Five Hundred Random Thoughts

65

2009-02-26T10:54:00.000-08:00

"Try Lentils for Lent"

For Lent, replace your meat hamburgers with tasty versions of veggie burgers. Yes, you can buy the frozen Boca and GardenBurger patties. They're fine for a quick meal. But kick up the flavor and quality a notch with homemade or fresh-made veggie burgers.

If you're in the northern Virginia / DC metro area, I urge you to try the lentil burger at Kennedy's Health Foods / Kasha's Kitchen in Falls Church. (Kasha's Kitchen is the little cafe in the back.) It may be the best veggie burger I've ever had, including ones I make myself from scratch. I've witnessed hard-core meat addicts chomp down on it and rave about it. One non-vegetarian, who regularly orders the lentil burger, told me that nothing made with lentils comes close to Kasha's lentil burger. I like lentils a lot, but I have to admit, he may be right.

Lentils are one of the more common bases for homemade veggie burgers. Try making homemade veggie burgers—they're not that hard to make. Basically, you mix a bunch of stuff in a bowl, form it into patties, and fry, broil, or bake the patties. You may have to chop an onion, maybe a couple cloves of garlic, but for the most part there's very little chopping involved. Besides, you can always buy frozen cut-up onions and a jar of minced garlic.

There's amazing diversity in veggie burgers. You change some of the core ingredients and you get a whole different taste. The idea is not to try to replicate a meat burger, but to create interesting, tasty, filling, and satisfying patties that go great in a bun and with appropriate toppings and "fixins."

Lentils also shine in Indian dishes. If you haven't tried Indian cuisine, or you haven't tried it in years, or think it's nothing but curry (nothing wrong with curry in my book, though), it's time to treat yourself to a nice Indian dinner—or years of them. Seek out recommended Indian restaurants in your area, and search online for easy Indian recipes. Look for dal dishes and recipes to get that rich blend of lentils and Indian spices. You can also buy some halfway decent instant Indian meals that feature lentils. You nuke them for a minute or two and you're ready to go. Although I highly recommend serving them over some Basmati rice.

For a super-easy, super-cheap, fulfilling made-from-scratch meal, cook up some lentils in one pot, and an approximately equal amount of rice in another pot. They're both be done in about 20 minutes. Mix the two together, squirt a little soy sauce on top, and top with some Earth Balance vegan butter. Voila! And bon appetit!

64

2009-02-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

It would seem to me that just watching sheep, without trying to keep a tally of them, would be more relaxing.

63

2008-12-08T09:27:00.000-08:00

There may be nothing here at all...but I'm starting to sense a pattern... In general, it seems like night owls are more liberal, and more skeptical of the status quo. If there is any truth to this, I wonder...

- Is there some biological correlation between waking/sleeping schedule and political views?

- Any chance that the cause and effect (if it exists) is the other way around? Perhaps people with conservative views, who identify with authority and order, are more motivated to rise and shine, and fit in with the bulk of the working world.

- Perhaps if some people are predisposed to fall asleep at 3am and wake up at 11am, the fact that they are out of sync with the mainstream pushes them in the direction of being more circumspect about the status quo.

Note: I'm not postulating that biology is the sole, or even main determinant of political views, or that all conservatives are early risers. I'm just wondering if there may be some interplay between natural sleep/wake rhythms—at least relative to the majority—and one's attitudes about society. Just a thought. Calling all grad students interested in the intersection of biology and sociology!

62

2008-10-21T17:50:00.000-07:00

The Lies and Lies and Lies of Sarah Palin

As the article notes, her pattern of outright lies is not just the usual spin, hyperbole, and selective fact-repeating that's unfortunately so common in political campaigns. Her lies "are factual, checkable, indisputable untruths." She's pathological. We cannot have someone who is so unbalanced and/or has such contempt for the American people in the White House.

61

2008-09-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

John McCain had an affair with a woman much younger than him while his wife had cancer. Why aren't the family values groups raising a stink about that?

60

2008-09-23T22:33:00.000-07:00

Polar bears resort to cannibalism as Arctic ice shrinks

This is so sad. We're destroying the planet and taking perhaps millions of species down with us. What a shameful legacy.

One of the best and easiest steps that individuals can take to reduce their contribution to global warming is to eat lower on the food chain. In nearly all cases, at present, in the developed world, a vegan diet—even a mostly vegan diet—destroys far less habitat and burns far less oil than a typical meat- and dairy-centered diet. Changing your diet will likely cut your greenhouse gas contribution by a greater amount than if you switch from a gas-guzzler to a hybrid. Plus you can go vegan today and it costs approximately nothing. ChooseVeg.com, GoVeg.com, and TryVeg.com can get you on your way.

To those who disbelieve the majority of the world's scientists and don't think that human activity has anything to do with global warming, let me make these two pleas:

- Transitioning to a vegan diet saves energy, conserves resources, and reduces animal cruelty that is often severe and sometimes shocking.

- On the chance that cutting down rainforests and spewing CO2 and methane into the air do have an effect on climate, doesn't it make sense to be prudent when the fate of untold numbers of species is potentially at stake?

I hope we'll take this issue into consideration when we vote, too.

58

2008-09-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

A spider has been living in a cardboard box in the shed for a month. I found out when I was going to take the box out and rip it up to put in the recycling. But I'll wait—it's the spider's home and I'm not going to evict him.

57

2008-09-20T05:27:00.001-07:00

This is rich: McCain on banking and health

56

2008-09-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

When mimes email each other, do they just use emoticons?

55

2008-09-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

Melancholy yet calming: Driving through a midwestern town in late fall/early winter at 5:00 PM. No one's out on the street. The sun and shadows are long and angular. You pass a bar. You wonder about the town.

On your way out, there are a few houses. One has a white dog out in the yard. You think for a minute...you could stop in, have a chat, have a cup of coffee...maybe watch a little bit of the game on TV. It's the end of the third quarter and close...you've been listening to it off and on for the past hour. You wouldn't agree on politics and other things with the middle-aged husband and wife who live there, whose kids have moved away (although all but one stayed in the state...and there's the one in college), but you'd get on fine. Sometimes there's nothing wrong with talking about the weather, and complaining about the ref's call, making small talk. Just a way for two or three humans to bond...the words are helpful but really it's just the fact that you're there together, in a warm house, one late day, on the earth, on the road, in no particular time...it's unsaid, but each knows the others has some pains and fears, some sad and happy memories, but also looks forward to better times.

On your way out, the dog runs out, into the front yard...you pick up a stick and he fetches it and brings it back to you. Okay, one more time, this time you give it a good, hard throw...he chases it enthusiastically...you feel like you could do this forever. But you say, after a pause, with a half-smile, "Well, I better be going now."

54

2008-07-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

Kenny Rodgers

I Just Checked in (to See What Condition My Condition was in) — cool; psychedelic.

Ruby (Don't Take Your Love to Town) — powerful.

The Gambler — a collection of cliches.

You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me, Lucille

One time when I went home from college during Christmas break (as it was called back then), a guy I sort of knew offered me a ride as far as Chicago. I said ok. He was an AM disc jockey. I was afraid he was going to play AM radio the whole trip. He said "No, I've got some tapes." I was relieved.

It turns out the tapes were of his radio shows, and they included commercials. "You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me, Lucille" must have been on the play list at the time he made the recordings, which was about a week before we left, I think. He played the tapes non-stop. Driving from Idaho to Chicago, I must have heard that song 50 times. At night, to save money, we found a state park or empty field and set up a tent. He brought in his tape player, with the tapes of his shows, and played them for about an hour each night. I remember thinking "This is so obnoxiously bizarre...I'll write about it some day."

That duet with Dolly Parton — still not sure what to think of that.

Kenny Rogers Roasters — Great Seinfeld episode.

53

2008-07-14T12:14:00.001-07:00

Funny thing about cats #104: You're on the computer. Kitty comes in to get you. He's very friendly, but it's clear he's here on business, not just to visit. "OK, what do you want, kitty?" you say as you get up. He leads you to the kitchen. He's got plenty of food in his bowl. Once you're both in there, he starts eating. He just wanted company.

52

2008-06-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

A local radio station just played Ten Years After's rendition of "I'm Going Home" from Woodstock. Sure, it's full of cliches and a little repetitious, but, man it rocks. In this performance, Alvin Lee knows exactly how to attenuate the volume and energy in his voice, when to launch into a guitar solo, when to hold back, when to go full bore - and then some. He plays it just right. The crowd is totally into it. Download this tune if you need a pick-me-up; it's better than caffeine. If you're driving, I defy you not to be drumming on the steering wheel by the third verse.

51

2008-05-09T13:59:00.001-07:00

Times don't change; we make them change. Our attitudes and actions chart the course of history.

50

2008-05-03T05:39:00.001-07:00

Does the number of pet names people have for their pets average around 20?

49

2008-02-28T20:22:00.001-08:00

I've seen online forums where they write a spontaneous story by each person adding a word. We could do that here with commenters, but since this blog is in the backwaters and hardly ever gets comments, that would take forever.

But how about a haiku? That would only need a few commenters. So go ahead and start any time. Do you need a topic? Okay — owls.

48

2008-02-22T12:10:00.001-08:00

I decided to name the three squirrels romping in the backyard between the snowflakes Quincy, Meredith, and Beatrice. Plus I gave them some pecan pieces on this cold day.

47

2008-02-14T20:30:00.001-08:00

Question: What's the farthest point from which can you see your house, or apartment building?

a) Standing on the ground
b) In a building

a) In the daytime
b) At night

(For places other than the tropics, the tundra, and deserts:)
a) In the winter
b) In the summer

(For places near a body of water:)
a) On land
b) On the water

Extra credit: What would the answers be if you lived in the top of the Empire State Building?

46

2007-10-24T17:57:00.002-07:00

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens"

I'm as tired of "The Sound of Music" as the next guy. But for some reason I was thinking about the lyrics of "My Favorite Things" today, and I realized they're masterful. Oscar Hammerstein could have said "sunsets and walks along the beach." Yuck. How about pina coladas?

But he captured the vibrant freshness of raindrops on roses...you can picture it, almost smell it, and it brings a smile to your face.

He didn't say "kittens." He didn't say "kittens playing." He said "whiskers on kittens." Perfect. You think of the whiskers and you see their faces and think about all their animated cuteness. "Whiskers on kittens" is the phrase that sets off your imagination and memories.

There's an innocence and sweetness in those opening two images.

I can't say that the entire song maintains that high quality, but there some passages that in my opinion are strokes of genius:

"Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings" — magical.

"Silver white winters that melt into springs." In one phrase, he captures the mystery and rebirth of two of the seasons, and the glory and splendor of nature. "Silver white" conjures up images of snow-covered conifers, and when I hear "melt into springs" I picture ice floes breaking up and the first buds breaking through the ground. By using the plurals — "winters" and "springs" — he suggests the passage of time.

One of the hallmarks of great lyricists is their ability to pick out a few key words that capture emotions, meaningful and lingering images, and the essence of what the singer is feeling.

That's what Oscar Hammerstein II has done with this song. And, come to think of it, they are a few of my favorite things.

45

2007-10-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

The couple down the street has their Christmas lights up already.

44

2007-06-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

Interesting: Privileged Children Of Millionaires Square Off On World Stage

Sometimes there's more truth in humor than in news.

43

2007-06-12T15:50:00.000-07:00

There are four fat doves on the telephone wire outside. And one sparrow - the non-conformist. The doves are all facing north, the sparrow is facing south. There are five wires, but for some reason the second one from the top is the popular wire today.

I know that communities gradually are replacing above-ground wires with underground conduits, for many good reasons: they're safer, for one, and less prone to damage by weather or squirrels. But looking outside my window, I can see at least one advantage of the conventional wires, strung between telephone poles, and I suppose I - as well as the birds - are going to miss them when they're gone.

42

2007-05-04T05:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was at the County Hazardous Waste Facility. Just hanging out. Kidding! I was dropping off some gasoline and oil to be recycled. This service is only open certain hours of the week, when there's a staff member there to oversee the operation, so there often is a line of cars.

As I was in the queue, inching forward, I noticed the guy in front of me was smoking the whole time. He'd take a drag, then dangle the lit cigarette out the window. Now mind you, I've got a gallon of gasoline in the back seat, and every vehicle is transporting hazardous - probably flammable - waste of some sort. Hopefully whatever poison they're carrying is in properly sealed containers, but who knows? On either side of us are tanks and storage facilities with warnings plastered everywhere, although strangely I couldn't see any "no smoking" signs. At the drop-off point were cans, bottles, and various containers of God only knows what, stacked high. I can only imagine their combined combustibility.

At one point, the driver got out of his truck, cigarette in hand, and adjusted the slightly unstable-looking load in the back of his pickup. The wind was blowing steadily from the west at about 15 miles per hour. By my reckoning, I was east of him, and his cigarette.

Plus he had his two dogs in the front seat of the truck.

41

2007-03-17T13:49:00.000-07:00

Just passing this on: http://animalradio.com/sylvester.html.

40

2007-02-09T17:17:00.000-08:00

I can't remember where kitty was when I went to sleep, but at some point during the night I became vaguely aware of a sprawling blob in the middle of the bed.

39

2007-01-12T10:34:00.000-08:00

Does any phrase sound as dated as "Y2K?"

38

2007-01-01T19:57:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was watching people doing ballet on TV. It was very elegant, but I thought it would have been even better if they could have had ten-foot rabbits dancing with them.

37

2006-12-10T10:30:00.000-08:00

Several years ago, a relative just out of college got a sales job with a cookware company. He asked my wife and me if he could come to our house to "practice his sales pitch." We wanted to help him out, so we said, "sure, no problem."

He came over with glossy catalogs and other promotional materials, and proceeded to give a presentation that seemed very scripted and lasted about a half hour. At the end of the presentation, and with some fanfare, he revealed that the price of the starter set — and you had to buy the whole set — was over three thousand dollars!

Then he asked us — for real, not for practice — if we were interested in purchasing a set. No way! He gave some lame, cliche justifications for the price ("with all the health advantages and cost-saving features of this cookware, you actually save money") and applied some pressure ("this deal is only available today").

So the idea was to hoodwink us — his aunt and uncle who had given him gifts or money for his birthday every year, and a nice sum for his graduation. I don't know if it was he or his employer who thought up the deception, but isn't this a microcosm of something that goes on every day? Using questionable tactics (including bombarding children with advertisements in every conceivable venue) to get people to buy as much stuff as possible? Isn't it sort of degrading all around to reduce friends, family, and people in general to sources from which you try to extract maximize revenue?

For the record, I had bought four pieces of cookware by FarberWare (if I may drop the name) — three pots and one pan — about fifteen years before the high-powered sales pitch. I do most of my cooking on them, and they'll probably last me the rest of my life — and after that, they may serve someone else for many years.

36

2006-10-30T22:09:00.000-08:00

Why is There Anything?

Why is all this stuff here? Not just stuff, but stuff that supports a profusion of wonderful, dazzling, brilliant, conscious life. Birds and worms and cats and dogs and you and me.

I realize from a scientific and maybe even philosophical standpoint there doesn't need to be a purpose. This unimaginable quantity of matter and energy may have always been here.

And yet — why? Nothing seems like a much easier state of affairs than something. A universe is a lot of work.

If there is no purpose, then what we do matters much less. Hurting, suffering — yeah, we don't like it but without purpose what are we other than a bunch of molecules?

If there is some purpose — a basic moral component of the universe — maybe this is what people feel when they sense God or spirit. We may not be able to scientifically prove that it exists — or maybe we will in a million years. In the meantime, we have to rely on our gut feel, and our heart, like we sometimes do when deciding if something is the right thing to do.

35

2006-10-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

As scientific inquiry discovers new realms of the material world, such as quantum physics and theories of relativity, what seemed certain before becomes open to question. We realize illusion after illusion: Newtonian physics, the solidarity of objects. As we continue to push the boundaries of scientific discovery, and retire yesterday's facts and amend former certainties, what is there that is reliably true? What, if anything, remains - concepts, knowledge, revelations, morals, beauty - that is steadfastly valid and dependable, independent of ongoing scientific discoveries?

34

2006-09-17T08:37:00.000-07:00

Couldn't evolution be God's intelligent design?

33

2006-08-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

Tom Toles had a good cartoon in the Washington Post. It was planet Earth making a public service announcement, urging us to vote against all republicans running for office in November, because they have made it clear that they intend to do nothing about global warming any time soon, and time is running out.

I'm no fan of republicans' policy on global warming, which seems to mostly be a combination of denial, delay, and coddling big polluters. But the republicans aren't forcing us to buy ever-bigger homes and SUVs, and to move out to the farthest suburbs and commute an hour to work, and to use our car instead of public transportation or a bicycle for close trips. It's not the government making us a eat a wasteful meat-heavy diet. At any time we can buy less stuff, we can favor locally-grown produce, we can eat lower on the food chain, we can turn the thermostat to a more energy-efficient temperature. We can modify our purchases to support environmentally responsible companies. Ultimately, we have the power to reduce our own substantial contribution to climate change. We can't blame the government for our behavior. We don't have to wait until the right person is in office to change our lifestyle. Do we have the integrity to acknowledge our own responsibility in global warming?

This reminds me of health issues. Granted, even the most health-conscious person can be afflicted with deadly disease, but while we give all this money to organizations that claim to be looking for a cure — in a magic pill or injection — we eat ourselves to death. We want a cure for cancer, but we want our hot dogs and grilled meat. We want a cure for heart disease, but less than a third of us eat our five small portions of vegetables per day. Curbing disease risk — in most cases, whether to our individual selves or to the whole world, starts with responsible behavior. We can't wait for someone else to bail us out of our own destructive decisions.

32

2006-08-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

There are powerful, compelling arguments for why we should not breed cats and have them as companion animals: our propensity to breed for arbitrary physical traits has worked against cats' health interests; so many people mistreat, neglect, or abandon their cats; many people declaw their cats, which among other things destroys a cat's ability to truly scratch and thus degrades his quality of life; until a totally safe and complete vegan formula for cats is devised, animals must be killed to feed a companion cat; spaying and neutering is necessary to control cat populations but what might it take away from their lives; if we let cats outside they may eat birds or get hit by cars, but unless the cat has lots of perches and toys and daily play times, he will get bored inside.

And yet my cat is sitting in my lap, I'm scratching his chin, and he is purring blissfully. Are you sure we're not meant to be together?

31

2006-07-28T06:57:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I like Major League Baseball is because I like rooting for a team. It's enjoyable to identify with a cohesive group of players, and follow them year to year, win or lose. But these days, it's almost as if the media, and the franchises themselves, intentionally downplay the notion of a team that stays together for any length of time. The focus is strictly on winning, even if that means trading away half the players for new ones. For me, it takes something major out of the game. The Washington Nationals are on a five-game winning streak, but the papers and sports talk shows are obsessed with who will be traded to what teams before the trading deadline. Talk of Alphonso Soriano's trade status overshadows the National's comeback win in the ninth inning. Who am I cheering for? A brand name? The team owner? It's almost like they don't want me to form too close a relationship with the current group of guys, because they could go at any minute. That's the effect it has on me.

Plus there's the steroids...

30

2006-07-15T00:59:00.000-07:00

The headline on AOL news is "Woman Calls 911 to Get a Date." The subtitle is "Listen to her ask for 'cutie pie' cop."

I suppose the idea is that we're supposed to laugh at this woman. Maybe some folks listening to the tape will say "she's a loser."

Based strictly on the headlines - so I could be wrong - I imagine a lonely woman, perhaps one who idealized a police officer and took a chance, albeit in an ill-advised way.

Shame goes to us if we laugh at her misfortune; shame on AOL for trying to capitalize on her embarrassing faux pas and profit from her awkward predicament. But hey, anything for a laugh. Anything for ratings.

So often, that seems to be the world. Point your fingers at the ones who trip and fall, who stumble and do stupid things. Lay on some biting, witty sarcasm. In the back of your mind, remind yourself that you're not them.

There is another version of the world, where we have pity on the lovelorn, the desperate, the clumsy, those who commit errors. We realize "there but for the grace of God (or luck) go I." We lift others up instead of getting off on feeling superior to them.

For one day, sure enough, we'll be the ones looking up, flushed, stammering, mortified, scared, suddenly unsure of oursleves, and we'll appreciate a helping hand and an understanding heart.

29

2006-06-07T04:48:00.000-07:00

Many proponents of the "Defense of Marriage Act" argue that men marrying men is "unnatural." Yet what could be more unnatural--and often downright cruel--than only letting gays marry people of the opposite sex? I've already seen how pressure on gays to conform to society's notion of maleness has ruined two good friends' marriages.

I've unfortunately witnessed gays, feeling marginalized by society yet wanting to fit in, engaging in decades-long charades, pretending publicly to be heterosexual, censoring their speech, and suppressing their true feelings until they can't take it any more. In some cases the torment drives them to depression, addictions, and/or self-destructive behavior. One gay person whom my wife and I knew struggled with his dual existence for years and remained in the closet out of fear for his job and reputation. One day about ten years ago he shot himself. He was a wonderful human being. Say what you want about God wanting men to marry women; the treatment of gays by far too many conservatives in this country--including those who want to enshrine discrimination against gays in the nation's most sacred document--is willfully and knowingly mean, and the consequences of such persistent ill will are sometimes tragic, and that--not gays' desire to marry--is a fundamental and troubling disobeyance of God's prescription for mercy and kindness.

Opponents of gay marriage frequently charge that gays want to "dilute" marriage out of lack of respect for the institution. I think this fear is delusional. None of the gays I know, including the ones in my family, have the slightest desire to cheapen or weaken the concept of marriage. The reason they want to get married is because they respect the institution of marriage. The only type of marriage that makes any physical, moral, and practical sense for a homosexual is a homosexual marriage. Neither my wife nor I can imagine how letting gays enter into a formal, state-recognized union that celebrates lifetime commitment and love threatens our marriage. If someone feels threatened by gay marriage, I'm pretty certain they have other issues.

28

2006-05-21T17:45:00.000-07:00

Sometimes ants--when they're alone, not part of an army--remind me of tiny cats. They wander around and investigate. "What's under here?" "Hey, it's food." They remind me of what cats would like if you stood 20 stories high.

27

2006-05-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

"If wishes were horses, and dreams were lillies"

No.

"If wishes were chances, and dreams came true"

No.

"If wishes were pennies, and heaven was lovely"

No.

"If wishes were snowflakes, and Santa had reindeer"

No.

"If wishes were seashells, and rabbits were bunnies"

No.

How does that stupid saying go?

26

2006-05-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

Is there a Flat Earth Society?

25

2006-05-14T07:51:00.000-07:00

This morning at the checkout counter, three strangers (one of them was Scottish, and one of them was me) had a spontaneous discussion about rutabaga.

24

2006-04-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

My Sister-In-Law's Encounter With Mary Travers in the Wal-Mart Women's Bathroom (Or How I Imagined It)

(Mary is over a sink, looking in the mirror. My sister-in-law is two sinks over. Mary speaks...)

Why can't I get that thing out of my eye? I don't even see it. What is it, an eyelash? Now my eye's all red. Lovely. I have to perform in two minutes and it will look like I just had a big cry. Or have pink-eye.

Let me just touch that up with a little eye-liner. Where did these bags come from? Good God. Honey, even legends get old. Maybe even older. It's not like God said, "You're a celebrity, so your eyes won't get puffy, they'll never get lined with crow's feet." I'm just like everyone else. Things go south, wrinkles come out of nowhere, hair turns gray. We're not twenty forever, babe.

Even a radical and a truth-teller has moments of vanity. Even a "face of the folk movement," a preacher of love and justice, sometimes looks in the mirror and stares for a second, and thinks, with some astonishment, "wow, I'm getting old." And then we get over it, and do what we gotta do. Right on, sister. See you out there.

(They high-five as she exits.)

Though it has been decades since Peter, Paul, and Mary were on the covers of major magazines or hailed as new folk heroes; though on that day they were no longer headlining music festivals but instead playing in a store infamous for selling mass-produced consumer goods, they sang their hearts out. In the middle of Wal-Mart, as parents shopped for school clothes and kids bought video games, they sang about universal truth and brotherly love and social justice. Shouting it out to whomever would listen. They started out as unknowns, playing in obscure after-hours coffee-houses; they'll end up where they began. Radicals.

23

2006-04-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

Finally, after a month-long drought, we had a thunderous cloudburst last night. A friend of mine was complaining about the heavy downpour, so I had to remind her:

By March twenty-first,
Nature had quite a thirst.
Spring was slow-poking,
In need of a soaking.
The birds and the bees,
And the plants and the trees,
And worms in the ground,
And everything around,
And all the life you see,
Including you and me,
Need water to sustain -
Besides, I like the rain.
So now there's no reason
Not to start my favorite season.

22

2006-04-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

Maybe evolution is intelligently designed?

21

2006-04-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

There's a homeless guy on the median. I've seen him there before. He has a sign; I can't read it. His face is grizzled, but he has a lean, fit look. He has a full head of closely cropped brown hair. He looks 40. He could get a bit part in a movie as a Gulf War vet. He looks down, always, never up or sraight ahead. I give him a dollar and say "here you go, buddy." He says "God bless" almost but not quite looking at me.

Four blocks down is another homeless person. This is one of the richest counties in the nation, by the way. Her corner isn't as good. There are fewer cars that stop there, fewer opportunities for change. She is 60. She looks weather-beaten. Her hair is long and gray. I can't pull over in time. In the rear view mirror, she sits down. I wonder how long she's been there.

It's the end of the afternoon; the sun is low in the sky. I punch on the radio and Paul Simon sings: "Hello Darkness, my old friend..."

20

2006-04-01T07:43:00.000-08:00

Voters -- or at least some Republicans - are concerned about illegal immigrants. Let's see. Our country was started by people who came in uninvited, spread disease to the natives, slaughtered them, enslaved them, wiped them off their land, killed off their wildlife, made a hundred treaties with them and violated nearly every one, and stuck them on reservations.

Meanwhile, Maria who takes out the trash in our building is a model citizen.

19

2006-03-10T05:47:00.000-08:00

The high today will be in the mid 70s. It will be beautiful. No coats. People will be walking around soaking up the sunshine. It will be wonderful to be outside and spring will be in the air. But up North, the polar bears are losing their ice, losing their homes. I'd rather have 30-degree blustery winds and not destroy the earth and its precious inhabitants.

18

2006-02-11T16:09:00.000-08:00

It would be cool if I was friends with a wild porcupine who lived near me. I would call him Joe and sometimes give him grapes to eat.

17

2006-02-09T16:59:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about this in the wake of the death of Betty Friedan... People measure the success of the women's movment by pointing out how their daughters won an award in the science fair; how women are rising in the ranks of mathematics professors and deans; how women are enrolling in engineering colleges and flying fighter jets in the armed forces. I'm glad that women are gaining in these fields and deservedly earning the respect of their male peers.

But there's something unsettling about this. Women's success seems to be measured almost entirely in terms of their entry, proficiency, and representation in male-championed pursuits: the rather clinical but unemotional fields of science and math, the brutish, violent, anti-compassionate pastimes of hunting and rodeo. Are typically male interests the benchmark of success?

Wouldn't a more meaningful measure of equality be an influx of men into areas that have historically been downgraded as "women's work" or "for the ladies?" I'd like to see some counterpoint to praising women for being "tough" and "fighters" and "warriors" and "not emotional." I'd like to see men praised for embracing feminine traits. I'd like to see skills like nurturing, conflict avoidance, and staying home with a sick child put on the same - or higher - plane as math wizardy and competitiveness.

When a man can say "I love my cats" or express deep interest in Jane Austin without derisive comebacks by his peers; when new male enrollees in home economics and poetry classes equal new women students in wood shop and physics, and when the respective levels of boosterism are equal; when men pride themselves in remembering their friends' and relatives' birthdays; when men get over "real men eat red meat" (and consequent heart attacks); when men can express fear and sadness as easily as they can express anger - then I'll feel like women are truly respected.

16

2006-02-08T14:12:00.000-08:00

I bought this soap at Trader Joe's (which is a combination of a high-priced 7-11 and a deli). One of the ingredients seems to be bits of pine cones.

15

2006-02-02T16:40:00.000-08:00

Can bugs feel pain? Experience stress? I'd rather go overboard in assuming they can, and be nice to them, rather than deny them the benefit of the doubt as an excuse to hurt or kill them. This doesn't mean I would never kill a bug; just that I try to extend the Golden Rule as wide as possible.

Another way of looking at the Golden Rule...if any being is capable of experiencing the effects of my actions, I can't see why they wouldn't be included in the "others" part of the Golden Rule.

14

2006-02-02T05:15:00.000-08:00

My president doesn't have to be a genius. In fact, I'm more interested in his values than his IQ -- it's not like the smartest person in the country would make the best president. But it concerns me when, on his own, he can barely construct a sentence, and that when he does, the words and concepts are at a primary school level.

13

2006-02-01T12:59:00.000-08:00

Hardly anything makes me feel more alive than a hearty appetite.

12

2006-01-30T21:08:00.000-08:00

You know what would be cool? A map of all the towers in the U.S. TV and radio towers; cell towers.

Some towers are covered with a lot of stuff. Some are austere. In stormy weather they look scary.

I like how they're often wildly out of place with the surrounding architecture. A bunch of strip malls and this huge thing.

From my back window I can see a tower, but only in winter, when the leaves are gone. In the spring it slowly gets covered up.

At night, their blinking red lights are a little spooky and mini-hypnotic. Near a tower would be a good place to start a science fiction novel or have a date.

I also like old pictures of radio towers with lightening bolts coming out of it.

Instead of a map, I think an atlas would be better. It would convey more information. One page would show concentrations of towers across the USA (and Canada), weighted by height. Like one of those graphs where there are spikes. Of course, I'd want some statistics: tallest (by state), oldest, one with the most stuff on it. Most interesting name. Northernmost one. Surely there are at least 50 people interested in this (mostly guys, I'm thinking.) For all I know there's a Yahoo news group. I'm sort of afraid to check.

If I was traveling I would definitely take this treasure-filled book with its multiple map inserts with me. If I was in a new town, walking around, or taking a cab, I would have my book out and see some of these towers that until then I had only read about. I could take a tower tour. Maybe meet up with other tower enthusiasts.

11

2006-01-29T09:28:00.000-08:00

Water towers -- they're just always out there. They're always been there. The ones that were there when I was a kid haven't moved, or changed. No one really knows much about how they work. They're kind of Edward Hopper-ish, sometimes in parts of towns that you only see in the medium distance from your car window. Once I was walking around my neighborhood. I got to about a mile from where I lived, and I saw a water tower — a smallish, suburban one. Like a moth drawn to a flame, or maybe more like one of those guys with a metal detector drawn to a shiny object, I walked toward it. It was basically between two back yards. There was a fence around it. That was pretty much it.

10

2006-01-28T22:00:00.000-08:00

It's called a "beeline," but actually, don't bees tend to take a more circuitous route?

9

2006-01-20T13:34:00.000-08:00

Today I was driving in my neighborhood, going slowly -- we have lots of kids and animals. A gray squirrel darted out in front of me. He was determined to get to the other side of the street; there may have been something very important there. I gently applied the brakes. He made it across safely, bounding across the road into the neighbor's yard, and scurrying up a tree. It was warm out and he seemed like he was enjoying his day. Fare thee well, my little furry acrobatic friend.

8

2006-01-19T10:46:00.000-08:00

When I explain to someone how we get milk (because most people have only the vaguest concept), especially if the person is young, and I explain that we have to impregnate the cow each year, so that the cow will give milk, and then we take the calf from his or her mother when the calf is only two days old, and then the calf gets no more milk after that, so that we can have it all...and when I explain that the male calf is then chained and put in a veal pen, where he gets no exercise, and is fed an iron-deficient formula to make his flesh turn pale, and is slaughtered four or five months later to be sold as veal...and when I explain that many dairy cows do not graze in pasture but are kept chained inside barns...and when I explain that we give most of them hormones that boost their milk production but cause painful udder infections...and when I explain that when the cows' milk production drops, we kill them...I feel like I am explaining the facts of life to children. People usually react with "I didn't know that," "really?" and with wide eyes. Sometimes they shake their head slightly in disbelief.

I think the dairy industry prefers that consumers remain ignorant, clinging to their child-like storybook notions of how milk is produced. With the dairy industry's commercials and ubiquitous pictures of happy cows in wide-open pastures, it seems like they are trying to keep people stupid, because once people find out how cruel dairy is, they may be less inclined to buy the product.

7

2006-01-14T10:42:00.000-08:00

To the new planet that was recently discovered past Pluto: welcome!

6

2006-01-14T08:37:00.000-08:00

Why is there something instead of nothing?

5

2006-01-04T12:09:00.000-08:00

A house rabbit standing on his hind legs to check things out -- that's cute!

4

2005-12-29T13:04:00.000-08:00

A PBS mini-series this past summer about life on the farm once again showed idyllic farms, with chickens walking freely in the barnyard and pigs preparing comfortable straw beds on which to sleep--the type of farms that have largely been replaced by gigantic factory farm operations. Why would a supposedly "educational" network convey this now mostly-fairy-tale version of a farm? Why not show the new real thing--factory farms with tens of thousands of confined animals? This is where the vast majority of farm animals today live.

Turns out the show was sponsored by Monsanto, which manufactures bovine growth hormone (BGH). BGH increases cows' milk output to far beyond normal, but takes a toll on the cows' long-term health and well-being. Understandably, Monsanto would rather have viewers believe that dairy cows still graze peacefully in green pastures, rather than show them the reality: cows in "dry-lot," "zero-grazing" dairies, standing and sleeping on mud and their own excrement, suffering from swollen udders and painful mastitis infections. Monsanto would probably prefer that the public not know that half of all dairy cows today are lame by the time they're five years old, the price of BGH forcing all that milk through their bodies and leaching calcium from their bones. The viewers are also shielded from finding out that standard practice on farms is to load those worn out five-year old cows onto a truck, packed very tightly, so they can make the long trip (up to 36 hours) to the slaughterhouse. (Normal lifespan for a dairy cow is 25 years.)

So PBS dutifully presents the sponsor's sugar-coated version of reality. They keep viewers in the dark about the effects of their purchases, so as not to anger the sponsor. Isn't that special?

And they say television is too liberal. (And PBS is supposed to be the most liberal of them all.)

3

2005-12-28T07:36:00.000-08:00

Supporters of the war in Iraq sometimes claim that it's impossible to support the troops and oppose the war. I disagree.

-- Why, for example, can't parents of soldiers in Iraq feel that the war is unjustified yet at the same time feel compassion for their sons and daughters in harm's way, and pride for their heroism?

-- Citizens can disagree with the reasons we went into Iraq and argue that we should be pursuing alternatives to war, but at the same time let the troops know unambiguously that our hearts are with them.

-- Given that we have men and women stationed in a war zone, we want the best for them, regardless of whether we should be at war.

-- Some who oppose the war have shown their support for the troops by expressing outrage at President Bush's cuts in veteran benefits. Many Americans who oppose the war feel that, partly out of respect for those who risk their lives in this operation, the President should be more forthcoming about our reasons for invading and occupying Iraq.

-- Support for the troops does not equate to agreement with policies that affect them, and with which they had nothing to do. It could be argued that calling for an end to an unnecessary war is the truest form of support for the troops.

-- I don't agree with the assertion that supporting the troops but opposing the war gives a confusing, mixed message to the troops. In my opinion, such a sentiment is condescending. The troops can distinguish between loyalty to them as people and opposition to Bush administration policies. Some soldiers have expressed that same dichotomy; they have reservations about the war, and about how it has been waged, but they approach their jobs with professionalism. I suspect that the "mixed message" charge is not well-thought out, or perhaps it is just divisive rhetoric that, rather disgustingly, employs disingenuous concern for the troops' morale in order to promote an extension of an ill-conceived, ill-planned war that will surely kill many more soldiers and civilians as it plods toward an ill-defined goal.

-- I don't trust the administration when it proclaims its support for the troops. Given that most of the top administration officials architecting and selling the war spent no time in the military, I'm suspicious of their avowed respect for the troops. Using soldiers as backdrops for political speeches, and calling criticism of the war unpatriotic and damaging to troop morale seems to me to be just another shamelessly manipulative ploy to further questionable goals in Iraq that predate 9-11. You get the troops deployed in Iraq under false pretenses, then once they're there, you say "we can't stop now" because it will hurt the troops morale. Such contrived patriotism and use of the troops as political pawns shows contempt not only for the men and women in uniform but for the American people.

2

2005-12-27T13:29:00.000-08:00

Question to churches holding fundraisers at which meat and dairy is served: How does "blessed are the merciful" square up with factory farms?

1

2005-12-27T12:44:00.000-08:00

I'm going to a New Year's Eve party for the first time in ten years. My plan is to dance and throw my back out.