The Elders

So this is the painting I have decided to take to the Robots vs Aliens show at Thumbprint Gallery in San Diego this September. Unless, of course I paint something I like better between now and then

Artist in Residence... again

In the very beginning the ancient gods were discussing what they should create to amuse themselves. They created picture tellers to ignite their minds; to draw them into the worlds they had created.

I did not spend years, poverty stricken, studying art. I did not struggle in a small loft.
I have, however, found that frustration is a part of my life. But my response as a picture teller is not to cut off my ear; I do not scream and rage. I talk with my friends and I put paint on a canvas and create their stories in pictures. I read fantasy books, and I put paint on a canvas and create the creatures I read about. I watch movies, and I put paint on canvas in honor of the actors I admire.

Though there were perhaps a dozen years in which I created no pictures, the urge to put paint on canvas never deserted me. I believe the stories simply built up in my mind until, recently, I was unable to contain them and they have begun to bubble out onto canvas again. They can’t be classified, but they can, I hope, be enjoyed.

The True Reason for Mother's Day - A Call for Peace

Use Common Sense, and Don't Kiss the Family Pig

Old Professor Hoffman, from Michael Crichton’s novel, State of Fears, tells us, “the PLM, sic politico-legal-media,… a ravenous machine seeking new fears, new terror. I’m telling you, this is the way modern society works – by the constant creation of fear.”

Over 3 million people worldwide died of the flu (pneumonia and other related consequences) last year. With another 2 million deaths from diarrheal diseases. This is on top of another 2 million deaths from malaria, almost that many from tuberculosis and about 1 million deaths from measles! Did this make the news let alone the headlines?

We (and the PLM) would probably do more good (save more lives) if we spent our time, effort and money on getting our students to: stop smoking (440,000 deaths last year in the US alone), stop using alcohol (85,000 deaths in US), stop driving automobiles (45,000 US deaths), stop using illegal drugs (17,000 US deaths), or stop having unprotected sex (16,000 US HIV related deaths). There is, in all likelihood, a greater risk of death from “other than flu”, infectious diseases (75,000 US deaths) than from the Swine Flu. Our students have a greater risk of dying in a car wreck on the way to school than of dying from the swine flu.

Our chances of exposure to the swine flu are probably higher here in California than if we lived in oh, say, Minnesota, but, they are still miniscule compared to all sorts of other potentially life threatening exposures. In a very cursory study of environmental bacteria growth made right here on the Menifee Campus of Mt. San Jacinto College it was found that “hand sanitizers” were less effective than regular hand washing in preventing bacterial growth on human skin. It was also noted that only approximately 1 out of 4 males washed their hands after using the bathroom. Students noted that samples taken from door handles and from classroom computer keyboards ranked in the top 5 for highest bacterial colony growth from “college” environment areas.

I am not saying we shouldn’t be concerned, but I would hope that we would keep this “news” in focus. I tell my students to stay home if they are sick; flu, hang- over, cold, headache, mental health, whatever. Better for them to miss a day or two than to suffer through my class (even without an aliment) and potentially pass it on to others or me, heaven forbid! We cannot legally grade on the basis of attendance so I try whenever possible to give them an opportunity to make up any missed work, even the ones I think might be “abusing” my good nature. At least when they miss a class it forces them to meet with me one on one. That in itself is usually a benefit to both the student and me.

I think I feel a fever coming on, thank goodness for on-line classes!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. And for God’s Sake, Step Away From the Plastic!

I’ve been trying to reduce the amount of plastic in my life. Sound pretty easy, right? Not so much. Until I started trying to make purchases that did not include plastic I had absolutely no idea just how pervasive it has become. (At first I wrote the word “invasive” instead of pervasive, maybe I should have left it?). Seriously, try to purchase toothpaste, aspirin, makeup, a pen, even shampoo in anything but a plastic container.

Some stuff is easy – body soap? Pretty easy, there are some very nice body bars sold in a box. Some, like “Pure and Natural” even imbed flower seeds in the box, so that you can bury it in your garden and get flowers as a “free gift”! Trash bags? Not too hard, those come in some really nice corn-based, compostable forms (check out reusablebags.com). Even dishwasher soap comes in a box.

But, the liquid dish soap one would use to wash dishes by hand? Yeah, try to find that sucker in anything except plastic. Cleaning supplies? Plastic. Makeup? Plastic. Shampoo? Plastic…

But wait! Today I made a wonderful discovery. A company called Phytosolba (sp?) makes an all-natural shampoo in ….. a METAL container! Won’t break in your shower, and the container isn’t made from plastic. The drawback? It is made in France. So shipping it here probably used up enough fossil fuels to make up for the lack of plastic. All though, if you look at the labels, most of the shampoos sold here are made in New York, so for us Californians, there is still a fair amount of shipping involved.

Anyhow. Suffice it to say, one plastic problem solved (sort of); many more to go. I’ll keep trying.

Now, where is that darn recipe for all-purpose cleanser… I’ll make it myself and store it in a glass bottle…

Happy Birthday to Joe

Coming up Joe will have his 8th Bone Marrow Transplant birthday! His sister Nichole was his donor so it is her celebration too!

I LOVE YOU TWO!!!!!!!!!

It is so hard to relive those horrible days when we all were wondering if he'd live or die. I am thankful each and every day that he is alive and well and around to be a pain in the backside. I wouldn't have it any other way!

I've Joined the 21st Century

First, it was a blog. Now, Facebook. Yup; I'm there. It's a work in progress as I try to steal a few minutes here and there to add to the site. Let me know if I've flaked on adding important stuff...

And no, I don't know how to link these two sites together yet... sheesh!

World Water Day

This Sunday, March 22, is World Water Day - Established by the UN in 1993, it's an international day of observance and action to draw attention to the plight of the more than 1 billion people worldwide that lack access to clean, safe drinking water and to make safe, clean water available to all. Celebrated since 1993, World Water Day was designated in 1992 when the United Nations (UN) General Assembly passed a resolution. With each passing year, the observance has grown larger and stronger.
In the developed world, our addiction to single-serving water bottles undermines responsible use of water and diverts our attention from investing in public tap water systems and home filtration. So commit to making a difference today, by purchasing a high-quality, safe reusable water bottle for each member of your family. It's a true win-win -- you'll save both money and natural resources.

Go here: www.worldwaterday.org to find out what else you can do!

A Contest to Check Out!

Here is a contest with a very good prize and it raises money for a good cause. Make your 90-second video about beauty, upload it to YouTube, and send a link to north@marthabee.com.

The best video gets an iPod Touch.

But even better; every entry earns $10 for a charity that repairs cleft lips and palates on children in impoverished countries (up to $1000).

For more information look here:
North of Beautiful Contest

March 4 is National Grammar Day!!!!!!

Do you adore clean, correct sentences? Do ungrammatical advertisements make you cringe? We understand completely, and this is why the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar and MSN Encarta have designated March 4 as National Grammar Day.

How can you participate?

Speak well! Write well! And on March 4, march forth and spread the word. We want people to think about language and how it can be used best.

Some of the members of SPOGG (Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar) are planning Good-Grammar Potlucks at their offices. What do you serve at good-grammar potlucks? High-fiber foods, of course. They're good for the colon.

So who is the celebrity with the worst grammar? In today's time it can be quite hard to decide. After all, it's not easy being in the public eye all the time, having your every move and statement recorded. You can't even leave the house wearing an extremely short skirt and no underwear without the darned paparazzi photographing your posterior for posterity.

Still, this is no excuse for bad grammar. Our task now is to decide which celebrity deserves to win the SPOGG Award for Most Appalling Celebrity Grammar. The contestants:

President George W. Bush
We're not the sort to kick a man when he's down (frankly, we're not fond of upright kicking, either). But President Bush really ought to know the plural of the word "child." After all, he's the father of twins.

While running for president, he asked, "Is our children learning?" Then, on Sept. 26, 2007, he proved that this wasn't a one-time fluke when he said, "Childrens do learn."

Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton produced a T-shirt that said, "THATS HOT," cheating the poor apostrophe from its rightful place on her bosom. What's more, she sent Lindsay Lohan a text message that said, "i chill with perez, but not enough for your name to get broughten up." Broughten? Is she the only text-messager who likes to lengthen words?

Courtney Love
It's perhaps unfair to judge Courtney Love by her grammar. It's not even English she's writing on her blog. And we quote:

have a beer with?
i would never votefor a presidenty based on the "person id most like to have a beer witH" Fox transparently obvious talking point. Its maddeningly sexist and mostly its DUMB.
Beer isnt even GOOD. i mean REALLY. "ahh ahm a gonna belly up to the sports bar and have a brewski y'all want one?"
i mean who has really had more than TEN beers in thier life on my blog?

It's entirely possible there are too many errors to correct.

So, post your comment and include your vote on who should win this year's award!

A Rant

You know what makes me mad? People who move into a neighborhood and immediately start crap! We have lived in the same house, with pretty much the same neighbors for 15 years. And, for the last 15 years we have all had outdoor cats. Really. With the exception of one or two houses we all have outdoor cats. We live on a cul-de-sac and the cats have all been safe - no disappearances or deaths. We all enjoy our "neighborhood" cats especially the kids. Recently we got what we thought was a nice young couple into the house next door. We were excited as the house had been vacant for a couple of years. Well, we're not excited any more! It turns out they don't like cats. And their solution? Not to talk to us. Not to shoo them off their property. But to TRAP them and SEND THEM TO THE POUND TO DIE! Really. I have pictures:




It turns out that it is legal in Riverside County to trap cats. The law is there to get feral cats trapped and into the shelters to be fixed, then released. But, you must post a sign saying you're trapping cats to warn your neighbors so you don't get pet cats in the traps (See any warning signs in the picture? Me neither). This law is misused by people like my neighbor. She is purposly trapping the neighborhood pets and telling animal control they are strays. Even with the kids telling the Officer that they were pets, she lied. Then she told them she was trapping them because she felt threatened by them. Cats. About 8 pounders. Woo. Scary.

So, yesterday, I spent 2-1/2 hours off of work getting my cat Punkin out of the pound. AND it cost me $52.00!!!!! All because they illegally trapped my PET cat! The people at the animal shelter HATE people like this. They were so happy I showd up to get my cat. The girl said that most people don't come looking because they assume their cat was killed, not picked up by animal control. There were over 100 cats in the Ramona Shelter Cattery. There isn't room in the shelters for pets trapped by evil animal haters! Hello! Shelters are OVERCROWDED and UNDERBUDGETED!

When I called animal control to report the illegal trapping, I actually had to read them the ordinance that requires the sign to be posted. ANIMAL CONTROL DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT THEIR OWN ORDINANCE! After I let them know it was illegal, they asked for her address. But they never came out.

What really gets me is that these neighbors have two dogs that continually get loose and run the neighborhood when their owners leave. I have gone after their dogs and shooed them back into their backyard at least 4 times so they don't get hurt or hurt someone (one dog actually bit one of our other neighbors when it was out - and he didn't call animal control on their dog!). Isn't that what it means to be a neighbor?

Okay, I feel a little better now. But I'd like to hear some of your ideas as to how I should deal with these "wonderful" new neighbors (rembering of course that I have to live next door to them...). What do you think? Am I in the wrong? Are they in the wrong?

Oh, and their address is: 28693 Auriga Court, Sun City, CA 92586. Just in case any of you would like to drop them a line...

Spay Day is Today! Please Help!

This says it all!

Don't Buy Eggs. Please.

1.In the United States, an estimated 95% of egg-laying hens are intensively confined in battery cages.

2.As of December 2008, about 280 million birds are confined in battery cages, almost one for every U.S. citizen.

3.Each cage confines 5 or 6 birds on average, but sometimes up to 10 birds.

4.Voluntary industry guidelines specify a minimum of 67 square inches per hen. This is an area smaller than a standard sheet of paper.

5.Like any animal, chickens are highly motivated to perform natural behaviors. These behaviors include nesting, perching, scratching, foraging, dust-bathing, exploring, and stretching. Caged chickens are denied all of these natural behaviors, causing them severe frustration.

6.Battery hens suffer from serious health problems, such as respiratory disease from constant exposure to ammonia fumes and fecal dust; osteoporosis, bone fractures, and prolapsed uteruses from being bred to lay eggs at an unnaturally high rate; and foot disorders, sores, and injuries from contact with the cage wire in outdated cage systems.

7.As a response to the lack of foraging opportunities in the barren cage environment, chickens sometimes engage in feather-pecking of their cagemates. So, before they are 10 days old, the ends of their beaks are seared off with hot blades.

8.Beak mutilation causes acute and sometimes chronic pain.

9.For every egg you buy, a hen will be forced to endure these conditions for over 32 hours.

10.Chickens are confined for about a year and a half before their ability to lay eggs declines, then they are killed.

11.Eggs are not a necessary part of a nutritious diet, and there are many healthy, affordable alternatives that make it easy to leave eggs off of your shopping list for good. Some good egg alternatives include applesauce, bananas, commercial egg replacer powder (such as Ener-G Egg Replacer or Bob's Red Mill All Natural Egg Replacer) ground flaxseed, tofu, or vinegar and baking soda.

12.The egg industry cannot be trusted to make responsible decisions regarding the welfare of chickens, because it has a profit motive to sacrifice their interests. There are currently no U.S. federal laws that protect the interests of chickens used for food.

13.In California, the egg industry will be allowed to use this type of factory farming of eggs and chickens until 2015.

14.The labels "Free Range" and "Cage Free" mean nothing isofar as humane treatment of the chickens is concerned. The only way to be sure that your eggs come from a humane source is to see the label "Certified Humane" on the carton; or get them from your aunt who has happy chickens playing in her backyard.

"He that killeth an ox is as he that slayeth a man."

"And GOD blessed them and God said unto them, Be Fruitful, and
multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have DOMINION over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth." Genesis 1:28

To many in the religious community, this verse from the scriptures gives humans the RIGHT to eat animals. How convenient for man to define dominion to suit his purpose – butchering then eating the creatures we were given dominion over.

I believe that our intellectual evolution has given us the power to "rule", but it is the application of that very intellect that obliges us to rule as benevolent nurturing caretakers who rule with love and compassion, rather than destructive tyrants who rape and pillage the earth and it’s creatures.

Now, it is my guess that these same people who use the dominion argument to eat the living things they have this supreme authority over, also believe that God has dominion over us… For all our sakes, I hope God is a vegan and treats us humans much better than we treat the creatures we rule over.

Maybe they should also consider these passages from the scriptures:

"And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat, and to every beast of the earth, . . . I have given every green herb for meat."
(Genesis 1: 29).

"It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that ye shall eat neither fat nor blood"
(Leviticus 3.17)

"Ye shall eat no fat, of ox, or sheep or goat. And the fat of that which dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn of beasts, may be used for any other service: but ye shall in no wise eat of it. . . Even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people. And ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast"
(Leviticus 7:26-27).

"He that killeth an ox is as he that slayeth a man."
(Isaiah 66 verse 3).

"While the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague."
(Numbers 11: verses 20 & 33).

But What Do You Eat?

This is the question I get every time I meet someone new and they discover I'm one of those weirdo vegans... You know the ones, we don't eat anything that comes from anything that had a mommy and a daddy. Why this is considered an appropriate question to ask is beyond me. I mean, do I go around asking obese people "but what do you eat?" No. That would be considered rude. I would be yelled at and called insensitive. But, since everyone is going to ask I decided to take a couple of weeks and post the dinners I eat. Yup. Pictures and everything.

So, after looking back on the dinners I ate this last week I decided it wasn't a very good representation of my diet, but in the interest of full disclosure I'm gonna put it out here. As for the photos of last week's meals, I just decided to post all of this yesterday, so I only have pics of last night's dinner. I'll do better. Promise.

Let's start with Saturday, January 17. (Just because it was my birthday and for absolutely no other reason.) We went out to dinner at the new Chipotle that opened in town! I had the 3-taco basket. My tacos had black beans, rice flavored with cilantro, tomatillo salsa, lettuce and guacamole. DELISH! I did also have a diet coke, which, by-the-by, I am trying to drink much less of these days. It is very very very very bad - and I've been drinking WAAAAAAAAY too much of it. So, as you see it on my list of "foods" remember that I used to drink about 2 LITERS EVERY DAY! (yes, you heard that right, and I am ashamed), and having only one when I eat out is a proverbial giant step for me!

Sunday, January 18. I took the easy way out and heated up a pot of Amy's Organic Vegan Chili with some Vege dogs, vegan cheese and diced onions. (Rarely do we use buns because most are made with eggs or milk or both - but who needs those calories anyhow.) I think I sauteed some dandelion greens in olive oil and brown rice syrup too. Chocolate soy milk to drink. No soda today!!!!

Monday, January 19. I took the REALLY EASY way out and made everyone pick a leftover out of the fridge for dinner. I had a seitan (fake meat) sandwich with fresh lettuce, pickle relish, and vegan cheese with vegan mayo. YUM! Oh, and some white tea to drink. Again, no soda today!!

Tuesday, January 20. We had creamed spinach in filo dough, fresh steamed veges (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots), fresh fruit, and mashed potatoes. I made some fresh squeezed grapefruit juice from the fruit from Joe Lample's tree. Thanks Joe!

Wednesday, January 21. I had some organic brussels sprouts from Sprouts Market that needed cooking up. So I tossed them in olive oil and Chardonnay Oak Smoked Fleur de Sel (fancy name for chardonnay smoked salt) and sauteed them with 3-grain Tempeh, thinly sliced elephant garlic (organic), and a little brown rice syrup (organic). All this with wild rice on the side. And this I do have a photo of:







Well, that's it for now. Let me know if you want me to start posting recipes.

It's Been Awhile - Missed Me?

I know. I missed you too. But I had all that Christmas knitting to do, and it didn't leave much time for blogging. Enough excuses.

This is my newest information:

The Argentines (who clearly loooove cows) have outfitted some of their bovine friends with methane-capturing backpacks in this season's go-to color, hot pink. Argentina figures that up to 30% of its total greenhouse gas emissions come from the country's 55 million cows (an average cow produces about 30 cubic feet of emissions a day). Currently they've got 10 cows in the program - imagine the possibilities if the US got their dairies involved in this. We could have some red-white-blue backpacks! Oh Yes We Can!