19 October 05
Yolo Crow
A poem of mine got published in the Yolo Crow, a new literary magazine. A copy came in today’s mail.
I seem to find myself around people whose ambition it is to start a literary magazine; often they don’t make it beyond the third issue. I hope that’s not true for this one…
18 October 05
Urban Spheres of Influence
The CommonCity Map Project is an interesting endeavor to map the cultural boundaries of the United States. There’s a survey on the site which asks what cities both in your local area and in the greater region, you most identify with. The project then uses these survey results to make a map of the boundaries of influences between the major cities of the United States.
A variation of this is to map the boundaries for fans of sports teams, such as for Major League Baseball.
17 October 05
Iftar
Today was the opening event of this fall’s Campus Community Book Project, which this year is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The first work of fiction we’ve done, it seems to be drawing quite a different crowd than the past three. We’ll see when it’s all over just how different.
Today featured a kite-making demonstration and an introductory film about Islam followed by a panel discussion, a break-the-fast (it’s Ramadan), and delicious community meal catered by Kabul Restaurant here in Davis.
I sat next to a sociology professor who teaches at Sacramento State and a student in child development. At our table we were pretty evenly split, muslims and non-muslims, but everyone was eager to learn about each other, and about each other’s beliefs, in an atmosphere of respect and tolerance.
I think we should do this kind of thing more often. We’ll have a chance, next week. There’s a community Iftar for the whole of Davis.
17 October 05
Tuxedo Cats Rejoice
For the White Sox are going to the World Series, which they haven’t won since 1917. We were rooting for the Angels, but the White Sox have been on a roll. The Houston Astros are now heavy favorites to make the Series as well.
I won’t have strong emotions either way about the upcoming World Series, but in some ways that’s a relief—just sit back and follow some good baseball.
15 October 05
SuperDog
Earlier this year I posted about a friend who had lost her dog, Bruno. More than just a dog, Bruno was the first wheelchair/blind trained dog in the country. She and Bruno muddled through law school, the job market, disappointments, the craziness leading up to the Iraq war, Natalie’s growing leadership in Code Pink.
But he got sick, and two years later, it was time to let him go.
Nugget’s the new pup fresh from training in Michigan. They had intensive training together as a pair for a week, and are doing ongoing training now. Nugget was attacked by a tethered dog outside a cafe on Thursday. He kept going. Natalie didn’t know what was going on but the trainer said, when they turned the corner: “We need to wipe the slobber off Nugget’s face.” That was when Natalie discovered he’d been attacked.
Oh, he’s a good dog. It’s good, she says, to be pulled in her wheelchair rather than be pushed even by a human, because it allows her to anticipate things. SuperDog, she says.
I’ll meet Nugget on Thursday when I’ll be reading poetry at the Cafe Roma in Davis: Women’s Voices, Women’s Votes. But no petting him then: he’s working. He’s being SuperDog.
15 October 05
Pesto With That?
The oldest noodles ever discovered were just found at the Lajia archeological site on the Yellow River in China. The settlement at Lajia was hit by a catastrophe, probably flooding following an earthquake, 4000 years ago. These noodles were made from millet flour.
It is not known whether the researchers tucked on in to their culinary find after documenting it for science. But followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster are rejoicing at this new evidence.
(From Slashdot)
13 October 05
Arrival of the ATCs
The first week of the month has become a week of waiting eagerly for the mail. Ever since I started participating in the Cyberscribes swap of Artist Trading Cards, I can’t wait to see what other people have done with the theme—this month’s was Equinox of where you are.
Though these are calligraphers, there are lots of other talents there too. The format is so small it’s manageable for a small edition.
This month’s theme is black and white. I’m pondering the skeleton.
Meanwhile, Beth of Cassandra Pages had a nasty Tuesday night; head on over and wish her well…
13 October 05
Office Harvest
It’s a fine fall day when one arrives at work to see bins of purple grapes outside, the laden vines being scooped into the 13-foot tall contraption that separates the stalks from the grapes!
Yes, I share a building with viticulture folks.
11 October 05
We Arrive Home to the Plumber
“We go brass to copper, galvanized is no good, we’ll be fine. Teflon inside.”
“Oh, no, this is great” (in response to an offer of a blanket to lie on)
“We may have to drill through the sheetrock, gotta see what we got here”
“They ain’t gonna warranty shit, are they?”
11 October 05
Look Out For Your Vegetables
The full moon will be here in a week, and there might be garden-ravaging beasties about. That is to say, we went to “The Curse of the Wererabbit”, the new Wallace & Gromit movie, this evening. It’s an excellent movie. Poor Gromit! He is such a long-suffering companion.
Sadly, Aardman Animation just suffered a terrible fire, losing the warehouse where sets and props from the first three Wallace & Gromit films were stored.