Werewolf!

This morning I opened a set of blinds in my office and got my first peek into the neighbor's bedroom. This is what startled me:



It's that Taylor guy from the Twilight movies! The neighbor is a Twilight fan.

Here's the weird part: I've only ever seen a grown woman and a little boy come and go from that house. Which one loves the werewolf?

Book 87: The Persian Pickle Club

The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas. I've had this on my shelf since I first read it in 1998, but I didn't remember anything about it. It's somehow kind of lighthearted, even though it takes place in the dust bowl of the Great Depression, and there is a murder, and another death.

A bunch of women in a small town in Kansas belong to a quilting club ("persian pickle" means "paisley" -- they have a story about some paisley fabric). A new woman moves to town, joins the club, and begins working on solving a town mystery.

It's very readable, with an entertaining narrator.

Book 86: JFK and the Unspeakable

JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died & Why It Matters by James W. Douglass

I was watching Bill Maher’s show last spring or summer, and Oliver Stone was on, and he brought this book with him, confusing Bill and all the rest of us. Bill asked if Oliver had written the book, but no. He just recommends it. You remember, Oliver Stone made a movie about JFK’s assassination – a movie in which the CIA orchestrated the killing, framing Lee Harvey Oswald. This book is about the same conspiracy theory.

Douglass cites tons of sources: The Warren Report, interviews with witnesses, letters between Kennedy and Kruschev, and interviews with liaisons between Kennedy and Castro. It’s pretty easy to believe that this version of the story, or something like it, is the truth about how Kennedy died. Of course, I have no idea what actually happened. I wasn’t born yet, and I hadn’t read much of anything about it or thought much about it before picking up this book. Other theories may be equally convincing.

It’s very easy to believe that the CIA, NSA, and the military didn’t want a Kennedy as president. JFK wouldn’t go along with starting WWIII, or using nuclear weapons against the U.S.S.R., or against Cuba. Douglass says (and presents evidence) that JFK was about to pull us out of Vietnam permanently, that he was working up to having peaceful discussions with Castro, and that he had a secret peace-seeking letter-writing friendship with Kruschev.

Right before he died, JFK gave a commencement speech at American University in which he announced that the U.S. “will never start a war. We do not want a war. We do not now expect a war…” He also pledged that we would stop atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, and if the rest of the world also stopped, we would not be the first to resume.

I watched a TV show on the assassination that was touted to be an exploration of the different conspiracy theories, but really it was an attempt to de-bunk them. I did not find it nearly as convincing as this book. One problem was that some of the men insisting that it was just Lee Harvey Oswald were only my age! They only know what they’ve been told, just like I do. I don’t find them persuasive.

I think it’s generally pretty easy to believe in the corruption of government. Particularly in that era of such intense fear and hatred of Communism, big sections of our government would have been willing to do anything to try to stop the U.S.S.R. from getting a foothold in Cuba, so close to the U.S. ANYTHING.

Plus, we know how corrupt the CIA and FBI were in the 1960s in trying to stop the progression of the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. They’ve shown us over and over again that they operate outside our laws, and outside of what we consider “American” behavior – treating everyone fairly, not punishing people for crimes unless they’ve been tried and convicted in a court of law. It’s easy to believe they’ve killed many people who threatened the status quo or the CIA agenda.

The “Unspeakable” that Douglass refers to is a systemic evil. Institutionalized evil. That kind of beaurocratic evil that lets everyone off the hook – no one in particular is responsible. No one has to feel responsible, and no one can be held responsible. The person with the ideas doesn’t actually carry them out; it’s not his fault. Those who carry them out are just following the orders of the middleman, so it’s not their fault. The middleman had no ideas, made no decisions, and performed no actions – he just passed along the message, so it’s not his fault.

I would add that it’s also unspeakable that we are all complicit when we allow evil acts to go on. We are willing to be convinced that it didn’t happen. We are willing to look the other way and not force these agencies to be held responsible for their actions, even though those actions are the exact definition of “Unamerican.” It’s much easier to go on with our days, watch our shows, and think about our own little lives than to admit that there is a problem and that we actually have to do something about it, risking our own personal security and comfort.

In the case of JFK’s death, many of those who tried to tell any truth that was inconvenient to the CIA ended up dead or locked up in mental institutions for the rest of their lives. Bad America!

By way of contrast to murderous political corruption, on “Meet the Press” this week, guess which two political figures were talking about their JOINT work on improving our public education system? Al Sharpton and freaking Newt Gingrich! Not bad, America.

A Couple New Little Houses

This weekend I had a vision of an all black and white Christmas theme, and I made an ornament to go with it.

I also made a cottage with weird, fantasy trees.



It was a perfect weekend for sitting inside and sewing: I had the TV all to myself and got to choose which movies to watch, and it was cold and snowy and icy outside, and I had no obligations to anyone. I need those weekends every so often!

Saturday

 
Today I made a juice of apples, ginger, and "Sugar Pears," which turned out to be less sweet than regular pears, so I now think of them as sarcastic fruit.

Those darn sarcastic pears refused to juice and just made mush in my juicer. I saved some mush to eat as pearsauce, which will probably be good, but not what I expected. Still, the apple and ginger juice with a hint of sarcasm was terrific.

--

Today was another snowy day, and after THUNDERSNOW last night (one of my favorite things! the crash of thunder and flash of lightning and then the gently falling flakes), today was super cloudy and dark and dim. A day requiring lights on all the time.

I just went out for a brief walk in the snow, and at 10:00PM, it is exactly as bright outside as it was all day. I can clearly see for blocks, and the sky is light grey. It is WAY too light for nighttime, yet way too dark for daytime.

Today should have been Friday the 13th, with the crazy lighting scheme. But since it is the 14th, it was just a super cool nighttime walk rather than a creepy, ominous set-up for unlucky events.

Utilitization and You

Doing one of my editing jobs, I heard a man say the made-up word, "utilitization." COME ON! You guys, I hate the made-up word "utilize" enough already. For fuck's sake, just say "use," as though you're not a moron.

Generally, people make up fancier-sounding words to attempt to cover up their own stupidity. I am instantly wary (not weary, although eventually that, too) of people who feel they have to show off their made-up Corporatese or other jargon (perhaps it would help if I put on my Creativity Hat and grabbed a different colored umbrella and Thought Outside the Box).

It usually gets worse once they know that I'm an editor, or that I have an English degree, or that I have a law degree, or that I read books.

Honestly, I'm just as mistrusting of "utilize"-sayers as I am of people who don't have any books in their homes. (No books in the house gives me the creeps and shivers and willies. And CHILLS.)

Why go to trouble to make things more complicated? Why must there be such needless over-utilitization of over-complicatorization?

First little quilt-blanket is done

Here is the finished Little Quilt-Blanket


I'm happy with how it turned out. The front has the shiny, satin blanket binding as an accent between the quilt fabric and the fleece backing. I sewed it to the quilt front on the sewing machine.



I used embroidery floss to attach the fleece backing.

I'm considering this a successful fleece project. I have another blanket to finish and I want to make another something with additional, accessory somethings, but I only have a week and half. If everything works on the first try, I might just make it.

Deal of the Day

Holy cow, you guys!

 

Pig heads are only 97 cents a pound!

Seriously, is that pig chomping on a cigar??

I am freaked out by the thought of eating heads. I know that it is no different from eating legs and backs and chests, which give me only the slightest creeps. I do detest dealing with raw meat, and I would always rather get it as sliced/shredded/chopped as possible so that it doesn't look like the animal it once was. But since I like to eat meat, I do prepare it myself and deal with the small amount of creeps I get.

Anyway, I think it's really psychologically interesting that I'm SO conditioned to only eat the parts of animals that I mentioned before, and that I think that's normal. But I think it's totally DISGUSTING to eat heads, ears, brains, intestines, feet, ankles, beaks, fetal birds, eyeballs, etc...

Knowing that it's hypocritical does not make me change my taste in meat products in the slightest. So I will offer no competition for you in your race to buy up all the sale-priced pig heads you can eat! Cigar included free of charge!