a baby!

i just found out that the first of two babies due this week was born last night. sonya arrived, just under 8 lbs, and is doing fine. i am so happy for lisa and dave. how wonderful it must be to be holding your own little baby. a person who's life you created, and can now fill with lots of love. she is a blessed little girl.

perfection in a flower

here's a picture of the beautiful basin, looking out over the lakes above upper ice lake. near silverton. can i just say that the wildflowers were....perfect. absolutely, 100% perfect.

and below is a beautiful shot of a little strem trickling out of the mountains. the water was crystal clear and actually kind of blue. withe the hot pink flowers it was quite the contrast.

i just spent another beautiful weekend away. this time it was a backpack trip to the san juans. the place: ice lakes. the elevetiaon: 13,000+ feet. the company: bryan and nebe (the 10 week old puppy.) the weather: perfect, it only rained for 20 minutes when we set up the tent. the food: delicious pasta with fresh mushrooms, zuccini, tomatoes and cheese sauce (eaten with strips of cardboard as we'd forgotten utensils.) the views: spectacular, perfect peak wildflowers. the coldest part: skinny dipping in a crystal clear, turquoise, 6ft deep stream. the hardest part: well, not counting the vertical uphill hike with packs...leaving. and the best part: the fact that i just spent another beautiful and perfect weekend in good company and in a brand new breathtaking space. i love it here. and there. and all those palces i've never been.

start imagining a positive future

well, i do agree with Karen Hurley here. having been through grad school and studied all about the depletion of our natural resources, the declining biodiversity, the massive climactic shifts and the endless suburban sprawl, i know (as much as anyone in those classes) what a sad things we have done to our planet. and so many classes left it at that. a handful offered solutions such as "save the biodiversity hot spots," or "work on some open space planning" or "encourage recycling." however i never had a class or an "adult" really go into an entire course on how to envision our whole future. how can we make what we want happen. get rid of the doom and gloom. if it is really that gloomy why do people continue to make love and make babies. i think there is an innate hope in everyone, that yes, the future will be bright. there will be streams and nice neighbors and good things happening, and the underdog will come out and do something great, and the planet will still be here with the sun shining. we need to be positive thinkers, and incorporate that positive thinking into reality. because, as i have so often heard quoted, you create your own reality. and i have found that very true thus far. thanks karen!
Drop that apocalyptic vision and start imagining a positive future By Karen Hurley Grist Magazine Soapbox 11 Jul 2006

canoeing

just got back last night from a canoe trip down the colorado river. it was fiarly flat water, a few little rapidy things but nothing too crazy. bryan and i put in friday evening and had a leisurely trip down the first part of the river, between steep red canyon walls and green banks an dlots of little beavers swimming around. after setting up camp on a rocky ledege we took a skinny sip in the river, and it was pretty much dark at this point. and then spent a couple hours eating cherries and chatting about life and playing games until we were sleepy enough to actually go to bed. and we had a great night's sleep except for the puppy running through the tent all night and dragging things like giant sticks and muddy water bowls and our chacos across our faces and in the tent. and it rained for a good part of the night. which was lovely. i love the sound of the rain on a tent. and my new tent (msr hubba hubba) worked wonderfully. i highly recommend it. and rain in the desert is always special and welcomed with open arms. saturday we got up and packed the canoe back up and floated (with a tad bit of rowing) down the river to mee canyon. we stoped at the mouth of the canyon and set up camp, around 2...just in time for another deluge of rain. after naps and lunch we took a beautiful hike up the canyon. it smelled so wonderful and the birds all seemed to approve of the after rain afternoon. at dinner along the river we pretended to be in a french resturaunt and had more cherries and chcolate. and slept much better because the puppy was tired and slept. morning greeted us with a gray face again so we had a leisurely breakfast and took a lovely swim when the sunshine finally showed up. and packed up camp very slwoly and headed down the river even slower. we spent time chatting and meditating on the beauty of life and checking a gauge along the river and eating lunch and being in the hot sun and getting poured on and splashing eachother and taking swims and just enjoying our time. then, sadly the adventure came to an end. and we pulled out and packed it all up and drove home and said good bye. and i was greeted with the reality of dishes and the fact that my room smelled weird and the need for a shower. and the fact that i just spent another beautiful weekend, without my lover. but in two weeks it'll be all about us. together. arm in arm. face to face. lovely.

pandora

i know this has been out forever. i've been listening to pandora for awhile, but still..it's worth blogging about. how great! i've been exposed to lots of new music and new artists. much better thant the radio. and the ability to create and share stations. also good. woohoo! and it streams quite nicely. and no commercials. instead i'm practically like a commercail here. oh well, it's worth it! try it.. Pandora Internet Radio

bush's resume

strangely unsurprising and simultaneously terrifying. (not my happiest post.)

RESUME

grorge w. bush
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20520

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

LAW ENFORCEMENT
I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days.

My Texas driving record has been lost and is not available.

MILITARY
I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam

COLLEGE
I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE
I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland, Texas, in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldnÂ’t find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money.

With the help of my father and our friends in the oil industry, including Enron CEO Ken Lay, I was elected governor of Texas.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS
I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union.

During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America.

I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money.

I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.

With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT
I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.

I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.

I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.

I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. History.

I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market.

In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month.

I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My "poorest millionaire," Condoleezza Rice, had a Chevron oil tanker named after her.

I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President. I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.

My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron.

My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision.

I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution.

More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip- offs in history.

I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.

I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.

I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.

I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history.

I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.

I have broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history.

I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. From the Human Rights Commission.

I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law. I refused to allow inspectors access to U.S. "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.

I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).

I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.

I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.

I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.

I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind.

I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community.

I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families-in-wartime.

In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends.

I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.

I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a WMD. I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES
All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view.

All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my ice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.

I am a member of the Republican Party.

dream

My dreams lately have been crazy and yet about very powerful things...

I dreamt I was pregnant with two different people's babies, Greg's and my friend Chad’s . It was weird because there was no getting-pregnant part, there I was, just pregnant and in my dream that was just the way it worked. People just would get pregnant without “doing” anything. I was trying to figure out how to explain to Greg that I was also having Chad’s baby...but in retrospect I should have been trying to figure out WHY I was pregnant, especially with 2 babies of different fathers.

Then last night I had a dream I was getting married. (To this scrawny farmer-guy who was probably like 20 years old.) I was going over to the ceremony and freaked out and couldn't do it because I couldn't think of the guy's first name nor what his favorite color was, and because I had just walked by his car and he had cleaned it and there was a new vacuum in the back which I though was so sexist as I assumed he was going to make me vacuum. So I was crying because I felt so bad for going through all the wedding planning (it was really fun) and having my parent's pay for it all, and then I didn't get married. but luckily my parents had all these coupons and went and got all these refunds. Anyway.

I think these dreams are coming from the fact that so many of my friends are taking steps further in their relationships (Elena & Kevin, Jodie & Chris, Lesley & Robert (college friends), Kelly & Matt (friends here) and Rob & Sherry(my boss) are all planning their weddings and then Georgia, Lisa, and Roxanne with their babies… ) and I find it all very fascinating. (Could I also be perhaps just the tiniest, tiniest bit envious?) Anyway, the conclusion is, everyone who is having babies/planning weddings are much more successful at it than I am in my dreams!

healing foods website

hmmm. i came across this interesting website that has information on which foods and which herbs are helpful for disorders. all ypu do is click on your disorder, or search for it and the website brings up a list of food/plants that are helpful for your condition. i think it's great because so many things you cna actually help by the way you eat. however i also think that people have to be tuned into their body and aware of the "other" food they are putting in it. for example, are sunflower seeds really going to help your allergies if you are eating cups of milk/yogurt/cheese every day///probably not. but still, an overdue and intersting website: Healing foods reference database