spreading the seeds of change...

“how wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” ... anne frank

ever heard of freekibble? or freekibblekat? maybe you’ve earned ‘kibble karma’ by answering the trivia questions on these sites…. if not, it’s about time i introduced you to mimi ausland, whose website i came across a few months ago...

at 7 years old, too young to volunteer at her local humane society shelter, she was determined to help animals and started mailing spare change to the shelter... at 9 years old she was finally accepted as a hands on volunteer... 

at 11 years of age she was inspired while playing an internet game called freerice, which donates several grains of rice to feed the poor for every correct answer to a trivia question - she decided something similar could be done with kibble for shelter animals and freekibble & freekibblekat were born...

her volunteer work and freekibble idea led to mimi being named 2008 aspca kid of the year... mimi and her 3-legged friend maty were also the inspiration for mimi's mother, brooke smith, to write a book "mimi and maty to the rescue"...

currently, at 15 years of age, mimi is the humane society of central oregon’s goodwill ambassador... she and maty visit schools and community centres to talk about animal safety (and show off how clever maty is!)...  you can read her blog here...

another inspirational young womon i discovered recently is carylanne joubert - i read about this young animal activist on the howling for justice blog... carylanne is 15 years old, with a love of writing and wolves...  combining both passions, she is now a published author of two books - 'cry of the wolf', & 'mingan'...

"I wrote Cry of the Wolf to teach the truth and dispel the unfounded fears about wolves by telling their story through the eyes of Mingan, a wolf pup who not only learns about wolf life but also witnesses firsthand the effects of Man’s encroachment." 

 

"Mingan (ages 3 and up) teaches lessons about wolves for younger audiences to destroy the image of the Big Bad Wolf."

about the author (from the amazon website)...

"Born in Rhode Island in 1996, Carylanne Joubert has been focused on working to help wildlife since the age of four. Her first influences, Steve Irwin and Jack Hanna, instilled in her a love of animals and a desire to learn more about each one and what can be done to help them in the wild. Her father having served in the US Army, Carylanne has lived in many states before settling in Central Florida. Home-schooled her entire school career, she is now completing her high-school education through Florida Virtual School. Carylanne being a gifted student has excelled in her studies and is 2 grades ahead of her peers. She decided to use her talents in writing to tell the story of the Yellowstone Wolves through the eyes of Mingan, a wolf pup. After completing a project for the science fair about the wolves and their struggle Carylanne became passionate to do more to help. She is dedicated to working to help all animals and intends to continue to write her tales to tell the stories of many of our wildlife who are in endangered or otherwise need protection. She intends to pursue a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a minor in Foreign Languages. A portion of all her proceeds will go to organizations such as Wolf Mountain Sanctuary." ... interested in supporting carylanne and the organizations she believes in? you can purchase the books here...

while on the subject of books, i must mention ruby roth... ruby is a young (20s-something?) artist, designer and writer...  vegan since 2003, she was inspired to write a picturebook while teaching art in an after-school program where the kids were interested and inquisitive about her vegan lifestyle...

that's why we don't eat animals "takes a candid, compassionate look at the plight of animals on factory farms, using gorgeous artwork and lively text to introduce vegetarianism and veganism to early readers." you can read more here... (i can't wait to check it out - i requested it for the library some months ago - it's being catalogued and processed now so should hit the shelves very soon!!)

i was pleased to read that she has another picturebook due for publication in april this year...

vegan is love - which "introduces young readers to veganism as lifestyle of compassion and action. Ruby Roth illustrates how our daily choices ripple out locally and globally, conveying what children can do today to protect animals, the environment, and people across the world. From the food we eat to the clothing we buy, from the use of animals in entertainment to the benefits of organic farming, Roth explores the many opportunities we have each day to act with kindness."

while doing some research, i stumbled on an interview with ruby at 'bitch media' and was impressed with her reply to the question "For you, what is the relationship between feminism and animal rights?"

her response: "They go hand-in-hand, both being vehicles of cultural critique and ultimately self-determination. If you call yourself a feminist but you eat animals, there is a good chance you have not yet examined the sexual politics of eating meat, let alone how we allow our well-being, our health, and our physical body to be determined by the interests of certain food and chemical industry leaders. Also, you may not yet truly know how animals suffer impossible atrocities without rights, just as slaves and Holocaust victims did. As liberal as I was, I would have arrived at veganism sooner, by the way, if the American Studies program at UC Santa Cruz (a mecca for vegans and Women’s Studies) had included food as a subject we turned our race-class-gender-sexuality-lenses onto, right alongside history, culture, labor, music, politics, etc. It is incredibly hypocritical to be an activist for freedom or civil rights or equity or equality if you eat animals today."

i'm heartened by such inspirational, intelligent, articulate, determined, committed, young womyn - perhaps there is hope for a compassionate world yet!!!

my, time certainly flies...

hard to believe that my two weeks off are just about over – and i didn’t even blog during that time… hey, there were times i didn’t even turn on the computer for days at a time… guess i needed a break from technology too…

i did the 'dutiful daughter' thing though – yep, the mother was ill - she thought her kidneys were 'packing up' so we got into the hospital and then spent 7 hours in the emergency ward while they monitored lungs and kidneys - once they discovered neither had deteriorated significantly they sent her home – the next day was spent checking up on her and doing her shopping…

of course, when she wanted more shopping a couple of days later i wasn't so happy when she insisted on coming - she refuses to accept she can't do what she once did - consequently she needed to take a break from walking (it wears her out - and she can barely breath) so we decided on a sit-down and a coffee… she thought we should eat but she just couldn’t (or wouldn't) understand that there was nothing in the shop i could get that was vegan-friendly and anyway, all i wanted was coffee, but she could have food... her response was typical - why couldn’t i just 'stop being so damn difficult' – hmmm,  apparently i went vegan just to antagonise her!!!!

you could say we get very niggly after too long with each other - conversation sometimes can get a bit strained between us - the mother's become really conservative over the years so we disagree on a lot of issues… i try to just let things ‘wash over me’ but after a while ‘bad daughter’ comes to the fore and stands up for herself and her beliefs… my mother just doesn’t ‘get’ vegan – vegetarian she could (just) cope with, but vegan - now that's just tooooo weird... never has she asked why i chose to be vegan - of course, why would she, she already knows i did it to be difficult!! – these days it seems if it’s not her belief system, it's not worth learning about - it's not the status quo so we just won't talk about it… fuck there are times when i wished i lived on a remote country property far away from my mother (and, at times, humankind in general!) – see, bad, bad daughter….

enough of the mother/daughter shit... 

i haven’t gotten through anywhere near the amount of reading i had planned… and now i’ve gotten even more to read because two new books i bought a few weeks ago arrived… ‘the sexual politics of meat: a feminist-vegetarian critical theory’ by carol adams, and ‘sister species: women, animals and social justice’ ed. by lisa kemmerer… being mine rather than the library's though means i can read them anytime...

i did watch a couple of interesting movies – one, a documentary called “troubled minds - the lithium revolution” – in the 1940s an australian doctor, john cade, discovered the ‘benefits’ of lithium for treating manic depression (as it was called then – bi-polar now) – this in effect marked the beginning of psycho-pharmacology (the use of drugs to manage psychiatric conditions) – up until this discovery electric shock ‘therapy’ and lobotomies were the dominant treatments… it explains his search for chemical alternatives to these brutal forms of treatment and the lack of interest from drug companies because lithium is a naturally occurring element so couldn’t be exploited commercially – it was quite fascinating actually….

i also watched ‘ironclad’ – set in 13^th century england when john was king – this is the story of what john did after being forced to sign the magna carta – his rampage across the country and the violence he and his mercenary army perpetrated against all who signed the document and supported limiting a kings powers – that included mass slaughter of families and villagers - in his desire to regain total control… this was also very interesting, but very graphic - i found myself closing my eyes a lot – but they were violent times…

i caught up with a number of people too – usually dinner at my place because it’s just easier – i know exactly what’s gone into the food and nobody that comes to share has any problems with my vegan menu – consequently i cooked, ate and drank soooo much – and i did catch up with a vegan friend that i hadn’t seen for ages – it’s always lovely to speak to a full-on, ra-ra-ra vegan - ahh, another's passionate belief in the things i hold important – it makes the heart sing...

two causes i strongly believe in take ‘centre stage’ this week…

the first one is the oscar’s law rally i’m off to tomorrow -  a campaign to stop the factory farming of companion animals… the campaign is named for this wee little boy who was finally rescued after spending 5 years as a breeding machine for the greed of humans… the sheer neglect these babes suffer is heartbreaking… my old girl allie who died earlier this year spent her first 4 years of ‘life’ as a ‘brood bitch’ in a puppy factory and believe me there are psychological as well as physical scars from the deprivations they endure…

the second cause is palestine’s 'push' for UN recognition of statehood…  over 120 nations from the middle east, africa, asia, and latin america have already endorsed this initiative, but israel and the US are trying to block it... europe is still undecided - sadly it appears australia is undecided too… 44 years of occupation is just way too long - please sign the petition calling on the UN to recognise the state of palestine here…





i'll leave you with this video a friend sent me... 'freed' after decades as laboratory animals in a pharmaceutical research facility, this is the extremely touching vision of a group of chimpanzees seeing the outside world, feeling the sun on their faces and bodies, for the first time... their pleasure is apparent - palpable - and brings a tear to the eye and a smile to the lips... (the commentary isn't in english - but who needs commentary - a picture paints a thousand words)... you can read more here...

two weeks of leisure...

yay - i'm on leave! well, i went to say i was on holidays, but hey – something just niggled me that this was no doubt another word with its origins in christianity and lo and behold, on checking it appears it was ‘coined’ around the 1200s – “haliday (c.1200), from O.E. haligdæg "holy day; Sabbath," from halig "holy" (see holy) + dæg "day" (see day)”… it later took on dual meanings “in 14c. meaning both "religious festival" and "day of recreation," but pronunciation and sense diverged 16c". it had lost it’s christian meaning by the 19th century “as a verb meaning "to pass the holidays" by 1869.” ...  online etymology dictionary 

looks like 'ye olde english' could just as easily be called 'ye olde christian' - it pervaded the language and peoples lives totally...

i’m hoping it’s going to be a relaxing, reinvigorating next 2 weeks – i applied for these couple of weeks off a few months ago now – and i’ve been hanging out ever since… although i’ve been a tad depressed this weekend because my old girl was always there to spend my leave with, so this is actually my first real time off that she hasn't been around for in 15 years… i'm sooo missing canine companionship...



i occasionally check out the save-a-dog website but whenever i do me boy jumps on the keyboard and zaps me (as only cats can) to 'stop looking at dogs – stupid, stupid dogs’ (and i swear, i can actually 'hear' him saying that in my head! – and for some reason i hear it in antonio banderas’ voice – if you’ve missed shrek 2 and its layers of humour for young and old - it certainly wasn’t just a kiddies film - the ‘puss in boots’ voice won’t mean anything to you!)…


but there’s a pull, a tug – i think my old girl is telling me it’s time – or nearly time - to save another older homeless babe (or is the 'nearly time' just me procrastinating - due to a guilty disloyal feeling where shadow's concerned whenever i ponder the prospect perhaps - but then i feel bad for doing nothing because there are so many in need! - and then i wonder if i have enough space - me old girl was blind and deaf when we moved in here and didn't need a lot of space - is there enough 'territory' for a dog and a cat with just a small courtyard - but of course there are some wonderful, beautiful areas around here to go walking with a canine friend... oooh, why can't i just make a decision?!!!!!…

i saw me mother yesterday though and she’s not well – between copd (chronic pulmonary disease) and ckf (chronic kidney failure) she’s having a hard time at the moment…which could mean her condition (it's chronic remember, so no 'getting better' - and hey, she's 82!!) could be deteriorating - at the very least she may have to have another hospital 'visit' - guess i just see how the next few days pan out…

but i brought plenty of ‘provisions’ home with me - that’s books galore… if you’re interested, these are some of the books i’m hoping to get through…

the immortal life of henrietta lacks - rebecca skloot...

"Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and more. Henrietta’s cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t afford health insurance...."

 

me of the never never - fiona o'loughlin

"This book is for anyone who likes to laugh (and cry), who wants to read about a woman living her life on her terms."

the particular sadness of lemon cake - aimee bender

"On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein bites into her mother's homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother’s emotions in the slice. To her horror, she finds that her cheerful mother tastes of despair. Soon, she’s  privy to the secret knowledge that most families keep hidden: her father’s detachment, her mother’s transgression, her brother’s increasing retreat from the world..."

the book of rachael - leslie cannold

"Two thousand years ago, as a charismatic young preacher from Nazareth was gathering followers among the people of Galilee, his sister swept floors and dreamed of learning to read. In Leslie Cannold’s story, it is the women of Nazareth who take centre stage..."

now all i have to do is line up some smoke (i’m almost out – not what you want when on ‘holidays’)…

it's 3.45am now, i couldn't sleep so thought i might as well write a post, but i'm going back to bed now - maybe a couple of chapters will help me 'nod off'...

sleepless in st kilda...

sleep – a casualty of living in st kilda at the moment…they’re raising the tram lines in fitzroy street between canterbury road and the esplanade and working through the night - i can’t imagine what the noise must be like closer to the heavy machinery – the noise reaching my place is constant and annoying – that pesky beeping of trucks and the rumbling and crash banging of the earthmovers and jackhammers (even shadow isn't venturing very far from home - he sits in his courtyard with his ears twitching and his eyes enormous orbs) – and this is going to be happening for the next week… which means no public transport running to balaclava or the st kilda shopping precinct… what a bummer – it’s going to be very hard psyching myself up for work this week – i’ll be walking – hope it’s not too ‘brrrrr’ chilly… but i’m not as bad off as the elderly people in me mother’s block of flats who have mobility problems due to age - there's no transport to get them to their various hospital and doctors appointments, let alone to the shops…

my weekend has been tinged with a bit of concern for me mum though - she isn’t well at the moment – she had a malignant growth removed from her face a few weeks ago that she's only just 'coming good' from, but then on thursday she had to have her cornea reattached (a quite common outcome apparently months after a cataract operation amongst the aged) - since then she's been really unwell – seems the eye drops they use affect her kidneys badly – she suffers constant nausea and fatigue – all she can do is stay in bed (which she hates) – she was almost at the point of ringing an ambulance saturday night but persevered with her pain instead… she has a fear that if she goes to hospital she may never get back home - at 82 and suffering chronic kidney failure (and her hospital experiences over the last couple of years) it’s an understandable fear…

apart from that it’s been a lovely weekend… i had dinner cooked for me last night – an array of vegies baked in a delicious garlicky tomato sauce… good, hearty winter fare – made even tastier i’m sure by the fact that I didn’t have to cook it - i did make some garlic bread to go with it though…  (nah, this isn't a photo of what we had but it does look similar - just add beans and carrots too)...

to top that off I came across a new recipe for a lemon tart I just had to try – and it was sooo lemony delicious – and so very easy to make (and yes, this is a photo of my version!)…  it comes from the sweet treats section of veggie.wedgie  but i cheated with the base... i just made a crushed biscuit base because i didn't have the recommended oats and spelt flour - but the filling was 'by the recipe' and deeeelicious, so here's how to make the lemony yumminess...

• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 400ml light coconut milk
• 2tbsp lemon zest
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1/2 cup agave syrup
• in a pot combine agave, coconut milk and cornflour. whisk until the cornflour is completely dissolved. add lemon zest. bring to boil whisking continuously and once it starts to thicken remove from heat. add lemon juice and continue stirring for 3 minutes. Let the mixture cool completely and pour over the crust. chill until set. enjoy!!

i'm sure this recipe can be adapted with many variations - any other citrus (tangello, grapefruit, lime, orange), chocolate,  vanilla bean, caramel.... yummm, the list goes on - a definite must to repeat in the very near future...

and now it's to the kitchen and a sink of dishes... and then maybe i'll read some more of denise scott's memoir 'all that happened at number 26' - or perhaps listen to a few chapters of ruth park's 'swords and crowns and rings', centred around two young people growing up in an australian country town between 1907 and 1931 and read by deidre rubenstein, a narrator i really enjoy - it also won the miles franklin award in 1977...

one pissed off mother...

floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis… you have to admit, the mother (nature that is) has one helluva way of expressing her outrage – we (humans that is) continue to rape, pillage and plunder her while mutilating, torturing and murdering her other children, the ones we consider less than equal to human animals, (that’s every other animal in the world!) – so many atrocities committed against her, and yet still she only gives warnings when she could so easily wipe humans off the face of the earth (like we’ve done to so many others)… a forgiving mother trying to teach us to respect our family and our home…







mother nature by saya kodachi


'mothers day' – what does it actually mean? marla of vegan feminist agitator has written a wonderful post – universal mother – i love this sister’s posts, always poignant and articulate… it’s well worth the read, her views expressed eloquently as she states in her final paragraph “... one also doesn’t need to be a mother to be deeply driven to protect another … for mother’s day, i propose that we honor this natural drive within all of us to protect the ones we love, the ones who depend on our consideration, by not consuming the products of exploitation and cruelty. this common thread of wanting our babies to thrive is natural and noble, a key part of our essential being. whether we are men or women, children or adults, human or hen, that universal mother is in all of us. let’s celebrate without exploiting another innocent mother who had not only the autonomy of her body but also her babies stolen from her for our appetites. let’s connect to that profound mothering spirit that links us together. she wants her babies to be well and protected from harm. i think we can understand." (thank you marla, so beautifully stated - such a way you weave words!!)

it's been a 'frenzy of death' for horses unfortunate enough to be forced to participate in jumps racing here in victoria, with 5 magnificent creatures dying in 6 weeks - victoria and south australia are the only 2 states that persist in allowing jumps racing in australia - with 90% of victorians against jumps racing perhaps dennis napthine has a vested interest in it continuing - according to him "the victorian government will continue to support jumps racing." so please take a moment to check out animals australia unleashed and the coalition for the protection of racehorses...

perhaps something will change now that there have been 'human casualties'... although that doesn't seem likely after an abc interview where napthine stated "the incident has nothing to do with the controversy over the sport of jumps racing." - surely he's not that naive - it was a jumps meeting for fuck's sake, it wouldn't have happened otherwise (although other forms of horse racing kills as well!!) nah, more likely he's heavily invested in the jumps racing industry and has 'too much' to lose...

no animal should die in the human 'pursuit of entertainment' - let alone any other 'pursuit'!! - so at the very least we should all shed tears for casa boy, hammerblow, squire rex, java star and shine the armour...

from the rspca website

on that note, i'm going to do some reading - it's just a 'lazy' day for me after working yesterday - well, the back is a tad sore, has been on and off for a few days - problem with getting older and having a physically demanding job at times - i feel every day of 56 sometimes!!! so i'll be relaxing and recuperating rather than lazing!! i have favourite authors and long awaited books to catch up on... i've recently finished lisa gardner's latest psychological thriller "love you more" - brilliant, as usual lisa! as with this one, i seem to have a spate of highly reserved books coming through at the moment - which of course means a 2-week borrowing period... and my next read is no exception...

many people, like me, have been waiting a long time to read the final book in jean auel's epic earth's children series - a story that has been 6 books in the writing and three decades in the telling  - the first book, clan of the cave bear - was published back in 1980, when i first read it!!! needless to say i'm hanging out to get stuck into the land of painted caves!

where does time go?

i can't believe it - the second week of my holidays has flown by and it's back to work tomorrow... it's been one of the most relaxing times i've had for a loooong time - and there were no family crises to have to deal with (which is rare these days)... i've enjoyed some beautiful spring weather which meant the courtyard door was open most of the time for me old girl and boy, who both loved being able to get outside whenever they chose - sad i have to leave them tomorrow... oooh, not only is it back to work tomorrow, i've just checked the weekend roster and i'm also working next saturday - now that's enough to depress anyone - roll on retirement!!!!!

i've shared some lovely times with friends over the past couple of weeks - i caught up with larry the librarian for an afternoon, and steph and pete came for dinner... i had lunch with irene in the city - we found an indian restaurant where a lot of indian people were eating (always a good sign) and had a tasty curry... sailor lily called in and we shared (as she put it) "one of lifes greatest taste trifectas - olives, dips and wine"... i did some cooking and tried out a new recipe because i've got friends coming on friday night for dinner - i'll be making vegan stroganoff - it's a recipe i hadn't tried before and i wanted to make sure it was worth the time spent cooking it - which is minimal luckily, because i'll be making it after work!!! - it also needed to be tasty - it is, it's delicious (although i did alter the recipe a wee bit)  - and rather than pasta i might serve it on jacket potatoes, or perhaps roasted garlic with rosemary potatoes, along with a salad and crusty bread... yum!!!!

i didn't watch any of the dvds i'd brought home (and they're all reserved so i'll just have to take them back to work and perhaps watch them some other time!) - nor did i do much reading - far out, where did the time go? it just wasn't long enough - my, to have 4 weeks off would certainly be 'luxurious' - but that would mean going the whole year without any time off - an impossibility these days!!! perhaps i need to check out the 48-52 option - is it available to 'part-time' (30-hour per week) staff? or maybe what i really need to do is sit down and work out what the minimum amount is that i need to survive and implement that budget and cut down my hours... hmmm, food for thought!!

i was determined to read at least one book by the end of the holidays - and i succeeded in this endeavour - finally, yesterday i finished "the journal of dora damage" by belinda starling (and recommended by lily)...

now, i have to admit to almost giving up on this book - i just couldn't get into it to start with... i'd pick it up, read a few pages, put it down, pick it up and put it down... i was about to put it in the 'return to work unread' pile and choose another book, but decided to pick it up just once more - i'm glad i did because once i gave it my total concentration i just couldn't put it down!!!

it's an historical novel set it victorian london in the mid-1800s where squalor and poverty are part of peoples lives and womyn nothing but chattels ... dora's husband peter, a bookbinder, is suffering from the typical illnesses of the trade - bad lungs, rheumatoid arthritis - consequently the business is in huge debt and the family (dora, peter and lucinda, their epileptic daughter) are in danger of losing everything (not that they had much anyway!!!)

dora, having helped with the business over the years, 'takes over the reins' and searches for more clientele... as her artistic and binding talents become recognised and highly sought after, she finds herself unwittingly drawn into the shady world of affluent, aristocratic men by binding their highly illegal pornographic volumes (a very risky business, especially for a womon)... she is provided with all manner of luxurious bindings - the softest leathers, silks and satins - for these explicit tomes... one of her major customers, an 'eminent' physician, also supplies her with laudenum for her husband - another shackle that binds her to these rich and powerful men, but becomes an addiction which eventually kills peter...

she realises her peril and the untenable position she has been put in when provided with a binding material she can't quite identify - but she soon delves deeper and discovers this unusual 'hide' is the skin of a female slave... it was time to extricate herself from this murky existence, but in refusing to bind anymore of these 'aristocratic obscenities' she discovers how entangled in their grotesque world she has become, how much power they really had and how many powerful men they controlled...

america was gearing up for the civil war at this time, and we 'meet' the abolitionist movement in london in the form of the "ladies' society for the assistance of fugitives from slavery" who talk dora into taking on an escaped slave named din to work in the bindery... a 'progressive' movement? you'll have to read the book to find out because that's all i'm telling you of the story...

so, after procrastinating i am really pleased i persevered and finished this book... sadly there will be no other books by belinda starling, who died not long after finishing this, her first novel, in 2006 - she was admitted to hospital for an operation to remove a cyst from her bile duct, but following complications she died of septic shock at the age of 34...

now i should get off my arse and get down the street - ooooh, i am so not looking forward to tomorrow - my time's far better spent with my family - we're all so much happier and healthier when i'm home!!!! i can already feel a headache coming on - although i suspect that's to do with the wind and hayfever or sinus problems rather than my impending return to work (but perhaps that could be considered an allergy)... best i stock up on ibuprofen and pseudoephedrine!!!

leisurely livin'....

yay - i'm on holidays for 2 weeks... i tell you what, last friday the working day seemed to take forever to end - it seems like i applied for these holidays so very long ago and they didn't feel like they were ever going to get here... but finally it was time to forget about work and think about relaxing and enjoying the next couple of weeks... leading up to the holidays though i did catch up with larry the librarian on my day off last monday - we spent a lovely couple of hours chatting, smoking, sharing food and a bottle of vino... a very enjoyable time...

saturday i had irene and the malmsbury mob down for a visit - they had to come down to drop off my wee louie who's staying with me for 10 days, so there'll be a lot of strolling the streets in the next week and a bit... i had thought about getting up to malmsbury for a few days but it's just not going to happen - my brother would come and stay with allie and shadow, but it's way too much to expect someone else to clean up after my old incontinent girl - and he just doesn't get the idea of getting her outside as soon as she starts moving about - he's not 'attuned' to her and forgets she's blind and deaf too - and there is a lot of picking up and carrying involved in living with a blind, deaf and incontinent dog - it's just too hard for someone else to deal with (and for me 'kids' to deal with someone else!)... so home is very much my 'holiday destination' for the next fortnight...

having visitors meant i missed the grand final though - having grown up in st kilda i can't help but have a soft spot for the sainters - me mum, me brother and me, we all followed the saints - me dad was the odd one out, with north melbourne being his team...

st kilda formed in 1873 and was originally a  victorian football association team... with widespread player dissatisfaction with the association, they shifted support to the newly formed victorian football league, becoming one of the foundation clubs of the vfl in 1897 (which became the afl in 1990)...

footy was the be-all end-all where sport was concerned for working class folk here in victoria in the 50s and 60s - it definitely took precedence at school - we (the whole school) were all packed off on footy days to watch the boys play - basketball, the 'girls' school sport, came a very poor second (just the teams went to these matches - no cheering fan club for us!) - and NO, it wasn't called netball then - i was a goalie and we played basketball (and it was still basketball up until i left school in 1970!!!) so the name-change didn't happen in victoria (centre of my universe, but i'm not sure about the rest of australia) until some time during the 70s when american national league basketball became popular in 'the colonies' after showcasing the talents of the harlem globetrotters  in exhibition games - i was lucky enough to see them a couple of times - they were amazing - totally mesmerising!!!

in 1911 footy made the move from amateur status to a 'professional sport' with the league setting a limit of 30 'bob' per week to be paid to some players (but few teams actually introduced this remuneration until years later) - this had risen (for some) to around 3 'quid' by the 50s... there was plenty of loyalty and a lot of action on the field - for many there was nothing more exciting than watching a melee (okay, all in brawl - of course that often 'provoked' more brawling amongst the more 'exuberant' spectators) - there was no such thing as the blood rule then (nor any oh&s)!!!!... it's definitely changed over the years - it's better for player health and conditions these days but there's way too much money involved... the culture is really fucked with many players seeing themselves (as do some fans) as demi-gods with entitlement to do as they like, to get away with atrocious - often criminal and often sexually abusive - behaviour... it's a sport for fuck sake - unfortunately really big money became involved and that changes everything...

i'm not a big footy fan now, but i will watch the saints playing when they're on telly - it's a sentimental thing - and because i didn't get to see the game on saturday i don't mind that it was a draw, because now  i'll be able to watch the grand final next weekend - and having won only one grand final in over a century of playing (that win over collingwood in 1966 by 1 point - that's barry breen about to kick the winning point - i was 11 and remember it vividly!) - what would be sweeter than another grand final victory over the much hated 'pies'??? GO SAINTERS!!!!

i've brought heaps of books and dvds home for the holidays - so i've got plenty of leisure activities to fill in my 'leisure time'... i made a start today - me and the gang (louie and allie on either side of me with shadow on the knee!!) watched 4 episodes of the 3rd season of true blood - now that's not a series you can just watch 1 episode of i've found - i'll probably finish that in the next couple of days - and i've got some interesting books to read and talking books to listen to - so my next couple of weeks are looking good - really relaxing...

oooh, i might even get some blogging done...

writing about womyn....

i was lucky enough to 'win' a pass (compliments of work) to a session at the melbourne writer's festival happening at the moment... we were to choose three sessions with the outcome being we would get into one of the choices...

what a treat... i handed in my three preferences and waited to see which one i was going to - hey, i really didn't care which one i was booked in for - there's a wealth of talent out there and all would have at least been interesting!!!

i ended up going along to the "writing women" session on friday where carmel bird and sally muirden spoke about their latest novels...

now i have to admit here to not having read anything from either of these authors so i was looking forward to hearing both of them speak to discover what i'd been missing all of this time...

both are considered 'historical writers' and this session was to hear them discuss "the pull of old europe, and writing about motherhood and mysticism." (sounds like herstory rather than history to me!!!)

they both spoke eloquently about their writing and inspiration for subject matter and gave short readings from their books... both of which i might be inclined to read now out of curiosity!!!


so, not having read the books the only 'offerings' here are reviews from the reading's website...

a woman of seville by sally muirden...

"Seville in the year 1616 is a place of betrayal and torture, with the spying eyes of the Inquisition everywhere. Moorish settlers are banished from Spain and their traumatised children are locked away in monasteries for religious conversion with even the most penitent locals conducting their true lives in secret. Paula Sanchez is a concubine famed for her beauty who does her best to avoid the attentions of her lecherous benefactor Bishop Rizi in order to sit as Mary for the ‘The Penitent Magdalen’. In the evenings she escapes the heat and uncertainty of her earthy existence and conflicting morality with the Ladder Man: a mute, almost-ethereal being who never sets foot upon the ground, preferring instead the rooftops of Seville. Young apprentice painter Diego Velasquez wanders freely about the city and watches over the progress of the painting and Paula’s involvement within it."

child of the twilight by carmel bird...

"′It is strange and fascinating to me to think of people -- Avila in particular -- praying me into existence.′

Sydney Peony Kent is nineteen years old. She was a longed-for IVF baby, ′product of an unknown egg and unknown sperm′ implanted in her mother, Avila. Avila not only used the latest scientific techniques to conceive Sydney, but also prayed to the Bambinello, a small carved and jewelled statue of the infant Jesus housed in the church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli in Rome and said to have miraculous properties.

Avila′s distant relative Father Roland Bruccoli was conceived in a more conventional manner, but his mother too prayed to the Bambinello before his birth -- and that of his twin sister Eleena. It is when the adult Roland is visiting the church of Santa Maria one evening that the Bambinello is stolen. Roland hopes that Father Cosimo, an archivist, poet and riddler said to speak in the ancient green language of the troubadours, can assist in discovering what has happened to the Bambinello. But when matters of belief are involved, nothing is straightforward, as Sydney discovers herself when she too becomes caught up in tracing the Bambinello′s fate.

Deftly weaving together religion, science, pregnancies wanted and unwanted, love, loss and belief, Carmel Bird has created a luminous novel that both questions and celebrates the miraculous."


i enjoyed both authors 'talks' but was more drawn to carmel bird's view on womyn and her sense of humour - especially when she spoke about the 'evolution' of the title of her book and the control the publishers have - originally she wanted to call it "child of the twilight of time" but no - that would be too long... another option was "the green language" but no - people wouldn't understand that (and i have to profess that here was the expectation that you'd either read the book or knew the reference, but as i hadn't and didn't i certainly 'looked it up' to discover the green language is also called the language of the birds or the language of the gods - hrrmph, publishers don't give the reading public credit for being able to research to find answers!)... in the end it was settled on a 'watered-down' version of her original title and became "child of the twilight"...


it was a bit of a disappointment that the session only went for just over an hour, so with introductions and readings there wasn't much time left for 'intimate dialogue' with the authors - and unfortunately the 'facilitator' was a bit 'blehhh' - i can't remember her name (perhaps because she was unmemorable) - what i do remember was that she was a readings representative (surprise, surprise)...


and, on that note, i've got things to do - got the brother coming around and we're going to visit the mother so best i get my shit together...

soothing the senses...

what a wonderfully quiet, relaxing weekend i’ve had…

i decided that my next non-working weekend would be spent just being with allie and shadow and enjoying their company, catching up on some reading and savouring the peace, quiet and serenity of home life - of course the domestic stuff like cleaning up wee and washing pissy towels is part of every day, but i'd 'shopped in advance' for the weekend so i didn't have to go out saturday or (what turned out to be a bleak, cold and wet) sunday!!! finally, this weekend was the one i'd been waiting for!!!!

friday evening saw me settling down with a yummy vegie pastie (rye pastry), sweet potato wedges and rocket salad with a balsamic dressing - a couple of glasses of wine – howling wolves from margaret river (another new vegan-friendly find) - along with a few bongs, a cat on the knee and a dog stretched out next to me (letting me know in no uncertain terms if i wasn’t patting her in the right place!)... what more could i want - "being human" was on telly - i’ve taken quite a liking to this show – it’s a tad ‘darker’ this 2nd series which i'm enjoying so i got comfy with me gang and looked forward to a long, lazy weekend...

the only other thing i really needed was the beautiful fragrance of one of the soy wax melts from australian soy candles by lisa jane creations – lisa is a young womon running a small “cottage” industry in rural victoria which allows her to work from home and be with her children – she has all things soy wax and uses essential oils to create beautiful scents - my favourite is black raspberry and i had one left - another sensuous and sensory indulgence for the evening...



i decided to keep the computer turned off on saturday but before i settled down to read i gave allie a bath which was an added bonus with it being quite sunny and mild (no, she doesn't like baths - but i bet she feels so much better now - she's soooo very soft and smells lovely - sensory pleasure for both of us!!!)...

i have a number of books that need to be read – so many reserved!!! so I decided on 31 bond street by ellen horan for this weekend – a mystery based on a true 1857 story centred around the murder of new york ‘society’ dentist harvey burdell and the trial of emma cunningham, the womon charged with the crime. well it didn’t disappoint. It is a well crafted story and I was fascinated to read in the author’s note which characters were actually fictitious – and she very skilfully threaded the slave trade and disenfranchisement of the native people through the story (it's set 4 years before the american civil war)…

having finished 31 bond street on sunday and enjoying it immensely i was encouraged to have a bit of a search online and i came across this interesting blog “butchery on bond street” which I’ll have to read in more detail some other time… it’s written by a volunteer archivist in the green-wood cemetery where there is apparently a 'trove of treasures' related to this crime...

so, with it being monday now and the weekend just about over i better think about doing something - there's more washing to be done, a visit to be made to the mother, a trip to the supermarket for some much needed shopping, cleaning, blah, blah, blah - okay, guess it's back to reality...

later tonight though i’m anticipating starting ‘time’s legacy’, latest offering from barbara erskine, a skilled wordsmith who weaves tales between the past and present – sometimes ‘herstorical’, sometimes ‘historical’, always mesmerising...  maybe I should just settle on ‘theirstorical’ because I certainly can’t use the male-centric terminology of our language – but back to barbara erskine… she’s been a favourite author since i first read ‘lady of hay’ in the 80s and with many novels to her credit will probably remain a favourite for many years...

food, glorious food...

far out - two posts in as many days - it's been a while since i had the time, energy or incentive!!!!!

i've been checking out a lot of vegan ‘foodie’ blogs and sites lately looking for inspiration – there are so many out there - sweet, savoury and downright weird - from the ‘far out that looks incredible but who could be bothered going to all that trouble’ to the ‘wow, that’s so easy and looks so yummy', and then the 'what the fuck... you've gotta be kidding'!!!!

i’m learning about replacement ingredients for old favourites – i've just discovered that nutritional yeast is supposed to add a cheese flavour to sauces – I’ll find out what it tastes like tonight because I’m making that good old comfort food for dinner - baked macaroni and cheese - just right for this almost wintry Sunday!!!

i got the recipe from a book called 'vegan yum yum' - a new book from work (but it just might be worth buying) - a vegan cookbook with photos - that's rare... there's also a vegan yum yum website - created by lauren ulm, a very talented and 'crafty' young womon...

if you're at all into cupcakes and decoration, check out her knit night cupcakes or her  hand-dipped ice-cream cone cupcakes - amazing (but yeah, who could be bothered -obviously for some it's a very therapeutic activity - i'm happy to just look and wonder "do they taste good???") or maybe you'd rather check out the YouTube video...

 

or have a look at cupcake kitteh's decorating style....

you wouldn't think it after all of that but i'm not even a big cupcake eater!!! the creativity of some people never ceases to amaze me though - it's certainly worth sharing...

 

okay, i think that's enough about food - for now... there'll be plenty more later... now that i've decided it's going to be a curling up and relaxing day, i might do some reading...

 

i've just finished 'pretty little things' by jilliane hoffman - working as an assistant state attorney must have been harrowing at times, but certainly adds a chilling reality to her novels – and no doubt her latest title has its basis in sexually abhorrent crimes she’s had to prosecute... internet chat rooms, unhappy and malleable  teenagers, false identities, sexual predation – a problem becoming more widespread in this technological age – a frightening reality woven into a wonderful example of the suspense genre – I couldn’t put this one down... I’d have to say it’s her best to date!!!

so now it's just a matter of deciding what to read next... i've picked out two books - all i have to do is make a choice...

'resurrection' by tucker malarkey - "the author .. weaves the discovery of the Gnostic gospels into an elegantly written thriller..."

or 'ordeal' - a memoir by linda lovelace, who died at the age of 53 in 2002 - "Linda Boreman starred as Linda Lovelace in Deep Throat ... She later wrote a book, Ordeal, about her experiences, and became an outspoken opponent of the porn industry."

or maybe i'll watch a movie... decisions, decisions... guess i'll just have to go and have a bong and mull it over...