First we'll start off with the obligatory "kids in costumes" pics...she's a vampire cheerleader and he's a football fan. :-)
Did everyone vote today? So many people are talking about how important this election is, a lot of the talking heads are saying there's voter apathy among the Democrats and assuming that Republicans will gain a lot of seats in congress. Let's prove them wrong, shall we?
Congratulations to my friend Dan Harris (nope, not the ABC News reporter, it's a different guy) and his new wife Vanessa, they got married on Saturday! :-) I tried to post the pic he emailed me but I can't copy it out of the PDF file it was in, if I figure out how I'll edit it in or post it separately. They're a really cute couple though, here's a link to an online interview Dan did a while back for the cruise group he runs.
No, not yet anyway! Family issues, we seem to be going from one crisis to the next the last couple months. Things have happened and possibilities exist that I don't even want to think about, much less post about. Enough of me being a downer, let's have some fun:
OMG isn't he just adorable in this?? I just love those ginormous electric blue eyes. Apparently the screen tests for many of the actors are on the Sorcerer's Stone “Ultimate Edition” DVD.
Hey Dan, forget the guitar. Get a drum kit! ;-)
I saw these recently too, talk about amazing. Apparently they're from a recent issue of a UK magazine called Dazed and Confused. Wow, just....wow. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall at that photo shoot, it must have taken all day! More pics here.
There are pictures and an interview from his latest movie project, Woman in Black, here. There are more photos from that on www.DanRadcliffe.co.uk as well.
I didn't used to be into country music but Eric and Ryan are really cool--inspiring, uplifting stuff.
Ithacappella came to visit my daughter's high school last year and did a concert, one of the guys in the group is from here originally and they all stayed with his family. 16 college guys in a single family house, I don't know how they managed!
I can't believe it's been six months since I've posted anything...got a couple new crocheted items to post about, I've also been doing some painting. My daughter borrowed my camera, I'll have to get it back from her and take some pictures to post. I feel like I've really derailed, have to get things back on track (oops sorry, getting morose again--I really should start a second blog for writing about that stuff and save this one for what it was originally intended).
Photo credit: DanRadcliffe.com
(Sorry, the videos and some of the pictures got cut off on the side--didn't happen when I previewed the post.)
Here's a video I found recently, it's pretty long but I think what it says is important:
The Future of Food One comment that struck me was that Bt corn is itself classified as a pesticide. Would anyone want to knowingly ingest a pesticide? I DON'T THINK SO! And yet we do it all the time in the processed foods we eat, many of which contain High Fructose Corn Syrup.
Interesting article, but very scary IMO:
GM Soy linked to Sterility No more babies within three generations? Have you ever seen the movie Children of Men? If Monsanto gets their way that could be our future.
I don't have the link handy but I read another article recently that said there were tests done on fields in India that had grown GMO crops; the results showed that after three years of growing GMO crops the fields had lower than normal amounts of microorganims, the rate was 12-30% depending on what organisms were measured. The crops were killing the soil.
Based on the first two links it looks to me like Monsanto and companies like them only want to beef up their profits and they don't care who they hurt. Let's show them that's the wrong way to go.
(Some of my recent posts have been downers, I know...I've got some creative stuff going on too, just have to get some pics done and I'll be posting them too. I'm turning 40 in a couple weeks, maybe that's where this "let's do something to save the world" impulse is coming from.)
I found this website a few days ago, I think it's such a great idea. The Dinner Garden gives free seeds to anyone who wants to start a garden; according to their website $5 of seeds will feed a family of seven for an entire year! I've requested a seed pack myself and put through a donation to cover it. I think once I get more listings up on Etsy I'll do a sale with part of the proceeds going to TDG. The website says they have a pretty big backlog of requests, they have the seeds but they need donations to cover the postage. I read somewhere once that investing $50 in seeds grows over $1,000 worth of produce, with the economy the way it is every little bit helps.
Yet again it's been ages since I've posted and yet again I've come up with something depressing to talk about. This time it's downright morbid. I've been following the work of Stuart Wilde for a long time, recently I've reread many of the articles posted on his website. Linked from one was a site that talked about the Peak Oil situation, it's been estimated that we could run out of oil in as little as two years! Stuart Wilde is predicting that airplanes and cars will stop running as early as next year. We'll be thrown back into the 18th century...how will we manage? I think about Dan Radcliffe (yeah, I had to bring him up, didn't I?) and young people like him and I think, are they going to get through this OK? They've grown up so immersed in technology, I know my kids are practically addicted to their video games and internet and stuff. Or will they manage better than us “old folks” (I'm nearly 40) because they have an easier time learning new skills? It's hard to say. The magnitude of the coming catastrophe is so huge it's hard to wrap your brain around, know what I mean?
Many of the websites I've been reading on this subject are predicting oil wars and famine and all sorts of horrible things. It's going to be years of chaos, maybe decades. Stuart Wilde has predicted in several of his articles that billions of people are going to die, he says it's the planet's way of protecting itself from the way we've been overusing and abusing its resources.
I've been wanting to do so much, get into art and theater and stuff like that—is there even going to be a place for that in the new society? I don't know. It's hard to commit to any sort of plan when the future is so up in the air. Maybe I'd be better off spending my time figuring out how we're going to survive—most of the websites I've been reading say that most of being prepared is having the right attitude (I'm trying, but I've been a little freaked out about the whole thing), but there are things that need to be done. Skills to learn, equipment to collect, that sort of thing. I'm seriously contemplating trying to find a local survivalist group to join.
Very soon life is going to change, drastically. Are we ready for this?
PS Thanks for all the comments on the last few posts, it's nice to know people actually read my ramblings!
Scott Brown has defeated Martha Coakley in the bid for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat.
Many people in Massachusetts are not going to be happy about this. My father is a member of the Mass. Moderator's Association (was the town moderator where we live for many years) and I can tell you he looks pissed. Brown will do everything he can to undo Kennedy's work and thwart President Obama's attempts to fix the problems in the health care system and the economy.
Many of the pro-Scott Brown ads in the local media were paid for by out-of-state lobbying groups. I really think that should be illegal. There should be no influence on state elections from outside lobbying groups. If Martha Coakley returns to her position as the Attorney General it would be something she could look into, although Brown's supporters would probably call her a sore loser for it.
On the news they're calling this a historic day for Massachusetts. I think it's a sad day. Martha Coakley would have been a great Senator that Ted Kennedy would have been proud to have as a successor; I think with Scott Brown in the post he's probably rolling over in his grave.
It sucked. Well, OK, that's two! Hopefully 2010 will be better. I'm off to bed in a bit, tomorrow I'm planning to take some new pictures for my Etsy items. I'll be getting some new products listed and old listings revamped and relisted (several things have been relisted multiple times, I'm thinking about starting a Bargain Bin/Clearance section in my shop just to try to get them sold). I'm also taking an Art course, at some point I hope to add an Art section to my shop as well. The course is fun but it's a little intimidating in a way, the artists I've seen on Etsy are so good! I don't know if I'll be able to compete.
I've seen quite a few blogs with "goals for 2010" type posts, I'm thinking about writing a list of my own to post. I suppose publishing your goals to the world is one way to keep yourself accountable. Have you ever seen the movie The Bucket List? I haven't but I love the idea of it, keeping a list of things you want to do with your life.
Paid ads not approved. A double framed widget option with the capability to block any unwanted paid ads (not just one at a time) seems to me to be the best solution.
