Minnesota... meet your new senator!

I'm ecstatic that after 8 months of nonsense.... but well organized nonsense Thank you MN-SOS Mark Ritchie!)... we finally have our other Senator: Al Franken...... (insert crowd cheering here!). Most of you know that I'm a dyed in the wool democrat... but Al's campaign really struck a chord with me... that's why I sat beside him at this meeting, where he really listened to the ideas and needs of everyday people.... He's the real deal... and while I know that like any politician, he will make mistakes, I feel like he will advocate for Minnesotans - especially those that don't traditionally have a voice. I'm proud to call Al my senator...very proud.

Investors got their 150 pounds of flesh today...

As an icon of everything wrong with the world, Bernie Madoff today was handed his sentence - 150 years in prison - resulting in a life sentence in a medium security prison. From what I've read, there is no "Camp Fed" for Bernie... and also from what I've read, most people believe he deserves to die in prison. He has stolen the savings of thousands of people, bilked the smartest guys out there and lived a lie. I agree - he is criminal, he did it on purpose, and he should be punished.

As a counter point, there are worse criminals out there, who have raped, murdered, tortured and threatened people, whose futures (if any) are far more impacted by the perpetrators. I have not done the research on the average time served of a violent sex offender or someone who commits homicide. My sense is, though that they traditionally don't get these long sentences.

Why does this sentence seem so lopsided? Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending or advocating for either type of criminal. I'm just observing that it seems out of whack.

Perhaps the judge was setting an example of Madoff with other Wall street types to snap them to attention.

Another possible explanation is the "future buying power" of the victims of Madoff. If I take out the seniors who will lose their homes and security, being bilked by Madoff is only a set back (albeit big) for those investors... in other words, they can recover.

What of the family of the violent assault/homicide victim... who is advocating for their rights in the judicial system? Why does the upper middle class plea for the financial criminal to rot in hell seem to count more than the poverty stricken mother of a child killed in a drive by?

Again, I'm not saying give Madoff less, or violent criminals more.... I just want to ask the question - how do you think the role of the victim's class impacted the process?

A good day for poetry

Summer Bliss

Thunder clap awake!
Soft breath on my shoulder
Your hand in mine

Rain falls straight and soft
My back fills the crevices of your chest
You mumble “ashhhhhabaaa”

Nature’s day starts with a refreshing shower
My day begins in the arms of my lover
Your day is moments away as I stir and you sigh

Chicks Rule - the new face of Jazz

I'm just about recovered from our weekend of Jazz.... TC JAzz Festival - free at Mears Park. Awesome line up:

• Thursday - Jazz Pub Crawl (we did not attend, but heard it was great!)
• Friday - Irv Williams and Allen Touissant... we skipped Allen and went to the Hat trick and saw the Jack Brass Band - transported us back to New Orleans for a moment
• Saturday - Started with New Standards (Chan Poling from the Suburbs, John Munson from Trip Shakespeare and some dude on the Vibraphones), took a break and went to Barrio for a drink, came back for Alex Han with Jon Weber - Alex is an amazing 20ish sax player, and got front row chairs for the headliner Esperanza Spalding - Esperanza is a 23 year old woman from Oregon, who is formally trained on string instruments, but has taken that training and turned it into amazing jazz. She plays double bass (stand up bass) like she's (ahem) dancing/making love to it, she plays bass guitar like an old school rocker, adn has an amaizing voice - both in range and capability. Every single straight male in the audience was wondering how they could get access to her. She is one of the shining stars of jazz that we saw this weekend.
• Sunday -aside from sleeping late, celebrating Fathers day with good food and bubbly, we ended the evening at the Dakota... witnessing another young, female rising star - Uehara Hiromi.... a pianist who is indescribably talented at translating her vision of music through her nimble fingers onto 4 seperate key boards. Amazing to watch, and even if you could just hear her... still phenominal.

My long winded (as usual) point is that these two women are rising in Jazz - at a record pace - they represent the future of jazz, and while I've seen plenty of talented young men - I've never seen one who can capture the hearts and minds of her audience the way both Esperanza and Hiromi do... keep your eyes open... these chicks will be the powerhouse of jazz for the next 15 years... move over Diana Krall - you have company on the stage!

Distraction-action

I am doing everything possible to focus on work, but it's too damn hard today! Got a fun-packed weekend coming up, and I can't wait to get it started...

Tonight, we are going to the annual Twin Cities Jazz Festival (http://www.hotsummerjazz.com/) in St Paul... Going to see legend Irv Williams play his Saxophone - he's going to be 90 soon, and you never would guess it. Then, off to the Artists Quarter for a drink, bite and more music... and maybe hop around a couple of the other bars.

Tomorrow- work in the garden in the AM... after sleeping off whatever hangover we end up with... and back to St Paul for an afternoon and evening of more music - and I have high hopes for Esperanza Spaulding - the feature show on Saturday Night! I think we may head over to the Dakota late on Saturday night to see if anyone shows up there to play an unscheduled gig...

Then on Sunday - Father's Day - I'm going to baby my baby - my husband that is... since his kids are elsewhere, and so are mine... I get to take him out for breakfast (or maybe deliver it to him in bed)... then he'll choose what we do the rest of the day - including doing nothing! We have tickets to see Hiromi at the Dakota at the 7:00 show - so we'll grab a bite before - maybe at Barrio and settle in for some incredible music.

So, the official weekend of hedonism needs to start soon!

My not quite organic garden - weeds, already!

Finally, got my veggie garden planted and was able to take a picture! I designed this garden layout based on my inherent laziness! It's split into sections that are easy to weed (theoretically) , easy to plant, easy to dig, each section at a time. And so far, it has worked much better than your average big plot where everything grows together. The bricks make it easy to navigate, roll the wheelbarrow through, etc. I love how it looks after it's first planted, because it just looks so tidy! Trust me, I'll post a pic in August and you'll see the Tomato and raspberry jungle... it's like a ganja trail - you almost need a machete!!

The best part of this is that I can really use the space efficiently! Here's what's in the garden (Counter clockwise from the outer sections):

• Upper Right: Raspberry canes - Heritage variety that produce two crops per year
• Upper Left: One Zuchinni plant in far corner, bush beans planted along front, pole beans planted along fence Also a cucumber at the far left point, as well as a crazy, over producing yellow pear tomato.
• Lower Left: Herbs (parsely, basil, sage, rosemary, thyme, taragon, cilantro, oregano, Mother f'n chives), I also plant the broccoli in this section - but I haven't found any yet this year to plant! I might put the celery that Scott bought in that section...
• Lower right: Very shady, so this year I might put in the leeks and pumpkins that Scott bought and see if they tough it out.
• Middle Section: upper right: Cherry and big boy tomatoes
• Middle Section: Upper left: Beefsteak and purple cherokee tomatoes and hopefully tomatillos
• Middle section lower left: Lettuce, spinach, carrots and radishes (Aka baby bunny food)
• Middle section lower right: Red and Yellow peppers, and jalapeno plant.

So, in this simple 20X20 garden, I count 30 different edibles. In addition, I have two clematis along the fence with some art, and I generally plant Zinnias for some color. Not bad for a garden plot in the middle of the city! If you look closely at the picture, you'll see on the rigth side my only non-organic appliction - Preen... Since I made this garden from a chunk of lawn in my back yard, i continually fight against weeds... so I have broken down and used Preen for several years, which has been very effecitve at preventing complete domination by crabgrass, lambsquarter, clover violets, and all the stuff I happily mow down in my yard!

So, I can't wait to start to harvest, if I'm lucky, the lettuce and spinach will pop soon and if I can beat the bunny brigade, we'll be having a salad soon! Next will be Raspberries, then beans, then tomatoes, then peppers, then brocooli (if I can find it!)... and even now, I can harvest little bits of the herb plants... along with needing to weed and mulch... I am a happy gardener!

Gardening soothes the soul... one weed at a time

For those individuals who have never gardened, it's hard to explain the cathartic effect (psychological) you get from it. While I don't have everything in the ground that I want to yet, I did get a big chunk of the work done this weekend - namely, the vegetable garden. Last weekend, I bought all of the plants, seeds, etc. that I needed to get the job done... but we ran out of good weather and time. So this weekend, I was determined to get it in, as if I didn't , the veggie garden would not be a source of veggies - plant too late in MN, and you don't get much produce before that first frost.

With everything going on at work, and more than enough craziness at home, I also know that as I'm pulling weeds (damn there were a lot), amending the soil with compost, and placing those baby plants in the earth, that I get a lot of thinking done. Actually, it's not so much thinking as processing. You know, the kind you do when you are driving, taking a shower, walking the dog, etc. Not actively working out a problem.... just letting the water of the issue flow over the river rock of your soul.

• Pulling weeds helps me with anger
• Shoveling compost into the garden plot helps me reconcile conflict, as it is the real manifestation of giving back and the give and take of nature.
• And of course, planting helpless seedlings and giving them what they need to survive reminds me of the opportunity I have to make the world a better place, rather than a worse one.

So, on Sunday night, with a glass of wine in my hand, I surveyed my work, took some ibuprofen, and marveled at how at peace I felt with the world. I thought of how we were providing fresh food for my family, saving money, helping the environment, and was proud of the potential that I had created for doing good in the world.

Then I threw a rock at a rabbit that was looking at my baby basil plants.... probably the same bunny that I snatched from the jaws of Luna, the wonder dog just a month ago.... isn't the cycle of life amusing?

Impetuous behavior - a life lesson, or is it preventable?

Another mea culpa from me: I have engaged in impetuous behavoir. I've made major life decisions based on very little information, driven by my emotions, and with little regard for the future, outside of "knowing" that it would be OK. And, with a lot of luck, I have never found myself in a dangerous situation, or have sufferend dire consequences of those decisions.


Some of this comes from an incredibly strong sense of intuition, ability to read people accurately, and be flexible enough to modify my expectations as things change. But I have to admit that most of it has been luck and more than a little heart ache...

So, when you know someone who is acting impetuously, or about to.... do you stop them? Do you try to "show" them that they are about to make a mistake? Do you nag on them until they listen? Or do you need to back away so they can make that choice?

I ask only becasue everytime I made those types of deicisions, I knew I was doing it, and chose to proceed. I don't believe there was any type of information that anyone could have given to me that would have changed my mind. And for some of the people that dissaproved of my decision, any push back caused me to be more resolute. So - again, are impetuous choices actually preventable?

Optimism of youth... or, you've got to be kidding me...

As I've matured (read: aged), I've witnessed my ability to approach life with complete optimism fade away. I can be optimistic about certain situations or events, but I'm not able to muster up an "optimistic approach" on a large scale.

I remember my teenage years when I thought I had it all figured out, that I could blaze a trail through life without impedement - always getting what I wanted and needed.... and then as the years pass, I find that my viewpoint has eroded to skepticism and cynicism. Is that experience and "wisdom" at work? Or is it just disappointment as reality has sunk in over the years?

Some days, I wish that I could get that optimism back - just for a moment.... and other days, I am thankful for my ability to have a realistic viewpoint...

Being a mother to 15 year old boys - the invisible net

This week marks a momentous time in the year - School's out for my teenage boys (15 year old twins). Yesterday was their first day of summer break, and I've been so busy I forgot to do the most important thing - stock up on food - cereal, lean cuisine's, ramen, soup, chili, milk, yogurt, veggies, fruit, etc etc etc..

If any of you are parents you know that your first insitinct is to make sure that your children are fed. I'm here to say that there's a big difference between your kids going hungry, and the eating patterns of 15 year old boys. Of course, they are at thier maximum caloric intake requirement they probably ever will be, but honestly, my food bill goes up about $200/month during the summer!

Aside from nutrional needs, the other primary concern we have over the summer is "safety", not physical safety, necessarily, but behavioral safety. I remember what I did when I was 15, left to my own devices over the summer. Not to incriminate myself, but it was definitely a summer of testing the boundaries. So, I jokingly say at the beginning of every week - "remember - no smoking, no drinking, no drugs, no sex, no stealing, no breaking any laws"... and honestly, my kids are great, but I know that they will eventually break one of these rules... they have to!

So, my job is to make it inconvenient for them to break the rules - make sure they can't say "they didn't know it was a rule" (Teen's favorite excuse). I'm pretty lax on the things that I assume they will do - watch too much TV, surf adult sites on the web (They are 15 after all), play games that are not mother tested and approved... They should be doing those things. They need to start making their own choices, and deal with the consequences.

Will I try to catch them? Probably not. Will I snoop a little if I start seeing behaviors that I think are borderline? Absolutely. Will I tear apart their backpacks and their nightstands, in a public demostration of their lack of privacy? No. Will I scan their email accounts for scary stuff? Probably. Will I lock down their computer (that they bought with their own funds)? No. Will I make sure they know that I can get onto the PC and look at their history? Yes.

I dont' call it snooping, I call it parenting. Just as I make sure they have something more than a slice of bread for their daily meal, I also make sure that behavioral safety net is in place - invisible, but still there.

To me, parenting teens is a just a dimensional shift from parenting preschoolers. As they are learning to ride a bike, you realize that you can't actually pedal for them, but you can tag behind them waiting to catch them if they fall. Teens - you realize can't tag behind them, tell them what choices to make, but you can let them know you are watching and that you will always be there to catch them when they fall.

Finally, I'm not dropping plates anymore

I remeber as a kid watching the Mike Douglas Show, or the Merv Griffin Show (Yes, I am that old), and always being amazed at the talent they would bring on as time killers. This has been modernized through Letterman's Stupid human tricks... so the fascination still applies.

In my twenty years of corporate living, one of these acts has stuck with me - the spinning plates act, where the talent starts plates spinning on a rod, with the idea that centrifigal force (or is it centripedal, I can't remember which one applies!) keeps the plates moving as long as they are spinnign at a high enough velocity.

Over the last two months, I feel like I have been spending so much of my energy at work, running from plate (project) to plate (task), keeping them spinning at a minimal velocity to stop them from crashing down. Never able to stop long enough to put a good effort, becasue I see others wobbling on the verge of crashing to the stage. This required me to revisit the plates more often, running back and forth across the stage like a crazy person. Intellectually, I knew that I should pause long enough to give the task the investment in energy it really needed to be more self sufficient. But I couldn't translate that into behavior. I must admit I dropped a few plates, but it happened in the back so not many people in the audience noticed...

Being on the road 90% of my time in May was the main reason for this, but that's a really lame excuse, because I spent more time sitting in my hotel room, reading a book, surfing the tube, or taking stupid facebook quizzes. So, no one to blame but myself.

Now that I am off the road, I hope to change and put the time in to spin the right plates at the right time, so I am not dashing around like a nut. We'll see - I know I feed off of adrenaline in these situations, and that's a hard habit to kick - especially if you've been working on it for 20 years! We'll see how the summer plays out....