Atropa

Filled with lots of well researched facts.. You na...

2009-06-22T14:52:20.133-04:00

Filled with lots of well researched facts.. You nailed it!

I am fucked up. I'll eat when other people are aro...

2009-05-04T11:28:00.000-04:00

I am fucked up. I'll eat when other people are around because I know if I don't eat all day, and people see me not eating, they'll think I have an eating disorder. But left to my own devices, alone, I don't eat because I have no motivation to make food, or eat. Is that an eating disorder? It's disordered eating. I'm tired of crying at work, the store, whereever. This is fucked up.

Stress delayed period for the lose! Bleh. Today wa...

2009-04-22T14:11:00.000-04:00

Stress delayed period for the lose! Bleh. Today was the wrong day to give me chocolate at work.

Magic! Isn't it amazing how fast they grow?

2009-04-20T23:08:00.000-04:00

Magic! Isn't it amazing how fast they grow?

Ok, for dirt, I'm looking to start an a earthtainer bin, also courtesy of bfp's consciousness-raising blog, to hold some melons so that they are portable, don't ruin my parents' yard, and therefore are less likely to draw the "accidental" ire of my stepfather's lawn mowing skillz. I will push the compost bin idea, but I need more dirt sooner than a new compost bin could yield.

I'll have to look into that companion planting book, since that sounds very interesting.

Err, yeah. I'm trying to get a job in Pittsburgh t...

2009-04-07T16:41:00.000-04:00

Err, yeah. I'm trying to get a job in Pittsburgh to be closer to that guy in Ohio. Or a job here that I can transfer there. Either way, it's not going well in this economy.

I forgot- what about moving to Appalachia? - trish...

2009-04-07T13:44:00.000-04:00

I forgot- what about moving to Appalachia? - trish

Hi there,
For Dirt- start a compost pile first...

2009-04-07T13:43:00.000-04:00

Hi there,
For Dirt- start a compost pile first off.
Second- you can do a layered composting and there are some websites for it i'm sure, i read about it Gaia's Garden. You put down green stuff (kitchen waste, weeds, etc, and then brown- newspapers, leaves, etc, and then green and layer it like that a bit.

one thing you could do is Double dig and add some fertilizer- there is organic commercial fertilizer available. This allows you to build raised beds- if you did double digging then the layered compost- it would really be beneficial. One fun thing is a vermaculture bin- and you would totally dig it- pun intended i suppose.

Beans- we planted some with inoculant and some without. by far the ones we innoculated when going in the ground are doing much better. You can buy it at your home garden store i'm sure. just ask them and they can help. There are instructions on the packets. :)

We have bamboo and chicken wire for some of our trellising- but you can use clipped branches and string for something to climb on. Some beans go on the ground fine too but read about it first. I look up a plant and everything about it before i plant it.

As for companion planting- I put some leeks and parsley around it- but i don't think really specifically they help eachother- but i hear that the three sisters method is great- and we are doing that in some places. Plant Corn, beans and squash together- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(agriculture)

the books i use the most in gardening right now are : Carrots Love Tomatoes, (companion planting book), and Organic A to Z. and several other books but those too i reference a lot it seems.

good luck with your garden! and if the soil question/answer arn't going to work, let me know, and give me more detail of what you have to work with. You may end up just buying a couple bags of garden soil (organic) and add it to the soil you have maybe?

talk to you soon, trish

Unleash, maybe the good hair/bad hair thing is ano...

2009-04-06T12:41:00.000-04:00

Unleash, maybe the good hair/bad hair thing is another beauty standard enforced mostly by women. So, if you're not privy to a lot (and I mean A LOT) of conversations women have about their looks and evaluating other women based on their looks, then of course it doesn't make sense to you.

As for reclaiming, I do think it is possible for words to be reclaimed. But, only within a narrow context. It's not possible for whites and other non-blacks to reclaim the N word or for men to reclaim the C word. I'm not even sure how I feel about transwomen using the C word.

As for finding a replacement that isn't quite as good, well, I couldn't care less. Cry me a fucking river. Seriously. If that's the most offensive and soul-crushing thing that's happened to someone in recent memory, well then, I'd like to have that life.

Hmmm. I see what you mean, but there's something t...

2009-04-02T19:34:00.000-04:00

Hmmm. I see what you mean, but there's something troubling about knowing that words can become so easily spoiled. So... if there's a word I don't like, I should just spread a racist or sexist rumor about it, so that less people will use the word? I get that you are opposed to language with subtle or subliminal meanings that are, basically, opposed to feminism and the fair treatment of people. I suppose there's no way to truly salvage a word, once it has been tainted like that, but (call me weird but) I hate to see good words go to waste and people struggle to come up with suitable replacements, especially because the suitable replacements don't usually represent the positive or informative aspects of the original word's history.

No, seriously I don't think or speak of people's hair as being "bad" anymore than I say it's "good", which is never. To be clear, I was trying to represent the opinions of my co-workers briefly, while playing on the contrast between what is typically called "good/bad" hair. Like you said, it's their hair. Why should I care so much as to criticize?

Unleash, yeah, that may be true, but the fact is t...

2009-03-26T13:16:00.000-04:00

Unleash, yeah, that may be true, but the fact is that the word can be offensive now that there's been that story attached to it.

As for nappy hair, that has a particular history of use in the african american community. There are lots of natural hair bloggers out there who are naturally nappy and proud of it. I don't think their hair is bad either. It's their hair and they wear it, not me.

I can't blame you. "Good hair" just sounds stupid,...

2009-03-24T20:25:00.000-04:00

I can't blame you. "Good hair" just sounds stupid, anyway.

15 years ago I worked in a grocery store, and for the first few months there I worked mostly with young black men. If I may make an observation about them, based on my experiences, they are more fun to work with, on average. Also, contrary to racist characterizations I had heard from some people (not in my family), they were no lazier nor incompetent than any other workers. But, to get to my point, there were times when they would joke around by calling a "nappy alert" across the aisles when a person with really bad hair came through. What I'm wondering is if that adjective, "nappy", is racist. I guess it's one I'm unsure about, although it did seem to be applied far more often to black women than any other people.

As far as "picnic" goes, what do you call them? And are you saying the French hated blacks?

http://www.snopes.com/language/offense/picnic.asp

Unleash, "good hair" has been used for a long time...

2009-03-24T12:20:00.000-04:00

Unleash, "good hair" has been used for a long time to define a very narrow and ever changing type of hair as good, and of course, women of color especially, do not have good hair. Sort of like the word picnic. Seems pretty innocuous now, but given the history of the word, it's better just to avoid it.

I trust that you'll take me at my word that I never want anyone who gives even a little bit of a shit about me to use the phrase "good hair" in relation to me and mine.

Yes, often accusations of jealousy imply values ot...

2009-03-24T03:16:00.000-04:00

Yes, often accusations of jealousy imply values other than those actually held by those who are supposedly jealous. Too often it's used in a way similar to advertising and marketing, where people are persuaded to desire something in peer-pressure fashion. It's annoying. When speaking of men or women specifically it becomes an insult to our sensibilities, as if we just can't help but envy others for having qualities that are, whether in truth or fiction, more desirable to the other sex. I think such messages are especially harmful to children, who are less certain about who they are and what they want.

I don't think by "good" the person ever means "well-behaved", but other than that I won't presume to unpack for them. I usually only say it when there's something specifically extraordinary about a person's hair, whether that is the way they have it colored/styled or just that the texture is appealing, either to the visual or tactile senses. What about delivering a vague stock compliment about hair is white supremacist?

I don't know about # 3. People get defensive when they feel threatened. That isn't always because of a blind spot. It might be because of something crazy that happened to them in the past and is being triggered by current experiences. Still, I know exactly what you're talking about, something that happens in a more specific context, like discussion or debate.

Oh, the tail-whack to the face! Always when you least expect it, like a sucker swat with a shelf-duster.

You are giving Rush entirely too much credit. More discriminating listeners do not like to call what he does communicating. Well, okay, I suppose in the sense of spreading a disease that would be correct.

great list! I don't have anything to add!!!! :-)

2009-03-15T18:25:00.000-04:00

great list! I don't have anything to add!!!! :-)

Strongly agree. Just changing one little word make...

2009-02-24T21:30:00.000-05:00

Strongly agree. Just changing one little word makes a big difference in the meaning there. Predicating the apology on whether or not the other person was upset by the action sounds disingenuous. For one thing, it smacks of efforts to make something offensive seem less offense. Like, "Sorry, but I think you're an asshole," or, "You're just being oversensitive. :)" As if the "sorry" or ":)" should disarm the person being spoken to. Besides, one should be sorry for doing something wrong, regardless of how tolerant the other person was of the transgression.

Hmm. I think our disagreement here is because you ...

2009-02-24T21:09:00.000-05:00

Hmm. I think our disagreement here is because you are talking about "shrill" being used as a general pejorative, whereas I thought you meant to include the observation that a person's voice is shrill, which will apply more often to women, because they tend to have higher-pitched voices. In my last comment I noted that both Coulter and Hannity sound shrill to me. The part I wrote about words being "infused" with [whatever] was way off base, but I see a crucial difference in using "shrill" to describe a voice and using it to describe an entire person, or some aspect of a person that isn't vocal. Calling HRC a shrill person or saying her politics are shrill is sexist, but saying that she has a shrill voice is not.

I miss Ypsi. I miss living in a real neighborhood,...

2009-02-11T10:43:00.000-05:00

I miss Ypsi. I miss living in a real neighborhood, not a transitory college and young professional apartment complex surrounded by chain delivery restaurants. I've been hankering for a garden too, and a bulb catalog came in to work yesterday. I may have to thumb through it and order some stuff.

That just made my brain hurt.

2009-02-08T15:32:00.000-05:00

That just made my brain hurt.

I know what you mean. I love Ypsi mainly because...

2009-02-06T14:54:00.000-05:00

I know what you mean. I *love* Ypsi mainly because it's not ann arbor. You can actually see some people of color here. women of color. and POOR PEOPLE! You can be poor here and not feel like you have to apologize!

Sigh. and the weather is sucky. today it's nice--but i am TIRED of the cold and want warm warm days. I want to work on my garden and just not have to worry any more about it being too damn cold to leave the house....

much love and thinking about you--xo

bfp

You know, I have to disagree. Shrill is gendered f...

2009-01-08T20:38:00.000-05:00

You know, I have to disagree. Shrill is gendered female. Using it in a negative context against a woman is sexist. I don't think shrill has a positive context, actually.

I do make a concentrated effort to avoid saying th...

2008-12-23T20:18:00.000-05:00

I do make a concentrated effort to avoid saying things that are sexist, although there are two exceptions: 1) I am being sarcastic, which is a typical response from me to something that disgusts me, or 2) I am unaware of the (implicit) sexism. In the latter case, I welcome someone to point that out to me, although I might then question them about the reasons. In the former case, I suppose I might have some 'splainin' to do.

It's rather discouraging to find that something I thought was so off-the-wall obviously over-blown in its racist message, basically intended to lampoon people who say similar things in earnest, is actually taken as being absolutely true. For this reason, I've elected to tone it down a bit.

I am totally fair about the shrill thing, though. Without knowing much about Matthews, I would call both Coulter and Hannity "shrill" speakers, because they both annoy me with the way they talk, to the point where it is difficult to discern how much is because of what they say, and how much is the sound of their voices. I think it's important to keep in mind that the word "shrill" itself doesn't contain the sexism, but the application of the word certainly can, so it's tough to tell whether or not the use is sexist on a single-case basis.

You know, as opposed to other words, where the use of the word doesn't matter because it is already infused with racist/sexist/?-ist meaning.

Inasmuch as racism and sexism are NOT interchangea...

2008-12-04T09:11:00.000-05:00

Inasmuch as racism and sexism are NOT interchangeable and function differently, I think you can safely say that the same general principle applies to reinforcing racist stereotypes. If you want to claim to be "not racist," then the burden is on you, the speaker, to not rely on racist stereotypes.

This isn't meant to be a defense of the poor, downtrodden Rich, White people. But I needed to use widely known examples, and unfortunately that's what came to mind.

Atropa

Filled with lots of well researched facts.. You na...

I am fucked up. I'll eat when other people are aro...

Stress delayed period for the lose! Bleh. Today wa...

Magic! Isn't it amazing how fast they grow?

Err, yeah. I'm trying to get a job in Pittsburgh t...

I forgot- what about moving to Appalachia? - trish...

Hi there, For Dirt- start a compost pile first...

Unleash, maybe the good hair/bad hair thing is ano...

Hmmm. I see what you mean, but there's something t...

Unleash, yeah, that may be true, but the fact is t...

I can't blame you. "Good hair" just sounds stupid,...

Unleash, "good hair" has been used for a long time...

Yes, often accusations of jealousy imply values ot...

great list! I don't have anything to add!!!! :-)

Strongly agree. Just changing one little word make...

Hmm. I think our disagreement here is because you ...

I miss Ypsi. I miss living in a real neighborhood,...

That just made my brain hurt.

I know what you mean. I *love* Ypsi mainly because...

You know, I have to disagree. Shrill is gendered f...

I do make a concentrated effort to avoid saying th...

Inasmuch as racism and sexism are NOT interchangea...

Hi there,
For Dirt- start a compost pile first...

I know what you mean. I love Ypsi mainly because...