Times of the Season

So Thanksgiving has come and gone. All in all a good thing, that is the holiday being gone. In reality, I'm not too keen on the whole overstuffing and rooting for the white guys that took over some territory as if they had a bigger better purpose. Such is the ways of "civilazation" and a fairly ugly thing that can be. This week started off all right. Strange discussions of accounts and other things. Basically just answered a bunch of emails and worked on some junk. The brother went back to LA. Hopefully he'll expound on his site, http://paul.stangellman.com/. It kind of blows coming from a family of artists but then again you don't have to worry so much that you are a die hard conservative. Looking forward to Friday, art shows and openings galore. Cookie baking starts this weekend and that is a truly wonderful thing. Something about baking, not sure what -- kind of like chemistry but better tasting and no pretty colors.

Water Worlds

lj-mood: annoyed

I want to be part of the no umbrella nation. Talk to the world on my cell phone and feel the coolness of water on my unprotected head. But still, I don't want to get sick and truly do enjoy the gentle sound of the rain hitting then sliding down my nylon protected self. Could it be, should it be so. What makes a person wet and another dry. Is it the deodarant they where or an incredebily cute person strolling by, these are the questions that remain to be asked and answered. Water is a boiling it's time to make tea.

Notes from corners of mind

So I'm cruising into work and as usual somehow end up behind some behometh of a truck. This one though proclaims to the world that it is hauling Wholesale Lubricants. Naturally my mind in it's noncaffienated too early in the morning begins to wander. Is this lubricant for cars, trucks, small mammals. Are we talking grease here from the vats of some seriously ill fast food joint or perhaps, just perhaps. Could this be the motherlode of Astroglide. Doomed to travel the highways and byways of the sexual universe providing lube to all who need and enjoy the good ride. Crikeys got to go to a meeting. Later.

Days Off

So I've got a couple of days off. I do like the old job when they send you off to training. For some reasons my thoughts turned to my bro and thought I'd upload a painting of his. My folks have a show coming up in December. If anyone is curious check out http://www.stangellman.com/ for a look. Nice looking watercolors, prints and what nots. Anyway Madako my car is calling my name and I need to go home. Take it easy and work on stuff.

Brave the slovenly trails

Ah the world revolves and so does space. Actually the world revolves around hoop earrings and fuck me pumps. The accessory of street walkers and fellow workers everywhere. Women's clothing boggles my mind. Not that what guys wear doesn't but it's more or less an instance of degrees. Sweet and sexy or smart and full of hate. Looking glass do your worst. I do apologize for starting on what could turn into an incredibly stupid rant but hey. All in all no complaints really. Yes there are issues with the world and yes there is internal strife but I am not going to vent at least not today. Just wanted to hear my fingers typing before dashing off to class. Work hard, practice like you mean it and don't forget to share a smile every now and then.

History Junk

I'm not sure how I ended up with this entertaining blip of historical junk but it's fun none the less.

Next time we think "Poor Me", consider this.

Next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be...

Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children - last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it - hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

Houses had thatched roofs - thick straw piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof -hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed - hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence the saying "dirt poor."

The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway - hence, a "thresh hold."

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while - hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man "could bring home the bacon."They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up - hence the custom of holding a "wake."

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying some people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell

Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."

And that's the truth ... Who said that History was boring?

Passing Along a Voting Tidbit

Received from a very good friend and thought it worry to pass on:


At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in the year 1787, Alexander Tyler (a Scottish history professor at The University of Edinborough) had this to say about "The Fall of The Athenian Republic" some 2,000 years prior.

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From Bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage"

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the most recent Presidential election:

Population of counties won by:
Gore=127 million
Bush=143 million

Square miles of land won by:
Gore=580,000
Bush=22,427,000

States won by:
Gore=19
Bush=29

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
Gore=13.2
Bush=2.1

Professor Olson adds:
"In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the tax-paying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off government welfare..."

Olson believes the U.S. is now somewhere between the "complacency and "apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy; with some 40 percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

Pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake in this Election Year and that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.

November 2

November 2

Vote. Four letters that mean so much to some folks but little to others. You have the privledge and honor to do something so simple. Ensure your freedom and the freedom of others. It's the little things that make all the difference. This I truly believe. The little things that later on life you realize aren't that little. There are times when it's easier to just "suck it up" than blast someone to little pieces. This isn't a rant about who is better or if hate is a family value or any of that bumper sticker, look at me look at me brouhaha bs it's simply this. Time is a concept that's all, but in this lifetime with it's standard of time enforcing itself on you, you can work your magic for better - worse - or nothing. Sorry about the punctuation going to hell here but hey . Anyway, smile at someone... greet folks with a gentle good morning. Don't ask how they are just say hey. Who knows but tommorow will come and perhaps I'll be a better person but hopefully I'll just be working on it like everyone else. Get out there and vote. Peace and beauty with you.