It's quite possible

That I might just have to buy this book on principle.

I love them

I love classical guitar. And if you've ever played Mario Brothers, Music From The Mushroom is a requirement.

She's crafty!

No... I don't mean it like the Beastie Boys did. Just that I love to make shit, ergo I love this site. It kicks crafting ass.

Kitchen Gardeners, Unite!

Join a “growing” movement of individuals working towards a healthier, tastier, and more sustainable food system.

What is a Kitchen Gardener?

First and foremost, Kitchen Gardeners love food, both product and process. They do not dream of eating a good tomato, but a true tomato, picked warm and juicy from the vine at the peak of its ripeness. Their enjoyment of the fruit is a complete one because it is inextricably entwined with the memory of the plant in its various stages of development. They taste not only the fruit, but the care and honest labor that went into making it. In this sense, Kitchen Gardeners are gastronomes of the highest order. Their love of food extends beyond the plate to the soil, the natural processes, and the diverse cultures that are at the origin of all good food.

What is Kitchen Gardeners International?

Kitchen Gardeners International (KGI) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization founded in Maine, USA with friends from around the world. Our mission is to celebrate home-grown, home-prepared foods in their many international forms and to promote their role in building a healthier, tastier, more sustainable and secure food system. We use a variety of educational, outreach, and networking activities to encourage greater levels of food self-reliance on the part of individuals and communities. Our work is funded by individual members who share our goals for positive food system change. KGI currently has friends and supporters in over 50 countries.

Contact details: Kitchen Gardeners International, 7 Flintlock Drive, Scarborough, ME, 04074, USA, tel (207) 883-5341, web: www.kitchengardeners.org, email: info@kitchengardeners.org

Revelations

I my job

I have been wondering where I am going and what I am doing for so long now... I feel like I have been looking and looking for "the" thing. "My" job; my destiny, my purpose.

Revelation today. I love what I do. I love so much about my job. I love what I have been able to achieve in the roles I have had throughout my career. I just need to keep working; stay challenged, stay motivated, and keep growing.

It's an exciting time for me. I realized today that I can stop trying to figure out what my "dream job" is, stop looking around for what I am "supposed" to be doing, and get busy enjoying the here and now of WHAT I DO. This is who I am!

Does my wish not count if...

Does my wish not count if I wished on an airplane... or UFO? ; The star I wished on tonight strobed strangely regularly and bright, though remained stationary. Perhaps it was a satellite (I know you can see those from time to time).

Just my luck... My wish (a simple one - the same one I have had for years; simply, happiness) on a satellite.


Satellite
- Dave Matthews Band

Satellite in my eyes
Like a diamond in the sky
How I wonder.
Satellite, strung from the moon
And the world your balloon
Peeping Tom for the mother station
Winter's cold, spring erases
And the calm away, by the storm is chasing
Everything good needs replacing
Look up, look down, all around, satellite.
Satellite, headlines read
Someone's secrets you have seen
Eyes and ears have been
Satellite dish, in my yard
Tell me more, tell me more
Who's the king of your satellite castle?
Winter's cold, spring erases
And the calm away, by the storm is chasing
Everything good needs replacing
Look up, look down, all around, satellite
Rest high above the clouds; no restrictions
Television, we bounce 'round the world
And while I spend these hours
Five senses reeling
I laugh about the weatherman's satellite eyes.
Satellite, in my eyes
Like a diamond in the sky
How I wonder.
Satellite, strung from the moon
And the world your balloon
Peeping Tom for the mother station
Winter's cold, spring erases
And the calm away, the storm is chasing
Everything good needs replacing
Look up, look down, all around, satellite
Rest high above the clouds; no restriction
Television, we bounce 'round the world
And while I spend these hours
Five senses reeling
I laugh about the weatherman's satellite eyes.

Shopping... !

Checked out the new Fresh Market - Suwanee this weekend, it was... well... good. Not as good as Harry's, but slightly more convenient for me. Small store, great coffee selection, great bulk foods section (think nuts, candies, trail mixes). I didn't really fully check out their meats area, it wasn't what I was shopping for. Prices seemed typically high for the items that were specialty - similar to Harry's, I imagine. There are several more stores soon to come in the ATL area; I'm hoping a little competition in the specialty markets will mean slightly lower prices - we'll see.

What I am also excited about is Trader Joe's is coming to ATL! I've heard lots of good things about them. They're scheduled to open in November in Norcross at the Forum (Peachtree Parkway, in Peachtree Corners).

Also coming soon, a new (real) Whole Foods for Gwinnett - one scheduled to open near Medlock Bridge/State Bridge in Duluth this fall.

Exxxxcellent.

Phrases you wish you could say (and maybe, you have!)

- Ahh... I see the fuck-up fairy has visited us again.
- I don't know what your problem is, but I bet its hard to pronounce.
- How about never? Is never good for you?
- I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public.
- I'm really easy to get along with once you people learn to worship me.
- I'll try being nicer if you try being smarter.
- It sounds like English, but I can't understand a word you're saying.
- I can see your point, but I still think you're full of shit.
- I like you. You remind me of me when I was young and stupid.
- You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers.
- I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth.
- I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you.
- Thank you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.
- The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist.
- The connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.
- I'm not being rude. You're just insignificant.
- No, my powers can only be used for good.
- You sound reasonable... Time to up the medication.

"Y'know, Dad, I don't think I want to join Indian Princess this year." After all, she reasoned to herself, she was a Big Girl now. If her sister wasn't going to join, then why should she? It wouldn't be half as fun anyway.

She did not know, indeed, could not have known until many years later, that this simple statement was the beginning. Between daughter and father, it was the first of many small betrayals. Though each could feel their heart breaking, neither recognized it.

He was no longer, and would never again be, the most important man in her life.

She did not realize until many, many years later that she could never again be a princess.

Anything but Joan Cusack!!!

Fun program to upload a pic of yourself and it says what celebrity you most closely resemble, which may vary based on which pic you upload. My first shot, it said I looked like Kirsten Dunst, the second pic came back with Kim Cattrall. I'll take it!!!

Anything but Joan Cusack.

I can't believe it.

I left work early (5:30) to try to get home a bit early to let my dogs out since JB is out of town. An hour and a half later (Let's see... 1.5 hours divided by 16 miles... That's 5.6 miles per hour. Yep, sounds about right.), I get home only to find that the idiot who cleans our house left the garage door WIDE open. Nice. With JB out of town, I've barely been sleeping as it is.

In a fury, I call JB in Florida. After raving about the cleaning person's idocy, how she is SO FIRED, in my frenzy, screaming "Susan ***** is an idiot" (actually I think I screamed 'fucking idiot,' to be precise) into the back yard (she lives in the neighborhood behind us), and telling JB to cancel the check for today's cleaning, I walk the house to make sure 1) everything appears OK and 2) nothing has been stolen.

I'm still sitting here, and so is my computer, so I guess all will normalize. I can't believe that idiot. Welcome home.

Shit.

After note: Yeah, ask me how my study of Buddhism, peace and love and all that crap is going. All hour and 1/2 sitting in traffic I kept trying to Practice the way the Dalai Lama advises in the book I am currently studying. I tried to take the situation and recognize it as a gift for me, to be able to practice what I studied and enhance my ability to exercise patience and tolerance.

Then, when I finally got home and figured out what was going on (I was initially confused, thinking maybe JB had come home early, maids were still here, something), I totally flipped my lid. I was spitting venom.

Umm... Yeah... Guess I've still gotta work on that whole anger thing.

I love my sister. Even if she is the anti-me.

When JB met my sister for the first time, he said she was the anti-me. We are pretty different, in a lot of ways. I'd love to move and travel fairly often, and I just realized the other day, as an adult she's never lived outside of a 50 mile radius of the home we grew up in in San Antonio. She has two kids and is active in her Christian church. Yeah, I'm pretty much an agnostic, at best... And, my two pups are the closest thing to children that I'll ever want.

Anyway - I love her. She's in a tough small farming town just outside the big city, which enables her to have a nice multi-acre spread for her family, and maintain a standard of living for her boys. No cable. No high-speed modem (at least, last I heard). They live it, and I respect it. And, her boys are good, well-mannered kids - she's doing the right things.

She writes articles for the local small-town paper. It's hard, because she's a LOT more liberal than most folk around those parts. Which is why I have to love and respect her even more when she stands up, and writes stuff like this. She's speaking up. She may not be radical, but she's making herself heard.

Jules: Salud, mi hermana; mi amiga.

You're an everyday angel.

Hop on board the (derailed) train of thought on links

Hey there everybody. If you read this, and you are a friend of mine (or a friend of a friend of mine, which by default makes you my friend, unless you don't want to be my friend, in which case, piss off and quit reading my blog, or if you are a stranger and want to be put into the consideration queue to become my friend {ha!}, or, just, well, whatever)...

If I can link to you, and you're OK with it, let me know and I'll pop you on here. I don't want to link to folks without their permission, and I am too frikkin pathetic and lazy to try to figure out everybody's email addresses to email you to ask permission if I can link to you. So if I can, comment.

Namely
- That girl, the writer
- Fuzzmoppet
- Breathing Lessons

Not to short anybody else, but I feel like I've connected with these ladies (sometimes I feel like I connected via a haymaker, but connected nonetheless!). And if you want to get connected, just say so. ((Tsk, tsk, naughty urchins... I'll LINK you!))