The Gomez Perspective

6:36pm: W.C. 4 B.O's V.P.
I was reading today that Obama is beginning his search fora running mate. I had an exciting idea - General Wesley Clark! That would be a great counter to McCain's military experience. Check it out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Clark

Let's start a grassroots movement ...

6:25pm: True Horror: Life Imitates Looney Tunes ...
... and The Onion, and Eddie Izzard ...

From CNN:

Hiker Falls 200 Feet After Bee Attack
POSTED: 7:15 am MST May 20, 2008

PHOENIX -- A hiker who went off a South Mountain trail Monday was attacked by a swarm of bees before falling 200 feet into a ravine, Phoenix firefighters said.

The man, who is in his early 30s, was hiking alone around 5:30 p.m. when he left the trail to hike up a gully and was ambushed by hundreds of bees.

"He was waving his shirt and then he was actually just full of bees," said hiker Ken MacKenzie, who witnessed the incident. When the hiker tried to escape the bees, he fell.

"He probably fell about 200 feet off of that trail and down into a ravine. He was all broken bones and cut up and tangled up in cholla cactus," said Capt. Lewis Jones of the Phoenix Fire Technical Team.

Phoenix police Officer Craig Churella was the first responder. He tried to reach the hiker but was forced to retreat.

"He was absolutely covered in bees. It was quite the sight. I couldn't get any closer -- they started attacking me," Churella said.

Jones' technical team donned special suits to perform the lengthy rescue.

"It was difficult just because, mainly because of the terrain. And then to compound the problem is we had to put on these hot bee suits," Jones said.

Temperatures Monday broke records, reaching 110 degrees in Phoenix.

The rescuers started an IV on the hiker before hooking him to a rescue helicopter and hoisting him off the mountain. He was taken to a local hospital and is expected to be OK.

MacKenzie said he's seen mountain lions, wolves and coyotes in the wild, but "nothing like a swarm of bees around, in particular, one person."

Capt. Victor Rangel said firefighters haven't seen an increase in bee attacks, but are often called out to rescue people who were unprepared to hike up a mountain. Rangel said the best thing to bring on a hike is a cell phone.

8:32am: Container construction
Cool stuff. Repurposing huge shipping containers for shelter -and doing it with style.
http://www.containercity.com/home.html

8:02am: The Pierces
Picked this up at the library. I'm really grooving on them.

8:27am: Stimulus check, my ass
I'm hearing all this excited chatter about the "stimulus checks."

I think I'll use mine to support the war effort, the way the country pulled together during WWII. I will sacrifice my own comfort and luxury to fight tyranny and uphold ideals of democracy and freedom.

I intend to use my "stimulus check" to chip in on a $1,000 toilet seat from Halliburton, to be thrown directly into a burn pit.

Don't thank me. I'm only doing what any good American would do.

http://www.senate.gov/~schumer/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/press_releases/2004/PR02690.halliburton061704.html

7:22am: John Prine makes me happy.

7:55am: Books 18- 22
Trying to catch up with my reading list.

Books 1 -17

( Read more... )

18. The Almost Moon by Alice Seabold. I enjoyed her writing - good mood and description - but the characters were entirely unlikeable and unsympathetic and the plot seemed forced. The book starts strong and ends as a disappointment.

19. Peeling the Onion by Gunter Grass
Autobiography of the author of "The Tin Drum." I love his books, but the bio was just OK.

20. Cell by Stephen King. King novels are like White Castle burgers to me - every once in a while, they smell good and I think I want one, and the memories of how crappy they usually are just don't enter into it - until after I've made myself ill again. I feel like he's not even trying. A signal delivered by cell phone turns people into living zombies and a group of characters have to cross country, staying in abandoned buildings and finding their way in the post-apocalyptic world. Sound like a fresh, exciting idea? No. This is a cheap, cheesy rerun of a knock-off.

P.S. In my last reading update, I said good things about "The Colorado Kid" I hadn't finished it yet. What a poke in the eye that was! The whole story is just the setup of the murder mystery - all the clues and then, THE END. Grrrr!

21. Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas. Very good story about the life of a farm family that lives beside a Japanese Internment camp. Told from the POV of a 13-year-old girl. Well written, great characterization, and personality revealed through dialog. I love those elements. The murder mystery aspect is a little weak, but that's mostly just a devise to string the other elements together.

22. Falling Man by Don DeLillo. A collection of intimate portraits about people who experienced 9/11. Great range of characters and perspectives. It's not overtly political, it's about the individual, human experience and how the event impacts their personal relationships.

9:30am: Save a Life. Join the Donor Garden
As some of you may know, I work for the National Marrow Donor Program. I encourage you to support our "Thanks Mom" Recruitment Campaign. You can join the donor Registry at no cost to you, make a donation to help patients and their families, or just leave a message of support and encouragement for patients.

Did you know:
- Cellular transplantation is a life-saving treatment for people with diseases like leukemia and lymphoma.
- Seventy percent of patients do not have a matching donor in their family.
- Joining the Donor Registry only requires rubbing the inside of your cheek with a cotton swab.
- If you're ever called as a genetic match for a patient, the most common collection method is similar to donating platelets - you sit in a chair, with a needle in each arm, while the blood-forming cells are separated out of your circulating blood.
-Minority donors are especially needed, because patients are most likely to match someone of their same heritage. Currently, there is not enough genetic diversity on the Registry to give all searching patients an equal chance of finding a match.

I have met many, many donors and everyone of them was thrilled by the unique opportunity to match a patient and help save a life. I have never met a donor who wasn't eager to do it again if needed.

I have met patients and their families whose lives were saved by the generosity of a stranger who gave them a second chance.

Visit the Donor Garden - a community of caring and compassionate individuals interested in saving lives. http://www.donorgarden.org/?src=Garden_Email_with_flower_ID

You can find me in the Donor Garden by entering the following ID into the Find a Friend box.
Donor Garden ID: 100183

Thanks! If you add a message, I'd love to hear from you!

7:26am: Shaking hands with a former vice president
Last night, the Mrs. got free tickets to the Minnesota Orchestra. We were in row 15, seated beside former Vice President--and former Minnesota State Senator-- Walter Mondale. The concert was fantastic; Schubert's Symphony No. 8, Unfinished, and Mahler's Symphony No. 9. And it was a bonus that it was conducted by the amusingly named Mark Wigglesworth. I got a great marketing idea- collectible orchestra bobble heads! Can't you just see it?

When the concert ended, I thanked Mondale for his many years of service to the country and to the state. And as we exited Orchestra Hall, we continued to chat a little bit, and I thanked him for supporting families opposed to the Vietnam War - including ours. He was charming.

How's that - two wildly different, presidential-themed posts in a row!

8:58pm: The Mrs. only recently discovered the lolcat phenomenon
So she sent me one she thought I'd enjoy.

http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/11/27/zombie-kiteh-want-brainz/

Me:
Please - resist the urge to start distributing lolcats. They are like knock-knock jokes. Not really worth listening to 500 to hear one that you enjoy. I'm a spoil sport.

The Mrs:
hey - it's a brain eating zombie cat - isn't that right up your alley?

Me:
It is completely devoid of the subtlety, novelty, nuance and post-post modern juxtaposition of ironic, iconoclastic contextualization that I look for in the brain-eating zombie cat subgenre.

9:06pm: I started my first batch of wine tonight
From a kit, using concentrate to make Gerwurtztraminer. I was trying to be very exacting and do everything by the instructions and I was - right up until pushed the airlock into the lid, and pushed too hard, knocking the rubber gasket out of the lid and into the bucket. So I had to remove the lid and fish it back out. And then it was sloshing around as I carried the bucket downstairs, even though you're not supposed to stir in the yeast, but just let it float on top. Oops.

I hope I didn't mess it up. I guess I'll know in about a year.

8:05am: Really, Really, Really Simple
In case you don't read the magazine "Real Simple," here's an example of the excellent advice you are missing.

From May 2008, page 134

Sunday-brunch buffet

Table tips
Place a stack of plates at one end of the buffet table so that guests pick them up first. Choose plates with some heft (avoid flimsy paper ones) and a substantial lip: Food will be less likely to slide off.

Position drinks and easy-to-grip stackable tumblers at the end of the buffet table


OMG--If only I had learned that before my last brunch! What a disaster! The way I'd set it up, everyone was scooping up hot quiche with their bare hands, and then trying to transfer it onto squares of wax paper. And putting the 2-liter bottles and a jumble of well-greased glasses under the table turned out to be really awkward!

6:58pm: Playing a good trick on myself
A couple weeks ago, vandals spray-painted on our garage door. It's been rainy or windy everyday since, until today. I left work early to scrub it with stripper and paint over it. It went pretty well. I finished up with the primer, planning to paint tomorrow, after it's dried. I took my supplies into the laundry room, ran the water, grasped the roller sleeve firmly to pull it off the handle -- and only then realized that it was enamel!

D'Oh!

What an awful, gummy mess. Luckily, Nathan was just heading out and I was able to catch him as he was half way out the door. He got me some rags and the last cup or so of paint thinner to be found. Just enough to get my hands clean. Yuck. Guess I'm heading back to the hardware store tomorrow.

8:18pm: Scoot! Etc!
I dug the scooter out of the garage yesterday, replaced the battery and it fired right up! Drove it to work for the first time this year. Had my first picnic lunch in my "secret" spot in the park across the street. Saw a tiny bird that I'd never seen before. It was marked like a chickadee, but not much larger than a humming bird! A coworker suggested it might have been a migrating Zebra Finch that was just passing through.

Tonight I heard a crash that sounded like a large branch falling on the roof. I went to my closet to change shirts and go outside to investigate -- only to discover that it was the wooden dowel that my clothes hang from that had collapsed - apparently didn't have the bracket screwed securely into the stud. So I unoaded the closet and rehung it and put it all back. Friggin tedious.

In other fun, the laundry room makeover is proceeding. Now that it's emptied, I scrubbed the walls with bleach in preparation of using the mold killer in the corner by the sump pump. Not a glamorous job. And now my hands stink of chlorine. I hate that.

8:01am: I have a little crush on my farmer!
When Leslie wanted to get involved with a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) I was reluctant. As much as I enjoy fresh, organic veggies, I already know were to get them, and we still get too much and they often go to waste. With a CSA, you pre-pay with your membership to get an assortment of whatever - and a lot of it. Plus, you have to drive to the pickup site to get your stuff.

I was not enthused. When I learned that we were driving through freezing sleet to go to a meeting of CSA members, I was downright grumpy. I mean, what would there be to talk about? "I think organic is worth the extra cost" "ME TOO!" "Sometimes I'll just make a big salad or dinner." "ME TOO!"

Boy, was I wrong. We got to meet our farmer, Farmer Kate. She absolutely loves farming. She uses horses. She doesn't like to plant foods she doesn't enjoy herself. She told funny stories about online dating and explained why some crops were so hard to grow. I learned more about real farming in that hour than I think I ever knew before. She delivers surplus to food shelves, but has so much extra that she can't afford her labor to harvest it all. So she's offered a free membership to anyone who would arrange for volunteers to come pick it up and take it to the food shelves.

We are encouraged to visit the farm whenever we like. There are free events for members throughout the summer - like wine making and corn feeds and garlic festivals. They distribute a newsletter with recipes. Check it out: http://www.northcreekcommunityfarm.com/
http://www.nccfnews.blogspot.com/

7:42am: Living Thriftier, Greener and More Mindfully
A couple months ago, Leslie signed us up for a local group that meets once a month to talk about lifestyle and environmental issues. Last month, we were asked to present on the steps we've taken and talk about our experience. It was very well received. A nice, free-flowing conversation with about a dozen people eager to hear what we had to say. We had some laughs and I think some people were motivated to try some of our suggestions. Below is an excerpt from our notes. ( Read more... )

10:45pm: Cat video
Borrowed from half of my friends so the other half can enjoy it, too.

8:49am: "Juno" = Dangerous Fiction?
I think I finally have a topic that might spark some comment:

I saw "Juno" last night, and while there was much to enjoy about it, I left the theater feeling disappointed that is was so simple and slight. And the more I thought about it, the more I started disliking it.

Following is my critique. It contains spoilers and will undoubtedly upset people who loved the movie for the cute characters and snappy dialogue.( Read more... )

8:17pm: Random funny memory
A coworker and I were talking about something that reminded me of a funny incident at Walker Church a few years back.

It was Palm Sunday, and a rather goofy woman was leading the children's sermon. She was up on stage hunkered down with a bunch of little kids gathered around. Her sermon was very confusing. Misunderstanding her description of the palm fronds led one kid to ask, "why were people throwing things at Jesus?"

And she said it was because they were so excited - like when people throw candy at a parade.
Or flowers.

Or chairs.

That's right -- she said chairs.

And as I recall, at least some of our kids were with us that day and we all just about bust a gut visualizing people throwing chairs at Jesus like it was the Jerry Springer show.

Good times.

9:36pm: I'm a winner!
Went back to the Rail Station tonight for burgers and fries and discovered that Wednesday is "BARGO" night -- a free bar bingo game. I'd never played before, but I won the very first game - $20 off, which we applied to our tab.

And then a half hour later, Nathan got one, but didn't want to announce that he had won. I had already won, so couldn't switch cards, Rachel isn't 18 yet, and Leslie was on the other side of the bar talking to a friend. So we just let it go by. And then we got one on Leslie's card. Dang!

6:50pm: Automatomania: Really cool, kinda creepy


For more, check out:
http://www.automatomania.co.uk/httpdocs/case2/video/

I especially liked Harpist, Signs of Life and Visit to the Studio.

9:43pm: Another imac question
We just got our imac back from the Apple store. They replaced the hard drive, so now I am faced with reinstalling our data from the external hard drive. I've never done that before. Is is as easy as dragging the backup folder from the external hard drive onto the computer's hard drive icon?

2:40pm: imac question
Our imac is acting up a bit - running slow, occasionally freezing, and day before yesterday displayed a weird, black, partial screen mess with a system crash message in it. Since rebooting it, it seems OK, but a friend said we should probably reinstall the operating system.

Problem is, we bought it used with the system pre-installed, and we didn't get backup disks. Sooooo -
can we use any system disks to re-install (like from a friend) or do we have to purchase new system disks?

Any suggestions?

8:19am: Books 12 -17
( Books 1-11 )

12 Slan by A.E. Van Vogt
I'm not a big science fiction fan, but it was at the library and I knew it by reputation. It was OK. Seemed familiar probably because it has been imitated so often.

13. This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin
Fantastic. Examines how the brain processes and responds to music and what we learn from that about perception and thought. Contains many wonderful examples and anecdotes that you can hardly wait to share with other people. I recommend it highly to anyone interested in music, perception or brain function.

14. Pontoon by Garrison Keillor
A novel of Lake Woebegone. If you enjoy Lake Woebegone stories (and who doesn't?) you'll enjoy this full-length novel. Plus the added bonus of some hilariously explicit sexual shenanigans. Keillor does cannibalize some of his earlier work, so some of the scenes are familiar, but I forgive him. Very sweet and funny stuff.

15. The Slave Ships: A Human History by Marcus Rediker
Excellent history of the slave trade, examining it from the perspective of the captives, crew, officers, businessmen, etc. Gave me a much deeper understanding and appreciation of the reality of it. And the book is very well written, clear and mature - giving an honest and compelling glimpse into the almost incomprehensible horrors of the slave trade, but it never descends into exploitation.

16. The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
A remarkable story about the cholera epidemic in London and the origins of modern epidemiology. The descriptions of life in London, rising out of a swamp of raw sewage are fascinating and appalling.

17. The Colorado Kid by Stephen King
I haven't finished it yet, but I'm enjoying it a lot. The audiobook format adds a lot, as the reader does an excellent job with the Maine accent and voices of the elderly narrators as they tell the tale of the Colorado Kid.

3:33pm: I'd better stop before someone gets hurt
My life is becoming the Red Green show.

My sourdough dough was so sticky, I got entangled in it like Brer Rabbit with the Tar Baby.

I was using a Dremel tool when the sander attachment broke and the pieces flew off, one piece ricocheting off of the bookcase, the other narrowly missing my computer monitor.

After the sourdough was sorted out, I went to make a loaf of pumpernickel in the bread machine and couldn't figure out why it hadn't mixed - until I spotted the paddle on the counter top. So I had to dump it all back into a bowl and use the hand mixer - which simply lifted the whole wad up the mixer, toward my hand - just like The Blob.

After wrestling that into submission, I went to make myself a sausage for lunch. Only they were frozen solid. I somehow set the microwave, wrong so instead of thawing, it shriveled up so tight and black and hard that I couldn't push a fork into it. But I was so hungry, I cut it apart with the kitchen shears and fought it down anyway.

I hate to admit it, but I'm starting to think I pose a threat to myself and others.