How come bad people don't die so often?

What is my favorite part of life? Watching turtles at the lake for lunch instead of sitting in a restaurant.

There were two of them, a fairly large one and a tiny one. We threw them a pretzel and they ate it together. At one point, when the large one had succeeded at breaking the pretzel in half after it was thoroughly soaked, he took a piece in his mouth and stuck his head way out of the water and stared at us. Boy, I wish I had a camera with 15x optical zoom.

The sounds at the lake are some of my favorite sounds ever. Splashing fish, arguing geese, huffing and puffing turtles and soaring herons. What else do you need on a Monday? Certainly not your couch and the TV.

I just got a new and exciting e-mail from Oil Change... This peak-oil organization that thinks we should "mobilize" and "strive to separate oil and state." What loonies.

Luke and I went to a peak oil convention around this time a year ago and now we get these ridiculous e-mails from these people. We were really disappointed with the people there. Not only are they ineffective at their cause, their whole medium is speculation and "mobilizing" is only something that's said, not something that's done. Just because you have a convention and talk about it, or you have a rally and shout about it, or you write "mean" articles about the president, you're still a stupid moron who's just taking up space. When you start burning down Exxons and putting explosives in the White House, we'll talk.

Also, they keep talking about Nigeria like it's actually an issue amidst Iraq and Iran. Here's a quote from the e-mail:

"In August, we were hearing that BP’s negligence, corroded pipes, and shut-down at Prudhoe Bay would push the price of a barrel of oil past $80, and the price of a gallon of gas past $4. Now here we are, one month later, and the price of oil has declined to roughly $63/barrel, while gas is down to a national average of $2.67.

So what happened?

If you listen to the experts, traders have miraculously calmed down over the prospects of violence in the Middle East, conflict with Iran, and violence in Nigeria and Iraq. Its a little unclear why these prospects look substantively better all of a sudden. Iran casually blew through a UN-set August 31st deadline to stop nuclear work, Iraq continues to be a bloodbath, and there are ongoing worker strikes and community unrest in Nigeria."

What?! Unrest in where?! Iran, Iraq, and.... Trinidad and Tobago? Burma? Idaho? I'll have you know that OilChange's sponsor, among others, is Ken Saro-Wiwa, son of Ken Wiwa who was killed in jail in Nigeria for some reason or other. So because they have to plug "community unrest" in Nigeria for this Wiwa guy, they're going to put it on the same level as Iraq and Iran? I just think it's ludicrous. Just make a little section of every e-mail that's called "Our Obligatory Nigeria plug: Nigeria is unrestful! You got that, Wiwa? Here's your plug!" Don't mislead people into thinking Nigeria is not like almost every country in the world in that they have worker strikes and community unrest. That's happening in New Jersey, too.

I guess it's their prerogative. I'm just tired of them telling me to "continue working towards the goal of separating oil and state." What exactly am I supposed to be "doing?" Writing to my congressman? Please. We're not doing anything, ever. The actual thing they should be saying is "we're going to have to continue doing something (doesn't matter what) that takes a long time, because otherwise we're going to lose our activist jobs."

Also, if you're going to write e-mails stemming from a large organization, use apostrophes in words that are required to have them.

So the screen froze and all my villagers are dead. After all that building and research and harvesting. I am totally depressed.

Now I'll have to buy the goddamn game.

Going to finish up the piano part for Lonesome George today.* We get to use the baby grand at my parents' for it. Also, I'm taking my new piano curriculum to my parents and demanding a thorough consultation. I'm not really nervous about teaching, but I need help.

*- Not this Lonesome George. This Lonesome George. We are writing a song about him. Stay tuned.

I must confess to a terrible addiction.

I found this stupid game on MSN games called Virtual Villagers. It's sort of Sim-like but, I think, cooler. You help these little people survive on a deserted island. They can learn to plant crops, catch fish, have babies, build shacks and all this other cool stuff. They dance and stuff. I'm completely hooked.

It also plays in real time which means even when I'm off doing something I'll come back and they've built another shack or discovered a healing herb or something.

Lesson planning is going well. I'm in the middle of the bird thing, if only I can find my brown marker.*

*The bird thing is a lesson plan that involves a series of illustrations to help with a high-low and eventually a high-medium-low lesson. It starts out with some grass and a flower on the bottom and a sun and clouds on top. There are some red birds near the grass, they are the low. There are some green birds near the sun, they are the high. Then we transition into red birds near grass, green birds near the sun, and blue birds on a tree branch, they are medium. Eventually the birds want to have a party together and perch on different levels of a fence, and become fatter and rounder. See where this is going? It's awesome for beginning notation.

*I need my brown marker to draw the tree.

I'm trying to figure out a way I can put this lesson into movement. I think I can do it with scarves. We can do something with Orff body levels... low, medium and high. We can pass the green scarf over top of our heads for the high, and then the blue one in the middle and the red one on the bottom. Of course I'll have a song... we'll see. I think scarves are going to be it. Then we'll do instruments... high, middle, and low. We can turn it into a performance. I just have to make sure I write the lesson plan out and don't just improvise, because it's turning into something bigger than I thought. I have to stretch it between weeks I think.

My zeal for lesson planning has been amplified. I feel like finishing those books inspired me to actually try doing things.

I kind of realized (or consciously came to terms with) that I never really do much of anything to my full potential (or even close), except maybe singing or taking pictures. Maybe. But anything else that I do, such as teaching, I feel like I only do it half-ass most of the time. I think it's because my brain is so fidgety. It's not that I want to do things not-to-the-best-of-my-ability, it just happens that way because I'm so easily distracted. Probably also because I'm depressed and I don't see the value in it sometimes. But it's always so much better, in every aspect, when I allot something the amount of mental and physical, and, well, emotional energy that it deserves.

Strangely enough, private teaching is different. One-on-one I definitely give it my all most of the time. I think something is lost in a group for me, some kind of connection. Maybe it's because I absorb the spirit of another person (whatever that means) when I'm one-on-one with them, but with a class it doesn't work so well because I'm trying to connect with each individual and it turns out I'm not connecting with the class as a whole.

Also, I'm never prepared. At least not as prepared as I would like to be, as prepared as I should be. It causes a whole lot of stress, because it's like I have to get myself out of a situation 25% of the time. Usually I know what I'm going to do but I always adjust for really no reason, but I tell myself that it's for a good reason. I wonder why I do all this crap. Probably because I'm not really very healthy and I'm trying to dog it out on my own. Fair enough.

I also shy away from written material. Like, I'd rather make up my own little things than use others', and it's a really stupid approach to take. Clearly I have almost no experience and should first familiarize myself with what's out there before venturing into making my own material. Even though I have a knack for it, I need to be able to build lessons around these little ditties I write, not just teach them to the kids.

I guess it comforts me that the experienced teacher who was giving the workshop I attended in August said that she learned everything by trial and error. I guess I'm in that time now, but I have a lot more resources than she did in the early 80s. But that doesn't mean it's going to be smooth sailing for me for a while yet. And I don't ever really want it to be, to be honest. I want to learn from the kids all the time. But there is a certain level of comfort, and of confidence that I want, that I don't have yet.

Let's hope I'll find out how to do that this year.

I've italicized my favorite parts.

Senate Panel Defies Bush on Detainee Bill
Powell Speaks Out Against President's Plan
By ANNE PLUMMER FLAHERTY, AP

WASHINGTON (Sept. 15) - A rebellious Senate committee defied President Bush on Thursday and approved terror-detainee legislation he has vowed to block, deepening Republican conflict over terrorism and national security in the middle of the election season.

Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia, normally a Bush supporter, pushed the measure through his Armed Services Committee by a 15-9 vote, with Warner and three other GOP lawmakers joining Democrats. The vote set the stage for a showdown on the Senate floor as early as next week.

In an embarrassment to the White House, Colin Powell - Bush's first secretary of state - announced his opposition to his old boss' plan, saying it would hurt the country. Powell's successor, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, jumped to the president's defense in a letter of her own.

All this played out after Bush started his day by journeying to the Capitol to try nailing down support for his own version of the legislation - and by issuing a threat to the maverick Republicans.

"I will resist any bill that does not enable this program to go forward with legal clarity," Bush said at the White House.

The president's measure would go further than the Senate package in allowing classified evidence to be withheld from defendants in terror trials, using coerced testimony and protecting CIA and other U.S. interrogators against prosecution for using methods that may violate the Geneva Conventions.

"The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism," Powell, a retired general who is also a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in his letter.

Powell said Bush's bill, by redefining the kind of treatment the Geneva Conventions allow, "would add to those doubts. Furthermore, it would put our own troops at risk."

Firing back, White House spokesman Tony Snow said Powell was "confused" about the White House plan. Later, Snow said he probably shouldn't have used that word.

"I know that Colin Powell wants to beat the terrorists, too," he said.

The administration also produced its own letter from Rice. She wrote that narrowing the standards for detainee treatment as Bush has proposed "would add meaningful definition and clarification to vague terms in the treaties."

In addition, CIA Director Michael Hayden wrote a letter to his employees saying he has asked Congress "to help define our responsibilities so that we and the Department of Justice can judge the appropriateness of any procedures we would propose to use" while questioning terrorism suspects. He said Bush's bill did that.

In the committee vote, Warner was supported by GOP Sens. McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine. Warner, McCain and Graham had been the most active senators opposing Bush's plan. The vote by the moderate Collins underscored that there might be broad enough GOP support to successfully take on Bush on the floor of the Republican-run Senate.

As the battle mushrooms, it threatens to undermine campaign season assertions by the administration that it has shown a steady hand on security matters and that Republicans should be trusted over Democrats on such issues.

Bush still has many congressional allies, including House and Senate leaders and conservatives, who want to align themselves with the president's tough stance on interrogation and prosecution. The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday passed a bill that supports the administration's position by 52-8.

But that support is not universal. Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., said he told Bush during the president's visit that he should heed the military's top uniformed lawyers, who have previously opposed some provisions of the president's plan.

Buyer and other Republicans are expected to align themselves with McCain, who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war during Vietnam. Last year, he overcame Bush's objections to pass legislation banning cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees.

Leaving his closed-door meeting with the House GOP caucus, Bush said he would "continue to work with members of the Congress to get good legislation." He complimented a House bill but did not mention the Senate version.

"I reminded them that the most important job of government is to protect the homeland," he said. Bush was accompanied by Vice President Dick Cheney and White House political adviser Karl Rove.

The White House also released a letter to lawmakers signed by the military's top uniformed lawyers. Saying they wanted to clarify past testimony on Capitol Hill in which they opposed the administration's plan, the lawyers wrote that they "do not object" to sections of Bush's proposal for the treatment of detainees.

Two congressional aides who favor McCain's plan said the military lawyers signed that letter after refusing to endorse an earlier one offered by the Pentagon's general counsel, William Haynes, that expressed more forceful support for Bush's plan.

The aides spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Asked if Haynes had encouraged them to write the letter, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said, "Not that I'm aware of."

Another Bush bill would give legal status to the administration's warrantless wiretapping program. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill on a party-line vote Wednesday, but it is stalled in the House amid opposition from Democrats and some Republicans concerned that the program violates civil liberties.


Associated Press writers Robert Burns and Katherine Shrader contributed to this report.
09-15-06 01:41 EDT

I go to check my mail (AOL be damned) and the headline for the online news lineup is this:

What Happened To Hurricanes?
Season Pretty Quiet So Far

My comment on this is: people are much more interested in exploiting/getting off on tragedy than in averting it. Old news, you say. Yes, I know. I'm just trying to push it one last time: we deserve to be swallowed by those pesky tectonic plates.

Six books and about two-thousand six-hundred pages later, I feel as though I've accomplished something. Being someone notorious for starting things and never finishing them, I feel like I'm turning over a new leaf in that area. I read the entire Lord of the Rings package, sure, but that's fairly easy reading compared to Frank Herbert's Dune. And Frank Herbert's Dune: Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune.

I am such a geek.

I'm wondering whether I should read something right now. The temptation to take a break from books for a few days is really potent. I feel like I would be doing something sacrilegious... like dating someone immediately after I've ended a very long, good relationship. I'm just not ready.

My shrewd friend Jon has suggested magazines. I think it's brilliant, because I have left a few National Geographics on the back burner while immersed in Dune. But do I really have time to waste? Pretty soon I'm going to be extremely busy, and not really have time to read. And if I try to read I'll neglect my teaching duties towards my children. That is, maybe I won't be insane and make felt-fabric barred instruments with velcro on them.

Should I read the entire Dark Tower series in 10 days? Could I? I'm pretty sure I don't want to. I'll have time while teaching, probably. I'm inclined to focus on getting ready for the year. Even though making crazy things for my lessons can be viewed as a little extraneous, I think I'd rather be extremely well-prepared so the year can cruise by with ease.

So, the decision is: magazines. When I really want to read something. Other than that, focus on lesson planning. I hope it'll prove smart. It goes against my rule of terrible, perpetual procrastination, and that's an immeasurably good thing.

Longest Attack of Hiccups
Charles Osborne (1894–1991) of Anthon, Iowa, USA, started hiccupping in 1922 while attempting to weigh a hog before slaughtering it. He was unable to find a cure, and continued hiccupping until February 1990, a total of 68 years!

Osborne led a normal life in which he had two wives and fathered eight children. The only discomfort from his hiccuping, he claimed, was the constant risk of losing his false teeth!

During the first few decades, he hiccupped up to 40 times a minute, slowing to 20 a minute in later years. He finally stopped in 1990 – after an estimated 430 million spasms – and died the following year.

I have to plug McCann's Irish Oatmeal. It's definitely a delicious treat.

I'm now fairly set on the idea that I'm an alien monster. Last night I was exceptionally cold, in a sweatshirt and pants and under the covers and still shivering. Also I had my one-of-a-kind heat factory (Luke) next to me transmitting heat waves in my direction. Nothing helped. When I was done reading for the night I curled up and somehow fell asleep.

Here's the first phenomenon: at approximately 5:15 the cat scratched violently at the door and woke me up. I realized I had to pee, so I got up and went. When I got to the bathroom I realized I was no longer wearing pants. I had absolutely no recollection as to how I removed my pants, at all. I tried to overlook that curiosity. Also I was really sleepy.

I proceeded to do my business and come back to bed. Then, I realized I was hot. So I took the sweatshirt off and lay on top of the covers in my underwear. Why am I not shivering? Nobody turned up the heat upstairs. In the morning Luke told me it's because I became warm and my body adjusted and produced a lot of heat, and that kept me warm even out in the open. Which was confirmed because once I got up in the morning I became cold again. The whole thing freaked me out.

I still think I'm an alien.

It's oil in good hands. Not really.

I can't say I'm thrilled that a new oil source has been found in the Gulf of Mexico. It's like an addict finding a secret heroin stash, in some respects. In most respects.

How many people do you think will run to their nearest dealer and purchase the latest 10-mile-a-gallon SUVs, now that gas is down to almost $2 a gallon?

Drilling in a depth never before attempted is clearly not the shrewdest of strategies, considering our global warming situation. I guess a hurricane has to destroy the house of every Chevron visionary before they even think about reconsidering. What am I saying? They'd probably move to Ireland or somewhere and continue drilling as planned. Forever. Or as long as it takes, whatever that means.

I classify this as a good event, in comparison to, say, mass genocide. At least it takes attention away from the ANWR.

People are the worst kind of animals.

Backlash Against Stingrays Since Irwin's Death
By MERAIAH FOLEY, AP

SYDNEY, Australia (Sept. 12) - At least 10 stingrays have been killed since "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin was fatally injured by one of the fish, an official said Tuesday, prompting a spokesman for the late TV star's animal charity to urge people not take revenge on the animals.

Irwin died last week after a stingray barb pierced his chest as he recorded a show off the Great Barrier Reef.

Stingray bodies since have been discovered on two beaches in Queensland state on Australia's eastern coast. Two were discovered Tuesday with their tails lopped off, state fisheries department official Wayne Sumpton said.

Sumpton said fishermen who inadvertently catch the diamond-shaped rays sometimes cut off their tails to avoid being stung, but the practice was uncommon. Stingrays often are caught in fishing nets by mistake and should be returned to the sea, Sumpton said.

Michael Hornby, the executive director of Irwin's Wildlife Warriors conservation group, said he was concerned the rays were being hunted and killed in retaliation for Irwin's death.

"It may be some sort of retribution, or it may be fear from certain individuals, or it just may be yet another callous act toward wildlife," he said.

He said killing stingrays was "not what Steve was about."

"We are disgusted and disappointed that people would take this sort of action to hurt wildlife," he said.

Stingrays are usually shy, unobtrusive fish that rummage the sea bottom for food or burrow into the sand.

They have a serrated spine up to 10 inches long on their tails, which they can lash when stepped on or otherwise frightened.

The spines emit toxins that can kill many small creatures and cause excruciating pain in humans. Few people have died from the poison, but the spines can badly tear flesh and the wounds are prone to infections, including tetanus.

Hornby said people should treat stingrays with caution, but "there is still no need to ... kill or mutilate these important animals."

09/12/06 06:45 EDT

A wonderful quote from Operation Clambake (this is actually an answer to a question):

Q: How can you say it doesn't work if you haven't even tried Scientology?

A: I do not have to try street drugs, do crime or drown to have the opinion that street drugs, crime and drowning is bad for you. The same goes for investigating a destructive and lying cult.

By the way, the other night when I saw Tom Cruise in the box with Dan Snyder (Redskins owner) at the Minnesota/Washington game, I pretty much threw up in my mouth. Bless Xenu!

This is from our fishing expedition in the Outer Banks. Luke is making a project out of putting the video footage to a background of Alice in Chains' Man in the Box, like in The Perfect Storm. We anticipate that it will be a hit.

Our fishing attendant was a toothless man named Jesse. I am betting on his having written the helpful direction on this map.

This will likely be a mix of photos, thoughts, comments and ridiculous diatribes. Also poetry and lyrics, and other writing.

While I briefly despaired after I learned that I brought my new blog into the light on 11.9, I realized it didn't make a difference. I am, however, commemorating the anniversary of a warm late-summer day.

The cold is seeping in and my bones are still humid. A sweater today.