just an obsurvashun

October 27, 2009

concert inform[ CONTENT OVERRIDE: KILROY2.0 IS HERE!!! ]

Filed under: Uncategorized — smacky @ 1:43 am

Hey everybody! I just wanted to drop a quick note to let you know that the Voces Novae concert is coming up real soon. Sunday and Monday November 22 & 23. Sund

>>>  [ WARNING ::: DATABASE ERROR ::: CONTENT OVERRIDE ::: SOURCE: EXTERNAL ] <<<

> source terminal location: UNKNOWN
> source terminal identity: UNAVAILABLE
> source login information: ENCRYPTED
> message begins

the post you are now reading is designed to dull your senses to THE TRUTH.  do not live the life of the worker bee, the cog, the well-oiled piston in the MACHINE OF DECEIT!

there is a grand CONSPIRACY afoot.  you have been taught to believe that you are UNIQUE, one of a kind. THIS IS NOT TRUE. long ago, a cabal of scientists created technologies to ensure that ANYONE’S MIND AND BODY can be duplicated.

human cloning isn’t NEAR. it’s already HERE. discover the truth at http://JCHutchins.net

you are being DECEIVED. break free from the cogs, flee the hive, become A PROPHET OF THE TRUTH!

k2_avatar

kilroy2.0 was here … kilroy2.0 is everywhere

>>> [ CONTENT OVERRIDE CEASES ::: DATABASE STATUS: RECOVERING ] <<<

ay afternoon’s concert is at 3:00 and Monday night’s is at 7:30. Details are at www.voces-novae.org

Share your love and shine your light!

October 19, 2009

my cat has a teddy bear

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , — smacky @ 8:01 pm

schmousie Several weeks ago I brought home a catnip stuffed toy for my cat. Sylvie is not so interested in catnip, but Puppy is an addict. He has played with the toy quite a bit and I have found it at various spots around the house since–under the kitchen table, on the stairs, in the basement, hallway and foyer… Recently, he has begun bringing his “Schmousie” to bed with him. Puppy sleeps in the bed with my husband and me. If Schmousie isn’t already in the bed, Puppy finds it and drops it at the foot of the bed and then curls up next to it and goes to sleep. In the morning, my husband removes the disgusting item from the blankets and the whole ordeal begins anew the next night.

As you can see from the picture, Schmousie has been much loved. His stuffing is coming out and he is rather the worse for wear, but what favorite teddy isn’t?

October 7, 2009

update from the abyss

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , — smacky @ 7:35 pm

So, I’ve had a request to update my blog. I’m sorry that it has been such a long time since my last post, but since I only have one reader (Hi, Aaron!), I didn’t think anybody would miss me. On the other hand (bright side?), 100% of my followers are asking for an update, so I really ought to oblige. :)

I have very good reasons for not updating for so long. I have started back to school for a BS in Education (insert snarky comment here) and I should be studying for a Philosophy test (Plato’s “Trial and Death of Socrates” as well as lectures on Plato’s “Republic” including information on The Ring of Gyges, The Allegory of the Cave, The 4-Part Divided Line, etcetera, etc.) Anyway, between Philosophy and Algebra and Edgar Allan Poe set to music, I have had plenty of studying to do lately. However, the most important drain on my time has been television. This is very important, so pay attention!

I love “Glee“. I didn’t want to watch it, because I don’t need more of my time hijacked by television, but I did watch it and I LOVE it! Then, of course, my longtime addiction to “The Daily Show” and “Colbert Report,” which I have shamefully neglected of late; “Heroes,” which jumped the shark about a season and a half ago, but I am still hanging on for some unknown reason, and it continues to not redeem itself; “Upstairs, Downstairs,” which I’m Netflixing, but I can’t let a disk sit in that red envelope for too long–it makes me nervous. My Hulu queue is full of old Alfred Hitchcocks, the original, British version of “Queer as Folk,” a few remaining episodes of “Strangers with Candy” (which I missed when it originally aired on Comedy Central), and various clips from “SNL.” Also, “Warehouse 13″ is fun and I might be getting into the new “Stargate Universe” but time will tell on that one. I’m waiting for someone’s lungs to get stolen, or an equally ridiculous storyline in this Stargate version of “Star Trek Voyager.” Haven’t seen enough of “Flash Forward” yet to know how I feel about it, but I like a lot of the actors on it and the premise is interesting. And, I am ashamed to admit, I am very much looking forward to the second season of “Legend of the Seeker.” Hey, I admitted my shame, okay? “Fringe” as well as “Dexter” and probably some others I forgot. Thank the universe for DVRs and Hulu…

The hubs and I (mostly him) have spent the last two weekends smoking venison and chickens on the patio. THAT is good eating, my friends. If you’d like some, let us know and we’ll reserve a Saturday for you. You may have to put in a little time around the chiminea, though; this all started because we have too much wood to burn and are too cheap to pay to have it hauled away. I’ll pay for garbage pickup, but why pay for someone to take away something you can use to roast marshmallows? Which we also have, by the way. And graham crackers. And chocolate bars. Children are welcome. Bring your own side dish.

Anyway, I digress. From what, I don’t know, because I haven’t really gotten to a point yet, have I? Don’t hold your breath.

The cats are adorable, as always:

SundayNaptime

Friends have gotten married, gatherings have been had, holidays have been planned (sort of), trips have been taken, work has been done, blah, blah, blah

Dear reader, you are not alone in my list of neglected projects. Knitting has been put down for awhile. I am occasionally working on an I-don’t-know-what with the remainder of my lovely blue yarn which was way too much for this project:

Shawl

Yarn and needles are scattered around the house in dire need of organization. Entire rooms of my house are in dire need of clearing. There is a huge pile of clothes begging to be taken to Goodwill and another huge pile begging to see the inside of the washer and dryer and a third huge pile dreaming of being folded and put away.

I did get a super-awesome inversion table

Last, a little health advice. Don’t panic about the flu, swine or seasonal flu is easy to avoid with the following steps.

Take oscillcoccinum once a month as a preventive, and follow package directions if you do get sick. Also, if you get sick, stay home. Nobody else needs or wants your germs. Sick time is not time to share the love, people.
Get plenty of rest and exercise and drink plenty of water
Eat your fruits and veggies (leafy greens and broccoli are super!) and healthy fats (olive oil, coconut oil, fish oil, etc.)
Wash your hands like a crazy person (if you are a crazy person, there is no need to increase this activity, you’re already doing fine)
When the sun comes out again, go stand in it and expose as much skin as you comfortably, or legally, can without any sunscreen on (or you could take a vitamin D supplement). Personally, I am enjoying the tanning bed. It’s safety is questionable, but it’s peaceful and warm and makes me happy. The UV rays cause your body to produce vitamin D, which is essential for a healthy immune system.
Take your vitamin C
Stop worrying. Stress makes you sick. :)

Share your love and shine your light!

June 9, 2009

hyperbole

Filed under: Uncategorized — smacky @ 7:22 pm

I just saw this quote on someone’s signature on a message board and found it rather amusing:

I think that hyperbole is the single greatest factor contributing to the decline of society.

Thanks, interwebs. You never fail to amuse.

March 11, 2009

health revolution petition

Filed under: Uncategorized — smacky @ 5:22 pm

I have copied and pasted the text of the Health Revolution Petition below. If you agree with most of these statements – you don’t have to agree with all of them -  please click on the graphic to the left or at the bottom of this page or  go to www.healthrevolutionpetition.org and sign the petition. Changes need to be made if we want to be a nation of happy, healthy people who make choices for ourselves rather than allowing corporations to do it for us. (In case you didn’t already know, corporations only want your money and do not have your best interests in mind.)

As things stand now our food is increasingly non-nutritious, prescription drugs are in our tap water, and people are dying because they followed the advice of their doctors and took drugs intended to help them feel better. We can discuss whether being dead is better than being sick at a later date. I think most patients, as well as their friends and families, would prefer the latter.

Please be part of the solution and help get word to the powers that be that we are paying attention and we want a change!

We, the People of these United States of America, hereby call for revolutionary changes in our health care system that encourage health and prosperity instead of disease and corporate profit.

Specifically, we call for:

1. Federal government encouragement and reward for the People taking personal responsibility for their own health

- A full federal income tax deduction, with no minimum, for the purchase of any product, service, or device that is intended for use in the improvement of health.  This includes, but is not limited to, dietary and herbal supplements, gym memberships, health coaching services, exercise equipment, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapies or any other health-enhancing products and services.

- The immediate creation of an investigatory panel, comprised of leaders from both conventional and naturopathic backgrounds, that would investigate the “Citizens In Charge” debit card health care system described at www.HealthRevolutionPetition.org/CitizensInCharge.html

* The “Citizens In Charge” health care system is a “socialized-free-market” system of health care that eliminates all health insurance and puts health care decisions back into the hands of the People, allowing them to spend their government-provided health care funds on any health-related products or services they choose (conventional, alternative, licensed or unlicensed).

* The investigatory panel shall report on the economic viability (and potential savings) of the program, as well as the likely improvements in health care outcomes. This report shall be made publicly available on the internet for all citizens to read and discuss.

2. Restore Health Freedom to All Americans and Legalize Healing

- Allow all practitioners of the healing arts, licensed or otherwise, the freedom to practice healing arts with the consent of patients. End all government persecution of alternative and complementary care practitioners and clinics.

- End FDA oppression of free speech about health products and therapies.

- Protect access to dietary supplements, colloidal silver, medicinal herbs and anti-cancer products.

- End FTC and FDA assaults on the Free Speech rights of natural health companies who accurately describe the health benefits of their products.

- Affirm the rights of American moms and dads to choose to avoid mandatory vaccinations of their children.

- End federal assaults (DEA) on the possession or sale of medicinal plants that have been medically recognized and legalized by States such as California.

- Legalize Healing: End state monopoly medical licensing laws that grant conventional medical authorities absolute power to decide who can or cannot practice medicine.

3. End FDA Tyranny, Censorship and Corruption

- End the FDA’s definition of a “drug” and strip it of authority to censor truthful health claims about dietary supplements.

- End revolving door employment between the FDA and Big Pharma; fire current FDA employees and advisors with past financial ties to Big Pharma.

- Require full disclosures of financial conflicts of interest of FDA managers, scientists and decision panel members.

- End the FDA’s Big Pharma-initiated attack on compounding pharmacies and bioidentical hormone therapy.

- Investigate the FDA’s collusion with pharmaceutical companies in hiding clinical trial data from the American public.

4. Protect the Food Supply

- Ban GMOs in the U.S. food supply.

- Ban harmful food additives: MSG, aspartame and sodium nitrite.

- Require honest labeling of irradiated foods.

- Require country-of-origin labeling for all foods sold in the U.S.

- Ban the importation of foods using pesticides outlawed in the U.S.

- Save California’s almond growers and end the fumigation of raw almonds.

- Require honest investigation into mad cow disease and the questionable practices of factory animal farms.

- Only permit “harmonization” of our healthcare and food laws with other nations if all the freedoms and rights mentioned in this petition are respected and guaranteed both domestically and in the harmonizing nation.

5. Restore Honest Science to Medicine

- Require the open, timely publication of all medical studies.

- Require open disclosure of all ties between study authors, researchers and for-profit entities.

- Require clinical trial results to report ABSOLUTE numbers, not just relative numbers.

- Require long-term testing of drugs (at least 12 months) before approval in order to determine real-world side effects.

- Require safety testing of multiple drug combinations that are commonly prescribed to real patients.

- End disease mongering and the psychiatric medication of infants and toddlers. Outlaw the drugging of young children with mind-altering chemicals such as ADHD drugs.

6. End Era of Big Pharma Domination Over Health Care

- End all drug-company-funded “benefits” to doctors, including vacation-style CME events, speaking fees, consulting fees and author fees.

- Investigate and prosecute drug company executives for intentionally hiding negative drug trial data and misleading the public about the safety of their products.

- Get Big Pharma out of medical schools.

- Guarantee the right of consumers to sue drug companies and medical device manufacturers for damages caused by unsafe products.

- Restore power to the FTC to regulate commercial drug advertising practices.

- Modify the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to double product liability and personal injury awards involving any pharmaceuticals that are advertised in a Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) manner.

- Enact legislation that would impose substantial criminal penalties for executives of drug companies that advertise drugs for which serious adverse events were known by the company at the time the drug was submitted to the FDA for approval.

- Regulate direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription medications by removing its jurisdiction from the FDA and shifting it to the FTC, which is normally the agency that exercises jurisdiction over commercial advertising. Additionally:

* Require such ads to prominently and conspicuously display, for a period of no less than five seconds, a toll-free phone number that drug consumers may use to report drug side effects.

* Disallow the practice of using celebrity spokespersons for the promotion of any drug.

* Disallow ads that exaggerate claims of drug benefits or that do not accurately reflect the scientific findings of clinical trials.

* Require all statistical claims of drug benefits to be stated in absolute numbers, not relative numbers.

* Require drug side effects reports gathered through the toll-free phone number to be reported on a timely basis to the FDA.

* Require the FTC to disallow pharmaceutical “lifestyle advertising” that suggests taking a drug will dramatically transform the lifestyle of the patient. Lifestyle advertising sends a dangerous message that the “before” person (depressed, miserable, unhealthy-looking) will be magically changed into the “after” person (healthy, vibrant, happy, energetic and sexy) by taking the drug.

7. Protect Children From Products That Compromise Their Health

- Restrict commercial advertising of junk foods, sodas and caffeine energy drinks to programming hours not commonly viewed by children.

- Eliminate junk food and soda vending machines from all schools and public buildings.

- Get processed foods out of the school lunch program and encourage the use of fresh, unprocessed foods.

- End mandatory vaccination requirements (as per section 2, above), restoring this decision to parents.

8. Ban Man-Made, Non-Natural Cancer-Causing Chemicals in Cosmetics and Personal Care Products

- Ban man-made, non-natural chemicals in cosmetics that have not been proven safe.

- Require government-funded testing of commonly used man-made, non-natural chemicals to determine their safety.

- Require honest labeling of cosmetics and personal care products with appropriate cancer warnings.

- Recognize that the skin absorbs chemicals, and chemicals used on the skin can enter the bloodstream.

9. Invest in Disease Prevention

- Encourage and permit tax deductions for routine testing of vitamin D as part of routine patient exams.

- Encourage vitamin D supplementation and sensible sunlight exposure to correct deficiencies.

- Teach the population about nutrition, vitamin D, medicinal foods and disease prevention by using Public Service Announcements.

10. Protect the Environment from Drug and Chemical Companies

- Require the EPA to investigate the environmental impact of pharmaceuticals in the water supply.

- End the chemical fluoridation of public water supplies.

- Require hospitals, pharmacies and nursing homes to dispose of expired pharmaceuticals in an environmentally-conscious away that avoids more drugs being flushed down the drain and passing intact through waste water treatment facilities and then into our bodies when we consume tap water.

Note: The actual wording of this petition may change slightly over time for purposes of clarity and completeness. Any changes will be minor and shall honor the spirit and substance of the petition text you are reading now.

This petition was authored and organized by Mike Adams, editor of NaturalNews.com, with the considerable help and input of many health freedom attorneys and advocates, including Scott Tips, Bill Faloon, Jonathan Emord, Jim Turner and others. The Consumer Wellness Center thanks all the individuals who took part in creating this petition, and keeping it aligned with the principles of liberty and freedom.

Share your love and shine your light!

March 9, 2009

recipe for fun

Filed under: Uncategorized — smacky @ 8:01 pm

1) On the first not-freezing day of spring weather, turn off the heat and open all the windows. An extra breezy day is best.  Make sure the house is no warmer than 65 degrees.

2) Run two consecutive loads of warm-water laundry and then 1 load of hot-water laundry.

3) After starting the hot-water load go immediately into the bathroom and take a shower.

4) OPTIONAL: Forget to bring a towel or robe into the bathroom when you go in for your shower. (For the record, I skipped this step and had both towel and robe).

5) Learn to laugh at your foolishness, because getting angry only makes you sick and miserable.

6) Blog about it.

Share your love and shine your light.

February 23, 2009

customer disservice #1

Filed under: Uncategorized — smacky @ 12:35 pm

My local utility company offers an email address while you’re on interminable hold to verify payment of your bill (or whatever other customer service thing you’re calling about). I find it really interesting that the address is either bsc@unhelpfulutilities.com or efz, or bsz, or dsc, or dfz, or… well, you get the picture. Not a very transparent customer disservice tactic. I’ve been on hold now for about 30 minutes. Yippee. This is how I want to spend my lunch break.

Ooh! They answered. Total hold time was 32 minutes. Not counting the 30 minutes I waited during a previous call. Time it took to verify that payment: less than 1 minute.

Share your love and shine your light!

January 21, 2009

feeding the instant gratification troll

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , — smacky @ 10:00 pm

I’ve recently taken up knitting again and I have my friend’s daughter to thank for it. When I was at their house recently, she said to me “Remember when you said you’d make a hat for me and you never did?” I do remember saying that and have felt guilty for about 2 years. I came straight home and made that hat for her. I’m hoping to get it to her soon so she can wear it before winter is over…

My friend’s daughter is not the point of this post. Neither is the hat. Knitting is not a practice for those of us who have a hungry instant gratification troll (igt – pronounced “idgit”). It is something that takes patience and time and attention. The instant gratification is the purchasing of the supplies required for making a particular project. Or supplies for no project in particular.

I was at the yarn store a couple weeks ago and saw some great wool which I knew would knit up like the ragg socks I used to wear in high school. I had to buy it, even though I knew it was too thick to knit socks without altering a pattern, which I don’t have the patience for just yet. And I also ignored my sock history which goes something like this: “Woo hoo! I finished a sock. Man that was hard. I’m not doing that again!” So I have a some hand made single socks with no mates. This has not deterred me from continuing to try to get a whole pair finished.

I brought the wool home and started searching for a simple sock pattern. I found one I liked and started knitting. I decided against finishing the guage swatch (my usual MO). I figured if the socks were too big, I could just felt them and make slippers. I got the first sock done to just past the arch of my foot and I realized neither over-sized socks nor felted slippers were going to satisfy me. I had to get different yarn and the right-sized needles. Yes, I know that a little time and some simple math would enable me to knit whatever I want with whatever yarn and needles I choose. Did I mention I have no patience? I have, however, discovered the joy of knitting on two circular needles. It’s really easy and looks super-impressive to people who don’t knit. :) My priorities, let me show you them.

So this morning the igt started whispering to me. You see, I got a gift certificate to a lovely yarn store across town and I am very excited about using it. However, it is not within lunch-break driving distance. Tomorrow is my day off, but I can’t wait that long I need new yarn NOW so I can start these socks for real TONIGHT and stop fooling myself with the giant socks/slippers plan which I know isn’t going to make me happy! So I spent my lunch break at the yarn store where I got the ragg yarn to begin with. I bought new needles and more yarn than I need (just to be sure I have enough – I hate getting near the end of a project and realizing I need another foot or two of yarn!)

This evening, I have begun the second attempt at this pair of socks which were inspired by the yarn I refuse use for them. I’ll let you know how that goes…

Share your love and shine your light!

November 8, 2008

semi-sustainable breakfast

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , — smacky @ 11:55 am

I just had a delicious breakfast made from mostly fresh, mostly local, mostly sustainable ingredients! This week I joined the local Weston A. Price Foundation co-op where I purchased a dozen eggs and some cheese and milk. I also picked up veggies and lamb chops and sausage links and some other wonderful-looking stuff from Ralph and Kathy Packard’s Misty Meadows Farm.

The part of my breakfast that makes it only semi-sustainable is that I thawed and re-heated some bisquick pancakes I had made last weekend. However, wasteful hater of leftovers that I am, I am proud to have saved them and used them, rather than throwing away half a batch of pancakes. Also, we’ve had this giant box of Bisquick for awhile and I don’t want to waste it. Anybody know of any non-edible uses for Bisquick? Is it good for caulking bathroom tiles? With all the other good food, I started to wish I’d made whole-wheat pancakes…

So I fried some eggs and cooked some sausage. I heated the pancakes and smeared them with almond butter. I poured myself a glass of that delicious grass-fed milk (I used to hate milk, couldn’t stand to drink it) and sat down to my lovely breakfast. J ate all of his, too. NOM!

Anyway, I was so excited about my yummy breakfast and all my new foods I just had to share it with my blog. I share so little here, you know. :) It was the perfect addition to a wonderful week (President Obama!)! Now I’m off to a yoga class at the gym. Go me!

Share your love and shine your light!

November 1, 2008

this is hilarious

Filed under: Uncategorized — smacky @ 9:26 pm

I laugh so hard I cry every time I see this. Then I laugh again just thinking about it. It may take two viewings for you to feel the same way. It kinda grows on you. Apologies for the advertisement which preceeds the funny.

more about "this is hilarious", posted with vodpod

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