Dealing with a bad cold, so everything I sing is flat. My mother is glaring at me. ;) filk+out of tune=annoyed family.
Kip @15 - the drive to Omaha on 80 or 29 has never been anything but boring, even when the people at the gas station just south of the border recognized me in and out of garb.
Merry Christmas, all.
Dealing with a bad cold, so everything I sing is flat. My mother is glaring at me. ;) filk+out of tune=annoyed family.
Kip @15 - the drive to Omaha on 80 or 29 has never been anything but boring, even when the people at the gas station just south of the border recognized me in and out of garb.
Merry Christmas, all.
This thread is a confluence of my day. I picked up a cookbook that talks about reclaiming the kitchen as sacred space. I also had a long conversation today about the importance of food and community.For me, the making of bread is meditative and deeply spiritual, and I will probably bake the dawn in, the fire I keep the one in my oven (gas is my friend!). I probably should go get more flour now, before the stores close. The bread will probably go to church tomorrow, and out for Christmas presents this week.
The ritual of bread and salt as welcoming and declaration is important to my concept of hospitality. I think it is telling that I've not offered it to anyone who has eaten with me in the house I have lived in for the past 2 months and which has now sold - it was never really my home and I haven't felt like I could offer the permanence the bread-and-salt implies. I need to remember that when I move into my new home next month. There are many who will help me move who deserve that acknowledgment of my house.
in renaissance drinking songs we have:
We be soldiers three
Pardona moy je vous an pree
Lately come forth of the low contry
With never a penny of mony.
Here, good fellow, I'll drink to thee
Pardona moy je vous an pree
To all good fellows wherever they be
With never a penny of mony.
Here, good fellow, I'll sing you a song,
Sing for the brave and sing for the strong,
To all those living and those who are gone,
With never a penny of mony
And he who will not pledge me this
Pardona moy je vous an pree
Payes for the shot what ever it is
With never a penny of mony.
On the shoe books - has anyone contacted the publisher? I can think of several people who should get copies for christmas...
Lee @ 367
In my view, "Fashionable" is not the same as "fashion-forward". Most of my clothing is on very classic lines and so is never out of fashion - the problem with not including fashionable as a criterion, as I see it, is that you can have clean, well-fitting clothing that is so out of style that it becomes as much of an issue as ill-fitting clothing. I have an issue with this because I tend towards victorian aesthetics even in my modern clothing, but I have to be careful not to take it over the top. Classic is good, quirky individualism perfectly acceptable, but dated clothing or costuming off the rack isn't good for professional wear.
My visceral response to Paula is that while the fashion industry may be crap (and it is!), looking "good" and well presented is not. I'm going to take a page from Misty Lackey here and state that well-fitted, clean, and fashionable clothing is like armor - people only truly notice and snipe when you don't have it and it protects you by giving you self-confidence when you do. All clothing makes a statement about the person. We have choices in materials, colors, patterns, styles, just as we have in word choice and phrasing. We can make our clothing or buy it. From what you've said, Paula, you don't like the "exist for others" mindset that seems to go along with this - but you usually choose your words with care, and I assume that is not only because you want to get your point across, but because you value the opinion of people in this forum of you and your wordsmithing cabibilities.
My job is a job based on appearances. I need to present as competent, professional, and successful while still being both "with it" in terms of fashion and an individual. If I fail on any of these points, in demeanor or in appearance, I lose customers. People do judge you by what you're wearing, and we all know it. They also judge you by your hobbies, your preferences, all of it. I'm a reader of sf and a geek, as are most of us in this forum. I'm an academic, a medievalist specializing in textiles and domestic material culture. And none of that matters to my customers, except in terms of how it lets me relate to them. I need to hit those subliminal cues that they can trust me with their largest investment and often the purchase that matters most emotionally. I need to be someone who understands all those domestic, feminine things to help them find a home for their family. I also need to be the hard, successful professional who is competent to advise them on how to spend that much money and will fight to get them the best price. I need to establish myself as both those things in 3 min. That's what they tell us we've got to convince a buyer or seller to trust us. If I look slovenly or ill-kept, I have to fight harder in that fleeting time frame. Appearances are everything.
As a dovetail from the discussion about uses of clothing and my comment of clothing as armor, one of the best things about properly chosen clothing is the subliminal category it puts me in. We've gotten enlightened men past responding with "Oh, that professional woman must need a man to provide for her!", but there is still a fine line between clothing that flatters and clothing that makes me attractive. I need clothing that flatters *without* making me hit the "attractive and available" buttons for these nice young men that I'm helping to buy their first home, or those same buttons that make me a threat to their girlfriends or wives. Demure and socially acceptable is good. Unthreatening is very good. I'll happily take that pigeonhole in my professional life because it means I am out of reach as anything more than a friend.
Combine these things and it means tall boots, ankle-length skirts, short jackets and blazers, high-necked blouses, and my hair in a braid or bun. My clothing tells a story about me and who I am, what I do. I need to be happy with that story before I set out in the morning, otherwise the goals of my day just became a lot harder, both in terms of my self-confidence, and in the perception of my customer base who must have confidence in me.
Since it's not yet a sidelight or particle, I figure this hasn't been dropped here yet:
Dinosaur Sodomy on Ebay
via Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
try the NYT, I really like how they have things broken down. And they're being very conservative in stating winners.
Shalom @ 35
According to my poll workers at 2 pm this afternoon, the City of St. Louis has held an almost impecable election. I never thought I would see the day.
As of 8 am this morning, the line at my polling place was 4 blks long. About 9 they had the first wave (that started at 7) through - it was incredibly efficient. I went to vote at 1:30 and avoided the lunch crowd. We just swung past the school on our way to grab celebratory groceries* and there was a small line again. But...it's good. I think we'll make it.
*There are few things more american than A&W root beer with vanilla ice cream. Also, hotdish/casserole for dinner.
Matt @ 158
Institutional memory is long, and my faith in the current Mayor Daley's (or his staff's) purity is non-existent, so yes, I felt my tense was correct. I understand that the blatant voter fraud was Mayor Daley Sr., but Terry was asking for an example in the last century where the Dems had committed such acts. Daley Sr. certainly didn't play fair when it came to elections.
Terry @ 151
Chicago politicians are corrupt. Downstate takes this as a fact of life, which is just muttered over but acknowledged as true with a few rare (and always suspect) exceptions. Chicago elections often have had suspect happenings, esp in regards to voter fraud and multiple voting. At one point, you, your dead mother, your dog, and your furniture could all vote for Mayor Daley. These effects were felt downstate, in the policies of the Democratic political machine in Springfield.
Sometimes? We're just as bad. Just not in the last few elections. (Outside Chicago, of course.;) I support Obama *despite* his living in Chicago, because he's still better than McPal)
On the subject of entertaining children at the polls-
After Holloween, all those large packs of crayons & paper, or crayons and coloring books that are given out instead of candy will be on sale. Pick up a few bags - sales are good things. ;)
I only know Scraps through his commenting here, but he always has been a person of thought and wisdom.
As for the fundraiser - I know Albacon is this weekend and so is probably too soon, but is there a local con coming up soon where someone can arrange such a thing? Looking at the fanlist, the next biggies I see are Arisia and Boskone. That's three months out. Someone want to take the ball and run with it?
Following - Germany, castles, magic moments
For a week we had traveled in Germany and this day had stopped in Heidelberg. My high school German class was slowly making our way to Cologne, where our home-stay was. It had been a scary week to be so far away from home. The day before we watched on two TVs in Munich the tanks roll over the border into Iraq, and had come up from the u-bahn from dinner into a protest.
I was sick, coming down with my usual 1-week overseas cold. I remember getting off the tour bus, calling my parents, and walking through the gates of Heidelbergschloss. I remember looking around that old, half-ruined courtyard and seeing the old glory that it had been. And I remember looking at the eastern wall of the courtyard, at the main body of the palace, and thinking, They really managed to paint that ceiling in there a stunning blue. I wonder how large that room is?
Then I realized that the room was infinite and the ceiling was the brilliant deep blue of a clear March sky.
Yay! Good to hear that you're home! And actually, I can see the positive side of a positive stress test - you know what went wrong. The part I hate most about medical issues is when they don't know what the problem is, that they don't know how to fix it, or how to make sure it doesn't happen again. Heart attacks with a positive stress test? The medical community knows what to do with those!
Take care, rest safe, get well soon.
I have new carpet, and am packing to start a new life again. I return to old stomping grounds years later, in a different house, on my own (with cats).
I hate moving. But it will be good to once again be home.
I give a post of normalcy-
Today, I get new carpet in my house. While they're here doing that, I'm going to be stripping the wallpaper in the bathroom. While neither of these is particularly *fun*, they will make my house more salable/rentable/attractive.
Also, I get to figure out what to do with some of these weird vegetables from my CSA. I know I'm pickling beets and cucumbers and canning tomatoes. It's the ones I don't know that I need to identify and find uses for. It's an adventure!
I've used the crazy creek chairs, and I'm not all that much a fan. Then again, I usually try to have portability into my SCA kit. I am actually a fan of my light wooden chairs from the 70s. They fold, have vinyl seats and woven cane backs, and are german-made. When I'm not camping, they serve as my extra emergency dinning room chairs, as they take up less room, are nicer, and weigh a ton less than those metal things. They are starting to show wear, though, so I'm debating these in medium brown as my replacements.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 19 |
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