Because I drive A LOT I have been reading a lot of books. Or more accurately I have been listening to a lot of books. I know it seems silly to give reviews here – by hey! It’s my blog.
(which – if you have missed my oh so fabulous writing, lots has been going on in the goat world, that blog is very much more up to date and updated)
So back to the point. I read a lot and usually I enjoy a book, I recommend it to a friend, I move on. However, every now and then a book comes along that really excites you. The book I just finished reading that totally kept me enraptured until the end was InkDeath. This was the third in the trilogy by Corlina Funke and the whole trilogy is amazing.
I’ll be honest and say I read the last paragraph to make sure all my favorite characters lived otherwise I don’t think I would have made it through without panicking.
One of the best parts were the author did such a good job with the characters. She even had me yelling at them in the car (which is why I listen to these books while I drive – so I don’t go too crazy). They were real: they were flawed, they were loved, they were hated, they were silly, they were stupid, they had good moments and bad ones. They really came alive. Even the villains seemed to have at least two sides. There was hardly a person in the story that you were not mad at at some point and ecstatic over another. The story menagerie included everything from fairies to brownies to giants to nymphs – all your favorite mythical creatures. Even the landscape felt real, like I could travel to it just over the nest hill.
The story is summarized by the idea that characters can come out of books into our world (book1 – InkHeart) or you can go into their world and become part of the story (book 2 and 3).
What a fascinating idea. Go into a story! Become as if you were one of the characters! Interact with all your favorite people. I don’t know if I could even pick which story I would want to visit first. How would you choose? It would be like choosing sides between all your friends. I can only imagine …
Monday, March 7, 2011
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Rasing sheep - for eating
Sometimes I do not understand people. Specifically these people tend to be non- animal people. And, to give fair warning here, I am going to use this post to rant because it has been bothering me for several days now.
Let me back up. So in addition to our 22 goats (or 21.5 goats if the miniature counts as ½) and the dog and the 11 or so chickens (this number has decreased because I think an owl took a few away – they have mysteriously vanished completely) we got a sheep.
He was only 3 days old when we got him and he is black and woolly and is rather cute, but really that is beside the point. My friend’s dad owns a grazing company with some 2000 sheep and goats. Many of his ewes are lambing right now and when there are large groups of sheep lambing there are bound to be bummer lambs (lambs whose mother does not want to feed them). My friend no longer wanted to deal with these sheep (and apparently neither did her mother) so when we agreed to take one – well two days later we got a call to come get him.
Anyway he is here and I intend to feed him out and eat him.
(this white space represents the silence that usually follows that announcement)
And this is where I get the “how can you do that” or “that’s so mean” or “you’re just evil for wanting to eat him”
Frankly I’m getting a little tired of it. Why do people care if I want to raise a lamb and then use it for meat? What else are you going to use a castrated ram lamb for? Some people tell me it should be a pet – I don’t understand, should this happen to all of them? Do we all want pet sheep? Can you imagine the amount of pet sheep roaming the earth! We would be overwhelmed.
Frankly I don’t think he would make a very good pet. He is very …well void of personality. He screams when he is hungry and he toddles after you if you let him. But this is at a month old – if we had a kid who only cried when they were hungry and toddled around we would be so freaked out that they had been dropped on their head or something. He doesn’t climb and jump or do anything cute. He looks cute but he doesn’t do anything. He lives in a large crate during the day (the pasture is a swamp from the rain) and the garage at night and as long as we feed him, he doesn’t seem to care.
Then people find out he was really sick for a while and we had to nurse him back to health. Then the questions of “how can you eat him since you are so attached and have taken this much care of him?” begin all over again. Seriously people… if I didn’t nurse him back to health he would be very hard to eat that is just simple.
Then the other day topped the list. Someone told me I was either a “sociopath or had no personality” to be able to raise an animal and then eat it. And mind you this person was NOT a vegetarian (the vegetarian I know was cool with the idea) and had even come from a town known for their agriculture. In some ways these comments remind me just how far removed people are from the food they eat and in other ways it really does hurt. I know I don’t why I should let it hurt me but I grew up in a big city where I was looked at strangely for having livestock. You would think once I moved somewhere where they actually had land and horses and cows and stuff that I wouldn’t be so strange. Instead I’m still strange. Sigh.
Alright, well I’ve spoken my mind, I’ve said my piece, I think it is time to go feed Easter dinner.
Let me back up. So in addition to our 22 goats (or 21.5 goats if the miniature counts as ½) and the dog and the 11 or so chickens (this number has decreased because I think an owl took a few away – they have mysteriously vanished completely) we got a sheep.
He was only 3 days old when we got him and he is black and woolly and is rather cute, but really that is beside the point. My friend’s dad owns a grazing company with some 2000 sheep and goats. Many of his ewes are lambing right now and when there are large groups of sheep lambing there are bound to be bummer lambs (lambs whose mother does not want to feed them). My friend no longer wanted to deal with these sheep (and apparently neither did her mother) so when we agreed to take one – well two days later we got a call to come get him.
Anyway he is here and I intend to feed him out and eat him.
(this white space represents the silence that usually follows that announcement)
And this is where I get the “how can you do that” or “that’s so mean” or “you’re just evil for wanting to eat him”
Frankly I’m getting a little tired of it. Why do people care if I want to raise a lamb and then use it for meat? What else are you going to use a castrated ram lamb for? Some people tell me it should be a pet – I don’t understand, should this happen to all of them? Do we all want pet sheep? Can you imagine the amount of pet sheep roaming the earth! We would be overwhelmed.
Frankly I don’t think he would make a very good pet. He is very …well void of personality. He screams when he is hungry and he toddles after you if you let him. But this is at a month old – if we had a kid who only cried when they were hungry and toddled around we would be so freaked out that they had been dropped on their head or something. He doesn’t climb and jump or do anything cute. He looks cute but he doesn’t do anything. He lives in a large crate during the day (the pasture is a swamp from the rain) and the garage at night and as long as we feed him, he doesn’t seem to care.
Then people find out he was really sick for a while and we had to nurse him back to health. Then the questions of “how can you eat him since you are so attached and have taken this much care of him?” begin all over again. Seriously people… if I didn’t nurse him back to health he would be very hard to eat that is just simple.
Then the other day topped the list. Someone told me I was either a “sociopath or had no personality” to be able to raise an animal and then eat it. And mind you this person was NOT a vegetarian (the vegetarian I know was cool with the idea) and had even come from a town known for their agriculture. In some ways these comments remind me just how far removed people are from the food they eat and in other ways it really does hurt. I know I don’t why I should let it hurt me but I grew up in a big city where I was looked at strangely for having livestock. You would think once I moved somewhere where they actually had land and horses and cows and stuff that I wouldn’t be so strange. Instead I’m still strange. Sigh.
Alright, well I’ve spoken my mind, I’ve said my piece, I think it is time to go feed Easter dinner.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Singing the whole way home
I’m having this strange desire to write – not sure what this is all about but for the last two days I have really wanted to write and currently all I write is facebook updates or blogs. We are opting for blogs.
So now that my brain has happily constructed that sentence it is content to sit back and watch me type randomly. Driving home, in the dark, late at night, I was listening/singing with the radio and it really made me sit back and think about music. People say that smells are the things that trigger the fastest memory but I am not really sure. In some ways a smell may make me think of an instant in time – but a song gives me a much more complete memory. Something that a glimpse of a person or the thought of a location. No, a song gives me a memory of what I was doing and more importantly who I was when the song meant so much to me.
For example – the song Collide by Howie Day. The memory that is permanently assigned to that song is driving over the grade into San Luis Obispo for the first time. The words in the song have nothing to do with driving or anything like that, rather it was the song that was playing while I drove over the grade into SLO in the pouring rain. Wow, what a different person I was then. So scare, so unsure of what lay ahead. And yet, there was still the same determined spirit and the curiosity. I had not yet lived on the dairy with Jenn, I had not yet sat in wonder in Bio 161, I had not yet gone back to teach the Supplemental workshop for 161 and been amazed all over again at how the material was presented and how amazing it really all is. But every time I hear that song I can almost see the rain pouring down (it never poured again like that as I drove over the grade) and wondering what college was really going to be like.
Another one – going even farther back – was a song from a soundtrack called “The tide is high”. Yes, it was not the original but a remix, but for me that remix was almost more appropriate. The song talks about how all the girls like the same guy but maybe he will look at her (the singer). At the time I had the worse crush on the same guy I think everyone in by grade had. Like couldn’t even sit next to him and focus bad. How young I felt. Maybe he would notice me? Maybe I have grown cynical from that time but now I figure no one is actually going to notice me much.
Sometime the songs are assigned memories because of when they are played. Sometime they are assigned a memory because of what the words say. Sometimes it is a feeling. I think music is the emotion I feel if you could hear it. It contains all the things I see and feel.
If I had to pin down a song for the fall it would definitely be either “Rhythm of Love” by the Plain White T’s or Sara Bareilles’ song “King of Everything”. Not because they hold a deep meaning to me that applies to this fall but definitely because that is when they have been played and every time they come on I turn the volume up high and sing along. Not because I sound all the fantastic – more because it is just too fun not to. Perhaps I should make this a habit and see where the seasons take me. Oh! Season – Christmas music is just around the corner.
So now that my brain has happily constructed that sentence it is content to sit back and watch me type randomly. Driving home, in the dark, late at night, I was listening/singing with the radio and it really made me sit back and think about music. People say that smells are the things that trigger the fastest memory but I am not really sure. In some ways a smell may make me think of an instant in time – but a song gives me a much more complete memory. Something that a glimpse of a person or the thought of a location. No, a song gives me a memory of what I was doing and more importantly who I was when the song meant so much to me.
For example – the song Collide by Howie Day. The memory that is permanently assigned to that song is driving over the grade into San Luis Obispo for the first time. The words in the song have nothing to do with driving or anything like that, rather it was the song that was playing while I drove over the grade into SLO in the pouring rain. Wow, what a different person I was then. So scare, so unsure of what lay ahead. And yet, there was still the same determined spirit and the curiosity. I had not yet lived on the dairy with Jenn, I had not yet sat in wonder in Bio 161, I had not yet gone back to teach the Supplemental workshop for 161 and been amazed all over again at how the material was presented and how amazing it really all is. But every time I hear that song I can almost see the rain pouring down (it never poured again like that as I drove over the grade) and wondering what college was really going to be like.
Another one – going even farther back – was a song from a soundtrack called “The tide is high”. Yes, it was not the original but a remix, but for me that remix was almost more appropriate. The song talks about how all the girls like the same guy but maybe he will look at her (the singer). At the time I had the worse crush on the same guy I think everyone in by grade had. Like couldn’t even sit next to him and focus bad. How young I felt. Maybe he would notice me? Maybe I have grown cynical from that time but now I figure no one is actually going to notice me much.
Sometime the songs are assigned memories because of when they are played. Sometime they are assigned a memory because of what the words say. Sometimes it is a feeling. I think music is the emotion I feel if you could hear it. It contains all the things I see and feel.
If I had to pin down a song for the fall it would definitely be either “Rhythm of Love” by the Plain White T’s or Sara Bareilles’ song “King of Everything”. Not because they hold a deep meaning to me that applies to this fall but definitely because that is when they have been played and every time they come on I turn the volume up high and sing along. Not because I sound all the fantastic – more because it is just too fun not to. Perhaps I should make this a habit and see where the seasons take me. Oh! Season – Christmas music is just around the corner.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Dissasociation
This is my piece of fluff for the day.
Have you ever tried to not focus on something. You know - don't think about those pink elephant?
So next time you really need to get your mind somewhere else (and you have a friend to play with of course) try this.
You say a word ("elephant")
then they have to say a different word that is not related at all to your word ("roses")
How you make sure they are related is totally up to you. Maybe you knew an elephant named roses - so maybe that doesn't work. BUT maybe your mind went Elephant - africa - hot - texas - yellow rose of texas - Roses!
So I don't know where this blog is going but I think this game really streaches you imagination. Can you make a chain link so far? What does that means about your brain? I personally think if you practice it means you don't dwell on a topic too long. Now you have to ask yourself if THAT is a good thing.
Ya, okay I think I am made my point - now you need to go see how hard it is to actually play.
Have you ever tried to not focus on something. You know - don't think about those pink elephant?
So next time you really need to get your mind somewhere else (and you have a friend to play with of course) try this.
You say a word ("elephant")
then they have to say a different word that is not related at all to your word ("roses")
How you make sure they are related is totally up to you. Maybe you knew an elephant named roses - so maybe that doesn't work. BUT maybe your mind went Elephant - africa - hot - texas - yellow rose of texas - Roses!
So I don't know where this blog is going but I think this game really streaches you imagination. Can you make a chain link so far? What does that means about your brain? I personally think if you practice it means you don't dwell on a topic too long. Now you have to ask yourself if THAT is a good thing.
Ya, okay I think I am made my point - now you need to go see how hard it is to actually play.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Dizzy
So obviously I have been really horrible about posting pictures. I mean I often (not always but often) take them but I can't seem to find the time to get them online. So in the meantime I thought I would just write a plain blog entry.
I feel like my world is running at top speed and it is making me dizzy.
First school has started again, that means I am back to taking classes. Homework, stress, other type of stress, getting to school on time, making teachers like you and so on and so forth. This quarter I am really stressed that I will do poorly again like I did in spring quarter. My favorite teacher tells me she has faith that I will do fine. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to help - really just one more person to let down. Maybe I will be fine - maybe I will invoke my back-up plan. Either way I worries me.
Then one of my first crushes is getting married. I know I should not admit this but still, when I found out I was very surprised. No, there are no more feelings like that, just the "wow, I can't believe we've reached that age" The notion, or thought, or something has been sitting at the back of my mind. Like those little flashes of light you see out of the corner of your eye when you are not looking.
Then my good friend is moving to the east coast. I know that we are all adults now, and we call all get on a plane a visit, and thank the Lord for facebook and chat to stay in contact with, but I am still going to miss him. I don't get attached to people very quickly. And most people I don't get attached to at all, but I still feel strangely sad. It is like one more flash of light on the edge of my vision.
Finally you add in thinking of trying to come up with Christmas presents, thinking of going down and visiting Cal Poly - most honestly to see the teacher mentioned above, a book I am reading is really sticking with me, and life with the goats and I feel like I am going to be a twitchy person soon.
Maybe when this all passes and it is all a distant memory I will laugh at how easy my life was but boy the forest seems thick now.
I feel like my world is running at top speed and it is making me dizzy.
First school has started again, that means I am back to taking classes. Homework, stress, other type of stress, getting to school on time, making teachers like you and so on and so forth. This quarter I am really stressed that I will do poorly again like I did in spring quarter. My favorite teacher tells me she has faith that I will do fine. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to help - really just one more person to let down. Maybe I will be fine - maybe I will invoke my back-up plan. Either way I worries me.
Then one of my first crushes is getting married. I know I should not admit this but still, when I found out I was very surprised. No, there are no more feelings like that, just the "wow, I can't believe we've reached that age" The notion, or thought, or something has been sitting at the back of my mind. Like those little flashes of light you see out of the corner of your eye when you are not looking.
Then my good friend is moving to the east coast. I know that we are all adults now, and we call all get on a plane a visit, and thank the Lord for facebook and chat to stay in contact with, but I am still going to miss him. I don't get attached to people very quickly. And most people I don't get attached to at all, but I still feel strangely sad. It is like one more flash of light on the edge of my vision.
Finally you add in thinking of trying to come up with Christmas presents, thinking of going down and visiting Cal Poly - most honestly to see the teacher mentioned above, a book I am reading is really sticking with me, and life with the goats and I feel like I am going to be a twitchy person soon.
Maybe when this all passes and it is all a distant memory I will laugh at how easy my life was but boy the forest seems thick now.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Tomatoes!
I am amazed how bad I have gotten at this. I have been posting to the 365project website, but wow, it has been several weeks since I posted here. Well!! to make up for it I will post a certain amount of pictures on the theme that seems to have overcome my life right now: TOMATOES!!!!
So many... so little time.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
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