ElementalMom

• I’m pretty sure that the world of finance exists to obfuscate and to self-perpetuate. #
• I really thought my last tweet would exorcise the bad financial institution demons. No such luck. I feel such a snarky blog coming on… #
• So much for the GPS drama: http://bit.ly/AQ3zz #boating #sailing #
• RT @rozsavage: hmph. breeze against me. have rowed 2hrs just to stand still. #spirit#women #sustainability #rowing #rozsavage #
• Trying to decide if it’s unethical to publish an essay on the web if the author has ignored repeated email and facebook requests . #
• @DanaNourie That’s the problem… the essay only exists as the forward to a 1970’s cookbook; it isn’t online anywhere, so no way to link. in reply to DanaNourie #
• @MissAdventuring that completely sucks. We were hoping to be able to justify an iPhone purchase that way, for our World Tour. in reply to MissAdventuring #
• More financial institution madness. Faxes, forms, and other f-words flying around. JP Morgan, Tech CU, I mean you!!!!! #
• @MissAdventuring Wish we could see it all through your eyes! in reply to MissAdventuring #
• Messing around with Wesabe. Very nice… #
• RT @rozsavage: sisyphus eat your heart out. i’ve been rowing this same mile of ocean for hours. #rozsavage #rowing #oceans #
• Wrestling with an OO.o template. It’s two falls out of three and I’m not sure who’s winning… #
• RT @rozsavage: Day 4: Sisyphus Eat Your Heart Out http://ff.im/3kgxK #rozsavage #rowing #environment #ocean #
• RT @rozsavage: Pouring with rain now – why doesn’t it do this in the daytime when Iwould LOVE a cooling rainshower?! #rozsavage #oceans … #
• Looking for a mission? Looking to exercise with a purpose? Looking to tell em what for in Copenhagen? http://pulltogether09.org/ Join me! #
• Welcome @Overtons! Now, you want to ask me to do product reviews for you on my blog. You know you do. #
• Writing an article for Xsport magazine. Support me, and subscribe! (for free!). Thanks! http://www.xsport-magazine.com/ #
• RT @rozsavage: cooler and calmer this morning. clawing back some lost miles. #rozsavage #rowing #oceans #
• Wondering about all my retweets? I’m helping @rozsavage and @nics_dolcevita with some stuff, including retweeting with hashtags. #
• OMG, @hawaii is following me! WELCOME, Ryan! I am so flattered! #oceans #
• And now Jennifer @ kilinahe is following me too!!!! Welcome, welcome Maybe we’ll have to sail to Hawai’i sooner rather than later! #
• RT @gCaptain: Earthrace may join Sea Shepherd to take on whalers http://bit.ly/2Mn8n #seashepherd #
• RT @rozsavage: good but all too short spell of north wind. regained ground lost yesterday. #rozsavage #rowing #oceans #
• Excited but nervous, prepping to be a pilot kayak for the SERC Long Swim tomorrow. Wish me luck! #kayaks #swim #ocean #
• RT @rozsavage: just did 8 miles in 2.5 hours. this is more like it! #rozsavage #rowing #ocean #
• RT @rozsavage: RozCast for May 29, 2009 – Solo Pacific Row – Stage 2, Wk 1 http://ff.im/3nFtw #rozsavage #rowing #ocean #pulltogether #
• @furi_eus Welcome! Yes, I’m “splashing” Laureen! =) in reply to furi_eus #
• @quennessa OOOH. Can’t wait to hear the full review. I could use some of the same kicking. in reply to quennessa #
• RT @rozsavage: handy bit of overnight drift. 14 miles to the good!#rozsavage #rowing #ocean #
• RT @rozsavage: Day 6: Getting Out Of My Depth (And My Boat) http://ff.im/3oIQM #rozsavage #ocean #rowing #
• Being sad that my big pilot kayak debut got canned because my swimmer caught the flu. But happy to know I’ll be out in big water again soon #
• Squash chili bubbling happily on the stove; now going to play a few rounds of Mancala with Rowan, who routinely slaughters me. #
• @MissAdventuring You can bet I’ll be picking your brain when you get home. in reply to MissAdventuring #
• Aurora stood up unsupported! YEAH! Walking, here we come! #
• RT @rozsavage: sheesh, it’s a hot one. even the breeze is hot. #rozsavage #rowing #ocean #
• Kestrel Sebastian is FOUR today! Woah. How time flies. #
• Going to see UP, since the weather is way way way too yukky to go build sandcastles on the beach. And then persian food, and cake! #
• @quennessa Clearly, this is where the pointy boots come in. in reply to quennessa #
• @quennessa Go go go go!!!!!! Editamundo! in reply to quennessa #
• @quennessa I put a paperbackswap request in. Does that count? in reply to quennessa #

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http://uniteforlife.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/just-say-no-to-the-mothers-act/

This blog pretty much says it all. Please go read it, get adequately outraged, and then do something concrete to stop this piece of unexpurgated evil.

• Eight gazillion errands today. Probably good; it keeps me from waiting by the phone. #
• Trying to figure out what kinds of food plants will actually grow on this boat. Bet the nursery folks won’t know either. #
• So stoked… DocWeb finally is real! YEAH! http://doc.java.sun.com/DocWeb/ #
• RT @rozsavage: Store Savage Goes Live – Thanks to eBay http://ff.im/31t8k #
• The fog rolled in so fast last night that the entire surface of the marina was steaming. Totally fabulous. #
• Moving from Vonage to Skype, cancelling AT&T, and in all other ways, streamlining our telecom. Whoot! #
• http://www.dilbert.com/fast/2009-05-10/ #
• Supposed to be working on my resume. So naturally I’m doing everything in the world *but*. #

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The boys were crazy today. I mean, beating each other up, hitting with legos, charging around, being nutty. So we went outside.

It was a gorgeous day out. Sunny, warm, delightful. We walked from the boat to the marina office, picked up the mail, and then decided to flop out on the Meadow (me) and run out the crazies (them).

Before long, there was a hide-and-seek game. I could pretty well see them both, and was not really being eagle-eyed about it; I mean, it’s the marina, they’re kids, they should be able to run, right? They dashed over to the firepit, and I was sort of slowly thinking of standing up and heading over there, when Kestrel came toddling back to me.

“I can’t find Rowan” he said dejectedly.

“Fine” I say, and I hollered for Rowan. No answer. I hollered again, a little louder. Again, no answer.

The only place clearly out of my sight was behind the shower house, so I headed there immediately. And saw Rowan standing there talking to a man.

I’d never seen him before. Probably between 45 and 55 years of age, well-kept, thin, tallish, grey hair, good shape. Blue eyes. Standing far too close to my son. He looked up as I rounded the building, and said “You’re doing a great job with this boy.”

Dear readers, I have no idea why, but I hated the man on sight. I snapped at Rowan, “Get back over to the lawn, go sit down by Kaia, and wait for me.” Apparently I had murder in my eyes, and he did precisely as he was told (for the first and last time today).

I looked at the man, who proceeded to babble about having to meet someone at the dock and was this “A” gate or “A” dock and he wasn’t really sure where he was supposed to meet this person, who was showing him a boat, and blah blah blah blah.

Gavin de Becker would have called it “too much detail.” I gave him the “You are a bug and I have a pin” look, and said “The Harbormaster’s office is over there, go check with him if you’re looking for a boat.” The man babbled about making a cellphone call, and retreated. I got back to the boys, and just…sat…down. This all hadn’t really gelled in my head yet; I think I was running on instinct.

A marina neighbor came by to chat, and so I had a great excuse to stay right where I was for about half an hour. And friends, the man didn’t go to either gate. He in fact walked along the parking lot, and then got into a car and drove off.

Rowan and I have had a long talk about strangers, about people who do bad things to kids, about how hard you fight, how loud you scream, and how it is OK to bite and kick and do all the things that you’re not supposed to do to your little brother. We’ve also talked about being out of sight, and about answering when Mama calls you.

If I think about this too much, I’m going to be sick. I try so hard to give my kids some semblance of free-range, and some degree of security and safety in which to explore their world. I deplore “helicopter moms”. And yet… what would have happened if I hadn’t been right there? If I hadn’t gone to precisely where he was immediately upon missing him? What if I’d been distracted and not gotten there fast enough?

They’re bathed and jammied, we’re snuggling in for a movie and an early bedtime. And I am probably going to have my post-stress cry then. My hands are already shaking, full-on fight or flight recovery mode.

Nothing happened, right? My conscious brain knows that. But my jungle brain feels like I just avoided a lifetime nightmare.

• Back from Nevada, recovering from the drive, and OMG happy to be on the water again! #
• Catching up on the electronic havoc that five solid days of being unplugged caused. #
• Plotting tomorrow. With any luck, I’ll catch up on all my loose ends. BWAHAHAHAHA. #
• Got a sweet job lead… am holding my breath waiting for a call. Total dream job. Pull for me, everybody! #
• @TammyT Somewhat amusing? You’re far more generous than I, although I’m gonna steal your Dr. Seuss comeback there. =) in reply to TammyT #
• The mighty Jonathan is coming over to troubleshoot our internet madness, and quite possibly, finally free us from dockside wiring! YEAH! #
• Just posted a copy of “Atlantic Islands : Canaries,Maderia,Azores,Cape Verde” guide to Amazon. Anyone cruising the Azores need it? #
• Welcome @jonaiello . Now go tweet! #
• Rowan and I are making rice milk; starting with cooking the rice in our solar cooker. Cool project for a sunny Saturday. #
• @sufficiency we alternate between rice milk and almond milk, make about half a gallon at a time, and store in kleen kanteens in the fridge. in reply to sufficiency #
• Off for a potluck/shrimp boil on A-dock. Fabulous weather, fabulous food, excellent company. Hurrah! #
• Not even 10 AM and I’ve managed breakfast, shower, laundry, and some semblance of plan for the day. Whoot! #
• Awesome twitter app: Nest Unclutterer http://nest.unclutterer.com/ #

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• trying to pin down details of setting up this massage practice gig. Pricing sheets now… fun? or threadcount? or cheap? or thick? Ack! #
• @MissAdventuring Yup! in reply to MissAdventuring #
• Starting the slog of catching up with All Things Bureaucracy after taking two weeks off for school. The real world is so uphill sometimes. #
• Some major paperwork hurdles cleared. Now, on to dishes. For a break. How sad is that? #
• Does anyone have a rec. for financial software that’s friendlier than Quicken, for the Mac? #
• @Quennessa Just added Gracie’s birthday to my calendar, and got all smiley and happy when it said “end?” and I got to click “never”. #
• Planning on an entire day of being quiet and withdrawn, just to keep everyone on their toes. #
• Totally stoked… going to the Reno River Festival for mother’s day! My boys know what makes their mama happy. http://www.renoriverfesti … #
• Wondering if anyone from #1000kayaks will be at Reno River Festival? Surely there’s another mama kayaker out there? #
• Riverfest is rockin! #kayak #

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That’s it. The world has gone totally, totally mad.

http://www.physorg.com/news160327633.html

Pigs, people may soon eat their way to flu resistance, say researchers

April 30th, 2009

(PhysOrg.com) — A team of researchers from Iowa State University is
putting flu vaccines into the genetic makeup of corn, which may someday
allow pigs and humans to get a flu vaccination simply by eating corn or
corn products.

“We’re trying to figure out which genes from the swine influenza
<http://www.physorg.com/tags/swine+influenza/>  virus to incorporate
into corn <http://www.physorg.com/tags/corn/>  so those genes, when
expressed, would produce protein. When the pig consumes that corn, it
would serve as a vaccine,” said Hank Harris, professor in animal science
and one of the researchers on the project.

The project is a collaborative effort with Harris and Brad Bosworth, an
affiliate associate professor of animal science working with pigs, and
Kan Wang, a professor in agronomy, who is developing the vaccine traits
in the corn.

The corn vaccine would also work in humans when they eat corn or even
corn flakes, corn chips, tortillas or anything that contains corn, said
Harris.The research is funded by a grant from Iowa State University’s
Plant Sciences Institute, and is their Biopharmaceuticals and
Bioindustrials Research Initiative.The corn vaccine may be possible in 5
to 7 years if research goes well. Meanwhile, the team is trying to speed
up the process……

My longtime readers know that we’re corn free as a family, because Rowan reacts really badly to it. Well… his reactions had been diminishing, so we’d been allowing corn to come back in… when you’re gluten-free as well, it’s nice to sometimes have a tortilla option. But as we all know, the corn gene is almost impossible to keep corralled, so if this version of frankencorn is grown, it’ll be ubiquitous in no time.

Frankly, I am terrified. As if vaccines weren’t bad enough, as if Pharma wasn’t meddling in our lives enough already, now we have to go conflating them with our food supply. Paleo diet, here I come.

Hey gang… this just in from Advocate Aaron (who is, believe it or not, cooler in person than online):

The U.S. Senate is set to give legally protected status to pedophiles and 30 other sexual orientations. The Senate refused to define what is meant by sexual orientation in S. 909, the “Hate Crimes” bill. This means that the 30 different sexual orientations will be federally protected classes.

The House has already passed this bill, and the Senate will vote as early as Wednesday. Pres. Obama has said he would sign the bill.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE

Call your two senators today and demand that he or she vote against S.909. Please forward this to all your family and friends. The Senate refused to define the term “sexual orientation,” which means that all sexual orientations are protected. (See loophole below)

To see the orientations that will be protected by the Hate Crimes bill (S. 909) See BELOW. (I am REALLY PISSED)

The Hate Crime law, S.909 (and HR1913), will make 30 sexual orientations federally-protected. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has published 30 such sexual orientations that, because of Congress’s refusal to define “sexual orientation,” will be protected under this legislation. These 30 orientations are listed in the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), which is used by physicians, psychologists, social workers, nurses, and psychiatrists throughout the U.S. It is considered the dictionary of mental disorders. Those 30 sexual orientations include behaviors that are felonies or misdemeanors in most states. See, this is the PROBLEM with our FREAKIN lawmakers.  It’s the stupid loopholes that allow PEDOPHILES to be PROTECTED. (Did I mention I am PISSED)

Go read his whole rant here, and do please call your Senators. Anyone who has ever stood up for a kid, been a kid, or had a kid, needs to scream about this.

Oh, and the title? Nothing to do with swine flu. My grandfather, who died over 20 years ago, used to say “When the virus takes us, we will have had it coming.” I used to think he was overly cynical, but the older I get, the more I quote him.

I’ve been quiet on this blog lately, because in a fit of trying something completely different, I decided to become a certified massage therapist. And since I do nothing tentatively, I threw myself into a two-week, 100-hour intensive program. Think of it as immersion for massage.

The class was awesome and life-altering and I’ll blog about all of that as I get the time. For now, though, I wanted to just blog about the very last day of class.

The end of the program was an 8-hour course on “Business, Ethics, and Hygiene,” which sounds like three things you’d want your massage therapist to know about, right? I mean, they’re having to tell the general public that handwashing is a good idea, so I guess someone somewhere thinks this is critical information to impart. Awesome.

The bulk of the class was about setting up a business. Which makes sense; for a lot of the people that pass through the school, this is a vocational move, and the dollar is still the bottom line. So we talked about Business for Massage a lot. And sportsfans… I was horrified.

The instructor, who was a sweet, older woman who’s been helping people who really, really need touch therapy for over thirty years, spoke about permits. And licenses. But in California, at least, the situation is not clear, and in the Bay Area, where I can bike easily across four cities and two counties, to practice “outcalls” (where you go to the client’s home rather than making them come to you) you’d need something like one business license, and four permits. That’s if you could get a straight answer on what you really need. You see, massage, tainted by its long-time yet wholly inappropriate confusion with prostitution, is sometimes covered as a business, so by the folks who cover commerce, and sometimes by… brace yourself… the vice squad of the local police department (I’m not making that up.). So essentially, the instructor was telling us to get on the phone, call, call, call some more, and try to figure out what we had to do to be legally compliant where we live and where we’re planning on working.

Wait for it…

I spoke up. “What’s in it for me, to be compliant?”

Security, apparently. If I give various city, county, and state officials my money, they will then allow me to try to work.

I spoke up again. “But what’s the penalty if I don’t do this?”

The teacher looked like I’d slapped her. No one had ever asked about that. Apparently, even though thousands of people have taken that class, no one had yet asked about what the penalty for noncompliance actually was. She spoke on a bit about being more comfortable with being compliant, and suggesting strongly that we all do so.

You know I couldn’t leave it alone.

“So you’re saying that even though they provide you no protection of trade, they provide you in fact nothing whatsoever that I can figure out, including security that you’ve paid off all the right people, you feel better giving them your money, than you would, say, standing up and telling them that until they got their act together and made the process make sense, included you in the civics of the place (chamber of commerce, etc.) and in all other ways made it worth your while, you weren’t going to pay?”

Silence. Naturally. The other students moved away from me just a little bit.

Apparently noncompliance is dangerous, radical talk. The idea that government, even on the local level, is there to serve us, not to penalize us and charge fees based on someone’s wild guess as to what they could get out of us, is so incredibly foreign, that even in a room full of folks who are massage therapists fercryingoutloud, with an assortment of outward signs of rebellion (tattoos, lip piercings, rude t-shirt slogans), the very thought that we should fight the system is somehow stepping over a line.

I don’t know where to start, with this. I could blame public school for churning out people who are so used to complying mindlessly that the very act of questioning is unacceptable. I could blame society for making people soft and lazy. I could blame their parents. I could blame the church(es).

But really, when it all comes down to it, if even this crowd is incapable of simply asking “why?” and “what happens if I don’t?”, then this culture is more deeply doomed than I thought.

• Week 1 of massage school: done. Anatomy & Physiology: Perfect final exam. So far, so good! Tomorrow, midterm. #
• Aced the midterm, aced the quiz, aced the final. I am rockin’ massage school. And yet totally relaxed while doing it. How cool is that? #
• Aurora is now imitating sounds… Just did a totally perfect Tigger growl with me. Talking is just around the corner! #
• perfect score on final (practical) exam for massage school! YEAH! Business/ethics class tomorrow, then I”m DONE! #
• Laureen Hudson, C.M.T., is what the new business cards will read. wheeeeeeeee! #
• Enjoying a rainy morning at home. #
• @MissAdventuring being able to fire queries off rapidly and get a range of responses back in reply to MissAdventuring #

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