Filed under: Family Life, Poetry | Tags: food, hope, Marge Piercy, people, Poetry, responsibility, spirit, water, work ethic
The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes
almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half-submerged balls.
I love people who harness themselves,
an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo,
with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and muck
to move things forward,
as to be done, again and again.
I want to be with people
who submerge in the task,
who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass
the bags along, who are not
parlor generals and field deserters but
move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in
or the fire be put out.
The work of the world
is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands,
crumbles to dust.
But the thing
worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies,
clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn
are put in museums,
but you know they were
made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water
to carry and a person for
work that is real.
From “Circles on the Water” by Marge Piercy
Copyright 1982, Marge Piercy
Filed under: Family Life, Short Stories | Tags: animal rehabilitation, animated gif, bat, gifninja, google, hoary bat
My son was playing with a friend in our backyard one afternoon, when I heard quite a commotion. He came running inside screaming. He had found a bat on a tree. Did I mention it was broad daylight, and that my son was (at the time) 5 years old? Jacob took me to the tree where I got my first up close and personal look at a (live) tiny dark brown bat. 
He was clinging to the trunk of a pine, about 3ft off the ground. Wow. Of course the first thing I thought was…rabies. He wasn’t behaving strangely (except that he was out during the daytime, hanging out on the base of a tree.) He appeared to be calm, no frothing at the mouth (as we all have heard rabid animals do,) or aggressive behavior. I do not recommend that anyone handle an injured wild animal. Especially one that is found under such unusual conditions as this. Bats are nocturnal. They generally are not found in the open, so close to the ground.
I have a bit of experience in the area of wildlife rehabilitation, so we left the little bat hanging where he was while I googled information and called a few contacts. After a bit of research I decided the most likely case was this. Hoary Bats generally cling 10-15 feet off the ground in trees by day. This little guy was probably a juvenile or young adult who, after being exhausted from flying, had fallen to the ground from where he had been hanging higher up in the tree. He had climbed up on to the trunk where we found him clinging.
I made a small habitat for him using an aquarium and a potted ivy plant (for him to hang on.) I helped him move onto my heavy duty gloves, and he just hung on. He never tried to bite me. He was quite calm and curious. We spend the better part of the afternoon watching him hang on the ivy plant, and explore his surroundings. I had put a towel at the bottom of the aquarium so that he wouldn’t slide around on the glass. Bats are pretty agile. After watching him move I saw there was a defect (possible injury) near the tip of one of his wings.
We went to the pet store and got a bunch of crickets for him to eat. I soon found out that he was quite picky. He would only eat if I fed him by hand. He also loved drinking water from an eye dropper. While he seemed to LOVE the crickets, he ate about 60 a day, he would not eat the heads.
I hate to stop a story before I am done, but must continue this later.
Filed under: Family Life, HUMORIZE ME, Parenting, SATIRE, Uncategorized | Tags: animated gif, dangerous, family, funny, gif ninja, humor, Parenting, Photography, SATIRE
This is a work in progress. As I go through our photographs, I notice the odd, weird and just plain crazy. On occasion I see stuff that is just wrong! (I never have claimed to be perfect.) I also notice trends in our pictures. For instance, we seem to have lots of pics with peoples tongues sticking out. go figure. Check back from time to time and see what new and bizarre things we are up to!
You know how products always come with stupid warning labels? Well this might be an example of why that is. “Hey ya’ll, watch this!”
Create custom animated gifs at gifninja.com!
Product not intended for use as roller coaster or rocket ship
Everyone loves to take pictures of their children. I am no different. When Berringer was a baby I noticed he could go from happy to pitching a fit in about 10 seconds. Here is one example.
Missing the point
In 2006, we allowed Jacob to get one of those gameboy thingies, and he was so focused on trying to learn how to use it that the beauty of summer in Alaska was lost on him.
- Missing the point
Filed under: Family Life, HUMORIZE ME, Newsworthyish stuff, Parenting | Tags: babies, breastfeeding, family, fathers, HUMORIZE ME, Le Leche League, mental floss, mothers, news, Newsworthyish stuff, Parenting, physiology, science
I breastfed both of my sons. I loved every minute that time. Not only was I able to provide them with the best nourishment possible, but we were able to bond on a soulful level. Breastfeeding is both challenging and rewarding. I never once wished to feed my children any other way. There were moments, however, when I was sad that my husband could not enjoy those quiet moments. Well, guys, if you are in touch with your maternal side, heres the evidence that, you too can join Le Leche League!
This article was written by Shea Serrano and originally appeared in the September-October issue of mental_floss magazine. mentalfloss
Q: Can Men Breastfeed?
Odd as it seems, men can lactate. In their 1896 book, Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine, Dr. George Gould and Dr. Walter Pyle recount several occurrences of men breastfeeding their young. The stories include a sailor who put his son to his breast to quiet him and started producing milk; a South American peasant who sustained his child with his own breast milk during his wife’s illness; and a Chippewa man who put his infant to his breast following the death of his wife and produced enough milk to rear the child.
The phenomenon hasn’t stopped. In 2002, a Sri Lankan man named B. Wijeratne lost his wife and was left to care for their 18-month-old daughter. When the child refused powdered milk, Wijeratne tried something different. “Unable to see her cry, I offered my breast,” Wijeratne told a Sri Lankan newspaper. “That’s when I discovered I could breastfeed.”
Wijeratne isn’t alone. All men can breastfeed, because they possess the two most vital components for lactating—mammary glands and pituitary glands. Mammary glands, which produce milk, are present in all mammals. In fact, they’re one of our defining characteristics. In some cases, such as with mice, the mammary glands of the males are too underdeveloped to function. In humans, however, they’re fully formed in both sexes, complete with breastfeeding ducts and nipples.
Of course, for a human to actually breastfeed, those mammary glands have to be activated somehow. In women, this usually happens during pregnancy, when the brain’s pituitary gland starts releasing large amounts of a hormone called prolactin, which prepares the breasts to produce milk.
All men produce small amounts of prolactin during their lifetimes. It’s released after orgasms, for example, and may be responsible for the associated feelings of satisfaction and relaxation. But typically, it’s never present in large enough quantities for men to breastfeed. Under the appropriate psychological circumstances, however, the mind can demand that the body produce more of the hormone. This often happens to mothers who adopt children and suddenly find they can nurse. And as Dr. Gould and Dr. Pyle have documented, there’s a long history of it happening in men, too.
Fast forward. I turned 42 last month. It is bedtime for my two young sons. My 5 year old climbs up onto my bed for a story and our nightly hugs and kisses. Every night I “plant” kisses and wishes on each boy. In turn they do the same for me. This is a sweet and special moment in our day. My blonde boy looks me over, then plants kisses on all of his ritual spots- cheeks, eyes, chin, lips; saving one kiss for the very last. He always asks “Which ear is the hurt ear mommy?” so he doesn’t mix it up and waste his most special kiss. He gives my right ear a calm steady smack and mushes my face just so between his hands.
My heart stills every time my son remembers to do this for me. I have been OK for a very long time, my life has been been blessed; it continues to be. And every time I get a kiss on that ‘bum’ ear, I swear I think I can hear… just the tiniest bit.
read more at http://survivingviolentcrime.blogspot.com
Filed under: HOBBIES, HUMORIZE ME | Tags: danger, fun, HUMORIZE ME, projects
Filed under: HUMORIZE ME, Newsworthyish stuff, SATIRE | Tags: cat, cats, death, elderly, feline, hospice, humor, HUMORIZE ME, lol cat, lolcat, lolcats, mental floss, nursing home, Oscar, SATIRE
reprinted from Mental_Floss web site. Sept. 2007
The internet is composed of about 75% cat pictures and 20% unbelievable stories to amaze your friends.* So it’s no wonder Oscar, the cat who predicts death, captured the imagination of cyberpace last week. Oscar lives in a nursing home, and only curls up with patients who die within the next few hours. You can read the entire report in the
New England Journal of Medicine, or the shorter Associated Press story we linked here.
There are many theories about how Oscar knows who is going to die, and some (mostly joking) remarks about how he may be causing the deaths. Those who work with him consider him a hospice hero. But that’s not what I’m posting about. This is about the immediate and predictable flood of art and humor inspired by Oscar’s story.
More “death cat” images after the jump.
Fark forum members raced to post LOLcats of death, some of them previously produced,
and some are pictures of Oscar, including the first one in this article.
My brother put together and sent me this one, unsolicited, as soon as he read about Oscar.
Apelad posted the kitteh of death from his Laugh Out Loud Cats collection.
Oscar is an attractive cat. With LOLcat Buildr and some captions that were posted in the comments on Neatorama, these were easy to produce.
Joey did this one.
I Can Has Cheezburger? had one.
The Flicker Can Has Cheezburger pool has several, like Poor Oscar from dominocat.
Oscar has a plaque at the nursing home that commends him “for his compassionate quality end-of-life care.” Now he is also enshrined in LOLcat history.
*Leaving 5% useful information, found in other mental_floss posts.
Filed under: HOBBIES, HUMORIZE ME, Short Stories | Tags: HOBBIES, humor, KNITTING, life, yarn
First thing. The projects shown here are inspirations FOR me and are NOT my own. I have provided credits and links for all of the incredibly groovy projects on this page. I have purchased projects from all of these women and have so much respect for their art. If there are problems with the links or other errors they are my own, as I am still new to this computer layout jazz. Please let me know of any issues so that I can tend to them right away. Peace
What is it about knitting that nourishes so many parts of my whole being? Before we even get to the sticks and yarns, there’s the reading. I love to read and learn about everything. When I get interested in something, like knitting, I want to read EVERYTHING about it. The history, the science of it, the art of it is astonishing.
One thing I am not so stellar at when it comes to more complicated knitting patterns is math- I suck at math. Even the basic stuff. So I’ve had to brush up on some skills alright? There, got that out of the way right up front.
When one knits, one must shop for stuff. I can’t lie and say i HATE it altogether because big Glenn, my accountant and friend, might read this and make me rue the day… so yeah, I love shopping. There are books about stitching. We have established my obsession with books. Then there are the yarns. I certainly love the yarns. And the sticks. Gots to have lots of sticks. And a few extras…just in case…
Shopping for yarns is a sensuous experience. A feast for the eyes. There are rich tones of jewels. Bright colors that take you to spring time. Deep harmonious colors of earth. Touching the yarns. There are silky soft yarns, scratchy nubbly textures. Touching everything in a knit shop is a must.
Listening to goings on in a stitching shop… the clacking of needles, swishing of fabric as arms move and bodies sway. You see women, and sometimes men, leaning into each other speaking in a vernacular that has a rhythm to it. I love that there is always laughter associated with stitching and circles of women.
So there. Just an inkling of my fascination with knitting. Come and join me, won’t you?
http://www.knitty.com/issuefall04/PATThallowig.html
by Meagan Reardon
