July 07, 2009
Catching Up...
When Databases Go Bad...
A few months ago I joined “43 Things,” a fun and low-key online site for keeping track of personal goals. 43 Things is technically a social-networking site but only mildly so. It certainly doesn’t weave people together the way, say, Ravelry does. It does have a slight wiki bent to it as well in that, in an effort to better align people’s goals, users can point out goals that seem the same but are written differently, for example, they can suggest that “Learn how to ride a horse” is similar to “Go horseback riding.” I recently stumbled across this:
Seriously; on what planet is “join an intentional community” even infinitesimally similar to “teach chickens to hypnotize” (a phrase which has its own set of problems but never mind)?!
Der Knitting
The Good Enough Gansey, which then became the Merely Tolerable Gansey, has now become the Good-Enough Gansey with the Merely Tolerable Sleeves The First One of Which I Have Now Knit Four Times.
Follow-Ups to Earlier Posts
The carrot I harvested in this post is a type called a Half Danvers which, as the name suggests, is a half-length carrot, so it was only about 3.5 inches long, a coupla good-sized mouthfuls. To be honest, it was exciting to harvest, meh to eat. Had sort of a turpentine taste to it. As did the second carrot. And the third. Which is where I stopped since I only have 10 carrots total, now 7, and how much turpentine does a girl want to eat anyway? Oh, and while on the subject, who knew there was a World Carrot Museum?
I did some research on the spectacular yellow and orange rose in this entry and I believe it is a type called Oranges and Lemons. Or at least I certainly hope it is since I just ordered one from here. Come to find out I didn’t have to sell my soul, just give them some magic numbers from a little plastic card.
Not having learned his lesson, last night Benny jumped on the refrigerator again, only this time he hunkered down half on the freezer door and half on the top of the refrigerator. Unaware (cross my heart), I flung open the freezer door and...well, you know the footage on America's Funniest Home Videos where someone has one foot on land and one foot on a rowboat which is rapidly drifting away and they do a spectacular splitz? Yeah, like that, only somehow the four legs instead of two made it funnier. I larfed and larfed...and then immediately put my butter away somewhere safe just in case.
A Little Favor?
As some of you may know, now that he has left Mongolia, the Father of Dulaan, Cuzzin Tom, is saying “au revoir” to his blog, so I’d love it if you swung on by and gave him a big Mossy Cottage send off between now and 7/9 when he will shut down the comment function. Personally, I have always enjoyed his humor and his erudition and will miss his blog mucho.
I've been part of 'intentional communities,' and believe me, it can sometimes be *exactly* like teaching chickens to hypnotize...
Posted by: Cuzzin Tom on July 7, 2009 02:58 PMI have some friends in an intentional community. I'll check with them as to their views of and experience with hypnotizing chickens.
Posted by: kmkat on July 7, 2009 07:15 PMI've tried to hypnotize my chickens. The closest I can get is finally managing to actually get them upside down in my lap, from where they glare at me while I try all the various things that are supposed to work.
Maybe my chickens are too skeptical to be hypnotized?
Posted by: Erika on July 7, 2009 08:05 PMWhy do 29 people out there want chickens who are capable of hypnosis? And why not turkeys, or stoats, or skinks?
Posted by: Carrie on July 7, 2009 09:21 PMAre we supposed to teach the chickens how to hypnotize someone/something? Or does teaching chickens hypnotize us? Or. . . ?
Moving right on: I met your Cuzzin Tom years ago through your blog (thank you! thank you!) and now will miss him very much. At least, until he starts doing something else interesting that will move him to blog again, and he lets you know, and you mention it, right? I commented to his blog that this is what should happen. I don't want to lose track of people I've become connected to, right? And this means you can't go away either, right?
Posted by: Kay in New Mexico on July 8, 2009 08:05 AMI've been on 43Things for years and I love it!
Posted by: Karen on July 8, 2009 08:49 AMSorry about the carrots. :( Perhaps a different variety next year?
My best friend had the horrible experience of working in a factory chicken farm as a teenager. He confirms that chickens can be hypnotized.
Posted by: Kristen on July 8, 2009 05:58 PMOh dear. I think we are the chickens: how easily we are hypnotized.
I am so sad at the loss of Cuzzin Tom's blog. It was a light for me.
Posted by: Gail on July 8, 2009 09:23 PMWho would have thought so many people would be willing to tell others they were into chicken hypnotism?
I see that you have drifted over to the dark side of cat ownership - assaults on cat dignity! Try draping a banana peel over the back of a cat. You won't believe how funny.
Posted by: ellen on July 9, 2009 04:07 AMI have no opinion on the hypnotizing of chickens, but I can offer a comment on carrots. First, the type of carrot makes a difference; a few years ago I switched to growing a juicing carrot http://tinyurl.com/mcq8ch and find it much sweeter overall.
I was told years ago that any root vegetable will have more flavor if harvested in the fall, after the weather turns cooler, because the plant concentrates its energy in the root for winter. Old wives tale? Who knows, but it seems to hold true at least in my experience.
If you feel like conducting an experiment, try saving one of those carrots until late September and see if you notice a difference. Our climate is so mild that I can harvest carrots through the end of December. Yum!
Posted by: Denise in Kent, WA on July 9, 2009 07:40 AMwould you please pass my love & caring on to Cuz? I have been out of touch for a few days, and didn't get to his blog until tonight, and wanted to let him know that i'll always think of mongolia in a different light, since reading his blog, and he'll be sorely missed.
Posted by: minnie on July 9, 2009 08:44 PMIf you are seeking to join an intentional community, I do recommend seeking out cohousing as an option. Cohousing.org is the site of the US organization, and there are some fantastic ones in Seattle. I was just up there for the national convention, and while I'm not sure whether the cohousing group I'm helping to start will make it, I am certain it's a great idea.
Posted by: Bether on July 11, 2009 06:59 PM