Author: Allegra

Born when atmospheric carbon was 316 PPM. Settled on MST country since 1997. Parent, grandparent.

Sundry and Various

Last night when I was coming home I realized I wanted retail therapy, so I got Robaxicet, a teach yourself to read music book (which actually taught me something I had not understood before in the first five minutes, so that was useful), a miniature Gumby and Pokey set for Jeff, Ecuadorian chocolate, Cutthroat beer & a proper set of headphones for work including volume control.  Now of course I realize that I’m an idiot and I just should have gone straight home, so I would have avoided a broken down bus and…

ick….

wait for it….

auditions for Canada’s Next Top Model in Brentwood Mall – when the batteries in my camera had just quit.  Oh, and my cell phone batteries quit in tandem, so I couldn’t fire off an irritated text message to Jeff. I wanted to take a picture of the swarm of identical, malnourished, streak haired, pointy faced hopefuls, but instead I got an eyeful of leering men and resigned looking parents.  Rechargeable NiMh batteries do not cut it for this application.

I am just about finished my laundry, finally, and will be moving on to other interesting events today, like trying to sweet talk Jeff into accompanying me on a shopping expedition.  Yes, I know, but I want two things you can’t get nearby or easily, being my favourite kind of soap (French, honeysuckle scented) and more Sculpey so Katie can finish her chess set. And more paint.  I think I need blue, clear coat, and maybe a bronze or silver metallic.  And a fatter brush so I can really slop it on.  ScaryClown says he paints everything he does flat black and then paints overtop of that.  I will defer to the master on that one. He has severely restricted his alcohol intake, but frankly, he doesn’t look happier. And he’s bringing his lunches these days. So has the Dalai Jarmo, but that’s traditional for Finnfolk in early January, and he looks very happy these days and he’s going to be sitting close but not too close to me in the new regime.  PS note to self I need one of those who the **** is behind me mirrors for work.

Katie, bless her, did not actually look for work yesterday, rrr.  But Keith fitted his first set of contact lenses (perfectly, so he says) the day before yesterday so it appears that continuing to support his efforts to get edumacated is wise.

Jim and Jan are here this weekend and I can’t wait to see them.  They are so wonderful.  I wish I could just buy a city block and move everybody I love here. Except that many of them, like a kitty cat struggling to escape, would not be happy about living in Vancouver.  It’s a nice place to visit, etc.  And when I get a house I want laundry on the same level as my bedroom.  I got that when I was living in the Cornerstone building and gosh darn, I want that again, although that might have something to do with how steep the basement stairs are.  I nearly fell down them this week and it was scary as hell, because Jeff had his headphones on and I might have had a very poor time of it.

Biscotti.  Again.  I will be shipping it off to people by mail.

Valentine cards.  Since I am sending work valentines to Barcelona, California, Indiana and Washington, I have to start early this year.  There are 150 people on the list!!! I have created a monster, yet again.

I know somebody personally who is going to the inauguration, and I will be able to hear about it later this month.  Me happy.

Good bye speech to the Bushies

20 April 1653 Oliver Cromwell to the Long Parliament.

It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonored by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barter’d your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?

Ye sordid prostitutes, have you not defil’d this sacred place, and turn’d the Lord’s temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redress’d, are yourselves become the greatest grievance.

Your country therefore calls upon me to cleanse this Augean stable, by putting a final period to your iniquitous proceedings in this House; and which by God’s help, and the strength he has given me, I am now come to do; I command ye therefore, upon the peril of your lives, to depart immediately out of this place; go, get you out!

Make haste! Ye venal slaves be gone! So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors. In the name of God, go!

 

Good one, Oliver….

And then my head exploded

SINCE I don’t know which of the two links I posted originally to this time stamp was a problem I’m taking them both down.

The first link was to an article by Marcus Chown – who, when I follow his google trail sounds like He Do the Science in Different Voices. If you google Marcus Chown Holographic, you will find the article.

Essentially, there is now a small amount of experimental support for the notion that everything we are, see, etc, is a holographic projection.  Where string theory and quasars fits in with this I have no idea.  I am just a meat machine, and my thinky thoughts sometimes are not well parsed.

Interesting housing news

They say that housing prices haven’t dropped much in Vancouver, but I beg to differ.  Three months ago, the last time I did a thorough search for a house which met my price, amenity and location criteria, there was precisely one house – which is still for sale.  There are now nine.

I am even more astonished that one of these houses has three separate suites and $2K rental income.

An open letter to the Israeli embassador

Embassy of Israel
50 O’Connor Street
Ottawa,Ontario K1P 6L2

Dear Embassador Miriam Zim:

Let me preface my comments about the current situation in Gaza with three clear points:

I mean no hatred toward Jews or Israeli citizens;
I have no personal enmity towards you or your family;
I do not advocate the dissolution or destruction of Israel.

1.  I believe that in a misguided attempt to secure its borders, safety and global reputation as no country to trifle with, the state of Israel and IDF is killing Palestinian civilians.

2. I believe that, news reports notwithstanding, Israel is not trying to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, and given the nature of the military actions and the size of the targets, it would be impossible to avoid them.

3. Israeli news media and their global supporters repeat the question, “What would you do if you were under fire from Hamas rockets in Ashkelon?”, but neglect to voice the corollary, “What would you do if you lived in Gaza?” The people who live there are trapped, starving and desperate, and are not likely to be negotiating in anything like good faith while they are being bombed, or turn into obedient minions afterwards.  The behaviour of the Israeli government and the IDF appears identical to activities for which persons in this century and the last have been tried for war crimes.

4.  I respectfully request that you ask your government to cease bombing Gaza.

5.  I respectfully request that you ask your government and military to cease activities (like ramming aid ships and bombing aid convoys), which prevent neutral third parties from providing aid to victims of Israeli shelling.

6.  It is my intention to boycott all products, cultural and material, produced in Israel or by Israeli citizens, until such time as a just solution is negotiated with the people living in Gaza. 

Israel’s current military actions in Gaza are not going to make Israel more secure.  For the sake of reason and self-preservation, I urge you to convey this message to your government.

With best wishes for your health and safety during your sojourn in Canada,

Allegra Sloman
Vancouver BC

Another glorious day at work

Jarmo’s on my team, Jarmo’s on my team, Jarmo’s on my team!!!!!!

I talked to Mike today, he’s doing better.

LTGW and Francis went swimming at lunch at the aquatic center at the university.  The thought of LTGW in swimming trunks kept a happy smile on my face most of the afternoon.

Robof9 wrote one of the most humane pieces of business communication I have ever seen, not to me, but gosh it was good.   I heart Robof9.

On the basis that I wouldn’t want to hear it read back to me in court – a sore point with me and Patricia these days, although not because we’re having problems with each other – I deleted this first line.  I may say Patricia’s a happy woman these days, and she’s taking her boyfriend (long, long, long, and wonderful and not bloggable story) – to Carmen.

Tanya booked her 3D ultrasound, which of course I didn’t have access to back in the Mesozoic, when I was progenizing.  Gosh, it was a long time ago, and it gets longer ago all the bloody time!  It is good to experience the wonders of birth anew vicariously through Tanya.  PS, her sister in law accused her of STALKING HER.  When Tanya was at home in bed.  Asleep.  This is not good for the baby in waiting, and if the first thing that baby does the first time it’s in the same room as the SIL is vomit and spray feces like Eta Carinae spews light, it’ll be better than the SIL deserves.  Oh, I’m so hoping Tanya’s eating when she reads this and sprays partly chewed Cheerios on her laptop as she’s lying in bed.  Hugs to Battery.

Daxus got the ring Katie got him out of pawn.  Seriously, I’m not crazy about the priorities, but it makes an incredible difference to Katie… huge in fact.  If she’s happy bla bla bla.  Jeff just scowled when I told him; he’s not the only one who feels like that.

We watched a documentary about the Hubble, thus the Eta Carinae reference earlier.

And I’m happy.  I’m really quite unreasonably, and unseasonably, happy.  I don’t understand how I can be so blah one day and so in a happy groove the next.  Earlier this week I felt like scrap, and I feel good now….This despite the fact that my company’s landlord and the university ARE TRYING TO KILL ME EVERY SINGLE MORNING by not putting salt and sand down.  There was a skin of ice on the stairs and the walkway this morning that nearly sent me on my ass and definitely wiped out some others.  What’s with these people?  Don’t they know that people who try to kill me don’t get biscotti?

Was it the ice cream?  Mayan Chocolate ice cream is very good.  That’s enough to keep you happy for a minute.

More running around

Yesterday was a good day at work; afterwards I went to the Coop Car office on Granville and picked up my ‘fob’ (all the cars have little onboard tracking systems now) so I can rent a truck for Mike to help him finish his move (the alternative being putting the Road Apple on the road temporarily, which involves getting it running first) and then I came home and found Jeff looking porely on the chesterfield.  I stuffed pork chomps, fried mushrooms and onions, chickpea salad and tater tots into him and he perked up somewhat. 

Tonight, the clean underwear runs out, so laundry it is. 

Only a couple of weekends until Conflikt II. Looking forward to it, but I have to rehearse….

v. nice weekend

Dinner for Tom’s birthday last night was glorious; it was so good to see everybody and share a meal.  I must really try to be more hospitable myself – it’s good to feed people.

I wrote the letter to the Israeli embassador and forwarded it to a couple of people for comments and edits, and will post once it’s back from them.  Me not happy about Gaza.

I watched, in its entirety (I couldn’t sleep, woke up at 2, so it’s good I went to bed so early!) a documentary about demographic winter. It was paid for by a bunch of fundies, but I have learned that one should study one’s enemies.  I am still processing what I learned and may share my thoughts later.

Ha, I didn’t do laundry.  Tonight I must do laundry or it’s going to be harsh strong bad at work…

I did my first working from home this weekend.

I did a lot of cooking.

I saw Keith and Kate, and watched feetsball with Jeff a bit.

And, of course, Sculpey.  I feel rested and refreshed and ready for work.