Alyssa Foos

Musings

Things to Do in February When You're Alive...

I found my Astro-Twin!!!
>Gianni Nazzaro--he's an Italian singer and who knows what all else...
If you want to have as much fun as I do,
check out this astrology site.
You enter your birth information in a profile, then you can (for free) check out everyone else with similar times of birth. They have a pretty good database of births.
Mine were mostly all musicians, artists, writers or military folk.
Now there's a fun group for brunch, eh?

Love your lymph!

The lymph system seems to me an unsung hero/ine of our bodies.
Did you know we have twice as much lymph in us as blood?!
Exciting stuff, I know!
I like very much this article I came across about the lymph system--
http://www.womentowomen.com/detoxification/lymphaticsystem.asp

Stupid human tricks

Farewell to the Yangtze River Dolphin
(from Yahoo news)
By PETER RITTER
Sun Aug 12, 1:45 AM ET

The Yangtze River dolphin, one of the world's rarest mammals, is no more, a victim of China's breakneck economic growth and competition for food with one of the world's most common large mammals - human beings.
We can say that the animal is functionally extinct," says August Pfluger, head of the Zurich-based Baiji.org Foundation, which in December co-sponsored a six-week, 2,000-mile (3,500-km) survey of the Yangtze without finding a single remaining member of the critically endangered species. The dolphin, one of only four exclusively freshwater species in the world, may have the unhappy distinction of being the first aquatic mammal to go extinct in more than half a century - and the first large mammal driven into oblivion by environmental degradation.

Nicknamed the "goddess of the Yangtze," and long considered auspicious by fishermen, the pale-colored, human-sized dolphins have always been rare: a 1997 survey recorded only 14 left in the river. (A captive dolphin died of old age in a Chinese zoo in 2002). But Pfluger says human pressure pushed the baiji past the tipping point. "The main reason is overfishing. The Chinese still use unsustainable fishing methods like dynamite. There's still a lot of illegal fishing, so the dolphins were competing with humans for food."

According to Wang Ding, a researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Hydrobiology and a leading expert on the baiji, damming on the river and noise from heavy boat traffic may have disoriented the dolphins, which are mostly blind and search for food in the sandy shallows using sonar. The confused and starving animals may then have wandered into boat propellers. Heavy dredging in shipping channels could also have made it harder for the animals to locate each other and hunt for increasingly scarce fish. "Dredging is a very serious problem," Wang says. "It destroys spawning grounds of fish. There are also too many boats. The baiji depend on their sonar ability to survive."

As top-level predators, dolphins like the baiji are an "indicator species" - bellwethers of the general health of an ecosystem. Their disappearance bodes ill for the Yangtze, which supports more than 400 million people, roughly 6% of the world's total population. Wang says the Yangtze is relatively unpolluted. But untrammeled commerce and massive hydrological projects like the Three Gorges Dam have dramatically altered the river's landscape. With as many as 60 boats per km of river in some areas, the Yangtze already looks less like a river than a highway during rush hour. "Baiji are at the top of the food chain just like human beings," Wang says. "If the river can't support baiji, someday it won't support humans either."

Indeed, baiji aren't the only animal facing extinction. Wang says the finless porpoise, another large cetacean native to the river, has also seen its population plummet because of shipping and hydrological engineering. When Wang surveyed the river in the early 1990s, he found about 1,200 of the porpoises; 15 years later, there were fewer than half that number left. But Wang says it may not be too late to save the species. Galvanized in part by the baiji's disappearance, Chinese scientists are taking aggressive steps to rescue the finless porpoise, including breeding the animals in a lake preserve. In fact, Wang believes it may not even be too late for the baiji: there may be a handful of baiji dolphins left in some isolated backwater of the Yangtze. If they can be located and captured, he says, breeding might yet save their species. Pfluger, however, is not so optimistic. "Maybe one or two are left," he says. "But they don't have any chance to survive."

Green muse fuse

The middle time of season made me think of this cheery little number, all magnificent Shakespeare plays aside...

The force that through the green fuse drives the flower
by Dylan Thomas

The force that through the green fuse drives the flower
Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees
Is my destroyer.
And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose
My youth is bent by the same wintry fever.

The force that drives the water through the rocks
Drives my red blood; that dries the mouthing streams
Turns mine to wax.
And I am dumb to mouth unto my veins
How at the mountain spring the same mouth sucks.

The hand that whirls the water in the pool
Stirs the quicksand; that ropes the blowing wind
Hauls my shroud sail.
And I am dumb to tell the hanging man
How of my clay is made the hangman's lime.

The lips of time leech to the fountain head;
Love drips and gathers, but the fallen blood
Shall calm her sores.
And I am dumb to tell a weather's wind
How time has ticked a heaven round the stars.

And I am dumb to tell the lover's tomb
How at my sheet goes the same crooked worm.

From The Poems of Dylan Thomas, published by New Directions. Copyright © 1952, 1953 Dylan Thomas. Copyright © 1937, 1945, 1955, 1962, 1966, 1967 the Trustees for the Copyrights of Dylan Thomas. Copyright © 1938, 1939, 1943, 1946, 1971, 2003 New Directions Publishing Corp. Used with permission.

Empire of the Ants

Yes, that's Joan Collins in "Empire of the Ants" and she seems to like 'em!
Me, I could do without their company in the house.
There are large black ants coming in from outside.
There aren't hordes of them, just an odd one here and there...and there!...and there...!
Mainly what bugs me is they seem so altogether pissed off, and when they get caught they cop such an attitude, racing and leaping madly around. You'd think with our catch and release policy, they'd be a little happier! I'm glad these guys haven't nibbled on any plutonium lately!...or have they?...duhn duhn duuuhhnn...

Their relative strength is just phenomenal, as you probably know. Depending on the kind of ant, they can carry from 4 to 50 times their own weight! No wonder they represent "strength" on the Sun Bear Medicine Wheel.

Anyhow, I wish local TV stations still played scary movies on TV on Saturday afternoons, with dorky hosts. I wish I could go back in time and keep some things around...

Science as art

Here is my niece's science fair project on solar eclipses!!!

She got an A+!!

Woo hoo!

Princess Puff says Happy Holidays!

Dec. 1, Fri. night, 11:11 pm!!!
Sheesh, so it snowed. Yeah it's a big storm, I understand.
(And I do hope we get us some of that here in WNY! Woo hoo!)
If only there was something else going on in the world though, you know?
Oy vey!
War is such a holiday downer. Gotta sell, sell, sell!
(ironically, the reason we went to war in the first place?!)

Knitted world order, place your blanket of goodness over it all,
as a blanket of snow
at blizzard time
at eventide.

Sister Poetry

My sister put out a book of poetry!

I'm dang proud!
It's a great read and works in the hoitiest of hoity toity coffeehouses, or whipped out of a backpocket as you plunk down in front of a woodsy campfire!

Happy Valentines Day!

Oughtfive

I was glad to see oughtfive go, but already sad news is arriving...
I don't know the Bells, but found myself crying to hear the news of Ramona Bell's passing.
She is the wife of Art Bell, famed radio broadcaster and ham radio expert, and all-around interesting person.
In Ramona's honor, it is suggested to make donations to the Humane Society, or other animal-friendly organization, since Ramona and Art both love animals. I think that is why I felt the connection to Ramona. I'm contributing to Habitat For Cats in her honor.
The sun is trying to peek out today. I'm not a big solar proponent, normally, but, enough's enough, let's have a bit of bright!

Here are some items for sale, some not on this site yet...
vegan knits

Also, I've been blogged!...
Thank's Jennifer!

Mother Shipton

Mother Shipton (1488-1561)

Crooked and ugly you were said to dwell
in a Yorkshire cave near a mystical well.

Uncouth rhymes brought you lasting fame,
prophecies concocted under your name.

Homely cures witch’s power can bring,
to cast your face on a moth’s wing.

Bluebird

Charles Bukowski - Bluebird

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I'm not going
to let anybody see
you.
there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pur whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he's
in there.

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?
there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody's asleep.
I say, I know that you're there,
so don't be
sad.
then I put him back,
but he's singing a little
in there, I haven't quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it's nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don't
weep, do
you?

*************

The Genius Of The Crowd

Charles Bukowski - The Genius Of The Crowd

there is enough treachery, hatred violence absurdity in the average
human being to supply any given army on any given day

and the best at murder are those who preach against it
and the best at hate are those who preach love
and the best at war finally are those who preach peace

those who preach god, need god
those who preach peace do not have peace
those who preach peace do not have love

beware the preachers
beware the knowers
beware those who are always reading books
beware those who either detest poverty
or are proud of it
beware those quick to praise
for they need praise in return
beware those who are quick to censor
they are afraid of what they do not know
beware those who seek constant crowds for
they are nothing alone
beware the average man the average woman
beware their love, their love is average
seeks average

but there is genius in their hatred
there is enough genius in their hatred to kill you
to kill anybody
not wanting solitude
not understanding solitude
they will attempt to destroy anything
that differs from their own
not being able to create art
they will not understand art
they will consider their failure as creators
only as a failure of the world
not being able to love fully
they will believe your love incomplete
and then they will hate you
and their hatred will be perfect

like a shining diamond
like a knife
like a mountain
like a tiger
like hemlock

their finest art

Dream Journal

Thursday, January 13, 2005
I've decided to make this my dream journal for the time-being, since who the heck is reading this besides me anyways?!
I had one of those tense and tedious return-to-school dreams that I have on a pretty regular basis the other night. This time tho', instead of going back to yucky old high school (ugh--Cardinal Mooney!), I was going back to college. I liked college! I got to draw pictures, knit and put on weight. Such a go-getter I am! Good old S.U.N.Y. Purchase...Back to the dream...unfortunately, there was an eerie presence on campus. Nasty satanic types were slowly taking over. Not just poseur goth pagan rockers--but the really bad people that do all kinds of nasties and hurt animals and people.
I was checking in to re-matriculate and find my place in the dorms which were now super-high-tech lock-down security zones. Things got creepier and creepier and I had an impending sense of doom about being back and what the heck was I going to major in anyways???
I think this dream is actually a good thing. I think I'm "graduating" to a new level of self-evolution, and the anxiety that comes with it will pass.
I'm a-hopin'!

*+*+*+*+*+*

Green lights

Oh the misery and the gloom!...Pray very hard and send donations if you can!
And here I am, still caught up in my own kvetching I can never seem to escape it--why did I find those holidays so detestable? Because the purpose they served which they were designed for has come completely separated, berated, dessicated. So then, not only do you have to try to assimilate all these trying and exhausting habits and customs, you still have to try and survive the longest, darkest days of the year while under totally and additionally stressful circumstances! Phew!
So now, vainly onward through January and the new numbered year, my rent unpaid, trying to remember to breathe, and keep my nails unpried from my palms...all for the sake of giving.

And then, I remember knitting... and to count my blessings and can't believe what a grumbly so-and-so I can be! Wayne Dyer, and green lights, and all that good stuff...

Christmas party

I wish to golly I could go to John Waters' Christmas party! Dang, maybe someday...
(Listen in to NPR's Scott Simon Dec. 19th interview at www.npr.org with him in case you are having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit. I can't get it to link and I don't know why!

Peace. love and joy to the world!!!

Opthalmic solution

"My tears...gotta love it!"
This was the closing statement made by spokesmodel, Janine Turner,
from a commercial for an opthalmic solution.
It made me laugh out loud when I saw it for the first time tonight on the boob tube. She goes on and on about her tears throughout the whole commercial, all the while looking so perky and happy. It's pretty hilariously ironic, no? Okay, so most TV is boring and obviously the most fun part is looking for the holes in the screen, so to speak. And for people with dry eye problems, my sympathies and apoplogies.
Oh, but I almost forgot!--the knitting tie-in!!! Well, Janine Turner was on the show "Northern Exposure", (a decent show,wish they would re-run that on something besides cable) on which there was a character who frequently knitted. Hey hey! Well, it was Alaska after all. I s'pose I could look up her character's name, but that would be cheating--you would think I'm smarter than I actually am, eh? Don't want to break anybody's smart-o-meter. No, no, no danger of that here, my friends...
I am finishing a hat up that has to go out tomorrow first thing. Too much to do and I'm cranky! It's cocoa time...

Bus

Sometimes you ride the bus and everything stinks, especially the air--diesel and alcohol-nicotine breath and sad, wet, barn dogs, and there's nothing to knit because you've brought all the wrong needle sizes, and you're nauseous and feel a migraine coming on; then other times, you take the bus and things are okay, and a you talk to a decent and good person and fellow struggler. A simple conversation is had that doesn't involve any lewdity or crass, pop-culture posturing; that re-institutes your faith in mankind; that makes you think of Harvey Pekar.
It is noted that knitting is a craft to be truly appreciated.
It is also noted that the days are short and the dark is long. One goes to work and returns in the dark. Lately it seems the darkness fairly eats up what little existing light there is. I say that only a few more weeks to go and the light will start to return. I'm told it's nice to meet a woman who sees the glass as half-full.
Wow, I guess there's hope for me yet!

Space junk

I saw what looked like really close space junk careening throught the sky last night whilst walking home. It was about 6:30 pm and in the SE sky, an arc of cosmic space sparks, heading east. I just happened, coincidentally, to be looking up at the exact right moment to see it. (Or so THEY'D like us to think, heh, heh!) Odds are I am looking up tho', most of the time. Here in Dullsville, the clouds are the best part of the show! I suppose it could have been just a flare or something. It was pretty, either way!

Survive?

Well, and did we all survive?
Actually, it was slip'n'slide on the roads last night and lots of cars succumbed, so I am THANKFUL we got home safely!
I made my Mom some mittens and she likes 'em! I used this great yarn called Manos del Uruguay. Oh, you ask, what is it's country of origin...? it's made in... you guessed it--Uruguay! And is done in all these great colors--some solids that are beautifully irregular monochromatics and then stunningly variegated color pallettes. Vibrant, yet not over-staying their welcome. It's a good business where the women workers make a living wage.
Anyways, my mom has knit before and taught me, tho' she hasn't knit lately much. Giving handmade stuff to someone else who is crafty as well, is generally a shoo-in for successful gift-giving!

Weirdness

Lots of weirdnesses going on (not to mention loads o' self-pitying angst), and I have not been keeping up! And then I remind myself, at least I am not currently getting shot at...
Last week there was the day of so many broken car windows, the remains of which I biked past on my way to work. No mention of it in the news. Think of the broken state of the soul who can steal and destroy with such abandon. Also, no mention of all the weird, spreading, smoky trails in the sky, possibly those chemtrails you hear tell of in more conspiratorily inclined blogs? It was that same day as the broken windows, but later, about 4:30 pm. It was actually kind of pretty, though unsettling--well over a dozen trails I counted, stretched as far across the length and breadth of the sky as I could see. There's got to be some creepy reason we are (conveniently??) "out of" flu vaccine. (Perhaps it's just good old American incompetence--that'd do it every time.) Some test of their anti-body spray? Who knows?
Thanksgiving coming up--sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but I am not really looking forward to it. Poor little turkeys. Most of them have already been slaughtered now, though, and they're probably either just glad to be out of the awful turkey factory, or perhaps they're planning on reincarnating as a cute and wanted Christmas pet! I really want to be vegan, but I already have insufficient blood and anemia as it is.
On a more positive note, and moving right along, I am truly thankful for all that I have and am!
Breathe through the trials and tribulations and remember you are good! (And then remember to be good and kind and all that stuff!)
"Just around the corner, there's a rainbow in the sky. So let's have another cup o' coffee and Let's have another piece o' pie!" --Irving Berlin
(except I try not have coffee very much at all 'cause it messes up my shoulder and gives me headaches, but it is a great cure for when I get bus sick every week!)
In the midst of all this, I shall knit on, just like Elizabeth Zimmerman sez to!
Smell ya later!

Northern Lights

My acute spider sense alerted me to wake up last night and hear Art Bell on the radio I'd fallen asleep to, saying that there were reports from callers to "Coast to Coast AM" (so addicted!) of amazing viewings of the Northern Lights! Not so amazing, considering the sun was going koo-koo with coronal mass ejections! Well, we went out to check and, sure enough, a free show awaited us! So wonderful! It was perfect timing, too, for there was a clearing of clouds for about ten minutes. Just for us? thanks! well, there wasn't anybody about...guess we're the only Coastie nerds in the neighborhood!
Speaking of nerds--saw "American Splendor" again at the screening at the Dryden Theater here at the George Eastman House. Harvey Pekar and his wife and daughter came too. He seemed to be politely tolerating old Smugtown! I couldn't bear to get an autograph. Autographs creep me out. They seem grubby and disingenuous, nowadays.

Halloween fun

Well, there you go, it's November! Halloween fun is fading. If you want fun, it's all up to you to make it yourself now! You may have to even start tapping into the fun reserves a bit. Go easy though--by all accounts it's going to be a long, cold winter!
Sometimes there's no better gift than not having enough. I've found myself frequently thankful that I don't have a car to shovel out many a snowy winter morn!
And not having cable TV, that's a blessing...I really shouldn't watch any TV I s'pose. I find that the amount of TV I watch generally tends to be in direct proportion to my state of mental well-being! The less I watch, the better I feel! But I sure was happy last night when WXXI, our PBS station, played Irving Berlin's "You're In the Army". They used to play old movies all the time, and on Sunday nights especially. That being a most crucial point in the week psychologically for the sensitive-minded, as you well know, dear readers!
A selfish complaint of mine has been that since September 11th, much wonderful programming, such as old late-night movies, has gone to info-mercials and such boring things as that! So, anyway, I lavished in the indulgence of it all and wished I could remember more of the names of the performers from this classic. I see by the online schedule that they are not making a habit of more movies, so I hope you enjoyed yourselves!
By the by, I saw the original "Godzilla" recently at the theater. It was practically a religious experience! How wonderful to see it without the mockery of dubbed voices, and instead with English sub-titles. The film has such a dignity and fierce beauty that I'd never known!...Wow!

October time

Yay for October, such a cool month--it contains my fave light, my fave weather, my fave holiday!
Catboy and I got to go to "Fear at Frontier(baseball field)" because I was the eleventh caller on WHAM radio! It's a walk-through haunted house type of dealie, and there are three different ones to go through. The crypt-keeper doing crowd-control was really good. He had no mask or make-up, just a hooded cape. He was so creepy! The shrouded cannibal lady was good too. Looking at the lit-up parking garage on State St. through 3-D glasses was a highlight as well.
San Diego had a great one called the Haunted Hotel. I worked at that one a few times (exorcist girl, murderous chef!) They had a much bigger budget though, and I appreciate all things macabre!

Theft

Geez, today some lady at the yarn store was kvetching at me about the price of a large hank of beautiful, hand-dyed yarn. I responded in my typical diplomatic fashion, "Well, there is enough there to make yourself a whole shawl." She then informed me she saw a ready-made Missoni scarf in New York for the same price as the aforementioned yarn. I love Missoni, by the way, but some folks just don't understand the quirks, turns, and challenges of running a small business, or, for that matter, a small bank balance. Unable to think of anything else chipper to say or do, I just backed away with a friendly shrug, and found some solace in a whistled rendition of "Misty". Yep, stay tuned for more of my effective methods for dealing with difficult people...

Toby Radloff

Gee, I thought I was a nerd! Hurray, it's Toby from "American Splendor" and other nerdly fame!http://tobyradloff.blogspot.com/

Knitted Word (sic) Order! by my sister...

Little Knitted Sister
By Ellen Foos

The Knit-Wits were a family.
Green father, blue mother,
pink and yellow children.
Yarn-topped heads.

The youngest child was good.
She did what she was told.
Got thrown across the playroom
and bounced right back.

The stuffed parents were
nonchalant. They’d go to the
seashore with Little Sister
locked in the toy cupboard.

Once the dog got her and left her
very worn down.
She spent the rest of the week
laying in the yard.

The yellow brother was okay.
He squashed her almost
inside out but then let her
wear his cowboy vest.

Nowadays plastic fashion
models don't have families.
The knitted sister was lucky
to grow up back then.

Brocken Spectre

The Brocken Spectre rules!!!
What I need is for someone wearing a kittyhat to climb the Brocken and bring back photos for me!
Of course, there is Photo Shop, but it just wouldn't be the same. So, dear public, anyone heading to Germany to go mountain-climbing??? ( I would go myself, but, geez, it's hard to knit and mountain-climb. )

Speaking of the public, I am often hard-pressed to know what will satisfy the churning and burning needs of the two people who occasionally read these blogs. At any rate, if anyone needs any advice-- lovelorn, questions of etiquette, etc. feel free to ask me. I will practice utmost discretion and anonymity, most certainly. And in case anyone's wondering, I'll just get this one right out of the way--it's absolutely fine to knit at parties, nightclubs, mountaintops--wherever you may find yourself on this New Year's Eve! Blessings of good cheer to all--happy 2004!

Happy New Year!

Happy new year to everybody!
Time to re-generate, and re-think, and re-dial...
...as we embark upon 2004!

Everyone seems to be making predictions, so here's what I'm thinkn...(deep breath)
I predict we will all be nice to each other, more than ever before, passing along any excess when we can to our brethren (and sistren!). In fact, here's a good place to send some of it...Sample Soap
And also, those windfalls, both big and small will be there waiting for us when we need them!
(Can I hear an "amen"?!)
In spite of the preceding barely qualifying as "news", it is true that, rest assured, the wheels are turning in land o' KWO! Let there be much cookie-baking and hat-making,
ice-breaking and hand-shaking...what can I say?--it's been quite a year!
Thanks again for all your interest and support!

Almost December

It's almost December 2004 y'all--2004 nearing end! Where in the goobityheck did it go?!...
What can be said that is fresh, that is true? All one must do is breathe, and you will know the truth. You are whole, perfect, complete...always.

What is the true nature of the self? Who can say? Well, me being myself, I can! I, after all, am the ultimate authority, so I say that I am quite really the best at being me!
How true, how true!

We do go on...
and on,
and on...
It's all quite silly and wonderful!
*******
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