it's all under the surface

journal entries & current projects

Monday, May 29, 2006

Wrapping up

Splendid weekend. I'm wrapping up loose ends, sitting next to my cat - who is talkative & squirmy on the edge of a chair & listening to The Drum Major Instinct by John Hollenbeck. The latter is a combination of jazz music & the sermon by Martin Luther King, Jr. I like it because he talks about how people want to excel & his view of how it can be done.

Today, I joined the Blind Shoemaker's Union in a song at Folklife. They went on to do their set & I got some pictures, here. After almost a week of rain, the sun was out. We danced & sang along - saw most of the folks from our turn class. It was a blast.

I spent most of the weekend immersed in the latest (in some ways the oldest) astrological theories at the NorthWest Astrological Conference (NORWAC). There were folks there who have been doing astrology for 30 or more years & folks who have become scholars in the areas of astrology that require them to learn greek or cuneiform to continue their studies. It was a bracing experience that I fully enjoyed.

Apart from the intellectual stimuli, the people there are lovely, funny and full of life. Next year, I'd like to grab some folks for a get together at our place. I got to soak in all that and still come home to J & Jema at night, exhausted & usually speechless, but ready to use this experience to shape another year of astrological study & application. I spent today sending e-mails to folks I'd like to stay in touch with - and making dates with local cats.

We also got to visit with family this weekend; Jason's Uncle & Aunt came out for a ferry to Alaska & we caught up with them at brunch before they left for the airport to fly back home. They had only good things to say about the trip & we were able to get news on the upcoming 60th anniversary of J's grandparents. We're heading to NC this summer and I can't wait!

After all that excitement, back home, the garden needs tending. Rasberries and blueberries are beginning to form. We've got a wasp's nest to get rid of in the greenhouse shed. There are still dandelions a plenty to eradicate. I wandered about, after re-planting an errant potato. It will take a day or two to get everything back up to where we left it.

I took some time to sit on a log in the back of the garden & just look around. It will be a while before my mind settles & it was great to have a moment of silence to look at - you know, sort of aspire to.

Well, the music has gone off & Jema is back upstairs in bed. I think I'll head up there too.

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Saturday, May 20, 2006

Something old, somethings new

Oregon Coast Mos Def cactus in bloom Peacock

There's plenty going on these days - last week included events like; (music file) J & my 5th year anniversary, a Mos Def show, a trip to the Volunteer Park Conservatory & Jen, Paloma & the zoo.

Work has been going well - tho start up is a bit slow, with research predominating and implementation coming later. I'm excited about the intricacies - it's great to be contributing on these projects.

I got to volunteer at a local high school, this week, to critique the senior year final project presentations. All of the kids we had in our class were great - lots of art & physical focus on the projects. The high schools out here leave East Coast public schools, that I knew, behind. I felt as though these young'ns were actually ready to join the larger community. It's been too long between volunteer opportunities, it always feels good to help out.

Today was all about mowing the lawn. It's been a while, so the clippings were pretty dense, clogging the bag after two passes. There are so many plants in the yard, my inclination is to mow over anything I personally haven't planted. Not that I was the mower for the most part - J takes that honor. I kicked in at the end with the last of the backyard mowing and took the rentals back to the rental shack.

The yard is really a joy, although it's a bit overwhelming. J is great about getting out there, antagonizing dandelions, etc. It is inspiring to me and I love to get out there & tear it up. We've got a fair amount of debri to get rid of now a days, we should be able to take care of that soon enough.

Tomorrow is a clothes swap/potluck. I'm jazzed to be going. There are more & more opportunities these days - I'm grateful for that & very conscious of where my limits are. I'd like to ride out an era of consistency, rather than consistency for "a good chunk of time".

Hope it rains tonight.

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Monday, May 08, 2006

dandelions be gone

Folks came over this weekend and helped us with yard work! We got lots of pruning and dandelion removal help. The weather was good & it's wonderful to have the yard moving along.


originally uploaded by Lilbenne.

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Saturday, May 06, 2006

Whew, got that out of the way

First day back at the ol' job & I'm glad to have it all underway. Took a nap when I got home & woke up to J's fine spaghetti dinner. Wanted to stay up to get a bunch of cleaning done - little stuff & have done nothing of the sort. Caught up with Dan via instant messenger & have been surfing my flickr pics since.

Tomorrow I'd like to get the gardening wrapped up. We've still got a yard or two of the compost mulch to plop onto the garden & I'm sure there's more asparagus ready to harvest. Then there's putting together the home office. I've heard it's going to rain, but I'm not even going there. I mean, what do I know?

I've been studying some of the more medieval aspects of astrology these days. There's a system to establish dignity - which ends up meaning working on your own or tagging along with others. It's not complex, but it's not easy to puzzle out why certain combinations are together. I enjoy the puzzle.

Last weekend was so full of good conversations - I feel like a tub of water, walking around & trying not to spill over. There's something about opening your home to folks & really being interested in hearing where they've been that is so satisfying. Of course, I usually need a few days of quiet time with J to ease on back to my regularly scheduled programming, but it's very worthwhile nonetheless.

Guess I should give up the ghost & get to bed.

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Friday, May 05, 2006

Hiccups...

For no reason or for simply eating toast, I get hiccups. For about half an hour, I've been hiccuping, when I should be sleeping. It's a school night after all.

I've had a wonderful day - not enough time to spend with J, but apart from that nice and easy. I saw my print teacher from my alma mater & she invited me back to make the Japanese washi that we learned to make together ten years ago (invitation was to come back in Sept. when school starts again). I got to hang out with good friends. I got to see some stellar art. I got hired.

The dishes are clean and I'm still up. No reason, just amped for tomorrow's "first day at work". After so long, I'm curious as to how I'll do, but not really. I feel more stable in my intention than I have before. Than I have ever, is what I should say.

It's so springy here, in Seattle. Our garden grows like no one's business. If it weren't for the squirrels uprooting certain seedlings, it'd be a ridiculous crop.

I can't think of anything else to share. I've been hiccupping throughout this entire post. Ridiculous.

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