Poetry Reading

Tonight I went to a poetry reading at the local Women's Civic Center. Things were kicked off by Harley Elliott, an accomplished man who lives in Salina - about an hour away.

His poems often talk about Kansas, and what living in Kansas is about. One of my favorites of his was not one he read tonight, but you can read it at http://skyways.lib.ks.us/poetry/waking.html.

He is an engaging personality, and always a crowd favorite.

He was followed by Amy Fleury, a poet who lives in Topeka. I was really touched by her poetry. One particular line really stuck with me - "he sang her a song she'd been wanting to hear." Every woman who has ever had a relationship can relate to that.

http://www.siu.edu/%7esiupress/titles/f04_titles/fleury_beautiful.htm

Fleury's work, "Beautiful Trouble" was published by SIU press in September of last year. She got high praise for it, including the following from the US Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner, Ted Kooser.

"The minute I finished 'Beautiful Trouble,' I wished I had copies to give to all my friends: To the poets, of course, who will admire it for its art, but also to those who don't read poetry. Fleury proves that a book of poems need not be baffling or condescending or self-absorbed. With ordinary words placed with perfect precision, this book throws open dozens of windows onto fresh new ways of seeing, and loving, the world."

Denise Low came next. She was very animated and told wonderful stories that put her poems into context. One of my favorites that she read played off the Apache belief that a dead person's things could be "haunted" by that person's essence, called "Gernonimo's Boots."

This was the first event held at the Civic Center in a long time. The building had been slated to be torn down. Trish has taken it on as a project to save it. It's going to be the new home of the Reno County Arts and Humanities Council, a board I've joined recently.

After Denise, John Eberly and his wife, Catherine, provided some musical entertainment. John is someone I've known for years through other people. In the last few months, I've gotten to know him better.


I had not heard Catherine sing and she has a beautiful voice. Just lovely, clear tones.

Afterwards we heard from two local poets, both of whom are well known in their own rights.

First up was Bill Sheldon. He grew up in Western Kansas, but now lives here. His poems were geared toward that.

There was a workshop earlier today, but I couldn't go as I was at a wedding. One of the topics was to consider new slogans for Kansas. One Bill joked about was "Expect Less."

The scheduled part of the evening ended with Steven Hind, who taught at Hutchinson Community College for many years. He evoked laughter from the audience a number of times, as well as some other emotions. One line that really stuck with me was in a poem about his dad. The line was about "this place he had been given, that he had chosen." That really stuck with me because we do all choose where we are at in so many ways literal and figurative.

All in all it was a wonderful evening. We were treated to two more poets who were in the audience tonight and got up to read their work. Both had the audience engaged and laughing.

Jocelyn came tonight, too. So, it was fun to see her. We've spent part of the day together off and on since this morning when we did wedding set up, then the actual wedding, and than tonight's event.

I'm ready to turn in. It has been a long day. I'll post wedding pix as soon as I get a chance.

Dala Lope

Dala Lope will make his debut this weekend in Lindsborg, Kansas. Look for him at www.thelope.blogspot.com.

Shower Epiphany

This morning in the shower I had one of those flashes of insight that seem so common during the early morning ritual of washing oneself.

The reason I bristle when people talk about work being rewarding and fulfilling and meaningful is that it implies that our mere existence here, at this time, in this place, is not. That in order to justify each breath we take we must be "producing" something.

I think this is just a nice, big, fat lie purported by corporate America.

My existence is valid, regardless of what I'm doing for a living. I will not believe the lie that what I do for a living is what gives purpose to my life.

A Poet for Peace

see this at:
www.thenation.com/doc/20051010/olds

For reasons spelled out below, the poet Sharon Olds has declined to attend the National Book Festival in Washington, which, coincidentally or not, takes place September 24, the day of an antiwar mobilization in the capital. Olds, winner of a National Book Critics Circle Award and professor of creative writing at New York University, was invited along with a number of other writers by First Lady Laura Bush to read from their works.

Three years ago artist Jules Feiffer declined to attend the festival's White House breakfast as a protest against the Iraq War ("Mr. Feiffer Regrets," November 11, 2002). We suggest that invitees to this year's event consider following their example.--The Editors

Laura Bush
First Lady
The White House

Dear Mrs. Bush,

I am writing to let you know why I am not able to accept your kind invitation to give a presentation at the National Book Festival on September 24, or to attend your dinner at the Library of Congress or the breakfast at the White House.

In one way, it's a very appealing invitation. The idea of speaking at a festival attended by 85,000 people is inspiring! The possibility of finding new readers is exciting for a poet in personal terms, and in terms of the desire that poetry serve its constituents--all of us who need the pleasure, and the inner and outer news, it delivers.

And the concept of a community of readers and writers has long been dear to my heart. As a professor of creative writing in the graduate school of a major university, I have had the chance to be a part of some magnificent outreach writing workshops in which our students have become teachers. Over the years, they have taught in a variety of settings: a women's prison, several New York City public high schools, an oncology ward for children. Our initial program, at a 900-bed state hospital for the severely physically challenged, has been running now for twenty years, creating along the way lasting friendships between young MFA candidates and their students--long-term residents at the hospital who, in their humor, courage and wisdom, become our teachers.

When you have witnessed someone nonspeaking and almost nonmoving spell out, with a toe, on a big plastic alphabet chart, letter by letter, his new poem, you have experienced, close up, the passion and essentialness of writing. When you have held up a small cardboard alphabet card for a writer who is completely nonspeaking and nonmoving (except for the eyes), and pointed first to the A, then the B, then C, then D, until you get to the first letter of the first word of the first line of the poem she has been composing in her head all week, and she lifts her eyes when that letter is touched to say yes, you feel with a fresh immediacy the human drive for creation, self-expression, accuracy, honesty and wit--and the importance of writing, which celebrates the value of each person's unique story and song.

So the prospect of a festival of books seemed wonderful to me. I thought of the opportunity to talk about how to start up an outreach program. I thought of the chance to sell some books, sign some books and meet some of the citizens of Washington, DC. I thought that I could try to find a way, even as your guest, with respect, to speak about my deep feeling that we should not have invaded Iraq, and to declare my belief that the wish to invade another culture and another country--with the resultant loss of life and limb for our brave soldiers, and for the noncombatants in their home terrain--did not come out of our democracy but was instead a decision made "at the top" and forced on the people by distorted language, and by untruths. I hoped to express the fear that we have begun to live in the shadows of tyranny and religious chauvinism--the opposites of the liberty, tolerance and diversity our nation aspires to.

I tried to see my way clear to attend the festival in order to bear witness--as an American who loves her country and its principles and its writing--against this undeclared and devastating war.

But I could not face the idea of breaking bread with you. I knew that if I sat down to eat with you, it would feel to me as if I were condoning what I see to be the wild, highhanded actions of the Bush Administration.

What kept coming to the fore of my mind was that I would be taking food from the hand of the First Lady who represents the Administration that unleashed this war and that wills its continuation, even to the extent of permitting "extraordinary rendition": flying people to other countries where they will be tortured for us.

So many Americans who had felt pride in our country now feel anguish and shame, for the current regime of blood, wounds and fire. I thought of the clean linens at your table, the shining knives and the flames of the candles, and I could not stomach it.

Sincerely,
SHARON OLDS

Dreams dead and Dreams new

It has been a very full work day. Plus, I worked in the diversity lunch today. It was a really good group today. Service was a bit better, which was a nice change.

Greg and I went to Skaets right at 5 and then Julie came over later for me to help her with a computer thing.

I've been rather distracted all day today. Today is another anniversary to get through. The day is almost over. Tomorrow will be another one. Some dreams die - some gracefully, some not so much. I get exhausted from all of it, but can't seem to let the days pass without noting it because it seems to belittle something that was important in this lifetime.

Last night I had the oddest dream - actually three dreams that were related. I know these dreams will alter how I see the world - they already have slightly - and they will yet more, I'm sure. They were not dreams of my brain clearing itself. Part of me is excited to go to sleep tonight. Part of me is frightened.

What I Want Tonight

Tonight I want to go upstairs to my studio and create. Unfortunately, that's not in the cards, but it's what I really, really, really want to do. My studio is still crammed with furniture.

Instead of being in the studio tonight, I will be on my hands and knees in the sunporch, scrubbing the tile again.

It just doesn't hold the same appeal.

The question was posed: Are you a religious or spiritual person? What is the difference?

For me:
"Religious" means you belong to a particular religion/denomination/etc. "I'm religious" is a generic way of saying, I'm catholic, baptist, methodist, mormon or anything else. That person may, or may not, have any kind of spirituality.

"Spiritual" is about the relationship you have to the higher power/fellow humans/earth/etc. It does not require a church, a group, or anything else along those lines.

I'm spiritual but not religious.

Violation

OK... think back a little while ago when we were outraged about Armstrong Williams and the administration PAYING him (read: YOUR tax dollars at work) to say wonderful things about the Bush administration's education plans.

Well, last week, the GAO determined that it was a gross violation. Yeah, duh. Like there was any question about that.

Unfortunately, it comes with no penalty.

From the NY TIMES:

By ROBERT PEAR
Published: October 1, 2005
WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 - Federal auditors said on Friday that the Bush administration violated the law by buying favorable news coverage of President Bush's education policies, by making payments to the conservative commentator Armstrong Williams and by hiring a public relations company to analyze media perceptions of the Republican Party.

In a blistering report, the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said the administration had disseminated "covert propaganda" in the United States, in violation of a statutory ban.

The contract with Mr. Williams and the general contours of the public relations campaign had been known for months. The report Friday provided the first definitive ruling on the legality of the activities.

Lawyers from the accountability office, an independent nonpartisan arm of Congress, found that the administration systematically analyzed news articles to see if they carried the message, "The Bush administration/the G.O.P. is committed to education."

The auditors declared: "We see no use for such information except for partisan political purposes. Engaging in a purely political activity such as this is not a proper use of appropriated funds."

The report also sharply criticized the Education Department for telling Ketchum Inc., a public relations company, to pay Mr. Williams for newspaper columns and television appearances praising Mr. Bush's education initiative, the No Child Left Behind Act.

When that arrangement became public, it set off widespread criticism. At a news conference in January, Mr. Bush said: "We will not be paying commentators to advance our agenda. Our agenda ought to be able to stand on its own two feet."

But the Education Department has since defended its payments to Mr. Williams, saying his commentaries were "no more than the legitimate dissemination of information to the public."

The G.A.O. said the Education Department had no money or authority to "procure favorable commentary in violation of the publicity or propaganda prohibition" in federal law.

The ruling comes with no penalty, but under federal law the department is supposed to report the violations to the White House and Congress.

In the course of its work, the accountability office discovered a previously undisclosed instance in which the Education Department had commissioned a newspaper article. The article, on the "declining science literacy of students," was distributed by the North American Precis Syndicate and appeared in numerous small newspapers around the country. Readers were not informed of the government's role in the writing of the article, which praised the department's role in promoting science education.

The auditors denounced a prepackaged television story disseminated by the Education Department. The segment, a "video news release" narrated by a woman named Karen Ryan, said that President Bush's program for providing remedial instruction and tutoring to children "gets an A-plus."

Ms. Ryan also narrated two videos praising the new Medicare drug benefit last year. In those segments, as in the education video, the narrator ended by saying, "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting."

The television news segments on education and on Medicare did not state that they had been prepared and distributed by the government. The G.A.O. did not say how many stations carried the reports.

The public relations efforts came to light weeks before Margaret Spellings became education secretary in January. Susan Aspey, a spokeswoman for the secretary, said on Friday that Ms. Spellings regarded the efforts as "stupid, wrong and ill-advised." She said Ms. Spellings had taken steps "to ensure these types of missteps don't happen again."

The investigation by the accountability office was requested by Senators Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, both Democrats. Mr. Lautenberg expressed concern about a section of the report in which investigators said they could not find records to confirm that Mr. Williams had performed all the activities for which he billed the government.

The Education Department said it had paid Ketchum $186,000 for services performed by Mr. Williams's company. But it could not provide transcripts of speeches, articles or records of other services invoiced by Mr. Williams, the report said.

In March, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel said that federal agencies did not have to acknowledge their role in producing television news segments if they were factual. The inspector general of the Education Department recently reiterated that position.

But the accountability office said on Friday: "The failure of an agency to identify itself as the source of a prepackaged news story misleads the viewing public by encouraging the audience to believe that the broadcasting news organization developed the information. The prepackaged news stories are purposefully designed to be indistinguishable from news segments broadcast to the public. When the television viewing public does not know that the stories they watched on television news programs about the government were in fact prepared by the government, the stories are, in this sense, no longer purely factual. The essential fact of attribution is missing."

The office said Mr. Williams's work for the government resulted from a written proposal that he submitted to the Education Department in March 2003. The department directed Ketchum to use Mr. Williams as a regular commentator on Mr. Bush's education policies. Ketchum had a federal contract to help publicize those policies, signed by Mr. Bush in 2002.

The Education Department flouted the law by telling Ketchum to use Mr. Williams to "convey a message to the public on behalf of the government, without disclosing to the public that the messengers were acting on the government's behalf and in return for the payment of public funds," the G.A.O. said.

The Education Department spent $38,421 for production and distribution of the video news release and $96,850 for the evaluation of newspaper articles and radio and television programs. Ketchum assigned a score to each article, indicating how often and favorably it mentioned features of the new education law.

Congress tried to clarify the ban on "covert propaganda" in a bill signed by Mr. Bush in May. The law says that no federal money may be used to produce or distribute a news story unless the government's role is openly acknowledged.

Art at Dillon Nature Center

Sunday afternoon, Greg, Mia and I went to Dillon Nature Center for an Art Walk. Mia came out to do the Bethel College Fall Festival on Saturday. I had reserved space but couldn't use it because my studio is still stuffed with furniture. So, she used my space so it didn't go to waste.

Anyway, Sunday was an art walk that Jocelyn was in. So, we all went out to Dillon Nature Center.

A few of the artists had cancelled out at the last minute, but it was still a very nice show. I ran into Debbie B., as well as Teresa and her sister in law.





Dillon Nature Center is an incredible facility. It's 100 acres, and is designated a National Urban Wildlife Sanctuary. You can find more than 300 species of woody plants, hundreds of varieties of wildflowers and native grasses, 200 species of birds, and a large variety of other wildlife along three miles of National Recreation trails.





I really need to get out there more often and take advantage of it. It's less than 10 minutes from my house and an amazing place. We always have it as one of the sites on the garden tour and it's a great mix.

Jim Smith is the director out there and he does a great job. We're very fortunate to have this facility.

Lots of people volunteer their efforts to keep things going there, not the least of which are James and Betty Taylor who plant tons of flowers each year. Many of those attract butterflies and bees all summer long.




Today was a beautiful day - cool, breezy, beautiful. The only problem was that it was hard to get photos of things as the wind was blowing them around.

One unexpected thing we saw today was this little snake. He slipped across the walkway, right in front of Greg. Mia and I were walking along behind Greg. I saw the snake making his way - very quickly - toward the water. Greg managed to snap a photo of him before he plopped into the pond.

An unexpected, very pleasant, part of my day was running into Jeanette Mull. She's a local artist and someone I've known for a very long time - practically since I moved to town. But, we'd kind of lost track of each other over the years, other than to say hello when we run into each other.

Today we had a chance to visit for a few minutes and it was lovely to reconnect with her. She tells me she's a reader of this blog, so I guess she has the advantage on me as far as keeping up.

I'm continually flattered to learn that people read along.

Jeanette asked me today if I ever got rid of all the wallpaper. And, the answer is yes. I now live in a wallpaper and carpet free home. It's very exciting!




We made the circle of the artists along the trail and when I got back up to the visitor's center, I ran into Cleta and her hubby. He's doing much better and it's always good to see her. She's someone who's always in a good mood. I love that.

We helped Jocelyn break down her booth and headed to Skaets for a burger before Mia had to leave town.

Jocelyn has her booth down to a science, so it didn't take long to get things torn down and loaded. She took most of it and I took a couple of things in my vehicle. She came over tonight to pick them up.

This is Joyce, who is the cook extraordinaire, at Skaets. I had to go buy grout, so Mia and Greg beat me there tonight. But, Greg snapped this nice photo of Joyce before I arrived, and I didn't want to let the opportunity slip by to add it to the blog. She makes the best moonburger you can imagine!

NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner

Last night I attended the NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner. It was their 25th year, but the first year I've been.

One of the ladies at the Democratic Women's Club mentioned it and I bought a ticket. Teresa did, too. So, we went together.

When we arrived, we ran into a number of people we know from the democratic party, as well as others. I was a little surprised that the only state representative there was Mark Treaster, but it's hard to get everywhere you want to be when you're a rep. I've learned that from Mark and Jan.

Judge Greg Waller was the keynote speaker. I had seen him in January at the MLK celebrations here. You may recognize his name as the judge who presided over the BTK case with Dennis Rader.

He spoke about that last night, and invited questions. He said he thought it was obvious that Rader was "a man possessed." I found that a powerful statement.

He's an eloquent, accomplished man. He spoke about the recent situations in the south east and said that he thought it was economics even more than race related.

One of the things he talked about last night, that I had let slip from my mind, was how the civil rights movement of the late 50s and early 60s called an end to the "gradualism" of civil rights. This concept has been holding people back for generations, and it still continues.

I'm so very glad I was there last night to hear this, because I had forgotten this very important change in our approach. The idea that things will change gradually - wether in the case of civil rights or our country improving - is very flawed. The only change that can really occur must happen more quickly.

He is originally from Hutchinson, so many people here know him. In fact, when Jocelyn was over tonight she was mentioning that she remembered him when they were kids.

The NAACP was founded in February of 1909 by a group of black and white citizens who thought everyone should be treated fairly. Finally, last night, 96 years later, I got around to joining. I was overdue.

Tile in the Sun Porch

I'm getting my downstairs sunporch floor done. It had hideous carpet on it, which I ripped out before I moved in. That left this subfloor, which although it was good quality plywood, was not that attractive.


I've considered various options. Finally I decided on tile. Three different people told me that new hardwood would not make me happy if I could see old hardwood from it. And, I can, since this is right off the living room.
Anyway, the consensus is that new hardwood looks cheap and plastic next to old hardwood. So, I decided to go with a tile.

Of course, you have to decide what type you're going to use. I chose natural materials - a slate - so I'd have some variations of color and texture. Each of these packages has 5 tiles. I bought extra because I might break one and I want some in reserve. They are HEAVY.




To prepare the surface, you have to put down cement board. Apparently you can't just slap slate down over subfloor. This is another example of a good reason to hire a professional.



Step two is to lay the tile. Apparently if you get a good tile person, they don't need to use spacers. They do it by feel. Having done layout for years, before computers did it for us, I understand that completely.

Each time a cut is required, there's a special piece of equipment to use that runs water over the tile while it's being cut. Chris's helper was in charge of that. Even though the tiles appear to be even across, the ones on the far wall required about a quarter inch cut.





This is Chris Miller, who has done a lot of work on my house. I am so fortunate to have found him. He does fantastic work and is very fair with his prices. He is a treasure.

His business has grown a lot since I first met him over three years ago. I'm so glad he still finds time for smaller jobs, inbetween building houses.

I've hired a lot of people to do a lot of different things. Chris is always my number one "go to" guy.



This weekend I'm going to seal the tile and Monday Chris is coming to grout it. An important thing to remember is if you use natural products, you have to seal them before you grout or the grout gets into all the crevices and you have a huge problem.



After I seal, the next big decision is grout color. I'm leaning toward a wheat color. We'll see what I end up with.

Ah... the joys of home ownership. I just keep doing things that I have no experience or knowledge with.

Lily

I stopped in to see my favorite baby Friday. I have been so busy I haven't gotten to see Lily much lately.

She has some new favorite things - one of which is rolling around on the floor. Few things can compare with the excitement this offers.


However, one thing which does rate is my purse. I love the pink purse - it's the perfect size and shape.

Lily loves it because I let her take everything out of it, examine it, drop it on the floor, then get in the floor and look at it all again. Yeah, I know, I'm permissive. It's not hurting anything and it makes her happy.



We do pay attention to make sure there's nothing she can get hurt with, but mostly it's just paper and such. She seems very fond of paper. Maybe she's going to be a writer or artist.







She's learning things at a tremendous rate, as would be expected. She's not crawling yet, but she is close. She just can't quite coordinate the arms and legs yet.





She stands up with some assistance. And she's examining everything in her world with intense curiousity.

Abortion and Crime

Just when I think I can't hear or see anything much more reprehensible from the Republican Right, Moral Majority, Conservative Christian, whatever the hell the Republican party is about this week - I'm surprised. Compassionate conservatives my ass.

Reagan administration Secretary of Education Bill Bennett says that if we aborted more black babies, crime rates would go down. This is a perverted permutation of the theory put forth in "Freakonomics."

Bennett says he has been taken out of context. Bullshit. Here's the "context."

________________________


From the September 28 broadcast of Salem Radio Network's Bill Bennett's Morning in America:

CALLER: I noticed the national media, you know, they talk a lot about the loss of revenue, or the inability of the government to fund Social Security, and I was curious, and I've read articles in recent months here, that the abortions that have happened since Roe v. Wade, the lost revenue from the people who have been aborted in the last 30-something years, could fund Social Security as we know it today. And the media just doesn't -- never touches this at all.

BENNETT: Assuming they're all productive citizens?

CALLER: Assuming that they are. Even if only a portion of them were, it would be an enormous amount of revenue.

BENNETT: Maybe, maybe, but we don't know what the costs would be, too. I think as -- abortion disproportionately occur among single women? No.

CALLER: I don't know the exact statistics, but quite a bit are, yeah.

BENNETT: All right, well, I mean, I just don't know. I would not argue for the pro-life position based on this, because you don't know. I mean, it cuts both -- you know, one of the arguments in this book Freakonomics that they make is that the declining crime rate, you know, they deal with this hypothesis, that one of the reasons crime is down is that abortion is up. Well --

CALLER: Well, I don't think that statistic is accurate.

BENNETT: Well, I don't think it is either, I don't think it is either, because first of all, there is just too much that you don't know. But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.

________________________

I am so freaking fed up with the Republican idiocy in this country that I could scream. If you're a person of color or a person of conscience and are voting Republican, or not voting at all, what in the hell are you thinking?!?!?

This is the mentality you're voting for, with or without your vote. Yeah, the candidate may not be saying it, but it's a firmly held belief and every once in awhile, one of them lets it slip - just like Barbara did about the evacuees. (Yeah, I was cutting her some slack. That's over. I realize it was just another case of "true colors" creeping forward.)

The republican party/moral compass/conservatives/whatever the hell they are this week, has made a contract with America all right. And it's to get rid of all who aren't white, rich people - either by letting them die in hurricanes or aborting them first.

It's MY fault we had a president getting head in the oval office. I voted for Clinton twice and I'd vote for him a dozen more times if I could. But I voted for him the first time knowing he was likely to do something like that. So, it's my fault. I'll accept that.

I wish the worst problem we had in this country now was the president getting his rocks off with a 22 year old intern. Instead, we have people dying in the streets because we have a government that lacks compassion - again, completely foreseeable.

But, hey, this one isn't my fault. I didn't vote for any of these heartless people.

Bill Bennett's show airs on approximately 115 radio stations. If one of them is in your area, this would be a good time to call and complain to have the show removed from the airwaves.

Friday

I have new tile in the sunporch downstairs. It's not sealed or grouted, but it's down. I love the way it looks, but now realize that the walls in there have to be painted. I was tired of them anyway, so no big deal.

I did take some pix, and I will share them, but I'm exhausted. This has been a very long week. So, I'm headed up to bed. I will post pix of the past week as soon as I get a chance to do be at the computer for more than a few minutes at a time.

Happy Birthday to Terry

Monday night a number of us gathered at China Star, a local restaurant, to celebrate Terry's birthday.

I know I've mentioned Terry here before. He's an all-around good guy. I also joke that Terry is the reason you always want to stay on good terms with your exes. Terry and Greg were - and are - friends. Because Greg and I stayed on good terms, I got to keep Terry as a friend, too. Thank goodness!

Terry's family was there. His mom is in her 80s and she was having a good time.



Terry's sister and brother in law, and their son, were all there. I had met his sister before, but had never gotten to talk with any of them much. It was the first time I'd met his nephew and he's funny.







Terry has been taking tai chi for quite some time and Joya is his teacher. We've had lunch together before and she's a blast.




It was a really fun night and was capped off when the restaurant people brought Terry an ice cream dessert, complete with shrimp on the plate. None of us know what the deal was about that.




Did I mention Terry is a strict vegetarian?

Guest Column

Below is a letter written by my friend, Mark Reddig, to the Associated Press. Mark is a very, very, very bright individual. He is also a devoted journalist who embodies the best of the profession. I'm pleased to present this letter as the first ever "guest column" on my blog.

Dear Sir/Ma'am,

I wanted to send a comment regarding a story produced by AP headlined "Nobel Laureates Frown on Curriculum Plans."

In that story, which I read on Yahoo, I read this passage regarding the debate between intelligent design and evolution in Kansas: "That increasingly popular theory argues that some features of the natural world are best explained as having an intelligent cause because they are well-ordered and complex. Its followers attack Darwin's evolutionary theory, which says natural chemical processes could have created the basic building blocks of life on Earth, that all life had a common ancestor and that man and apes shared a common ancestor."

Let me get right to the point: Intelligent design does not meet the scientific definition of theory. While your reporter did mention one reason at the end of the story - that it cannot be tested - it meets virtually none of the definitions for what constitutes a theory under the universally accepted rules of science. And I very carefully chose the word "universally" here - most of those who adhere to intelligent design are not, in fact, scientists. Just as veterinarians don't write the rules for architects, members of the religious community don't write the rules for science - and vice versa.

For this reason, I am concerned about the use of the term "increasingly popular theory" in reference to it. While my assumption is that this is an attempt at fairness and objectivity, it is in fact an inaccuracy when reporting on scientific matters. Frankly (please excuse a little hyperbole here), it's a little like saying a striped bass is an increasingly popular form of bicycle.

Sesame Street said it best - "one of these things is not like the other ones."

Let me offer some definitions of what the word "theory" means in science:

From the American Heritage Dictionary:
"A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena."

From Princeton University:
"A well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena; 'theories can incorporate facts and laws and tested hypotheses'; 'true in fact and theory.' "

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary:
"The general or abstract principles of a body of fact, a science, or an art. ... a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain natural phenomena a theory of organic evolution."

There are countless others. But you get my point, I'm sure.

To put it more simply: Ideas in science start life as a hypothesis - as my old science teacher put it, an educated guess.

If that hypothesis is tested against the known facts, used in experimentation, subject to review and criticism by other scientists (and survives), can adopt to new facts as they become available and meets numerous other criteria, in science, it can - not automatically does - become a theory.

This differs from the common definition of the word "theory," which is not even quite hypothesis.

Intelligent design is not an "increasingly popular theory" - it does not meet the definition of a theory in science at all. It cannot adopt to new facts. It cannot adopt at all. It does not allow for itself to be disproven.

There are volumes of evidence - not conjecture, but real evidence - behind evolution. And evolution is not just about the origins on man, or the creation of life. It is, and always has been, a complete theory of life, about how species originate and develop over time. It is what gave us our definition of species. It is biology. Until evolution, there was no unified science of biology.

You can't just declare something a scientific theory, anymore than I can run out in the middle of my street and declare myself a congressman. Saying it does not make it true. And just because I said it, I doubt that you would report it as fact.

Intelligent design is and always has been at best a hypothesis - an educated guess. Until it meets the requirements of a scientific theory, it cannot be one.

As a journalist, my concern is this - in an attempt to be objective and fair, to give reasonable coverage to both sides of an argunment, are we instead misrepresenting science itself, and misrepresenting facts to our readers?

And although I realize you cannot recite the definition of theory every time you write a story on this topic, you are not required to repeat a source's inaccuracies each time you report on him either.

To be quite blunt, inaccuracy is not the same as objectivity or fairness. Out of good instincts, you do a disservice to your readers, who you should be educating and informing.

Rant over. And thanks for taking the time to read.

Sincerely,
Mark H. Reddig

Mammogram

I went for a mammogram today. I've had multiple ones and don't find them nearly as terrible as some women make them out to be. It's certainly not pleasurable, but it's not really painful either.

That said, imagine my surprise when I put my bra back on, looked in the mirror, and found my skin very, very red in a line at the top of my breast, from being squashed. Being who I am, I whipped out the camera and took a pic. I considered posting it here but decided readers might not want to be reading blogs and find such a photo. So, you'll just have to take my word for it.

It's just some minor skin irritation, and it's the first time I've ever experienced that. The squashing seems much less extreme these days than it used to be. If you're afraid to have one and worried about it, email me and I'll send the pic to you so you can see it's not a big deal.

It's very important that you have mammograms. The momentary discomfort is minor compared to the security of knowing all is well. I walked out of there, expecting to get good news, and looked at the other women in the waiting room, knowing that some of them were probably far more worried than I was. For me it was routine, for some of them it's life-saving.

If you're a woman over 40 and haven't had one, get thee to the doctor immediately. If you're a woman over 50 and haven't had one within the last 12 months, start dialing for an appointment. If you're over 30 you should have a mammogram on file for a base line comparison in the future. If you're over 20 and have a family history of breast cancer, you should have one. I had my first one in my 20s. Sometimes you may have to remind your doctor. DO it.

Your chances of breast cancer increase with age, but other factors - like a mother, aunt or daughter diagnosed with breast cancer, increase that risk. The government gives the following stats about your risk:

from age 20 to age 30. . . 1 out of 2,000
from age 30 to age 40. . . 1 out of 250
from age 40 to age 50. . . 1 out of 67
from age 50 to age 60. . . 1 out of 35
from age 60 to age 70. . . 1 out of 28
Ever . . . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 8

Don't hesitate.

Germs! Yikes!

The question was asked about germs and are you germaphobic and what do you do. I like to think I'm "cautious."

OK. I hate germs.

Salad bars. Oh my gosh. I look at those handles and think about all the people who've touched them and the germs that have made a happy place in the salad fixings. OK, I do eat from salad bars at times, but I do think about it.

Never use those air dryers in bathrooms - they're pulling dirty air from the floor. Disgusting. I use the towel to open the door, or barring that my shirttail, or if I have to I use a pinky finger and pull it at a place on the handle where others aren't likely to touch.

I wash my hands many times a day - certainly after being outside or doing anything "dirty."

I HATE shopping carts. Yuck yuck yuck. Do you know how many people have touched those handles!?!?!? And people let their babies chew on them, which is disgusting for the baby, and also makes it more covered with germs.

When I am in public, I never touch my eyes, mouth, etc. without washing my hands first. I also rarely get colds - because of this and the frequent hand washing.

I carry wet ones with me all the time. I never eat without using a wet one or going to wash my hands.

If any food falls on the table, it's trash. Have you seen the water/rags people wipe tables in restaurants with? Please, some bleach.

Bleach. Ah, yes, bleach. I keep it in the kitchen, both bathrooms and by the laundry. When I serve a group of people, I soak my dishes in bleach water afterwards to make sure all germs are killed. If you think your dishwasher is killing germs, you're kidding yourself, unless you have a commercial dishwasher and are using sanitizing material in it.

I rinse all can lids before opening.

Even as a child, I often asked, "Mama, my hands are duh-ty, would you wash my hands?"

Well, I could go on and on and on and on and on. But I'll stop here for the moment.

Wednesday

I have been up since a little after 5. I had to put rugs down in various places because they were bringing my furniture back from storage.

The movers arrived at the same time as the Home depot truck dropping off the tile they're laying tomorrow. Meanwhile the handyman was here to replace two doors. There's nothing like wandering down the hallway, toward your office, and noticing that there's a gaping hole in your home where once there was a door.

Now, 12 hours later, my house is stuffed with things again, I have two new doors and storm doors installed, the tile has been brought into the house and the only big project I have left for the day is to remove everything from the sunporch for them to do tile tomorrow and figure out how to clean my neighbor's driveway where the forklift left tire marks.

Ah... the joys of home ownership. I do love it. Thank goodness. Because I'm having one of those days like when the computer is trying to self-destruct and I remind myself that it's a good thing I LOVE computers.

Sentences that Have Not Been Uttered Previously

Friends and I have an ongoing discussion about "sentences that have not been uttered previously."

Our latest favorite is, "If you're not going to sell it, it doesn't matter what it's worth. You might as well glue it to your jackalope."

I am the proud speaker in this case, referring to Greg wanting to glue some toy goggles from GI Joe on Ace Jackalope before the cruise.

Bush Visits LA

So... Bush is visiting Louisiana. Again. Finally. What is this? Seven times?

OK, quite uncharacteristically, I'm going to cut him some slack. Yes, it's too little too late. But if he were sitting in the white house, or - more likely - on vacation, I'd be bitching about that. So, just this once, I'm going to cut him some slack.

This seems to be a no-win situation. And regardless of your party affiliation or your views on the man in the white house, no one would be able to walk the right "fine line" after the Katrina debacle. That debacle is a different discussion. For the moment, I'm just going to give him a break and say no one could figure this mine field out.

And, no, I'm not getting soft. Just trying to be objective.

sig line

"We need men who can dream of things that never were." John F. Kennedy

I HATE to shop

Today at lunchtime I go went out to Lowes and Home Depot to do more hunting and gathering for the house.

So, I'm at Lowes, looking at light fixtures. This gentleman comes along and asks if he can help. I tell him I'm looking for something to go in the kitchen.

He says, "Get a ceiling fan."

I say, "I have a ceiling fan now. I want to get rid of it."

"Why would you do that?" he asks, incredulous.

"It's ugly," I say. "Besides, it's useless in the kitchen - I don't use it - the air would blow the gas underneath the burners. And it's ugly. Very ugly."

"They make pretty ones, now." He says, waving to draw my attention to the dozens hanging up.

"That's a matter of opinion," I laugh. "They've made them more decorative. I don't think they've made them pretty yet."

He laughs - I think AT me, not WITH me - and asks, "How old is your house?"

"A little over 100 years old," I say.

He says, "Put in some recessed lights."

"No, I don't care for those. I want something with some character."

He says, "Well, that's all they're putting in new houses anymore."

The tone was one that indicated I was a fool for not wanting to do whatever the latest thing is. Now, think about this... if I thought new houses were wonderful, I wouldn't have bought a 100 year old one. See? Doesn't that make sense?

Why in the world would I give a flip what they're putting in new construction? Obviously, I think new construction leaves a lot to be desired because I bought something old. I want to get as far away from new construction as possible.

I wanted something solid. Something with real wood in it. Something built by people who cared about standards. Something with real baseboards, real wood floors, windows built by people who knew how to build windows instead of just buying them prefab. Shoot, when people who knew how to build HOUSES built them instead of just buying the parts prefab and assembling them in some fashion.

Last week I bought quarter round and had to explain that I wanted REAL wood, not psuedo wood. The kid just could not understand why anyone would want anything other than the fake stuff. Well... damn... because it's FAKE!!!!!!! I like real cheese as opposed to "process cheese-like" substances too.

Finally, I gathered my things at Lowes and went to Home Depot to get some paint mixed.

Early this morning I opened the can of Behr paint that was left after painting my living room three years ago. I have some touch up work to do. I opened the can to find goo in the bottom.

I was not impressed with Behr paint when I was painting with it. And I'm certainly not impressed with this discovery. I have probably eight different brands of paint from that time and this is the only brand that has turned to goo.

Nonetheless, I now own another gallon in the same color so I can touch up. I started to just get a quart but it's 2/3 the cost of a gallon and if I don't have enough... well... you know the routine.

Getting paint mixed required me digging in my purse for an old receipt to get their phone number and placing TWO calls to get someone to show up to mix the paint. Yes, not one, but two, phone calls.

The other night I went to buy some doors and spent 25 minutes waiting on someone to help me. I asked one of the 11 employees that were in the front of the store and they said someone would be back there. There was no one. Of course, it was 9:45 by the time I left - they close at 9 - but if they had shown up the first time I had someone paged, instead of me having to do it two other times, they would have gotten out on time. To their credit, they were very pleasant about the whole thing.

But... did I mention... I HATE to shop. It is far too complex.

phones, phones, phones

I have found a new way to indicate when one is too busy... I haven't had time to even listen to the messages on my cell phone that came in while I was talking to other people on my cell phone. They're playing in the background now. I just was on the regular phone and had to interrupt that call for a cell phone call who's number I recognized as urgent. I know I'm not this important. How can things be this crazy?

Moving Things Around

I spent a large part of the day moving things around in the house, preparing for them to bring my furniture back from storage later this week. It seems I spend way too much time moving things around.

I ran into Diana today at K-mart. We started talking and she wanted to borrow some things for an event. So, she and Austin and Amy came over tonight and got a lot of my dishes - snack trays and such. It's a bonus for me since I need to deal with all these dishes anyway.

She also cut some of my sweet potato vines to experiment with. She's going to use some to decorate with. They are growing like crazy and overtaking everything else in the flower bed. I hope the other things I planted have survived underneath all these vines.

One of my goals is to organize my life. I want to find a place for everything and get everything in its place. I spend too much time moving things around because they don't *belong* anywhere. So, I move them from one room to another. I'm sick of it.

So, once I have everything back and have figured out what to do with it, I'm moving into a new phase of life where home is a place of sanctuary - not just a place to store my crap.

Of course, as Mary Ann said tonight when I talked to her, I'm thankful that I'm able to move stuff around and do what I need to do. Always need to remain thankful of that.

Well, I need to get to bed early. My first thing is at 7 in the morning. It's going to be a frantic week.

Corpse Bride - no spoiler

You may know if you read here regularly that I am NOT a movie person. I go to one or two every year or so and it has to be something MAJOR to get me to go. Well, yesterday I saw "Corpse Bride" because I love "Nightmare Before Christmas" and I wanted to see Tim Burton's latest entry. It is no "Nightmare."

When "Nightmare" came out, Greg tried valiantly to get me to go see it. It was a big departure at the time. I didn't go, and after seeing it on video later - at his urging - have wanted to see it on the big screen. I love the Oogey Boogey Song and many of the characters. It was one of those cases where Greg was so right and I was so wrong.

So, when I learned about "Corpse Bride" I wasn't going to miss out. It was OK, but nothing to get excited about. I didn't leave humming any songs. A few hours later I couldn't remember any particular scene from the movie. I don't have a memory for such things, anyway, but generally it stays with me at least a few hours.

Anticipation

I was thinking tonight that something that's missing in my life is anticipation. Looking forward to something makes the experience even better for me.

I was trying to figure out why there's not enough anticipation in my life. I have come up with a couple of answers, and I don't like either one.

One answer is that I'm so busy with the day to day details of life that there's not time to actually THINK about things that are coming up and plan for them. It's that contemplation that adds to an occasion for me.

Maybe it's one reason I love the Christmas season so much - I anticipate it all year long. And it never disappoints.

The other reason I've come up with for not anticipating is that I lead a blessed existence that has many wonderful surprises in it. A week ago I didn't even know Bob Newhart was coming to town, much less that I'd get to see him. And I certainly love those surprises in life, but I think I need to temper them with other things too - planned things.

Planning is very difficult for me. It requires me to commit to a certain thing at a certain time and that's always a struggle for me. I'm sure there's a book for a psychiatrist in all that, but if I don't have time to anticipate things, I don't have time to write that book either.

One of the things I loved with my last boyfriend was that I could anticipate a visit from him. Unfortunately, if something happened and he couldn't come on a particular weekend, I was very, very disappointed after anticipating it. So, it's a mixed blessing. But, it was fun getting to think about seeing him and then the reality of getting to be with him.

I'm sure there's more here to contemplate - why I don't have enough "anticipation" in my life. It seems that I should. I must figure out how this works. It seems there's always something to occupy my thought that's "current" so there's no time for anticipating the future.

Bob Newhart

I was treated to a performance by Bob Newhart tonight. Martha had an extra ticket and asked if anyone would like to join her tonight. I happened to be online so I was lucky enough to be the first to reply.

It was a real treat - old fashioned comedy. I kept expecting Johnny Carson to make a cameo at any moment. I grew up on Carson and remember seeing Newhart on there all the time when I was a kid.

I was born so late in my parents' lives that they were very permissive. I never had a bed time. I could stay up and watch Carson as long as I got up the next morning. It was a lovely way to have a childhood. I miss knowing that Johnny Carson is still with us.

Newhart did some nice routines - everything from Polish jokes to more modern material. He worked with news information, which I always enjoy, although not things currently in the news. He also used a bit of video as a closer.

It was the opening night of the Fox season. We are blessed to have the Fox Theatre in Hutchinson. Martha was one of the driving forces behind restoring it. I could go on at great length about the Fox and how beautiful it is, and believe I have in this blog before, but you can see their photos - where this one came from too - from various times over its history at http://www.hutchinsonfox.com/gallery/index.htm.

We also heard the a jazz ensemble from Hutchinson Community College perform, and they were really good. They had a guest singer who was a high school freshman. She had a lovely voice and was very composed. I was impressed with her.

It was a nice evening. I've already written Martha a thank you note. I'm blessed to have such wonderful friends. Knowing Martha has been so good in so many ways - she has taught me to be a kinder person by example.

________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more.

Weary

I have more to do these days than I have time or energy to get done. I can't seem to figure out how to get a grip on the bits and pieces of my life and pull them all into a coherent whole. Maybe everyone has these problems... then again... maybe it's only me.....