i think i’m almost recovered from the massive computer crash last thursday at work. still not completely sure what happened, but we think it was due to spyware which blew away my XP profile, taking my Netscrape mail profile with it. basically, i lost almost 4 days of work plus all my correspondence for the academic year plus about the last 6 months of 2003. i can’t even wrap my brain around the amount of loss and what the impact will be later on. for now, i have almost everything set up the way it needs to be (been working on that for 2 days), and i’m investigating ways of saving my mail so that i don’t lose it again.
Category: Uncategorized
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so, i seem to be in a total funk. not a whiff of inspiration, creativity or motivation to get anything going.
things i haven’t the gumption to start: new web page, drawing, painting, next project on my correspondence course, cook, clean, sex, write, read, watch tv, drum, yoga, karate.god, i hope i don’t develop an itch.
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Quoted from a poster on the weedforum
Gee…’modern heroic chemical medicine’ finally waking up? I wonder if the next step is that they take over what we do anyway, make access to herbs illegal unless prescribed by the ‘born again’ medical field…
…oyeah, moves are in the works, to be sure.
One of the problems with complimentary/alternative modalities (except wise woman ways) is that they are expensive and until recently none of them were covered by insurance. So, only wealthier people could avail themselves of alternative therapies. Now, the insurance co’s are waking up to this potential gold mine and are beginning to cover practices such as acupuncture, chiropractic, etc. Even massage therapy is covered if a doctor writes a script for it. It’s the old adage…follow the money. On first look, this seems to be a good thing….but wait…there’s more.
Along with this comes licensing, quality control, standardization and regulation. Welcome the FDA (unofficial arm of the pharmaceutical co’s.). If this sort of regulation is enacted, we could well see vitamins, tinctures, and herbs become controlled substances, taking yet more of our health care choices out of our hands and putting them in the hands of big daddy doctor. After all, we can’t be trusted to care for ourselves. We must be protected from ourselves for we are but poor, ignorant children.
Not even our weeds are safe. Aside from outlawing cannabis, peyote, opium poppies, etc., less controversial plants are in danger of regulation. They’ve already outlawed sassafras as a tea/ingredient, and in some areas it’s illegal to grow comfrey in your own back yard. Excuse me? Who’s concern is it but my own if I drink comfrey infusions? Even though pyrrolizidine alkaloids are found in the roots, it is not found throughout the whole plant, which is quite nutritious, and anyway, it’s MY liver.
One of the reasons I am studying the Wise Woman Tradition is because I am appalled by what is going on with the health care industry in this country and the amount of government intrusion in our lives. I don’t want to be told what is good for me. I don’t want to feed my family by industry standards. It’s hard, but we must overcome years of conditioning and realize that we know better than the “experts” what our bodies need to be healthy. We need to snatch back the power to control our nutritional and medicinal choices from the grubby hands of the pharmaceutical companies. We need to stop the insurance companies from practicing medicine without a license and then remind doctors of that oath to do no harm. But most importantly, we need to oust the government and their agents from our kitchens and backyards, and replace our chem-lawns with tasty weeds. It’s time to clear the drugs and vitamins from our medicine cabinets and replace them with homemade tinctures, vinegars and infusions.
In this way, we learn to trust our ancient, collective memory to care for ourselves; to be self-reliant and responsible for our health and wellbeing; to trust the wisdom of the weeds.
…and we may even save a few bucks by picking our own medicines out of our own backyards, always remembering to thank the plants for their giveaway.
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Was perusing some of her writings on various and sundry things and came across this from Susun Weed, a very wise woman indeed. Thought it a good bit of info to store away for when it’s needed.
1. Honor your enemies.
It is they who make you strong and wise. (But see #4.)2. Define your own reality.
Let no one tell you what to think, how to act, nor how you are supposed to feel.3. The heart cannot be broken.
Only the barriers that protect the heart from the pain of life can be broken. Although never sought, heartache can be seen as a deep opening of the heart.4. Do not be kind.
Honor the love you shared; be decent in all your actions, but recognize that in these circumstances, kindness is a lie.5. Cut all energetic bonds between you.
They can be used to manipulate you and hurt you further. If there is to be reconciliation, let it be from new material, not the re-engagement of the previous energies.6. Think of yourself first for one full year; beginning right now.
7. Let go. Give up. Die. (But don’t really kill yourself, please!) The earth will recycle you. Lay down on her and pour your pain into her. Envision yourself as a dead body. Let yourself be eaten by the beetles and worms and excreted as manure for the plants which are eaten by people like you. It all goes round, so let go. Let go of blame. Let go of shame. Let go of guilt.
8. Smile. Even if you don’t feel like it. Smiling–the actual tightening of the muscles involved in making a smile–causes the release of feel-good chemicals (endorphins) in the brain. When in pain, remember, smiling is more effective than drink or drugs.
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our living room isn’t done up in the typical, matching, department store decor. it’s an ecclectic (i like that word much better than junky) mix of handed down (not antique, just old), rummaged, thrift shop stuff. the colors are warm earthy greens, beiges, browns of wood and brass with splashes of bright color from paintings and funky stuff (like brni’s purple, red, blue, green painted rabbit).
the whole room really worked for me. i felt comfortable and at ease.then we decide we need a new tv.
the new tv doesn’t fit in the tv cabinet. we need a different stand for it, so my nice (focal pointy) cabinet has been banished from the room. it is replaced by a black metal and glass topped tv stand that is too low and very modern. with the gray metal of the tv (they don’t make black ones anymore it seems), the wall is stark and hurts my soul.
what to do? we can’t afford a different cabinet that will hide the tv.
poor brni doesn’t understand my problem with this. i guess it’s hard for most people to understand that i can be physically pained (not just a psychological wince) from visual stimuli. but it’s a real physical sensation not just a “yuk, that’s ugly” and forget it sort of thing. clutter does this to me. piles of stuff all over is a constant threat to my wellbeing.
looks like i have a very big important project to make a silk purse.
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That’s what we call our not quite monthly get-togethers at Gullifty’s. A few of us (3 core plus a few occasional stragglers) leave work and meet at Gullifty’s in Rosemont to bitch about work and life as we know it. We actually have a fine time, lots of gossipy tidbits, clamorous comments, tasty revelations and mounds of humorous family stories. We tend to tease each other mercilessly, so we are careful to invite only those with skins thick enough to laugh at themselves.
I ordered the nicoise salad w/grilled tuna for dinner. A vodka and tonic later, everyone’s dinner arrives while I remain plateless. So Laura asks, “Will her dinner be here soon?” “In just a few minutes.” Fifteen minutes and a second vodka and tonic later, “Just a few more minutes, sometimes tuna takes a long time to cook.”
odear, this can’t be good.
Meanwhile my work companions took pity on my plateless plight and gave me bits of their dinners…I had two paper-thin slices of cantaloupe, a stalk of celery, 4 french fries, 2 potato chips and a bit of crust from a quiche.Forty-five minutes and a third vodka and tonic later, my dinner was served. Semi-ravished, I lit into a somewhat aged piece of fish and bits of fishy green beans and waxy potatoes. bleh. Couldn’t eat more than a couple bites before deciding that life is too short to eat bad food. I sent the dinner back and requested a cup of coffee.
When the bill came, they had charged us for my late meal. Judy stopped the waiter and said, “I think there’s a mistake on this bill…” and proceeded to tell him we shouldn’t be charged for my dinner due to tardiness and taste. Then a very handsome asian man came over to inquire why we didn’t want to pay for my meal. So, I told him politely about the forty-five minute-three vodka and tonic wait and the old fish and he apologized and removed the charge.
It was all so civil, it hardly happened.
… and then my dear friends paid for my drinks in honor of my birthday.
all in all, a nice night out.
Croneswood Art 