The Song of The RainCrow

Run Away, Run Far Far Away!

2017-09-08T16:51:00.001-05:00

I'm running away. Or the blog is.

I've moved this blog and my other ones over to Wordpress. The link is https://raincrowsong.wordpress.com

Everything that was here is there as well, and I won't be updating this one.

Cheers.

Loki: The Cat

2017-09-03T15:58:00.001-05:00



LOKI

During the kitten season of 2015 we took in a lot of kittens with

medical issues. Cases that weren't deemed to be too contagious to

our older, healthier cats we put in cages in the house. We had a

number of single crates as well as a three-level cage and a ferret

cage in the living room and kitchen. The shelter also had a bad

outbreak of ringworm, so we took in as many of those as we

could.

Terrie Lynn (Cat Dancing) was using an enclosed room in the

carport as her stained-glass shop. It was finished inside and had a

window a/c unit, so it could be made pretty comfortable as our

ringworm ward. My office, which was in an old office trailer

beside the carport also did double duty as the feline leukemia/FIV

ward.

Ringworm isn’t a worm, but a fungus. In cats it shows up as

sometimes circular areas of scabby skin causing hair loss.

Treatments vary, sometimes involving anti-fungal dips and

ointments. One of the better topical treatments we've found

involves cutting the hair around the area and applying Miconazole

7 ointment. Miconazole 7 is actually sold as a yeast infection

cream under many brand names, but is equally effective and fairly

cheap when purchased under the store brand.

There were a good many kittens of various ages in the ringworm ward. I helped to take care of and medicate them since I passed by that room on the way to my office many times a day. Some of the crates held kittens with very bad ringworm and U.R.I. as well, I believe. U.R.I., or upper respiratory infection in cats is much like it is in humans, involving bronchitis like symptoms but it also involves eye infections that can become very serious and cause blindness or eye loss. For the U.R.I., medicated eye ointments are used, as well as nebulizer treatments with and without Albuterol. We built various combinations of boxes, such as litter buckets with air holes, and cat carriers wrapped in plastic or towels to contain the cats/kittens and allow the nebulizer vapor to flow inside for treatment. I jokingly referred to the first of these boxes as a “Schrodinger Box.”

One of the crates in the ringworm ward held two very sick kittens, barely weaning age. They were both covered in ringworm and pitiful looking. I admit I had to force myself to touch them and put salve on them, they looked so bad. I almost cringed to touch them. It is possible to get ringworm from cats, but as long as you take care and wash your hands, etc. it's pretty safe. In large part I just wanted to get done fast and get out.

One of the kittens, though, wouldn't let me. He was missing a lot of hair, but he was a black and white tuxedo kitten with a black nose and very affectionate. In fact he craved affection. When I was feeding them and medicating the other kitten he would climb the cage and try to get out. I finally started letting him roam the top of the cage and explore a bit, but what he wanted the most was to crawl up on my shoulder and rub against me.

The first several times, like I said, I was like “ewwww! Leper!” and shied away. He was so insistent, though, that he won me over and I began to cuddle him and pet him more when I visited. I gave attention to all the cats, of course. They were all adorable, but sick. He, however, stole my heart with his plucky spirit and affection.

I named him Loki, since, even in his limited surroundings at the time he was mischievous, into everything, and irrepressible!It seemed it took forever, but soon he and the others healed and we looked for adopters. As usual some went to rescues, and some to adoption events. Loki ran loose in the house for a couple of weeks with the other cats and was still as mischievous and affectionate as ever. Of course, we already had “too many” cats and soon we found an adopter for him. We were sad but convinced that we had found him a good home.

A short time passed and we heard from the adopters. Loki had hidden the entire time he was at their house. They finally decided it wasn't a good match and brought him back. He was covered in soot. They had found him hiding in the fireplace. As soon as he got back in our house he jumped straight up onto my shoulder and snuggled against my neck. He made it quite obvious that we were his family and no other would do. We bowed to necessity and Loki became another of our “foster fails”.

Loki is still with us. He grew out of his shoulder sitting phase, although he still will make a token leap up there just to remind me, I think. He’s quite a load when he lands now! There is also rarely any warning! He is still into everything. His black nose and black pattern on his face give him sort of a squinty appearance reminding me of the actor French Stewart in “Third Rock From The Sun.”

He lives up to the name “Loki”. His other nicknames are “Loki Nose” and “Loki Pokey”. He is very definitely his own character and gets along quite well with the other cats.

I admit that I have a soft spot for these guys. I was sick with asthma almost every winter as a child. I missed a lot of school and was in the hospital quite a bit. I was also for all practical purposes a orphan. I knew my parents but was raised by my grandparents and my status as “not theirs” was made clear. These hurt and orphaned kittens pull at my heartstrings every time. When I pet Loki I remember again how sick and lonely he was and my heart melts all over again.

A (MOSTLY) FELINE MENAGERIE

2017-08-29T21:54:00.000-05:00

HOW IT BEGAN

How do these things ever begin? I love animals and have always had pets. In my last bout of bachelorhood, though, I decided not to have any. I had a fairly nice mobile home at the time. Yes, I know. That's not the accepted term for them now. The dealers at least want you to call them “manufactured housing” or even nothing different from just “house”. It took me a long time to get past calling them “trailer houses” though, and it's getting a bit late to change for me.

Anyway, I decided on no pets. They were allowed in the park I lived in. However, I enjoyed not having dependents for once. Over something like 33 years I had been married twice and raised five children. I was fairly recently divorced and the kids were mostly grown.

I had a short commute to work and was enjoying the ability to eat out, go to movies, even take a long weekend away from home without needing to arrange care-taking for pets or kids.

I missed my kids, definitely. I missed them a lot. I missed my wife bitterly. It was a bad break-up for me. Still, it was a new experience for me to have no commitments for once except to myself. I still had the occasional company of an affectionate Siamese cat that lived in the neighborhood, so I wasn't totally bereft of furry friends.

I actually had a couple of years of bachelorhood before two things happened, almost simultaneously. My mother moved in, and I fell in love. A cynic might say that the first thing may have forced the second. I won't speculate. My mother had mobility issues and needed a place to live. I had never actually lived with her after I was about 4 years old, so it seemed nice to get to know each other. I turned over the master bedroom and bath to her and she settled in.

About the same time I met Terrie Lynn (AKA Cat Dancing). We were both members of the same email group, though we hadn't met before. We had crossed paths a couple of times without meeting. She noticed my email address in my response to another member and liked it so we started emailing and set up a meeting. It was only partially a disaster. In fact it was pretty much love at first sight!

Things progressed and got serious and eventually I moved out of my house and turned it over to my mother. I moved about an hour away. She later got into a subsidized housing arrangement and I sold the mobile home.

Back to pets.

Terrie Lynn had a son, Michael, three cats, (Simba, Isis, and Salem) and a dog (Sky) when we got together. While we lived there Isis was killed by dogs and Sky disappeared. We also adopted two kittens. A black named Panthera and a siamese named Pongo. Pongo ultimately was also killed by dogs or maybe coyotes. All three losses were pretty traumatic for us.

In 2011 we moved over near Bastrop, Tx. We rented a place with six acres and a nice little house. We also built our own vending booth at Sherwood Forest Faire, a rennaissance faire nearby. Cat makes Intarsia wood art, and I make flutes, mostly of the Native American Style.

Cat became aware of conditions at the Bastrop County Animal Shelter. This was a kill shelter but volunteers were able to take at-risk animals and foster them to adoption. Cat took in a cat named India that needed medical attention and became friends with several of the staff and volunteers.

Over time we fostered more and more cats. A few them became “foster fails”, or as I call them “Velcro Cats”, as they velcro themselves to your heart and are hard to let go!

We worked a lot with Bastrop Animal Rescue and after a time Cat teamed up with a friend and started Bastrop C.A.T.S. a non-profit TNR organization. TNR stands for Trap Neuter Return. They help people trap ferals and strays, get them neutered free or cheaply and return them to where they were if possible. As such, in addition to the regular fostering, we often overnight feral cats on their way to or from neutering.

These organizations as well as other volunteers have brought down the numbers of euthanized animals at the shelter considerably in the last few years.

Over time we’ve reached a point where we don’t directly foster as many cats ourselves but network with other volunteers and rescues to manage it. With lots of friends who also foster or donate time and funds we manage to cover the need. Currently we’re toward the end of kitten season and we have a few visitors.

We, ourselves have a resident population of around 20 cats, a few of which are outdoor cats. Some of them have medical issues that make them hard to adopt out. Others we just couldn't bear to part with. We also have a wonderful dog and two less wonderful macaws, all rescues of one sort or another.

And chickens. We have chickens.

In future posts I plan to tell the stories of some of our furry family, in no particular order, just as they occur to me.

Stay tuned!

Slowly Apocalypsizing

2016-09-19T17:42:00.001-05:00

I haven't posted for awhile here. A situation has come to my attention that I felt I needed to warn everyone about:

Climbing Turtles

Yes. You heard me, climbing turtles. It started as a small, even funny happening. A couple of children walking home from school came across this bizarre and troubling sight:

"That's cute!", you say. That's what everyone said. And it was; as long as it was only one seemingly innocent turtle. However, as the days passed, more and more turtles began climbing fences, and trees, and who knows what else?

Well, I know what else! Before long they were reaching even higher!

And higher!

It was only a matter of time before they began flocking, even roosting!

It's becoming a common sight. And, notice, they are targeting microwave towers especially!

I know, I know. You're saying "that's ridiculous"!

Well, I say it's the beginning of the end. A scourge worse than the zombie apocalypse. Tell the truth now, haven't you noticed your internet signal getting slower? Your cell signal getting weaker? This is just the beginning.

Before you know it, it will all shut down from turtle overload! I'll be right here, okay, maybe not right here, but somewhere I'll be saying "I told you so!"

Take warning before it's too late!

Review: Camber of Culdi

2016-04-01T11:01:00.001-05:00

Camber of Culdi by Katherine Kurtz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is actually a re-read of an old favorite. The Culdi series by Katherine Kurtz is a wonderfully rich historical fantasy. I love every installment I've read. i consider it a must-read. Set during the time of the Inquisition, Camber is the patriarch of one of several families of alien origin who have integrated among humans. This story involves how he and his family survive in an atmosphere of growing discrimination and paranoia from The Church and Establishment.

View all my reviews

The Best Knife

2016-03-30T19:14:00.000-05:00

    There is a truism that answers the age old question "What is the best all around knife to have." The answer is "the one you have with you." The thing is, it doesn't matter what knife you have, fancy or plain, expensive or not, if, when you really need it you aren't carrying it for whatever reason.
    The one I rely on most is one like the one pictured above. An inexpensive Kamp King knife made by Imperial.
    Please note, the one above is not my knife. I took the easy way out and filched a photo from online. It's a good pic, but somebody did a really bad job of sharpening that blade!
    I'm not sure of the genealogy involved, but Imperial also made several types of Boy Scout and Cub Scout knives. This model is almost an exact copy of the official Cub Scout knife I once owned. The official Scout knives were a bit pricey for a poor country boy to own, but I did have a few. For some reason they were also easily lost. They were very good knives. Imperial sold the Kamp Kraft for a fairly low price at numerous outlets. I seem to remember this exact knife being offered at Walmart in a blister pack for around three dollars back in the '70s and beyond.
What I've found is that the cheaper knife compares favorably with the more expensive ones for everyday carry. And, at the cheap price, I didn't mind losing one so much, therefore, of course, I stopped losing them! There seems to be an inverse square law about these things. Those things you can least afford to lose you are more likely to, and vice versa. Nowadays, though, they have fallen into the range of "vintage" and go for a bit more when you find them. Not exactly rare, you can expect to pay five dollars and up for one on eBay.
   The steel is good. It holds an edge well. For a handy person like myself, the few extra tools included are very welcome. The scales tend to break with age, and the joints get wobbly over time with mis-use. Used responsibly though, you can get a lot of mileage out of one. One of these resides in my work pants all the time. I tend to carry a smaller, sleeker more modern version of this in my "town" pants.
      You must remember, I said above, "country boy". I suspect it's much the same now, but a country boy of my generation especially just did not ever go anywhere without some sort of pocket knife in his possession. It was a tool in constant use all day every day for uncountable chores. Therefore, whatever I'm doing I always have at least one pocket knife on me.
    I'm retired now, but I usually wear some form of work attire. Bib overalls, jeans, coveralls or cargo pants, since I am often repairing things, doing woodwork, gardening or whatever. At this moment I'm sitting here in my bib overalls, my Kamp King knife in my pocket and a larger lock-back knife clipped into the long tool pocket on my leg.
   I had a career once and worked in an office. Of course I had a small pocket knife, of the "penknife" variety in my pocket. A city bred co-worker who had been raised in Florida remarked seriously that I must be some sort of hoodlum, since I carried a pocket knife. I and others were quick to counter with the facts of life, Texas style.
   Even in grade school, it was a sure bet that every male student, and some of the female ones, carried a pocket knife. It wasn't viewed as a weapon at all. As usual I saw many fights during my school days, but I don't remember anyone ever pulling out his knife. That was a serious breach of etiquette!
    I like knives, I even collect them. My collection consists of pocket knives, lock-back knives, sheath knives, and even a couple of swords. I only collect inexpensive ones, though. I never paid more than twenty dollars for one, most fall in the "under five dollar" range. The few more expensive ones were gifts or inherited. I like the variety, and ingenuity of design. I even have at least three of the above mentioned Kamp King knives.
    I have no official Scout pocket knives, though. Alas. I do also have an authentic Swiss Army Knife by Victorinox, and a couple of copies of same. I don't carry them. The copies aren't that good, and as for the actual Swiss? See the passage about always losing expensive knives above! I don't risk it. I can MacGyver just as well with my Kamp King.
If you ever wind up in a survival situation you can make almost everything you need to live with the aid of a good knife. If you don't have one, perish the thought, one of your first chores is to make a blade of some sort.
Don't leave home without it!

Literally a Milestone

2015-08-14T15:33:00.001-05:00

   Things are not always what they seem. Memory isn't either.

   When I was young I lived at a place called Seward Junction. Literally a crossroads. We lived upstairs over a Texaco (later Exxon) gas station at the intersection of Texas Highway 29 and U.S. Highway 183 in Williamson County somewhat between the towns of Leander and Liberty Hill. The location is now, I believe, within the Liberty Hill City limits, for whatever that is worth.

   My father's family, the Sewards, had owned the property surrounding the intersection since sometime in the 1860's, hence the name, Seward Junction. It was pretty rural. For most of the time I lived there the nearest non-family neighbor was about a quarter-mile away in any direction. The piece of property my grandparents owned was about five acres at that time, including the service station and some land around it. Dad, (my grandfather) ran the garage and he and Mom (my grandmother) ran the store with some help from me as I got older.

   We did some mowing from time to time. A little ways behind the store we had an overhead water tank made of stone that stored our well water. The water often had oil in it, so the overhead tank gave it a chance to separate out before the water went to the house. Every time we mowed we always had to steer around a large triangular flat rock lying on the ground near the water tank. Therefore, almost every time we mowed back there I heard the story of that rock and how it came to be there. Realize, now, that this is in limestone country, rocks are not rare. But a solitary large rock lying in the way like that on top of the grass seemed out of place.

   It seems that the two roads were there in one form or another for a long time back into history. Highway 29 led from the Junction to Georgetown to the east and Burnet to the west. Georgetown was, and is, the county seat so it had some standing as a destination. Highway 183, on the other hand, ultimately ran from Refugio, Texas (almost Mexico) to South Dakota. When both of the highways were expanded and paved in the '30's signs were erected. There was an old stone standing near the road to Georgetown that said something like "Georgetown, 12 miles." The story went that the words were carved on the face of the stone. The road crew put it aside and my great grandfather asked for it. Ever since then it had lain facedown near our water tank and we mowed around it.

   In my senior year of high school, 1968, Mom and Dad sold the store and we moved to the other end of the property where there was a house. We built a new garage for Dad and of course we had to move a lot of stuff. One day we got a couple of strong guys to help and we went to move that old milestone we'd been mowing around. We used a crowbar to raise it up from where it had sunk into the ground and flipped it over. There was nothing on it on either side! All this time we had been protecting a plain piece of rock! Dad was stumped. I felt a bit cheated.

   Thinking about that I am often led to think of the impermanence and frankly untrustworthiness of memory. My son turns 40 today. Talking to him sometimes and remembering things in the past it often strikes me that we often remember the same events quite differently. This isn't about which is right. (Though of course I am. This is my blog, after all, he can be right in his blog! Lol!) What it is about is that we each have our own realities built from our own memories of events that may vary widely!

   When I was very young I remember my grandmother singing and chanting children's verses to me. One was "This Little Piggy" playing with my toes. I'm sure everyone has heard some variation. Mom's was almost the same as the one in my Mother Goose book I had at the time. "This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home, this little piggy had roast beef, this little piggy had none, this little piggy cried "wee, wee, wee all the way home!"

   Fast forward a generation to when my son was a baby. Mom played with his toes as well. All of a sudden, her poem was "This little piggy says 'want some corn', this little piggy says 'where you gonna get it', this little piggy says 'master's barn', this little piggy says 'I want some', this little piggy cries 'wee, wee, wee, can't get over the door step!"

   I was confused. I asked her "where did that come from?" Her response? "I've always said it that way!" I was puzzled. When I recited the way I remembered it she professed to have never heard that version. Now I was absolutely floored! Was she right? Was I? I now have no idea. There were other similar instances where she recited a children's song or poem I remembered from childhood but one or two verses were greatly different. I stayed confused.

   I guess it all comes down to the fact that our experiences shape our realities, and our experiences are not the same, even if we shared the same ones and we think they are engraved in stone.

   And I'm always right!

Review: Playing with Fire

2015-08-09T23:51:00.001-05:00

Playing with Fire by Tess Gerritsen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It was a pretty good read. I was a little disappointed by the ending. It was a little abrupt and didn't quite live up to the beginning in my opinion.

View all my reviews

Review: X

2015-07-28T14:12:00.001-05:00

X by Sue Grafton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A new Sue Grafton novel is always cause for celebration. "X" is a welcome addition to the list. Kinsey Milhone is a great character and it is always exciting to follow her through her paces. Thank you for a great read!

View all my reviews

Further Computer Notes

2014-12-01T14:52:00.001-06:00

A recent addition to my computer arsenal here is a new iRulu 7" tablet.

I must preface by telling you that I had grown quite addicted to our 2nd generation Kindle reader that was increasingly showing its age and finally, with the help of one of our kitties, bit the dust.
Literally.
It was charging on the dresser and someone of our menagerie decided to see if it would bounce. The screen did not survive. For so many of these devices, a broken screen means the thing is toast. To replace the screen on one of these older Kindles is about tantamount to buying a new one, so I was looking for alternatives. I do use the Kindle app on my iPhone quite often, and I do like it a lot. However, the small screen can be tiring at times. I wanted another option.

Being on a budget, and admittedly a cheapskate, I went looking. A new paper- white Kindle, comparable to the dead one, runs about $70. Used ones were only a little cheaper on Craigslist and elsewhere. That would have been adequate, but I was really pining for a Kindle Fire, with its color display and ability to watch movies, et. Those run for roughly twice as much. I looked around for a similarly sized tablet computer and found on Ebay an iRulu 7" Android tablet for about $35. I saw a reasonably good review on iTunes about it and decided to order two so my lady could have one as well. You can see what I got in the above picture. The tablet came with a handy keyboard/cover as well which I thought made it well worth the price. Especially since I was getting two tablets for the price of one basic Kindle.

The tablet accepts a micro SD card to add storage, so I immediately ordered a 32 gb card for it. It only has 8 gb out of the box. I also ordered a different adapter cable. As you can see in the first pic above, it came with a white adapter cable to attach the keyboard that sticks out at an awkward right angle from the tablet. I found a different black one online for a couple of bucks that attaches along the top and looks much better.

I like the looks much better now.

I like the iRulu tablet. It's a fun little device. There are drawbacks. This is my first Android device, so I immediately loaded it up with free apps from the Google store. Some of the apps have the capability of being moved to the micro SD card which saves onboard storage, however, the more apps you have the slower everything operates. The tablet can be pretty slow at times. I pared back the apps until things started running better.

I decided to not use the tablet for social media like Facebook, etc. It was pretty slow on those things and my iPhone is much faster and usually more handy. After some frustration I decided to reserve the tablet for mainly what I got it for, reading ebooks and the occasional movie. With some strategies it works quite well for that.

One of the apps I got quite soon was Clean Master. It clears out junk files and other clutter that compromises storage and memory on the device. It has a one-touch optimizing function that does a quick job of clearing the memory cache and other things. Each time I use the tablet I run the Clean Master, make sure other apps aren't engaged, and I'm good to go. Otherwise, the Kindle app takes a very long time to load and videos will not play.

I'm not adverse to devices taking a bit to get going, but one thing that needs improvement is a better indicator that the tablet is updating itself. I've learned to turn it on well in advance of when I want to use it so that it has time to do whatever updates it needs before I need it. Obviously those things need to be done, but it really gives you little notice of what it is doing. A statement of "updating device" and perhaps a status bar would be helpful. Basically it just starts off slow and eventually gets faster. I use the wifi to sync and read online, but put it in airplane mode to read offline. The battery lasts a bit longer that way, and takes a bit of load off my wifi setup at home.

Battery life isn't great. I can't watch a full movie without recharging, but sometimes running a movie with the charger plugged in gives rise to heating problems. It's a balancing act. I can get about two evenings of reading done before a recharge, but I basically tend to recharge each morning.

The screen becomes fairly illegible in direct light, such as outside in the sun. This is common for backlit screens and a point in the favor of the standard Kindles with their e-ink screens. However, the majority of my reading is done indoors, and in fact late at night in bed, so the ability to see the screen without a separate reading light is a big plus for me, and less likely to disturb my partner. The same can be said, of course for reading on the iPhone, but the increased tablet screen size is much better.

The onboard speaker is fairly bad. Much like the old transistor radios of the '60's. I have earphones, or a separate bullet speaker that works quite well with it. The keyboard/cover works well. I sometimes have to unplug and replug the adapter for the tablet to recognize that it is attached. I suspect a delicate adapter plug on the tablet.

The second tablet? My lady Cat Dancing finds it much too slow in starting and has decided she prefers reading on her iPhone. It is much more convenient for the reading she does anyway.

What's the summary? If you don't mind a few minor annoyances it's a good buy. Don't plan on doing any major computing on it, but it really isn't intended for that anyway. For email, ebooks and online reading, and minimal surfing it's not bad at all. I do miss the 3G capability the old Kindle had. I'm glad I got it, though the second unit was perhaps a waste. I might dedicate it to videos and the first strictly to reading, if that streamlines things.

Have a Happy!

Uphill. In the snow. Both ways.

2014-05-07T18:25:00.002-05:00

And so. The final tally in the ongoing Linux project here at Casa RainCrow. To expand on my previous post, on the newish Dell Inspiron laptop from my brother, I installed Linux Mint 16 Cinnamon after installing a new 750 Gig hard drive. It's working very well. I have both Wine, with a front end of Play On Linux, plus a Virtual Machine with Windows XP, to handle the various things that I'm too stubborn to give up but that refuse to run on Linux, like my CAD programs, yWriter5, Personal Ancestral File (which is now an orphan program anyway), and a few other things. I did have to change up a few ways in which I did things, but nothing serious.I still tweak here and there, though I haven't started twerking yet. Overall I'm happy with it.

On the legendary desktop computer, the fairly old HP Compaq tower system. I finally settled on another Linux Mint 16, the Mate version. It's in a dual boot setup with the Windows XP that was already on the unit. As I did in the Virtual Machine setup in the laptop, I disabled the internet capabilities of the XP system and rely on the Linux for internet linkup. The XP is stand alone. As I said before, I don't really use this one much, but it's there when I need it. It may still have a role to play.

On my old Dell Latitude D600, I finally put in Zorin OS, which is another variation of Linux. It was the more friendly flavor of the few releases that was able to run on the hardware. As it was, I still had to jump through a few hoops to get it to "see" the wireless adapter, but I did it finally. It also works well. I configured it to be useful out in the woodworking shop with copies of most of our patterns, PDF files of many of the different manuals and how-to books we have, and it also has CAD on it. There is a good possibility that we may also use it for music in the shop, but I haven't set that part up yet. For the time being it lives in its own drawer in a workbench until needed, to keep it out of the dust, etc. It also has it's own little desk, a cute and perfect for the site item I found at Goodwill the other day for $10. Just like this one!

For my use it will sit on a designated area of my workbench. I'm already wishing I had another one for the house! Just to be clear, I'm referring to the desk here!

Cat Dancing is still using my more recent Dell, the Vista laptop for her activities. Nothing changed there, except I left myself on as a user and added her so we could both use the iTunes/iPhone linkup capabilities. That's one thing that's missing in Linux, the capability to update iPhones with iTunes, etc.

The older Dell 620 that Michael has, Cat's previous machine that I converted to Linux Mint 16 Cinnamon, blew the video card not long after he started using it. We tossed around getting a new card for it, at a minimum of $60 or so, or just getting another used laptop for him. In the end he found another D620 at the Goodwill Computer Store for $10, on the off chance the mother board and video card was still good. They call it a "scraptop" since Goodwill salvages whatever is easily removable, like the battery and hard drive, etc. and sells the remainder as a parts machine. We lucked out! We swapped over the missing parts from the old D620, our hard drive, battery, and nothing at first. Then I figured that the power switch was bad, it is part of the keyboard. We swapped that out and voila! it worked! Michael is online again!

So, that's where it all stands! Come see us again!

Computer Update - Rather Switch, etc.

2014-03-25T13:35:00.000-05:00

A short time back I posted about my travails in converting my XP computers to Linux to avoid having to buy new ones or pay a lot to upgrade the equipment to a newer Windows version. I have to report it is going very well. I got some good advice from a mentor, plus did some more research and I'm well on my way.

As can be seen in the picture above, I chose Linux Mint 16 to go with. We did have some changes. My brother gave me a much newer laptop, a Dell Inspiron of his that the hard drive died on. I was able to salvage his data and I put a new, larger drive in it. It was originally a Windows 7 machine, but I just installed Mint 16 from the beginning, everything went great. I am using a program called Wine to run some of my Windows programs, as well as what is called a Virtual Machine which lets you install XP or another OS "inside" the Linux, so that the programs think they are running in a Windows XP machine. I'm trying out a couple of different things there with good success. There are a few wrinkles, but I'm working them out.

My step-son's computer totally died before I could update it, so I passed along my Vista laptop to my partner, and put Linux on her previous laptop for him to use. A small learning curve, but he's doing okay with it I think.

I went with a slightly less technically demanding version of Mint, version 9, for my oldest Dell laptop, the Latitude 600. Still having issues getting the wireless adapter to work, but making strides on that. That will soon be my shop computer. My desktop also got a Linux 9, LXDE version, dual boot. It is still booting in XP or I can choose Linux. The newer laptop, though, is doing everything I need right now, so I haven't really put much further effort into the desktop. I will make it work, though, even if I'm not using it!

Onward!

Rather Switch Than Fight

2013-12-18T21:23:00.000-06:00

By the way, bonus points if you "get" the pop-culture reference in the title. Nothing else, just bonus points!

We have 7 computers in our home. The one I'm composing this blog on is about the newest, a Dell Latitude E5400 laptop running Windows Vista. I have no complaints about it. I suppose I should mention that I usually buy refurbished Dell computers. The price is right, they do everything I need to do, and I just like them. Most of our computers in use currently were purchased from Discount Electronics though I do have one I got through Ebay and a couple that were gifted.

My wife's laptop, my desktop, and my "backup" laptop are all older Dells running Windows XP. Now, I've had a very good experience using XP so far, and I've been using it since it came out, more or less. My use of personal computers, as I think I've outlined elsewhere, runs back to the Radio Shack/Tandy Color Computer and some low number version of MSDOS.

The quandary lately is concerning Microsoft and their dropping of support for Windows XP early next year. Of course, the software won't abruptly stop working, but security will be more and more compromised. It will be very risky to continue to use those computers online. Rather than spend a small fortune (to me) to upgrade to newer computers or even newer Windows software which may or may not run on the older machines, I've been contemplating switching over the older machines to Ubuntu, which is a popular version of Linux. (Also, need I say "FREE")!

For the most part it's no big deal. I have put Ubuntu on a small Asus laptop that I have to check it out, as well as setting up my larger desktop PC for dual booting. I can boot it up as either XP or Ubuntu for a session of exploration. So far, however, a couple of things have stymied me.

Much of the work with Ubuntu strongly relies on going online. I'm still not savvy enough on Ubuntu to figure out how to make it work with our Sierra Air card. It's supposed to be pretty easy, but it has foiled my attempts to make it work. That's one problem, we don't have any form of wi-fi available at home except for the aircard we have. Now, we may be able to affordably work something else out, now that we may not need the air card for other things. We originally got it to have the ability to run credit cards, etc. when we worked Sherwood Forest Faire, or other outside art fairs without access to wi-fi. Now, we're going to the Square on our iPhones and won't need the air card. Possibly we can find a local wi-fi service that will cost about the same as we were paying for the air card. However, that's another situation. Back to Ubuntu.

I can network the other laptops with my Vista laptop when it is on the air card. The wireless networking built into the laptops works with Ubuntu just fine, or appears to so far. Getting the wireless USB adapter I have for the desktop to work with Ubuntu is another story apparently. Not exactly plug and play.

Most of the software packages we use regularly have replacements in Ubuntu that are also free and work quite well. However, I have a lot of time invested in one type of CAD package that only runs on Windows. I won't name it, but I'm reluctant to change. There is a very good alternative called Draftsight that I have been looking at that seems to work very well, but I am reluctant to switch horses on it unless I really have to.

Another critical program is yWriter 5; a writing software that I am using for my novels currently. In this case there is no Linux version available.

Theoretically these and many other Windows programs will run through another software called Wine that sort of acts as an interface to enable Windows software to run on Linux. I've been running into some snags getting that scenario to work.

The key seems to be solving the networking or the air card problem, since some of the installations are pretty automatic once you can get online. Otherwise you have to download things separately and jump through several hoops to install manually.

Apparently.

Maybe I just need a Linux tutor to guide me through some of it.

Once I get things working the way I want, I may even switch over the Vista laptop, though Windows will keep supporting Vista for quite a while longer.

The last ditch option would be to just keep the desktop as my main CAD machine, leave it XP and just don't get online with it. That would work for quite awhile, probably. I don't make my living with the CAD anymore, but I still use it almost daily. I'm always helping my wife by drawing or copying patterns for intarsia woodworking or stained glass. I also prefer to use it for desktop publishing-type functions, since I'm accustomed to using the fonts and drawing capabilities.

Admittedly, some of this is just stubbornness. Do I really need this many computers? Probably not. When I used previous laptops, they weren't fast enough to run the cad programs, nor did they have the storage I needed. It was necessary to have the "big, powerful desktop" to run the serious drafting software, while my lighter duty laptop could go with me to a hotspot and browse the web. The desktop is also easier to work on, of course. I can replace whatever part may be going bad. Laptops are almost made to be disposable. If something breaks, it's usually easier to replace the whole thing!

Times change. My current laptop doesn't really have the power problem, it runs everything just fine. With external hard drives and flash drives getting larger and cheaper all the time, the storage isn't so much a problem either.

Having two working laptops all my own is a bit of a luxury I guess. I like having a backup. It's paid off a few times. However, we find ourselves doing more and more of our online stuff on our iPhones. I even posted one of these blogs directly from the phone awhile back. It was a challenge, I admit, but I did it.

In fact, the lines between PC/laptop/phone/TV/stereo/radio are getting really blurry, aren't they? It is rapidly getting to where smart phones can do just about any "usual" computing task we want to do. I can now even view CAD files on my iPhone.

And reference work? I think we've about reached Isaac Asimov's Encyclopedia Galactica. We have more and more reference resources available every day. I used to spend hours running down references in the library in dictionaries and encyclopedia. I called it hunting rabbits, since I easily got sidetracked and ended up finding information that had nothing to do with whatever I started on. Now I have the whole internet to get lost in. Pure joy!

Now if I can just get the Ubuntu to behave!

And Sew On

2013-06-30T17:19:00.000-05:00

I recently took this sewing machine out of mothballs and decided to put it to work. It's a Davis Model VF-2 machine from around 1900. It originally belonged to my great-grandmother, Martha Ora Tucker Seward and it was passed along to me long ago. I named the machine "Minnie" which was Martha Ora's nickname.

I actually put some mileage on this machine myself. When I was a Boy Scout, I used it to repair my surplus pup tent that had previously been used as a paint tarp. (Very colorful! The troop required me to pitch it in the very back of the campsite!)
When I was active in competition blackpowder shooting and reenactments, I sewed my own clothes on this machine.

I've had it in storage for quite a while, though it now resides in my office. I opened it up not long ago and rebuilt the flip-over lid that covers it. Someone had broken the hinges loose and a wood veneered panel in the center of the lid had peeled away. Just a few days ago I installed a new belt, gave the machine a minor cleaning and oiling, and sewed a bit on it. Still works great!

It takes a slightly longer than standard needle which is no longer made, although I found a very close alternative on eBay and ordered a few. Standard needles can be made to work, with some fudging, but not reliably.

Here's a closer look at the machine.

As you may be able to see from the first picture, two of the drawers on the cabinet are not quite a match. There is a more complete cleaning, oiling, and refinishing in the works when the weather cools off a bit. Not a radical refinish. Just a general re-tightening of the wood joints, cleaning and lemon oiling of the wood and so on. I want to keep as much of the original finish as is left, wherever it has any.

I'll post a follow up when all that is done.

A peek inside the mechanism. The long bullet shape is the shuttle that contains the bobbin, which is a long spool. It's a different design from the newer round bobbin that more modern machines use. The shuttle swings back and forth, sliding through the needle thread to capture the stitches.

A few of the original attachments and extras that came with the machine. Two hemmers, an edge guide, two shuttles, and a wrench.

This item, that looks a bit like a mutated ninja throwing star, is actually a pretty cool multi-tool. The top and right arms were once different sized screwdrivers like the left arm. The bottom part fits the needle clamp nut to help tighten or loosen it.

A page from the Davis VF-2 owner's manual.

While I'm on the subject, here is another possible project for me. This rusty machine was found through Freecycle or Craigslist Freebies. It had sat in the previous owners yard as a piece of yard art for several years before she offered it. I took it and hope to make it operational again. Looks bad, but is really pretty sound. It looks a lot like the Davis and has a similar shuttle bobbin. However, this is a Singer Model 27 also from 1900.

Here's one from the internet in slightly better condition!

What will I do with it if I get it going? I don't know for sure. I only know that I have always been fascinated by machinery in general and sewing machines in particular. My grandmother, Mildred Seward, did a lot of sewing when I was growing up and I helped her often.

Just an old sew-and-sew!

Someone Else's Deja Vu

2013-06-11T19:50:00.001-05:00

A friend mentioned the other day that she was experiencing something that I also often experience. For lack of a better term I refer to it as "having someone else's deja vu".

It's like this: I'll be awake, doing whatever, and have what seems to be a vivid and complete memory flashback. However, the memory is absolutely not a "real" memory from my own life.

I've been attempting to research this but it doesn't seem to correspond directly with anything currently being studied. It more closely resembles "false memory syndrome" perhaps , without the associated trauma or regression therapy. I don't believe I have any of the history that would associate with that.

It is exactly like flashbacks I have of true events from my past, often traumatic, such as injury or loss. The same intensity and vivid detail, although the false flashback is often of some really prosaic memory: say, coming home by taxi to my flat in London and bringing in the mail. (Never been there.)

A mystical explanation may be that everyone's memories and thoughts are "out there" somewhere in the cosmic stream and we sometimes "tap in to it" in a dream or daydream state. Another explanation could be an unconsciously remembered scene from page or screen that resurfaces at an odd moment.

What do you think?

It's A Weird Spring

2013-04-24T20:04:00.000-05:00

    It's been quite awhile since I've done an update on our place here at EarthSong Retreat. This is a pretty strange Spring season we're having this year. Temperatures swinging from near 90 degrees (F) to mid 30's and back again. We have had a few nice but light rains and I've been expanding the garden.
    I've finally gotten another scythe from Ebay. I enjoyed my old one, but it was lost several moves ago. It works really well on the giant ragweed and other grasses that I need to cut here and there. We try not to mow at all, especially while we have wildflowers for the bees.
    Speaking of the bees. We're looking forward to our first honey harvest.
    We also added some more chickens to our small flock. Six pullets were purchased a few weeks back, three Rhode Island Red and three Ameracauna. My personal favorite breed is the Rhode Islands, but we have some diversity. That will bring our flock to 18.
    The free-ranging chickens are a valuable part of pest control, as well as composting.
    The compost system is simple. I have a pair of bins made from pallets.
    We add kitchen scraps, garden and yard trimmings, to either bin. We also add newspaper from the macaws' cages and other compostable material. As you can see, the bins are open and accessible to our free-ranging chickens. They do an excellent job of further shredding the paper and mixing it all together. I rarely turn the piles, but do add water to help decompose the paper if needed. Before long, I have usable compost!
    I select a pile, it really doesn't matter much which one. I move the top layers over to the adjacent pile until I reach the good compost. It goes through a mesh screen into the wheelbarrow. Whatever doesn't go through the screen goes back on the pile.
   The compost goes straight to wherever it's needed.
   I like this system!

I'll leave with a picture of Cooper the Wonder Dog and his footbaths. He likes our rainwater collection efforts.

"I've got mind powers. You wouldn't understand."

2013-02-13T14:04:00.000-06:00

I had an interesting experience the other day.
I was messing around on Facebook and the name Moosie Drier came to mind out of nowhere. Now, I remember Moosie as the child actor back in the '70's on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh In", and countless other shows for a couple of years.
Such is fame.
Ever notice how every few years an actor will come along, even a bit player, and they will be in literally everything for awhile? It's even more obvious for child actors, I think. Anyway, Moosie Drier was the Haley Joel Osment, or Kurt Russel, of a few years in the early '70's. He's still around, by the way, acting now and then and directing.

Moosie Drier, back in the day.

Back to me, though. Remember, this is all about me? Moosie's memory popped up, then a few hours later my step-son, Michael, brought his new girlfriend home for dinner. Surprise! She brought her new puppy. I saw it and asked its' name. Guess what! It's name is Moose! Small puppy, big name.

A little bit of precog maybe?

Mind powers, I tell you!

Twelve Step Program: A Dozen Donuts, A Dozen Days

2012-12-31T10:59:00.002-06:00

DONUTS AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE!

It's been a good while since I've had really good donuts. I lived in Round Rock, Texas for many years. Round Rock was a great little town. In my time there, three of the greatest things that made it stand out were THE Round Rock, the outlaw Sam Bass, and Round Rock Donuts. In Round Rock the donuts were pretty ubiquitous. Just about any gathering had a few. Church fellowship halls had them. If you worked anywhere in the area you could get absolution for arriving late if you showed up with a dozen Round Rock donuts. All work tended to stop for an impromptu coffee break but the bosses were usually there munching away with the hoi polloi.

I moved away from Round Rock in the late '90's and lost touch with the donuts except for a rare glimpse now and then. When I finally moved to the Bastrop area in 2007 I could no longer get the donuts at all unless someone made a special trip. It seemed easier to just give up on donuts in general except for a rare grocery store donut nabbed when shopping. (And paid for, of course!)

I certainly don't want to denigrate any other brand of donuts. I've eaten at least a few of them all. Like a few other things in my experience, no donut is a bad donut. To my particular taste, however, one donut reigns supreme.

I've essentially been on a donut hiatus for about five years.

In that time period the legendary (to me, anyway) Round Rock Donuts loomed rather large in memory. Not unlike this:

(Lone Star Bakery, the home of the RR Donut, does have one like this, called, I think, the Texas Donut.)

Recently, my daughter Holly Seward Land and her husband Jeremy were coming to visit from their home in Temple. Realizing that they would likely pass more or less through Round Rock, I asked them to pick me up some donuts. Being a RR girl, in fact a RR Dragonette in her time, I didn't have to explain. They appeared in my yard with a dozen RR Donuts, which I promptly put in the freezer. They freeze wonderfully well. Pull one out, microwave for 15 seconds or so, and they are almost fresh again, or near enough anyway.

They were every bit as good as I remembered. My partner, Cat Dancing, didn't see the appeal at all. I love her madly and would have gladly shared, however it just means my stash lasts longer! The first batch lasted me about a week, as I was eating two every morning with coffee. Is there a more perfect union?

I often arise earlier than anyone else here at EarthSong. I feed the chickens, dog, and cats, make coffee and have perhaps an hour to myself for coffee and reflection. I started joking on Facebook about my morning spiritual practice; Donuts and coffee. It got a lot of likes and virtual smiles. Alas, the donuts were soon gone and I had to make do with Christmas cookies and so on. I was roughing it, you know! Pan Dulce is an excellent alternative!

I got another dozen donuts a couple of days ago. Holly and Jeremy came to visit again and vowed to continue enabling my addiction whenever possible! I think she wants to be my favorite! I'm a lucky daddy! Have I mentioned I'm a soon to be grandpa too? More on that later.

It is fitting, though. My own initiation to the donut came through my own grandfather, W.K. Seward (Dad). We lived at our gas station at Seward Junction, three miles outside of Liberty Hill, Texas.

Roughly twice a day Dad would drive into Liberty Hill for his coffee break. Occasionally he would take me and my brother Steve along. I was small, but felt like big stuff to sit up at the counter at Foust's Cafe beside him. He would treat me to a drink, an ice cream, and sometimes a donut! He would always make me a deal. I could eat the donut but I had to save him the hole!

I tried. It was a concept that confused me, but intrigued me. The donuts at Foust's Cafe were, I suppose, made there. There were few donut chains around in the mid '50's, at least in our area. I remember the donuts fondly, if a bit fuzzily. This was before such bakers as Dunkin Donuts actually made a treat called the "donut hole" that actually could be eaten.

So, I was faced with a dilemma. I took Dad seriously at first. My young mind wrestled with the concept of saving a thing which was apparently a nothing. Even after I realized he was joking, the idea had an appeal.

(It is only now, fifty-something years later, that I realize he might possibly have meant "save me the whole", which would have been a whole other thing. Surely he didn't. Maybe.)

I was thus, early on, faced with the task of "unscrewing the inscrutable". Perhaps this was the beginning of my tendency to take nothing at face value. To question what I was told! Maybe it's just a donut!

What is a donut but a torus? Wikipedia has a fascinating and pretty technical explanation of a torus. Click the link if you want to go into it. Basically, a torus is a solid with only one surface. It is made from rotating one circle around another. The figure has a lot of practical uses, from the small donut I enjoy to the huge Super Colliders we use to generate new particles. Pretty interesting.

How about that hole? Negative space in the center of the torus? Portal to other spaces? Navel of the cosmos? Something to contemplate, at least. And of course, getting down to the hole is very tasty!

The best way to consider such things is to have a donut or two, and some coffee, and think about it!

Save me the hole! Or maybe the whole, if it's the last of the RR Donuts!

The Road Goes Ever On...

Apocalypse Now

2012-12-21T20:08:00.001-06:00

It's not too late for an Apocalypse!
I challenge you!
Today is the beginning.

In so many ways today begins a new year, a new age.
It is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day and the longest night.
For our ancestors this begins the time of promise. The days grow longer, the sun returns again. So many peoples and believers celebrated the end of the negative and the beginning of the growing positive at this time of year.

Change is coming, but what kind?
Positive or negative?
We decide.
You and I will create all positive change.
We are the growing edge!

Many have anticipated "The Age of Aquarius" and some even have said that current events signal the beginning. We decide if it is true.
So, let's make it so!

Let us, each and every one of us, build the Age of Aquarius as we would have it be built.
Not as some bureaucrat or so-called religious leader would plan it but as we ourselves would have it.
Right now, today, whatever time or day you read this, begin the new age.

Begin by refusing to give power to the negative forces among us. Don't watch, don't listen, don't pay it any attention whatsoever!
We are better than this. That can be our mantra for this new start.
When someone says it can't be done.
We are better than this.
When the news media is sensationalisticly bleak, We are better than this.

You and I can hew to a higher standard. We can insist that the highest priority is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, protect the children, save the earth and it is not to add another shekel to the piles of those who covet more than they can possibly spend.

You and I, we are better than this.
Starting right now, we can celebrate the positive in life. Build something for all generations. Instead of waiting for someone to do something someday, today you and will do these simple things.

And they will grow. Simple as that.
We are better than this!

We are the True Apocalypse, You and I!

Memory Lane

2012-11-25T15:07:00.000-06:00

I accompanied my partner, Cat Dancing, to an appointment in Georgetown this morning. Afterward, she had another appointment in Round Rock. It's been awhile since I've been around the area. I was born in Georgetown back in 1950, grew up not too far away in Liberty Hill, and lived and raised children in Round Rock from 1979 till about 1998 when I moved back to Liberty Hill for several years. So, aside from a few years in Austin, I lived in Williamson County all my life until I moved to McDade and Bastrop in 2007.

Oddly enough I was already thinking about Round Rock because of a dream I had last night. Several of my friends from Sam Bass Community Theater featured in my dream, so I awoke thinking of those days. Coming back into town today pulled a lot of memories to the surface.

In 1981 we had been living in Round Rock for two years. My son Bill was 5, my daughter Melanie was just born or nearly so. I read an ad in the Round Rock Leader about casting for the Sam Bass Shootout, a reenactment of an historical event, the shooting of Sam Bass (duh). The group was looking for new members to put on the production. It sounded interesting, so I showed up and joined in. The shootout was a lot of fun. The directors, Betty Porter and Zettie Vogler encouraged us all to also join the Sam Bass Community Theater group that sponsored the shootout group. I went on to participate in the shootout reenactment for 22 years.

I took them up on the offer to join the Sam Bass Community Theater as well. I had had no real exposure to theater previously. My high school didn't have a drama class when I was there. The Junior and Senior classes did put on a play each (called, respectively, the Junior and Senior Plays of course), we also participated in Theater for UIL competition. I enjoyed doing those in school but in thinking of getting involved in Sam Bass Theater I was actually looking for something my then wife, Linda, might be interested in doing. She decided it wasn't her thing, though, but I stayed with it.

At that time the Sam Bass Community Theater was housed in the old railroad depot building in downtown Round Rock. Later on the building was moved about a mile away to the Lions Club Veteran's Park and all of us pitched in to remodel it and build outbuildings.

The photo is from "Picnic" which was the play that was casting when I first joined Sam Bass Community Theater. Shown are my friends B.J. Machalicek and Doug Pope.

In 1986 the Sesquicentennial of Texas was going on and Round Rock put on a large historical musical pageant named "We're All Texans Now!" Betty Porter was directing and asked me to join in. I played several roles and enjoyed it a lot.

I also started acting and writing in plays to benefit the Round Rock Public Library and the Friends of the Library. Betty Porter, again, was picked to direct the first "Library Mystery", which later became called "Mystery Night". Betty invited me to join in as an actor. The first production was one evening of an audience participation play, "Murder at the Library" and it was a success. We did it annually. The second year it was "Death in Berlin". When the third year (1991) rolled around, Betty called me and asked if I could help her find a western themed mystery play that we could "localize" easily for Round Rock. I had the bright idea of writing one. I brought her a very short first draft of "Murder at the TP Ranch." Betty read it and liked it but suggested I collaborate with Barbara Vance, Assistant Children's Librarian at the library. We had a great collaboration and developed a successful play. We went on to write several more as Mystery Night became a larger and larger production. Several of the plays we wrote have been performed in several states in the U.S. as well as Canada, Great Britain, Scotland, and Germany. Those yearly productions also included Reunion With Death('92); Play Dead ('93); and Death of the Party ('94)

Cast/set shot from Murder At The TP Ranch. Standing L to R: Wiley Gilmore, John West, Jerry (lost his last name), Jeanette Crabb, Barbara Vance, Betty Porter (Dir.). Seated from left: Patti Bowers, Chip Hadley (stage crew), Billie Blankenship, Bill Seward, Lisa Bilbrey (Friends Pres.)

Meanwhile with SBCT I auditioned for plays, got turned down, showed up to help with concessions and other helpful things. Eventually in 1990 I was cast in a play. My first one with SBCT was "First Monday in October". I was cast as Supreme Court Justice Richard Carey.

At right is a cast/set shot from "First Monday". In the picture are Jim Grisham, Jan Stuckey, Phillip Robinson, Gene Cagle, Jim Prior, Doyle C. Carter, Mike Groblewski, myself, and Mike Stuckey. (Not in order). Also in the play were Andy Brown, Mark Brauner, Ben Irene Frederick, and Dustin Radabaugh.

During my involvement with SBCT the shows I did included: Bless Me Father; Close the Door So It Can't Get in Your Room; Dark of the Moon; Twelve Angry Men; Arsenic and Old Lace; Bleacher Bums; One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest; and many more. I also created an extra character during "Close The Door" we named "Melvin". He was sort of an unrecognizable stoner guy in the persona of a janitor. We had a lot of fun with that, and Melvin appeared in a few other random productions over the years as an add-in. He was uncredited and a mystery to the audience. He finally got a credited appearance as the night attendant in "Cuckoos Nest."

Along with my acting and concurrent writing efforts, I also directed my first play at SBCT. We had a directing workshop about 1994. I chose Anton Chekhov's one act play "The Proposal". I came across it totally by accident and liked it. With that production I joined the list of Directors at SBCT. I had also moved into co-directing some of the Mystery Night Productions for the Library.

Some of our same group that did the Mystery Night productions staged a slightly different style of fund raising show for the Literacy Council of Williamson County. "The Mystery of Lotta's Boudoir" was another concept and script by Barbara Stopp Vance and myself. It was an audience participation mystery but with more of a "hands on" CSI feel. That was a lot of fun.

I believe "Cuckoos Nest" was about my last show with SBCT. Somewhere along that time I moved back to Liberty Hill. I love the theater, but doing a play is a commitment to show up basically every evening for six weeks or so. That's tough if you have to commute after a full time job as well. I did enter SBCT's One Act Play showcase twice and won a first both times. My first one-act, "Spinner", was especially a treat in that so many of my friends chose to act in it as well. The second, "Ghost of a Chance", was good as well, but the production was a bit of a disappointment to me. My son, Bill, however, auditioned and won roles in all but one of the shows in the one-act showcase, including mine. That was pretty cool!

Sam Bass Community Theater was, and I assume still is, a great bunch of people. I counted many as my closest friends. They supported me through many large crises at the time. I still am in contact with several of them. There were so many of them: Jim and Kathy Grisham, Jim Prior, Andy Brown, Jimmy Toungate, Veronica Prior, and on and on.

My involvement in both Mystery Night and SBCT ended when I remarried and moved to Liberty Hill, as I said before. In Liberty Hill I helped to found the Liberty Hill Public Library and the Liberty Hill Community Theater.

As Founder, Director and Resident Playwright of Liberty Hill Community Theater I was trying to start something that hadn't been done before in the town, much as we were doing in founding the Liberty Hill Public Library. We did have a good production of our "Reunion With Death", and tried to field a couple more but ran into problems with venue and casting. We had a lot of public support, but efforts to find a performance space just didn't work out. We quit trying to use the school auditoriums when the school wanted to charge us to put on a fund raiser for the school! A couple of efforts in casting plays met with little response, so I gave up on the idea. We did develop a very nice Youth Theater that kept going for awhile with the guidance and hard work of Laura and Lacey Cannon, their family and friends. They put on several excellent productions in the park and VFW hall that I was honored to end assistance to.

About the time I was giving up on the LHCT, the Public Library was taking off. We were able to pass a Sales Tax issue in Liberty Hill that gave welcome funds to the Library. With lots of volunteer help, labor, and many donated materials we built our first library in part of Foundation Park. I was elected as one of the Board of Trustees, drew up the original plans for the building, and served as Evening Librarian every Thursday evening.

I also was asked to direct a couple of plays for a theater group in Georgetown. San Gabriel Productions was a small group in an old building called the "Polo Barn". It was a very challenging space. I saw an announcement that they were casting for "The Foreigner", one of my favorite scripts. I called about it and sent my actor resume and they asked if I wanted to direct the play. I jumped at the chance! It was a wonderful production. Later I directed "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" for them. Again I had a great cast and a fun production.

The breakup of my second marriage was a huge blow to me. I continued with the Liberty Hill Library for a couple of years. I also became involved with the Way Off Broadway Community Players in Leander. I did several plays with WOBCP and made more great friends. I acted in Streetcar Named Desire; The Trip to Bountiful; Daddy's Dying Who's Got the Will; Harvey and lots more. My final production with WOBCP was "It's a Scream". My first lead role, and a fun comedy. During the run of that play I was starting a new relationship (with my partner Cat Dancing) and soon afterward I moved to McDade, Texas (even smaller than Liberty Hill), and now to Bastrop.

I haven't exactly resumed my theatrical career, as such. The distances necessary to travel and the desire to nurture a new relationship argued against it. Bastrop does have an acting and film group I am looking into. I have been pursuing acting work in movies, TV and commercials with limited success. We also have a friendly relationship with The Vortex Theater in Austin. They do some great shows and we are friends with the director Bonnie Cullum and many of the group.

It's not over. Just entering a new stage, so to speak.

Anyway, this all came to mind in Round Rock yesterday! Cheers!

Headache and Semantics

2012-10-12T11:37:00.000-05:00

I've been sick the past week, more or less. Not sure what. Headaches, congestion, dry cough, random fevers. Seem to be coming out of it somewhat. Vitamin C seems to help as usual. Last night had pretty vivid dreams, but don't remember any. Just finished a Preston & Child novel, Gideon's Sword and have been watching season two of "24" on dvd. No doubt that contributed to the dreams.
Woke with a thundering headache, migraine level. Got up about 8. Drank lots water, ate a banana and took some migraine mix pills. Fed animals, washed dishes. Head somewhat better. Was in bathroom reading the Kindle, a set of writing interviews on Scottish mystery writers.
I began to reflect on printed language structure and how it might contribute to health, specifically headache relief.
Like this:
I have a lot of headaches from mild to severe. Fewer bad ones since I dropped peanuts from my diet. (I really miss peanut butter.) Often, as weird as it seems, I am still able to read without worsening the headache. Especially on the Kindle or on the computer. Perhaps the print contrast or font size also helps. All other sources of stimulation will hurt to varying degrees. Light, sound, music, even involved thought. There is one exception to the music, Gregorian chants can be soothing and not intrusive. Almost any other type of music is just too much.
Anyway, as I looked at the Kindle and reflected on being able to read when everything else hurt, I was struck with an idea.
Remember, above I said that the headaches even seem to inhibit involved thought. So, having an idea and pursuing it was a chore.
Anyway, I carefully thought about the written word.
I've seen articles about classical music. The music in general, and certain composers especially, like Bach, Mozart, et al. actually has the ability to structure the mind when listened to. There were studies about mothers playing the music for their unborn children to make the smarter, and so on. It mostly had to do with the mathematical structure of the music. It actually encourages the mind to re-form logical pathways.
I suspect the whole concept may have fallen out of favor in recent times, but it always made sense to me.
This brings us to semantics.
Long ago I read a science fiction novel called "The Players of Null-A". by A.E. van Vogt. A primary part of his "Null-A" series was based on the science of General Semantics. It fascinated me, and still does. I often return to the idea.
My own definitions may not jibe much with the official ones. To me, semantics is concerned with language and how it transmits ideas based on sentence structure and content together. The structure is equally as important as the content.
Another line, General Semantics is more involved. In my own simplified thoughts on it, it has to do with thought processes of the human mind and how that process is changed for better or worse as language gets into the process.
The implication on the one hand is that our thinking on a subject may be accurate but the thought processes involved with phrasing into words considerably muddies it or changes it outright.
I know I've had THAT experience!
So, rather than delve further into THAT can of worms, my basic thought here was: Granted, there are basic thought processes, and language, either verbal or written, has an impact. Is there, say, a way to structure something resembling a two or three page essay that would engage the mind experiencing a headache or other discomfort and structurally remove the pain? Perhaps a poem?
Perhaps there already is and I haven't seen it.

Qi Gong for the brain? Part of the idea of Qi Gong is that it clears pathways thru the body for Qi to flow and heal.
And yes, it can help headaches. So can accupuncture, and drugs, and herbs and other things.

I'm only thinking about this one approach. The idea of using words to clear those pathways in the brain.Perhaps as an inveterate reader I'd like to justify my habit.

"No, I'm not goofing off, I'm taking my medicine!"

Any ideas?

It's A Find!

2012-07-07T21:03:00.000-05:00

Okay, maybe not so significant to anyone other than me. Way back in the previous millennium, like maybe 1961 or so, a favorite great-uncle of mine passed on. Dr. George Duff Ross had been the town physician in Liberty Hill, Texas for many years. There are still people around who bear one of his three names in honor of his delivering them. He was also, in my eyes, something of a Renaissance Man. He had a myriad of hobbies, including taxidermy, woodworking and fishing. He had designed and built his own very unique home in the town. He also had a well equipped workshop.
After he passed on and his house was sold, we had a lot of his books and things to dispose of. I managed to latch on to a few. I was only ten or eleven at the time, but I already had a huge love of books, and everything of Uncle Doc's was fascinating to me. I didn't get to keep much, but one was the book shown above.

"The Amateur Craftsman's Cyclopedia of Things to Make" was printed in 1937 by the Popular Science Publishing Company. The book was hardback and composed of 338 pages of projects, tips, and all sorts of fascinating information drawn from years of back issues of Popular Science magazine.
The title page calls it "A complete manual for the home-workshop enthusiast with detailed working drawings and instructions for making toys, novelties, sporting equipment, models, furniture, house and garden conveniences, radios, photographic accessories, and scientific instruments - painting - workshop methods - metal working." "With over 1400 working drawings, diagrams, and illustrations."

I loved this book! I was already fascinated with do-it-yourself projects. Of course, much of the book was pretty dated, even by 1960. However, the contents stirred my imagination and gave me a start on many of the interests I hold still today, such as woodworking, photography, metalworking, and electronics.

For several years I returned to this book over and over, poring over the pictures and details. Finally, my grandfather loaned the book to his brother who also had a workshop. I never saw it again. Over the past 40 years or so I forgot the exact name of the book, but I still remembered the book itself, as well as a visual memory of many of the contents. I tried a few times to find another copy, but I was stymied by not having the actual name or publisher.

Finally, a couple of weeks ago in a related search of vintage workshop articles, I came across an article that I remembered from the book. The footing on the page copied gave me the right name. Of course it is out of print and a collectible but I subsequently found a used copy of the book on Amazon.com. For fifteen dollars plus shipping it could be mine! I jumped on it. In a couple of days I had it, the copy shown above.

This copy is a second edition and is a slightly larger format than the original, I believe. However, it is all there in pretty good condition. Everything I remembered from before. I am so pleased to finally have this book back in my possession!

I'm still a sucker for old reprints of vintage how-to articles. I'm a bit fan of ingenuity. A lot of the time the methods and materials are waaaaaaay out of date. I mean, how often can you run down the the mechanic shop and find a magneto from a Model T? However, the concepts are still sound, even if it is necessary to find modern equivalents for materials and finished projects. You may not have need of a wall rack for buggy whips, but it may give you and idea for something else!

Long lost treasure!

Those Wayward Patterns!

2012-07-07T20:01:00.001-05:00

This is a general question for everyone, so I'm asking the smartest bunch I know! It may not apply as much to flute making as to the workshop in general. I'm talking about patterns. Like I said, not so much a problem for small things like most flutes or fetishes. If you're anything like me, though, you do a lot more in your shop than flutes. My partner and I share a shop. She creates stained glass and wooden Intarsia art. We both tackle other woodworking projects as well. Much of this requires full-sized patterns in paper or something similar. It has become more and more a problem to file patterns so that they can be found easily for next time. I guess I should mention that we generally design our own patterns as well, usually starting with sketches on paper, proceeding to a final pattern sketch.
Scanning them into the computer works pretty well. Since many are larger than 8 1/2 x 11, I use a panorama program to stitch several scans together into one .jpg or .pdf file. It takes some time to do this, but once it's done it's great. Often I then copy the .jpg file into my CAD program as it gives me a lot more control and flexibility in scaling and printing. Once I have done this, then it becomes easy to print a new pattern as needed. (Would be so much nicer if we had access to large format printer!) Needless to say, the computer can store a whole lot more patterns than a house full of special drawers or files!
Many patterns just don't lend themselves to scanning. We still have the problem of filing the paper originals for future use. Does anyone else have a system for doing this? Anything I can think of takes valuable room in the house, and the shop just isn't an environment suitable for paper storage.

How Not to Raise Chickens! Guest post by Paul Wheaton.

2012-06-26T16:00:00.000-05:00

To me, this comic artist (First Cultural Industries) is exceptionally brilliant at capturing and representing very common and complicated issues that can arise for people who have never raised chickens before. I think the desire to steward chickens is normal and healthy. And what is good for the chicken is something people typically want to understand, but the information from that perspective is scarce, even with the myriad of books available on the topic. This is a big reason why I created my raising chickens article and have created the Wheaton eco scale to help quantify the implications of the different ways one can raise chickens: Level 1 is using a coop and run and Level 6 uses a paddock shift with food forests system. The key, for me, is to not hate on the people behind me, but instead, try to figure out ways to educate them on the next levels.
I have to admit that I have bought chickens on-line. This cartoon makes a pretty good point about how that isn’t necessarily supporting “local” (should that be your reason for raising chickens). But … there are issues buying local too (potentially less selection, could be worse quality of care, fuel for travel to pick up, etc…). While I feel shame about some of my past choices, I recognize that most all paths have downsides. Since I did order on-line, I spent time checking reviews to see which hatcheries had the most live chicks arrive and made this my primary shopping criteria. I also had things worked out with the post office so they would call me the moment they had the chicks (one of the perks of a very small town). The folks at the post office seemed to really enjoy it because of all the peeping! I think in all of the deliveries, there was at least one dead chick. Damn.
“You know, we spent $200 on this vintage chicken coop and another $100 to fix it, then there’s that organic chicken feed at $3 a pound …. these are going to be rather pricey eggs … Don’t think about it that way! These are artisanal eggs. Each one is like an original work of art!” Experiencing the reality of this statement is what led me to paddock shift systems. I was selling eggs and meat for about the same price as the feed I was buying. I do believe the egg can be a work of art if the chicken is a forest animal and getting plenty of fresh veggies and bugs. But if all they get is dried up grain and nothing else, while penned in a small area where they stand on their own poop all day …. that is hardly “artisanal.”
Raising chickens is a lot of responsibility and, as is the common flaw with most systems, you cannot leave your responsibilities (unless you live in a community that shares responsibilities). This comic does a good job of showing how clueless jerks will often stick others with their responsibilities. It also illustrates the lack of preparation and knowledge with which first timers often jump into chicken raising, particularly around chicken life expectancy and what it means to raise a live animal (like death and harvesting). “Chicken Recycling…we offer a full line of karma offsets…..” These are new to me. But I could see these folks getting super rich offering this stuff! Brilliant! This video, on respectful chicken harvesting, is one every wanna be chicken owner should watch.

Paul Wheaton's Regular blog can be found at http://paulwheaton12.wordpress.com/

Eating High on the Hog

2012-06-13T23:14:00.001-05:00

    I sometimes like to mention books that are not new. They may, in fact, be pretty old and hard to find. I guess I'm perverse that way. I like to give attention to authors from the past. If you are able to find the same book, great. If not, perhaps you will find something equally interesting if you're open to it. A lot of my finds come from thrift stores, garage sales, Goodwill, and Half Price Books.
    HPB is our largest purveyor of used books in the Austin area. For the most part they sell books at half of the cover price, just like the title says. They have lots of specials and sales, though. I'm rarely happy with what they pay me when I sell to them, but I do shop there fairly often.
    Another of my interests is eating, as my waistline will bear out. So, what could be more appropriate than talking about cookbooks?
    Don't get me wrong. I don't cook much. I can get by okay making a few standards: Chili, pinto beans and cornbread, biscuits, gravy, bread, omelets, bannock, pancakes, things like that. It has always been my luck to pair up with partners who are excellent cooks.
    However, for some reason I'm a sucker for cookbooks. I've built up a small library of cookbooks I've picked up here and there, mostly old ones. Today we'll talk about some of them.
    Before I begin, a caveat. Few of the following cookbooks would be considered particularly "healthy" currently. They were great for the time. Not so many folks now are inclined to cook with lard, or bacon grease. Frying is less in favor for a lot of reasons I won't go into. That being said, many of the recipes can be adapted to healthier cooking. Before you cringe in horror, just remember, it was a simpler time. The higher priority was more often to put food on the table using what you had available. Today we have a lot more choices. End of caveat.
    We tend to eat much healthier at my home now. We use less saturated fats, more fresh vegetables, less meat overall, no gluten, less sugars. It is all very good, really. I agree totally with the concept. I must admit, however, that my "druthers" are a bit unreconstructed. I still yearn for biscuits and gravy, fried chicken and so on. True comfort food. Okay, maybe I'm just a guy. A "boomer" at that.
Back to cookbooks:
   First up is "Mrs. Blackwell's Heart of Texas Cookbook" by Louise B. Dillow & Deenie B. Carver. Corona Publishing, 1980. The subtitle is "A Tasty Memoir of the Depression." My copy is a paperback, 107 pages.
    This cookbook appealed for one big reason. I was raised by my grandparents. When she married W.K. Seward in 1929, my grandmother, Mildred Adams, could barely cook. All the meals she learned to cook were, therefore, shaped by the Great Depression in Texas. "Mrs. Blackwell's" is therefore a taste of home. Most of the recipes   included were very familiar to me. These are the recipes I wished I had paid attention to when I lived at home. Here is that comfort food, all the familiar dishes: Chicken and Dumplings, Fried Chicken, Pecan Pie, Chow-chow and others. All are served up with candid memories of family life around the table.
    The book is a good read. There is a foreward by John Henry Faulk, a Texas legend himself. If you're not hungry when you start reading, you will be when you finish. Especially if your grandma cooked for you!
    Next:
    "Williamson County Extension Homemaker's Cookbook", North

American Press, Kansas City, MO. About 1980. IBC binding, paperback, 171 pages.
    This one really takes me back too. This was published by one of those "community cookbook publishers" that offered a package deal to groups. Gather up all your recipes, put together a cookbook to print, sell copies as a fundraiser. They have a certain amount of boilerplate in them. Common measurements, terms, so forth for filler. It is only natural that a social group, church, club or whatever that routinely socializes and shares potluck would also share and compare recipes. Why not, after all, put out a book? When I hold something like this in my hand I fondly remember "all day preaching and dinner on the grounds". Churches used to have outdoor tabernacles for camp meetings and trestle tables permanently set up under the trees for the food. Yummy! Okay, often the preaching was boring, especially to us kids, but the singing and eating was fun.
    Less religious but no less social was the Home Demonstration Club!
    The Home Demonstration movement in Texas started in Milam County in 1912 as a club devoted to growing and canning tomatoes. World War I brought food conservation and the clubs were spreading and adding sewing and other homemaking activities. After the war the clubs came under the umbrella of the various county Agricultural Extension Agents with the backing of Texas A&M and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Each club meeting would focus on learning or sharing techniques on many homemaking activities. Of course, growing, preserving, and preparing food were also part of that endeavor.
    Many rural communities had their own "Home Demonstration Club". The Union Hall Home Demonstration Club drew housewives from an area roughly ten miles across. Union Hall was the name of a church and one-time school for our area. The school was gone by the mid 1930's, I believe. The Union Hall Baptist Church is still there near Seward Junction, in the southeastern wedge of the U.S. 183 and State Highway 29 intersection, between Leander and Liberty Hill in Williamson County.
    My grandmother was a member of the club. I would often accompany her to meetings. Of course I was more interested in playing at that age, but I still remember the meetings and some of the things they learned. And, of course, the food.
    The "Williamson County Extension Homemaker's Cookbook" was compiled from several of those clubs, which by the time of printing had taken on the name of Extension Homemaker Clubs.
    The book is a mixed bag of all those country recipes that we would have enjoyed back then. Some of the slightly more modern products can be seen in use. Margarine, bouillon cubes, canned soups, Doritos, Bisquick baking mix.
    I have to admit, my palate was formed during the '50's and '60's. I grew up eating oleo-margarine instead of butter, skim milk instead of whole, Miracle Whip instead of mayonaise. In those days it was considered more healthy, actually. In consequence I don't remember ever tasting real butter until I was in my 20's, or mayonaise. My taste buds still prefer those things, logic has no bearing on taste. Cringe if you want, that's the way it is. We use the real stuff now, only rarely does the chemical substitute pass my lips.
    Next book: "The Only Texas Cookbook", by Linda West Eckhardt. 1981. Lone Star Publishing. Paperback. 284 Pages. This is a good basic and relatively modern cookbook. I think I originally got it for the Tex -Mex and Chili sections. It has one of the few variations of the Chile Relleno that I really like. Cooked the right way with pecans, raisins, ground beef, ranchero sauce and sour cream. MMMMMMMM! More work than I want to tackle but I haven't found a restaurant that does them this way since the first one I found closed. Sigh!
    "The Husband's Cookbook". by Mike McGrady. 1979. J.B. Lippincott Company. Hardback. 228 pages. I have no picture for this one. The dust cover was gone and the spine didn't scan well.
    I got this book when I was single for awhile. I like the approach. It's a husband writing the book for other husbands. The style is very chatty as he talks you through fifty-two different full menus from Spaghetti in Meat Sauce to Chicken Kiev with all the side dishes. I like that he doesn't assume that you know very much. He doesn't talk down to a person, just acknowledges that his readers are intelligent men who just may not know this particular territory too well. Not a "country cooking" cookbook for sure, the menus are pretty "up town" but that makes the finished meal even more impressive. You might have trouble convincing the wife that you didn't order out!
    A few years back a friend of Czech extraction brought me a cookbook from her family reunion. The "Marusak Family Reunion Collected Recipes." Private printing. Paperback. IBC Binding. 93 pages.
    Very interesting reading. If you like Czech food it's great! In fact, since we are, after all, a melting pot, there is a large variety of other foods covered including Tex -Mex, or as some of the family call it Czech-Mex.

   "EATS A Folk History of Texas Foods", by Ernestine Sewell Linck and Joyce Gibson Roach. 1989. Texas Christian University Press. Hardback. 257 pages.
    "EATS" isn't so much a cook book as it is a folklore book about the subject of food throughout the history of Texas. There are recipes, to be sure. The overall intent, however is to explore the history of Texas in the light of what we had to eat while that history was happening! The aforementioned Czechs show up here, as do the Native American and Mexican influences. Indeed, it would be hard to find a culture that didn't in some way influence the Texas table! It's good to see how we eat set within an historical and cultural context.
    As long as we're waxing historical the last cookbook this time around is a reprint of a very old one.
   "The Cumberland Cook Book 1895," Four Hundred Tested Recipes of Tennessee Cookery Compiled by the Ladies of the Educational Circle of the Cumberland Prespyterian Churches of Nadhville, Tenn. Reprinted 1980 by Frontier Press.
    My great-great-great-grandfather, Lewis Gordon Tucker came to Central Texas around 1860 as a minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Ministers traveled far and set up churches wherever they settled. This cook book was given to my grandmother by a family friend a few years back and it has come down to me.
    The recipes would be a bit difficult to follow, as they would require massive substitutions and interpretations of measurements here and there. However, in context of history and place it is a good cookbook to peruse now and then. There are also charming period advertisements reprinted throughout to set the tone.
    That completes this round of cookbooks. I have more, but I will save them for another time. Probably not so wise to read them if you're on a diet, but I hope I've sparked some interest.