It's been harder than I honestly expected, dealing with things this week. I knew it was going to be rough, aside from my own feelings on the matter most of my friends are pretty tore up, and I feel for them.
It just surprises me how hard it's hit me. It probably shouldn't, but it does. There was a viewing last night, and I told myself I'd go this morning. This morning I got back from retrieving one of the crew from the train station, and realized that I just can't bring myself to go.
I don't think I could take seeing another friend lying in a casket. I'd rather remember him smiling and laughing with everyone than have that image of him all cold and still. I know if I went I'd see every other friend I've buried, they're running through my mind anyway.
I just... can't do it. I can do the funeral, I can do the gravesides, but I can't go look at him.
Sorry for being all sad and stuff but that's the way it is today. Go tell the people you love how much you care, folks, fate doesn't wait for you to have time, and you never know when you might not get another opportunity. Besides, everyone should hear that they're loved and cared for as often as possible.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Life Is Short
As our community was reminded just yesterday. FarmBro and my generation has had a hard time of it, we've lost a lot of kids.
Car wrecks, mostly, a couple of suicides, and yesterday, a motorcycle accident. We've lost so many young people since I was in junior high I have a hard time remembering them all.
The young man who died yesterday was a good friend of Bro and SIL, and was liked by just about everyone. So well liked, in fact, that there isn't a church or funeral home nearby that would be big enough for his funeral, so they're having it in the high school gym.
He was pro 2A, a member of the Tea Party, stood up for what he believed in and loved his family. He was just getting started in life.
A life cut short by a motorcycle accident in a mountain pass. I don't know if he was doing something dumb, or if it was just a small mistake that snowballed. He was still in that bullet proof and immortal stage, so it's possible it was either, but I hope it was a mistake.
He was a good kid. He had a lot going for him, and his life was cut too short. He will be greatly missed. I can't help but imagine him worrying about how everyone will handle his death, and wishing he could fix everything for everyone, because that's how he was with people he cared about.
So try to remember to savor the joy and try to let go of the bad things. Smile more than you cry, and never regret: even your mistakes help make you the person you are.
Rest easy, Dillon. We got this.
Car wrecks, mostly, a couple of suicides, and yesterday, a motorcycle accident. We've lost so many young people since I was in junior high I have a hard time remembering them all.
The young man who died yesterday was a good friend of Bro and SIL, and was liked by just about everyone. So well liked, in fact, that there isn't a church or funeral home nearby that would be big enough for his funeral, so they're having it in the high school gym.
He was pro 2A, a member of the Tea Party, stood up for what he believed in and loved his family. He was just getting started in life.
A life cut short by a motorcycle accident in a mountain pass. I don't know if he was doing something dumb, or if it was just a small mistake that snowballed. He was still in that bullet proof and immortal stage, so it's possible it was either, but I hope it was a mistake.
He was a good kid. He had a lot going for him, and his life was cut too short. He will be greatly missed. I can't help but imagine him worrying about how everyone will handle his death, and wishing he could fix everything for everyone, because that's how he was with people he cared about.
So try to remember to savor the joy and try to let go of the bad things. Smile more than you cry, and never regret: even your mistakes help make you the person you are.
Rest easy, Dillon. We got this.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Puppehs!
Baby schnauzers are so adorable! This little guy was born yesterday, along with three more brothers and two sisters, for a total of six puppies.
Their mom is a great momma, taking care of them to the point that I have to literally pull her out of the kennel to get her to leave them to go outside. First thing this morning I had to carry her all the way outside. She did her business and then ran back to me, jumping up on my leg like "all right, I'm done, now let me back in so I can check on my kids!"
As you can see she's letting me handle them. I've been careful not to upset her about it, but I needed to take pictures for her owner, so that she could start marketing the little darlings right away. Plus, she had deposits for four puppies already, and those people needed pictures so that they could start picking out their own cuteness.
All the pups are in good shape, even the one that was born breech. I'm just glad that it all went smoothly for a breech birth. There was a moment when I thought I was going to have to assist but momma dog got it all taken care of, and all I had to do was pull the sac back from the face so the puppeh could breathe.
They're squeaky little things, especially when mom decides it's time for a bath, but they're all doing well and getting bigger already.
Something from Nothing
Ok. Once again I am going to try to put my thoughts into words. Hang in there with me since I am not very good at it. Unlike so many of my Blogger friends!
Yesterday was Mothers Day and naturally I was thinking of my Mother and Grandmothers, none of whom are still with me.
Both my Mom and FarmDad's Grandmother loved to get a bunch together and cook for them. If they fed you , they liked you. If they fed you a lot they loved you. The amount of food and the type of meal was a gauge of how much they thought of you. They both lived through times that would make those of us today just crawl into a corner and cry. These tough, strong women had to feed families on very little in the way of supplies. They were both farm wives and made do with what they could gather or grow on the farm. In hard times they could take nothing and make something out of it.
Both of these ladies taught me to be thankful for what I have and not to worry about what I don't. They were amazing women and I am lucky to have had them as mentors. So here is a recipe that both of these women made for me that takes that nothing and makes something of it.
Beef and Homemade Egg Noodles
Start with a chunk of meat. It can be a tough sub par piece because you boil it to death! The longer you boil it the more the connective tissues will break down and it will become edible! Throw an onion, some salt and pepper or what have you in with the meat to add a little more flavor.
Mom and Grandma Sugar both did this by hand. Since I am a somewhat modern woman I love my Kitchenaid mixer! Beat eggs and a bit of salt till they are foamy. I always figure for 1 egg per person. I always have leftovers but they heat up really nice!
Next add flour. Then add some more flour... then some more.
When you have a stiff dough turn the dough out on a floured board or just on your counter and knead in some more four! Knead the flour in until it is a VERY stiff dough.
Roll the dough out pretty thin. I like mine to be about as thick as the space between the tines of a fork. If you like really chunky noodles leave it slightly thicker.
When you have the dough rolled out to your prefered thickness, sprinkle it with flour and just rub it over the top. This keeps your noodles from sticking together when you cut them. Then you start at one side and roll the dough up.
Slice the roll into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces. Again it depends on how chunky and thick you want your noodles. Unroll the noodles .
Scatter the noodles out and coat them with a bit of flour to keep them from sticking together and let them dry for about a half hour. Longer doesn't hurt it just takes a little longer to cook.
Bring the broth from the boiled meat to a boil and drop the noodles into it a few at a time while stirring to keep them from sticking together. Add the meat back into the pot. Cook for about 30 minutes. All the extra flour on the noodles will make a nice thick gravy. If it isn't thick enough for you add a little corn starch and water and it will thicken right up.
Mom and Grandma always served them over mashed potatoes. Add a veggie and you have a filling nutritious meal from basically nothing! Eggs, flour, salt and a cheap piece of meat.
And for desert we had Strawberry Shortcake with homemade whipped cream!
Mom and Grandma Sugar would have been proud!
Thank you both! I love and miss you!
Yesterday was Mothers Day and naturally I was thinking of my Mother and Grandmothers, none of whom are still with me.
Both my Mom and FarmDad's Grandmother loved to get a bunch together and cook for them. If they fed you , they liked you. If they fed you a lot they loved you. The amount of food and the type of meal was a gauge of how much they thought of you. They both lived through times that would make those of us today just crawl into a corner and cry. These tough, strong women had to feed families on very little in the way of supplies. They were both farm wives and made do with what they could gather or grow on the farm. In hard times they could take nothing and make something out of it.
Both of these ladies taught me to be thankful for what I have and not to worry about what I don't. They were amazing women and I am lucky to have had them as mentors. So here is a recipe that both of these women made for me that takes that nothing and makes something of it.
Beef and Homemade Egg Noodles
Start with a chunk of meat. It can be a tough sub par piece because you boil it to death! The longer you boil it the more the connective tissues will break down and it will become edible! Throw an onion, some salt and pepper or what have you in with the meat to add a little more flavor.
Mom and Grandma Sugar both did this by hand. Since I am a somewhat modern woman I love my Kitchenaid mixer! Beat eggs and a bit of salt till they are foamy. I always figure for 1 egg per person. I always have leftovers but they heat up really nice!
Next add flour. Then add some more flour... then some more.
When you have a stiff dough turn the dough out on a floured board or just on your counter and knead in some more four! Knead the flour in until it is a VERY stiff dough.
Roll the dough out pretty thin. I like mine to be about as thick as the space between the tines of a fork. If you like really chunky noodles leave it slightly thicker.
When you have the dough rolled out to your prefered thickness, sprinkle it with flour and just rub it over the top. This keeps your noodles from sticking together when you cut them. Then you start at one side and roll the dough up.
Slice the roll into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces. Again it depends on how chunky and thick you want your noodles. Unroll the noodles .
Scatter the noodles out and coat them with a bit of flour to keep them from sticking together and let them dry for about a half hour. Longer doesn't hurt it just takes a little longer to cook.
Bring the broth from the boiled meat to a boil and drop the noodles into it a few at a time while stirring to keep them from sticking together. Add the meat back into the pot. Cook for about 30 minutes. All the extra flour on the noodles will make a nice thick gravy. If it isn't thick enough for you add a little corn starch and water and it will thicken right up.
Mom and Grandma always served them over mashed potatoes. Add a veggie and you have a filling nutritious meal from basically nothing! Eggs, flour, salt and a cheap piece of meat.
And for desert we had Strawberry Shortcake with homemade whipped cream!
Mom and Grandma Sugar would have been proud!
Thank you both! I love and miss you!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Book Review: Babylon Babies
So, I finally got around to reading the book that Babylon AD is based on. This is a movie that I bought in the hopes that Vin Diesel would get nekkid, and wound up enjoying in spite of (or maybe because of) the weird ass plot.
Generally, when there's a question of book vs movie I pick the book. Then again, generally, when there's a movie based on a book, the plot is the same. Oh, things get switched around, cut, reorganized and generally polished for the different format but the plot is still recognizable.
Not in this one. I don't know whether it's the translation of the book from French to English, or the fact that Hollywood said "Ok, we're gonna make this a little less... French..." but there are very few things that the book and the movie have in common.
Here's where I say spoiler alert. If you haven't seen the movie, you may not want to read the rest of this post. If you haven't read the book, well, read on, because I can save you some time and effort.
First common point: Toorop. A mercenary of immense skill, your average love-to-hate-em protagonist. Except, in the movie, he's highly skilled and implacable, doing his job with precision, dedication, and a certain flair (come on, he backflips a snowmobile into a rocket. That's cool.) In the book, he's kinda fuckin nuts. To start with, he recites poetry to the corpses of men he kills in single combat. The virtual peeks inside his head provided by the author are, especially in the beginning, confusing, convoluted, and mostly lacking in anything most folks would call sense.
Second common point: Toorop is engaged by Gorsky (Russian Mafia, same name in both, but different dudes, apparently) to deliver a young woman from the wilds of Russia to North America. Again, here's where the split is. In the movie, Toorop must accomplish this with nothing but Gorsky's cash, and a car thoughtfully stuffed with cash, weapons, and maps, provided by Gorsky. In the book, Toorop has a team of mercenaries, and logistical support from both the Russian Mafia and a branch of the Russian Intelligence Service headed by a corrupt colonel. Toorop makes the plans, but he has access to helicopters and safe houses along the way. Far less cool than taking off with a couple chicks in the back seat and a trunk full of cash and ammo.
Third Common Point: The young woman in question is pregnant with twins, who will eventually be discovered to be a whole new species of human, hyper intelligent and capable of amazing things.
That's pretty much all they have in common. The young woman has a different name in the movie (Aurora) than the book (Marie Zorn). There is no Sister Rebeccah in the book. No submarines breaking through the ice, no run from killer patrol drones.
Oh, and in the book, Marie is special because she's schizophrenic, and has been treated with special drugs and such to help her control her schizo tendencies, which has the amazing side effect of allowing her to interface directly with the Cosmic Serpent, a sort of hive mind of all living things, apparently made up entirely of DNA.
To be honest, I really didn't follow any more of the explanation than that. It just drips new-age ancient mysticism, and my brain just sort of went "um... ok?" and moved on.
As odd and sometimes disjointed as the plot of the movie is, it's still followable to the extent that in the end you're saying "aww" as Aurora sheds a single tear, dying in the moment her babies are born. Yes, Aurora is odd, apparently a bit telepathic, and in possession of knowledge that she has no experience of, but she's still a character you can connect to on some level.
Marie Zorn is... well, she's nuts. I must admit that while I know very little about schizophrenia the writing conveyed the bug nuts bit quite nicely. The problem is, most of the time I couldn't tell if the writer was trying to write from a schizo perspective or not. The entire book is a writhing mass of strange metaphors, long winded internal monologues, and just plain weird ass imagery.
I can let the flow problems slide. It's always difficult to preserve the integrity of a text when it's translated, and I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt that it's far more readable in French, since I can't check.
All in all, I say skip the book and watch the movie. If for no other reason than Vin Diesel and Melanie Thierry provide excellent eye candy no matter what your personal flavor of choice may be.
For perhaps the first time in my life, I prefer a movie to a book.... I'm not entirely sure what to do with myself now....
Generally, when there's a question of book vs movie I pick the book. Then again, generally, when there's a movie based on a book, the plot is the same. Oh, things get switched around, cut, reorganized and generally polished for the different format but the plot is still recognizable.
Not in this one. I don't know whether it's the translation of the book from French to English, or the fact that Hollywood said "Ok, we're gonna make this a little less... French..." but there are very few things that the book and the movie have in common.
Here's where I say spoiler alert. If you haven't seen the movie, you may not want to read the rest of this post. If you haven't read the book, well, read on, because I can save you some time and effort.
First common point: Toorop. A mercenary of immense skill, your average love-to-hate-em protagonist. Except, in the movie, he's highly skilled and implacable, doing his job with precision, dedication, and a certain flair (come on, he backflips a snowmobile into a rocket. That's cool.) In the book, he's kinda fuckin nuts. To start with, he recites poetry to the corpses of men he kills in single combat. The virtual peeks inside his head provided by the author are, especially in the beginning, confusing, convoluted, and mostly lacking in anything most folks would call sense.
Second common point: Toorop is engaged by Gorsky (Russian Mafia, same name in both, but different dudes, apparently) to deliver a young woman from the wilds of Russia to North America. Again, here's where the split is. In the movie, Toorop must accomplish this with nothing but Gorsky's cash, and a car thoughtfully stuffed with cash, weapons, and maps, provided by Gorsky. In the book, Toorop has a team of mercenaries, and logistical support from both the Russian Mafia and a branch of the Russian Intelligence Service headed by a corrupt colonel. Toorop makes the plans, but he has access to helicopters and safe houses along the way. Far less cool than taking off with a couple chicks in the back seat and a trunk full of cash and ammo.
Third Common Point: The young woman in question is pregnant with twins, who will eventually be discovered to be a whole new species of human, hyper intelligent and capable of amazing things.
That's pretty much all they have in common. The young woman has a different name in the movie (Aurora) than the book (Marie Zorn). There is no Sister Rebeccah in the book. No submarines breaking through the ice, no run from killer patrol drones.
Oh, and in the book, Marie is special because she's schizophrenic, and has been treated with special drugs and such to help her control her schizo tendencies, which has the amazing side effect of allowing her to interface directly with the Cosmic Serpent, a sort of hive mind of all living things, apparently made up entirely of DNA.
To be honest, I really didn't follow any more of the explanation than that. It just drips new-age ancient mysticism, and my brain just sort of went "um... ok?" and moved on.
As odd and sometimes disjointed as the plot of the movie is, it's still followable to the extent that in the end you're saying "aww" as Aurora sheds a single tear, dying in the moment her babies are born. Yes, Aurora is odd, apparently a bit telepathic, and in possession of knowledge that she has no experience of, but she's still a character you can connect to on some level.
Marie Zorn is... well, she's nuts. I must admit that while I know very little about schizophrenia the writing conveyed the bug nuts bit quite nicely. The problem is, most of the time I couldn't tell if the writer was trying to write from a schizo perspective or not. The entire book is a writhing mass of strange metaphors, long winded internal monologues, and just plain weird ass imagery.
I can let the flow problems slide. It's always difficult to preserve the integrity of a text when it's translated, and I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt that it's far more readable in French, since I can't check.
All in all, I say skip the book and watch the movie. If for no other reason than Vin Diesel and Melanie Thierry provide excellent eye candy no matter what your personal flavor of choice may be.
For perhaps the first time in my life, I prefer a movie to a book.... I'm not entirely sure what to do with myself now....
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Puppehs!
So, my good friend and the owner of Fuzzy Pup's mom is going on vacation next month, with her inlaws and four (omg) kids. It just so happens that Fuzzy Pup has a litter of brothers and sisters just waiting to come into the world... And his mommy doesn't do well with being moved after she has the pups, so I'm puppeh sitting.
The poor girl is a bitteh schnauzer... and she usually has five or six pups. No problems with the litter size she's an excellent mom, but she looks like she swallowed a football.
Right now she's flaked out on the recliner looking miserable. Her temp is dropping and her breathing is getting a little shallower, along with her belleh sagging, so any time in the next 24 hours, maybe a little more, we could have pups. Then again, with the stress of switching locations, she may delay as long as she can, hoping she'll get a more secure place. She seems fairly chillaxed today (she arrived yesterday) but there's a lot of stress involved with moving this close to whelping, so it's hard to say how things are going to go until they start to actually go.
Meanwhile, the poor girl looks miserable, and I can feel four pups in there, and my friend says she always has a couple that you can't feel. The little ones aren't as active as they were yesterday, but then, yesterday they were squirming so much you could see little noses and feet yesterday through her sides, like multiple little chest-bursters.
I'll keep ya'll updated.
The poor girl is a bitteh schnauzer... and she usually has five or six pups. No problems with the litter size she's an excellent mom, but she looks like she swallowed a football.
Right now she's flaked out on the recliner looking miserable. Her temp is dropping and her breathing is getting a little shallower, along with her belleh sagging, so any time in the next 24 hours, maybe a little more, we could have pups. Then again, with the stress of switching locations, she may delay as long as she can, hoping she'll get a more secure place. She seems fairly chillaxed today (she arrived yesterday) but there's a lot of stress involved with moving this close to whelping, so it's hard to say how things are going to go until they start to actually go.
Meanwhile, the poor girl looks miserable, and I can feel four pups in there, and my friend says she always has a couple that you can't feel. The little ones aren't as active as they were yesterday, but then, yesterday they were squirming so much you could see little noses and feet yesterday through her sides, like multiple little chest-bursters.
I'll keep ya'll updated.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Sold
Red is now officially someone else's problem. I can't argue with the way he behaved, he was actually an angel. He also worked really well for me in the pens before we went through the ring... I got several compliments. A lot of those came from people who had asked me about him, with the question that I dreaded more than any other... "Is he real gentle?"
If I were just a bit less honest I could have danced around that question better, and gotten more money, but I won't be responsible for someone buying that horse for their kids and the kid getting hurt because he's a jackass. So, I answered it the best I could... He's real gentle on the ground, loves attention, you can do anything with or to him. In the saddle, he learned he could bully someone before I bought him, and he's gonna try it. Don't let him, and you're fine. Which was completely at odds with his relaxed, lazy demeanor, at that point.
In the ring... he wasn't as snappy as I would have liked but he wasn't being utterly neurotic either, so I was happy. The guys in the auctioneer's booth were trying real hard to get him sold for me, and I really appreciated it. I'm fully aware he's an ugly little cuss, but they were saying things like "You folks are looking out the window on this one.. he's got more training than that... well, look at him!"
Anyway, I didn't get anywhere near the top price of the day but I beat the low price by a lot too, and I was one of the last few to sell. That, combined with all the compliments I was getting on him (some in optimism before I went in the ring, some afterwords in commiseration because they really did believe he should have brought more money than he did) made it a good day.
I happen to know that the guy who bought him does a lot of pony cart stuff, renting out carts and ponies and traveling around doing parades. Since I've said before that if I had a cart I'd hitch Red to it, I can't think of a better place for him, and he'll be kept busy enough that he'll stay settled down.
Anyway, he's not my problem anymore... which makes me smile. I'll smile bigger Monday when I cash the check, though.
If I were just a bit less honest I could have danced around that question better, and gotten more money, but I won't be responsible for someone buying that horse for their kids and the kid getting hurt because he's a jackass. So, I answered it the best I could... He's real gentle on the ground, loves attention, you can do anything with or to him. In the saddle, he learned he could bully someone before I bought him, and he's gonna try it. Don't let him, and you're fine. Which was completely at odds with his relaxed, lazy demeanor, at that point.
In the ring... he wasn't as snappy as I would have liked but he wasn't being utterly neurotic either, so I was happy. The guys in the auctioneer's booth were trying real hard to get him sold for me, and I really appreciated it. I'm fully aware he's an ugly little cuss, but they were saying things like "You folks are looking out the window on this one.. he's got more training than that... well, look at him!"
Anyway, I didn't get anywhere near the top price of the day but I beat the low price by a lot too, and I was one of the last few to sell. That, combined with all the compliments I was getting on him (some in optimism before I went in the ring, some afterwords in commiseration because they really did believe he should have brought more money than he did) made it a good day.
I happen to know that the guy who bought him does a lot of pony cart stuff, renting out carts and ponies and traveling around doing parades. Since I've said before that if I had a cart I'd hitch Red to it, I can't think of a better place for him, and he'll be kept busy enough that he'll stay settled down.
Anyway, he's not my problem anymore... which makes me smile. I'll smile bigger Monday when I cash the check, though.
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