People of Walmart

Now I don't shop at Walmart. I know too many small business owners to shop at what my family refers to as the evil empire. But after checking out People of Walmart (thanks for the suggestion Em), there are other reasons not to shop there.

People of Walmart is a blog dedicated to displaying readers' pictures of people they find in Walmarts. There are the poorly dressed,

the crazies,

and the "what were they thinking?".

I'm not brave enough to post a picture of the mostly dressed although there were plenty of those. It's a mix of some of the oddest pictures you'll ever see. And almost all of them are funny and sad and frightening.

Jeff and I spent part of the weekend, while recovering from shopping, clicking through the many pages. I was both humored and scared by the end. I'm amazed people leave the house looking like that but I'm also a bit scared for society in general. There are some odd people out there. And most of them are shopping in Walmart.

Stressed

{Warning: I'm incredibly whiny and neurotic today. Proceed with caution}

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you wake up with a feeling of impending doom? That's this week for me. Just thinking about the week makes me nervous. This morning I honestly wondered if going back to bed would make it go away. It's not Christmas, although that's stressful enough for some people. It's just the wrong combination of things.

As most of you know I'm not a huge fan of winter. In fact I hate it. I hate the ice and the snow and the cold. I'm starting to get over my fear of driving but I'm still terrified of ice. So of course they are planning for freezing rain all week. Literally starting tonight we are supposed to have freezing rain and snow, pretty much nonstop, until Friday afternoon. I'd be upset about that normally but even more so considering we will be traveling this weekend. I'm supposed to head to St. Louis this coming Friday. Heading out of town in freezing rain and sheet ice is the stuff of nightmares for me. Trigger my weather nerves.

Add to that the fact that I'm helping a friend out with some pet-sitting. I told her I would check in on her puppies each day this week. She has someone coming to take care of them but I need to check in daily. Now I love her dogs but I'm not always good with pet sitting. Much like baby-sitting, taking care of someone else's pet or child is pretty stressful on me. It instantly moves me into stress and worry mode. I am constantly worried that something will happen to them on my watch. After watching me babysit one afternoon, Jeff just smiled and told me it's a good thing we didn't have kids. I'd never sleep. Add that worry to the mix.

Last night I came home to find that my upstairs window sills were wet. Well not just wet, soaked and damaged. Apparently my windows are leaking under all the stress of the snow. There is still well over a foot of snow on some sections of the roof and the gutters are filled with ice. So it is now leaking into the house, either through the attic or through the window seals. I'm hoping it's the seals, less worry for mold. The sills are destroyed and now I'm worried that it has moved into the walls. Repair is going to be costly. I'm hoping the association will cover some of it, but I'm worried that it might cause other problems.

Oh and add the fact that I have three people I haven't bought for, a Secret Santa I just picked up on Friday, and you can consider me one walking pile of nerves. I'm a worrier to begin with but I think things are starting to stack up on me. Weather, pet-sitting, home repairs, shopping, and slippery travel. Should be a fun week.

{Sorry all. I probably shouldn't be writing this today. I know I've got it pretty good and that I'm whining needlessly. It was just weighing on my mind.}

Poetry Friday

No politics this week. In fact something a little tamer. With Christmas only a week away I thought I would do something seasonal. I looked for something to do with the solstice. That is my favorite part of this holiday. I traditionally celebrate the solstice because I know that after it comes the lengthening days. Similarly I become depressed at the summer solstice, knowing that they sunlight will never be longer than it is now. And each year this repeats.

But I haven't found any Solstice poems that I like and I love the simple cadence and sweetness of Robert Louis Stevenson's poetry. Yes this is the same Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote Treasure Island and Dr. Jekyl and Mr Hyde. But no menace or dasterdy pirates here. Just sweetness. Enjoy!


Winter-Time
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again.

Before the stars have left the skies,
At morning in the dark I rise;
And shivering in my nakedness,
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

Close by the jolly fire I sit
To warm my frozen bones a bit;
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore
The colder countries round the door.

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap
Me in my comforter and cap;
The cold wind burns my face, and blows
Its frosty pepper up my nose.

Black are my steps on silver sod;
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
And tree and house, and hill and lake,
Are frosted like a wedding-cake.

Whole Lotta Shakin'...just not here

I'd been meaning to write a book review (and had even started it) but a friend's email sent me in a complete other direction. She'd sent me a story from our local news source about a smaller (3.5) earthquake that just hit Nebraska. It touched on Southwest Iowa and the shaking was only for a couple seconds. But still, it was an earthquake!!

The comments on the news site are all worried. After all, we do live on the New Madrid Fault, one of the largest ones in the country. The fact that it hasn't done any serious moving or shaking since 1812 doesn't seem to reassure people. The comments (nothing good ever comes from reading the comments-PVP), all seem to say that this will be the end of the world. I have to admit that my first response to the story was not fear. It was excitement. If Nebraska can have an earthquake, we can. And I've always wondered what it feels like.

Now I'm not inviting quakes on the same size as the 1812 one. Those (there were four within a three month stretch of time) rang church bells in Boston and Washington DC. All of them were over 8.0 on the richter scale. Those could easily destroy sections of the city. Although we don't have a ton of skyscrapers, our builders aren't really built for earthquakes. But I wouldn't mind feeling a bit of a 3.5 quake. I'm just curious what it would be like. I've done a ton of reading about quakes and other natural disasters and always wonder what they are actually like. So perhaps we'll eventually feel a small one. Something like what my in-laws informed me hit St. Louis. A bit of shaking in the middle of the night to wake everyone up. Heck if Nebraska gets one, shouldn't we?

Tool Use

For the last couple decade the definition of being human (and separate from animals) has relied on the concept of tool use. Humans use tools, animals don't. After our definitions which were based on language, culture, and emotions were thrown out, we had to settle on tool usage. When it was determined that chimpanzees use tools to gain access to food, we started to lose what little ground we had. Over the past several decades we have found species after species that uses tools to make things simpler or gain access to resources. So this definition will eventually be busted as well.
British scientists have been working with rooks (same family as crows) for many years and are amazed by their clever use (and even invention) of tools. These are not trained behavior but are the result of problem solving. I watched a video recently where a rook lowered a hooked piece of plastic that it had been given into a beaker in order to snag a tiny little bucket with treats. The scientists were impressed by this. The rook then carried the bucket to the top of it's cage to eat the treat. When it couldn't reach it with it's beak, it hopped back down to the hook and fished the food out with that. Impressive tool use and understanding of how the tool worked.

This past week, scientists found evidence of tool use in octopuses. Divers took video of an octopus finding and unburying a coconut shell. It hollowed the shell out and then carried it along the ocean bottom. If attacked it will overturn the shell and hide under it. Or if it finds two shells it will bring them together to form a protective ball. Octopuses have long been known for their intelligence but the use of tools had not been documented in the species before. Another crack in the human/animal definition. This video has been circling the internet for a couple days now, partially because of it's amazing discovery but mostly because it's pretty funny to watch the octopus run. If nothing else I hope it reminds people that animals are far smarter than we give them credit for. And tool use is no longer a valid difference.

Image by Roger Steene (courtesy of BBC)

Oddly Antisocial

I'm not typically antisocial. Most of the time I love being around friends and family. I revel in long discussions and good conversation. For an introvert (and trust me I am one) I tend to enjoy being around people. Mind you, drop me in a room full of people I don't know and I'll find myself a quiet corner to hide. But with people I know, most won't even believe that I'm painfully shy.

But for some reason both today and yesterday I've been avoiding people. I haven't been on Facebook, I haven't been blogging, and I haven't even been willing to check my email. Apparently I'm being antisocial. Which is hilarious considering my weekend. Most of the weekend was pretty quiet. I had dinner with Jeff on Friday and we settled in at home for some exciting Christmas Card writing and a touch of Bailey's. It's amazing how much easier that pen writes when the Bailey's is flowing (my apologies to anyone who gets one of my later addressed ones). Saturday was filled with cleaning. The house looks almost uncluttered now, which is miraculous. With two packrats living in the same house, things can get a bit overwhelming.

And all of that led up to Sunday. I woke up with the alarm on Sunday so I could have breakfast at a friend's place. And she treated me wonderfully. I had samosas and sweet potato curry. There was homemade Apple Carrot juice (surprisingly tasty) and homemade tortillas. By the time I left her house, I was well past stuffed. I got home just in time to get a call from a high school friend of mine. She had looked me up out of the blue and had emailed me about getting together. Considering that she lives in Alabama we haven't seen each other in years. Eleven years to be exact. We had lost contact. So for all of Sunday afternoon, Jeff and I hung out with her, her husband, and her two adorable kids. We spent a lot of time playing Wii, taking pictures, but mostly just catching up. It was wonderful. So after a day filled with talking and visiting you would think that I'd be more than ready to communicate with everyone else. Apparently not.

I'm thinking that I've come out of my antisocial mood. I spent a fantastic lunch today with my sister. We laughed and ate too much. And now I feel like writing. I feel like sharing. I may even get on Facebook although I'm not promising anything. Just know that I'll be posting the rest of the week. And possibly this weekend. And sometimes, it may even be interesting.

Poetry and Politics

I realized last week that I haven't done a Poetry Friday in many many weeks now. I've either been bad about posting and then trying to catch up, or I just haven't been in the poetry mood. But a poem that keeps popping up on TV has me thinking about Whitman. And a bit peeved.

I'm sure by now you've seen the black and white Levi's commercials which include a video montage of either young people or scenes from America. Over these images is a scratchy voice reciting poetry, in particular Pioneers, Oh Pioneers and America both by Walt Whitman. The ads are unique in using poetry to sell a product. The mood they create is young, patriotic, and excited. In that sense they are successful.

The first time I saw these ads I was shocked. Not only was I hearing snippets of poetry, but that Levi's was again touting their American-ness. Now I understand that is the bedrock of the company's brand. They are the American jeans company. And they are all about American values. The funny thing for me about that is that Levi Strauss shuttered the last of their American manufacturing plants back in 2003 (most though had closed in the late 80s, early 90s). They no longer have any Canadian manufacturing either. Those were also closed about the same time. The only thing American about the Levi Strauss company is the headquarters. So I guess they can say that their designs are American, just not their actual make-up. I'm curious that these ads are so overtly American values based considering how recently they shut their last plant.

But the real thing that fascinated me was the narrator. That scratchy voice that seemed so old and yet spoke of youth. And then just recently I listened to an NPR interview with Neil Gaiman on audio books. He was talking about early audio and he played a click of America. The same scratchy voice. The same inflections as the commercial. And I realized what I'm listening to. That's Walt Whitman. Supposedly Whitman recorded four lines of America on a wax cylinder for a phonograph (early phonographs used cylinders instead of records). Pioneers is done by an actor since Whitman never recorded that one. Here is the kicker though, this would have been recorded in 1890. There is still discussion of whether it is actually his voice but most scholars agree that it is. And I'm intrigued. This is history. I'm actually saddened that it took a commercial to point me to The Whitman Recording. And a little saddened that is being used to sell jeans. But I guess if it spreads the word about his poetry and the recording, they are doing some good.

And that is a long introduction to finally bring you the poem which is much smaller. This is the full text of America by Walt Whitman.

Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,
All, all alike endear'd, grown, ungrown, young or old,
Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,
Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,
A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,
Chair'd in the adamant of Time.

To listen to the recording check out the Walt Whitman Archive or Poets.org.

Brian Despain

I don't remember when I learned about Brian Despain's fun and poignant artwork but I have loved his paintings for quite a while. I've been meaning to share them but things kept getting in the way. But during this past month, both Drawn.ca and Lines and Colors have done profiles on Brian so I figured it was about time I did my own.

Brian's artwork is filled with fish and robots and gears and robots and birds and robots. And did I mention robots. Best known for his series of images portraying robots interacting with both the natural and the man-made world, his artwork has a wonderful mix of technology and emotion. These are not just mechanical creatures that respond to commands. Many of his robots are contemplating, reacting, and exploring. They are emotional and curious. And they are all incredibly rendered.

Using a muted palette of greys and browns, Brian creates a world that is recognizable but a bit surreal. Fish flow from robots' chests. Robots talk with pears and hummingbirds. One odd imaged offered a robot striding through town with a giant octopus for a hat. Each creature in Brian's paintings are detailed, down to the bolts on the robots and the scales on the fish. The images are sharp even if the backgrounds are a bit muted. But the real power of Brian's work for me is the emotion. His robots are surprised or amused or curious. It seems clear though both facial expressions and body language. Or perhaps that is me anthropomorphizing.

Each robot or creature is unique. His creations are each numbered to show their place in the series. These are not sequential though. One of the first images chronologically is robot number 29, seen below, in an image called Mr. Bubble's Birthday. This is a perfect example of the detail and emotion I was talking about. This has to be one of my favorites.


Brian's work has become incredibly popular recently and there are even cell phone skins with his images on them. I'm seriously thinking about picking up one of his laptop covers for my old laptop. And of course I need to pick up a print of his work one of these days. The hardest part will be choosing which incredible image to purchase. There are just too many I want. Fun, sad, poignant, and beautiful robots. What more could any girl want?

Epic

I'm at home today. I decided to spend the day at home after one of the worst blizzards in the history of Des Moines hit last night. I went to work yesterday with the snow flying. When I left the office there was about 7 inches of snow on the ground. The drive home last night was slippery but not horrible. But that was not the worst of the storm. Last night we got an additional 8 inches. And then the winds kicked up.

It has been a full blown blizzard all day. That combined with the current 15 inches of snow has produced one of the most dangerous storms I've ever seen. Many of the interstates have been shut down for most of the day. The National Guard was called out to rescue people who traveled and ended up in ditches. The National Weather Service referred to the storm as "Epic". And the Governor warned last night that people shouldn't drive if they could avoid it.


So this morning I emailed my boss and told him I was taking a furlough day. I have to take seven of them anyway. And this seemed like the perfect day. Here is the view out of my front window. That rapidly disappearing block in the middle of the patio is our air-conditioner. The car was even more buried.


But not even the second floor was immune. Here is my back bedroom/studio. I walked by and noticed how dark the room was. That's when I realized that the bottom half of the window is completely buried with drifts.


I worried this morning about whether I should go in or not. My father did go in to work. He described the roads as horrible. I've been watching the conditions deteriorate all afternoon. I'm glad I stayed home. I hung out with Jeff (whose school closed for the day), shoveled a bit of snow, drank tons of hot chocolate, and read most of the day. Now I'm planning to curl up, watch Mythbusters, and drink some coffee. It was a wonderful day...for those inside.

Alice

I'm a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland. I've read the books (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass) multiple times, which is saying a lot. I've watched and own most film adaptations of the story. I've bought video games just because they are based on the character. I've even purchased figurines from the Disney film and Robert Sabuda's amazing pop-up book of the story. I love the story, the characters, and the setting. In short I love everything about those books.

That said I should have hated the new Alice miniseries done by the SyFy (or as I prefer SciFi) Channel. I should have been upset by the fact that the series never really touched on the original story. I should have hated that the characters are so loosely based on the book's characters that the only thing they have in common is the names. The Hatter is not mad, the White Knight doesn't move backwards, and The White Rabbit isn't really a rabbit at all. I should have hated it. But I didn't. Apparently I'm easily seduced.


Similar to SyFy's (back when it was SciFi) Tin Man, while I bristled at the license taken with the characters and story, I found the tone to be spot on. The premise of this story is that Wonderland is run by the Queen and King of Hearts (so far so good). They maintain peace in the kingdom by providing their subjects with liquefied emotions (ummm what?) particularly good emotions. In order to get the emotions, the organization called White Rabbit sneaks through a looking glass into the modern world and steals people, who they call oysters. The oysters are then kept happy while the emotions are drained from them. Alice, following her boyfriend Jack, stumbles into Wonderland in possession of a ring of power. The Queen will stop at nothing to get the ring back. Alice, with the help of Hatter (a street wise hustler character) and the White Knight (who's crazier than "a box of frogs"), set out to save Jack and bring down the Queen's reign. That's the story in a nutshell but there was far more going on.

As expected the setting was incredible. Wonderland's city is an odd mirror of the real world except that most of the action takes place in the buildings or on narrow ledges. The Queen's palace (Hearts Casino) is an elaborate house of cards. The settings themselves are beautiful and over the top. Which is what drew me in. SyFy, both literally and figuratively, gave Wonderland an edge. And not just the edge where the action takes place. It is a beautiful place but also incredibly deadly. The grit of the city and its maze-like buildings made sense to me. The fact that Alice would be guided through this chaotic urban world by a street hustler makes even more sense that way. And I liked the comparison of the urban grit with the polished atmosphere of the casino. The setting really made this for me.

The character of Alice is also a bit different from what you are used to. In this adventure Alice is the major butt kicker. She's a blackbelt in Karate and can easily defend herself physically. What she can't seem to do is defend herself emotionally. She is easily misled and is constantly trusting the wrong person. Her character is afraid of heights (which is never explained) leading to some annoying hysterical scenes. Hatter on the other hand is a much more enjoyable character to watch. He alternates between menacing, cocky, charming, pitiable, and sweet. I was seduced by his understated charm, his puppy-dog loyalty, and his hat tricks. He's a manipulative character but with a solid core. Kathy Bates is a fabulous Queen with just the right amount of anger and self-righteousness. She's vain and over-the-top in just the right way. And to balance all the grit and menace of the others is The White Knight, who is seriously crazy. His constant singing, his useless showmanship, and his wild facial expressions made him seem more like the book's character than anyone else.


The one issue that I had with the series was that the plot tried to do a little too much. It tried to work in characters that shouldn't be there. It tried to add family drama in the form of Alice's father who was dragged into the world decades ago and brainwashed. Most of the scenes with Doctors Dee and Dum were too bizarre, even for Wonderland. Where Tin Man followed one story much more successfully, this miniseries is like a juggler keeping way too many balls in the air.

I'm sure most people will disagree with me on most of this review. Those who really enjoyed it will say that most of those extraneous parts are needed. And those who hate it will say that it was too far from the story to even be considered an Alice in Wonderland adaption. I myself will simply say that I'm infinitely seducible. I went in with a vague curiosity based on images and ended up enjoying it. I won't be rushing out to own this Alice, but I won't turn it down if I find it at a reasonable price. A dark story with some bizarre twists and turns that made for an entertaining, if not over the top, Alice. And a very different take on the story.

Who Needs Sleep?

I find it funny that I just bought that song from BareNaked Ladies. And it feels so appropos today. I'm living on about 3 hours of sleep so I won't be posting anything huge. I'm not sure I'd be coherent enough for anything more than a couple sentences. So instead, I found this. And considering the amount of snow and cold we are expecting in the next three days (12 inches!!!!) I figure there is no time like the present to post it.

Stuart Carlson

Milwaukee Journal Sentinal

New Toy

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that I just got new toys in the form of two typewriters. And that is true. But this new toy is a bit more high-tech. And I bit more likely to affect the blog.




I've been wanting a scanner for years now. I'm not sure why I held off on buying one since they have become pretty reasonably priced. Rather than taking pictures of images that I wanted to add to the blog I figured with a scanner you wouldn't get as much distortion of image. So Jeff and I had been pricing them. We figured that since our printer was in good shape we wouldn't want one of those all in ones.



That is until we saw the HP Photosmart Plus (pictured below). And then we saw the price. We finally bought it two days after Thanksgiving when the stores were still doing big sales. This beautiful piece of technology (note the touch screen) was 50% off. We simply couldn't pass up a deal like that.

It is a printer, scanner, and copier all rolled into one. I don't think either of us need the copier although that aspect will be nice for photocopying recipes or knitting patterns. I had done a late night copier run just recently to copy a list of books out of a library book before returning it. So it will be nice to no longer have to pay for those. But what really sold us was the wireless printing. Our current printer requires that we bring one of the laptops over to the printer to be plugged in. If I was working on my desktop, which I normally am, that meant transfering the files to the laptop to be able to print. With this new toy I can just hit print and done. From across the room!! It's like magic.

And of course now I can scan things. Which means you guys will get to see things with a lot less distortion. It also means that you might be subjected to more of my artwork. Which could be scary. So not only will you have to deal with images of my amateurish drawing or painting attempts but they will have more clarity than before. Sadly that means you can no longer say things like, "That's a great....elephant? pig? I'm so sorry with the terrible picture quality I can't quite tell." So be prepared.

Sometimes the old remedies are the best

Okay fair warning, this is about a bit of a disgusting topic. But it's what's on my mind recently and I had to share my findings. But if you're easily grossed out by some topics, this might not be the post for you.

I find it amazing that some of old remedies seem to work far better than anything else out there. In this case I'm using a sinus remedy that is many centuries old. And still works like a charm. Since I had bronchitis this past summer I've been having some issues with my sinuses. I can't smell as well and I have certain times where I have more trouble breathing. My sinuses feel full. It was starting to really annoy me when I fell back on some yoga training that I had years ago. During class I mentioned something about my sinuses and the yogi suggested a neti pot.

For those who've never heard of a neti pot it is a small either ceramic or plastic pot shaped like a teapot. You mix a solutions of salt (or saline rinse) with lukewarm water and then pour the solution into one nostril. The solution will them flood into the sinuses and out the other nostril. Since you tip your head to the side and slightly forward you can still breath comfortably although through your mouth.

When my yogi first mentioned the neti pot, I remember being completely disgusted. I hated the feeling of getting water in my nose when swimming. Why would I purposefully put some in? Plus then there was the fact that this was my nose and I knew what came out of that when I blew it. I did not want to deal with that. So I didn't try it then. But when my recent sinus problems began I figured I would bite the bullet and pick one up.

The sensation has to be one of the oddest feelings in the world as you flood your nose with water. I can see why they suggest using warmish water. But for days afterward I breath better, I smell better (well I'm not sure I smell better, but I can smell things better. :-)). And more than anything I feel better. I was completely skeptical but nowadays I love my neti pot. For anyone dealing with sinus issues, I would certainly recommend one. Once a week is all I need and I feel so much better. I know it's not the most appetizing idea but it works. Again sorry if I grossed anyone out. But it works so well I just had to mention it.

The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9

As you know I'm a huge animation fan. I watch animated films, I have three different animation blogs that I read regularly, and I'd love to learn how to create my own. And when I see things like The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9, I remember why I love this medium.

The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9 is one of the sweetest, funniest, and most exciting bit of animation I've seen in a while. It's short and filled with fun. I saw it months ago on Irene Gallo/Tor's Saturday Morning Cartoons but it is released exclusively by Cartoon Brew TV (a great place to visit for some fun animation).

Terrible Thing is the brainchild of Jake Armstrong who did the film for a thesis project. It follows an astronaut who is attempting to capture the bounty on the creature that lives on the planet Alpha-9. It's a wild romp with a very manly astronaut and a very unusual monster. I won't tell you more than that because I want you to watch it instead. The film has slowly gained notoriety by word of mouth mostly. I watched it and then immediately had to show it to Jeff. Then share with a coworker or two or three. It's a bit twisted at the end but in a good way. It's well worth a viewing.

Something a Little Lighter

After yesterday I feel like I need to post something a little lighter. Something that will make me incredibly happy rather than angry. Something to cleanse your palate after my diatribe yesterday. So I bring you a library.

Yes, what you see is a lending library. A village in Somerset England lost both their mobile library and their phone box in the past year. So they contacted the telecom company and asked for the box back. Not the mechanisms, just the box. And they turned it into a lending library.

The phone box houses about 100 books and they are constantly changing. Lending is done on the honor system. Patrons select books to read and bring in books they have already read. So far they claim that the system is working really well. And they get a library that's a bit of an oddity and a showcase. Along with the recycling of an old part, I think it's a brilliant idea. Now if only it didn't remind me of a Tardis every time I looked at it. :-)

Read the whole article here.