But I'll also put the rules here as well.

-Make a 30 second to 5 minute video showing us why nice is never out of style
-You must be wearing at least one niceguy or nicegirl shirt in the video
-You must show the following url www.areyouaniceguy.com somewhere in your video
-Contest ends Sept. 8th
-One entry per person
There's more rules, but those are more of the technical terms, such as formatting and where to upload it. You can check that out at the link posted up. So yeah, we have plenty of time if we want to do this and just let us know if you want to be involved in it.

today i will leave at about two thirty :)

you will never believe this but my papa is  HOME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yea i could not believe it either

If you've had enough of Dancing Matt, maybe you'd rather check out the fighting kittens? [via BoingBoing]

I've noticed that I have a strong preference for the lyrical pieces on the show- a bit of a surprise to me because I love to watch street dancers, and I try to attend Latin ballroom competitions whenever I can. But these dance forms/choreography don't translate as well onto the show as the lyrical/jazz/contemporary pieces do, possibly because they tend to require more precision and speed. Regardless of whether one dance form is "harder" than the others, some forms are less forgiving to amateurs/first-timers. Whatever! SYTYCD is a guilty pleasure- I shouldn't ask so much of it, and there is definitely some amazing dancing that happens on the show. Once again, I couldn't pick just one, so here are my top 3:

Will/Jessica:

Katee/Joshua:

Twitch/Kherington:

As you know, on the Internet, link leads to link and before you know it, all innocence is lost as previously unknown things present themselves and disturb one's state of mind; things such as $400 pens and nib repair. Did you know that nibs can be repaired? Neither did I. Well, since being pulled down this link trail I have learned not only that it's all about the nib, but that steel nibs can sell for $50 and 14k gold nibs for $100. That's more than I want to pay for the entire pen...at least at the moment. You see, I have compulsive tendencies, something I inherited from my father, I think, and if I yield to the call of the pen I shall yield with abandon and immerse myself in the subject. Soon I will not be able to content myself with pens, but will buy leather journals to go with them. Leather is what goes with fountain pens, right? This means that I will have to begin actually writing. As I mentioned in another post, I don't write, I type, but I've been trying to change that which means I have not only the temptation to purchase a pen, but the justification as well.

I fully intend to buy a good fountain pen (Vanrensalier must not be the only one to enjoy such a pleasure), but until I do, to content myself I have purchased a package of Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens. The set of three comes with blue, black, and purple ink. They are pictured below with my moleskin journal, the only journal to open flat at any page. It was a gift.

These pens write well and for $8 I had little explaining to do to Alexander. Simple enjoyments have proven to be the best. Not only can they be enjoyed repeatedly but they have the benefit of offering the biggest value for the cost. As it turns out, I am enjoying my small collection of fountain pens probably a much as I would a luxury pen. Alexandra's sense of contentment and well being is no longer dismantled. Nor do I begrudge Vanrensalier his beautiful but discontinued pen. Really, it does not take much to bring pleasure, nor should it, for if one cannot enjoy simple things, one cannot truly enjoy anything. Though I still intend to procure a good quality pen, I am reminded that godliness with contentment is still great gain. With contentment, all things can satisfy, but without it, nothing will no matter what the price tag.

Today I'd like to tell you all about the book Natural Family Living by Peggy O'Mara, the publisher, editor and owner of Mothering Magazine, and Jane McConnell, former editor in chief and publisher of Women's Sports and Fitness magazine and associate editor of Mothering Magazine.  I love Mothering Magazine, so I was pretty eager to get this book.  I started reading it when Elijah was about 12 weeks old.  He's 7 months old now, and I skipped chapters that didn't apply to me.

Obviously, this book is a monster.  Its the size of a college text book, and is organized like one too.  Also, like a college text book, it is a wealth of strait forward, clearly explained information on Attachment Parenting.  It covers everything from preconception to adolescence, with a forward by Dr. William Sears, the practically worshiped guru of all things Attachment Parenting (in fact, he's the one who coined the term, Attachment Parenting, in a way he invented it - at least he invented it for industrialized nations, since its the only parenting choice available for indigenous peoples).

First, my complaints with the book.  This book was obviously written for married people who planned their pregnancies.  Yes, I recognize that this is the ideal that we all (allegedly) strive for, but it doesn't happen to be the common reality.  I don't think anyone in my entire family planned any of their pregnancies (at least not that they would admit to) and half of them were not married at the time of conception.  I don't know many people who have.  In fact, when I first announced I was pregnant at work, someone from another office asked me "How long were you trying?" and I replied without thinking "Pssh, who tries to have a baby?" (ooops, apparently she and her husband tried for many years before they got pregnant, awkward).  Maybe its just my world view, but it seems like you're pretty lucky if you get to plan your pregnancy.  Even married people have oops.  But we are not married.  We are single moms.  Many of us were never married.  This book doesn't even acknowledge us.

The only thing this book said that seemed to apply to me as a single, never wed mother, was insulting.  On page 6 it says "One study indicates that women involved in stormy relationships run a 237 percent greater risk of bearing a psychologically or physically damaged child.  A pregnant woman needs emotional support, and the baby's father is often the most important source of that support."  Gee, thanks.  I guess I was pretty stupid to pay more attention to those dozens of studies that indicate having an abusive, addict father would screw you up, instead of listening to your one study saying fathers were the most important source of emotional support.  Yes, I know they weren't actually saying that I should have stayed with the drunk bum who knocked me up.  What upsets me is that they don't say anything about women in my situation.  As if women who inadvertently get involved in "stormy" relationships (because no one does it on purpose) should be ignored, forgotten about, brushed aside to make way for those women who happen to be able to plan their pregnancies with their perfect husbands.  As if its women's responsibility to fix "stormy" relationships so that she can have a healthy baby.

They could have fixed that problem, that awful impression they gave me, with a very simple mention somewhere in the book that it is better for mother and child to be alone than to be in a destructive relationship.  In fact, the book would do well to recognize those mothers who have never been married, because while the book has whole chapters on divorce and the death of a family member, it has not one mention (unless its in one of those two chapters, because I didn't read them) of women who either had to leave their partners because they were somehow unfit, women who's partners abandoned them because they didn't want the responsibility of a child or women who choose to get pregnant on their own because a descent man hasn't presented himself to them yet.  The book could do well with an update chapter for women like us, instead of willfully ignoring us and furthering society's perception that we are somehow unworthy, hopeless and shameful.

Other than that (really, its easy to get past all that scathing stuff I said up there, I promise), the book was great.  I like that it covered issues beyond infancy and toddlerhood, and I particularly appreciated the chapters on discipline, sexuality, public schooling and alternative schooling.  I have a lot of fear about what I'm going to do when Elijah gets bigger and I have to start being a "real mom".  Of course I'm a real mom now, but with a baby its different.  Babies don't need to be disciplined or taught, and they're not really going to remember you.  The interaction is just different now, I don't know how to explain it.  Anyhow, its not important.

I also enjoyed the chapters on Natural (Drug-Free) Childbirth, even though I had already done it and didn't really need to read about it, circumcision, even though I already chose not to circumcise my son (and actually, I didn't really enjoy reading the chapter on circumcision, it really grossed me out, and there were parts I had to skip because I was too squeemish to read them, but it made me feel even better about my choice to leave my son intact) the chapters on healthy eating and alternative medicine, and I really loved Chapter 14, What Makes a Healthy Family.

This book, I have a feeling, is going to be a constant reference for me.  Like I said, I didn't read every chapter.  I didn't read the chapters on Homeschooling (since that's just not an option for me), Handling Divorce (since I'd have to be married first) and Handling Death (I'll get to it when it happens, if it happens).  I also only skimmed through the chapter on adolescence, since I'm pretty far away from that.  This was a pretty hefty book and by the time I got that far I was just wanting to finish it because I wanted to write a review of it.

In short, despite the despicable neglect of single parent households in this book, I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in natural parenting methods, or anyone who just isn't sure about the stricter, Ferberization methods that are so popular today.  There are many alternatives to the "cry it out" methods.

Throughout the year I've joined a CSA, bought meat raised less than 20 miles from here pretty much exclusively, been interviewed by a professor researching the spread of local, sustainable eating, discovered new cookbooks, learned to make jam, can tomatoes and preserve fruits and veggies, and really enjoyed cooking.

I have learned that I am not at all like the average, busy, cash-strapped grocery shopper/cook. I enjoy shopping for food, discovering new veggies and meeting the producers. I have time, particularly in the summer, to plan ahead and preserve summer's harvest. I've made cheese, rendered lard and produced maple syrup. I am fortunate and I wish more people could be.

One of the best parts of Yankee Food is that I've met great people through their blogs. I've learned from them and enjoyed taking part in challenges that keep me motivated in the summer and in the winter.  I thank all of the people who have stopped by and commented, or even those of you who are lurkers.  I remember how excited I was when my stat counter read 5!  You readers are what make this an interesting, fulfilling hobby.

I've even done some posting about things other than food, but things that are indigenous to New Hampshire.

People find Yankee Food by searching for things like "greek yogurt" and "frozen turkeys," but the weirdest search term has to be the person looking for "how people eat/cook other people." Hmmmm..

My top posts?

Interestingly, my most viewed post is not a food post at all. Go with your gut..., is a post about my dog, Lamprey in the early stages of his, eventually fatal, skin disease. I'm convinced that, although still relatively rare, chemical- or environmentally-induced diseases in dogs are an unrecognized threat.

The second most viewed post here is about freezing peppers. Apparently, lots of folks want to preserve those peppers - good for you!

Kinder, gentler, locavores rounds out the top three. This pretty much outlines my own views about how we can move more people toward more sustainable eating.

What did we have for dinner for Yankee Food's one year celebration? A meal that I think really sums up how we eat around here: put as much local stuff in a meal as possible, but recognize that there are some ingredients that you simply can't get local, or that are in the pantry and need to be used up.

Pesto pizza and salad:

The crust was homemade (thanks, Deborah Madison!) and contained King Arthur Flour, the toppings were a jar of pesto from the pantry (from Stonewall Kitchen, a Maine company), local hothouse tomatoes (YUM!) and regionally local cheese. I had some pinenuts left from toasting them for a salad the other night, so they went on top. The salad was all local - lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes. The dressing? Not so much.

Some people are probably tired of hearing me say it

but I don't think we're going to change things by being fanatical. Really, if you can buy it locally, you probably ought to. If you can't, make the best choice (organic, sustainable, fair-trade, etc.) that you can.

Oh, and enjoy it for crying out loud- it's food, people!

...is all I can say about Courtney's dress.

]]> http://susangold.wordpress.com/?p=425 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:51:37 +0000 Susan Gold http://susangold.wordpress.com/?p=425 There are many tarot quizzes out there, but this (Which Tarot Court Card Are You?) is the best I've come across. It is based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and is found at students-of-tarot.com, which is fun site.

According to the quiz, I am the Page of Pentacles. I've always had fond feelings for this Page!

I guess she COULD really need a differential diagnosis

A co-worker of mine (let's call her Tara [not her real name]) asked to borrow a DVD from me, so I brought it in with me yesterday. She came up to my office around 2:30 to pick it up. This morning, I heard her supervisor talking to another woman in my office, and the supervisor mentioned that Tara was out sick today and that "she came down with something late yesterday afternoon." And I'm thinking to myself "Um, yeah, she came down with Season Two of House on DVD..!"

Euphemism central (because there are lots of things you can't say around goats unless you want them repeated at very awkward times)

1) We don't use the word "stupid" in my house. I don't like that word. At ALL. (We don't say "hate" either, LOL we just "don't like that. AT ALL" a lot.) And although I think this is a good policy, it left me casting about for a different word to use whenever I encounter stupid things. So now, I have a horrible horrible habit of referring to things that are nonsense as "retarded." (I KNOW! I said it was horrible!) I'm usually pretty PC about my word choices, but this one just comes flying out whenever I come across things that are beyond my ability to wrap my brain around (the Vigo County School Corporation, the library's Voyager database stats tracking system, et cetera et cetera ad nauseum...) Thanks to an "Overheard" entry today, though, I can cease to call things "retarded." Now, they're "very, very Australian.")
B) My friend Heather (yes, her real name) is at seminary in DC, so she is trying very hard to adapt her trucker mouth (hello, kettle? This is pot....) to her calling. Of course, living in DC can be a little tense at times, so the multi-purpose "Eff YOU!" has been pretty hard to cull from her speech. Last week, though, she had to deal with a very not helpful bookstore clerk while looking for a travel-sized Bible and finally ended her encounter by saying sweetly "I'll just go to Cokesbury, then..." VOILA! The unacceptable FU has become "Go to Cokesbury!"
IV) Thanks to Tuesday's Dilbert, I'll never again have to say "when hell freezes over." Henceforth, all questions that used to prompt that response will be answered with the charming "I'll send you a widget..."

Goat for Sale. Cheap!

This morning, after we dropped off the Princess, P2 and I were alone in the car on our way to drop him off at day camp. It's warm hot and swampy here in the Haute today and he's going to be outside a lot today since he's doing a fishing trip, so I picked out a pair of soccer shorts and a lightweight white t-shirt for him to wear (Yes, I know he can dress himself. But A) I get tired of the Spider-Man wardrobe, and 2) Goat-dressing is a recognized and respected rodeo sport; why shouldn't I get as much practice as I can?) We chatted happily in the car for a few minutes about his day ahead. It must have been just too sweet and fun and wholesome for my sarcastikid to handle, because when I did my Mom-as-Pollyanna "You're really going to have a great day!" bit (once a cheerleader, always a cheerleader, I guess) all of a sudden, his eyes did that sparkly thing they do when his wicked sense of humor surfaces, and he said "Well, yeah. If you hadn't made me wear this totally lame shirt, anyway."

So, in the spirit of randomness:

1. I have a tattoo on my ankle of birch, maple and oak leaves.

2. I once cleared a runway for landing over a radio with air traffic control at Tucson International Airport.

3. My office has no windows and a fire alarm/security system that emits high-pitched noises all day.

4. Last night, while having dinner on our boat, we watched a bald eagle catch a fish on Lake Winnipesaukee.

5. Much to my mother's dismay, I hate to sew.

6. Last year, at our little Sandwich Fair, I won a blue ribbon for "farm animal photography."  (Hard to believe, I know, considering the pictures on this site!)

Cheers!

(coming tomorrow: my blog turns one!)

I'm happy to awkwardly fumble through this life with you!