The sun has finally warmed up the Midwest enough to venture outside again, and I have been taking full advantage of it and gardening like crazy.



I love mulch, especially free mulch that the city provides! I would mulch the whole yard if my tribe would let me, but they like grass for some reason- waste of good planting space and water in my opinion. But I am attempting to reseed the small patch left of my nemesis. No little fluffs of new green grass yet, but I guess it has only been 7 days. Still my patience is being tried...


I thought I had lost this Clematis to morning glories but they came back with a feisty spirit and next year should fill this trellis. The sooner the better, as copper is a hot commodity here in Minneapolis and I was terrified it would be ripped off before I got something growing on it!


Silly grass- grow already! I hate you.

Me and Peggy Lee

This is a photo project I did. I wasn't sure which peggy lee quote to use. It baffled me to the point of not using anything for the showing...

What do you think-

I can scoop up a great big dipper full of lard from the drippins can
Throw it in the skillet, go out & do my shopping, be back before it melts in the pan
I can rub & scrub this old house til it's shinin like a dime
Feed the baby, grease the car, & powder my face at the same time
If you come to me sickly you know I'm gonna make you well
If you come to me all hexed up you know I'm gonna break the spell
If you come to me hungry you know I'm gonna fill you full of grits
I can stretch! a green black dollar bill from here to kindom come!
'Cause I'm a woman! W-O-M-A-N, I'll say it again.....

Or-

Is that all there is, is that all there is
If thats all there is my friends, then lets keep dancing
Lets break out the booze and have a ball
If thats all there is

My pretty bike

After years of dragging brakes, shifters that don't shift, and a mucky chain that felt like I was pulling a bus behind me, my bike is fixed- and it looks snazzy! Thank you Charlie :)

So I jumped on it this morning and as soon as I got to where I was going, it starts to rain, stranding me at circus practice.

It is going to rain all week long... High 5 irony.

College

My college essay is due now and for some reason I cannot get it done. It is weighing over me like a cement truck, affecting everything I do. Maybe deep down inside I don't want to be a gopher...

This is how I started it:

As a young child my father began to instill in me the importance of college; that an education would allow me the freedom to make my dreams come true. As I got older he continued his crusade but I became aware of choices that did not include a formal education. I had dreams of traveling the world and having my education be that of a more “worldly” format. I was going to go to Europe to visit old cities, travel to Alaska and climb mountains, as well as bask in the glow of a sunset from beaches around the world. My dream made perfect sense, since my skills in the classroom were meager at best, I would be a student of the world. And as soon as I got my college money, much to my father’s dismay, I was out the door. I drove across Canada. I flew to London, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Lisbon, and Athens. Every place I went I would then mentally check it off my list, another significant city done. I went to Cabo San Lucas, La Paz, Todos Santos, I traveled all over the United States: Austin, Chicago, Fairbanks and Salt Lake City. But during my travels I forgot an important aspect of my schooling, the educational side, and it became an issue of quantity over quality. My worldly education became no more then a list of cities and a handful of change from different countries.

And I ask myself is it wrong to write about running away with college money in an essay to a college I would like to attend?

Lonely

So because I have no life and am inept to keep up with friends- I am going to write what is going on in my life, what I am thinking about and what is making me frustrated at the moment.

“The reliance on fossil fuels has left our atmosphere contaminated by various pollutants, and the earth threatened by global warming. Irresponsible agriculture practices have poisoned groundwater with pesticides and other chemicals while depleting the topsoil. Industrial processes produce thousands of tons of toxic wastes, while nuclear power plants leave behind radioactive waste that will pose potential health hazards for thousands of years.” Our culture, our technology, our environment, our superiority and our curse.
In the documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth”, we are walked through the state of our world and how it is our moral obligation to change some key ways in which we use our technology to save our world. A little daunting, as we will have to modify the way we live, but completely attainable. The thing is, this is not a new revelation. We have been facing environmental issues for a long time.
One example is about 2900 years ago the Polynesians inhabitant of Easter Island. The settlers found the island to have fertile land, a dense and diverse forest and lush grasses. Life was good; they had many children with a population peaking around 6000. Needless to say, “the island could not support this amount of people and it could not regenerate resources fast enough”. The ecosystem was altered so radically, many species died, including most of the settlers, and the land became unsustainable. Another example is the deforestation in the sixteenth century by England. “Vast quantities of wood had been consumed by the demands of an expanding population and the growth of shipbuilding, construction and iron manufacture”. The forests were depleted. So instead of acting responsibly and with conservation in mind, England replaced their renewable resource with a non-renewable resource- coal.
I found “An Inconvenient Truth” to be very powerful; reaching the masses unlike most documentaries that just preach to the choir. And I can see the effect it is having on bringing the environment to the forefront of issues- Al Gore’s senate hearings on global warming, Tim Pawlenty’s extensive bill on renewable energy and the EU acting internally to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2012. But why is this taking so long?
Another aspect of the movie I found interesting was the focused attention on Al Gore and his history with global warming and politics. This portion of the movie made me feel as if there were an ulterior motive – a presidential platform maybe? Thus bringing Gore’s agenda to the forefront, ahead of the environment. I would like to see us humans make a moral decision on global warming without any of the usual suspects (money, politics, agendas) tainting the issue at hand.

GM

“The pace of change at GM has never been faster, and it won’t slow down any time soon. As we launch this annual update of our guidelines for employee conduct, Winning With Integrity, now is a good time for all of us to reflect on things that do not change at GM: our core values”. “Integrity is not optional at GM. We live it every day. It guides our decisions, our work, and our commitment to correct mistakes when we spot them. It guides us whether the company is riding high or battling through tough stretches. Integrity transcends borders and language; it’s all about promoting a culture that demands and supports proper business conduct. Doing the right thing day-in and day-out is essential to our reputation and our success”. 1 -Rick Wagoner, CEO GM

I think Michael Moore would disagree with Rick on this! With the trend to layoff, shutdown and outsource, GM is blatantly disregarding the last two, maybe three generations, who built the foundation of the company. But is it a company’s responsibility to be loyal to its employees, shareholders or profit margins? Or can you integrate all three with integrity? The Body Shop did with a philosophy of profits with principles. Whole Foods believes all levels of employees are an equal part of the company. This holistic approach makes for a stronger community within the company, from the producers or manufacturers, to the environmental impact. Which in turn will lead to sustainable development- that we meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

When workers who have no control over capital investment, product development, design, marketing and advertising decisions shouldn’t suffer because of the failures of these factors. The assembly line took away the well-rounded worker and replaced them with a disposable number. “The destruction of worker skills through mechanization and rigid centralized controls is self defeating, for an ignorant and hostile workforce means production losses as well as high cost for maintenance and direct supervision.”2 But there are some advantages for the disposable number; higher turnover rates are able to introduce new talent, cost savings through resetting salaries and a different demographic mix or a better distribution of age groups.

Corporate Social Responsibility activities seem to be most effective in achieving social or environmental goals when there is a direct link to profits. But that is why companies are started- to make money. Though, It is nice to see some companies, like The Body Shop, who are very successful and have achieved it with integrity and responsibility. Michael Moore captured GM’s intentions for the future of the company and it’s employees beautifully in “Roger & Me” when he is interviewing the rabbit woman. She is holding a cute little bunny, caressing it softly and talking to it sweetly and Moore asks what is to become of this rabbit, She replies, “Oh, this one is my dinner.”