I've started a new blog called Simple Gifts and Magical Moments: http://simplegiftsmagicmoments.blogspot.com/

Right now all it has is poetry with some of my photos. I imagine in time I'll do writing in there.

There's more to say but that will cover it for now

Stolen from [info]ghirlracer:

It's a meme and I actually did it. :O

The Big Read thinks the average adult has only read six of the top 100 books they've printed below.

01. Look at the list and bold those you have read.
02. Italicise those you intend to read
03. Underline the books you LOVE.
04. Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've only read 6 and force books upon them.


1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible - hmm, read parts.
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller .. maybe?
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare I own it. Have I read everything in there? probably not but much of it
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky did not like it
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck - one of the few books I didn't finish
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The WardrobeRedundant! this is part of the Chronicles of Narnia
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens Hmm... I may have read this?
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold - Way way triggering but amazing writing.
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett Have read it many times
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte's Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

hmm... if I counted right I've read 39. I was keeping myself awake while waiting for Nae to call, but i give up and am going to bed (which means she'll probably call)

At a safe distance
She stood and watched
The waterfall pulse
With life and energy.
The spray, slipped
Around and in,
Damp inside
Drab clothes,
Isolating her
In gray mist.
Water beat
Against rock and earth
Ripping away bits
As her body thrummed.
The power pushed
Branches, hair, clothes,
Insistent and restless.
Still and silent
She shivered
As the Falls spoke
Her screams.

Today I volunteered to help set up tent city at it's new location. tent city
is an organized homeless encampment that travels around mostly to churches
(you can read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tent_City_4). It was
set-up day, so we spent a lot of time working with others hauling stuff like
pallets, plywood, tents and boxes. A lot of people helped; some were
residents of tent city and some were volunteers. Yes, you could recognize
some as either residents or volunteers but for many it was really unclear.
Some people were from churches, some from the synagogue, some were not
native English speakers, some were young and others very old. We were all
just people working hard together. You would hear these conversations
happening where a resident realized they were talking to someone who was a
volunteer. I heard several people say thank you, but then the conversation
would move. I was talking to someone who I thought was a volunteer and
turned out he was a resident. It didn't matter. What mattered was that we
were working together. There was lots of moving heavy stuff, unstable
footing, nails and commotion. What mattered was the person holding the other
end of the wood was being careful and that you were working together to
share the load. I've set up for big projects, done the heavy lifting and
many other projects over the years and this was the nicest bunch of people
I've ever worked with. Yes, some people talked more then worked. Yes some
people didn't always get what they were supposed to do, but that was
accepted. There was no anger or ego. There was patience with the confusion.
There was a very clear, strong desire to make sure everyone was safe and
protected. Everyone was watching out for everyone else. There was no "us"
and "them".

It was cold out and we worked hard. At lunch time we sat on crates, tent
city furniture, and ate sack lunches which contained peanut sandwiches. We
all appreciated those sandwiches. We appreciated we had a crate to sit on
and the chance to rest for a moment. We wished it was warmer. All the
dividing lines vanished that simply. I was probably one of the grubbier
people there. I didn't really know how to socialize with anyone. I know that
some thought I was a resident. It shows you how misleading our stereotypes
can be. I was probably one of the smallest people there. People tried to
make sure I wasn't give too much to carry, but they quickly accepted my
strength and attitude. I was appreciated because I could work hard. A few
times someone asked to help carry something. Instead of getting wrapped up
in pride and wanting to prove I could work as hard as the big men, I saw
that these were people who wanted to help. Some of them couldn't carry much
themselves, but they wanted to know that they had contributed. I probably
have more serious mental health issues then many of the residents. I think
one of the values of my struggles is I know I could have easily been in need
of Tent City if things had gone slightly differently. I wish more often in
the world, we could all be forced to work and sit as people together in the
same situation.

First of all, in spite of being broke I am wearing a very nice, comfy, warm new fleece sweat shirt. It was part of their fall sale and I used my dividend. I ordered online and picked up so there was no shipping. At first I was slightly disappointed. The material seemed thin and wasn't as soft as I expected.... and then I put it on. Wonderful! It is so very soft on the inside and *very* warm without being bulky.

Since I was going in I brought the monopod I got at Christmas. When I wanted to adjust the height it would either stick or slide suddenly all the way open. So I wasn't using it as much as I might have. All total I probably used it 5 times. It got stuck open once and I managed to fix it and then in June it sprung open not to be fixed. So, fast forward to the middle of October. I have no receipt. I am not the person who purchased it and it's 10 months since it was purchased. I bring it in and explain. The guy asks me a few questions, checks on his computer and finds the information he needs. My expectations are low, but I'm hoping maybe they can try to repair. Nope. Instead he apologize and says he will give me the money back. I'm fully expecting a voucher/certificate for shopping at REI. That would have been fine. Instead he actually gives me the money. I would have liked the monopod to work. If I wasn't so tight for money right now, I would have invested the money back into an REI product, but as it is it will go to my chimney repair and I will happily tell folks about REI's great customer service.

www.free-burma.org

Without a doubt,Burma is not the only country that has human rights violations and needs "freeing". I don't want to forget or exclude those other nations or people. But with this blogging campaign do harm? No, and perhaps, just perhaps it will do a small amount of good. Not being able to fix all the world's problems should not lead to immobility.

what alan wrote. later I'll have words.

... i've known coal for about five years now myself and am a bit shaken


coal was a great dog


maybe not the greatest dog in the world, but the most important person
in his world thought he was and that was good enough for him


coal has had some troubles lately, but not worse than occasional bad
spells in the last several months


saturday afternoon chris and coal had a good walk at a fine location
-- i've been there with them and it is great -- and both did well and
enjoyed themselves


later that night, coal seemed to be getting sick & chris was worried


sunday morning, she put him in the car to take the emergency vet, and
he died on the way


i think that having that last day together, with a fun outing was good
-- much better than coming home and finding coal had gotten sick (or
worse) while chris was gone


i think that not having to make the difficult choices at the vet was
probably for the best


chris went to work for part of the day today -- she had a tour
scheduled -- and is now on her way here, where she will probably stay
for the night & for some sympathetic mothering from my wife

Tonight, I have been reading about the Virginia Tech massacre and watched some videos online. It is so very sad... and that word is inadequate. I keep thinking "I don't understand". It is the same thing I thought over and over about the Jewish Federation of Seattle shooting. I think about the grief I saw first hand last summer. I remember the Pam's children and my Rabbi. I remember the fear and confusion. I remember the wondering who had died; would it be someone I know? I remember the police and news trucks. What the students, faculty and families and Virginia Tech went through must be so very much worse. It's hearthbreaking. It is all so senseless.

I am about to take the dogs for a walk. I am going to go on with living life fully, because perhaps that's one of the only ways to effective combat the madness, but I needed to acknowledge what happened. To ignore it would be a different time of madness.

We know the shooters name, but it's the victim's names we should remember...

Ross Abdallah Alameddine, 20, of Saugus, Mass.
Christopher James "Jamie" Bishop, 35, taught German at Virginia Tech
Brian Bluhm, 25, a master's student in water resources
Ryan Clark, 22, a student from Martinez, Ga.,
Austin Cloyd, 18, a freshman
Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, a French instructor at Virginia Tech
Peruvian student Daniel Perez Cueva, a 21-year-old international relations major
Prof. Kevin Granata, 46,
Mathew Gregory Gwaltney, 24, of Chesterfield, Va.
Caitlin Hammaren, 19, of Westtown, N.Y.,
Jeremy Herbstritt, 27,
Rachael Elizabeth Hill 18,
Emily Jane Hilscher, a 19-year-old freshman from Woodville
Jarrett Lane, 22, of Narrows, Va.,
Matt La Porte, a sophomore, of Dumont, N.J.
Henry J. Lee — also known as Henh Ly — whose family fled to the United States from Vietnam,
Prof. Liviu Librescu, 76, an Israeli born in Romania, survived the Holocaust
Prof. G.V. Loganathan, 51,
Partahi Lumbantoruan of Indonesia, 34
Lauren McCain, 20,
Daniel O'Neil, 22,
Juan Ortiz, from Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
Minal Panchal, 26
Erin Peterson, 18, from Centreville, Va.
Michael Pohle, 23, of Flemington, N.J.
Julia Pryde, 23
Mary Karen Read was born in South Korea into an Air Force family
Reema Samaha, 18, a freshman, of Centreville, Va.
Waleed Mohammed Shaalan, 32, of Zagazig, Egypt,
Leslie Sherman, a sophomore from Springfield, Va.
Maxine Turner, a senior from Vienna, Va.
Nicole White, 20

You learn to recognize her moods.
Sometimes she is soft and gentle.
Her touch slides across you,
Soothing and calm.
She sings a lullaby,
As she wraps around you,
Covering you with with her embrace.

Other times she sparkles.
Her voice chortles.
Her dance is sinuous and enticing,
But her coolness makes you wary,
And you keep your distance.

Today she is swollen and heavy.
She wraps herself in veiling fog,
But demands attention.
She slaps you with cold power,
Barely contained.
No one can ignore her.

I was downloading some pictures. I have pictures from Decmeber of Grumbles. She was acting healthy then. She energy and hadn't lost any weight. It's hard to believe how much things can change in a short time

Grumbles early December taking over coal's new bed


Grumbles and Fancy on December 25th, enjoying catnip toys


Grumbles today, she's doing ok but she was annoyed I woke her up. This picture was taken in my bathroom which has become a "kitty hospice"

... in other news, I updated my nature blogs. I took several photos but I don't have the energy to post them here too: http://touchingnature.blogspot.com/2007/01/snowy-franklin-falls-area.html