dangerous compassions

I call you / from the comet's cradle

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

train ride

Yesterday we rode on an old train.  M has a membership at the train museum.  So he took me, but we rode first class, which did cost something, but it was his first time riding first class.  And it was my first time riding at all.

We sat in an observation car as opposed to the smoking car.  Here's a picture M took of the smoking car.


Here's some of our fellow travelers getting a snack.  Included in a first class ticket is a drink and a cookie.


And here's a view of the engine in back and the brakeman.


My almost-favorite part of the ride was when I stepped outside to get a better look at the engine and feel the wind and see the trees and feel the outsideness.  I liked standing in silence with the brakeman and my crew member chaperone (we were only allowed out with supervision), feeling the movement of the train, appreciating the situation.  I liked when the train horn blew though it was so loud my chaperone covered his ears.

I loved this train ride because I liked sharing a new experience with M, and it was interesting how the kids interacted, and I liked the opulence.  I liked the views and the information.  But the thing that impressed me most was that the crew was entirely volunteers.

And my very favorite moment other than sitting on the couch with M was when we were detraining and two crew members stood at either side of the stairs telling us to watch our steps, and they held out their hands for us, and I took the stranger's hand and felt love / loved.

Oh, oh, oh--I also wanted to say that we took the noon train, and because it was Memorial Day, they had a moment of silence.  I absolutely love moments of silence though it would be hard for me to explain why.  I know they seem like interfaith prayer, which I like, but that's not quite it.  Maybe moments of silence remind me of performance art?  There's something experimental about them?  I like it when people go into a different than usual mode.  I like something different.  And I like respect, paying respect, honoring someone, pausing. 

I guess I just like silence.  It's one of my favorite parts of phone calls.  I like to say that silence can get good work done.  Kind of like watering M's garden.  You don't have to talk to water the garden, or pull a weed, or plant a seed, and in that silence, something wonderful can happen.

http://www.csrmf.org/train-rides/all-aboard-excursion-train-rides


potato


There are potatoes growing in a box in M's garden!


And here's a view of the garden as of yesterday.  I think the water looks great.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

mini-interview

Thursday, May 24, 2012

list

There are so many things I could tell you about.

--eating Cherry Garcia icecream at the garden with chopsticks
--eating ube icecream at Thai Basil after sharing some red curry (the ube icecream a vibrant purple)
--getting maps of Sacramento and Berkeley at AAA from a free map vending machine
--visiting Great Escape Games to pick up SacGeeks playing cards and seeing the amazing gaming space there and daydreaming about having a zine workshop there or an Icarus meeting there
--admiring M's awesome navigational skills
--paying a huge cashiers check for my new apartment which I will be moving into in just more than a week--yikes!
--cleaning / sorting / packing / gathering stuff for Goodwill / throwing stuff away (which is all emotional work in addition to other kinds of work)
--writing two new zines
--a fun lunch with friends at Loving Hut
--so many sweet emails and phonecalls
--not being online much
--the cats and dogs where I'm couchsurfing
--couchsurfing
--cornmeal pancakes with loquat sauce as imagined
--the metal horse outside Safeway
--being aware of time
--grieving
--daydreaming about my new neighborhood
--visiting the co-op
--the pain in my upper back
--using other people's computers
--blueberries from Insight Coffee
--romance, conflict, adventure

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

lime and lemon


Here are trip pics!

sculpture



before I die...


details




sky


me in Reno


Reno roadtrip

M and I went on a roadtrip to Reno over the weekend.  We also camped near Nevada City.  Other than during the Peace Walk, I hadn't camped in years.  Anyway, I'm making a zine about the trip, so I won't say too much about it here.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

my advice

When a cop is pulled over by the side of the road on the freeway, don't stay in the right lane--move over one lane.  M and I got a ticket for not doing this when we were on our trip in Nevada.  $225!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

special delivery

Today we planted potatoes in a box.  It's a milk crate.  And we watered.

We went to a cafe to see if we could see our friend S.  I was so excited she was there!  We got hugs.  We talked and made yoga plans.

Also we went to a small farmers market that was closing up.  We bought non-sprayed strawberries. 

Also we delivered some fresh herbs.  And no, that's not a euphemism for selling marijuana!

echinacea


garden news

Did I already tell you we looked at the nursery for a pasilla or poblano chile plant?  They didn't have any.  But yesterday we were at a grocery store, and I asked if M wanted to make chiles rellenos again, and he said yes because we had all the ingredients other than chiles, and so we bought two.  It was 76 cents.  Then we realized we could plant the seeds from one of the chiles, but if we roasted the chiles while the seeds were still inside, we might damage the seeds, so we went back into the grocery store for one more chile.  It was 42 cents.

Then we went to the garden and planted the seeds!  I hope some germinate and grow for us. We planted them on a mound.

I realize that this blog is quickly becoming All About M's Garden.  I hope you're enjoying it, reader.  Maybe you like plants as much as I do.

Monday, May 14, 2012

first poppy


This is the first poppy I've seen bloom in M's garden.

okay

Yesterday we did various stuffs.  What I wanted to talk about here is how we went to the garden and watered and checked up on the plants we planted the day before.  They are all okay! 

Saturday, May 12, 2012

new basil


new basil with yerba buena


strawberries

Here you can see where I planted the strawberries where we hacked the lavender last week.

beloved


green pepper


fuck heteronormativity

purple pepper

This morning was a workday at Fremont Community Garden.  We got there early and started working on the compost.  It's necessary to move it from bin to bin, and it's passed through a screen before going into the final bin.  So M shoveled and I passed the compost through the screen.  It was fun.

We did other stuff too, like someone was giving away strawberry plants and I planted some in M's plot.  I planted them around the area where we hacked at the lavender last week.  We made space for something good.

Then we went to a nursery and bought some basil and two kinds of bell peppers.  I'm feeling very fond of the plant that will produce purple ones.  I looked for pasilla or poblano plants, but there were none.

Then we went to Insight Coffee for a Second Saturday event.  I tabled with functionally ill 13 and Demonstrators on Roadway, 25 MPH.  We talked to people we know.

Then we went back to the garden to plant the two peppers and six basils.  We tried to figure out good planting places.  I asked if it was bad form to plant a pepper where the My Plant tomato plant was planted but ended up in the belly of a slug.  M said it was not bad form, so we planted it there, and I hope it thrives.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Pink Death interview

Please read this interview Rachel Radical did with me for Pink Death!

http://pinkdeathzine.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, May 09, 2012

I don't like artichokes

Today M and I went to a farm near Rio Linda and worked with artichokes.  First we picked some, using knives.  Then we cut off low leaves to use as mulch.  Then we processed some artichokes, washing them and getting the earwigs out.  Then we prepped some for confit.  I peeled two heads of garlic.  M cut strips of lemon zest and chopped herbs.  It was hot but not too hot.

Now M and I have eaten homemade yogurt with cranberry sauce.  We're drinking tea from drinking glasses. 

Monday, May 07, 2012

south yuba river trail

Today we hiked.  Here's M and Erik consulting a field guide!

me at the beginning of the hike


Indian pink

I took so many flower pictures on today's hike, and I was so disgusted with my camera's ability to focus up close that I decided not to post any of them.  But then I changed my mind, and here's a few.

mountain misery

It looks like a berry flower, but the leaves don't look like berry leaves.  Is it super poisonous, and that's the misery?  But I heard a rumor that it's related to the rose.

bluedicks possibly


sweet dudleya

Did you know my favorite plant is the dudleya?  Here is a sweet little one.

inflorescence of the amazing dudleya

Can you handle its excellence?

amazing dudleya

Erik took this.

river does funny

I hear this is the Yuba River.

Sunday, May 06, 2012

yarn bomb

This was near Phono Select and Rick's Dessert Diner.

the subconscious art of graffiti removal

This is near the intake for Sacramento's water supply and the confluence of two good rivers.

sage

M made this bundle of sage and I wrapped it in cotton thread.

me

Today we made chiles rellenos at M's house (along with yummy rice as well as beans from a can).  They turned out so delicious I was embarrassed by my own excellence.  Ha ha.  Just kidding.

us

Here's me and Erik with chiles rellenos. 

lavender lack

Here's the lavender now.  It was a huge bush and now it's way smaller.  The garden feels roomier.

Saturday, May 05, 2012

plans

Today we were invited to hack at M's lavender by the light of the supermoon, but we had to go home.  We intend to hack at the lavender tomorrow.

Thursday, May 03, 2012

what Erik said

Facebook is not the venue for reality.

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Berkeley

We went to Berkeley and Oakland on Sunday.  It was me and Erik and M.  M drove.

Some highlights...

*  While I photocopied zines, M taught Erik how to tie knots using shoelaces M found in his backpack.
*  Seeing somewhat tame black-crowned night herons near Lake Merritt.  We saw a miserable pacing chukar too.
*  Going to two cemeteries to visit M's relatives and take pictures.
*  Meeting M's ex-wife and giving their son a ride somewhere.
*  A strange cat that jumped on Erik from the top of a fridge.
*  Indian-Pakistani food and discussing it while eating it.
*  Brief phonecall with R and thanking them for not killing themself, which made us laugh.

implicar

Spanish word of the day is implicar.  The first example sentence cracked me up.

Que se abrazan no implica que sean amigos.

Just because they hug doesn't mean they are friends.

Phono Select

Today M and I went to Phono Select where we looked at zines.  We also went to Sugar Plum Vegan for taco Tuesday.  We got potato tacos and liked them.  We went to Rick's Dessert Diner too.  It was my first time.

Also we went to a Mexican market near city college for pasilla chiles to make chiles rellenos with.  When we were in Las Vegas and went to Mexican markets together, I was so happy, and I can't describe to you how happy I was to be in a Mexican market with M again.  Someone came up to us and explained in Spanish how M couldn't be there with his backpack on.  So he went to the front.  We bought the chiles rellenos ingredients (not vegan). 

Things I told M today: I like walnuts in my cereal.  My ex-husband had a tie dyed teeshirt that said "love" all over it, and I would go up to him singing "All you need is love" and point to the loves when the song goes, "Love, love, love."  I google myself.  Yes, I got stressed out when he got angry near the trashcans.

Tonight I wanted to go to a reading by my acquaintance Melanie Thorne at the nearby mall--she has a new book out.  But Erik didn't want to go, and instead of driving myself there, I went to sleep.  I guess I needed it.  Erik woke me up to fold the laundry, and I resisted.   

Now Erik's doing yoga and I'm blogging.  My main distro is asking for more of my zines but I am running out of functionally ill 9 and should have done inventory before our Berkeley trip--oops.