Obama, Clinton & the Green Man
Category: News and Politics

10/5/08    I've followed the past ten years of political life in the US from a broader perspective than most.  I"m a liberal thinker and social historian who has also read a lot of psychology and mythology.  Needless to say, I did not vote for George Bush either time.  It was more than his conservative stand on virtually every issue.  Ronald Reagan was pretty conservative (I didn't vote for him, either), but I didn't feel the same sense of forboding, looming evil and deception from Reagan that emanated from GWB from the moment he first started campaigning.  Reagan was just a normal, conservative guy who happened to take on the job of president.  

Bush's presidency has illustrated all that is wrong and unworkable about religious extremism.   I believe he set out from the beginning to pick fights with oil-producing Muslim countries (if 911 hadn't happened, he would have found some other excuse), fully expecting Jesus to come swinging down at some point to pat him on the shoulder and say, "well done!".   The happy darkies (read "Muslims") would kiss the hem of everyone's garments, embrace the superior social structure of democracy, and George would sit at the right hand of God.  Bush's America would then enjoy its god-given right to endless amounts of cheap oil.  

If you don't believe there is a whole lot of truth in the above, consider that there was no post-invasion plan.  In the beginning, there was no respect for, or protection & preservation of, Iraqi culture (years down the line, troops going over have better training and outlook, but this came way, way too late).   The museums were allowed to be robbed and trashed.   Troops stood around and waited . . . for what?   I really think GWB expected some divine intervention at this point, and the hem-kissing to begin.

If instead we had publicly celebrated this ancient people immediately after the conquest, protected their mosques and historical objects from looting and damage, and fostered a succession of someone a little less restrictive than Saddam Hussein within their existing political structure - even if not the sort of fellow we might want running our own country - everyone would have been much better off.   The Iraqis might even have been grateful.   Saddam was not popular and life was restricted, but - as the Italians characterized Mussolini - the trains ran on time.   Now nothing works well.

"But", you say, "what does any of that have to do with Obama, Clinton & the Green Man?"  

Ah.   It is the prologue to my analogy to the British Restoration.  For those who don't know, in the mid-17th century, England's monarchy was overthrown, King Charles I executed, and the Lord Protector (what a title!!) Oliver Cromwell took over the country.   He was a rabid conservative whose mission was, in a nutshell, to purge England of all pagan survival and Catholic trappings to the greater glory of (a conservative Christian) God.  The term "Puritan", in fact, comes from this, and earlier, purifying concepts.  Get it now?   Christmas was out, of course - gorgeous stained glass cathedral windows were smashed, statues of saints destroyed, singing of rowdy songs disallowed, etc, etc.   Basically, poor England went into a sort of cultural lockdown for over ten years after the king's execution.   After Cromwell died in 1660, the king's son, Charles II, was restored to the throne.  Upon Restoration, everyone perked up, the country blossomed again and a sort of Golden Age of art, culture and prosperity flourished for quite some time.  In fact, a catch-phrase to describe any subsequent Really Good Occasion was born amongst 17th century Londoners (who referred to Cromwell as "Old Leather Arse", in reference to his military breeches):  

"There never WERE such times since Old Leather Arse died!"

I'm winding around to several key points here.   The first is, there is always hope, and terrible situations can be successfully reversed, no matter how universal they seem.  The second is that arch conservatism seldom pays off.   The third is that the wisdom and tolerance of  a broad-minded, encouraging leader is not just a pleasant thing, but the very key to the success and happiness of any country.    I think Obama has this, and it will serve him (and us) better than McCain's so-called "experience".  

And last, but even more thought-provoking . . . the Green Man factor.   The Green Man, British pagan deity of sexuality, growth and regeneration, is represented all over England as a face peeking out from a mass of leaves and vines.   The tangle of Bill Clinton's popularity and the sound economy during his terms, so inexplicable and reprehensible to moralists who judge him on his free 'n easy sex life, makes perfect sense, if we look at him as a living symbol of this regenerative deity.   And we see from the Restoration before him:   Charles II had a ton of mistresses, a great sense of humor & fashion, and was a superior diplomat.  This is Green Man archetypal stuff as well.  Sound trivial and less than take-charge?  Yet the country righted itself, and even flourished.   This, on a deeply subconscious level, is what people need in order to feel lifted and productive.   Ergo, I think having Bill floating around the Obama campaign is a good thing for more reason than most people have seen.  I hope he will keep chipping in after Obama (pleaseplease) gets elected.   Brilliantly, Obama seems a stable, faithful family man, so we would get to have our cake and eat it, too, in a moderate course that should work on all levels for nearly everyone.

I am fascinated with our times, and look forward to coming out of the gloom and fear of the last eight years.   Love counts more than money, more than strict ideology, and in the end . . .

(for some marvelous modern representations of the Green Man, see: http://www.stonecarver.com/greenman.html )

xo,

P.

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baking bread

9/20/08   Just that.  Once again, making a game out of seeing how little a person can spend and still have some exciting, soul-satisfying quality of life.  I happen to need to do this right now, but it's a good idea to keep in practice anyway so when crisis strikes, you can switch on the instant to a workable modality with some good associations built in.  This will be especially useful if your brain isn't all it could be during the crisis.

So.  Any idiot can cook Ramen noodles.  Any idiot can also, with some application and not a whole lot more investment, cook fantastic food which nourishes spirits along with body.  I realized today that buying yummy bread at Panera's would cost me, with gas, around $5. minimum, plus the half hour or so spent getting there, waiting in line, and coming home.  I am estimating that I'll spend about $2. in stove gas and materials and in a few hours - while I'm also working on several graphics projects I need to get done - have delicious hot oatmeal bread.   Since the same oven heat will cook several loaves as well as one, I'm doing extras to give away or freeze. 

Since writing the idealistic above, have been struggling some with the actuality.  It's been so long since I've baked bread that the pans had disappeared from mortal mind, but found them after a long cobwebby search in the bottom of a cabinet.  Ok.  Had some ancient yeast in packets in the fridge, always have flour & oatmeal kicking around.  So far, so good . . . here's what you do:

Recipes are useless in the usual sense.  Baking bread is like having sex; it's more an improvised dance or conversation than a strict replicable formula.  Put one packet of yeast in about a cup of warm water in a small bowl or some such thing.  A big coffee mug will do.  Add a tablespoon of sugar and let it sit someplace not-cold until it grows and bubbles - shouldn't take more than 5 - 10 minutes.  

Meanwhile, scout up a large mixing bowl (or substitute receptacle) and throw in about 2/3 as much flour volume-wise as you'd like to have bread.   Remember, it will rise and expand.  You can use any flour as long as it has gluten in it (stretchy stuff that holds the bubbles the yeast make).  If you want to use other, non-wheat types of flour (such as rye, corn or rice - or wheat germ, etc.) which have less gluten, then you should still use about half regular wheat flour to give your dough that necessary stretching ability (or your teeth will get a terrible work-out).   Now, make a well or depression in the middle of your flour.  

Go back to your yeast.  We hope it is not mushrooming up & spilling over the side of its coffee mug.  If so, no worry!  That just means it is very active and good.   Pour the liquid into your well.  Fill the cup again with fresh water, stir in one to two teaspoons of salt, and add that, too.  Stir it all around in the flour well until you have a very soft dough ball forming.  At this point, you will have some idea of how much more liquid you should add to dough-up the rest of the flour, and can add to this last bit of liquid other things you might like to taste or have in there - maybe honey, maybe melted butter, milk, etc.  I added cooked oatmeal today.  Stir until you can't, then use your hands (clean, of course) to keep turning and pressing the dough ball in the bowl until the flour is all incorporated.  

Last, wipe down half your kitchen table or space on your counter, sprinkle a thick layer of flour on it, turn out the dough ball onto said space, and begin to knead.  Kneading is meditation:  primeval, soothing rhythm that connects you to every bread-baker from the beginning of time.  They approve of you, and they love you.  Feel this, and keep it for yourself as a little extra gift.  The right way to knead is to manipulate the dough in such a way that you are stretching it and doubling it back on itself each time.  Any way you make this happen is fine.  Knead the dough briskly for a few minutes until it feels springy - you'll know what I mean, it will kind of return to shape when you push it.  When it feels right, put it back into the bowl, cover with a damp cloth or paper towel (don't let the towel touch the dough), and let it rise in a warm spot until almost double its size.  Punch it down, knead it again a few passes, and let it rise a bit more. 

My bread rising . . .

Now, go find pans if you haven't already.  If you have no pans, it's ok (it's ALL ok).   You can shape the dough into loaf-sized balls and bake them on several sheets of aluminum foil laid on the oven rack.  Just make sure the foil is big enough - your loaves will swell in the oven.    Set the oven to 375 degrees, shape your loaves and put them into greased pans or on your aluminum foil.   Brush the top with melted butter or throw on something you'd like to see there (raw oatmeal, kosher salt, etc).  You can take a sharp knife and score the top of the loaf if you like with a magical X (or whatever meaningful symbol floats your theological boat) to hold the butter and assist the loaf in rising attractively as it bakes. 

When the oven is hot, put in your loaves and bake . . . I'm going to say it . . . until done.  Again, refer to my sex comment above.  You will know they are done when they are brown and sound hollow when you tap the tops.  Depending on loaf size and oven variation, this could be anywhere from half an hour to more than a full hour.  Or whenever!  Stay with them towards the end if this worries you.   After you take them from the oven, pop them out of their pans (if you used pans), rub the hot tops with a butter pat, & cool a bit before cutting.   Enjoy, enjoy!   

With butter & honey (sorry the flower's dead - tomorrow's project) . . .

xo !

- P.

7:36 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

lemonade, the hard way
Category: Life

9/6/08  What a wierd day!   I just wrote two paragraphs about it, tried to preview and lost the whole entry.   Sometimes myspace is very frustrating.  I don't feel up to recreating it.  All I wanted was to say it once.   Sorry.  

Right now I'm supposed to be up in Boston, watching a French farce called "She's All Yours", featuring my boarder, Elise, in the role of Sophie.  I was supposed to have worked today, too.  Instead I'm here, listening to the wind howl around the house in the rain after two flat tires & a broken cell phone changed all my plans.  

Ever had a series of coincidental accidents do that?  You claw your way through one solution after another until you are finally forced to stop.   I'm the kind of thinker who sees meaning and connection in events, so I'm wondering if I've escaped some horrible mugging or car-break in.  The theater is in a somewhat risky neighborhood and I would have been (of course) alone.  Both of my bosses were more than kind and understanding, pitching in to take over the work on no notice, and offering to help with the aftermath.  That was nice.  I don't really think all the chaos happened just so I would feel cared about.   But maybe it did.   Thanks again, guys . . .

I am a ghost.  I've said it before.  It's a strange feeling, not being central to anyone.   I wrote in the Lost Blogs about my arranged marriage, but I have a different readership these days, so a brief recap:   Arranged marriages don't suck.   They are more like jobs, so you don't have the same emotional expectations you would with a regular, typically American one.   There's far less to be disappointed about.   Still, as the years roll along, you wonder how it would feel to be held by someone you actually felt close to . . . and whether being In Love really lasts, or if it fizzles the way the magazines say it does and you wind up in the same place anyway.   Eventually, I grew up and got unmarried (and yes, in the process of that I did learn how it feels to be held and more, by someone you love with all your heart, but it didn't work out so I also learned that if you cry long enough, your eyes bleed - true story).   

Since then, my life has been a combination of dodging relationships that would have stuck me once again with the wrong person, and longing for men who keep dodging me for probably the same reason.   Is there meaning and connection in that, too?   Change of life plans?  I keep simplifying, watching my daughter grow past needing me for anything more than friendship, loosening other ties and finishing projects.   I guess this is supposed to be how it all turned out . . . but what now?   I'm braced for a life-ending disease, but it could just as easily be something positive like joining the Peace Corps.   Or nothing!   Wait.  And see.

xo.

3:50 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Into my closet

8/25/08   Another long hiatus between entries, but busy, busy.  I've just taken my first week off in the summer in fourteen years and it was wonderful.  Never got around to my taxes or digging up the yard, but I saw my old friend Nathalie on her annual visit to the East Coast (see pix from last summer - we look just the same), had a fantastic lunch at Stone Soup in Plymouth with another friend I don't get to see too often, and hosted my friend Chris while he volunteered all week at an archaeological dig in Kingston (had the time of his life - see here:

http://rockynook.blogspot.com

And . . . {{drum roll }} . . . I finished cleaning, spackling & painting my closet!!  Many people would think this would hardly cause the thrill and excitement of, say, a trip to Maui, but they would be very wrong.   Most of my clothes have been in a giant heap in the middle of my room since last year when I rented out my guest room to my fantastic boarder Elise & had to empty the closet in there in a hurry.  Why did I not then put the clothes in the closet in my room?  It was full of my daughter's stuff, really full, old Doc Martens in milk crates, vintage prom dresses from Garment District, an electric blanket that didn't work, etc etc.  So, long story short, eventually all that stuff got sorted, taken or pitched, and I happily planned out what should have been a very simple task: washing and painting the empty space.   Simple?  Oh, god no.   

The empty closet was a summation of all the grime, smoke & misery since the Great Depression (no exaggeration - mine is a very old house).  I washed my heart out for literally months, lugging buckets of Dirtex up the stairs and tumbling over the foot of my bed into the small space of the closet, trying not to spill or wrench a muscle.  A few spongefuls into things, the bucket would be "totally polluted" as the kid said in 16 Candles, and I would yet go on as long as I could stand, then stagger downstairs with bucket, empty & repeat the process.  There was some sort of strange stuff all over the walls like a thin, water-soluable plaster that turned to gray mud with each pass of the sponge and clogged up the sponge pores. 

Well, eventually even the Augean Stables got clean, and so it was with the closet.   This week I was finally able to start the fun stuff (and it really did take most of the week), and the finished effect is just the absolute balls!  Bit of closet philosophy:   No part of the process (spackle, paint, drilling, attaching) went perfectly, but the sum of all works so well, the end result is a very satisfying work of inspiration.  This, I concluded, is exactly how a person's life should be.  Don't worry about getting it all just right - if you mean well and do your reasonable best, it'll all be very good in the end.

Now, start to sing the theme from "2001 - A Space Odyssey".  [here's the approach to the closet door as you look over my bed - look to the right] 

Dah . . . dah . . . dah-DAH!!

Dah-DAH-DAH!  . . . [looking into the closet]:

Dah, dah, dah, dah . . . [getting right in there]

Dah DAH!!!!!   [the floor still needs doing, but what the heck?]

I'm happily sorting through clothes. We'll see which ones make the "closet cut".  Life is good, but vacation's over and now I have to get back to Real Work (sigh).  

Love to you, & order in the Universe (one closet at a time) -

- P.

6:56 AM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

couldn’t make this up!
Category: Jobs, Work, Careers

7/13/08   I had not realized that the MLA (Massachusetts Library Association) sponsors a book cart drill team competion.  Am I the last person to know?  Plymouth (where I live) recently took second place.  Check out their award-winning performance:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=m10DLr2Wtqo

Can't get enough of those wild librarians?  Here's "A Day in the Life of the Plymouth Rockettes", notable also for its splendid view of the library, just down the street from my house:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=G9pFFzVQ6uY&feature=related

There is some talk of going national . . .

8:44 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

not much news, but one good idea

6/29/08   It's true.  I suppose tons of things have been happening, and I'm always thinking about one thing or another, but nothing seemed compelling enough to share.  We finally have wireless internet (one huge goal).  My tomato plants have lots of infant tomatoes coming along (another must for this year - garden didn't happen at all last year due to lack of time).  We have switched to satellite tv as well, after 13 years of cable.  It felt like ending a marriage, although the cable people were surprisingly nice about it and said we could go out again anytime . . . er, I mean re-hook the cable.   But satellite is cheaper, and I get four rooms for less than I paid for two.  This is good if one rents out rooms.

See what I mean?  All of the above is just household stuff.   I have been going out to some good shows (Amanda Palmer with the Boston Pops - unbelievably fantastic!; Luminescent Orchestrii - ditto; Rickie Lee Jones - just as laidback as you'd expect) and hanging out with good friends (which include my daughter & adopted son).  Speaking of my son, he's been painting up a storm lately, has had several shows and is selling his work!  Yippee! Check out his gallery (under construction, of course - what in my life isn't?):  www.crmindlegallery.com .  He's pretty happy with his progress and so am I.

So that's about it for now.  I hurt my foot running up stairs at work Friday, so I'll drag myself through mowing the lawn, etc, today.  Oh- one thing in the department of "living greener" I want to leave you with:  Stop getting so many paper napkins!  I can't believe no one else has thought of this, but what I've been doing lately (after having an "aha - wtf??" moment while cleaning out my car a couple of months ago) is carrying a cloth napkin or two.  I keep them folded neatly on the front seat, and when I buy sandwiches or whatever, I just say "no paper napkins, please".  Because they never give you just one, it's always a huge wad you throw half of away.  Who needs to do that?  Cloth napkins look so cool and European, too.  I imagine I'm in France or Italy, having a civilized meal instead of merely stuffing down fast food.  Help me start a movement here - think how many trees we'll save!  I can even envision counter-culture statement cloth napkins, with like, skulls or band logos on them.  They'll be selling them at shows next.  Hey - you heard it here first!

Hugs & kisses & ta for now -

- P.

8:29 AM - 1 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment

life compass

5/24/08   Sitting here with coffee, feeling way too flat-line to begin a weekend properly.  I'm trying to get my bearings to lift this confused and cluttered household into some sort of order again.  Like a tiny St. George about to confront a wily, mean dragon . . . even washing my hair seems beyond me just yet, though. 

Felt moved to look up some old friends from my married days, when I was rich and went to Europe all the time.  After 10 minutes' googling, I find they are both still alive (first hurdle over), and doing amazingly well professionally.  I couldn't tell if they are still together (after 20 years, most people aren't), but they are both writing, publishing and leading conferences:

http://www.sskinner.com/

http://www.freelancersintheuk.co.uk/products.php?productId=166

This makes me happy.  I know I'm right where I'm supposed to be this lifetime, but I do have ideas, and it's good to see people I used to be close to continuing and building upon their past successes, helping the world by teaching in the most comprehensive way possibly.  Yay, Helene and Stephen!

So do I have the energy to at least mow the lawn?  Yes.  It has to be.  Did I mention lots of little animals live around or in my house with us?  Mice are nesting in my lawn mower as of last week.  Again.  Third year in a row.  I thought I'd gotten the jump on them this year by taking the mower into the kitchen about a month ago, cleaning out the winter's nest BEFORE they had this year's babies, wiping everything down and sweeping out the garden shed.  

But then it rained for two weeks . . . and the little guys got busy. It was all there again last weekend, complete with squeaky new baby mice.  Why do they do it?  It's very safe, dry and inaccessible to Large Beings.   They make a fluffy nest out of bits from a floor mop I never use.  With all the metal & wires, the lawn mower probably looks like a high-tech spa to them . . . and I put the trash bags waiting to go to the dump on top of it, and around it.  They nibble in occasionally, so that enhances the spa experience with gourmet food bits and candle wax leavings.  I mean, who wouldn't want to live there?  If they were two inches long, that is.  Of course, I put the mower back and weed-whacked the whole yard instead. 

My accomplishments may be relatively small, but I tell myself that like the butterfly effect, good microcosmic systems help the Larger Cause, too.  So I will mow, sweep, tidy and wash mindfully,  and with love. 

Polyphonic harmony to you today as well!

xoxoxo   - P.

5:19 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

it all converges
Category: Life

5/11/08   I noted a new, disturbing occurrence this weekend.  I get a ton of mail from charities .  I get a ton of mail from credit cards companies trying to win my business.  But yesterday . . . for the first time ever . . . the charities started offering me credit cards.  Wierd . . .

7:53 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

who, me?

4/27/08   Wow, it's been a long time since I've written.  Lots of work, too many deadlines, a bad cold way back there sometime . . . you know how it goes.  I've been thinking lately, though, that it's time again to make time to sit & share. 

It's easy to get isolated in your head.  If you are trying to reach out of the rush of cultural overload and create some sort of divergent life, even if you don't live alone, you just have to keep focused enough to block out distractions that you end up putting a wall between yourself and the rest of the world.  I need to make myself stop sometimes and call people. 

Well, that said, here's my topic du jour:   god's plan.  I just accidentally clicked (while I was trying to read a Dresden Dolls bulletin) on a 60 second video of a clean-cut middleaged fellow praying for me and telling me that (sigh) Jesus died for our sins so that we don't have to.  I could then, if I agreed with this assessment, click on a "yes" button to indicate I had accepted Jesus.  No, of course I didn't!  But I watched the little video right to the end, mesmerized by his sincerity, by the idea, also, that anyone at all could think such a thing.  The longer I live, the longer I play this game this lifetime, the more sympathy I feel for the hard row Jesus had to hoe to get people to simply honor each other, be kind to each other, forgive most transgressions and not play into violent solutions.  That he chose to die to get people to take him seriously is not quite the same, to my thinking, as "wiping out our sins".

But the plan . . . has nothing really to do with the above.  I've been struggling to understand some old issues lately that a friend of mine has stirred up.  Some of us see a lot.  Blessing, curse.  Responsibility.  Combination of being born knowing you're different, and that it will be hard, very hard, and it may not be what you think.  Every time you think you have it figured, the difficulty factor gets raised, and you get a conflicting, strangely expanding clue . . .  and the people you wait for, with whom you thought you were supposed to be partnering, the whole point of it, turn out to have . . . other assignments.   That's all for now.  Two phone calls since I started this entry, too hungry & too much wine . . .

Love . . .

5:07 PM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

fire within me

2/9/08   Last year at this time, in my Lost Blogs, I wrote about a ritual I'd attended celebrating Imbolg:  Bridget's Day, goddess of creativity, hearth and healing:  

Earth my body,
Water my blood,
Air my breath,
&  Fire my Spirit!

This year, no ritual so far but am marking now as the time to sweep clean my personal hearth, start afresh and relight my Spirit.  There are so, so many ways to create, to turn one's divine spark into a healing conflagration to light where we are.  Much to be done!   Some will destroy, some bring forth anew . . . we all have our bits of the Collective Unconscious to realize.  I am the littlest tip on the finger of the left hand of the great Goddess of Life, inspiring, restoring, healing, growing, explaining it all . . .

I still want some chocolates for Valentine's Day, though.  Flowers will do, too.

xoxoXXX . . .

7:59 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment