16 things I wish for my birthday

  1. World Peace, I know, it’s a no brainer
  2. Brownies to assist with housework
  3. Somebody please buy the shop
  4. Forty pounds of ugly fat depart my body safely and slowly
  5. Okay fifty, but forty just sounds more reasonable and I did lose and keep off ten after I broke my shoulder
  6. I finally reduce the number of clothes I own to something manageable.
  7. and stop getting so attached to my clothes that I can’t recycle them.
  8. That fixing things was consistently cheaper than replacing them
  9. That fireworks could read your intentions and wouldn’t explode outside a house with timorous pets
  10. That my friends would take me to the Keg for dinner… never mind, they will on Saturday
  11. That Archie Panjabi gets her own show, as she is AWESOME. But only after The Good Wife arcs out
  12. Somebody please buy my car.  The shop says it is no longer repairable, so Ziva’s to the boneyard
  13. That I find a paying job soon.
  14. That somebody redo a hd version of Minds’ Eye
  15. That Katie find a good job soon
  16. That Iain M Banks hadn’t died so berloody young

A somewhat likely story

following is fictional…

 

Dad staggered away from the kitchen in an exaggeration of his normal walk.  He had grimly supported Mom through the whole ghastly process of getting the equipment through customs, and grimly supported her in the sequelae, which included about four dozen eggs on the outside of the house and a number of unpleasant encounters with the more tender hearted of their neighbours, including the one neighbour they were always having fencing discussions with, and whom they suspected of allowing access for youthful depredations.

Now the damned machine was here, and it was as if every item which had been eviscerated from his diet was now coming at him as extruded by this knitting machine of the damned.

She’d seen it in a catalog, and ever since had wanted it so.

Dad couldn’t watch.  He knew he would not be able to resist, even knowing where the meat had come from.

________

So, today there was news about knittable meat.  There was also meat you could wear and meat you could form in rainbow layers and other kinds of Modern Foods kinda meat.

I DON’T  want to know what the meat was. In the story, that is. Sometimes the depths of one’s subconscious are a small but entertaining tidal pool.

 

Mattress today!

As part of the I need to be sleeping better plan (4 hours with cpap last night…) I have purchased a name brand properly sprung mattress which will be delivered today between 3 and 6 pm.

I have a tremendous craving for fish for lunch.  I think I will go get some… something like haddock or cod.

Katie slept over last night.

2020 says I need to replace this freaking mattress.

 

Allowed to be proud

The day before yesterday I bought dowelling, a pulley, stout cordage and a massive plant hook.

Today I sawed two four inch chunks off the dowelling, drilled a transverse hole through both in the centre, sanded the ends and screw holes, fed the stout cordage through the holes and tied it off, ran it through the pulley and VOILA.  I have a shoulder exercise machine with two handles!  It ain’t purty but it works.  And I cleaned up after myself except for the door lintel, which I should probably do before Miss Moppet drags her way through the debris.  She is VERY FLUFFY and staticky right now, and she’s getting matted just looking at me.

Jeff wants the device to be more securely set into the door lintel, and he’s cheerfully fixing that for me now, but I visualized it, bought it, and DID IT. I think I should make a safety cover for it when not in use, some of the men who come through the house on occasion are dashed tall.

Ripped a whole bunch of CDs today, mostly filk, blues and rockabilly.  I do like Dr. Crowell; hardly anybody in filk is a music perfesser, so we get a trained voice and unbelievable skill on keys.  Sadly, CD Woodbury’s special CD which includes his fine version of My Old School, doesn’t want to be ripped; the drive made a noise that usually presages catastrophic failure in any device emitting it, but I ejected it after an eternity of hideous grinding, and the drive seemed okay.

It’s Remembrance Day.  The family tradition is to rewatch Saving Private Ryan, A Bridge Too Far, a Night to Remember or Sink the Bismarck!

Katie has been staying overnight; mostly she’s out hanging with her girlfriends.  We all went out to breakfast this morning.

This article goes to a Popular Science link about what happens when you put lego in a washing machine, for science.

 

New things

I got the materials for my shoulder exercise pulley as well as ordering a new mattress for delivery on Wednesday next, as all of these health considerations move MUCH FASTER when you just go yeah, I have to do that and just quit whining…  Now I have to confer with Jeff about where to put the pulley – I’m hoping in the kitchen doorway.  Katie came along to keep me company – there are still an excess of relatives at Planet Bachelor.  She went out drinking last night and got home late but she’s in a cheerful frame of mind.

Rob is coming over to talk steampunk. That should be fun; we will be reviewing various kinds of fabrics for the purposes of a weskit.  (Rob owns more than one industrial sewing machine, which is wootable).

Keith and I have mutually apologized.  I must say I am very relieved.

 

Blowing my mind

The quantity is huge and the breadth of usefulness immense for anti racist information on line.  Some of it must have taken decades to assemble.

These are just what I found this morning:

 

http://rabble.ca/news/2013/09/top-10-list-how-not-to-respond-to-indigenous-experiences-racism-canada
Definitions from academic research http://web.uvic.ca/~pjane/
http://www.aclrc.com/pdf/Anti_Racism_Resource_Kit.pdf <<<<—AMAZING and Canadian.
http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/education-outreach/Personal-Self-Assessment-of-Anti-Bias-Behavior.pdf
http://www.ucalgary.ca/cared/selfassessment
http://www.beyondintractability.org/about/the-beyond-intractability-approach
http://www.whatsrace.org/images/racequiz-key.pdf
http://www.whatsrace.org/images/privwalk-long.pdf

 

Yeah!  Installed a Firefox extension which prevents me from surfing the internet between 7 am and 7 pm – all my favourite sites.  It’s very cool, although I think Katie will probably wonder what the hell is going on so I’d better give her a heads up.

Short fuse

Keith parked in my spot and I yelled at him, mostly because we had a frantic and disgusting drive in from the ferry and I had no spoons left.  I still think he was inconsiderate and he still thinks my response was disproportionate.

I hurt my back at the duck pond yesterday (put my feel wrong and hurt the left side L5 S1 area) although feeding the ducks was plenty fun, especially with Lois and Bob in attendance.  I told her I was pissed off that she came to Vancouver and didn’t call me, but that’s life when you’re the ex, I guess, and we did have an amazing catch up in Victoria.  Bob continues to be so calm and kind and funny and Lois is as she ever was, energetic and fierce and informative and hilarious.  She was kidnapping ducks yesterday, my how they flapped until she released them.

Katie made two cheesecakes at the grandparents…. aaaaaand, they’re GONE.

Best night ever on the cpap in Victoria.  As always, Katie is right when she opined that my problem with the cpap is no longer the programming on the machine (I adjusted it, it’s fine now) but the total lack of comfort and quality in my mattress.  So, off to spend money on the most important six hours of my day today, mattress or bust.

F***** HELL.  The light in my bedroom is possessed by Satan.

Much amusement in some quarters that Paul’s girlfriend can’t get up until noon; since I’m no picnic in the sleep department, not to mention snoring like a chainsaw in a bucket of snot, I won’t judge, and I think it has been clearly demonstrated that Paul can tolerate many behaviours in his loved ones, shy of being told what to do.   Anyway, Jeff, Paul’s girlfriend’s sleeping habits impacted certain family members, so thanks for the Netflix info, since it allowed certain people to watch tv for 4 and a half hours while the rest of the household was resting in the pale limbs of Morpheus.  At least the kids have access here so they can come and go when it gets scary or boring.

I made a list on the ferry last night to try to deconstruct the anguish I’m feeling over certain kinds of decisions.  There’s the list of items, the emotional freight each action carries, and the financial implications.  I need to go over it again, but is putting COMPLETELY different emphasis on my to do list.  I suspect I could refine it further but don’t have to… there’s only so many ways to parse first world problems balanced against, you know, existential threats.  Selling the café is obviously a huge boat anchor at this point.

Dishwasher is running.  Obviously I should have run it before I left.

I am really looking forward to physio on Tuesday.

Off to do some more research!!

 

Grace has no race

Man, I read some PAINFUL SHIT  yesterday.  But this is what fell out.

 

Unitarians have no issue with working through privilege and fighting discrimination. That is one of the functions of religion, to identify bias in ways that open the heart and warm the soul and loosen the fists.  It’s part of our congregational covenant.

â–ª The inherent worth and dignity of every person;

  • Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations;

 

Race is not specifically mentioned in our principles.  I can understand why that is; my personal bias is that a specific mention of race when we’re all about the oneness of humanity is well, unseemly.

 

But… We haven’t had the internal conversation on race. I believe our ideas and words on the subject are hampered by fears of giving offense, by guilt, by ignorance, by denial and by a vast interlinked network of laws and customs, tv news and badly taught history which result in the elevation of white people over people of colour.

 

It’s time we got over that.

 

One of the things I’ve noted, and which yet again was pointed out to me by a young FN activist in November of 2013, is that it is not the responsibility of those discriminated against to plead their case as and when asked – or, indeed, ever.  If you’re an ally, the thinking goes, you will put down the Chardonnay and google “Residential schools” or “Highway of Tears” or “Poll Tax” or “Komagata Maru”.  You’ll educate yourself.  And if you’ve got a boatload of guilt or want to interrupt at public meetings, please stay home, you’re tiresome and a continual reminder that many more white people want to have wings than earn them.

 

Having accepted after all this time that it is my responsibility to look at the problem and develop my own curriculum, this is how I see the process.  We’re talking years, but there’s no reason we can’t start.

 

Step one. Sorting.  Get over how we don’t know how racist we are.  Staying home and reading about it on the internet is not helpful.  We must share our painful, quirky, horrific, wrackingly tragic, bewildering, magical and intimately personal stories about race in the comforting bosom of our church siblings before we talk about it in public.  It is by story that we will be set free.  It is through story that we will find both the will and the vocabulary to accept our complicity and move on together, with grace and forgiveness stumbling forward with us.

 

Step two. Reconnecting with the flow of life.  Develop a way of talking about race and racial discrimination which removes inflammatory language (by listening to what people of colour have to say on the subject and humbly paying heed), doesn’t play into old guilty habits (“well we’ve done talking about race now”), models the best possible behaviour church-wide for our children and visitors (so yes, special attention given to greeters and those people in the congregation who have the ability to talk to anyone and RE), and helps distinguish us from other liberal religious organizations.  We’ve been a stagnant pond, it’s time to be a tranquil stream.

 

Step three. Clean up time.  ACCEPT that we will likely never be racially reflective of the areas we live in, STOP being ashamed about it, WORK to eradicate discrimination the way humans everywhere always have.  Build networks with people you personally like, who value life and freedom and beauty and nature and art as you do, to find whatever role to play against racial discrimination you have the strength to fulfill.  They don’t have to be in the church, and in fact one of the marks of a healthy Unitarian congregation is how many different social justice sandboxes are being played in at once.

 

Step four. Sing the message.  Encourage those UUs who can to self identify as people who have quit taking racial privilege and discriminatory bias as part of the natural order of things. Teach consistent and tested ways of knowing the why and when to speak up, what to say, and how to say it with humility and temperance.  If we have a haven on Sunday where we can bring our stories of confronting structures of evil, it will be much easier for us to shift out of our guilty little comfort zones.

 

Step five. Carry the flame.  Find ways to set congregational goals regarding eradicating racial bias, incorporate them into church life, celebrate milestones.  Continue to hold workshops and write curriculum on racism and equality, make art and media about it, blog and write and link on facebook and other social media platforms, build links to faith communities not just for interfaith kumbayas but for true stories about institutional racism and how we can be of practical help.  Put refresher courses on the church five year plan.  Note to self:  leave the presence of the word kumbayas but take it out of the final version because it refers to a spiritual song wrested from the Gullah folkways. Of course when I heard it in my childhood it was the Weavers singing it.  And I have to go away and think about that for a while.  Anyhoo…

In sum:  Racial bias must be defined and that definition broadly accepted, its eradication valued, encouraged and honoured, and participation in self-reflection, liturgy and civil engagement to end racial bias must be considered a foundational aspect of UU life. Grace has no race.

An open letter to the Canadian Legion

Dear Canadian Legion:

In 1948 by Act of Parliament, the Canadian Legion came to own the Poppy as a trademark for marketing, advertising and fundraising activities.

These days, we encounter the poppy around the middle of October, usually outside a liquor store.

But I hate the thing. If I had a dime for every time I’ve stuck myself with a poppy pin, I could recover all the money I donated to the Legion to acquire one, usually once a year because they fall off.  It’s like they are designed to fall off and inflict pain, which certainly encourages remembrance, but I’m not sure it’s the right kind.

Since they are identical every year, cheapskates I know (including a member of my tribe) reuse them every year. I don’t, but I know people who do.

Please redesign your trademark so that you put the year on the center green bit, to encourage people to buy new ones.

PLEASE fix the fastener OR start making enamelled versions of the poppy.  It would be an effective year round fundraiser, especially if sold with branch numbers so local members could support their local with pride.  And instead of being, effectively, somewhat hazardous trash, once no longer worn, it would be beautiful jewelry.

With love and thanks to Canada’s veterans, and sincere appreciation for the work of the Legion,

AR Sloman

De Colores

After Rev Deb’s mighty sermon on racism yesterday, I thought of a possible curriculum.   THIS IS TOTALLY IMAGINARY AT PRESENT and I haven’t heard back from anybody because Holy shizzsnacks it’s five in the ayem.  So if you have comments, it’s about the imaginaryness of it first of all.

 

Skin in the Game of Life is a ten session recovery program for Beacon UUs addressing racism.  The goal is to help each participant understand where they are on the continuum of racism and to move themselves closer towards Unitarian Universalist principles of social justice.

 

1.  How dare you call me a racist!

What is privilege?

What is intersectionality?

Having the conversation about racism – in ourselves, in others, in our culture.  Current understanding of inclusive language and why what you say and how you say it is so important.

 

2. Family stories

Sharing stories about racism, tolerance and aha! moments.

Understanding families as racism incubators.

Examining racial makeup of UU congregations.

What we didn’t learn in school.

 

3.  Otherness

Race is “policed” by, among other things:

Education, Law, Language, Affiliation, Occupation, Religion

 

4. “I pity the poor immigrant”.

The Canadian immigrant experience, focussing on the East Indian and Chinese migrant experience in Vancouver.  The Poll Tax.  The Komagata Maru.

 

5. The Settlers and Turtle Island

Colonialism and the ongoing resistance of First Nations.

 

6. Science and Race

An overview of the latest research. Facts, questions, controversies.

 

7. Highway of Tears

The Highway of Tears and the collisions of race, politics, media, law enforcement and gender.

 

8. The Laws of the Land

Current laws and important court cases.

 

9. Good people keeping quiet.

How social conventions stressing harmony and lack of overt conflict sap the strength of anti racism actions, and contribute to the growth of overtly racist actions.  Finding allies in the struggle against racism.

 

10. Now what?

Continuous improvement as a model for recovering from racism.

Racism, like all human bias, requires a cognitively pragmatic, emotionally stable and physically active approach for eradication to be contemplated and achieved.  The bias must be defined, its eradication valued and honoured, and its eradication must be supported by personal and collective will, and participation in activities which will challenge, inform and invigorate anti racism in UU life.

 

 

Reading List:

 

The Inconvenient Indian, Thomas King

CUC resolutions addressing racism, diversity, First Nations

Learning to Be White, Thandeka

http://cuc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/CUC-ACM-2013-Keynote-Radical-Inclusion-Mark-Morrison-Reed.pdf

Charter of Rights http://lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/Const/page-15.html#h-45

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/lou-james/racist-native-canada_b_3795232.html

http://anti-racistcanada.blogspot.ca/

http://apihtawikosisan.com/

http://www.anti-racism.ca/node/1

http://www.hopesite.ca/remember/history/racism_canada_1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komagata_Maru_incident

http://www.idlenomore.ca/manifesto

(link removed for safety)

http://intercontinentalcry.org/