A time of it:

We have had a time of it early this year, with this little one. We got an Aussie Shepherd mix in late January; the major challenge this month has been not talking to grown men with the "good boyee!" tone we all recognize as a tone taken with puppies. And not adults.

new times and a promise of new things to come:

Hello vacuum:

I've gotten hitched, bought a house, hope to start a veggie garden, a medicinal herb garden, some chickens and most importantly, find a dog soon. I've read massive amounts of delicious books; off the cuff, highlights are as follows (all of which have been marinating in their own posts but can't wait any longer, they should be able to stand on their own merit and amazing cover art) :

"Farewell Navigator" Leni Zumas, Ashevillian. A collection of short stories; awesomely powerful, successfully angst ridden  AND she used the word "subaltern" in a short story. I loved every minute of it.

The Mockingjay Series by Suzanne Collins: Could not recommend it more, however approach with caution. If you are already prone to thinking the world has gone to shit, children are mere sacrifices to the cogs and wheels of society then you probably already get it and can pass. The New Yorker wrote an excellent article about the evolution of dystopic novels in the young adult genre. I will not try to to sum it up, so get thee to the New Yorker. I had a great conversation with some friends about whether or not there is such a thing as a Utopian novel. I'm not convinced after all and think it would be a great thesis topic.

"Year of the Flood" Margaret Attwood : 2nd in the MadAddam trilogy. Well worth it and terrifyingly realistic in its depiction of the consequences to our scientific hubris. Not a good companion read with the former series. Just take my word for it. Amazing nonetheless and has haunted me all summer. Is it fall already?!

"Room" Emma Donoghue: Beauty. You must read it. It should have won the Booker. My favorite aspect of this novel (without completely giving it away, because this is the one you shall read, dear vacuum), is the isolation of mother and child. What is clearly a horrifying captivity becomes analogous to the protective, very loving isolation mother and child share for the first few years.  A child is bound to mother for at least (in our culture) the first five years of life; thus creating a room (read: space) of safety apart from society; isolated for a time, only to be catapulted in to the world. The outcome is as can be excepted and is exceptionally beautiful. And heart wrenching. The realm of freedom and captivity are so effectively turned on it's side in this book, I may never be the same person after having read it.

A book I have come to love with my whole heart and soul and yet cannot quite articulate why is "Beasts" by John Crowley.

Also "White Pines" by Mary Oliver but that is because I love nature and poetry.

 Many more have been read. Good ones, which deserve a mention and a kind thought. Some other night.

A final word of warning (and within which I acknowledge my heresy): "The Watchmen" is, in my modest opinion a big pile of rubbish.

Until next time fair vacuum, watch for the Leonids and Pan be with you,

Gillian Welch

I do love me some springtime in Asheville. Its the time when all the possibilities are reality and all mistakes are forgiven.

I love throwing seeds in the dirt and watching them slowly creep out into the world. I lay on my belly, face level with the grass and literally watch things grow for a bit in the day. Its truly better than therapy.

I read Walt Whitman, go barefoot and desperately miss beer and cigarettes. 

And holy shit are we having a great spring. First of all, last weekend, on a hike we were literally swimming through some of the most beautiful patches of native plants. I am completely ignorant at identifying plants and have promised myself to become better. But as it so happens, my Landis is a biologist, so while I'm a dunce at plant id, he is the plant guru. Which may explain why I haven't tried to learn it myself. Must fix..

Plants like bloodroot...and seriously, it was a carpet of bloodroot. Also more ramps than I've ever seen, and mayapple and the first trillium blossom of the season. (trillium I can id, it is my favorite). Surpisingly no morels and as the season is passed, I think I've just gone through our first spring in 4 years not seeing a single one. Its rather heartbreaking.

Bloodroot

Mayapple!












                                                                        Stinky stinky Ramps. One bite of the season is all I need.

Now: I love me some Trillium. Trillium makes me want to worship big mama Earth with a fire and a dance. There are thousands of different varieties, but this is one like I saw blooming (not my picture). They'll be coming out all year round. My favorites are the bright red ones that pop out near Graveyard Fields when its blueberry time. When I have a house, high on the garden list is to try my hand at cultivating a trillium garden. No easy task I hear.

And good goddamn you know its spring when you start craving old time music and humming ballads. So get pumped cause this lady is coming to the Grey Eagle Monday night for a surprise show. Yessiree, its Gillian Welch and David Rawlings at the best venue in Asheville. Perfect for spring in the mountains.  Lets share a bag of ramps and hear some tunes, eh?

More books and an update

Lentish fasting coming along nicely. Just might keep it up for longer than 40 days. Its thrown a wrench in some of my reading lists and I'll probably pick back up on some Medieval history soon enough and DAMN The Closing of the Western Mind is a page turner (really, it is), but its been thrust aside for some real gems:

A lady brought this into the book store I work at a few weeks ago:

This is photographer David LaChapelle's first book. In the pursuit of fairness, I let it sit behind the counter until my compadre Aaron was around to see who wanted it the most. I wanted it pretty badly, and Aaron already scored some sweet stuff a while back, so now its mine.

I really can't emphasize how much I love this book. Its tacky and gay, has Drew Barrymore's boobs surrounded with doughnuts and cherries, Tupac all soaped up and that dude from the x-files running away from a blow up sex doll with terrifyingly long fingernails. Its great.

Full of McDonald's backdrops this little slice of pervy heaven shows superstars of the 90s at their hedonistic, disposable best.  A great quote coming from DesignBoom:

"la chapelle's monstrosities are that breed of gaunt, blemishless human built
and enslaved by heavy makeup, lighting and the glorifying voodoo of photographic
attention, e.g., models, transsexuals and ... leonardo di caprio.
it is a prophecy of even scurvier spiritual illness yet to come from our
media-centric society, in the not-so-distant future."

Perk number one of working at a used bookstore is you get first dibs.

I just finished reading this:

Its by an Asheville local: Brian Lee Knopp. Pick it up at Malaprops and you can get a signed copy at no extra charge. The author's wife also works at Malaprops and passes praise for this book along.

Its one of those books that make me proud to be from Appalachia. It makes me want to stop paying my taxes, buy a bunch of coon dogs, rebuy that family mountain, stock up on a couple guns and ride this whole Americaknowsbest thing out.

What little Libertarian there is in me, its all given to me by my mountain ancestors. Wondering what-the-hell-is-that-person-doing-in-my-driveway-oh-its-just-the-mailman inclinations are purely genetic and I'm damn proud of it. My soul is split between the intellectual "can't we all just get along" and the "live free or die" type. I've never been able to choose which amendment I like better, the first or the second. I love socialism. I will shoot at beer cans from the back porch or so help me god. I just recently started messing around with the Tarot and was so nervous about having it in the house, I almost left the pack outside that first night. Amen.

While author Knopp certainly put himself in some sticky situations (eg,getting held at gunpoint by said tax avoiding, coondog, family compound mountain man) he tells the story just the way you want to hear it. I won't say if he gets out of it in one piece. You really should buy this book and support local writers and all that. Its a damn fine read.

Its one of those books that reminds us how to tell stories.


(I don't really care for the title. Mayberry is so cliche)

the end.

Lent

While there are many things I think are cool, neat, awesome and lessboringthanmostotherthings, Lent has always been way up there on my list of things that can't be anything less than awesome. As a college educated indivdual with a love for all things properly researched, I feel I should back this statement up with the facts:

• Historically, Lent is the Catholic tradition of fasting prior to Easter that some of the more "catholicy" protestants think awesome as well. "Catholicy" protestants are defined as Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists and Anglicans. Traditionally, one is expected to fast for the forty days leading up to Easter. One is supposed to refrain from such fleshly temptations as food, drink and sex in order to prepare for the sacrifice of Christ's crucifixion and the glory of  resurrection. (along with this practice, and the holy communion, I submit the Catholics for the most morbid religious group in history. Man! These guys just LOVE death and implied cannibalism.)

• Leading up to these difficult forty days is, of course the debaucherous, hedonistic, colorful and well known pagan celebration of Mardi Gras. Fat Tuesday, King Cake and all the other traditions are basically a way of making a mega deposit in the sin (read: fun) bank before Christ dies for you in a month. Get all the party in before you have to behave.

From time to time, I remember this holiday exists and feel compelled to participate. As a religious ex-pat , I do love me some empty religious ritual from time to time which requires just enough committment to build some character, but not enough theology to be troublesome.

Lent is perfect. In modern days, one can pick out any kind of stumbling block to give up for Lent. Some people go for the no sugar, caffeine or alcohol route. I was always partial to secular music, tv or any-book-besides-the-bible. None of these will do now. I don't really think that secular music is destroying my soul anymore.

BUT, I do have one addiction:

See, I have an unhealthy obsession with religion. Christianity. Research specifically. I talk about it constantly. My friends will probably stop talking to me soon and my family just roll their eyes at this point.  My personal library and internet book marks are all organized by criticism, translation and theological persuasions.

All of this comes from my past with Christianity, but that's neither here nor there. Its just feeding a negative attitude which is getting alittle out of hand.

So, ironically as it may seem, I believe for Lent, I shall give up religion.

Cheers to the Catholics for creating a holiday so full of contradictions. Like the crusades, centuries of rape, burning at the stake and keeping the general public dumb, Lent is imperative to the western mind.

I've missed the traditional kickoff, but I follow the spirit of the law if not the letter. And as they say, better late than never.

My list of don'ts for the next 40 days:
-no reading the bible
-no reading books related to the bible
-no reading history books related to the bible OR church history
-no talking about what I've been reading
-no talking about what I believe
-no visiting any religious sites, blogs, news articles or forums
-no more watching youtube videos of cults and religious leaders
-no responding (even in my head) to any religious statements made by other people. I shall merely smile and nod and say "wow, thats interesting thought!".
-no fiction which alludes more than a few passages to religion
-no participating in those politcal conversations that have somehow become entrenched in religion.

Unfortunately, this means I'll have to stay away from most western philosophy and history books as well.

Now, I know this is all a bit cheeky and might offend some (its not meant too of course, but saying that is being alittle naive), but here's the serious part.

My goals are as follows:

-to stop being so obnoxious
-to become a better listener
-to realize that there is no formula for truth, not even doubt, and people can be walking masses of contradiction and thats ok.
-to try and find a way to embrace those intrinsic contradictions
- to stop acting like such a danged know-it-all.

So, here's to Lent and fasting from god!

Sedum and Seedoo.

Looking over my fairly sad garden beds the other day, I was amazed by the tenacity of sedum. Quickly becoming one of my favorite ground covers, these hardy succulents tend to survive mild winters and have been holding up nicely this winter. It is comforting to think that even with the harshest winter in recent memory, my garden is incubating for the glory of spring.

Plants that I expect to survive the winter are as follows:

The Black Eyed Susans from Across the Street
The lovely purple Bee Balm I planted last year

The Autumn Joy Sedum (tall thin succulent which blossoms in the fall) ---->
The Arbitrary Sedum Rock plant
My Hen and Chicks seem to be doing 'ok'.

I am also hoping for some volunteer tomatillos, hot peppers, sun flowers from the bird feeder (which was a nice suprise last year) and crossing my fingers that my lavender will survive. It is the hardy one after all.

Cats and Dogs from Next Door continue to wreck havoc on the soil and struggling plants. However, I shall persevere. Its better than Next Door's offspring pulling flowers up by the roots which is what happened last spring.

More Snow and dreams of Spring

Every Winter, I try to come up with a list of things that are nice about it. Every Winter I can really only come up with one solid thing:

Dreaming about my flower garden.

Thats it. We have had alot more snow this year, which is nice enough. But I'm not really made for Winter. The grey skies make me sad and the biting wind just pisses me off. BUT, the one perk is that I can look through gardening books and seed catalogs and plan my garden for the next year.

The best part about gardening is that every year you learn something new. I want to take my time, learn about one plant a year; this coming year shall be the year of the Dahlia!

There are hundreds of different varieties, from tiny blossoms, to monsters like these.
< ----
I like the big ones. Last year I grew a few small ones; one was the stark white, the most beautiful blossom I'd ever seen. Then the dog from Next Door peed on it. I've never cried for a flower before, but that day the tears fell.

Also, last year, I had no idea that you could actually dig up the root and put it in the basement for next year. So I'm kicking myself, because I could actually have saved that pretty white one.

Onward! Now I know and get ready, cause I've got the fever.

Plus, what great gifts these would make. You could save the root, then divide it come planting time and give it away as gifts! Make the world more beautiful!

cheers to the Dahlia.

The American Dahlia Society