Nacho Libre and All

Last night was the opening night at the Sweetside Viewing Room (aka our place). Nacho Libre (just released on DVD) was the feature flick, accompanied by nahcos of course. Having not seen it before, I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Even those who has seen it enjoyed it, as well as the DVD version extras, out-takes and all.

Fall at Sweetside

Amherst College dorm and property, atop the knoll, across the street from our house, shown at sunset. Not a bad view, eh? And our Sweetside Garden (my south side, main garden) here seen as it stands, 5 months since inception and mostly put to bed for Winter. More progress, such as steps and water feature, to be made come Spring '07.

Hot Ticket: Obama & Lamott

Now wouldn't that be quite the Democratic ticket?? Ha Ha Ha Ha!

Just finished reading Anne Lamott's: Plan B. Great read: refreshing and challenging and funny...OMG sooo funny. I am also more than half way thru Obama's new book; The Audacity of Hope. The first half is a framework, his explanation of government, what he sees, etc. Interesting and necessary to really understanding where and why he says what he does in the rest of the book. I am now into the second half where he talks more about his actual ideas. It is interesting to have so much of an inside glimpse into the mind and thinking of a potential presidential candidate. Memoirs afterwards are common, but a person laying their cards on the table before even announcing a run, now that is refreshing. I think in part this book is his fleece. How it is received by, the Party and by the America public may very well influence his decision. It will be interesting to watch this unfold.

A couple of enticing glimpses for you:
Obama in his chapter called "Values" is talking about authenticity and empathy. Regarding empathy he says:
That is what empathy does. It calls us all to task... the oppressed and the oppressor, the conservative and the liberal. No one is exempt from the call to find common ground. Of course , in the end, mutual understanding isn't enough. After all, talk is cheap; like any value, empathy must be acted upon. (p.68)

and,
from Lamott:

In the chapter "Loving Your President" she wrestles with the idea of loving one's enemies as related to Bush, whose policies deeply disturb her, leading her to obsess about the war and the condition of the world. She writes: But Jesus kept harping on forgiveness and loving one's enemies, so I decided to try. Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess about everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breath at all or to pay attention, stomp away to brood when people annoy us, and then eat a big bag of Hershey's Kisses in bed? (p224)
later she writes.....
When you give up on hope, when it is not pinned wriggling onto a shiny image or expectation, it may float forth and open like those fluted Japanese blossoms, flimsy and spastic, bright and warm. This almost always seems to happen in community with family, related by blood, or chosen; at church, for me; at peace marches. (p238)

October 21, 2006 in Pictures

Another busy weekend with some fun tossed in.

Barack's Got a New Book

Shortly after the Democratic Convention 2years, ago I went out and bought Barack's first book. which is sort of an auto-biography. I couldn't believe his keynote address at the convention. "Who IS this guy?" I found myself asking along with thousands of other people. Now he is a possible presidential candidate and has a new book: The Audacity Of Hope. I love the title and I bet I'm gonna love the book too. I am listening to him now on Larry King Live. He said he got the title (and underlying thrust) of the book from a sermon delivered by his pastor, Jeremiah Wright Jr. 18 years ago. Rev Wright has been the pastor of Trinity UCC in Chicago for over 30 years and the church's motto since the 70's, is "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian."

I am hoping and yes, praying too, that he runs for President (he is being heavily recruited but has not announced yet) and that he wins. One never knows exactly what will happen with any particular person once they are elected but from my lowly seat in this land, I think he is our last (best) hope ~ Barak : US as Obe Wan Kenobi : The Empire :-)

Live from North Korea

Some of you know that the book we are teaching from in the Dean's Book Course this Fall is about North Korea. Well, in an all too timely way, things have definitely heated up in relation to North Korea and it is providing and unusually large volume of info and topics for presentations and discussion. Kim Jung Il, donning nuclear sunglasses, is even on the cover of Newsweek this week. This means I have been spending huge amounts of time reading updates and watching news so that I have half a clue about what is going on day to day.


One amazing thing is that this week, Diane Sawyer (ABC News) has been allowed into this isolated, closed country to report from there. So far she has posted two videos (and transcripts). They are available on line here. Take a look!

It is very unusual to get such an inside view -- even tho all her interactions are monitored and her government "translator" goes with her everywhere. Still, it is a pretty amazing peek.

So Much for "W" & the Religious Right??

Heard this former senior presidential aide in the Bush administration was on 60 Minutes tonight talking about his new book. Sorry I missed it. Could it be that the blanket on their "king" sized bed the bed is unraveling???

Big Week

It's been a busy week here at Sweetside. Significant progress is being made on Aaron's space and the tool room in our basement. Aaron, with the help of Ben, Julian, Steve & Sam has made some good headway.


With some help from Baird I have begun to get our tool room set up. We rebuilt the work table and work bench (both of which had been dismantled in Shutesbury and brought here). I also painted the floor bright yellow, just like it was in Shutesbury.





This past week we also cut down a dead tree of some sort in the Sweetside garden and I planted several shrubs. Gotta love the end of the season close out time at the local nurseries, like the Hadley Garden Center.














Then, Friday was Jess's 22 BD; they came here for desert after having dinner in NoHo.




Today we put away yard decorations and such and then I planted some daffodils. Afterwards Baird and I were installing storm windows when the huge red tail hawk paid us another visit. This time he (she?) flew across our driveway onto the lowest branch of a large maple tree, only a few feet from our front window where Baird was working.

I was on the inside of our window installation job, so I grabbed my camera and joined him outside. The hawk flitted between our 3 large trees out front, stalking 2 squirrels. See it hiding in the leaves on the left side of the tree in the picture? It just patiently hopped from branch to branch until one of the squirrels finally made a run for it. The hawk then swooped down and snagged it. It sat perched on top of it until it was sure it was dead and then flew off carrying it in it's talons, into the wooded area across the street. This whole time both of us were right there, only about 20' away, and I was snapping pictures. It kept looking at me, somewhat curiously, perhaps a bit menacingly, but it was not going to let me deter it from having it's mid afternoon meal.

I never let my cats outside but after this, I certainly never will!

My sista got married....

Saturday was a wonderful day. The weather was just beautiful (this is true) but even more wonderful is the fact that my sister Linda and Jim Johnston were married in Weathersfield, Ct. I'm so happy for them! I was the matron-of-honor. A special privilege. The flower girls were Alison (Linda's grand-daughter; age 4) and Alexia (Jim's grand-daughter, age 2). Aren't they adorable?

North Korea Over The Brink

News just released:
Looks like North Korean has gone over the brink. The official North Korean News agency has announced that North Korea has successfully tested a nuclear weapon. It has not yet been verified but the South Korean government is in an emergency meeting but has said that they did detect a 3.8 on the Richter scale this AM (it is Monday AM there). North Korea says this is for regime survival (defense) because they feel under siege by the Bush administration. Are we surprised?

Jess's School

Baird and I went to Jess's school today. We went to their walk-a-thon, met several of her colleagues and visited her classroom "after hours." It looks fantastic!!

Two Outta Three Ain't Half Bad

No fires set, I don't think, but..... two out of my three DBC classes seemed fairly appalled by the info on the new Military Commissions Act that our Congress passed last Friday. The first class had a fairly subdued, somewhat mixed reaction. A couple of comments from students who seemed to think the whole think is not so bad included, "The war on terror is unique and requires special tactics." and "I think our government should torture prisoners for information but I don't think we should make it legal." I grab the sides of my desk and try to be composed.... OK.... moving right along... what do others think???

It was clear that none of them have much of a clue about what is going on in the world or in our country. They have some very broad strokes as best. Got me to thinking that the Honors College should require a one credit current events class each semester. If our Honors students are entirely out of touch, how much hope is there for our country and be default for the world?

It's Got Me Thinking....

Nelly turned me on to this Balkinization blog
Which in turn set me onto this book:
The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It, How to Get It Back
and has me itching to read the article When Not Seeing is Believing based on a chapter of the book, in the current addition of Time

One quote from the blog, about the book, that has me thinking is:

Sullivan offers a compelling case for the proposition that the dichotomy between secularism and fundamentalism is radically false. And he bases this case in principles of conservatism – citing Montaigne, Burke and Oakeshott in the process. The claim to full and absolute knowledge implicit in all forms of fundamentalism rests on arrogant assumptions about the capacity of man to know and to understand God. In a sense it forgets the essential role of humility in religious experience.

In turn, this reminded me of Andrew Dole's talk at the DSC last year regarding faith being more consistent with hope than belief (sorry for the ridiculous condensation of Dr. Dole's great talk but that was the nutshell I stored in my mental index).

Ah, the air smells good when the brain is fired up....

Fire Setting in My Dean's Book Classes

In the DBC this Fall we are reading the memoir of a young man who was in a prison camp on North Korea for 10 years (ages 9-19) because his grandfather was deemed to have been against the government. It has been a bit difficult to get any greta discussions going because the students all agree the camp was horrible and that No Korea having such camps is appalling etc. Also, They have little knowledge of Korean history or much other "gap" history (post WWII for example) that it is difficult to have enough context to have a conversation of any depth.

So, I have decided. This week I am bringing in a couple of articles about Congress's recently passed Military Commission Act. This sanctions on torture of anyone deemed an enemy combatant (even US citizens on US soil can be so deemed) is has some disturbing parallels to the "atrocities" being committed in North Korea. So, when it is OUR government and OUR way of life that feels threatened to human rights and dignities go out the window?? Hmmmmm.. Let's see if this fires them up.

Three classes this week, 1 Tuesday and 2 on Weds. I'll let you know if I get egged.

The articles I am bringing in are:
Amnesty International's Response

and an article from the LA Times (that is suppose do be available on-line just for members but for some reason the link worked the first time I tired it :-)

Thx Nelly for the great leads!!

Laura and Jeremy Got Married :-)

This past Saturday a bunch of us went to Laura DiMatteo and Jeremy Kaplan's wedding over in Sturbridge. Really great to witness it all. Fun time! Next Saturday my sister, Linda is getting married to Jim Johnston! Their wedding is in another historic town and historic church, in Weathersfield, CT

All The Kings Men, Power, Politics & Such

Went to see All the Kings Men tonight. Never had read the award winning novel or seen the 1949 film. Very interesting, intriguing & also disturbing. Stark starts out as such a great guy - a man for the people - a populist running for governor of Louisiana and by the end he's a self serving cheater with too many enemies to survive.

I came home thinking how much it fit in with Shnitzle's blog (Overspray) yesterday about power and corruption and deceit and such. Regarding an incident he witnessed, he wrote, "lesson learned, don't be a kook. amazing how many people, especially people in power today are like that asshole, self absorbed, self serving, lying, idiots. and that line isn't too far from the rest of us: so let us live differently, flee temptation and live honorably. death to kooks.

I'll toast to that!

Testosterone Overload = Brain Dead

While a little of the male hormone is good, too much of it causes cells to self-destruct in a process similar to that seen in brain illnesses such as Alzheimer's.

hmmmmmm........

read about it here:
Testosterone Kills Brain Cells

She Jus 'taint Herself

This is what a sick kitty looks like, for those of you who couldn't quite picture it. She doesn't look happy does she? She did eat a little this AM and does not seem as sick as yesterday but she is certainly not herself still.

Just now I managed to get one pill down her throat. Aaron held her haunches and I pried her mouth open and shoved the little pill down. Yikes! Ya gotta be quick, before she catches on to what you are up to. This AM Baird and I tried it and she flipped out, jumped out of my arms, tearing a hole in my shirt! I think maybe she was still freaked out by going to the vet and getting re-hydrated, receiving a few shots yesterday. I've done dog and even goat meds before but neither of them have claws!

So, that is the update on Surely the Maine Coon cat.

Surely's Sick

Yup, it is true. For some unknown reason she has not been eating and has a 105 temp. She got hydrated at the vet today and is on antibiotics now. Hopefully she will turn the corner soon. Sad, sad, sad.

Clinton Lashes Wallace on Fox

Saw this hot little item on CNN this evening:

Clinton, was being interviewed by Fox News, supposedly about Clinton's initiative on climate change, when he became quite aggravated over being asked by Chris Wallace why he did not do more to get Osama...

Clinton became pretty testy... in part he said:

"I got closer to killing him than anybody has gotten since. And if I were still president, we'd have more than 20,000 troops there trying to kill him," Clinton said, referring to Afghanistan.

"So you did Fox's bidding on this show. You did your nice little conservative hit job on me," he said to Wallace, occasionally tapping on Wallace's notes for emphasis. "I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked this question of?

"And you've got that little smirk on your face and you think you're so clever. But I had responsibility for trying to protect this country. I tried and I failed to get bin Laden. I regret it," Clinton said.

More on CNN:
Clinton on Bin Laden