Getting out of bed.

I very rarely have problems getting out of bed in the morning. Most of the time, I wake up before my alarm and I get up and go about my day. Even on the weekends I don’t tend to linger in bed in the morning. But the afternoon? That’s an entirely different story. When not working, I tend to get sleepy after lunch and I lay down “for just a little bit.” Getting up after that “little bit” is a Herculean task and the bit sometimes stretches to a good two hours or so. I nap and read and generally do anything possible to avoid getting up. “Just five more minutes” I plead to myself.

In that ideal life, which I think I can find by locating the city on the hill, I would not need a nap. But in this life, I do.

Three sentence movie reviews: It’s Complicated

ITC_31_5_Promo_4C_4F
The wealth in this movie was distracting* but the acting was superb. I found some of the “hi-lar–ious” situations a bit forced, but still amusing and I liked how everything ended up. Question: Is it his charisma or would John Krasinski be as magnetic if he wasn’t Jim from the Office?

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2009/its_complicated_ver2.html

*as in, “Hmmmm. I’m guessing that house must be worth at least two million dollars. Now clearly she owned it when she and her husband were married, so she probably got it in the divorce, but how could she afford the upkeep? Her bakery/coffee shop seemed to be very busy, but one location can’t possibly pull in that much, can it? Perhaps she has multiple locations? He is some sort of successful lawyer, but really do lawyers make that much? He has the swanky condo in the city and the fancy car, plus probably some sort of payments/loss of income due to the divorce, although that was more than a decade ago, so perhaps he has time to recover. And neither of them seem to work. And really, her already quite large kitchen isn’t big enough? It’s the size of my living room. If she’s so busy, as alluded to, when does she have time to do all this cooking? Also, the daughter and son-in-law’s home is huge! They are supposed to be in their 20s and this is California. How can they afford that? Are they lawyers too? Maybe there is a trust fund involved. Really, this all should be explained so I can concentrate on the story. Just a throwaway line like ‘grandpa’s cotton money provided all this’ would do. Geez.”

Three sentence movie reviews: Stardust


I really enjoyed this whimsical tale that combined the best of fantasy, good acting and excellent plot. The ghosts were a delightful addition as was Robert DeNiro as Captain Shakespeare. This was an incredibly fun way to spend 127 minutes.

Bechdel score: two women? Yes. Who talk to each other? Yes. About something besides a man? Yes. Although the topic of conversation happens to be killing another woman so that the women in question can regain their youth. Not necessarily what were looking for, but we will take it.

Also: Robert DeNiro seems to be having an incredibly fun time in his sixth decade. Many “fun” roles. Some that are actually funny, like this one, and others that are not, like in Meet the Parents.

http://www.impawards.com/2007/stardust.html

Poem for April: Chicago

CHICAGO

Carl Sandburg

HOG Butcher for the World,

Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,

Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler;

Stormy, husky, brawling,

City of the Big Shoulders:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I

have seen your painted women under the gas lamps

luring the farm boys.

And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it

is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to

kill again.

And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the

faces of women and children I have seen the marks

of wanton hunger.

And having answered so I turn once more to those who

sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer

and say to them:

Come and show me another city with lifted head singing

so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.

Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on

job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the

little soft cities;

Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning

as a savage pitted against the wilderness,

Bareheaded,

Shoveling,

Wrecking,

Planning,

Building, breaking, rebuilding,

Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with

white teeth,

Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young

man laughs,

Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has

never lost a battle,

Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse.

and under his ribs the heart of the people,

Laughing!

Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of

Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog

Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with

Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

Having lived on the East Coast, where they think they are the be-all end-all of the country, I love the adolescent spit-in-your-face nature of this poem. There is a lot of swagger in this, which makes it fun to recite.



Books read in April

Argh! I’ve written none of these summaries. Usually I’ve done about half of them. What WAS I doing in April? I’m giving myself 12 minutes to write these, that’s one minute per post. Here goes.

Read:
Half the Sky
Kristof and WuDenn
Very hard to read in places, but with a hopeful message and also a handy four step action plan for you to do something constructive at the end.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society
Mary Ann Schaffer & Annie Barrows
I never wondered how the residents of the island of Guernsey fared during World War II but I was very interested in reading about their plight. This was a great “letters back and forth” book and I’m sad that the woman who wrote it became too sick to finish this book, much less write another one, as this was delightful.

Water Woman
Lenore Hart
Well written, but depressing. Very. But you can tell from the first chapter, so you know what you are signing up for.

Her Fearful Symmetry
Audrey Niffenegger
So good! It has twins! And ghosts! And a cemetery! And is set in London! I wasn’t enthralled with the ending, but enjoyed the rest so much I recommend it.

Love’s Labor’s Lost
William Shakespeare
Shakespeare. Still boring to read, but much fun to see in the Shoebox theater.

Naturally Thin
Bethenny Frankel
A really cool bike columnist recommended this book as a very good “normal healthy eating” guide. It has a really awful title, but did I mention that the bike columnist is cool? Because of how cool she is, I ignored the lame title and got it from the library. When it arrived, I was disturbed to find out that a reality TV star wrote it. I hadn’t heard of her then, but now I see her everywhere. Aside from that, some good tips and her focus on real food was refreshing.

Strong Waters: a simple guide to making beer, wine, cider and other spirited beverages at home.
Scott Mansfield
Good, beginners guide though relies a lot on already bottled juices.

Started but did not finish:
Inside Secrets of Finding a Teaching Job
Jack Warner
Dated, but good, advice.

Knife Skills in the Kitchen
Charlie Trotter
Lots of pretty pictures.

The Sea is so Wide and My Boat is so Small
Marian Wright Edelman
I read the “for teachers” chapter and called it good.

Create an Oasis with Greywater
Art Ludwig
Someday this book will come in handy. Ludwig doesn’t mince words about bad ideas in greywater. He also tells you how to put the good ideas in place.

Growing Up: A Classic American Childhood
Marilyn vos Savant
Kind of dumb. A bunch of lists that every American child should do.

Hah! Five minutes left.

Three sentence movie reviews: A Town Called Panic


Who knew stop motion animation, and the Belgians, could be so funny? This is worth seeking out for its wacky storyline and hilarious dialogue. If your child understands French, or is a fast reader, they might be able to read the subtitles and enjoy this movie; if not, you will have to enjoy it yourself.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2009/town_called_panic.html

Servants!

I love the Parade Magazine which comes in our Sunday paper as a supplement. It’s so insubstantial in its coverage, even when it is trying to be a weekend magazine of record. Every Sunday morning I read it while eating breakfast.

In today’s edition, I was interested to discover this ad selling a cookbook.

Here’s what got me: “With hundreds of servants at her command…” I’m not a fan of the over/misuse of the dot, dot, dot, but what really got me like a kick in the stomach was the term “servants.” How could Martha Washington afford those hundreds of servants? Oh yes, because she didn’t have to pay them because they were SLAVES!
I don’t judge Washington, Jefferson or any other of our historical, quasi-mythical “founding fathers” for their ownership of other humans. At the time it was what was done throughout history, and all over the world. To expect them to act otherwise would not be in keeping with the realities of the time. Slavery was a horrible part of our country’s history and we are still living with the ramifications today. But let’s not just gloss over it by referring to humans held in bondage as servants. I find it disrespectful and disturbing.

Three sentence movie reviews: Twilight


Wow, is it that everyone is a bad actor, or is the script the problem? I found this movie visually pretty, for which I think we have to thank Catherine Hardwicke, but ultimately not a very good way to spend two hours. Not that I was surprised by that.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2008/twilight.html

Apovecho Lecture

On Saturday, we had a lecture of Permaculture theory given by Tao. This was interesting because many people at the workshop were not familiar with Permaculture so there were a lot of questions. There was also a skeptic in the group–his wife had brought him along and he was kind of a contrary person in general–and it was interesting to hear Tao, and the others in the group, answer his questions. After the lecture, we split up into groups for a Permaculture exercise.
Then we went outside to do some planting. Half of us planted more of their food forest incorporating plants from several different layers. This part of a wikipedia article gives more information about layers.


Abel & Tao pose for pictures. Abel’s mother, Katie Radditz, can be see partially on the left. She is the Director of Adult Programs at church and how I got to see Aprovecho.

The other half of our group planted artichokes using the cardboard/hay/no dig method that I am quite familiar with, having converted the rest of our grass over the winter using this method.

After our activity, people began to drift off, but some of us took a short hike. Some of us made moss beards while on the hike.

The weekend I spent at Aprovecho was rejuvenating and inspiring and I hope to visit again soon.

Aprevecho Fish Operation

Trillium

One of the bridges crossing the creek on the property.

Here’s an inside look at the aquaculture operation. When they arrive , the fish will go in these two tanks. The water in the tanks will circulate through the tanks and then through a series of channels which will be planted with plants that feed the fish. Aside from feeding the fish, the plants will clean the water so it can circulate back into the fish tanks.

This is the area where water will flush through at regular intervals. They can grow food, like tomatoes, hydroponically this way. It will already be naturally fertilized because the fish have been using the water.

Another view of the troughs. If you watch the video that is currently on the front page of the website, you can see a glimpse of these planted at about 30 seconds.

One of the things that impressed me about the people of Aprovecho was their willingness to research and try new things. No one had set up an Aquaculture system before, or built a cistern, but they did their research and did it. It was a good reminder to me that I don’t have to be an expert before I start, just well informed and armed with a plan.