rivervision

it’s morning, and it appears that i still like this thing. glad that’s so. today i begin to undertake the task of putting relevant documents up on google docs so that I can begin to work. I also undertake the task of putting important literature on this thing so I can have it here. This is good. my plan for using it as a dissertation tool begins, hopefully, today.. though I have a busy day, but I gotta start sometime, eh?

i just bought an ipad. yes, i’ve been talking about it for a long time. as i’ve been setting it up and playing with it i’m realizing.. this could be the new activist tool. i’m downloading pictures to illustrate the situation in palestine, i have occupation 101 on here, suheir hammad, etc.. and that’s not even other stuff i believe in. that’s just palestine. but, not only does this have great potential for writing the dissertation, it also, i believe, have great potential for being a better activist.

oh and yes, i bought the keyboard dock with it. it’s the only way i could imagine using it as a dissertation writing tool.

update: here’s a picture of the set up with this thing:

i’ve been using it just for a night.. i need to get important pdfs over here, but i think this is going to be quite handy, really handy. i wouldn’t do it without the keyboard though. yeah, i do think this thing is going to be handy. quite so. others may disagree, we’ll see.. if i end up getting through phase 1 and phase 2 of my dissertation with this thing i’ll have no doubt it’s worth it.

dear god -
2 weeks ago rc was really sick. the docs gave her percentages in the single digits to survive. yesterday she left the icu. thank you. you know, her daughter jcp is a dear friend of mine. you know, i didn’t want jcp to have to go through what i’ve gone through recently. thank you.

-brooke.

ps. it sounds like rc’s cancer is gone. if you could make it stay away that would be really ducky.

today is my mother’s 67th birthday. the cats sent her birthday greetings:

Maxie dressed in Ethiopian to celebrate your birthday. (I told him you’d appreciate it).

Ava would have dressed up too, but she’s been really ticked off these days about Obama’s peace plan for Palestine these days and just can’t get over it. She apologizes for her attitude but she wants you to know she did put on her smiley face collar to celebrate. :)

and I added:
Yes, please excuse Ms.Ava. She supports a one state solution and Mr. Obama- who was once a hero- is really letting her down. She’s a sensitive little bugger and is taking this a bit too hard IMHO. ;)

—-

today is the first day of classes here at USU. i’m signed up for 3. i’ll probably drop all 3. but i want to see what the work load is. up first is arabic! it’s a freshman level class. even if i drop it, i’ve got the textbooks that i can begin to work through. 2nd up is a cool doctoral class. 3rd is multivariate stats (that’s tomorrow). i have an intense interest in all 3 classes, but i am doing my dissertation and beginning a job search + dealing with all sorts of stormy weather around me. so, we’ll see. today i’m just happy that i’m going to go to day 1 of arabic. it’s a start, right?

there’s a storm coming in.. the skies have gone from utah bright sun to dark cooling clouds. i’m grateful for this as it’s been quite hot the last couple of days. i also just love the sound of thunder, rain and the sight of lightening. it makes me happy. i’m hoping it’ll be a 2 blanket (light) night tonight. i like being cold rather than hot.

what else? the storm outside definitely represents what’s going on for me these days.. i feel like i’m surrounded by storms. it’s not something i’m happy with at all and i’m at my wits end about one of them in particular. i do have support from two very kind wise queer men. i love kind wise queer men. i like kind wise straight men too, but there’s something extra soft that the queerness brings, i can’t explain it, you’ve gotta just experience it. the storms are calling for soft, soft soft.

oh and i am feeling more and more drawn to buying a fruity pad computer thingy. it’s more portable and does what i need it to do, and cheaper than buying a whole new computer. we’ll see. the storms need to calm just a bit before i do.

bleh bleh bleh. that’s the day it’s been.

both of my bikes have flat tires now, even though i fixed both of them on one of them yesterday. *sigh*
my jubilee tomatoes aren’t ripening. *sigh*
i can’t find tahini. i need it for baba ghanouj and the eggplants are coming. *sigh*
i’m still trying to figure out what classes to take. *sigh*
tomorrow i have to go to 2 or 3 hours of being an ethical researcher. *sigh*

but i’m listening to the amazing suheir hammad. life can’t be that bad if her voice is out there. life can’t be that bad if there are other voices like her out there too (alix olson, tahani salah, and stacey ann chin come to mind)

i liberated the garden from the cucumbers yesterday. yes, i cut the vines apart, pulled them out of their various hiding places in the garden, ripped out the plants from the roots. see:

i also plucked the rest of the cukes from the vines as i pulled them out. most of them were long, skinny and rather bitter looking. there was one unexpected, pleasant find underneath the tomato plants:

the picture really doesn’t do it justice – how round it was. a small bread loaf really. that cucumber has been eaten.. no, it wasn’t super sweet, but it wasn’t bitter either.

maybe the problem has been is the intense utah sun.. this not bitter cuke grew under the tomato plants where it didn’t much sun at all. i do need to place a call to usu extension at some point about these bitter cukes.

now i’m sprouting lentils in my home. apparently they are a super healthy and tasty snack. we’ll see. i got this idea from the hummingbird trainer, c. if it works, it’ll be good because that will be a healthy snack whenever i want.

absolutely done. all the ones i’ve picked in the last few days have been horribly bitter. i think later tonight i’m going to rip them out of the garden as the vines are taking up a lot of space and keeping sun from some plants. it’ll feel good to do it. and then after the garden season is over, before everything freezes i’ll re-till the garden and let what’s left decompose into the soil. i hope that helps to make more nutrient soil for the next summer.

he’s the perfect colleague – he doesn’t have an ego, doesn’t say much at all, is great for my ego because he simply adores me.. the only problem is the closeness on a hot day in a second floor apartment can get a bit hot, but i can live with that. :)

oh and i forgot to mention. the hummingbirds, i noticed yesterday that their bellies are starting to grow as they begin to get ready for migration. i’ve now discovered that not only are hummingbird butts cute, but so are hummingbird bellies as well. :)

i ran into someone from my church on saturday at the market. she asked where i’ve been hiding.. it was a good question.. one place i’ve been hiding is really no one’s business, another place has been with my friends the p’s, in my garden, on my bed in my bedroom, and in c’s backyard hanging not only with her hummers, but also with her big ol’ dog smokey (or, as i’ve been calling him lately, smokers). he’s 1/2 irish wolf hound, 1/2 german shepard, and is ~2 years old and still very much a puppy:

oh yeah, and i’ve also been going to another church the last few weeks..