Deviant Dispatches

Our first one out here.

Friday night, I made my first protest sign since before the Iraq war began. When I participated in that protest, Congress had already decided to go to war, so I was registering my dissent more than anything else. I knew my protesting wasn't likely to make a difference in the outcome. This time, I have more hope. I keep thinking that Gov. Walker's got to get it at some point - but then I remember how stubborn he is being and it kills me a little. That didn't stop us from showing up in Santa Fe on Saturday. There were protests in every state capitol this weekend to show support for Wisconsin. This blog shows pictures from many of them. It takes some time to load, but the images and links are worth it, especially if you in Wisconsin are starting to get depressed about all this. Some of the signs at the protest in Santa Fe were more serious. Some were less so. (Warning: there's a photo coming up with questionable language. Protect your children / hide from your boss if you...

This picture is provided to just give you some idea of how I felt half an hour ago. I felt like that dog, carefree and enjoying the blue sky and pretty scenery while someone else guards the alpacas for a moment. I had a few moments to just hang out and love this relaxing time in my life. Why, you may ask? Because I paid off my first student loan! This loan was through Sallie Mae. They are evil. Their interest rates are astoundingly high. Several people I know have had issues with their evil repayment attitude. Plus it was like pulling teeth to get this loan in the first place - everyone knows students have no credit, so why do they require them to have a cosigner? It's not their fault most of them haven't purchased a car or a house yet at age 19. For the next half hour or so, I had planned to bask in the wonder of being free from that loan. But I'm too pissed off now to do that. Why? This is why. The Wisconsin Assembly passed the bill - in an unfair, cowardly, dictatorly m...

In the children's section of the store, we have a book called Zero is the Leaves on the Tree . It helps explain the concept of zero to kids. But my geek-side is starting to bug me about this. In the case of the book's title, zero is a concept, which is why the verb "to be" is singular. But if I were talking about the number itself, I would say, "There are zero leaves on the tree." Zero is a plural, despite being nothing at all. I've been having a hard time coming up with a reliable source that gives a definitive answer to this. There are several websites that talk about the history of the number - I found it interesting that the word "zero" came from the Italian word for wind ( zefiro ), which was close to the Arabic word for zero ( sifr ). The best I can tell is this: zero is a plural because you can often have a lot of it. For example, "There are zero leaves on the tree." Zero, in that sentence, refers to the lack of leaves. And th...

Some favorite pictures that I've taken. Minerva the tomato plant Wedding feet Wedding faces A hole where the snow gets in (I haven't fixed it) A friend in a bar Local scenery

I have a problem. Well, I have many problems, but I have a specific one right now. I was gifted a ball of soft, royal blue mohair as a Christmas/wedding gift from my manager (he really knows how to gift). I crocheted it, along with some varigated alpaca yarn, into a mini-capelet. It's super-tiny, hence my calling it a capelet instead of a shawl. When pinned around my neck, it reaches my shoulders and no farther. That's fine by me; I like having a little cape. My problem involves another ball of mohair yarn. I've already started working with it, adding in a strand of brown acrylic for extra weight. I was hoping to make a blanket, but the mohair I got was $8 and only got me an itty bitty foot-and-a-half rug-type thing, only large enough to keep GIR warm. Plus, it kind of looks like cat vomit. I have some flat, tan, mother-of-pearly bead things I was going to attach to it afterward. But I don't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money making this blanket, and now I can...

This sunset, seen from our "porch," is from our first summer out here. There's nothing like seeing these kinds of sunsets in the mountains from your own apartment.