Bruce Cockburn mode

Counting the days now until he’s here..Sunday the 22nd.

Check it out..
I put up a new front page at the Interview by Bob DoranCockburn Project. [archived to the news section now]
It was an interview by a local journalist, Bob Doran, who writes for the local North Coast Journal, about Bruce’s visit to Iraq.

Any one who comes here knows how much I love this man. He expresses my outrage at the world, he soothes my heart, he can fill me with joy and hope, his music and words can take me any where I want to go.

My House is my Palette

To change my mindset a bit, I have been painting, very slowly, section by section, in the house. I think I mentioned the bathroom blue we did this summer.

There’s a narrow hallway between the bedroom and bath, in front of the utility closet, this was painted the very bright chilled lemonaide. And the wall extending from the bedroom past the hallway got to be perennial sweetpea! (check out the floor plan)

The lid (ceiling) in this hallway is:

As this is the only area of the house that can take deep dark bright colors, I went a bit wild. Being off the grid, we need to use as much sunlight as possible to brighten the rooms, so the whole front of the house will be a very light color to reflect the sun and add light.

The yellow wall will have a pantry/storage unit on one side and textiles or wall art of some kind on the other, so you won’t be hit with so much of a bright thing.

The purple/periwinkle wall is very short, will have wall art as well as either a chest of drawers/ book shelves, or some kind of storage there too.

Any way, it is fun, finally being able to just do what i want.. Russel is being very agreeable about it, even though he personally likes more muted (dull) tones.

MRI Results – Nothing

There’s nothing wrong. The VA and AMA cannot find the source of Russel’s pain. There are no real indicators for any more tests, although we may get a bone scan. I think his doctor can’t think outside his little box, something is wrong, and it’s not in his head… the next step according to this guy is for ‘pain managment clinic’ which is bull shit.

We are frustrated. He is hurting. We have to find yet another avenue to go down. I am thinking .. just maybe… allergies? Or still something to do with his bronchials, although mentioning that to the doctor brought “there are no indicators for those kinds of tests” … what? coughing and chest pain, and a feeling of congestion in the bronchials doesn’t indicate a broncostomy or something??

Good news…we know his heart and lungs are good, if we believe what the test results have been.

Sorry to have taken so long to post back here. Life has just been busy, and the no news thing ..no real answers and there for no real plan of attack to fix this pain have really taken us down.

Finally…going to get the MRI

We leave for the city (SF) very early on Thursday morning. Russel has a stress treadmill test at 1pm. The following day he finally gets the MRI. I am only hoping that this gives us a diagnosis. His pain has gotten worse, the pain killers less helpful, and the stress of it all is really getting us down.

I am trying not to play the ‘What if’ game. He is so strong and healthy in every other way that it seems this should be a treatable thing. I mean look at this smile.

He has to be ok. Just give us something we can fix. Please.

Bruce Cockburn is back from Iraq

Bruce is back from Iraq, and you can start reading about his trip, Interview by Mike Ferner and Interview by Bob Doran.

He is also back out on tour, this time touring with Julie Wolf. I am so excited!!!

Bruce will be here in Humboldt County at the Mateel Community Center on February 22, 2004 as I stated here.
Check out some POSTERS for this gig from KMUD.

I have been listening to a live show from Hamilton Place, for more info on how to get live shows, check out BC-LIVE, which just rocks.

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Bruce had been playing this song a lot in concert, although he wrote it in 1985, it is still as timely as it was then.

And They Call It Democracy

Padded with power here they come
International loan sharks backed by the guns
Of market hungry military profiteers
Whose word is a swamp and whose brow is smeared
With the blood of the poor

Who rob life of its quality
Who render rage a necessity
By turning countries into labour camps
Modern slavers in drag as champions of freedom

Sinister cynical instrument
Who makes the gun into a sacrament —
The only response to the deification
Of tyranny by so-called “developed” nations’
Idolatry of ideology

North South East West
Kill the best and buy the rest
It’s just spend a buck to make a buck
You don’t really give a flying fuck
About the people in misery

IMF dirty MF
Takes away everything it can get
Always making certain that there’s one thing left
Keep them on the hook with insupportable debt

See the paid-off local bottom feeders
Passing themselves off as leaders
Kiss the ladies shake hands with the fellows
Open for business like a cheap bordello

And they call it democracy
And they call it democracy
And they call it democracy
And they call it democracy

See the loaded eyes of the children too
Trying to make the best of it the way kids do
One day you’re going to rise from your habitual feast
To find yourself staring down the throat of the beast
They call the revolution

IMF dirty MF
Takes away everything it can get
Always making certain that there’s one thing left
Keep them on the hook with insupportable debt

Places Traveled

Stolen from: Tina

1) Alabama, 2) Alaska, 3) Arizona, 4) Arkansas, 5) California, 6) Colorado, 7) Connecticut, 8)Delaware, 9) Florida, 10) Georgia, 11) Hawaii, 12) Idaho, 13) Illinois, 14) Indiana, 15) Iowa, 16) Kansas, 17) Kentucky, 18) Louisiana, 19) Maine, 20) Maryland, 21) Massachusetts, 22) Michigan, 23) Minnesota, 24) Mississippi, 25) Missouri, 26) Montana, 27) Nebraska, 28) Nevada, 29) New Hampshire, 30) New Jersey, 31) New Mexico, 32) New York, 33) North Carolina, 34) North Dakota, 35) Ohio, 36) Oklahoma, 37) Oregon, 38) Pennsylvania, 39) Rhode Island, 40) South Carolina, 41) South Dakota, 42) Tennessee, 43) Texas, 44) Utah, 45) Vermont, 46) Virginia, 47) Washington, 48) West Virginia, 49) Wisconsin, 50) Wyoming, 51) Washington DC 52) Puerto Rico

Guatemala
Bolivia
Argentina
Paraguay

I still want to spend some time in the 4 corners, desert southwest, kings and arches. I want to travel all of Mexico, Central and South America. Alaska would be great, Tibet would be too. Australia. New Zealand. Jamaica.

Year of the Monkey

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Google even recognized it!

The last Monkey year was 1992, I remember it well.
I do hope for Russel and I that this one goes a bit smoother.

Waves HI! to a special Monkey person 🙂

Chinese Astrology is fascinating to me, as is what we know as regular Astrology. There is a ton of info on the web, I would type up what my books say, but Hey.. I am not that great or fast a typist 🙂

To celebrate the New Year, we did a bit of work on our house. We added shelving to a closet, so now it can really be put to use. And I bought a gallon of YELLOW semi-gloss paint for the back hallway. It’s bright and deep color, no pastels here, but I think I will love it once I get it on the walls, that’s the plan on Saturday.

Perfume Rant

My Rant on Perfumes

Let me preface this with : I am not trying to offend any one.

That ‘Crazy Neighbor Lady’ [ blog no longer active ] got to me thinking about my nose, and how ‘scents’ can overpower me more often than not these days. The last few years have left me gagging when I am out in public, and breathing what most people think are ‘wonderful scents’… their perfumes, colonges, after shaves, what ever. Sometimes I actually have to leave the area and get real air. I believe they don’t mean to offend, hurt or overpower any one, but usually they do.

Last weekend at the movies (LOTR_ROTK), we were seated for 20 minutes and lights out, when someone wafted into the theater and sat right in front of me… i had to keep something over my nose to thin the toxic plumes. Headache. (full house or i would have moved).

Went to laundromat as early as i could (7am), no one there, owner shows up about 8… and lord what she wears makes my eyes tear up and throat close. How do people ‘live’ with themselves? It stinks and hurts so bad.

So this happens most any time I go out in public. I never used to be sensitive to the odors, I actually like essential oils scents, if they aren’t applied with a heavy hand.

When you take into account the scenting of everything from bath soap to garbage bags, to perfumes, hair products, laundry products, one person could have a combination of several odors coming off them, and it ain’t a good smell, so they add more.

Any way, maybe this will be a heads up to some, that a little is plenty too much and that often what they think makes them smell good is actually causing someone pain and suffering… lighten it up please!

On My Beat

Living in the hills of southern Humboldt