It’s been a strange few weeks around here with the insect observation. I’ve had a rather intimidating sized spider living above our door, her three foot web strung tightly between the palm and the grapefruit tree. I’ve left her alone because I am weary of the mosquitos. She could easily straddle a half dollar.
Tonight, we noticed a three-inch-long green dragonfly by the outside lamp. Dragonflies also eat mosquitos, and their larvae eat mosquito larvae. Crazy, eh? Look at those wings!
I wrote the email below because I am tired of receiving ridiculous emails regarding Obama. There seems to be quite the dirty smear campaign going on. I decided to send this email to the offenders in the hopes that they will do a little fact checking instead of clicking the forward button. Feel free to copy and edit the text for your own use.
Dear Friends and Family,
This is a very exciting election year; I am watching the presidential election closely.
As of this moment, I have not decided for whom I will vote.I have watched most of the Democratic National Convention, and I plan on watching a fair amount of the Republican National Convention.I want to hear what the candidates have to say.I want to hear the content of their speeches and the those of their supporters.I am hardly at all interested in the mostly biased and shallow commentary by the “news” reporters on television.Most of what we hear on television is actually speculation and opinion.
I am certainly not interested in forwarded emails that are formulated of heresy and slander about either candidate.I do not want to read anything that has to do with smearing the name of your candidate’s opponent.
I would be interested in your own personal emails about why you would like me to consider your choice for presidential office.Perhaps his character, past work/government experience, or vice presidential choice might be excellent talking points for you.Might I suggest visiting your candidate’s website for more suggestions?
Here are both candidates’ official websites listed in alphabetical order by last name:
(I have included these links because I have received a lot of smear emails against Obama in particular. I find them offensive because they are not accurate, and that makes me want to defend him.)
It’s funny the strange phrases one remembers from junior high.
Last week, as I was watering my garden, there was movement under the chard as something rather large struggled to avoid getting soused. I thought at first it must’ve been a mouse or lizard even though I have never seen a mouse at my house nor a lizard of that size, but a rather large moth started crawling up the wall. It was bigger than my lens cap, and the beautiful pink markings made me grab my camera.
Ahhh…out of town…it was so nice to get out of the heat, and even better that David went too. We had a wonderful time. We stopped at the Rock Springs Cafe both on the way up and back. In Prescott we stayed in a little B&B called the Gurley Street Lodge. The owner’s wife was an artist, and I was able to spend quite a bit of time talking to her about art. That was encouraging. We walked around town, shopped, drank beer, watched the clog dancers, and hung out in The Raven.
This is the cabin in which we stayed. Full kitchen, two bedroom, nice and clean. The weather was amazing; on our drive up, it was pouring rain.
You know you want some world famous whisky pecan pie. You do.
David wanted a red cream soda, but we didn’t have any cash. The minimum for debit was ten dollars, so I bought some local orange blossom honey. Mmmmm…
The Raven serves local and organic food whenever possible. I had a salad and soup as well as an iced americano here. They have lots of art on the walls and support the music scene as well. David and I hung out here for a few hours. I read a book about photography, and he read one about a journalist traveling to China.
And how many coffee shops in your neighborhood have the awesomeness that is this?
Earlier this summer, Aimee, Stephanie, Ryan and I traveled down to Tucson to get out of town. The heat was inescapable as Tucson has relatively the same temperature as Phoenix, but it does have an interesting artsy, indie, hippie culture which is an oasis in itself. In the downtown fourth avenue area, we ate at a vegetarian restaurant with a morroccan theme for lunch, purused the books at a liberal bookstore, and drank coffee at a stand with a back patio. I watched the three others pick up mesquite pods from the dirty sidewalk in front of where we parked; they intended to make flour from the pods, but Stephanie said they went bad after a couple of forgotten weeks in the car. We also picked up native Arizonan seeds from the Native Seed Search store. We finished the day trip with a visit to a local coffee roaster where Aimee managed to talk the owner into buying all of our drinks, and we ate dinner at the Korean restaurant next door. And we played “Hinky-Pinky” for about a full dirty hour on the return drive.
There is an exhibit being planned in the Pie Braggs Factory, opening October First Friday (October 3rd, 2008).
The theme is: Mysterious: simultaneously arousing wonder and inquisitiveness The photographs do not need to be Halloween themed. They do need an air of mystery.
If you have photographs you would like to be considered, please contact the curator: mysteriousexhibit@gmail.com Please send along your artist resume/bio including a list of all exhibits and publications, as well as links to photographs you are submitting.
This is open to Phoenix based photographers only. It is a local exhibit.
So, Steph gave me a hear time because I hadn’t updated in awhile. Meanwhile, her blog hasn’t gotten any action in over a month. Not that I’m saying…okay, I’m saying it. Pot…kettle.
I have been doing my best to survive the summer. In case anyone was wondering, it’s still really hot here. Somedays, it’s a bit humid. Not Tennessee humid, but humid. Supposedly, the monsoons are around. Somewhere. I think it rained once.
I realized the other day that I live in a pretty diverse area. Within a mile of my home is a Jewish Community Center, a Seventh Day Adventist Church, a Korean Church (Presbyterian I believe), a Jehovah’s Witness building (not sure what they call those), a Lutheran church, an Episcopalian church, and the Mosque is nearly ready to open. They said it would be ready in time for Ramadan. I am really excited because I can see the dome in the view from my bedroom, and they are going to paint it gold.
It’s about time somebody around here decorated something. Thanks local Muslim congregation! Perhaps it’s the artist in me, but I love love love religious buildings. We need more creative spiritual beautiful inspirational spaces to be in.
In other news, I am working on two projects for hire. One is a wooden dragon set from China. Another patient at the chiropractor’s overheard me talking about art, and said he had bought the set for over his door, but it was unfinished wood. So…it rode home on my vespa on day to be painted. Not sure if I want to paint the two dragons identically (I like mirror images) or just have them “go”.
The other project is a large painting to go over someone’s couch. She gave me a swatch of fabric with colors that she likes, and a picture of another painting she liked and asked me to use it as a jumping off point. So we shall see what comes to pass.
I’m also giving a temporary home to my friend Alyssa’s shiba inu dog. His name is Kishu, and he lives downstairs. Peter bossed Kishu around when he first arrived, but the other two cats have been chased upstairs.
I am also planning on going to the scooter rally in Flagstaff next month. Yay for scooter rallys. Rallies? I have no idea what people do at these things, but I plan on going with a group of other scooter enthusiasts. And hopefully some of my friends. And hopefully, I won’t be a big dork with my helmet and jacket. Safety first though, right?
Below is a picture of just how awesome trampoline are because of how they make us feel. Hooray for trampolines! And hooray for MacIntyre’s and Schroeders!
Part of “living green” is reducing consumption. This may include gasoline, paper products, or materialism. One thing I try to focus on in my own life is reduce my consumption of plastic. Plastic may be recyclable, but it takes a lot of energy to do so. (I also believe the recycled plastic may not be used for food containers. Correct me if I’m wrong).
I’ve started to slowly replace the liquid soap pumps around my house with glass or porcelein soap dishes. The reduction of plastic is two-fold. First, there is no longer the pumps themselves which eventually break and must be thrown into the trash. Second, the refill bottle is no longer part of the cycle either. Thirdly, (I just thought of this one) the soap bars I am using are more natural products themselves and do not contain petroleum products. Yay!
I love the way the light hits this dish. This happened to be the only one I bought new. The rest I have purchased at thrift stores.
It’s really hot outside. I’m certainly not complaining (although I wish it were seventy or eighty degrees), but it’s given me sympathy for those who walk and bike and bus. I try not to go out in the middle of the day, but I had to meet my knitting group at six this evening, and sweat was dripping down my face. And my jacket needs a good washing and deodorizing on the interior if you know what I mean.
I did expect this heat, but I am happy to do my part to downsize.
Chandler City Council Chambers/Downtown Library 2nd Floor
Help shape Chandler’s transportation future. What direction should we take? What should our priorities be? Wider streets and intersection? Improved pedestrian walkways? More bicycle lanes? Urban trails? Light rail, trains, buses?
Congrats to Sean and Bekah. Sean just recently graduated with his Master’s in Clinical Psychology, and Bekah is soon going to be a Rabbi! Woot!
Both have worked very hard for many years, and I am proud to call both friends. They recently visited Phoenix to celebrate with their friends and family barbeque style. Later in the week, we had dinner at Pita Jungle and visted the almighty Golden Spoon.
Just sold my car. I’m pretty nervous about managing without one, but everything has been moving towards this moment: books, thoughts, inclinations, people, phone calls, gas prices…
Woot! This is really exciting news. Some friends of mine have cars that run on biodiesel, and I know that it is inconvienient to collect and process one’s own grease. Having a local source for already converted oil will be a huge step for those who have been considering the switch. It sounds as though it will be at a much lower cost than traditional diesel as well.
More and more alternatives to traditional fuel will be a better solution than one. In other words, we can’t all switch to one other type of fuel–we need diversity. A community that has a strong mass transit system combined with telecommuting, biking, electric and algae fueled cars, motorcycles, and transportation options that haven’t been invented yet are a better solution than simply processing mass quantities of corn and soy for fuel.
Growing food like we have been is not sustainable and is poisoning our water and land. We need to return to closed system farming that recycles the waste of animals into fertilizer for the crops. Farms like Polyface Farms in Vermont are an example of the types of farms we need to support as consumers. I know here in Arizona we have access to CSA’s and local farms like Crooked Sky Farms and Tonopah Rob’s Farm from which we can buy our produce.
If you aren’t able to garden yourself, I recommend joining a local CSA or finding out how you can buy produce at a farmer’s market.
One of David’s brothers, Thomas, stayed with us for a few days in April. I tried to get a nice picture of the two of them before Thomas left, but something happens to the Mulhern boys when they get in front of a camera lens. They fidget. They laugh. They poke each other. It’s an impossible task. So I take what I can get. Here is my concession.
I received an email from my friend Michael Mullowney today. We took several classes together including watercolor and jewelry design. (By the way, never take jewelry class at 7:40a.m. No one should be handling blow torches or acid that early.)
His watercolors will illustrate a children’s book called Toe Jam. The book is about little fairies similar to the tooth fairy but with a much more disgusting job. If you can think of a job grosser than collecting teeth.
So the garden is looking pretty good. If anyone is dying for arugala–come and get it. There is aplenty. Even though it was pretty late in the season, we managed some broccoli and this one small cabbage head. The chickens get to eat most of the late winter crops because the aphids seem to target anything that liked the colder weather. Hopefully, the chickens will start to lay eggs soon. We are talking about buying a dairy cow. If you want in, let me or Wendi know. (preferably Wendi because her friend will keep it.) The purple beans are looking beautiful. I cannot wait to try them. I hope they produce a million beans.
She and I have known each other for about ten years now…whew, ten years, REALLY?!
We met after she broke her ankle ice skating. (Go awkard college church events-woot!) I felt sorry for the poor girl who couldn’t stand like every one else during the singing time at church, so I would sit with her. (Actually, I liked being able to relax–man, those songs go on forever!)
Anyway, we went to ASU, lived together, laughed together…she was in my wedding…ate sushi together…I think I got her to like mustard…I crashed her car…she introduced me to personality profiles and being a more sensitive person…
