessing rather than our collective grudges.

Remember: Be the change you wish to see. Stick it on your fridge door!

(for Sunday Scribblings : the Future of the Planet)
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Gaia theory
a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi
sunday scribblings

sun200408

As a kid growing up, finding out about pop, I, like many of my peers, had to suffer the ridicule of my elders. Comments mainly along the lines of ''...what are they going on about?! I can't understand a single bloody word!'' Well, as a statement of opinion it was really hard to argue against. If we ever found out what the lyrics actually were, they often proved banal or idiotic beyond belief. But that wasn't the point. Looking back, I believe it was a good apprenticeship for unusual music appreciation. Now I enjoy all sorts of songs where I don't stand a chance of knowing what's going on and it doesn't matter.

I almost missed doing Radio:Fleas for a second week running. I told myself I hadn't the time. Apart from Johnny, I haven't a clue if anyone bothers playing the selections. But that isn't the point. I like doing it, it makes me listen to music rather than just hear it and, I like doing it. So, I did it.

The links can be a bit tedious, often there aren't any decent pointers. Anyway, have a look at the Acholi forum link below, call it an out-take bonus. They're asking for a translation but I expect he's only saying, Girl, put down your pot and I'll show you a good time! I read recently that Africans can't understand the white western attitude of protesting, ''...but I can't dance, I can't sing!'' They reckon if a guy can walk and talk, then surely he can dance and sing. I think they're right, and this video says it all.
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very nice kinyankole kinyarwanda video

fri180408

Compose?

The first thing I'll always do is head over to the dictionary to find out what I can write about without appearing the fool. There’s no guarantee that it works but it begins to steady my nerve. So, there are eleven definitions for compose in dictionary.com; the first six basically say the same, ''put things together, make nice thing''. The seventh and eighth seem to say something different; to bring oneself to be calm, at peace, collected, balance, in harmony. But, when you think about it, that is saying the same as the first six, ''be nice thing''. The last three are merely examples of the first six; make nice words, make nice picture, make nice sound. So, if we composed a new simpler dictionary we could – simply - put, Compose (v); Make thing(s) nice. Dictionaries are deliberately confusing, aren’t they?

The second step is to try and think of something to write about. Usually, the best way is to ask some random question, like; Is it important to be composed in order to compose? I find I never know the answer and I wonder why I didn’t ask an easier question, fool! Like I do know that when you hit the right buttons in a certain order, you feel the composition is right, and the right composition makes you feel composed. It’s mutual symbiosis. That’s why creativity is important, it creates composure.

But what about the shock of art, where does that come in? There’s an ancient Cornish saying you may have heard, ''man can never surf the same wave twice''. Composure is a moving target. Take kitten pics. The first one you ever saw, you’re reaction was probably, aah! The second, he-he! The third, hmmmm. The fourth…well, sometime beyond now you’re seeing kittens but you’re definitely thinking dog. Big, big dog. With disproportionately large, and bloody teeth! This is your mind telling you your composure is heading for the red zone. Next take horror movies. Like me, the first you probably watched from behind the sofa, the second from behind a cushion, the third behind a vacant expression and the fourth you don’t see at all because you dozed off and are dreaming about kittens putting their paws in the air in surrender or carrying wee buckets of milk through the kitchen. Condition orange! Shock art is just to make sure the crosshairs are still searching for the correct target, a necessary re-evaluation. And believe me there’s nothing more shocking than looking at endless kitten images.

The final step in composing is to remove all the unnecessary bits; the verbosity, the irrelevant, the rambling, the repetition, etc. etc. However, as this is an example of the process involved, I won’t do this. And as you have no idea normally what I write about in the first place, I’ll tell you I never bother anyway. I mean, sometimes you can crop all the life out of a picture trying to get it right. And then, as my old English teacher used to say, every composition should have a beginning, a middle, and an end, so consider this

the end.

(for sunday scribblings : compose)
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aw, cute! quick, show me another - the random kitten generator
hilarious 1970 horror movie trailers
sunday scribblings

mon140408

I've spent the last two days living on a different planet. The sun was shining and the air smelt sweet and good. I have the beginnings of a farmer's tan, I am knackered, and it feels okay.

Most of the time was spent dismantling our old but perfectly useable shed and transporting it to the allotment. We did this in several trips; two car loads delivered most of the components but the front and back wouldn't fit in so, after exhausting all the possibilities - find someone with a van/trailer, borrow a roof rack, strap it to the car roof without a roof rack - we decided to hell with it and walked with them along the road from house to allotment, a journey of no more than ten minutes - twice!

The next morning I reconstructed the beast on the top right-hand corner of ''our land'', the earth being levelled and beaten flat and firm, firstly by the flat end of a spade, and then by shear human weight, intensified by freestyle pogo and line-dancing moves. I was pleasantly surprised the shed went up easier than it came down - the earth-gods are on our side! After lunch I cleared away the mess of crap left by the previous tenant, and arranged all our water barrels on plinths, next to the shed, and the compost bins next to them. The next job will be to fix up a rainwater gutter to collect the precious water that will fill our barrels but, so far, it looks good. While I did this, the missus sowed our first crops so we look every bit in business.

Unfortunately, I didn't spare a thought for this blog and neglected both radio:fleas and Sunday Scribbling. Hopefully, I'll get around to all the Scribblers later today but the radio will have to take a week off. To be honest, I didn't hear anything interesting enough to put on it anyway. It was a pretty dull week for internet radio.

fri110408

I was born with fear. It was a gift. I'm a survivor; it’s why I’m still here.

As soon as I was aware of myself, I realised I had picked up two fears, origins unknown, of creepy-crawlies and excessive heights. The first, I surmised, was inherited from my mother, the last, I knew, I got from my vertiginous father. It took a while but, after many sessions of self-devised cognitive therapy, I almost, but not entirely, conquered my fear of both! See, you never truly banish the fear, rather the bravado builds up and overwhelms it. And the bravado itself is merely another fear; a lamb dressed in wolf’s clothing. There will always be fear, and fear is good.

I read that researchers have recently concluded that in 98.7% of decision making, a hunch will succeed over analysis. The more you think about a problem – the pitfalls – the less likely you’ll make the right choice. What has this got to do with fear? Well, fear is involved in both processes. Our gut instinct may make us recoil, we don’t always know why. Or analysis may make us invent troubles which are not there. When I saw the prompt I instantly knew what I didn’t want to write about – inhibition, disability. Prejudice! Fear has become pejorative when it is prejudice that is the villain. Unnatural fear, acquired fear, learned fear. ‘’We have nothing to fear but fear itself!’’ Nearly everyone learns along the way what a bad guy fear is. But is it really?

Fear makes me vigilant. I still go down the wrong end of town but my money is now hidden in my shoes. Fear keeps my hand on the wheel, my feet on the ground – or on the rungs of a high ladder. And fear gives me exhilaration! What’s the point of going on the rollercoasters if you’re unafraid? Is there much point to a life without fear?

Unconsciously, fear makes me feel, it gives me compassion, it tells me I care, it gives me purpose. Fear is the survivor’s gift, with it we are prepared to run, to live another day, or maybe stand and fight for what’s right, and for what we might lose. Fear keeps us alive and, eventually, and inevitably, it will, quite literally, save our world.

(whimsical musings on a prompt for Sunday Scribblings : Fearless)
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sunday scribblings