Huzzah!

In a moment of inspiration I just worked ut how to log on to the DURPS board again. Yay! I can use computer! (I even let the exclamation marks out of the box, look how excited I am).

In other news, there are unkillable tomatoes...

Mum arrives tomorrow, must return to unnecessary cleaning.

Anyone for poetry?

A ghostly form made solid
In the reflection of love
Knowledge of thoughts
Sufficient
Inadequate

A Day in the Life of a Seedling

The sun warmed my new leaf gently as I sipped moisture from the freshly watered soil. My roots were beginning to spread and sometimes they wound around roots from neighbouring plants. One had reached the bottom of the soil and rested upon the black base of the tray where it too could feel the sun's heat.
We were moved this morning. The tinsel which had glittered in the sun and kept the birds away in our infancy was removed and we found ourselves in the shade. I revelled briefly in the cool. There was a commotion at the other end of the tray, seedlings being uprooted and earth scattering over surrounding leaves. Small screams issued from plants as their roots were exposed to the sun and then left to die. The causalities were the small, the sick and the weak, with only the occasional large seedling felled.
The hand which pulled up so many of my fellows approached me. I felt my roots tugged as the places where I had twined with others were wrenched apart. The hand fell to my right, earth showering over my new leaf, leaving it in darkness. The hand descended again, pulling up my neighbour, leaving me destabilised and lurching toward the ground. A finger caressed my stem, righted me. The earth around me was firm and empty.
Soon I was back in the sun; soil washed from my new leaf with fresh water, roots expanding once more to accommodate the new leaves I would grow tomorrow.

Driving

Last night I went over to Carbondale with a couple of freinds to play in the LARP over there. The game was fun. I drove. One of the guys with me needed to be at work at 5.00am. We usually get home at about 4.00. Last night we left earlier than usual and I put my foot down a little (although I confess the putting the foot down wasn't more than usual...I tend to drive a little too quickly).

We were on our way home on Route 3 and had just come over the bridge into MO when I was pulled over by a policeman. I've never been pulled over here before and I was a little nervous. The policeman was nice and pointed out I was going to fast. I was, I didn't dispute it. He asked for all our ID's. One of the guys in the car works for the police mending the radios. He handed over his police ID (and his army ID) as well as his driver's licence. The police officer ran our ID's to make sure we weren't fugatives and send us on our way. No ticket. No nothing. Amazing.

I suspect a little professional courtesy was employed. I deserved the ticket. Lucky, lucky, lucky.

George

Teabringer's Grandfather died last night. He was a good man and an easy friend. Always happy to be alive, George recounted his good luck in being selected for the missions he was on in the war; his good fortune in surviving where so many of his freinds died. His joy at his long life. This was shown in his constant fascination and interaction with the world.

Those of us who knew him will miss him a great deal, but we each hold a fragment of him. A tale, an experience, a letter, a piece of life given to us to be shared. People never truly vanish, they are glimpsed accross years and generations, in happy and fulfilling moments.

Yesterday I saw an exhibit in the Pulitzer and there was one piece which stood, for me, above all the others. Felix Gonzalez-Torres had a exhibit in which a pile of sliver wrapped candies were on the floor. The made up the weight of both him and his lover. Visitors were encouraged to take a piece or two of the candy and consume it.

The best people of the world can be seen in this art. They always give pieces of themselves: to be consumed, to be made part of something else, to be savoured, cherished for a fleeting moment. They show seemingly never ending generosity and sacrifice. Still they shine bright. They always give joy. George was one of those people. He will be missed.


Teabringer has written a Haiku to be added:

Loss is love's worst pain
Regrets, kind words not spoken
to a heart now still

A Rant

It's really hard to move here. I know, I've been through the system. It took almost a year. If we wanted to stay permanently, it would take approximatly 10 years. We were forced to stand in 80 degree heat for almost three hours outside an embassy. Several people in line were elderly, one woman was pregnant. We were all moving for different reasons, but for the most part people from Europe come here to fill jobs that Americans cannot do. That is part of the visa criteria. That's why I don't work here, an MA is insufficient qualification for me to have independent visa status without someone specifically requesting me to work. America's immigration policy is amazingly unreasonable and one of the most strigent in the world.

The temporary work visas already exist. That's what Teabringer's visa is. I am classed as a 'dependent', have you any idea how galling that is? Have you any clue at all how difficult it is for me to turn down pay for work? We are here because no American can do the work my husband is doing. I will not be staying. America stands for many great things, but when it comes to sharing those things with the world something seems to go astray.

The hispanic people come here because it's their best option. Europe has similar problems coming over it's boarders from Korea and the middle east. Britian is doing some horrible things to its immigrants at the moment. But at least there I can do something to change it.

These people form 3.5% of the population of the US. The unemployemnt rate is currently 6%. You could send them away and your unemployment rate would drop, right? Great! Wrong.

These people are doing jobs anyone can do. But they're doing them for wages most people wouldn't accept. They're doing this to survive. They come here to risk the free market, and in doing that actually free the market further, in coporate terms. But they pay no taxes, make no insurance contributions and do not contribute to medicare. These people are some of the poorest in the country. They have no spare money, they have poor housing, poor healthcare and are most at risk of disease and social exclusion. In not paying for medicare, they are not entitled to it. That means that the sick are left to get sicker. America has some of the poorest poor people in the first world. Don't believe me? Cheak out the WHO.

In not paying taxes they're not helping to make the country a better and safer place to live. Give them visas. Make the coporations pay proper wages, then these people can have incomes and medicare and imporve the lot of the poorest poor. Give them wages so they can pay taxes and contribute to the country. Let your market work properly. They won't even get a vote with a working visa, damnit! You can only win from giving these people what they want. Hell it might even make this country a nicer place to live (oh, sorry, it's perfect already...right?).

People are people. It annoys me that they have to demonstrate to be allowed to pay taxes. It annoys me that the immigration policy here is so insane that to get in requires more than a year of paperwork. It annoys me most that these people still have to move illegally to stand a chance of surviving. Hell's teeth, let them do something, you can set the criteria!

I am annoyed.

Just in from Six Foot Hobbit...(these are my answers)

1. What time did you get up this morning: 8.15, but that's horribly early for me. I drove my Mother in law to the airport.
2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds. They sparkle - got to agree there.
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Goodnight and Good Luck.
4. What is your favourite TV show? Red Dwarf, Black Books or Coupling (what can I say, I'm a sucker for sitcom) .
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Coffee. About a pot full.
6. Favourite cuisine? Italian if I'm hungry, sushi if I'm feeling healthy.
7. What is your middle name? Bethan.
8. What food do you dislike? Salmon, ginger, anything horribly spicy.
9. What is your favourite CD at the moment? Catatonia - International Velvet.
10. What kind of car do you drive? Hyundi Elantra.
11. Favourite sandwich? Steak with Blue cheese from the Bread co.
12. What characteristic do you despise? Callousness
13. Favourite item of clothing? Half black corset
14. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation? Great Barrier Reef (but I'll change my mind tomorrow)
15. What colour is your bathroom? One white and black, one white and cream.
16. Favourite brand of clothing? Practical corsets.
17. Where would you retire to? Somewhere with young people
18. What was your most recent memorable birthday? Venice
19. Favourite sport to watch? Fencing, Rugby or F1.
20. Furthest place you are sending this? Going on blog, who knows. Perhaps I'll start a meme.
21. Who do you least expect to send this back to you? Someone without a computer.
22. Person you expect to send it back first? Set it free!
23. Favourite saying? Why does a fish? I don't know why. Ask me a riddle and I'll reply: coddlestone, coddlestone, coddlestone pie.
24. When is your birthday? 26th Spetember.
25. Are you a morning person or a night person? Night.
26. What is your shoe size? 4.5 UK, 6.5 US.
27. Pets? Bertie and Lillian Bird.
28. How are you today? Relaxed, happy, full of good intent.
29 What is your favourite candy? That's a tough one, I've been known to eat cough sweets for fun...
30. What are your favourite Roses? Big ones with lots of petals, preferably red, scented (they're grown in the garden by my husband)
31. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Party on Sunday...home to UK at the end of July.

Mostly on writing

I enjoyed having Teabringer's Mum to stay, I got to do lots of nice things. Now it's back to it. I have lots I want to acomplish in the next couple of months. I'm enjoying the land of short story, but suspect I'm now dodging the main event - namely the novel. There will be much more of it very soon. I need to overcome my fear of becoming entangled in my own plot and just get on with it. There seems to be a point in every novel where the writer becomes disenchanted or just overwhelmed. It sems to me that there is a point where the is so much depth and possible direction for so many charaters that one is at a loss to select whose story is the important one and which plotline needs to be told first. I'm going to try and plunge into it and see what happens. If it dies in the attempt, so be it. I know I have to kill a major charater. I know I have to say some tings that will be contraversial. So be it, I have not chosen to write popcorn novels for a reason. I do, however, have a cracking good idea for a short story for tomorrow. Vampire based, but that's how it goes sometimes. Anarkey says she likes Vampire stuff anyway, so I won't have lost all my audience. As Teabringer wants to write tonight, I may well do the same.

On a bright note I'm managing the 'submit one thing a week' resolution I made (after Transylvanian Dutch) in January. If I can keep this up as well as completing Black's Magic I will be doing very well in terms of production. I think my marketing skills are still wanting. I seem to do best on days when I'm feeling a little cynical; perhaps the editors empathise.

I'm hoping this week will be a little more normal. I don't seem to have settled down to do any real work in a long time. I'm also missing what used to be a regular schedule of callers and calls. I suspect this is mostly my fault for being so erratic in the past few months. I am still determined to do better.

SoStL on Wednesday. Promises to be a great game, I'm looking forward to it.

Mostly About People and Places

Under 'Cleaning and Sorting' I have a bot comment! Ever since I heard that they talk back I've been looking for a bot to annoy on the web...I've yet to find one. I suppose I will given enough time, to be honest I'll need to go to chatrooms and random talk places more for this to work. Perhaps a mission for a rainy day.

There are more seeds up in the garden, some of them are even things I wanted. The botanic gardens looked spectacular, and I intend to see the glass sculptures which will be there from the start of next month through to the beginning of October.

There are some other things going on too; the chior will be singing at the flower festival (I will have to manage this on one rehersal since the last concert, cue omionus chords). Mum is arriving at the end of the month, I have a wedding reception to attend and tickets home still to buy for August. We'll hopfully be hitting Mid Wales, Malvern, Dundee and London. We've got two weeks, so I'll let you all know where we'll be when.

I'm currently feeling horribly guilty that I didn't remeber to call Teabringer's Dad on Friday before it was too late. It is now, once again, too late to call. Damn, damn, damn. Also feeling awful about the fact that the two remaining grandfathers are sick in much the same way in hospitals in Britain and I can visit niether. Ugh. Failed in family responsiblities.

Hoping to spend a lot of next week on the 'phone to various people. I've been too lax in my correspondence of late, but I got some very pretty cards from the botanic gardens to inspire me to do some letters.

Being a Tourist in a City You Know

Teabringer's Mother is staying with us this week, she arrived on Tuesday and will be going home again on Monday. Six days didn't really seem long enough, but she got over the jeg lag faster than anyone I have known (including the hardened travellers I know). We've had a busy week, and I had to pick what to do quite carefully, given the limited time. Here's what I picked (feel free to disagree to your heart's content)

Tuesday - Arrive late sans baggage. Dinner, wait for baggage which doesn't turn up, bed.

Wednesday - Baggage arrives, just before we leave. Got to the Arch, it's the city symbol and seemed appropiate for a place to start. Good stuff, despite the large amounts of small children. Shared tumble-dryer-esq pod with interesting people. Went to the Basillica, although we only spent about half an hour there as they had a service starting. We spent the afternoon at the Sculpture park. In the evening we walked down to the Loop and to Riddle's Penultimate Bar, when one can get good food and excellent local wine from the huge wine list. I pursuaded the ticket man to let us stand in the Tivoli foyer on the way home.

Thursday - Difficult choices ahead. It was due to rain, so we did indoor things. The Fox theatre in the morning for thier guided tour (wonderful, informed tour guides and the theatre organist performing and answering questions. A spectacular place, I wish I'd known about the tours sooner). Then we met Teabringer for lunch in a middle eastern resterant on Euclid by the hospitals (I don't know the name and wish I could remember it, the food was good and they had wonderful turkish sweet things). The afternoon was spent at the Art Museam, where Teabringer's Mum showed her vast knowledge of art by walking into rooms and saying "isn't this...(fill in name of artist)" While I went and read the label saying "errr...yes" and feeling alarmingly ignorant. We watched The Big Lebrowski in the evening, not one of my favourites, but a good film.

Friday - Teabringer took the day off and we went to the Zoo in the morning. Reptiles, Birds, Penguins, Bears and Butterflies. The on to Schlafly Brewery for lunch and the tour. I met the wife of one of the brewers, who is also a writer and we re-established contact and resolved to have lunch again in the near future. then we got distracted from tourism and went to Sugar Creek Nusery to look at the plants...

Saturday - We spent today in the garden putting yesterday's purchases in the ground. There is a plan for a BBQ this evening, and why not.

Tomorrow - Brunch at Brandt's before the Botanical garden and its new children's garden, then dinner out somewhere, maybe the Jade Garden or perhaps the Blue Water Grill if it's open.

Back to the airport on Monday...not enough time. Wanted to go over to the Cahokia mounds, do the History Museam, maybe see something at the Rep, go to the caves, to the big butterfly house, to the nature reserve outside the city limits, get the ferry from by Alton, visit St Charles...so much to do. Perhaps she will come back another time.

This pleases me more than it ought...

You scored as Storyteller. You're more inclined toward the role playing side of the equation and less interested in numbers or experience points. You're quick to compromise if you can help move the story forward, and get bored when the game slows down for a long planning session. You want to play out a story that moves like it's orchestrated by a skilled novelist or film director. Storyteller 92% Method Actor 83% Tactician 50% Specialist 50% Power Gamer 25% Casual Gamer 8% Butt-Kicker 0% Law's Game Style created with QuizFarm.com

The Social Animal

I had no idea this weekend would involve so many people. We had a great time, although we only really managed to stop to breathe this evening. Friday I went out with a whole crowd of people to lunch in forest park before going for a pleasant walk and doing a little writing in the sun. Friday night we went out with COG to Smitty's over in Chesterfield (long drive, but there we are). The following was written on the back of a napkin at about 10.30:

"Smells like a real bar" A rare compliament from Teabringer. It was packed solid too, with proper barstools and even a little tablesharing. Smitty's was something like a taste of home. Even down to the wait staff. The guy who picked the bar knew one of the waitresses, but given the paranoia he'd spent hours (possibly days) culitvating, he left after food arrived to secure further tables for late arrivals. We didn't see the waitress again until we rejoined him.

Several long, pained looks emerged over the course of the evening. COG is not fond of noise. It likes to talk and doesn't react well to having it's carefully constructed soundwaves polluted. The music only got louder. And the band arrived. More Looks were shared.

We moved closer to the band to accomodate our host. We sat far to close to the speaker. It was loud. Very loud. And they kicked off with country music. "When do we throw the bottles?" I asked. "When they play Rawhide" said Teabringer.

They were actually very good, and there were no more country numbers (to be fair country music has its merits, I just have a limited supply of morose in me on a Friday night). A stereotypical all male band: Lead guitar played by a man who looked like he spent slightly more time than is healthy rehersing. Lead singer the good looking guy who made enough jokes in poor taste to put off any sane woman. And the shy, true musician on bass.

We were a tough table to win over. And we sat in the front row. They did a good job.

Saturday saw an enjoyable day at the zoo with Altongal and her children. We got to see the butterflies (my favourite, close to the penguins), the insects for the boys, the reptiles for Teabringer and the train for the youngest amoungst us. I hope Altongal got to see something she wanted as well. After a few hours in the sun I hurried home to get ready for an evening with the British Ladies' murder mystery party. Many thanks are due to The Tuxedoed Prince for resecuing me and driving me all evening. Favours of uncommon proportions are owed, especially given the short notice. It was a good night, and when I came home Teabringer had gone out to his party, so between us we got to see all sorts of people.

Then today we got to see The Graphic Poet and Trend Setter for brunch (There was some discussion of screen names, perhaps I should have mentioned that they have already been christened). We rapidly found a topic to expand upon. Look out for the advent of eZchurch (no pun intended). I promise I will run a Mage game this month. I have been lax. I apologise. Now all there is to do is some shopping and cleaning for the arrival of Teabringer's Mum on Tuesday. A happy weekend.

...I just learnt that Teabringer tends not to read my blog. Apparently he wants me to be able to complain about him in privacy.

International Books to Eat Day

Coinsiding with April 1st...

Books to eat!

Enjoy.