Toats!! Simplify the dog walk!!

A brilliant farmer/baker/equestrienne in Virginia has come up with an organic snack that's healthy, delicious, and friendly to the earth.

Even better, you can share it not just with your kids and BFFs but also your horse and dog!! It's called Toats--which is what my little kiddies used to call the browned bread they ate with their scrambled eggs, but it's much more nutritious and tasty. 

Not exactly a cracker, and not exactly a cookie, it's uniquely like both of these things, created from oats and almonds and honey and flax.

I wandered into Whole Foods this afternoon in the snowstorm, and Toats's creator and her helpers were setting up a tasting display. (The photo at the right was taken in my own kitchen, not at their attractive display right near the cracker aisle.) Since tasting all the goodies is one of my favorite parts of shopping on Saturdays at WF, I tasted!

And I was captivated.

Not only are Toats crunchy and yummy and simply, satisfyingly sweet, they are wheat, egg, and dairy-free, have 0 trans fats, and are a good soure of Omega 3 and fiber.

It doesn't stop there.  The packaging is biodegradable, recyclable, chlorine-free, and 100% PCU paper. (What's that? I'll have to go to their website to find out. Ah yes...PCU is Post Consumer Use.)

They have a wee package enclosure, Toats Tidbits ("Feed Your Body, Feed Your Mind"). My package has one that talks about the history and wonders of flax ("We go way back"), although I had to dig out the magnifying glass to read it. (Clearly I need to lay off the junk and eat more things like Toats.)

Officially, Toats is available at two WF outlets in these parts. Maybe my WF will be the third.  I hope so. If not, I'll do the online thing available on their website.

GOOD TV!!

We get emails....

My inbox was smoking this morning:

"I got up early and finally finally went to ex[ercise]-room, where the smarmy coverage of CNN (whose call letters should be changed to F O X--Someone should spank Anderson Cooper's tight little butt) set me off. And the Post headline sent me over the top.

Here is another letter that will not be published.

I will be honored if you put it somewhere in Xtreme.

Love.

Boo":

Yes, Boo, XE is honored to post this. Here ya go:

To: letters@Washpost.com
Re: Today's headline: "In court of public opinion no clear ruling"

For me, the ruling is quite clear—but the metaphor is from sports. Alito and the arrogant and emboldened Right that he represents play out of bounds. The constant coverage of the continued rudeness toward the President of the United States simply shows the confusion of the press as it tries to redraw the court.

The game is not over, but the Americans are losing.

You tell 'em, Boo!! If WP does publish your letter, I'll post their response, if any.

"I Can!

Magic words....and here's how they've infected Indian children:

"The Thankless Work of Making Things Right"

I did not write what I'm about to post: CSKendrick did in today's Daily Kos. It's spot on for the day on which President Obama will make his State of the Union address. Here it is [emphasis, where it occurs, is mine]:

The Thankless Work of Making Things Right
by cskendrick
...
Tue Jan 26, 2010 at 09:27:18 AM PST

Wherein I bring up three topics

1. Austerity.

2. Argentina.

3. Alfonsin. President Raul Alfonsin.

In an attempt to capture some sense of why we - as in all Americans - vehemently disagree on what the challenges are, what the solutions are, and who is right to be attempting any solutions at all.

Because we are afraid to acknowledge just how dire our peril has been for some time, and how little room there is to move even when we wish to move in the same direction.

This is not a bash piece, nor a paean to the President, nor a statement of existential despair, nor a harbinger of hope.

And because we are desperate and afraid, and distrustful, we don't all want to move the same way.


It's just...it's just a DKOS diary.

* cskendrick's diary :: ::
*

Austerity is something of a four-letter word in development circles. The definition from the One True Wiki sums up why:

> In economics, austerity is when a national government reduces its spending, to pay back creditors. Austerity is usually required when a government's fiscal deficit spending is felt to be unsustainable.

Which ours is.

> Development projects, welfare programs and other social spending are common areas of spending for cuts.

What cuts are not made at the expense of social spending will have to come from other areas of public spending.. or be passed on to other governments - state and local ones. I hear New Jersey, for example, is reassessing property values and in effect raising property taxes - under a Republican governor. Get used to this pattern. The city of Charlotte, NC is always finding opportunities to raise sales taxes.
>

> In many countries, austerity measures have been associated with short-term standard of living declines until economic conditions improved once fiscal balance was achieved (such as in Canada under Jean Chrétien, and Spain under Felipe González).

Short-term standard of living declines. You're living them.

> Private banks, or institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), may require that a country pursues an 'austerity policy' if it wants to re-finance loans that are about to come due.

A significant amount of the U.S. public debt is always 'about to come due'. Guessed who peaced out of the U.S. public debt refi business last week? China. And since almost all new mortgage originations starting in 2009 are made directly against the U.S. public balance sheet, guess what else? Banks are either about to start assuming credit risk themselves with no public (read: Chinese) backing - or just go straight to Beijing themselves for backup. of course, the problem there is China has its own problems. The other question you have to ask is, unlike the United States in decades past, if the Chinese will refrain from engaging in direct political influence to protect its collateral (including many houses purchased this year and in years past) and other real assets on U.S. soil.

It's a good thing the Supremes did not vote in favor of Citizens United expansively, else that might be a real worry. (Checks universe location again. Oops) Looks like I had that backwards! SCOTUS did open the floodgates to direct foreign influence after all! How awkward!
>

> The government may be asked to stop issuing subsidies or to otherwise reduce public spending. When the IMF requires such a policy, the terms are known as 'IMF conditionalities'.

It does not look like we are here - yet. We will know more in three years.

> Austerity programs are frequently controversial, as they have an impact on the poorest segments of the population and often lead to a wider separation between the rich and poor.

Don't hold your breath hoping the wealth gap will be fixed. It's just not happening. Being already marginal and weak, the poor are easiest to kick to the curb when they going gets tough. Besides, they're already poor. They're used to it. The problem with a sustained austerity program is that people who never considered themselves at risk of poverty see that risk of becoming poor climb toward - then past - 100 percent. And they do not like this turn of events.

Many such persons - just above poor, and getting there fast - are presently non-Hispanic whites, who in recent decades trend Republican in their voting. Guess what's happening? Tea parties. Even persons in this demographic who are NOT conservative and into 'bagging are desperate and pissed and receptive to appeals that, if they just take another chance on the Republican Party...well. You get the idea.
>

> In many situations, austerity programs are imposed on countries that were previously under dictatorial regimes, leading to criticism that populations are forced to repay the debts of their oppressors.

Perhaps that should be rephrased for applicability to the American case - ....populations are forced to repay the debts of past wastrels.

And those leaders who follow such scoundrels.. theirs is often a thankless task - to ask sacrifice of the already-suffering, to ask the afflicted to be forgiving and the mighty to curb their contempt for the people.

They are rarely honored in their life of service.. or even their lives.

Such is the plight of saints. Such is also the fate of elected leaders who, capturing the hope of the many, are forced to weather challenge after challenge from all fronts.

Not so long ago, there was a land far to the south named Argentina. A man named Raul Alfonsin http://en.wikipedia.org/... who represented the return of the people to power in that country.

He didn't do everything. On many fronts, he could make very little headway. He faced hostile press, infighting, rumbles of coup from the right, rebellion from the left, cries for justice, for financial relief, for bread.

Ultimately, he left office.

In time, he passed away of natural causes.

He had a gift for words. One supposes the original Spanish must be something else, for the meaning of several phrases attributed to him are moving, indeed:
>
> With democracy we eat, with democracy we educate, with democracy we heal.
>
> ....
>
> Ideas go on, men don’t. Men succeed or fail, but it is the ideas that transform themselves into torches that keep democracy alive.

We here in the America of 2010 live in an age of thankless tasks. Few - perhaps none at all - fully understand the depth of our diminishment in the way of the fruitless wars, the evisceration of our institutions of knowledge, of law, of justice, of becoming a society where the will to help for the good of all is considered morally offensive and grounds for rebellion... and cause to compare the plight of the poor with that of stray animals. What we as a society do with stray animals is left without mention. It does not need mentioning at all.

So here we are, inheritors of horrible problems brought on us - or simply blown off - by the Republicans. Problems that, should the Republicans return to power in 2010 and 2012, will be amplified (and ignored yet again).

And perhaps one thinks - these problems need solutions. We need someone to do something, anything - even if it is to make problems appear to go away for a while.

And some people, some of your friends, family members, neighbors, colleagues and fellow citizens WILL vote on this basis - to try anything and anyone new that preserves them from the need to sacrifice, to forgive, to refrain from contempt, to be more generous...

... to change.

For change, needful change most of all, is a thankless task and its advocates are rarely well treated in their lives of service - or even their lives. Many lose their lives for what they believe in.

As for the example of Alfonsin and Argentina - many, many lost their lives in far darker times, in far worse circumstances, with far fewer tools of knowledge, of organization, of wealth, of trust and hope than you - you online readers, you progressives, you independents, you occasional conservatives visiting this very diary today.

You might not like the pace and form and personalities of change that are present today.

But you have no cause to let history happen to you without comment or contribution.

Happy Birthday, Bobby!

Bobby...you know...THAT Bobby...Bobby Burns. Whaat? You don't know who Bobby Burns is? "Wee slickit tim'rous beastie..."? Yes, the Scottish poet Bobby Burns. It's his birthday, and they are having a "gathering" here in Mt Rainier to which i was invited and then disinvited. I was invited at 5:30 to a gathering that starts at 6:30. "We'll pick you up!" etc. At 7:05, I get a message: "The gathering is not at the house where we thought. It's at another house, and this one has a CAT!!! So sorry...."

At 5:30, I also was told to "bring a pie, though that's not necessary." (NOT NECESSARY?!) Sorry...not even I can make a frickin pie in an hour! It would take me 45 minutes to get to the frozen food section in Giant and back, and then I'd have to bake the daggone thing. Besides, on Burns Day, you need to make neeps & tatties!!! That would have been fun, had I had an afternoon in which to plot and peel and boil and mash and bake within a pie crust.

As it is, here I am alone with a glass of Jack Daniels. I am fresh out of The Famous Grouse, mother's milk of Scotland.

Well, happy birthday, Bobby...or Robbie, or Rabbie. You served your time well. And you wrote good poems, too, though I blush to admit I only know that one line (quoted above).

I give up. I am totally unfit for social life. I accept my fate. Ta hell with all of it.

Heaven help us....UPDATE

This is not original. It's from MSNBC--specifically, Keith Olbermann. And Kay's Thinking Cap posted it first. But holy Toledo! This is serious. This also is my 700th post on Xtreme English. I don't do a "blogiversary" (or "bloggoversary" or "blogaversary") mainly because I can't figure out how to spell it, and there are many other more important events to celebrate.

But I started blogging around the 4th of July a few years ago. The 4th of July celebrates America's independence from Great Britain--the birth of a nation dedicated to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Or so they said at the time, and so it's been hammered into us for hundreds of years since.

Today, however, is another historical milestone for the U.S. of A. We've probably seen the end of democracy here "of the people, by the people, and for the people." From now on, thanks to John Roberts, our government will be bought and paid for by corporations. (I'm assuming these will be US corporations, but who knows?)

UPDATE: As Kay points out in the comments, she got the idea from Cowtown Pattie blogging as Texas Trifles. The petition Kay cited, sponsored by Rep. Alan Grayson, D-FL, God love him--and accessible via Texas Trifles--was to be handed into the Supreme Court yesterday (Friday). There could be more opportunities online to express dismay over this ruling other than Grayson's, however, and I'll be looking around to find them. Cowtown Pattie got HER initial info on this Supreme Court decision from Time Goes By, a prime source for folks who want to keep up with the shenanigans in Washington they become fiat accompli. Had I been paying attention, and of course, I wasn't, I'd have known this ruling went down Thursday this week, not Friday. Where were my usual stops [Daily Kos, Salon, and the Huffington Post] on this?? Is this one example of what our lives will be now that corporations will control who gets to make the laws--as if they don't have a running start already? Heaven knows, most of us don't pay enough attention to what's going on.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Want to know what I think?

Here's one answer from Daily Kos to Brown of Massachusetts--[sanitized for for the faint-hearted]:

Losers and Cowards Will Quit Now. I'm Going to WAR
by Yosef 52
Tue Jan 19, 2010 at 06:33:15 PM PST

Well, it looks like so-called "Independent" Scott Brown has won a Senate seat in our most heavily Democratic state. Just for the record,

HE CAN GO TO [HADES].

[Piece of hardware] him. The campaign to unseat this lying, Republican Tea Party son a [birch] is starting NOW, and I'm starting it.

I will immediately pledge money to any worthy Democrat who announces for Brown's seat for the 2012 election. I'd like to see someone do it tomorrow. Oh, and by the way...

* Yosef 52's diary :: ::
*

--Stop using the Republican Party's bull[ship] anti-HCR talking points.

--Start wrapping the Tea Party fanatics around the necks of these lying Republican [illegitimates]. Tell the voters the truth: if the Republicans win this year, the people who carry signs showing Barack Obama with a swastika win.

--Start wrapping Limbaugh and Robertson around the Republicans' necks too. Remind them that GOP Party Leader Limbaugh and GOP Patron Saint Robertson are the ones [tinkling] all over the desperate, wounded people of Haiti.

--Start volunteering for your local Democrat NOW.

--Start contributing DIRECTLY to your local Democrat NOW. [Piece of hardware] the DNC and the DSCC. Give money right to your local party.

--Step up the war against the Radical Right in the Letters to the Editor, the on-line forums, and anywhere else you can. These cowards will back down if they're verbally slugged hard enough. [ya think?]

--Start building up your local party ASAP.

--Flush the Republicans out. DEMAND TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT IS THEY PLAN TO DO IF THEY WIN THIS YEAR.

Ask them--

If they plan to impeach President Obama.

Ask them If their plans include the following:

Outlawing abortion in all circumstances, even rape, incest, and the life of the mother.

Repealing the health care legislation, including provisions that forbid insurance companies from barring those with pre-existing conditions.

Launching an all-out preemptive war against Iran and Yemen.

Legalizing torture in all criminal interrogations. (Hey Scalia said it didn't violate the 8th Amendment!)

Outlawing all forms of birth control.

Declaring the United States a Christian Nation where non-Christians live only by permission of the Christian majority.

Calling for the death penalty or imprisonment for homosexuality. (Think I'm joking? Read the Oklahoma Republican Party platform here if you can stomach it.)

Privatizing Social Security.

Ending Medicare and Medicaid.

Ratcheting up the "war on drugs" and outlawing all medical marijuana, even for the terminally ill.

Allowing for the State to intervene in end-of-life care.

Get these [illegitimates] on the freaking record. Put THEM on the [goldang] defensive.

--Ask the Republicans what they think of taxing the Bank Bonuses. Ask them how they intend to create jobs. Ask them what they're going to do about our crumbling infrastructure. Put them on the spot everywhere, every time.

As you can tell, I'm [effing] mad. And I'm sick and tired of all the [tinkling] and moaning around here. Get yourselves off the [goldang] ground NOW. Get to work again NOW. Start giving the Republicans [heck] NOW. I don't give a [shinola] if you think President Obama isn't living up to your [goldang] expectations. The Republicans in power would be a thousand times worse. So take your grief and turn it into anger. Take that anger and turn it into ACTION.

Scotty boy--kiss my [donkey]. No congratulations to you. You will get nothing but all-out war from me, and anyone else with fighting spirit. You're DONE, boy. Count on it.

Remember what Winston Churchill said:

IN DEFEAT, DEFIANCE!

I'm going to war. Right [effing] now.

news from Iowa

A communique from my son deserves its own space.  Here's what he sent today:

The Creation of Iowa...Day 6
 

On the sixth day, God turned to the Archangel Gabriel and said:

'Today I am going to create a land called Iowa.  It will be a land
of outstanding natural beauty.  It shall have tall majestic landscapes
full of buffalo, tall grass, and hawks, beautiful skies, forests full of
elk and deer, rich farmland, and kindly* people.'

God continued, 'I shall make the land rich in resources so as to make
the inhabitants prosper.  I shall call these inhabitants, Hawkeyes,
and they shall be known as a most friendly people.'                      

'But Lord,' asked Gabriel, 'don't you think you are being too generous
to these Iowans?'

'Not really,' replied God 'just wait and see the winters I am going to
give them.' 

Poor Hawkeyes....the winters in Iowa are especially nasty. Having been raised in North Dakota and lived there for another 10 years after I got married (and had Tom and his sisters) and then lived in Minnesota for a good 10 years and in IOWA for almost 15 years, I think I qualify as a connoisseur of lousy winter weather.

Iowa is nowhere as cold as ND or MN, but it has ICE STORMS, which are totally horble.
After one of these ice storms, I recall CRAWLING on my hands and knees across what was normally the busiest intersection in town to get to the grocery store for milk and bread. It was that slippery, and the intersection had nothing to hold onto.

Go Hawks!!!

*p.s. the original communique had "fair-skinned people" here, but of course, the original inhabitants might not agree with that. I think they'd agree with beautiful if that's what is meant by "fair," but to make it really true to life, i'm calling everyone "kindly." Cuz that's what Iowans are and have been for a long time.

French lesson

Prince of Petworth has done his royal best again: 

http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2008/06/mural-of-the-day-25/#comment-164721

We was just WONDERING where this wonderful place went.  Now it exists only in the photographic record and the hearts and minds of commuters en route from GT to my former workplace.   Why does everything need to be painted to look appealing to developers?  We liked it when it was toujours ferme....

Thanks, Kay!!!

Well, blow me down and shiver me timbers!! Kay of Kay's Thinking Cap has nominated me for an Over the Top award. As Kay says, there are several steps to accepting this unique honor: 1) Complete the survey with one word answers (a true challenge!!) and 2) Choose three other bloggers to receive the award--that's gonna be tough, since there are so many bloggers who sustain me.

First, the survey:
1. Where is your cell phone? close
2. Your hair? permed
3. Your mother? heaven
4. Your father? heaven
5. Your favorite food? popcorn
6. Your dream last night? none
7. Your favorite drink? gin
8. Your dream/goal? garden
9. What room are you in? mine
10. Your hobby? unpacking
11. Your fear? dentistry
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? garden
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something you aren’t? social
15. Muffins? corn
16. Wish list item? publication
17. Where did you grow up? Fargo
18. Last thing you did? ate
19. What are you wearing? PJs
20. Your TV? none
21. Your pet(s)? centipedes
22. Your friends? fabulous
23. Your life? unfathomable
24. Your mood? happy
25. Missing someone? yes
26. Vehicle? Zipcar
27. Something you’re not wearing? dentures
28. Your favorite store? Kramerbooks
29. Your favorite color? orange
30. When was the last time you laughed? now
31. Last time you cried? forget
32. Your best friend? Cathy
33. One place that I go over and over? Sally's
34. One person who emails me regularly? M'reen
35. Favorite place to eat? Jaleo

And second, the nominations--of three deserving bloggers. (Whoo boy, this is hard. I know and read so many, and I'm related to at least half of my favorites. But no nepotism.)

1. Charles Ravndal, who blogs as The Misadventures of Charles Ravndal. Charles is a young Norwegian graphic artist whose blog (in Norwegian and English) never fails to amuse or inspire me or both. His creativity, kindness, thoughtfulness, and joie de vivre shine through. He is definitely over the top!

2. Ronniecat, who blogs as Hearing/Loss. Not only do Ronniecat and I share the experience of going deaf and then receiving a cochlear implant, but she and Husband (a recurring character in her life/blog) go to Cuba all the time, and I love her Cuban posts. I've always wanted to go to Cuba--or Qbert, as her cat Mojo, who has HIS own blog, calls it. Wonderfully written from way out in the atlantic provinces of Canada and way over the top.

3. Claude, who blogs as Photoblogging in Paris. What can I say? I'm hooked on Paris. Claude's photos of the Parisian (and recently Indian) scene are rich and wonderful. They are over the top--full of joy and just the sort of thing a longtime resident of Paris might observe if she has her eyes open, her spirit free, and her camera ready. I usually wind up getting the same kind of camera as Claude but without the same results. Maybe if I'd read the instructions.....

Check out this fabulous lady!!

Tired of hearing about what's wrong with being old??

Wonderful coincidence!

A gentleman from Holland sent me an email this morning with a photograph he had taken at the late Senator Ted Kennedy's funeral procession last summer.  He said he had been looking around the internet for other photos of the same event, when he saw one I had posted.  It appears that the visitor from Holland and I were standing practically next to each other, and that we took photos that are uncannily similar!  Here is his photo:

and here is mine:



Aside from the uncanny similarity, it's clear to me that the gentleman from Holland is by far the superior photographer!!

I have been so grateful to receive this. All day, off and on, I've been thinking of how CONNECTED we all are. It's been interesting, amusing, and very moving.

Thank you, dear sir.....

Rob Brezsny's Pronoia Therapy

When I first moved to NYC, one of the things I enjoyed the most was Rob Brezsny's weekly astrology column, "Free Will Astrology," in the freebie NYC newspaper (and of course, I have totally forgotten what the NAME of that paper was..."was" cuz it's not published any more...I think). Brezsny had a weird, wonderful take on everyday events. I just found a link to his new venture, "Pronoia Therapy." Pronoia is the opposite of paranoia. It's mainly heaping blessings on people and events instead of expecting and suspecting the worst!

I'll buy that.  Here's #17 on Brezsny's list of ways to practice Pronoia:

17. Some scholars believe the original Garden of Eden was where Iraq stands today. Though remnants of that ancient paradise survived into modern times, many were obliterated during the American war on Iraq. A Beauty and Truth Lab researcher who lives near the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers kept us posted on the fate of the most famous remnant: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Until the invasion, it was a gnarled stump near Nasiriyah. But today it's gone; only a crater remains.
Let this serve as an evocative symbol for you as you demolish your old ideas about paradise, freeing you up to conjure a fresh vision of your ideal realm.

This speaks to me.  I'm not exactly sure what my original idea of paradise was, but now my vision of paradise is living and having a garden with chickens in France. Think I'll ever get there?  It's easy to say "No way!" But what's to stop me other than what stops me from doing every other good thing??

News from Haiti

One of my coworkers at Gally, Cathy Valcourt-Pearce, finally got this message from her mother-in-law, Dorothy Pearce, who lives and works in an orphanage in Haiti. Dorothy and the people in her community all survived the earthquake, but the fate of many others is still unknown.

I'm reprinting her message here so you will see what people are faced with now in Port au Prince.

UPDATE: Dorothy's blog has a photo of Poutchino from before the earthquake

Jan 15 2010


We survived the earthquake, all of us. PRAISE GOD!!!!!!

Amanda, Natasha and I were just arriving at Sacred Heart Hospital (CDTI) near what we think was the strongest area of the quake. Jesula, our nanny who had been with Poutchino at the hospital, was collapsing on the ground outside, in shock. Natasha ran inside for Poutchino. We parked the car. A man carried Jesula to the car. She was frozen with fear.

Hospital patients were brought outside, injured people came in thru the gate. All hospital personnel worked thru the night and next day with barely a break. Amanda and I took turns holding a flashlight for a surgeon stitching wounds and gradually learned how to do more. Natasha had to stay in the car holding Poutchino.

Some people were beyond help: the doctors gave them medicines for pain and treated those they could help. I counted about 40 people who died during the 24 hours we were there, all ages. Security manned the gate, only letting in the injured people that the doctor felt they could help.

Generators lit the parking lot. It seemed like a scene from hell with all the moans and screams and cries for help and the ground covered with injured people and blood. People panicked at every aftershock. Burns were the worst injuries but thankfully few.

Communications were cut off -- no one could find out about the rest of their loved ones. We had to try hard not to imagine the terrible thing that might have happened to our children and staff. Rumors trickled in about the buildings that had crashed. A rumor started that a tsunami was coming and we had to leave.

Heroes were everywhere. Groups of people sang and prayed and praised God for sparing so many. Doctors and nurses barely stopped to rest thru the night and well into the next day. Pain pills and shots were given freely. Every injured person got a shot of ampicillin. I gave shots, too. The hospital emptied its shelves, giving everything they had to help people. The strong carried the weak. Everyone comforted everyone else. People walked around praying for others. Two people scoured the streets for anything that could be used as splints. I am still amazed and glad that I had donated blood just that morning! We saw God working in us and all around us.

We finally were able to leave the hospital Wednesday afternoon, bring Poutchino with us. Collapsed buildings, wrecked and crushed cars, blood and bodies were everywhere. Coming home was such a blessing! No one was injured, the house was intact! Hallelujah! sweet relief!

Praise God we had just received new supplies of antibiotics. We gave most of them plus a lot of gauze and tape, tylenol and ibuprofen, needles, and IV sypplies to a clinic set up in our neighborhood. We had a little bit left over to give to Healing Hands this morning, and sent home some gauze and soap with a nanny for her injured grandmother.

Poutchino definitely had meningitis but there was no more infection by the time the CSF was tested. Considering the chaos at the hospital we brought him home with us. His abdominal pain is completely gone. He can eat again. I give him 1 gram of ceftriaxone every 12 hours hoping to keep the meningitis from returning. Infection could be hiding in his shunt. An operation to remove the shunt would be difficult to get now.

For those of you who know our staff, Claudia's leg is broken and her house destroyed. Jesula and her family are safe but their house was destroyed and they are staying here. Leonne's home was destroyed and she is staying here. Eva's house was destroyed but she has another place to stay. Suzette's house was destroyed: she can't come to work. Rosemanie is fine. Bébé was thrown from a truck during the earthquake and was injured but is doing okay. She was on her way to work the overnight shift. The other ladies who were here took care of everything. They worked very very hard. Our staff is fantastic!

Both of our usual grocery stores, Caribbean and One Stop, were destroyed. We haven't heard what happened to the people inside. Those were the only places we could cash checks. Gas stations arent open yet. We heard that Sherrie Fausey's building partially collapsed and one child was killed. Sherrie and Julie are fine. Karen Bultje and her kids are fine. Nikki, who went to live with Roberta, was killed by a falling wall. Roberta and all other children are okay. Pastor CJ came by this morning to see if we were okay. He said Pastor Leny and his family are okay. Pastor Genada called. They were in Port au Prince during the quake and a block fell on his daughter's leg. They had to go all the way back to Gonaives to get help for her. Karen Bultje is still being an angel of mercy for as long as her diesel fuel holds out: she brought us several cases of pop tarts so we have breakfast for a while. Dottie was temporarily trapped in her house but is okay now. Nickson and Ivens and their families are okay. Deedee, the Boyers and the Olssons are okay. Barb Lataillade's foot was nearly amputated. The U.S. military got her out to Jacksonville, Florida for care.. Our pediatrician called to check on us.

Phones are starting to work again but not yet normally. Helicopters are flying overhead all the time, and small planes. The U.S. military is running the airport now. Civilian flights are all canceled. UN police are in charge of security. Not much is seen of Haitian police, I don't know why. I expect, hope, that relief supplies will come in soon. Our biggest concerns at the moment are cooking fuel and water.

We all are fighting shock, trying not to be overwhelmed with grief and horror. I am trying to plan without being overwhelmed with worry. PRAYER AND PRAISES REALLY WORK TO KEEP SPIRIT UP! Remembering what God has already done in protecting and providing for us reassures me that He will continue to provide for our needs. I am so thank Natasha and Amanda were with me at the hospital and that Natasha can stay here for a while to help.

I have heard that maybe 100,000 people died. I can believe it based on what I have seen. I heard that the earthquake was 7.3 on the Richter scale. We need news from outside but please keep emails strictly to news. We have to use our precious supplies of gasoline to get online. Since we have no place to cash checks I have to work with Christian Light Foundation to find a way to get money to us.

Please pray for all of us in Haiti and for all those sending and bringing help.

Dorothy Pearce

pleasant memories of st. ben's

I spent one school year at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota, after I got out of the convent. I am part of their Class of 1960--even though I graduated from St. Catherine's. Recently, they contacted the class of '60 for contributions to the 50 year memory book. (holy crap! has it been 50 years!!!????) Anyway, here is what I contributed. It won't mean much to anyone but me, but it was fun to think on this.

Pleasant memories/important values

Walking in the woods
Vespers in the chapel
Exploring the convent cemetery
Going to watch, hear, and feel the town church’s bells pealing on Sunday
Singing in the choir
Sister Marianne’s French class
Talks with Father Michael
Father Jerome’s inventive homemade stereo system and perpetual gloom
Sister Mary Mark’s kindness
The general store on main street
Getting miserably ill from smoking my first post-convent cigarettes
The Faulkner sisters
Miriam
The turkeys and flowers and bee hives
Joan Emmel’s lake cottage and the horse
Steaks in the dining hall at butchering time
Rhubarb custard pie

Where life has taken me over the past 50 years

From the Middlewest to Washington, DC, with stops in NYC
From hearing to deafness for 46 years and back again, sort of
From marriage to divorce to the single life
From motherhood to grandmotherhood and almost to great-grandmotherhood
From catholicism to agnosticism
From writing to painting to blogging (www.xtremeenglish.blogspot.com)
From there to here…..thanks for the opportunity to think on this!

resolutions

as usual, XE is late with her new year's resolutions. she's not especially fired up about this kind of thing, actually. but it's something to blog about, and her bloggy well has run dry. her chi, apparently, is being held captive by the many unpacked boxes still sitting around. that it should come thus, yadda yadda....

but here goes...Xtreme English's resolutions for 2010:

1. for 2010, i resolve to quit cooking. or at least slow it waaaay down. according to the raw foodies, cooking is NOT GOOD. it destroys vital enzymes needed to digest food properly. cooking also destroys germs, however, and that icky raw taste, especially in chicken. i am not ready to do the whole raw food thing like my friend mary t. does. mary t. drove off cancer with raw foods, and she sticks to it now, several years later. but i can deal with my cyclical aversion to raw fruits and veggies not in season.

2. for 2010, i also resolve to eat out at least once a day at Francis Carry-Out, which is just a few blocks from my new digs. Francis in theory is open only from 6:30am to 11am every day. except it's open more than that, and when it's open, you can get food there if you can live with what they've already got prepared. the cooks are all from el salvador, and the salvadoran cuisine is my favorite. i consider it head and shoulders over mexican, with which it's often confused. but never mind that. a fresh, hot tortilla or pupusa from Francis is worth its weight in gold. ditto a serving of huevos rancheros. i watched them cook it this am, and the secret seems to be the corn oil in which it's all...kind of...boiled.

this morning, too, one of the other clients handed me a dish full of sliced japaleno peppers and motioned me to add it to my huevos. he also pointed to a small bottle of EXTRA HOT sauce, "naturally colored," which appeared to be kind of mauve. I tried the pepper slices, and i loved them, and my fellow diner beamed.

i should point out that the other thing about Francis is that there is a MAJOR language barrier. i can read spanish just fine, but whoo boy, try to get some food if you can't say what you want so that the cooks can understand it. i'm thinking of drawing some pictures to bring along: pollo--i have lots of practice chickens from my LRH cartoons, guacamole--little bumpy green things. But they seem to have accepted me and my shrugs and puzzled looks. gracias a dio.

i also enjoyed some chocolate de leche--a generous plastic cup filled to the brim with HOT milk and just the right amount of chocolate syrup. they fill it so full you can't put the lid down tight without making it run over. and are you ready for the price? $3.25(plus tip) for the whole breakfast! cathy and i wandered in about 1 pm today because they were still open, and we got two homemade tamales for $2.50.

(please note that this is not really contradicting #1, which was simply to stop cooking so much. it said nothing at all about what i actually would eat....)

3. i resolve to get a real job. this retirement gig has been fun, but it's not good for a shy person like me to be sitting around all day by myself--even though i may be gainfully employed while doing so. just what kind of a job remains to be seen. maybe Francis will let me trim the banana leaves and sweep the floor.

4. i resolve to be open to living in a warmer place. the older i get, the more i understand dante's lowest circle of hell being COLD! and, as eunoia, formerly ole phat stu, said earlier this year, heaven is actually hotter than hell. i'm all for it, though heaven can wait. florida, maybe, or...el salvador???

OOPS! Prince of Petworth's baaack....er, I mean, he's still heeeeere!

Prince of Petworth is alive, well, and NOT ON HIATUS. It's the blog Petworth News that's taken a powder. Sorry about the mixup.

Whew! When Mercury goes retrograde, it's always handy to check the facts BEFORE you post.

What would we do without Prince of Petworth? Still be posting errors, misconceptions, and assorted nonsense....

Prince of Petworth is on Hiatus!!

That's the worst news I've had ALL YEAR!* PoP has been an incredible, unique net resource for anyone who lives/lived in the near NW DC. Photographer extraordinaire, follower of public events (especially shootings, robberies, house/store fires, etc.), voters' watchdog, advocate for local businesses, and the realtors' friend ("House of the day," "Door of the day," "House porn," "Good Deal Or Not"). If NW DC is worth spit these days, it's largely because of Prince of Petworth.

I don't know why he's gone, or what will happen to his inestimable blog, but sweet jebus....it's like a death in the family. Nooooooo, Mr. Bill!!!

*I mean the last year just passed....7 days of this year is bad enough, but not what I meant.

Happy New Year! Think on this:

If there's one thing that we should be talking about and reading about in our newspapers and listening to on the radio  or seeing on TV, but mostly we are NOT, it's the Republican Party's total disregard for the needs of the citizens of this country.  Today's edition of the Huffington Post has this article by writer and filmmaker Mitchell Bard: The Republicans' Disdain for the American People Should Be the Story of 2009
The article begins:

Looking back on 2009, much of the discussion on TV news shows is whether President Obama and the Democrats in Congress correctly handled the problems facing the country. Somehow, a narrative seems to have emerged that the Democrats failed and would pay the price in the 2010 midterm elections.

But where is the discussion of how the Republicans have behaved in the last year?

Bard continues:

It has been less than one year since President Obama was sworn in. When he sat behind the big desk in the Oval Office for the first time, he found himself responsible for a free-falling economy (and mounting staggering job losses), a massive deficit, the manpower and financial burden of hundreds of thousands of troops in Iraq, a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, and a militant Islamic movement looking to inflict damage on America and American interests, all of which came as a direct result of the failed policies of his predecessor. Obama also had a host of other problems to address, from global warming to energy dependence to a corrupt and dangerous Iranian government struggling to hold onto power and capable of real danger, just to name a few.

The president didn't create any of these problems. Not one of them. And it is completely unrealistic to think that any person or party could solve these issues in less than a year.

Nobody can argue that the words and actions of the Democratic Party and the Obama administration have been perfect,

But another way to put it is that the criticism form the right is not only unfounded, but the Republicans have offered no real alternatives to address the issues, aside from advocating for the failed Bush policies of the last decade. And progressives seem to forget that the arcane rules in the Senate limit what can be done with only a majority, while Republicans in Congress are single-minded and united to do anything they can to politically damage the president, without any concern for actually governing for the American people. We saw that in play in the health care debate, as the 40 Republican senators remained rock solid in support of the insurance companies and the status quo (the current system is a disaster, as health care costs chew up more and more of the country's GDP while leaving Americans with more and more health care expenses and less and less coverage).

What have the Republicans offered aside from "no"?

Bard then lists eight Republican maneuvers from just the past two weeks, including holding up funding of our troops and the various lies (Sen. Thune on the floor of the Senate and Palin and her death panel whopper everywhere).

Republicans have had one goal since the Inauguration, and that's making President Obama fail. They're hoping the voters will be so swayed by their lies and obstructions that they'll turn back to the good old days of Bush-Cheney wreckage of our economy and reputation.