Women in Art

My friend Dianne, from the excellent blog Forks Off The Moment, sent me a link to this wonderful video. It was the blog equivalent of getting a really cool card in the mail. Thanks, Dianne, for thinking of me.

Love,
Gina

UPDATE: A Million Doors for Peace

Update: I went out canvassing the neighborhood on behalf of Million Doors for Peace today. There were forty registered voters on my list. Out of those, I got the signatures of thirteen people, plus signatures from seven additional people who were not on my list but were home at the time I knocked, for a total of twenty signatures. One person on my list refused to sign, while another not on my list but has replaced the voter in that residence, also refused to sign.

Let me tell you a little about my neighborhood. It's mostly working class to lower middle-class,lots of elderly people and a smattering of middle-aged voters with young adults living at home. And there is the housing project, where rent-subsidized apartments are occupied mostly by new immigrants, the disabled and many children. It is a hard project to get into because it is largely quiet, clean and trouble-free. Here is a photo of a section of that housing project:


This is where I found the least people at home and where a lot of people no longer lived at the address I was given by the MDFP campaign. There were several people with Russian names and a couple were Asian. I wondered if so many people not at home meant they were at work. There are so many working poor people in this community who work service jobs that include weekends. I wondered how many of these people had health care benefits. Sigh.

One of the two people who refused to sign stated about the troops coming home:

"They'll come home when they come home."

A few comments from people who supported a date for troop withdrawal:

This is from the neighbor on my street who is a relatively young retiree:

"I was against it from the start. And I'm a veteran."

From a middle-aged woman who very enthusiastically took my clipboard:

"I'd be happy to sign your petition. I agree with you 100%." (she shook my hand)

A middle-aged man in the same building stated:

We should've gotten out years ago.

Most people didn't say anything but gladly signed. It was a beautiful day and I found many people not at home but I left a door hanger with information.

It was an interesting experience and one that made me feel like I was doing something.

Yours in peace,
Gina

Camera Critters # 24

MEET COSMO

I'm sure it's been done before on Camera Critters, but I couldn't resist throwing an old camera into the composition.

My future husband W.P. adopted a five-week old motherless baby squirrel last week. At six weeks, he's getting healthier and feistier by the day. The photos below were taken a week ago...

and these, just yesterday.

Check out other critter entries at Camera Critters.

Million Doors for Peace

I've been eleventh-hour about getting involved with this but I'm going to do it this weekend. Care to join me?

What's Goin' On

Monday afternoon: in the dentist chair for an hour having two fillings done - Drill, Baby, Drill. Ugh.

But there was a pleasant surprise later that evening: my daughter, Supergirl Two, age 19, and I had an IM chat where she thanked her dad and me for raising her with enough freedom to allow us to find ourselves but always managing to keep us safe. Blew me away.

One traumatic, life-changing event we were unable to prevent and I still find fault with myself as a parent over it: my older daughter, Supergirl One, was raped when she was sixteen, while on a date with a boyfriend. This triggered the bipolar disorder which, while far from dormant, perhaps would not have erupted with a vigor that landed her in a succession of psychiatric wards over the course of two years.

Despite all of that, I was able to breathe a giant sigh of relief in hearing from my daughter that she was okay with the way we'd raised her.

Tuesday morning: caught my hand in the ancient garage door that must have been designed long ago by the Marqi de Sade. Excruciating pain. Ice. Off to work. Very glum all day with the pain and not too happy regarding some of the things I had to deal with at work.

This morning was a real roller-coaster of emotions for me which, of course, I had to keep under wraps all morning until the kiddos went home; which today was early. Thanks for small miracles.
The afternoon went much better. I am currently engaged in a strong attempt to get to know and understand a co-worker who has posed tremendous challenges for me for two years. When we talked this afternoon, I felt a wall had come down between us and it felt quite good - to both of us, I think. There are other barriers to try to overcome but I'm encouraged.

Like a lot of us out there, I've hit an all-time low over what's happening with the campaign. I've been alternately angry and depressed and today, while listening to John McCain on the radio, I engaged in a loud, angry outburst in my car, which didn't help the headache I've been fighting off all week. What the fuck are we going to do?

I'm sure you've figured out the upshot: I've had a really crappy week so far. But this evening, I felt turned around a bit. How I can tell is that I have begun to smile over that compliment from my daughter, instead of continuing to blame myself for not keeping them safe enough. And I now have an incentive to proceed with my goal of trying to reconcile my differences with my co-worker in a way that is comfortable for both of us.

Hope. Sometimes it takes me days to find it. At one time it took me years.

Life Is The Red Wagon

The artist formerly known as Jane Sibery

Cool Art

In this art installation, Nele Azevedo created hundreds of figures out of ice. The installation lasted as long as it took for the last one to melt. There are more incredible photos here. I didn't think it fair to swipe them all, since the artist took them herself.

John McCain Is A Liar

The Season

Our favorite farm stand is just a few short miles from our house.
This season they had the best corn for miles. In fact, it's the best corn I've ever tasted in my life.
Corn, tomatoes and peaches have been daily meals.

The peaches we get at an orchard another town over. I don't think they're organic, per se. But they're local and delicious. They also have apples. Plus they're very, very nice people with an Obama sign on their lawn. :-)

These little watermellons were pretty tasty, too. If you don't mind finding seeds in your fruit as so many seem to be these days.