The Hollosphere

There probably was a time in my life when I wasn’t discouraged by and resigned to my gloomy evaluation of our government as at best ineffective and wasteful, and at worst corrupt and actively damaging humanity’s chances of creating a culture of peace between all nations (gee, thanks, Dubya, don’t let the door hit your butt on the way out). I just can’t remember any such a time. I have generally felt best while maintaining an intentional distance from that world, since I haven’t had a lot of hope that it will ever be any different.

My guess is that I’m not alone in my discouragement. I have been watching from a half-interested distance as the 2008 presidential primaries proceed, seeming to be pretty much business-as-usual, if rather a closer horse race for the Democratic nomination than has been seen in some time. I’ve felt bemused and sad to realize that in the first woman with a real chance at the presidency I don’t recognize womanly characteristics that would make her winning a big deal to me. Okay, so she cried. Once.

Now, I don’t know enough about Senator Clinton to speak from anything but the very vaguest of impressions. I think that in itself speaks to the condition of this political moment for a lot of people, especially women who value increasing the feminine perspective in high-level government. A woman as the leader of the free world would be… wow. That would be something, wouldn’t it? Well, maybe, but if Hilary gets in there I don’t have any sense that it would be a big deal, just business-as-usual, only with skirt suits.

Barack Obama, I have been repeatedly hearing, is a voice for true change, and not just because of his race. One quote I enjoyed: “My parents shared not only an improbable love, they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or blessed, believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success.” Hmm. I liked what I heard. Could it be safe for me to poke my head out of my secluded valley and pay attention?

And still my apathy endured. The first Ms. President? The first African-American president? Sure, I can see the interest (and irony) of having one of each valiantly vying for the job, but who cares? I just want somebody to stop the war, give some priority to helping poor and uninsured folks instead of the already wealthy, to balance the budget, and through skillful diplomacy and peace efforts restore our place as a concerned and effective world citizen. The next president can be green with purple polka-dots, for all I care.

So how is any of this same-ol’ same-ol’ worth my (and your) precious RAM today?

Well, today, my apathy and resignation took quite a jolt in the pants.

Continue reading ‘Is that a Sea Change I See?’ »

Ever since she heard about lolcats, Tessa Leone Croydon has been wanting to get in on the fun. So she convinced my daughter, Tasha, to help her out with her plan for lolfame and posed for this picture. Now all she needs is some help coming up with the lol part. Here are the ideas so far:

• Haaaay! who puts teh vodka up too hai for meez?! (Holly)
• I iz cobra kitteh no mess wif me! (Holly)
• Vampyr kitteh sez I WANTS UR BLUD! (Tasha’s buddy, Kellie)
• Me did it maaaaaaaaaaaiii waaaaaaaaaaaaii! (Holly)
• Hey u kidz! Get off mah lawn! (Tasha’s friend freewaydiva)
• Fangz of Doom, I has dem (Holly)
• Figaro, Figaro, Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigaro!!!!! (BB/Mom)

Btw, I just got off the phone with Tasha, who was calling me from the vet’s office. She had taken the kitteh to the vet because we were worried about Tess’s recent weight loss and also about some flaky, itchy skin issues. I could not be happier or more relieved to report that the vet found Tess to be in excellent health. He said that if he’d seen her on the street he’d guess she was about ten years old, a considerable compliment to a grand old diva of fifteen. Apparently, she (Tess not Tasha) growled and hissed at him a bit, to which he commented, “Well, she’s a tortoiseshell, so…” referring to her coloring (a racial remark!). Hmm, I had not heard that torties were reputed grouches. I guess when you have golden laser beams for eyes, you gotta act the part.

Dr. Joe told Tasha that the little monster is at a good weight for her size (she was a bit of a porker in the past, apparently), and simply suffering from an allergic reaction to fleas. He gave Tess a cortisone shot to quickly alleviate any discomfort, and for long-term protection from the rotten little biters she’ll get some of that wonderful back-of-the-neck flea treatment.

Yay! Our kitteh be da picshur of health. Now, all she needs is your help to achieve lolcat greatness, so let’s hear your best lols!

Yay, California. As near as I can figure, early February in San Andreas = late April in Seattle. Sweet! Not that I don’t miss my beloved Seattle, but I get a kick out of seeing the following forecast on my iGoogle page today:

Wait–what the heck is up with the 100% humidity reading, though? My handy dandy weather station (birthday present–or was it Christmas?– from Mom) tells me the relative humidity here at my desk is 32%. So, huh. Weird. There is so much I don’t know about the world.

Anyway, yay for egg yolks!

I’ve been dipping into the book “Einstein’s Business” for over a year. Made up of 47 essays by a host of authors, from Lynne Twist to John Gray to Riane Eisler to Steven Covey to Thomas Moore to… Donald Trump? (yes, indeedy) this book has been fun and inspiring and educational to have around. It’s easy to pick it up and flip to a particular essay, let that simmer for a bit, and then put the thing down and come back to another essay as the urge strikes.

In addition to famous folks such as Tom Peters, Martha Stewart, and Oprah Winfrey, the book offers the writings of some not-so-famous names (Faith Popcorn, Wally “Famous” Amos) and also some I’d never heard of at all (Julie Gerland, Paul Hawken, Bari Tessler… anyone? anyone?). That’s part of what I like about this book. I get to read the work of thinkers and explorers that I’d have been unlikely to have heard of otherwise.

For example, one of my favorite essays is by Bernard Lietaer, an expert and author in “green” currencies and money systems. Mr. Lietaer inspired me very much with his case stories of money systems that discourage hoarding (the inevitable result of positive interest rates), and thus nurture community by encouraging (negative interest rates and expiration dates) money to flow in interactions and transactions between neighbors and wider community members, thus supporting more broadly shared assets between all people and a higher quality of life overall. I was fascinated by his stories of how effectively alternative systems have worked in the real world, and how fast the powerful central banks quashed them. I was struck by the reminder that money is our own creation (duh), as poignantly illustrated in the following quote:

“Money is like an iron ring we’ve put through our noses. We’ve forgotten that we designed it, and it’s now leading us around. It’s time to figure out where we want to go–and then design a money system that moves us toward sustainability and community.”

Wow. And that’s just *one* essay.

As an added bonus, each essay begins with a full page, black and white photo of the author. I really enjoyed seeing what these folks look like, especially when I had not heard of them before. I had fun initially flipping through the essays and picking out ones by authors whose faces appealed to me, a not very orderly but fun way of taking in the material.

Quoted on the inside back flap is Einstein’s quote:

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.”

Not every essay grabbed me so hard as Mr. Lietaer’s, but overall this book has been a deeply inspiring and mind-opening read, expanding my horizons and suggesting interesting new topics to explore, as well as individual authors to seek out and read more extensively.

I appreciate Emma’s comment and question to my post, “Sounds like NVC, Must be NVC …?” Emma expresses frustration at how easy it can be to find oneself simply masking old, habitual thinking in new NVC language, with very unsatisfactory results. She asks for recommendations on how to stay in the consciousness of NVC rather than just focusing on the mechanics and speaking tools. Yay!

Sometimes I feel pretty lonely with my story that there aren’t many people who want to explore at this level, Emma, even people who train NVC. I’m noticing pleasure and hopefulness as I read what you wrote. It nurtures my confidence that others do resonate with these ideas, which inspires me to keep exploring. Thanks for reaching out. I’ve got some ideas that I hope you’ll enjoy playing with.

Continue reading ‘Connecting with NVC Consciousness: It’s Not in the Words’ »

I’m sure everybody else who has a wood stove has thought of these techniques already, but nobody ever told me. I’ve finally ironed this out after two months of building fires here at Murray Creek. I am hereby sharing my brilliant ideas with you so that you may become, like me, a fire goddess (or god).

Instructions for Making a Killer Fire:

• When the person bagging your items at the grocery store asks, “Paper or plastic?” say, “Paper, please.” Smiling is good, too, although it doesn’t help with your fire directly. One might argue that your fire has a better chance of success if you yourself are in a good mood as a result of smiling at everybody and thus apt to use more care and attention in starting your fire, but I digress (as usual).

Continue reading ‘How to Make a Killer Fire in the Wood Stove’ »

The genius of Peter Callesen’s paper art caught my attention courtesy of an email from my painting teacher, Joni. Many of Peter’s creations are made from a single sheet of paper.

Not all his works are small. Check out the big stuff. Life-sized stairways made of paper??! Wow.

Some of Peter’s thoughts on his work with standard (A4) paper:

“I find the A4 sheet of paper interesting to work with, because it probably still is the most common and consumed media and format for carrying information today, and in that sense it is something very loaded. This means that we rarely notice the actual materiality of the A4 paper. By removing all the information and starting from scratch using the blank white 80gsm A4 paper as a base for my creations, I feel that I have found a material which, on one hand, we all are able to relate to, and which on the other hand is non-loaded and neutral and therefore easier to fill with different meanings. The thin white paper also gives the paper sculptures a fragility which underlines the tragic and romantic theme of the works.”

A bit of browsing through Peter’s various installations and performances makes me smile. Peter is my favorite kind of artist: one who challenges my assumptions about my world in completely new and arresting ways, not just visually and aesthetically, but culturally, socially, emotionally. Some of his stuff pushes my buttons and makes me real uncomfortable (OMG, now he’s scaring the kids!). I love art in that role ~ poking at my assumptions and making me think and question and rethink. And smile.

*replied Tasha when I emailed her this picture of me and Conal

Conal’s granddaughter, Audrey, is visiting us at Murray Creek this week with her mom, Charlotte. Audrey is two. Audrey likes rice. A lot.

When you’re really chowing down hard on the rice, like, straight from the pan with your fingers, it’s important to protect your eyes.