| Sunday, July 5th, 2009 |
| 8:25 pm |
contractor recommendations?
The current bid we have on a house in South Minneapolis is using a renovation loan - which means that if we get the house - we need to find a contractor who will fix the things that are required for the house to pass FHA inspection - including putting a new roof on the house. We therefore need recommendations for a good contractor (or 2) who can do electrical, plumbing, + roofing work. There's a pretty good chance we won't get this house (since the seller's realtor pretty much said there was a cash offer on the table) but we are looking at that sort of places that might require renovation loans - so this info could be useful for longer than the current dilemma. Please reply or email me with any thoughts! Thank you in advance! :) |
| Friday, July 3rd, 2009 |
| 1:28 pm |
the importance of play
I just re-listened to "Speaking of Faith's" interview with Stuart Brown on the importance of play: "Play, Spirit, + Character." http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/play/I love this piece! This time I took away the idea of using play to heal. When something is daunting - I want to try using play to better be able to cope. From trying to think of things in a more playful way (house hunting is fun!) to taking breaks to play and then return to the daunting task. He talked about how the competition of play allows us to figure out what our strength and weakness are in a fairly safe environment + how we learn empathy. I wonder if the fact that we are so mobile is another way that evolution hasn't caught up to human reality - we learn the hierarchy/strengths + weakness of a particular group + how we fit in to that group + then move on and continue to believe those roles for ourselves. I thought of myself as fairly unorganized for a very long time b/c compared to my sister - I'm not Quite as good. But compared to most ppl - I'm a little over the top. So I have a QUESTION for all of you wise ppl who read my LJ (yes I mean you) - I think there is probably a connection between wisdom and play. How do you make room to play in your life? One of the dilemmas he talks about is - how much play is good for us? Our culture has mixed messages about play - but the work culture gives a very clear message that one's value is only in what one produces and any time spent playing is wasted. He gave a great example of a labrador vs a wolf. The lab generally spends life as a child - while the wolf hardly has any play in it's life. And that humans seem to be designed biologically to need some play while finding solutions to the challenges of life. So how much play is good for us? This was a particularly good time for me to re-visit this article b/c I am off to a weekend of play. Yay slip + slide! This also means I will be away from electricity for the weekend - so I will be unable to respond to any comments until I return. (of course many of you are also away this weekend - so I hope you see this question!) Happy long weekend to those of you in the USA! |
| Thursday, June 25th, 2009 |
| 10:37 pm |
Biking encounter
I recently had an encounter with an angry driver while biking home from work. I was biking on a road that goes through Minnehaha Park (somewhere along here: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2949744 ) – the speed limit is 25 mph on this road. There is a path beside the road. I have tried riding it – but it is shared with pedestrians and bikes are legally allowed to ride on the road. I usually am pretty aware of the cars passing me b/c it is only 2 lanes (one in each direction) and they do have to wait a little to pass safely if cars are coming in the opposite direction. So I watch them in my rear-view mirror. There is also a 45-50 mph road just to the West of the park – so I have no idea why anyone driving in the park would be in a hurry. Anyway – I'm biking along at ~15 mph and I notice this minivan pull up beside me. I'm thinking "3 feet!" b/c that's the legal minimum cars are supposed to allow when passing and he was clearly closer than that. Probably no close than 1 foot tho. Anyway – he pulls up beside me and yells "Use the bike path!" Normally – I think I would have just blinked and figured it's his issue and no reason to get into it. But this time the words in my head just slipped out! I yelled back at him "3 feet! You are breaking the law right now!" He pulled away and flipped me off. I felt empowered by having defended myself – but also quite shaken. Having a vehicle driven by an angry man that close to me was not pleasant. I was more scared of vehicles for a few days – but I realized today that I have gotten back to thinking of them as fellow travelers. I wasn’t absolutely certain of the laws – so I looked them up and I was not misinformed: https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=169.18Minnesota Statutes 169.18 DRIVING RULES. Subd. 3.Passing.The following rules shall govern the overtaking and passing of vehicles proceeding in the same direction, subject to the limitations, exceptions, and special rules hereinafter stated: (3) the operator of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle or individual proceeding in the same direction on the roadway shall leave a safe distance, but in no case less than three feet clearance The following day I was chatting with another biker in the shower area in the morning at work and told her about my brazen reaction. Later that day I found out that she's my new boss! I hope she thinks feisty is a plus! Be careful out there – but don't let them ruin your fun. |
| Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 |
| 7:40 pm |
memories + raccoon
A non LJ friend of mine just sent me a link to the theater where we both used to work: http://olo.wooster.edu/seasons/1990.php1990 was a fantastic season! I wish I had recordings of Street Scene. The music was very powerful. and Land of Smiles was incredible! It required an extremely talented tenor which we were lucky enough to have that year - Paul Groves. Ah memories :) ~~~ Oh! And I saw a raccoon on the way to work today. I was going south on W River Parkway and this raccoon pops up out of the street storm drain. It is looking away from me - clearly watching traffic to see when it could cross. So I barked at it - b/c I was afraid it didn't hear? my bike and would run in front of me. It looked at me and went back into the drain. It must have been less than 10 feet away by the time it disappeared. Luckily there was no raccoon carcass on the way home. Seemed like a very smart critter. |
| 6:03 am |
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| Saturday, June 20th, 2009 |
| 9:18 pm |
update
A bunch of mostly happy things have happened recently and I want to record them for memory sake. ( update ) |
| Thursday, June 18th, 2009 |
| 9:46 am |
Rumi poem
Your grief for what you’ve lost lifts a mirror up to where you’re bravely working. Expecting the worst, you look, and instead here’s the joyful face you’ve been wanting to see. Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you’d be paralyzed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as bird wings. --Rumi This was on a Speaking of Faith podcast this morning + it really struck a chord in me. The piece was part of their Reposessing Virtue series about the financial crisis. The speaker was talking about finding balance. What a fantastic image of balance + the need in life to experience bad to understand good. |
| Saturday, June 13th, 2009 |
| 10:53 pm |
biked to Shoreview
I took a spur of the moment bike ride tonight up to Shoreview. It's nice to know I can just get on my bike and go without having to drive somewhere first. I'm so glad I'm starting to get to know the cities better. :) ( bike stats ) |
| Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 |
| 10:18 am |
bike stats
I biked in to work today. It feels so good to get outside and feel my body's strength. I may have parts of my life that are not everything I wish they were - but I have so much to be thankful for. YAY biking! 25.3 mph max 232.4 miles on this odometer 41 min 50 sec 9.46 miles 13.5 mph avrg |
| Saturday, May 23rd, 2009 |
| 7:46 pm |
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| 7:16 pm |
Message to Minnesota Public Radio
I just sent this comment to MPR: The ads you've been running for Monsanto have opened my eyes. I had been under the false impression that the companies advertised on MPR had been vetted and were worth supporting. I now know better. I am deeply disappointed that MPR would participate in Monsanto's attempt to "green wash" its image. I will no longer be supporting the companies advertised on MPR unless I have some other reason to believe them to be socially responsibly companies. If you are interested in more information please watch "The World According to Monsanto." ~~ Anyone here know of any reason why I'm wrong about Monsanto? |
| Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 |
| 10:30 pm |
Dildo Bingo!
I'm still coming down from the high of Dildo Bingo! Thank you to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) fayeven and profmurphy for encouraging me to go and for dancing with me! I had heard about Dildo Bongo for awhile and then it died - but apparently it is now resurrected and will hopefully be happening quarterly. Dildo Bingo is basically playing bingo for sex toy prizes - donated by Smitten Kitten. All the proceeds go to a different charity each time. The previous location apparently went out of business - so it has been picked up by a gay bar whose name seems to be Eagle Minneapolis - or The Underground or Bolt....??? I'm confused about what it's call. Tonight's proceeds went to The Aliveness Project "an organization that provides programs and services to those living with HIV/AIDS in the Twin Cities." I didn't win anything - but I had a ball. I got to dance with some very sexy women and have crackers shoved in my mouth by a performer. YAY! Now to calm down enough to sleep.... |
| Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 |
| 11:02 pm |
skimming LJ!
I'm sorry if I missed anything in the last few days - I seem to have gotten behind here. I am hoping to catchup this weekend for real - but in the mean time - only a fast skim. Please let me know if there was something important missed! :) ( bike stats ) |
| Sunday, May 17th, 2009 |
| 11:01 pm |
Marketing is the enemy
I tend to think about what's wrong with the world and ways to fix it and the topic of the video referenced here: http://community.livejournal.com/naturalliving/5373395.htmlis in the running for the biggest problem in this country. We are robbing ourselves of our future and our greatest resource - our children's chance to affect the future by being able to think for themselves. Marketing is too unbalanced. Kids and parents really don't have the wherewithall to resist the expertly crafted marketing that bombards children. The only solution I can think of is to create a backlash against marketing. Something like a book with the appeal and following of Harry Potter that paints the evil of marketing and encourages kids to fight back (think for themselves) - so that Congress will be forced to resist the lobbies and change the laws to make it illegal to market to kids. Someone please write that. Ok? This makes me so angry and sad. (oh course the video uses marketing tactics such as fear mongering to makes its point... but I guess I'm ok with that) |
| 5:28 pm |
reverse update
JRob and I just finished watching The Hunt For Gollum. Very well done! Hard to believe it's a bunch of fans who put it together. I had a very nice afternoon with my Sweety. We went to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I loved the sculpture Kiss of Victory. It made me feel held in the arms of the gods. Very erotic. Here's another view. We also looked at some houses... the neighborhoods scared me a little... I'm not sure how to judge between borderline and actually scary... Yesterday was a fun Minn-StF meeting. I got to see quadong and Kelly and sraun and a bunch of ppl who's LJs I don't know. And I met dd_b whom I had heard about from guppiecat. I got to learn how to play Corsari. I enjoyed it - I didn't win any games but I think I held my own - mostly due to Kelly's help in learning the strategy. I think I was starting to get a hang of the basics. I have to learn to pay more attention to whose picking up and discarding what. And Friday I had a wonderful evening with jiawen :) skylarker was there too, but I missed my chance to talk before she had to leave. Next time I have to ask who's leaving first so that I can be sure not to miss them. I also learned how to play Wasabi which didn't really click with me. But the evening ended with Taboo!! YAY!!! |
| Saturday, May 16th, 2009 |
| 1:34 pm |
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| Sunday, May 10th, 2009 |
| 10:57 pm |
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| Friday, May 8th, 2009 |
| 3:04 pm |
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| Thursday, May 7th, 2009 |
| 9:18 pm |
dream + biking
I slept really solidly last night. YAY! But the alarm went off in mid dream and took awhile to wake me. I was dreaming that my husband (who I think might have been played by Han Solo (not Harrison Ford) in this dream or it might have been Sting... it's kind fuzzy) was being held in a jail cell on the top of the empire state building and I was trying to get up there to free him. But the elevator wouldn't go all the way up - so I got off a floor beneath and that floor's corridors were all under about 5 feet of water + there was all of this hidden debris floating around in it - bumping into me in the murky water and scaring me. I knew that he was being held unjustly + I had to get up to him to set him free - but I kept running into all of these obstacles and trying to deal with them. Clearly I need to call Han Solo and make sure he's Ok. How did ppl make calls in the Star Wars universe? ( yesterday's bike stats ) |
| Monday, May 4th, 2009 |
| 10:57 pm |
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