When Guns Left Campus

by Carla Helfferich

The recent brouhaha about weaponry on the University of Alaska campuses has been giving me spasms in my old-timer muscles. I’ve been associated with the university (now reduced to the lonely University of Alaska Fairbanks, but once the university) for longer than have most of the buildings now standing on Campus Hill.

Looking back on my days there as a student in 1959, I can be glad that guns then were so well controlled on campus. Too many of my fellow students still had that sense of adolescent immortality (“It can’t happen to ME!”) even when they were dripping blood from the skinning knife’s slip; still others fell into intense, romantic depressions, but St. Joseph’s Hospital (now Fairbanks Memorial) was pretty good at coping with too many pills on top of too much alcohol. Easy access to guns would have made for too many deaths by accident and by suicide, instead of so many cases of Close, But No Cigar, followed by some months of embarrassment for that student.

And in retrospect, I appreciate that I never had to worry about being blown away by a furious or despondent student when I was working as an instructor. I had my share of both—all university-level instructors do, eventually—young people in the grip of hormonal hurricanes or other upheavals. The typical college freshman hasn’t yet had time to learn that most hurricanes and upheavals pass, if you give them time and patience.

Yet, oddly perhaps, the impetus for the then-tight control of guns on campus came because of some adults in residence. That at least was the story I was told when I first came to campus. This is a place of hunters, I commented to a professor. I see by the student handbook that guns must be stored in special lockers, to be removed only with suitable permissions. Surprises me. Ah, he said, they instituted that policy just a couple of years ago. This is the history he gave me:

The university drew in a goodly number of Korean War veterans, attracted like so many of us by the Alaska mystique but with the chance at an education funded by the GI Bill. These men had been through battles and stresses well beyond adolescent pangs. The university also noted they were old enough to drink legally, and wisely decided the veterans deserved a habitation of their own. Thus Vets’ Dorm, a great shabby barracks-like building, held only men who had lived with their weapons by their sides. That they should continue to have handguns or long guns in their rooms was unquestioned…until one day, in an end room on the top floor, the resident dropped his supposedly unloaded rifle. He was just going to tuck it away under his bed, but it slipped out of his hand. The butt struck the floor hard, and the rifle discharged. The lightly built dorm walls offered nearly no resistance to the bullet. Five rooms down the hall, the occupant bent down to pick up his bottle of beer. When he straightened up, he found that the greasy spot on the wall that marked where he always leaned his head when sitting on his bed had a hole dead center.

When the Dean of Students proposed that guns henceforth should reside only in special lockers, no one in Vets’ Dorm objected.

Well, that was then, this is now, and our legislators seem unconcerned about adolescent angst or accidents. Once the Supreme Court decided that the portion of the Second Amendment referencing “a well-regulated militia” had no relevance, the right to bear arms became some kind of absolute, and a spirit of vigilantism pervaded the land. No matter how stressed, every college freshman has the right to carry a concealed weapon to the next kegger, ready to fire at a moment’s notice. No, I’m not comfortable on campus any more, and yes, that doesn’t matter to the legislators.

One question: are concealed weapons legal on the floor of the legislature?

Carla Helfferich has been in Alaska since 1959, mostly associated with the university, including first editing, then writing the Alaska Science Forum columns. She served as the first managing editor for the University of Alaska Press. She is the author of Cut Bait, a light mystery, and the editor in chief of McRoy & Blackburn, Publishers.

Letter to the Editor: A is for Armed

March 6, 2014

To the Editor:

In the news is “Campus gun bill before committee.” There is nothing more important in the world for a student to get an A in their class. An armed student is in a much better position to negotiate with the teacher to get an A in class than an unarmed student. A student has to do whatever they have to do to get that A in class. Alaska needs their students to get as many As as possible and if that means arming students to get an A, well so be it.

John Suter 

Chugiak, Alaska

Revamping the Republic

Life has been exceedingly hectic of late, and looking at the date of my last post on this blog, I realize just exactly how hectic it has been. I've finally reached the point of maximum overdrive, and so in July I wrote an editorial threatening to shut down The Ester Republic if I didn't find help and a way to deal with the workload. I held a meeting in August to begin reorganizing the paper and book publishing biz along some sort of nonprofit lines, and gratifyingly, eight people showed up.

Whew. I wouldn't have to shut it all down after all.

Well, maybe. We had an excellent discussion, and came up with several ideas and directions to go in, which I described in my August editorial (and also notes from the meeting). I set up a few pages on the whole reorganization on the website, but since then I've been able to do almost nothing on the research I intended or the job descriptions. Jeremiah Shrock has been helping me, and has come up with a couple of draft recruitment posters, but in general, things have gotten even worse, and yours truly is pretty fried.

The paper is two issues behind (one is at the printer now) and about three months' worth of data entry in arrears. October looks to be the most intensely busy month in my entire career with the John Trigg Ester Library (annual membership meeting, seed program launch, final design meetings, grant proposal writing, etc.), but fortunately it is my last one as a board member.

So, November will be devoted to catching up at the Republic. I will be posting job descriptions here and on the revamp pages. Events related to the reorganization will also be posted here and there, and on Facebook. And the fancy new recruitment posters will also be coming up soon.

The Republic ain't dead yet (and neither is the Publisher, although lately she feels like something the cats dragged in). And the Publisher's Deadline will sail at Readers on the Run this weekend, so we aren't sunk yet, either.

Skating down the Parks

Joe Geiss took a video of some firefighter zipping down the Old Nenana and onto the Parks on skates. Yesterday, Katrina and another firefighter were skating on the Old Nenana--the highways had a nice thick glaze of ice for a while, but now there's gravel on it. The ice rink, on the other hand, is pretty well liquid. We went skating in our little Green Box on Wheels the moment we got out of our driveway, kiboshing any plans to head to the university (which was closed, at any rate). Depending on what happens overnight, I may or may not go in to campus tomorrow. Lots of cars off the road, schools closed, etc. First time I can EVER recall school being closed because it was too warm....

At some point I need to get myself a pair of skates (like, when it freezes up again).

Marathons and fun runs

Hoo boy.

Today, for the first time perhaps ever, I ran in a race, Readers on the Run, for the John Trigg Ester Library. Sort of. I more or less jogged and walked. Mostly walked, especially by the last loop. Readers on the Run is a five-kilometer fun run, a benefit for the library, and I helped start it (2008) and publicize it for the library (2009), but this is the first time I've ever entered it. It was fun! We had some GREAT silly costumes this year, especially the two pink fairies (Brook and Shiway) and the green-faced stick guy (Darwin). Oh, yes, and the poodle out walking her dog (Lisa). I came dressed as Her Editorship the Green Queen, and managed, through skill and clever strategy, to come in last. I did not, alas, receive a prize for Red Lantern finisher. Oh, well, you can't have everything. I did get a big rousing cheer from the crowd.

I got interviewed by Channel 11, which apparently knows a fun feature when they see it (it's supposed to be on during the 6 o'clock news tonight). I don't think the News-Miner came out this year, although Molly Rettig, who is a reporter for them, was in it, so maybe they'll have something too. The Republic, of course, plans a major tale of terror on it.

Nancy and Ed and Jeff and Stanley worked hard on the event, and Amy Cameron made some beautiful posters and t-shirts. Here's the basic graphic:



Monique took photos of the poems and racers, as did Trey and Hans, who also helped out during the race. We had 42 people enter the race this year! That means we're adding about 10 people a year, although next year's increase may be bigger, because Running Club North says they'll put the event on their calendar next year.

Now on to the marathon:

the library board (Monique, Nancy, and me, especially) have been working our buns off and our eyeballs out on library stuff. Monique has been plowing through the Nolo Press book on setting up a nonprofit, How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation, to write up our proposed revised bylaws. They're very thorough, and very good, although (as I told Monique) I squawked when I first saw them, because it makes 22 pages' worth. But they cover what they need to cover, and they're clear, and they provide a good solid operating manual for the corporation. She's also working on the usual minutes and a business plan for the library. Oh, and trying to work a full-time job in her spare time, so to speak.

Nancy has been meticulously going through the receipts, invoices, donations, t-shirt sales, bookshelf sponsorships, memberships, et al., making sure that not only are we on the dot for this year, but for previous years. I was not a very good treasurer, and Margaret was much better, but Nancy's cleaning up and backtracking, which is a time-consuming job that requires a strong orientation to detail, and I don't envy her! She definitely has my gratitude.

I've been working on grantwriting and the annual meeting packet. We have five positions up for election on the JTEL board this year, so we've all been soliciting potential board members. We're preparing for the annual meeting on October 24th (only two weeks away! gadzooks!). I spent better than ten hours yesterday working on the website, writing up a timeline and a task list for the next four years (organizational structure tasks, design and construction tasks, and program tasks and ideas), working a little on the President's Report, . Greta and I also did a teleconference with a couple of the people at the Alaska Community Foundation to discuss the possibility of setting up a foundation for the library.

Greta's been working on the board biographies, duties, officer positions, etc., along with the endowment. Eric's been working on the insurance and the power pole, and Melinda is working on the community revenue sharing program and the Fundraiser Report for the annual meeting.

It's a marathon, to be sure. And we've still got two weeks to go!

A bit of silliness from my day job

Here's some annual craziness: Flying Axes: the Farthest North Forest Sports Festival, sponsored by the UAF Resource Management Society and the School of Natural Resources & Agricultural Sciences. The video is from the 11th annual fest, last year. This year's is tomorrow, October 3, at the Fairbanks Experiment Farm (the birling happens at Ballaine Lake later in the afternoon).



And here's a story about it from the News-Miner. My favorite line: "Plaid shirts are not required." Good warm wool felt and/or other suitable lumberjack wear is recommended, however.

Running the Reader Ragged

I've been doing a lot of prep work for the Readers on the Run race/benefit for the library, mostly in the name of publicity, but since I'm also working on creating the back panel for the t-shirt, that means I'm looking for sponsors for the race (so I can put their names on the t-shirt and on the website). I've gone from one event straight into the next, no breather, and managed to miss the short window before the berries got covered up with snow. At least it's melted this afternoon. No guarantee that it will remain unsnowy tonight, though, so I should probably get home and start picking. Of course, now I have the problem of diminishing light!

Sigh.

Bicycle bill

This bill is in the House Finance Committee: HB 132 Bicycle Program. The bill was introduced by Rep. Paul Seaton (here's his statement about it). It would, according to the the university's Juneau Update,

allow appropriations and grants to be used for establishing and maintaining bicycle paths, and would establish a grant program within the Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development for encouraging safe bicycle ridership. The grant program would allow municipalities and nonprofit organizations to apply for financial assistance to establish programs for the purchase, maintenance, and repair of bicycles, bicycle helmets, and bicycle trailers.

Sounds good to me. It sounds good to the Bicycle Commuters of Anchorage, too. The Juneau Empire's Kate Golden had an interesting article on Alaska bicycling in relation to the bill, and this tidbit caught my eye:

Despite the winter, Alaska ranks sixth in the nation in the proportion of people biking to work, according to Bob Laurie, Alaska Department of Transportation's bicycle advocate. (The state ranks first in the percentage who walk to work.) Yet the American League of Bicyclists ranked the state 43rd in overall bike-friendliness, and Sitka is the state's only officially bike-friendly community.

This might be helpful in getting that bicycle trail built on Gold Hill Road, and maybe for getting kids' bike helmets for the ECA for the Fourth of July Parade.

The Publisher's Picks 2009

Wowsa. That was one hell of a party. The bands were GREAT. There was enough food, and everyone seemed to have a good time. There were HUNDREDS of people. The Publisher's Picks went very rapidly, because only a few people were on hand to receive their awards, but here's the rundown:

• Satire: this award went to "Ester Thought Posse Report," to the Ester Thought Posse Company, Dr. Bhagat, Deepa Bhagat, and Soo Ichy, who were foiled in their attempts to make Ester a clean-thinking environment.

• Review: runner-up in this category went to Gabriel Hill, for "Hot Off the Griddle", a review of the Easton Stagger Philips CD, One for the Ditch. Gabe, after listening to the album, believes the world is gonna be alright.

The Publisher's Pick for Review went to David A. James for his review, "Shwing!” of the book, A Mind of Its Own: A Cultural History of the Penis. He figured it was time to review a book about dicks, and said so.

• Letter to the Editor: this was a tie between two letters by the same author, Eric Forrer, an observer of human endeavor, for “Six-Pack Punctuation” & "Stupid Watery Ideas", on the value of substance and eduction in politics and the folly of water sports, respectively.

There was a dishonorable mention in this category again this year, for “Trying for Another Dishonorable Mention”, a short insult-filled diatribe railing against the paper, by W.J. Stringer, subscriber (also known as His Very Fine Excellency, William the First, Emperor), whose post in government has gone to his head.

• Poesy: this was awarded for “Before the Riot,” a free-verse poem by Shanna Karella, who longs for spring.

• Travel Writing: went to “Ticolandia,” about a journey to Costa Rica, by Dan Darrow, whose house is full of monkeys.

• Wildlife Photograph: this was awarded for “the Bear-tender,” a cover photo taken by CP McRoy, Intrepid Wildlife Photographer, who kept safely on the other side of the window.

• Portrait: this was awarded for “Joe Geiss, EHL player,” a cover photo capturing the essence of Interior masculinity in the wintertime, taken by Monique Musick, another intrepid photographer.

• Sports Writing: this went to “Fairbanks Spring Hysteria,”, a story on the origins of the Great Tanana Raft Classic, written by Admiral Merritt Helfferich and Commodore George Cresswell, instigators of inspired lunacy.

• Cartoon: this, as always, was a tough category. The first runner-up was for “Bail-Out,” an editorial cartoon by Jamie Smith, economic prognosticator.

The Publisher's Pick in this category was "Tom DeLong: Party Crasher,” an editorial cartoon by Dan Darrow, who was rooting for the underdog.

• Column: this award was given for “Dose of Reality,” a journey through the Byzantine world of medical finance, by Neil Davis, who is slogging through the morass for the rest of us.

• Most Delicious: this went to “Greek New Year,” recipes by Mary Wagner, who watches Dr. Zhivago every New Year's Eve.

• Most Independent: this was awarded for the article, “In Defense of the Lunatics,” on winter bicycling, by Mary Wagner,
an all-weather bike commuter.

• Most republican (note the lower-case "r"): this Publisher's Pick was awarded for “The Long View,” a column on the history of Alaska by Ross Coen, who, by reminding us of where we've been, helps us keep an eye on where we're going.

• Esteroidia: this is awarded for an item illustrating or exemplary of life in the People's Republic of Ester. This year, the Pick was “The Center of the Universe,” a letter to the editor on the geography of Ester by Average John Reeves, subscriber.

and last but not least,

• the Mike Kelly Award, presented to those who provide a much-needed civics lesson, science education, or sex advice (or all of the above): this went to “Live Free or Die,” a column by irregulars Hannah Hill & Kate Billington, who kept Lady Liberty's torch lit in dark and troubled times.

Flying press releases

ZAP! ZING! POW!

The Immoral Minority uncovered some juicy press releases flung back and forth between Governor Sarah Palin and Representative Jay Ramras. Dermot Cole's got some good excerpts, too. Tssssss! Hoo, they're hot. Palin's complaining that Jay's ignoring her and all the good stuff that the state did for Emmonak and other Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta villages, and says he's picking on her, just like a good old boy. Jay, in a dudgeon, is "shocked and appalled" and has called the governor's "derogatory comments" "fool-hardy and Clinton-esque [sic]".

Well, this little catfight may be entertaining, but I know that Jay Ramras has in fact been working for quite a few months at the very least, with UAF, on getting the Bush communities a measure of food self-sufficiency. And Sarah and the state executive branch haven't distinguished themselves in the Leaping to the Rescue Department, much less the Preparing for and Nipping Disasters in the Bud Department. Good thing the public at large has been helping out.

Andrew Halcro puts it nicely:

The dire situation in Western Alaska was not a surprise. Former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, warned of impending problems due to a poor fishing season when he was fired by Governor Palin in July. The Alaska Federation of Natives warned of the looming crisis at their annual convention in October.

In response to a growing crisis in villages like Emmonak and Kotlik, Representative Ramras spearheaded a food drive to help gather donations to help his fellow Alaskans. His efforts have been extremely successful.

Dear, dear, dear.

Sock it to him!

Courtesy a Republic irregular who shall remain nameless:

Sock & Awe! the new Bush-whacking, TSA-approved internet game: remove your shoe and whup George upside the head! Watch him turn purple! He's a tricky little devil, though, pops up where you least expect it!

This excellent quote from Douglas Adams accompanied the link:

"The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

It is preceded in the book The Restaurant at the End of the Universe with this note:

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Univers is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.

There is another one which states that this has already happened.

I think that we are living in this second, even more bizarre something, the Douglas Adamsian Universe.

Have fun!

Of shoes and chimps

As a fellow journalist, my hat is off in a gesture of deepest respect for that shoe-flinging member of our trade, who knows a chimp standing in for a president when he sees one. Well, a dog is what he actually called him, but the same idea holds. (Dogs deserve more respect--chimps too, really.)

With almost any other leader of the free world, I'd say this action was out of line and that Muntadhar al-Zaidi would have lost his sense of perspective, but Bush deserves a big fat waffle stomp print right upside the head. No question. Al-Zaidi obviously did what any sane and sensible person, even a journalist, would do when faced with such outrageous, surreal, and irresponsible behavior as has been demonstrated by King Georgie. Alas, most journalists don't seem to recognize anymore just how outrageous Mr. Bush has been.

This is old news now, two days after the incident. When we heard about this on the radio, both I and my noble spousal unit guffawed, but it was tale of the joke at the end of the story that really made me belly laugh, about it being required now "as a matter of national security" that all shoes be removed before going over the border (or to press conferences, I suppose, as pointed out over on Fiery Blazing Handbasket). Shades of our airport security, and about as sensible, hey what?

The video of the incident (actually several versions) has been seen better than 10 million times, making this one of the more popular YouTube flicks, and has already been made into online games. The joke has become popular with Latin American leaders, too. Middle Eastern shoemakers are claiming that it was THEIR shoe that almost whacked the US (p)resident.

Despite the delightful cultural sense of humor intrinsic to this good solid insult, al-Zaidi is in jail, and his family fears he has been badly beaten or tortured. Not good. Doesn't matter if he threw flaming torches or gunfire at the people on stage--the appropriate response, once you have the person in custody, is most certainly not to beat them up.

Christmas events

'Tis the season for happenings, parties, events, and crowds! So, starting the weekend, the Ester events are:

Christmas lantern-making, at Hartung Hall, 3 pm, this Saturday, December 13. Adults can come but must be accompanied by a kid. Hans did this a couple of years ago and decided he wanted to do it again. It's a paper lantern-making workshop, essentially. There's a German holiday, St. Martin's Day, in which a man dressed as St. Martin rides a horse and leads a procession of kids (who all carry candlelit paper lanterns) through the streets. This takes place on November 11, but Hans figured it would be fun to do it for caroling.

Caroling and Stone Soup starts at the Eagle on Sunday, 4 pm, December 14. Bring your parboiled vegetables or already cooked meat for the pot, and come sing. (Singing usually starts a little later.) We have songbooks that include Christmas songs, old pagan songs, Hannukkah songs, and just plain old winter songs.

The Cookie Exchange is at Hartung Hall again this year, Tuesday the 16th, at 6 pm I think. This is lots of fun. Bring a few dozen cookies, and take away a few dozen.

The Office Christmas Party and White Elephant Exchange at my job SNRAS is a heck of a lot of fun. We're holding it on the 17th this year, so I have to find a good white elephant gift to bring. Not in Ester, of course, but I'll be going to this. Unlimited steals!

Putt & Bob are having their solstice party on the 20th, Saturday.

Solstice is on Sunday the 21st! The Eagle is hosting a beer tasting on this night.

The Golden Eagle White Elephant Gift Exchange & Party is on Christmas Eve, which is Wednesday. (Only three thefts allowed.) We go up to my dad's place and slay a tree to ensure the return of the sun.

Christmas Day feast and paper-thrashing extravaganza.

New Year's Eve at the Eagle!

The EFL Snow Bowl and, probably, the EHL New Year Skate-A-Thon (or whatever we end up calling it) are on New Year's Day.

Lots o' fun, food, and silliness.

Hockey and pink ukeleles

No, they don't really have anything to do with each other, except that I'm learning both. I've managed to go skating three times this winter, and actually play, badly, in the Thanksgiving EHL kids vs. grownups hockey game down at the Ester Community Park. Fell down and bruised the palm of my hand, but otherwise did pretty good. And I had fun. The kids were amazingly good. Fast, agile, bouncing back up as soon as they fell down--hoo! I don't think anybody was keeping score, but I bet they won.

And on the pink note (har har), Hannah loaned me her disgustingly girly-pink ukelele to practice on. She's been practicing for a week and a half, two weeks, and I started practicing on Friday. I got all the way through "Plastic Jesus" and "The Lumberjack Song" yesterday night. I've tried several instruments: the piano, the flute, the guitar, the thumb harp (not the mouth harp, the other kind with three or four keys), the kazoo--never stuck to the practicing part, so of course I never really learned how to play any of them. We'll see how I do on the ukelele.



I never much liked Hawaiian ukelele music, but I love slack key guitar, and I found a blog all about blues and rock ukelele, which gives me hope. Also, being able to play songs like Plastic Jesus makes me much more inclined to keep going with this instrument. I mean, the thing is PINK, and I can play with Hannah, and I have suitably tongue-in-cheek tunes available to me. I don't have to take myself seriously.

Which is good, because it's very hard for me to look at a ukelele and be daunted, the way I am with a piano or a guitar.

ECA park meeting on Sunday

At the Ester Community Association Meeting, there turned out to be a lot of park-related issues to discuss, so a separate park committee meeting was scheduled for Sunday, 3 pm, at Hartung Hall. Ye Olde Paper Plate went up in the local pub last night, and you'll probably see posters for it at the post office today. I called Mark Simpson last night to confirm that it really was happening (before I went to the Eagle and found Hannah drawing up the paper plate announcement).

Topics include: an Ester bus line, work parties, the rink, possible hockey boards, the kiosk, refurbishing the pavilion, park committee members, parties, etc. If you use the Ester Community Park, this is your chance to get your two cents in. Come on down!

Falling behind

Okay, Ester precinct, we did decently in terms of turnout: 51.17%, according to the unofficial results for district 8 (PDF) as of early this morning.

However, Goldstream #2 beat us AGAIN, with 55.24%. But that's not what really smarts--Cantwell precinct ALSO beat us, with 51.5% turnout!

Tsk. Our pre-eminence in the performance of this important civic duty is slipping: we're in third place.

Git out and VOTE!

Well, it was a little busier than usual at the Ester precinct polling place this morning, about 8 or so people waiting in line down at the fire station. The line moved pretty quickly. We actually had a poll watcher there this time, which is unusual (our poll workers have been doing it for years, and know their stuff). He didn't look very happy (bored, maybe?).

All you Esterites, get out there and vote. We've got to trump Goldstream precinct's turnout!

Voting: yet another social event in Ester

As I've said before, I love going to vote. Voting day is lots of fun in Ester: hanging out and hobnobbing with the neighbors while we await our turn to sign in, bringing edibles for the volunteers who sit there all day and make sure we have our opportunity to do our civic duty, choosing among the various candies they thoughtfully provide, and, of course, snorting to ourselves in the voting booth as we contemplate the absurdities of the latest election.

It's also a bit of a friendly competition: there's a sort of informal contest between Ester and Goldstream precincts as to who can get the biggest turnout. Ester usually wins, but in the last few elections our formerly uncontested top-dog position in the state has been bested several times by Goldstream. We're slipping! O, the shame! We must defend our Voting Preeminence and Git Out to the fire station in DROVES!

Tuesday Next, folks, the Big Game! See you there!

Running in the snow

Well, the last library fundraiser of the year is OVER. The Readers on the Run 5-k footrace through Ester took place on Sunday, in the thick white snowfall and cold breezy weather we had that morning, and I'm pooped. It was pretty exciting watching the runners come tearing around the corner of Old Nenana and Village Road, though. That and the start (and the arrival of Stanley, Red Lantern Award winner) was about all I saw of it--after that, I was too busy copying down the participants' magnetic poetry.

It was fun, though, even if I was half-frozen by the time it was over. We had twenty racers, and a dog or three, and a ton of poems and t-shirts. And the gazebo got used for the first time. Lots o' fun!

Now the only official event left for me this year is the ECA meeting on the 19th!

Running in place

Well, not really. But it sure feels like it. Both Hans and I have been sick--that deceptively mild cold that gives you a runny nose and makes you tired, tired, tired--and yet a ton of things seem to be happening, or not happening. I'm up to my eyeballs in things to do. Lessee:

1. Car froze up. Or rather, the lock did, so it wouldn't start. Put key in, no turning. Hence, no ignition. We had to get it towed to the car dealership, where it will sit until October 9, when the part comes in, and maybe will be ready at some point after that. Part of our warranty includes a loaner car while we wait for our vehicle to be repaired. So Hans went in (taking a cab to do so, $35 one way), but guess what? He hasn't got a credit card, so no, the warranty won't be applied to our situation. Imagine a very very very steamed Teutonic type carpenter guy. With a cold, and a beard, and bits of sawdust all over him starting to smoke. He took the cab back (another $35), because the shuttle guy was off work. We are very unhappy with dealer. They aren't going to reimburse us for the cab ride. Not even half of it. But they didn't tell us we needed a credit card. So now I'm going to be calling our insurance and the Honda national service center about this. Automobiles make a tremendous difference in day-to-day life and livelihood.

2. Readers on the Run. Happening this Sunday. Yer friendly library volunteer is not yet starting to panic, but she'll get there, never fear. Marjorie Kowalski Cole has volunteered to be our magnetic poetry judge. I've got to come up with an appropriate costume for the event: something warm, since I'll be outside from 9 am on! Ed assures me that runners are indeed cracked enough to race on snow (my description, not his--he thinks it a sane event).

3. the Annex Gallery show opened last Friday. This meant madly trying to get something together for that. The first plan, a glass bookshelf, fell through, but Hans is still working on it. I ended up making two window/glass collages. I rather like them. Didn't go to the opening though because I a) was sick and b) had no transport (see #1).

4. Actual painting happened in the kitchen. I couldn't stand it. I had to finish something, anything, paint in bright colors. So I did, yesterday. Photos will follow.

5. InDesign course. I'm already behind. Somehow this happened even though I was ahead last week (having caught up from being behind the week before...). GACK!

6. Work. Perpetually behind on that, don't you know. Well, I go in tomorrow and we'll see where I get.

7. Self-defense for women. There are two classes here, one this Sunday, yesterday, that I bagged out of that to go paint (see #4) and next Sunday, which I might actually get to. Been a while since I've done martial arts or self-defense practice.

8. Republic. Behind already on this month. Gack again!

Hence, hardly any posting on the blog in the last fortnight. Will attempt to rectify this, although my fans don't seem to have noticed that I'm not here...drat.