Debit Cards

I recently opened a checking account as it had been since 2006 that I last had one.  Lori and I shared a checking account and I kept a log book of my transactions.  But when I left last year I no longer had access to a bank.  I had a customer that wanted feathers for her daughters birthdays and she kept mentioning writing me a check.  It wasn't much money, but any bank would have taken $5 from the amount of the check and my sterling feathers are already practically at cost.  So I beat the duck to the pond and started a checking account before the woman paid me for the two feathers.  I was happy that I didn't have to even flinch when she paid me in her preferred method.  But this morning on NPR the big financial story is how Bank of America is going to start charging $5 a month for using their debit card.  The other big banks will certainly follow.  So totally free checking will not be so free anymore.  I for one will take my money out of the bank and put it into a small local bank that wasn't bailed out by the government!  These banksters are hungry.  The government regulated them and made them stop point of sale to the merchant for the debit card.....and now that they can't bleed them they will bleed the American people!  It has bothered me that President Obama has not punished the people that are responsible for the economic collapse.  If they let them get away with this, I predict there will be massive bank runs.  And these days those are all pretty silent.  Start questioning your banks people.  Find out when this goes into effect and withdraw your money the day this goes into effect.  It is your money.  You should not have to pay anything to access it, and to use it.  They are already making enough.  They got bonuses last year, and this year.

Cauldron Humor

I needed a laugh today after the recent events.  Lots of name calling from my X's X and a former friend.  Good thing I have tough skin!

Now there are six morning cats

Six cats show up every morning now days.  This little gray and white girl is Stubby's girl.  She had 3 kittens by him before I could get him to the vet!  They have stub tails like his but they have her fur.  She belongs to the neighbors on the corner, but I think she likes the morning chow and occasional treats.  Lori tried to spin a story that I was going to harm her cats.  They were my cats as well as hers for 7 years.  I took care of them when she was at work.  She left them with me when she moved out to her mothers house.  Her cats were not welcome out at her mothers house.  I loved those cats and I freely admit that I dropped off cat treats and a new brush for them this spring as I had missed them through the winter and I missed brushing them, so I gave her a brush that was not made in China and natural bristle.  I visited them through the back gate whenever I was over there.  It was never when she was home and I never entered the yard...Yet behind my back, she has told my friends and police that I am stalking her, and leaving things on her porch.  I left things on Lori's porch that belonged to her that I have finally replaced, when I had business in Clintonville.  It wasn't often, and I always called and left a message about it on her phone.  I didn't want the items to get stolen or rained on.  She should be ashamed of herself for turning my kindness and love of her cats (that used to be our cats) into this heinous document for the purpose of avoiding responsibility for the phone bill and harming me.  It turns out she hadn't paid the phone bill since June last year.  I didn't decide to move until July 3rd, and didn't move until mid August so the bill was a month old by then and 6 months old when it went to collections.  She has damaged my credit and turned some of my friends against me, and tried to get me arrested.  She has colluded with the landlord to have me evicted.  Lori's last two girlfriends cleaned out her bank account and cheated on her while she was at work....so I guess I understand where she learned the behavior.  Lori never once told me not to email her, or call her, or leave her belongings on her porch.  But that is what the police report claims!  (Now that, Bonie B. is slander and is libel.)  In case you are reading this, you needed to understand the difference, and possibly see a good example.  It just makes me sad.  It is a very horrible thing to do to repay 7 years of love, loyalty and kindness.

 I have 6 visiting cats in addition to Syd these days.  But not a day goes by that I don't think about Lori's cats (our cats).  I am saddened by her behavior as I only ever loved and supported them all through tough times and good times.  The day after Lori's X threatened to poison my cats on a Facebook message, none of the colony showed up for breakfast.  They have shown up faithfully every day since the first day I moved in, so I was grief stricken and frightened.  I thought this waco x girlfriend or my landlord who doesn't like cats, and doesn't approve of mine had done something to them.  Thankfully they all returned the next day without incident.  I missed them and looked for them all day that day.

Post script:  I just got an official document from the court saying that Lori's petition for the civil stalking or sexually oriented offense has been dismissed.  They were ready to hear her evidence and she didn't show up.  I was not informed of the hearing, otherwise I would have shown up to defend myself. 

Final Lock

I put the replacement deadbolt on the workshop today.  So now it takes two different keys to get in there.  Someone who would fabricate evidence, arrive without notice, break a $4000 kiln to make a point might just let herself in the basement and set fire to the house. So now the situation is that we will most assuredly go to court.  It is the only way I can recover my money and my losses.  Now when they come here, they will need to call ahead so that I can unlock the doors for them!  Now I can leave and know my belongings will be safe.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of a buzz

Smoking pot is something I have enjoyed for most of my adult life.  This spring I had to give it up for the most part as my breathing condition worsened into the full blown diagnosis of COPD.  The hotter that it got in my house, the harder it was to breathe.  So it was with great reluctance that I stopped smoking marijuana this spring. Cigarettes are what caused my COPD.  If I could have just stopped 10 years before I did, I might be able to partake in a joint once in a while!  Before I quit smoking cigarettes I was smoking 2 packs a day.  So I was in a world of hurt by the end of a lifetime of smoking.
  The effects of pot are wonderful and worthy of trying to score a bag once in a while.  But over the years the friendly drug dealer went from the nice guy in bib overalls, to the creepy guy with the guns and mean dogs.  I have to admit that some of these characters that I have had to deal with killed my buzz.  One man I knew since high school murdered his wife and committed suicide in the CVS parking lot 50 feet from where my grandmother lives.  She heard the shot.  This man had been my drug dealer years before the incident and his over all meanness drove me away.  Somehow these people who sell smoke seem to turn mean after a while and I admit I don't miss that part of it at all.  It is just not worth it to me.
When Lori and I got together her X was in prison for robbing a bank.  Lori had smuggled pot into the prison by a very cleaver ingenious plan of planting it in the bottom of a certain trash can that the prisoners emptied.  It never made since to me that she would risk her freedom for a woman who had cheated on her.  The woman got parole, contacted Lori and because we were out of pot, she let her back into our lives.  Tears were streaming down my face the first time I met Lori's X.  We had a steady supply of dope, but my truck got towed once to the tune of about $175.  Things were stolen from the house.  The X robbed Norka Futon and framed the manager.  She then hired Lori, robbed the store again and was gonna frame the new guy but got caught because of the paperwork.  Lori got promoted and thankfully we didn't ever have to deal with that X again.
It was during this time that Lori's mother told me about Callahan Lori's favorite cat.  I had heard stories about Callahan and his untimely death.  But Lori's mom said Callahan was killed because Callahan followed Lori across the street because she went across the street every night to smoke pot with the neighbor.  That was the only story about Callahans death that actually made sense.  Lori was robbed when she lived there.  Her robber seemed to know she had her income tax return and a bag of weed.  Thankfully he didn't hurt her, but she didn't feel safe there anymore and she moved away.  I had heard enough parts of the story that her mothers version fit.  Denial is quite powerful though and getting high more important than safety...I keep encountering the theme no matter where I go.  
Three years ago at Comfest this other X that I knew to be a probation officer wanted us to get high.  This other woman was present and I whispered and warned this woman that we had a cop among us.  This stranger informed me she was the cops boss (which made her a cop as well) and tried to tell everyone that we should just go right ahead and smoke a joint.  She was downright forceful about it....insistent even, which really made me uncomfortable.  Of course we waited till they left.  But Lori and I fought over that woman right up until the day I left.  For seven years I had to be subjected to robbers, thieves, X lovers and even cops...all for what...a bag of weed!  I am free of them now.  I miss a quiet contemplative buzz, but I don't miss those ugly mean people.  I got locked up once for 27 days for refusing a drug test.  Ironic that these people who launched their legal campaign against me last week threatened to call my old probation officer in addition to the two cops that were going to be sent to beat and arrest me.  That would have been hilarious as she was a stickler for drug testing and did not approve of pot.  It would be an instantaneous eviction if I were to sell pot at this house.  It is a wonder they didn't think of that and plant an ounce here before I changed the locks.  Oh that's right my landlord is a drug dealer!  It is probably why she doesn't have clear title to this property, and why she hasn't paid the taxes.  Weed is wonderful till you start losing things that are important to you. 

Bridges Out Of Poverty

In President Obamas most recent speech to the nation he mentioned ladder out of poverty in relation to his Jobs Act.  This was coincidentally the very day I heard about Bridges Out Of Poverty, which is a similar expression and idea. I have been trying to secure a copy of Bridges Out Of Poverty because a friend of mine runs the program in Licking County...and another friend highly recommends it.  It is because of the tools I have gotten from the website and facebook page about this program that I obtained a copy of my recent credit report from Equifax.  The program teaches that intentionally damaging someones credit by a significant other or spouse is a form of domestic violence.  This woman that I loved till the very end has done that to me and it will be very difficult for me to recover from it.  I was loyal to her, supported her, and she shit on me!  The woman she has gotten to help her launch the legal campaign should know better as the x lover who shot and killed herself did so after emptying their joint bank account and maxing out all their joint credit cards.  So not only did she leave a dead body to mourn, but huge financial loss to overcome.  Ironic to say the very least that she would side with my X who left an unpaid bill that would be very difficult for me to pay.  I look forward to taking the steps on the bridge out of poverty, and those who have tried to harm me financially should be ashamed of themselves.  I have contacted a mediator in small claims court to try to recover my money in order to clean up that credit report.  This week I will secure the documentation necessary to dispute the entry and send it to Equifax.  A credit report is one of the tools that landlords use to screen their applicants, so this is one of the things that will prevent me from moving on.  Yesterday I amended the email to the court mediator to include the latest attempt to avoid this debt by having me arrested and putting a civil protection order on me in order to not take responsibility for this heinous act.  I am reminded that magic is hard work.  You can't just sip on a glass of wine and wave your magic wand and wish for things to happen.  Procrastination is the enemy here.  They tried to "beat the duck to the pond" as the old saying goes, and they failed miserably.  Building a bridge out of poverty is something I didn't figure on.  I had hoped that the bridge had already been constructed.

Bitch Warrior

I woke up this morning and Old Bitch Warrior is stuck in my head.  I find great comfort in this tune when my enemies have tried to harm me.  I know they will all get what is coming to them sooner or later.  I need just wait!

Seven Of Wands

The Seven Of Wands in the tarot is about taking or making a stand.  The recent attack on me was subversive.  It was not above board and not a clean conflict.  I didn't know they were conspiring and preparing an attack on me.  I felt it, but I couldn't prove it.  I would have sounded like a crazy person had I voiced my suspicions.  I chose to write about it in my first published short story Powder Finger And Graveyard Dust. 

  My X has never said for me not to call her, write her, or email her.  The report she filed in Municipal Court that was rejected claimed I was stalking her which I have not.  She claimed I had shone up at her workplace which was a blatant lie.  It is true that I left things that belong to her on her porch and I always called ahead to inform her when I was coming.  I always made sure she was gone (car not there) as I did not want to be accused of the very thing she just tried to charge me with.  She sent me a package through the mail in April with a magazine, brewers yeast tablets for Syd, and a newsletter for a blacksmithing group I belong to.  She did not send me the unpaid phone bill that has ended up damaging my credit.  She did not send me the collections letters that surely must have come.  So here she was fabricating false evidence and sending me mixed messages by mail, all the time telling others that I just didn't get it, and wouldn't leave her alone.  If this woman didn't want her stuff back, and didn't want me to contact her, why wouldn't she just say it?  There can only be one answer to that.  She wanted to harm me.

  And now she has pulled in my landlord, a crazy X lover with a gun that has been used on at least 2 old girlfriends, and I don't know who all.  Back when I sensed that there was some collusion by at least my landlord and my X, I composed a very powerful counter spell using pieces of a broken mirror and their intentions.  Had their intentions been pure, then good would return to them.  But their intentions were to trick and evict me.  The woman who is trying to make me homeless stands to lose her house or maybe all of them!  The woman who tried to get a false police report on me, has now got a police report on file against her.  And my X is stuck with these two creepy individuals for friends. Lori was attracted to me because I was nice to her and truly tried to help her in jewelry class.  Our relationship was built on kindness.  I wanted nothing to do with any of her X's and particularly the one who's girlfriend shot and killed herself.  I didn't want these women in our life and I was clear about that.  And by the way, none of the X's like each other.   They have all fought and undermined each other and are hate filled women.  I was exposed to their crazy dramas for the whole 7 years that Lori and I were together, because she didn't honor my wishes to keep them out of our lives.  Now she is stuck with those crazy bitches, and my wicked landlord in the mix.  So I emerge the lucky one, she is stuck with them.  May they all be bound together in their wicked collusions.  That is pretty powerful ju ju.  I hope she notices that what they have done has backfired on them.  She actually harmed them by involving them.  They can not undo the original counter reverse spell that I constructed for them.  The only thing they could possibly do to reverse what will happen to them is to become kind.  None of these women can do that without a spiritual transformation.  It is not in their evil nature.  They will literally destroy themselves trying to harm me rather than be kind or true.  So dear reader, watch closely now as my enemies fall one by one by their own intentions and subversive methods.    

Five Of Wands

The overall feeling of struggle in my life right now is represented in the Tarot by the 5 of Wands.  Two days ago I got an email from my X's X lover threatening to poison my cats, and she mentioned my landlord evicting me, and this other friend of mine being in collusion as well.  All four of these women are trying to harm me through various methods and means.  I had suspected as much this spring when my landlord decided to threaten me with eviction because of my concerns about the house.  There was a tone in her communications that revealed to me that she was going to punish me for the conflict between me and my X.  I knew that was what the veiled threat was really about.  I could not prove it however, because she was not being honest about it.  Another mutual friend had told me that the landlord had designated herself as mediator between my X and I.....and she rolled her eyes while saying it.  That is quite a conflict of interest in that she would lose a good renter if my X and I reconciled.  She caused quite a bit of conflict between my X and I instead of any mediation.  I could never prove these women were conspiring until the email from the 4th party who threatened to have two cops on her pay role come over and rough me up for some contrived crime in addition to the Facebook message threatening to poisoning my cats.  The grandiosity of two of these women is certainly not helping them convince authorities to act in their behalf I suspect.  The fact that my X is using another X to try and harm me rather than pay the old phone bill (that is now harming my credit report) is revealing as well.  Intentionally damaging an X's credit is a form of abuse recognized as domestic violence and is punishable by law.  I have put the matter before a mediator in small claims court rather than try to prosecute.  Even if she paid it, it will stay on my credit report for 7 years.  My landlord has acted in a retaliatory fashion since April.  The jig is up girls, You are not gonna beat me by conspiring and trumping up false charges and police reports.  It is called fabricating evidence and you can get into big trouble for trying to do it.  I assure you the broken mirror spell will send back everything you throw my way including kindness of all things.  Try kindness for a change, you will be amazed at the results! The tarot is fairly clear in this instance if you only look beyond your own selfish corrupt desires.  Tomorrows card will be The Seven Of Wands which clearly places me out of the reach of my enemies!

My X's X

My X girlfriends X has threatened to poison my cats on Facebook.  As you might guess this is alarming to me.  This pathetic individual has a history of dead and shot girlfriends so I take her threats very seriously.  It was always disturbing to me that the X's were part of our lives.  One of them a bank robber, another one a raging alcoholic thief, and this nut job a psycho bitch that has a gun.  The worse thing about the whole situation is this loony tunes actually mentioned my landlord as if the three of them were in collusion!  So apparently they are launching some sort of campaign that will attempt to put the unpaid phone bill out of mediation, and the eviction that hasn't been properly handled out of court.  Had this lunatic succeeded, I would most probably be in the hospital from some sort of battle wounds as I refuse to be bullied by anybody....period!  These people just don't get it.  When I left home at 16, I didn't ever have to allow myself to be bullied again.  Their conspiracy backfired of course and today I am recovering from the emotional abuse.  Having the X girlfriend threaten me and my cats is just about the last straw.  I have been civil in my attempt to get this phone bill that wasn't mine off my credit report.  I have worked through the necessary channels and filed the necessary complaints in the proper court.  Thankfully the attempt to issue a CPO was apparently transparent, and a conflict of interest to the Franklin County Court.  Imagine if you owed somebody money, and instead of going through the legal channels, you just called up an X to trump up some other drama, get them arrested and then not have to pay your debt.  That is what they tried to do...and they involved the landlord as well who also has refused to work through legal channels and pay the necessary filing fees etc.  So I am preparing myself for legal matters in addition to preparing to move.  I will keep you posted dear readers...the beat goes on.....

Breathing Association Visit

The breathing association is coming over today to train me on how use my inhaler.  They have been so good to me.  I am breathing much easier these days now that the weather has turned.  I am hoping they will be able to assist me in obtaining the funding and help moving.  I require a cane these days so getting up and down the 15 steps has been very hard.  I do get winded.   I look forward to moving into my new place that has no steps, barriers, and central air!

Freegeek Volunteer

I put in some more hours at Freegeek last night.  I disassembled 7 computers in 3 hours and sorted them into their various areas for recycling.  I am starting to understand what I am doing and I like being a volunteer there.  Here is a link to Freegeek Columbus.  You can donate your old computer and save it from the landfill.  You don't have to worry about your information being compromised as they wipe clean the hard drive.  I look forward to my next volunteer post at Freegeek.  Very likely I will be doing something new.  I understand we learn in building block form.

Hobby Locksmith

Last weekend I wanted to attend Hot Times Community Festival but found I could not as I was concerned about the security of my house.  I got online and ordered some new keys for each of the locks and rekey tools in order to reconstruct the lock mechanism.  I changed three locks and am the only one who has the keys.  It took me a couple days to get the supplies and tools by mail, and an hour of my time to rekey the doors.  The total cost was around $100.  I would hate to think what it will cost to rekey these locks after I leave as I won't just turn them over without payment for them.  Perhaps the landlord will just have to change all the locks.  Of course my changing the locks are a response to the landlord showing up umpteen times without calling, menacing in one way or another.  When the piece of silver disappeared off my workbench the last time she was here, I had had enough.  I no longer believed that she or her attorney were going to follow the law or the  lease.  After finding out that he (her lawyer) had been disbarred for 8 counts of fraud and misconduct, I became more resolute that both landlord and lawyer were two peas in the same pod.  I realized he would not discourage her unethical tactics or theft.  I look forward to taking my receipts to court and exposing their unlawful behavior to a judge.  Until then though, she will have to break a window to get in here.  If she does that, she will have a breaking and entering charge to contend with in addition to her other misdeeds.  In the meantime, I have a new hobby!

Central Ohio Breathing Association

I am preparing for a home visit from The Breathing Association today.  They paid half my outstanding utility bills this summer and gave me an air conditioner.  They work with HEAP who had granted me a full weatherization grant.  I am confident that I will be able to show them the construction debris that is still in my heating ducts left over by the workmen last summer.  I will be able to use their report in court against my landlord who has been negligent in addition to fraudulent.  In all fairness to the workmen who left the plaster, sawdust, and lumber in the heat ducts; she had told them she would be replacing the furnace.  So while they were deconstructing the old house, they did not cover the heat ducts.  This has resulted in poor air quality when the furnace blower blows all the building debris back out into the house.  My landlord had promised to send a company out to clean this up and replace the furnace filter last November.  But like most of her promises, this didn't happen and my health was compromised.  I don't own a vacuum cleaner, but I borrowed my x's vacuum cleaner last fall and attempted to suck some of this out resulting in ruining her vacuum.  So what I couldn't get up out of there has just been blowing around in the house each and every time the furnace kicks on.  This has been a very major issue for me resulting in a diagnosis this spring of COPD and the necessity of an inhaler.  Why my landlord would not authorize  the weatherization grant that would have replaced the faulty furnace would seem quite a mystery to most people.  Not to me.  She put a for sale sign out in the yard in May four months before the lease expired.  She never intended for me to live here 5 years before selling the house as she had promised.  If she let them weatherize this place, she would have to pay them back for the weatherization upgrades which can get into thousands of dollars.  This house has been appraised at 16,500 and she is attempting to sell it for 45,000!  What arrogance and grandiosity!  Whats more, she hasn't bothered to transfer title from her mothers name, nor paid the taxes.  Someone who is this irresponsible and negligent should not be permitted to oversee rental property.  I am reminded that this place burnt Easter Sunday 1977 and there is still some evidence of that tragic fire throughout the structure.  Brenda Eastman and the family dog died in that fire.  The young man who survived that fire stopped by this summer and showed me the old newspaper clipping.  My landlords mother owned the property at that time and apparently remodeled it.  She was born here, and got possession of the house in 1960.  The history of title and deed transfer is on the County Auditor's website which I have studied extensively since this spring when I was first threatened with eviction for my "complaints".

  I am looking forward to my home visit with The Breathing Association people and a copy of their report.  It was a long harsh winter and a very hot summer with no spring.  I didn't get any relief till August when I finally got an appointment with The Central Ohio Breathing Association.  Their assessment of the air quality, and my pictures of the air ducts should be pretty compelling evidence to the court when the time comes.  Here is a link to The Central Ohio Breathing Associations Website.  If you have asthma or any  breathing disorder, I highly recommend these folks.  They saved my life this summer.

Shine On Suede Brown

Suede A. Brown, 18, of Frazeysburg, Ohio died Monday afternoon, September 12, 2011 at Genesis Good Samaritan Hospital, Zanesville, Ohio. Born January 6, 1993 in Zanesville he is the son of Chad E. Brown of Charleston, South Carolina and Carrie S. Humphreys of Frazeysburg. Suede was a 2011 graduate of Tri-Valley High School and he enjoyed playing guitar. Although Suede’s earthly life is over, many others will have a better life because of his generous gift of organ donation. Surviving in addition to his parents is his step-father, Jeremy (J. D.) Denman of Frazeysburg; a sister, Abbey Denman of Frazeysburg; his grandparents, Charles and Carol Humphreys of Philo, Ohio, Perry and Doris Brown of Zanesville and George and Rosella Williams of Anderson, Indiana; two aunts, Christa (Britton) Henderson of Norfolk, Virginia and Kathleen (Neal) France of Idaho Falls, Idaho; two uncles, Cory Humphreys of Dresden and Perry (Holly) Brown, II of Troutman, North Carolina and a special friend, Taran Martin of Frazeysburg. Calling hours will be 5pm to 8pm Friday, September 16, 2011 at the Frazeysburg Chapel of Vensil & Chute Funeral Home, 110 West Third Street. Funeral services will be 10:00am Saturday, September 17, 2011 at the funeral home. Burial will be in Frazeysburg Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, 4899 Belsort Road, Jacksonville, Florida 32256.

Stubby's Tale

I learned from Facebook (of all places) that Stubby The Cat is an American Bobtail.  Stubby managed to have offspring in spite of my efforts to get him to the vet.  Stubby is still here for his morning bowl of cat chow.  Then he goes next door to Frijolito Farm to dine on tuna oatmeal delux.  Stubby is my part time cat. For those of you who have been following this blog for awhile and looking after Stubby's welfare your donations saved him.  He seems to thrive even with a broken off canine.  I have been searching for a new place to live since May 1st and only the log cabin was suitable to take Stubby, as Stubby must remain an outside cat.  Stubby learned to spray before I could get him neutered.  Unfortunately, even after his operation he can happily mark all his territories.  Yesterday I got word from the City Attorney that I have grounds for a lawsuit in regard to the money and damage to my equipment I have lost here since last September when I moved in.  So my move will be delayed until some legal hitches are worked out.  For now Stubby and his colony are safe under my protection.  On another note, I will be earning some extra income from ads on this blog.  Tell me what you think dear readers, I can't figure out what the pin in the map ad for today or yesterdays relevance to my content is.  Maybe you can enlighten me.

President Speaks At Fort Hayes Today

President Obama is speaking today at Fort Hayes which is about 2 miles from here.  I have admired the civil war era architecture at the Fort and was very pleased when they put a High School there that specializes in the arts.  Indeed had I grown up in Columbus Ohio instead of Perryton Ohio, I would have applied to Fort Hayes High School.  Who knows how my life might have turned out?

I wish I could attend the Presidents speech today, but security is tight and I don't feel up to jumping through those hoops.  Some friends of mine will be there protesting the oil pipeline from the Tar Sand reserves in Canada.  While there would be many jobs, and much benefit for big oil, I fear that there would be much environmental damage and displacement.  This President has his hands full in that he is damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't as most Americans would rather run their cars at an unsustainable rate, than have clean water or air.

Sweet 16

I have 16 followers this week!  That is 12 new followers since February.  I am reminded that I had already run away from home by the time I turned 16.  Back in those days they threw you in jail with adults that had committed crimes.  So I learned at a tender age that the system was an unfair system that would punish me for trying to prevent more violence to myself.  If I had known the word emancipation, I would have asked the court to emancipate me.  By the time I was 18 years old, I had escaped both the abuse of my family and the system that would punish me for the escape.  My enemies continue to believe that trying to push me around and trick me is the way to control me.  My enemies have overlooked a crucial survival attribute, mistaking it for a character flaw.  I continue to defend and protect that 16 year old that was kicked around by everybody including the very people who should have been protecting her.  And while she is long gone, the core of her that was not damaged has learned to thrive on adversity!  I just refuse to be pushed around in my adult body by bullies!

I haven't learned very much about my 16th follower yet.  This person may be Hispanic.  Sometimes I attract Hispanic followers because of my pseudonym Concha Castaneda.  Taking a pseudonym has been empowering and paramount to my survival.  Why would I keep the name of my first oppressors?  I only do so as I can not afford to legally change my last name.

Nine Eleven Two Thousand Eleven

I was living at the YWCA downtown Columbus on this day 10 years ago.  I remember it vividly.  My life reduced to a 8 by 10 cell (room) because of systemic poverty, persecution, and prosecution.  The trade center represented my oppressor at the time.  Grandiosity, unsustainable, arrogant waste was my attitude and definition of Wall Street and the Patriarchy that had burned 9 million witches, carried out genocide to Native American people, slavery to Africans.  Colonialism 101 would teach that Native Americans could not be enslaved and were too frail for the work.  We exterminated most of them as they were useless for our purposes.  So we enslaved Africans and bread them like cattle in order to do the work of so called colonialism.  The so called tree of liberty has been watered with the blood and sweat of other races from the very beginning.  Our sense of national pride has been very expensive for other races.  And I remember them this day...thousands of people prior to the 2999 who died September 11, 2001.

  I knew that it was Ben Laden and retaliation from the brothers, cousins, and countries that we had occupied in our pursuit of foreign resources.  As we remember this horrific day that changed our nations course, I realize that the terrorism we experience is karmic.  How many Muslims did we exterminate before angering foreign powers to come after us here and wreak destruction comparable to what we did in their homeland.  Most people do not ask why when our attackers were all from Saudi Arabia, that we went for the throat of Iraq.  Freedom is expensive and it is not a given, it is a privilege.  There are two towers in the tarot.  You can see them intact on The Moon card which stands for intuition.

*Post Script:  Diane Sawyer just made a comment that the US is attacking Pakistan with our drone missiles.  Even before the memorial ceremony is finished, we are attacking another foreign country in our pursuit of global dominance.  We can't even take one day off!

Hot Times 2011

 






Come on down to the Hot Times Community Festival.  I have chips left over from last year that I plan on spending this weekend.  There will be drumming, dancing, and much fun to be had by all.

Silver Theft

The other day my cat Syd got frightened and started twitching his tail and jumping out of the window.  He went from door to door and I decided to look outside only to see the landlord and her best friend Paula Jean.  They were here unannounced for like the umpteenth time.  They put fake eviction notices on all three of my doors.  I had been working in the studio earlier and was taking a break for lunch while my newest feather was in the pickling solution.  Apparently the two women decided to help themselves to a $50 piece of silver laying on my workbench.  The workshop was locked and there is no other explanation as to how that piece of metal come up missing.  I had carefully explained to the landlords lawyer that I needed assurances that neither she or her workmen would come here without 24 hour notice as I have a lot of valuable tools and materials in my workshop and in my home.  It seems that too many of them have keys.  I wrote a grant from The Ohio Arts Council in order to move my studio here and so it really ticks me off that there is no way to secure it.  Indeed, I have to secure it from some of the very people who helped themselves to some of that grant money. It is ironic to say the very least.  I had caught the landlords workman trying to make off with my push broom the last time he was here, and prior to that the work crew helped themselves to a neighbors ladder.  From what I can tell these people don't seem to have any boundaries.  I filed a better business complaint, and have sent copies to the Mifflin police department.  I called the landlords attorney the other day when I realized the silver had come up missing because I am certain that he has told her that she needs to give notice prior to coming over here.  If he hasn't told her that she needs to give me notice before coming over here, then he isn't a very good attorney.  She is breaking the law and I intend to pursue this matter when we go to court.  I think I may be able to counter claim her eviction for the grant money that I used to get here in the first place.  So that was a real stupid move girls.  Hey girlz, did you happen to read that when you deliver a 5 day eviction notice you need to have an impartial 3rd party witness it, or it will be thrown out of court?  Your buddy Paula Jean is not an impartial 3rd party.  Your attorney is going to have to attest to the court that you have conducted yourself in a legal manner throughout this whole process.  That includes not coming to this property unannounced, stealing, breaking kilns, and scaring cats.  I can't wait till we all go to court where your behavior will be exposed and your fraudulent antics seen for what they are!  This blogs for you!

Wheel Barrow From Freecycle

I snagged a wheelbarrow from freecycle, but the front where the wheel is attached was all weathered and rotted.  So I sawed off the rotted out wood and custom cut a replacement brace and used an antique clamp to hold the glued new piece in place.  After a few hours I drilled holes that will have carriage bolts to hold the brace permanently in place.  The wheel needs replaced and I may need to elevate the brackets that hold the wheel so that it doesn't rub the barrow.  I may need this to work by moving day as I don't have a dolly.  When I moved last summer I lost the use of the wheel barrow and so I am glad I finally found  a free one.  Thanks freecycle.

Cats And Quilts

 

Syd seems to be able to find a new spot every few days. His latest spot is one of my ancestors quilts. I keep forgetting to take this quilt to Grandma Sue to find out the origin.  Syd don't care....quilt has good Karma. He likes it and he doesn't care who made it!

Heath Pow Wow

For some reason my pictures of the Pow Wow this weekend didn't turn out.  This photo was from The Newark Advocate.  I had a great weekend, made several contacts, got to visit with friends and family, and even sold one of my feathers!  Life is grand sometimes.

Moving Boxes

Yesterday channel 10 failed me and only did a pregame program right up until kickoff.  Not being able to watch the Buckeye's on my free TV, I decided to head to the Pow Wow (will blog It tomorrow) in Newark.  I scored some moving boxes on the way!  So if you can't go to the game in person, and you can't watch it on TV, then maybe it just is supposed to be a working day instead.  I got a truck full of boxes and I have to wait till the rain stops to unload them as it was dark when I got home.  I guess I probably won't need to get any more before moving day.  I never thought I would be grateful that I couldn't see a ball game.  But I scored a touchdown yesterday!

Go Bucks!

Kick off is at noon today.  The Buckeyes are playing Akron.  You can go to the official OSU website here.  It looks like it will be televised locally on channel 10 WBNS TV.  I am so thankful that I don't have to any longer hide my pride in being a Buckeye.  There are advantages to not living in the University District I admit (losing your parking space to fans), but I could not ever understand the out and out hatred directed at OSU from my significant other.  And frankly she was never able to explain it either.  Home games are great for the local economy.  This morning I will demonstrate this fact by going to the grocery and picking up some snacks so that I can enjoy the game in front of my TV set.  It is food stamp day!  What a great diversion!  While I am out and about this morning I will be scoping out moving boxes.  13 days till my big move. 

Down By The River

I looked at some fantastic art storage spaces last week down by the Sciota river off Whittier street in German Village.  It is too bad that I can't afford both rent and art space.  There are rest rooms, electric outlets, skylights, a sink, and easy access.  I could practically live there!

Jewelers Bench

I know it doesn't look like much, but my jewelers bench is very possibly my most valuable piece of furniture.  I gave a classmates father some drawers that I had laying around when I heard he was making these benches.  I thought it might save him some time.  Imagine my surprise when he returned the kindness and built me a bench!  I have had it for about 9 years and I wonder what I did when I didn't have it.  I placed it so that I could keep an eye on what is happening outside my door.  But unfortunately when it rains the bench is the first to be effected by the water that comes under that door.  It looks like rain today so I better get busy.