"it's so absurd, it's funny."

1) termite larvae on bed/must tent house
2) mini van brakes die
3) dishwasher breaks
4) washing machine breaks
5) dryer breaks
6) microwave breaks
7) humongous tree branch falls off into yard during storm
8) minivan brakes die again, while driving
9) buy new washing machine, it breaks in 30 minutes, truly
10) roof leaks all over guitars
11)we go to the doctor 8 times this month for various reasons
12)and today...sink explodes hot water all over everything
WHILE unloading Costco crap to the soundtrack of Silas saying "NO"
13) television stops working forever during "fight club"...it just went kaput

(number 13 just happened 4 minutes ago)

that's $5,000 spent so far not counting a new TV yet OR fixing the roof (buckets'll do)
Oh yeah, and Christmas.

"it's so absurd it's funny."

I Am Pro-Beard

Caroline and I had a long talk the other day about the merits of the beard. There are epic beards and tailored beards and rockstar beards...I just like them and I am glad they are making a comeback, although I know how that goes...they are probably already so yesterday. ha.

I think they look comfortable (which I hear is not always the case...) and natural and
artistic and intellectual and rugged and kind and less fussy and I also think the women on the arm of the men who wear beards look prettier somehow.









My two favorites...




AND....don't forget Santa!!
Merry Christmas!

Hip Hopping Thrillers

I just can't believe there are still people out there who think like this.

Even when I disagree with someones politics I do not enjoy watching an interview where they are embarrassed especially if the reason for the embarrassment is the inability to express their point or get a word in because of a rude and bombastic interviewer.This, thankfully, is not one of those interviews. Rachel Maddow gave this man ample opportunity to talk, she didn't interrupt and he took advantage by mentioning his website and books over and over as is to be expected. In parts of it I felt bad for the guy because he acts like he's all about love and tolerance for those who WANT to live a gay life but he's there to help those who want to "come out straight" and go back to heterosexuality...
The problem is that his personal (and twisted) opinion adds weight and (unwarranted) credibility to a public and dangerous situation. What is happening in Uganda with legislation to kill gay people is completely unbelievable to me and this supposedly peaceful little man's ideas about gay people indoctrinating our youth and leading, in essence, a dangerous and unwanted lifestyle in need of change is...well, less than peaceful and completely abhorrent to me.
And as mentioned in the Salon article where I first saw this interview, I too wish more of our politicians were interviewed so pointedly and completely.(The complete 17 minute interview is linked in this article...and is more thorough, but I couldn't make it appear on the blog, so below is a weirdly edited version...but you get the idea...)

The Tree, The Quilt

This is our favorite tree. We colored some white LED lights with pen so now we have some completely wild colors and we added some big lights which makes our tree look like it has a constellation glowing from within.
It was Emmett's year to add the star!

AND...Mac and Emmett finished their quilt on Sunday and spent the evening wrapped up in it.
You really can't get any Christmass-er than that!

sad but true

When I voted for Obama I felt I was voting for the guy who voted against the war.
Now I realize I instead voted for the guy who promised to go into Afghanistan during his campaign.
Joan Walsh (who often drives me crazy) gets it right in this article.
She writes..."I'm deeply disappointed, saddened even, but I don't feel betrayed. Obama has governed like the centrist he told us and showed us he is..."
Yeah, but I really hoped, even up to right before the speech that he would say that he changed his mind and just couldn't do it. Yes, I knew he wasn't as liberal as the right says he is but I somehow thought he would never do this, being a nobel peace prize winner and all. Damn. My big mistake. His big mistake.
So sad and miserable, this decision.

Read the article.

;(

Thanksgiving in Idyllwild

It started like this...


And turned, overnight, to this....


We had a great dinner but missed nana!(This is "THE
Official Thanksgiving Dinner Photo")

We went to the meadow, played games, read a lot, made an indoor cabin hammock
went to see "New Moon" at the Rustic Theatre with Mac and ate a LOT of everything
but the best was the split pea soup.
And here are two videos for Baby Feee! Wish you were here!


And now we are SOOOOOOOO ready for Christmas.

Zombie Christmas

Cami knows how to start Christmas off right with a book called
"Zombies: A book of Zombie Christmas Carols".
Our very favorite...


"Deck the Halls with Parts of Wally,
Fa la la la la la la la la la
'Tis the season for brains by golly
Fa la la la la la la la la la la la

Chew we now our friends gray matter,
Fa la la la la la la la la la
Wear old clothes 'cause fresh brains splatter,
Fa la la la la la la la la la"

etc etc etc.

Emmett and I cracked up and up.

Thankful.

We are off to Idyllwild while we get our house tented for termites. What a humongous pain in the butt this has been. Nana is staying close to home with the cats and it should all be over by Sunday. The final straw happened when squiggly termite larvae fell on Silas and me while we napped. Yes, when I woke up there were hundreds of maggots on the bed. Nasty.
And if you think you hear chewing or licking sounds in your walls and wonder "do termites make sounds?", the answer is YES!!
Anyway, after all this we should have busy but smooth holiday sailing with the usual Plum Pottery Student Sale and the house full of 1/2 completed Christmas present projects. I love this time of year no matter how crazy it gets...and even when I say I don't love it, I really do!

We have come up with a thankful list over the past month that is surely incomplete but you should know that if you are reading this YOU are in there deeply!! That means YOU and your babies too!!
We are thankful for...
family, BOOKS, nature, converse hightops, maps, fudge mint cookies, barbeque sauce, music, christmas, mashed potatoes, SEEDLINGS, butterflies, snuggly jams, hotels that take pets, candles, the end to termites, zarina, RAIN, school, days off from school, day shifts, good HEALTH, 'weener dogs', color, long tree swings, the ocean, forest pansy redbuds (like the one above!), time spent together, ELEPHANTS....and all that is YES!







(May you all be happy
and healthy and have
love in your lives
and heart sight!)

Emmett Ripping on the Piano

And a brief peek at Silas' new haircut!

3rd Grade and 7th Grade

These pictures slay me.
And, yes....after much deliberation Emmett decided to wear
the same hat as last year.
(8 years old and 11 years old.)

Good-bye Tree and Grass...

Our smaller, not-altogether-healthy front yard tree came down yesterday and we pulled up more of the grass to make room for another garden space.
This was step one and we don't expect to proceed with step two for a while...but the guys we got to take down the tree were just so quick. In the plans are a path and more retaining bricks like the other side and hopefully some fruit, herbs and vegetables as well as more drought tolerant plants.
We will see how this works with conserving water. We may have to pour all of our shower water out the window to pay for it!

We were able to cut much of the tree into firewood, stumps for sitting and stepping stones.

And Silas will be happy. He loves the dirt piles. Guess what he like to do now?...

"I am King Silas!"

Challenge the lying "Deficit Weenies"

READ THIS ARTICLE NOW and spread the word each and every time you hear
that ridiculous argument about the deficit.

Why I Love Our School!

Last night we went to Emmett's 3rd grade classroom for the celebration of the kid's service projects. Each student had to somehow make the world a better place and there were so many great projects. Really wonderful. (Check out this video by Bidane !!!)
But then to top it all off they decided, with the inspirational direction of Merrill and Dmitry and help from Allison Bell, to make their "project completion party" into another service project.
For $10 each of us received a handmade pottery bowl made by the kids, classroom made vegetable soup and salad (lettuce, radishes and herbs picked that morning from the school garden) and fresh bread AND then delicious apple bars (made by Cindy, Dmitry's wife) with apples picked by the kids on the field trip they went on last week.
And all the proceeds go to Food Not Bombs.
Wow.
It was a delicious meal...and one the kids deserved more than any other as they grew it, nurtured it, and put thought and love into it.
There were over 100 people there!
It felt like thanksgiving to me.
It was just awesome.
These kids get the best here...they just do.

Time Out Kids New York!

Hurray, we made it to a top ten list for best family CD's of 2009.
Our awesome competition is Recess Monkey, Lunch Money and Billy Kelly-all really great!
So we are really proud.
Read about us here and, friends, if you like the CD too...don't forget to pass it along to other
families who you think would dig it!
Thanks everybody and Hurray!

The Goddess of the Hunt

Tally: 8 mice in 3 days!
Most definitely the Artemis we were looking for to
solve our rodent problem in a circle of life kind of way.
Zarina is bad ass.

pots, vegetable soup, kids, matt laughing really hard...

...things I love.

Remember this song from Sesame Street?

Mac loved it. Emmett loved it. And now Silas IS it!!!!

I just can't believe it.

I really thought Maine was going to lead the way by legalizing Gay Marriage.
Here's a quick article at Huffington Post called "The Power of Fear and the Obligation of Hope"
I know the pendulum is supposed to swing back and forth and all that
but it seems the arc is shorter than ever...so the opposition doesn't have to
work as hard to keep up this momentum of gloom and fear. 6 months for HOPE swings to negativity in 3 months. And this manifests itself in all sorts of ways. I believe this vote against gay marriage is one of those ways, unfortunately. If employment were on the upswing I bet this would have gone down differently.

One year ago when the world economy truly was a nightmare Obama was elected. And we heard over and over from both sides that it would be a long haul to merely slow our decline! I worried that no one would be taking pottery classes or music lessons or buying antiques or art going out to eat or to movies for sure. I actually thought it would go much further than that...I thought most people would be in soup lines. Really.
So now it feels like a recession. A bad one. But not a depression like we were all afraid of...
I know the economy is bad but it's no where near as bad as expected after only a year. I still do think that in 4-6 years there would be a full recovery as was the projected estimate but I thought that everyone was on board with this. I thought everyone knew this was going to take a lot of time and patience. Sure I figured in the FOX factor distorting this reality once Obama was in office but I really never expected such resistance to change after the overwhelming majority of the country voted for it! I never thought the support would dwindle so quickly.

Are we really already swinging back to fear and racism and self-preservation over long term good so soon?
I know the economy and gay marriage are two completely different issues and I am mixing my metaphors here. But I have this overwhelming feeling that nothing positive can happen without some YES action.
I all I hear is NO from the conservatives...and it's spreading. Sadly it seems nothing will change unless Obama plays dirty and alters his course in a way I do not approve of. He would have to go the way of all slimy politicians and do what Bush did to approve the tax cuts...sneak little bits of legislation in other bills.
He could perhaps hide some healthcare tidbit in a bill about Christmas Singing in Schools so the Republicans would have to vote for it. Or maybe slip in something about assault weapons in a bill about teaching 6 year olds to shoot.
Because everything is shot down at this point if it's perceived to be liberal. In this case, it's gay marriage.
Crap.

Someone to Help

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