Spring is not too far away, which is when I start thinking of wild plant foods.  Living on a boat, I don't do any gardening, but I have always enjoyed taking walks around the West Bay area and Garfield Nature trail "grazing" as I went.  This year I hope to get more ambitious and gather and dry some herbs and roots for later use, and maybe make some wines.  I have an old family recipe for a "spring tonic" handy for when dandelions come out in force again. 

Anyone have some favored urban foraging areas?  If I do nothing else this year I want to make some wine and jelly from salal berries. 

Olympia Animal Rights is seeking signatures for a petition to screen the award winning documentary, Earthlings, at the Olympia Film Society.

If you would like to support bringing this informational documentary about Speciesism to the OFS by signing the petition, please contact olympiaar@gmail.com.

My friends, Donna and Carla, (yes, I have friends! even with that chip on the shoulder) persuaded me to start reading The No. 1 Ladies' Dectective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith recently and I am glad they did.

I don't read much fiction generally, unless it is presented as caselaw or science and I happen across it by accident, but I am glad I have started on this book. It has a lot of feminist and indigenous sensibilities and that has great appeal to me.

Here's a quote from page 35:

"The problem, of course, was that people did not seem to understand the difference between right and wrong. They needed to be reminded about this, because if you left it to them to work out for themselves, they would never bother. They would just find out what was best for them, and then they would call that the right thing. That's how most people thought."

12 mini-reviews for the short attention span, taken from dark corners of stevenl's video vault: These are chosen at random, I swear.

George Soros, the financier, said Wednesday at Davos that the U.S. downturn would end the status of the dollar as the world's default currency. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News)

DAVOS, Switzerland: The United States has filled various roles at the World Economic Forum over the past decade: dot-com dynamo, benevolent superpower, feared aggressor, and now, wounded giant.

On the first day of this conference, a parade of bankers, economists, and political officials expressed deep fears about the faltering American economy, peppered with blunt criticism of its institutions, chiefly the Federal Reserve, which some accused of sowing the seeds of today's crisis.

George Soros, the financier who made a fortune betting against the pound, went so far Wednesday as to say that the downturn would put an end to the long status of the dollar as the world's default currency.

Of all the things to find on a Myspace Blog page, Matt D, who also writes for the Weekly Volcano, met with Herb Legg for several months a few years ago. The result was this very good long piece on Herb Legg's life in Olympia. Legg recently passed away after a very full life.

Please read the entire piece, but here are a couple of snips:

I have two pictures of Herb Legg, one from 1937 and one from 1983. He presented them both to me. Giving me the picture from 1983 was somewhat by accident, as it accompanied a news article, the subject of which he was much prouder. In 1937 Herb Legg was a stoic older brother, and tan from the farming fields of Ellensburg and the Kittitas Valley. It's a black and white photo, but blonde locks are evident, sprouting from the top of his close-cropped hair, and even his eyebrows seem bleached by the sun. He stands in front of seven of his siblings and the family dog, Blue. While his brothers and sisters all give cockeyed glances and half-smirks, Herb stands attentive, playing the older brother role to a T.

Flash forward nearly 50 years, to the picture from 1983, and Legg's attentiveness remains. His forehead is wrinkled, a beard covers his face, the hair has gone from blonde to white, but Legg's look of purpose is still obvious.

Far into the dreamscape, above the clouds and rain,
is a place where stars are born and spirits feel no pain—
Joining hands on earth, in a freedom born of faith,
we pass the peace among us and pray to end all hate.

Deep within each person, unbridled and untamed,
are passions coursing crimson like twilight set aflame—
The differences between us melt like snow in a warm wind
when we treat a passing stranger as a newfound friend.

Let your spirit soar with mine into the otherworld
and seal tight the magic learned deep within your heart—
Then when the moon blooms full and pulses with new life,
dance naked with your shadow and waltz into the light.

AB Christie, 1/23/08

OK, so I'm watching West Wing 7th Season (Thank You TRL!), and there is this scene where the sitting Prez confabs with the two candidates next in line for the Office of Prez.

So, there is a great idea...get folks to elect a whole line of people so that the current admin can draft policy that works whether either dems or reps get elected...

...ya know, like it is supposed to be with the nonpartisan health of the union taking precedent over partisan policy--but then, I guess that just wouldn't be good old US-style democracy.