Confused Flowers: The Madness of Global Warming

Around the first of January I took this pic of buds forming on the large rhododendron bush in my backyard.




And just last week, I took this picture of the daffodils coming up in my front yard.




Didn't notice this activity last year, but I'm fairly sure this winter, so far, has been much warmer than last. Still, it is a weird and disturbing site to see flowers becoming active in January in central New York.

I'm told the daffodils will probably be okay come spring because their blooms are underground. The rhododendrons I'm not too sure about. Don't expect too much from them this spring.

JB

Gifts from My Sweetie.....from the Philippines

Anne brought back some cool, wood-carved art from the Philippines. Check it out:


This is a covered bowl:



These are two bowls joined together to be used as a decorative piece, or as a serving bowl. What's so cool about this one is that the underside of the double-bowl has faces carved into it:




This one is a carving a a caribou, which is the Philippines national animal. Who knew?:




jb

who says material items can't make you feel good?

there is a theory that material items give one a false, or fake sense of happiness. The idea is that, sure, acquiring something tangible, material can elicit a sense of pleasure, but it is fleeting, superficial happiness that is neither true or real.

Whateva.

This week I acquired these:



these doc marten boots (called cherry red smooth) have made me very, very happy.

jb

chillout tent

I'm fascinated by the song "chillout tent" on The Hold Steady's latest CD Boys and Girls in America. This record is amazing in it's swoopingly romantic, almost operatic tales of youth in America. Drawing on a hodge podge of 70's influences (early Springsteen, Thin Lizzy, and Joe Jackson) Boys and Girls in America serves up adolescent nostalgia with its tales of love, loss, and decadence. But not in a cheesy, or superficial manner. It's moving and believable.

The best track is "chillout tent," a mini rock opera about brief, chance encounters between modern day boys and girls in america. The setting for this meeting between a boy and girl in America is, funny enough, an outdoor, rock music festival in Massachusetts. The girl in question drives a long distance with her friends to attend the festival, and escape the boredom of their everyday lives in small town America. Once there, she eats bad mushrooms, passes out, and "came to in the chillout tent," where she is given "oranges and cigarettes" to assist her recuperation. The boy in this rock drama also attends with a group of friends, and meets a similar fate after taking 4 pills (his friend advised him to only take 1) to kill his boredom. He recalls his overdose by saying "everything was spinning and I came to in the chill out tent. He, too, is given "oranges and cigarettes" to help him recover.

Shortly after the boy and girl "come to," their eyes make contact, and they eventually "kick it" in the chillout tent.

Using high-pitched, adolescent voices, the boy and girl, taking turns in the vocal delivery, tell us what happened after they regain consciousness. Both have similar stories and attitudes about their experience.

The girl says: "he was really cute, we kind of kicked it in the chillout tent. And I never saw that boy again."

The boy says "she was really cool. We kinda kicked it in the chillout tent. And I never saw that girl again."

The song ends with energetic piano and horn play while the boy and girl sing their brief enctouner away. They repeat the fact that they "kicked" it until the song fades and evaporates as does their connection.

So, The Hold Steady drum up nostalgic memories of adolescence by conveying a romantic, yet superficial and sadly pathetic story of two teenagers who overdose at an outdoor music festival. But still, it's sweet, funny and moving.

you have to hear it.....

jb

Highlights from 2006

no new year's resolutions for me this year. but, i have been reflecting on 2006. all in all it was a pretty good year.

highlights:

1. I got a real job this year, with a real salary and real responsibilities. I'm program director for the ACCESS project at Hamilton College. I started the job part-time last September, and assumed the position full-time in December. At last a job that serves as an outlet for my intelligence and creativity. So much better than teaching composition and introductory literature classes on a part-time basis.

2. Adopted a big ass dog named Smith. This dog has changed my life, and taught me so many things. I've lost 30 pounds just by walking him about 3 hours a week. So, he had been good for my health. He has also schooled me about patience, responsibility and the need for a care-free attitude.

3. I was awarded a National Endowment of the Humanities fellowship this year. I got to spend one month in Appalchia studying the region and interviewing environment justice activists. I met a lot of interesting people, made some good friends, and finally finished an article based on my research there.

4. Finally got rid of the awful safari wall paper in my bathroom downstairs, as well as the equally awful burnt-orange paint in my kitchen. These monstrosities were courtesy of the previous owner. Both rooms were re-painted in a light and bright green known as "tart apple."

5. I grew a kick-ass, huge (12 x12)vegetable garden in my back yard. We enjoyed red potatoes, brussel sprouts, eggplant, green beans, tomatoes, red peppers, and jalepeno peppers.

6. Enjoyed a nice getaway to Washington D.C. this year. All pleasure and no business. My kind of trip.

7. My mother survived brain surgery and has recuperated nicely. She is back to her old self.

I'm sure there were other highlights I'm not thinking of right now. But 2006 was good. I just hope 2007 is equally good.

jb