my space...

no, not MySpace, but my space - but alas no, darrell still doesn't have the key to his place - hopefully he'll get that today (i'm waiting in anticipation for his text message now!!!!) he has been staying elsewhere the last few nights though and only has a few things left here to collect once he can get into his space - can't wait for the last of his stuff to go because then i'll be able to feel totally relaxed in my own space - but to totally reclaim my sanctuary i'm feeling the need to rearrange the furniture again as soon as every single thing of his is gone!!!! that might be one of next weekends activities!!!!

i had a full house on saturday night though... irene and the gang came down from malmsbury and stayed the night - that meant all 4 of the poodle clan, along with allie and shadow - yep, 5 dogs, 1 cat and 2 humans in the flat - and believe me that was much easier to deal with than having just darrell here!!!! guess i'm just more of an 'animal person' than a 'brother person'!!!!

we had a nice relaxing evening just eating, smoking, and watching a grouse 'cutesy' family movie - beverly hills chihuahua - now, i don't know about you but i luv a well-done disney animal movie - and we both got a lot of laughs out of this film - one of the major 'characters' - papi - reminded us both of a tough wee chihuahua that once shared irene's life and that i had the pleasure of knowing - cheech (see right) aka cheechie-boy, cheechie-wowa, cheech-mcfeech among others - and he was sure he was the size of a german shepherd - so much bravado - he was a grouse little fella...

of course the evening was interspersed with long walks because the flat and courtyard just aren't like their country space - definitely not big enough for 'rough-house playin' so we had to wear'em'out with walkin' and off-lead runnin' - they loved it!!!!

unfortunately i had to interrupt my weekend with another sunday shift yesterday - that's four weekend shifts in the last five weeks - oh no, and another one next sunday - we don't seem to have enough staff these days because we all seem to be working more weekends - it's harder to swap shifts let alone give them away - you just end up working way too many in a row - everyone's just too exhausted...

we have lost some staff out of the 'weekend roster mix' due to higher banding - that stretches the existing staff even thinner - not good for the already overworked, over stressed team!!!!!!

if you take something away without replacing it, eventually 'something's gotta give' - usually sanity first, followed rapidly by physical deterioration!!!!

luckily i enjoyed catching up with my co-worker yesterday - someone i don't get a chance to work with often - and i'm working with another 'goodie' next weekend - and believe me the team you're on with can make all the difference to it being either a good or bad day!!!

reclaiming my life...

yay - i'm going to have my space back this week!!!! after 4 1/2 months here, darrell's finally been offered housing!!!!! he was originally supposed to get the key last week, but it's been moved to tuesday or wednesday this week now due to needing a new stove - certainly takes "housing" a long time to replace  an electrical appliance!!!! it's a bedsit in flemington - it has an open-plan livingroom-cum-bedroom with separate kitchen and bathroom - his own compact but self-contained space in an over 55s block of units with a community room and useful facilities -  a library, flash new computers with free internet, a communal vegie patch with his own allocated plot should he want to 'get down and dirty' -  the paperwork's been signed, it's affordable on the dole at $65 per week - there's 'light at the end of the tunnel' for both of us now...

it's going to be grouse getting my life back - and having my bedroom back... i can finally get off the couch and stretch out - especially now that the old girl never even tries to get up on the bed anymore - she's happy just being under it these days... at least while he was here he was really good with allie and shadow (yep, the old girl survived another summer - i really didn't think she would but she's a battler - one determined babe!!!) - and he respected my beliefs and never cooked animal in my home - he also cleaned up a lot of piss too (yeah, old girl's incontinence can result in massive amounts of piss to clean up some days - especially when no-one's been home so she's had no access to outside all day!!!)

i can't wait - it's been hard work having someone around most of the time - it became really 'claustrophobic' in my 1 bedroom flat - and we don't have that much in common!!! we're sorta like 'chalk and cheese' actually... but never, ever again!!! i can't be bothered compromising anymore, nor dealing with radically different attitudes to beliefs i hold important - ohh, and there's the use of misogynistic and racist terminology i find totally abhorrent!!! i have to deal with that shit the best way i can to survive in the outside world, i won't do it in my own home anymore - it's not good for the sanity or the health!!!! - as you age your space as sanctuary becomes really important - you become comfortable with yourself... you realise you don't need anybody else's approval to be you...

wasn't the storm yesterday incredible?? i was working in albert park and saw the most spectacular hailstorm... and then there was the water that totally engulfed the footpath outside the library (the picture shows dorcas street south melbourne - 'just around the corner') - i watched people wading through knee-high water and saw an amazing lightning display - and was glad i was inside - although we did spring a few leaks in the library!!!! we didn't need to close like st kilda did though - and it had abated by the time we finished work...

i recently finished reading "charles manson: coming down fast" by simon wells... it's disturbing to say the least - frightening that one person could have total control over so many people - he was incredibly misogynistic and racist... he used and abused womyn terribly and was totally paranoid about a black uprising... he was a wannabe rock star with a delusional god complex - and LSD was used in vast quantities in the 60s - it made the perfect mind control drug and manson used it superbly (while creating a lot more delusions and psychoses in very malleable people searching for some direction and stability in life!!!) -  it is a very interesting read...

this is my current read - cleo, how an uppity cat helped heal a family... i've only read a few chapters and already shed tears - the beginning is heart-wrenching with the death of a young child... i think it's going to be a real heartwarming story though... and that'll be my day today - reading and resting my back which is killing me - one problem with library work - all the pushing and pulling full bins and all the twisting and bending that goes with returning, along with reaching and stretching...






it's been such a suck of a week at work - phil's gone for 12 months to explore other pursuits (good luck, but who's going to replace you???) - it's been soooo busy with lots of sickies to cover - a lot of frayed tempers and extremely tired workers (who still had weekend work to look forward to!!!)  cake and 'council function leftovers' were provided for 'the team' during the week though as a form of thank you for getting through a difficult time - unfortunately the vegans couldn't partake (no, i'm not the only vegan there) - now this strikes me as somewhat 'unfair' - hey, even fruit would be fine - it's about being valued equally, being included!!!  consequently i refuse to be silent about my exclusion - we work hard too - i know i do - is it absurd or naive to expect to be treated as an equal member of 'the team'?? i was brought up to fight for my rights and beliefs - i just can't help myself - 'don't rock the boat' has never been part of my philosophy!!

equality and inclusion are fundamental human rights as far as i'm concerned - and  i'm pretty sure the council i work for has as part of its ethos a commitment to equal rights and the inclusion of all regardless of political beliefs, religion or 'special dietary requirements' for whatever reason - guess there'll be a lot more times when those that are 'different' will feel like 'second-class members' of 'the team', or even worse - non-members!!! how the hell did phil stay a silent, compliant 'outcast' for so long??? if you stay silent nothing changes - so long as you're silent people can pretend you're just like them, therefore they don't have to think outside of their comfort zone - differences aren't taken seriously, differing views aren't explored - no 'seeds are planted' - the status quo never gets questioned or called to account and society pays a high price - it stagnates...


okay - i'm adding this paragraph Tuesday 9/3 after getting home from work - i have to say a BIG THANK YOU on behalf of the vegans at work (4 i know of,  but there may be more!!!) for the treats provided today!!!!!! i'm not sure if anyone read my post or whether it was even in response to it, but it certainly made a difference to me being able to participate (and partake of) along with everyone else today when we'd all been sooooo busy after the weekend's storm and subsequent closure of the library on sat and sun (and of course monday was a public holiday)!!!!! we all worked really hard and i am glad to be able to say i felt like part of the team!!!! vegan rum balls, pretzels and fruit - yummmmm!!!! THANK YOU (especially for taking notice if it was either Kitty or Lil - a very positive and understanding response!!!) - and now i need to go and get the animals' dinner but i needed to acknowledge vegan inclusion  today first!!!!!!



ohh, i'm getting way too old for this work caper - wish i could afford 12 months leave without pay!!! roll on retirement!!!!!



and you wouldn't believe it - after all that rain we have no water in the flats today - don't think the drainage system is coping too well with the downpour - oh well, another reason for not doing washing and mopping kitchen floor (as though my sore back wasn't enough of an excuse)!!!! hope it's back sometime soon though so i can fill the animals' water bowls!!!!

it's international womyn's day tomorrow so to all the sisters - be proud, be loud - celebrate your womonhood - revel in your female power - stay strong - maintain the fight against inequality and suffering - maybe even indulge yourself...

happy international womyns day...

did you know february is ovarian cancer awareness month??

or that today was teal ribbon day?

according to ovarian cancer australia "One in 70 women will develop ovarian cancer in their lifetime. It could be you, your sister, your mum, your gran or your girlfriend.

Every year in Australia around 1500 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer and more than 850 women will die from the disease."

there is no early detection test or screening for this cancer, so it's really important to be aware of the symptoms

my vegan transition...

my progression from vegetarianism to full-on veganism was a long time in the happening, but as a result of reading a lot of heart-wrenching articles and viewing a plethora of horrific graphics on animal welfare over the past few months i was forced to stop procrastinating - reality could no longer be denied - i couldn't fool myself anymore with the blinkered belief that the organic milk, cheese and free range egg industries meant humanely treated animals compared to the cruelty perpetrated by battery farms, feed lots and the overstocked and under-regulated farming industry in general - nor could i disregard the fact that even if there was some semblance of humane treatment (a rarity, mostly a fallacy!!), in the end the animals are still slaughtered for human consumption.

it's been remarkably easy (for the most part) - i have't had a drastic change in my eating habits - a lot of my menu was already vegan  (you just can't go past a yummy chickpea and/or vegie curry - it just gets served minus the yoghurt dip these days!!) - and animal liberation has been  integral to my personal politics for decades...

but yes, there are some things i miss, like the animal-rennet-free cheeses i enjoyed - and no, soy cheese just doesn't 'cut it' - you would think soy cheese was just that wouldn't you? alas you still have to read the labels because a lot of the soy cheeses contain casein or calcium caseinate, a milk protein used to give the 'cheese' texture!!! i tried the non-dairy 'tofutti' the other day - i could only get the american-style soy slices but that was rather disgusting - maybe the bright orangey colour turned me off a bit when it was melted - maybe the mozzerella slices might be better if i can find them!!! but then it does come from america, home of cheese in a can!!!!! 

surprisingly i found that i quite enjoy a good soy latte - but that depends on the 'barista's' competence - if they make horrible coffee it doesn't matter what 'milk' they use, they're just crap coffee makers!!! and it needs to be hot (when did lukewarm coffee become 'the norm'???) some say it depends on the brand of soy used, but i've had the same brand from different outlets and they've all tasted different - some good, some bad!!! i don't mind the nutty flavour but no, i couldn't just have a glass - i can only have it as a latte!!!! rice milk is not too bad as a replacement in a cup of tea or instant coffee (not as strong as soy!!) and it's quite okay with cereal (oooh, maybe i'm putting more sugar on the cereal though!!!!) - and i've just tried a vanilla soy milk which is quite yummy!!

i'm going to try out a cake recipe this weekend that a work colleague gave me... a very simple recipe - 1 cup flour, 1 cup coconut, 1 cup raw sugar, 1 cup milk (soy, rice - whatever you prefer - you could probably replace some of the liquid with orange, lemon or lime juice for a tangy flavour) and that's it... he adds a whole grated nutmeg nut to his - guess you could also use cinnamon, or mixed spice... hope it turns out as yummy as michael g's!!!!!

unfortunately peoples attitudes are one of the hardest things to deal with - cynicism, sarcasm, being looked on as an absolute weirdo, the belief by some that it's 'just a phase', others who believe it's 'just a diet' - yes, some people do follow vegetarian or vegan dietary practices purely for health reasons, but that doesn't make them vegetarian or vegan, it just means they eat vegetarian or vegan food!!! i am well over hearing the phrase "I used to be vegetarian/vegan but..." i've heard it many times over the years but i'm not sure how people expect me to react to it - am i meant to feel understanding of, or comraderie with, a perceived 'shared experience'? sorry, i don't - all i can say to a comment like that is "if you weren't 'doing it for the animals' you weren't vegetarian or vegan - they're lifestyle choices, not just eating regimes!!!"


these same attitudes have existed much of my vegetarian life so nothing has changed on that front - however people do find vegetarianism easier to comprehend than veganism... perhaps that has something to do with veganism being a philosophy, a way of life, a political stand, a belief in animal liberation...

if you have a vegan friend that you want to share a bottle of wine with, why not try a bottle of  ishtar from balthazar of the barossa vineyard...

i was looking for a bottle to share with a friend and just couldn't go past a wine named after "a Babylonian Goddess of Love and War – the chief goddess in the pantheon of Babylonian Gods and Goddesses"!!

with no mention on the bottle of the fining agents used, i emailed the winery - run by a womon named Anita Bowen - and received a very prompt reply, which read in part...




"... appreciate your enquiry, as I am very aware of dietary issues around wine, given my list of severe food allergies. NO, I don’t use any animal products (fish, milk or egg derived) as I don’t use any fining agents in making my wines. The only addition I make is a minimum amount of sulphur dioxide to prevent oxidization/spoilage..."

no longer sharing life and space with a partner who was a long term alcoholic has definitely changed the way i drink these days - i very rarely buy alcohol to have at home, but if i do it's usually when socialising with friends (that's also rarely these days!) - so it's nice to be able to say when i drink now, it's for the taste and pleasure - not just to 'get pissed,' and not because being pissed is the only way to share time with an alcoholic partner...

variations on a theme...

the origins of valentine's day and its traditions have been blurred over the centuries so it's hard to glean the actual facts as 'history' has constantly been altered by the prevailing 'powers that be' (and as a consquence 'herstory' has been well and truly buried within the annals of time) ... there are variations on the theme but consensus has its origin as a pagan fertility festival... but in honour of which deity?

"The tradition of Valentine's Day is believed to have originated from the pagan customs of the Third Century or Fourth Century B.C., when the Parentalia and Feralia Festivals of Purification were celebrated in Ancient Rome between February 13 and February 18. This was also the time of a Fertility Festival which celebrated a young man's rite of passage and involved animal sacrifices and fertility rituals. February 13, the opening day of the festivals, was dedicated to peace, love and household goods. February 14, the second day of Parentalia was called the Lupercalia... a day some sources believe was dedicated to Juno-Lupa, the She-Wolf." ... read more here... 

ovid wrote “A she-wolf which had given birth to her whelps came, wondrous to tell, to the abandoned twins. She halted and fawned on the tender babes with her tail, and licked into shape their two bodies with her tongue. The she-wolf (lupa) gave her name to the place, and the place gave the name to the Lupacalia. Great is the nurse for the milk that she gave.” from an essay of Lupacalia

this, from an article lupercalia, she-wolf - "The rite began in the cave of the She-Wolf in the city of Rome where legend had it that the founders of the city, Romulus and Remus, had been suckled by the wolf before they were found by a shepherd. The sacred fig tree grew in front of the cave. Vestals brought to the site of the sacrifice the sacred cakes made from the first ears of the last years grain harvest.

Two naked young men presided over the sacrifice of a dog and a goat. With the bloody knife, their foreheads were smeared with blood, then wiped clean with wool dipped in milk. The young men laughed and girded themselves in the skin of the sacrificed goat. Much feasting followed. Finally, using strips of the goat skin, the young men ran, each leading a group of priests, around the base of the hills of Rome, around the ancient sacred boundary of the old city called the pomarium.

During this run, the women of the city would vie for the opportunity to be scourged by the young men as they ran by, some baring their flesh to get the best results of the fertility blessing (you can see why the Christian church tried so hard to get this ritual banned, but it was so popular that it continued for quite some time under the new regime)"...

according to wikipedia the festival derives from "Lupercus .. a god sometimes identified with the Roman god Faunus, who is the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Pan. Lupercus is the god of shepherds. His festival, celebrated on the anniversary of the founding of his temple on February 15, was called the Lupercalia. His priests wore goatskins. The second-century Christian apologist Justin Martyr mentions an image of "the Lycaean god, whom the Greeks call Pan and the Romans Lupercus,"nude save for the girdle of goatskin, which stood in the Lupercal, the cave where Romulus and Remus were suckled by a she-wolf. There, on the Ides of February, a goat and a dog were sacrificed, and salt mealcakes prepared by the Vestal Virgins were burnt." ... same festival, different deity (female usurped by male!)


and then this allusion to female sexuality and connection to nature in  She-Wolves, Lupercalia, and Prostitutes - "Etymologically, Luperci, Lupercalia, and Lupercal all relate to the Latin for 'wolf' lupus, as do various Latin words connected with brothels. The Latin for she-wolf was slang for prostitute. The legends say that Romulus and Remus were nursed by a she-wolf in the Lupercal. Servius, a 4th century pagan commentator on Vergil, says that it was in the Lupercal that Mars ravished and impregnated the twins' mother."

Juno-Lupa was only one of the many epithets of  Juno - meaning 'vital force' - a juno is also the term given to the protecting guardian spirit of females.

Juno is the roman counterpart to the greek Hera.

"The month of February was sacred to Juno Februata, the Goddess of the 'fever' (febris in Latin) of love in ancient Pagan Rome. She was also the goddess of women and of marriage. feb 14 was her festival day. At that time, a box was provided from which single men could draw a "billet" -- a small piece of paper on which a woman's name was written. The couple would then form a temporary liaison for the erotic games to follow. They would remain partners for the following 12 months. Sometimes marriages resulted from this practice." ... http://www.religioustolerance.org/valentine1.htm

"With the advent of Christianity, priests attempted to replace such ancient heathen practices. In the Fifth Century A.D., the Church resolved to abolish this pagan celebration by creating its own holiday around the same date and selecting a saint who was remembered for his devotion to love. In A.D. 496, Pope Gelasius outlawed the Lupercian Festival, but cleverly retained the Juno Februata lottery. However, in order to lend the festivities Christian meaning and eliminate the pagan overtones, the drawing of saints' names were substituted for the names of unmarried girls. The names were placed into an urn or box and then young people (both male and female) drew a name from the container. During year which followed, the youths and maidens were supposed to emulate the life of the Saint whose name they had drawn. It took some time for this new tradition to garner popularity" ... http://www.novareinna.com/festive/valentine.html

 

it's been fascinating reading, and i do like the 'she-wolf' representation - of course i can't pass up the opportunity of adding another lovely wolf graphic!

before i finish, i have to acknowledge another celebration today - chinese new year - based on the lunisolar calendar - with 2010 being the year of the tiger...

but with as few as 3,200 surviving in the wild it's not looking good for the survival of these magnificent creatures by the next year of the tiger in 2022... read about their plight here 

happy  lunar  new  year,   cheers...