Just thought I'd see how things look a couple of mths. later.

I just wanted to show you a picture of my ongoing fire escape project. It involves making planters from Styrofoam and concrete. On the left is the fountain I made (my first project). The piece I'm working on now is a bird feeder as the plants, water, etc...have been attracting little tweety birds to my concrete domain.




This is a pretty crappy picture of my aquascape....not much to see here . My problem is, I live in a remote area & do not have access to the aquatic plants that I think I need to round out the aquascape. I want some grasses! But I'm not willing to pay the exorbitant shipping charges .
Also, creating an underworld environment takes time. An aquarium environment is a delicate balance of organisms. Right now I have what is considered a minor snail infestation, but the snails are keeping the plants and rocks clean of algae so that's OK. I'd like to have some pretty fish in my tank but I want the plant life to be thriving first.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquascaping is a fun and challenging hobby.

Want & Need, The Razors Edge

(Sorry, no photo. I googled razors edge images, & all that popped up were references to Pitbulls, the band ACDC, & some weird hate group.)

I've been blogging since November 2005 . I was married when I started & now I'm not. I was self employed when I started & now I work for some one else.
In 2006 it seemed I was a disciplined blogger. It seemed I could write thoughtfully and copiously about anything... books I was reading, my hobbies, my family, etc, etc.... Blogging & the internet were my focus.
In 2007- 09 my love of blogging took a different turn and I ramped it to a more emotional level.
I had my share of internet lovers...& diddled around with cybersex.y pictures, etc...
In my blogging career, I've started up 6 blogs, 3 anonymous blogs for reasons known only to myself and 3 legit blogs. This is the only blog I have active at the moment.
It's not really noticeable, but lately I trimmed the dead wood from my blogger buddy links that were no longer applicable to my blogging experience.

I could do more trimming but some non-applicable links I hang on to for nostalgia.
(Or maybe... some times I just get stuck on something & can't let it go, like beating a dead horse or sucking on a dry teat. )
In 2011 what I do now is live in the real world more then the blog world. Frankly, I have to support myself.

I'm reading a book by Sidney Poitier "Life Beyond Measure, Letters To My Great Grand Daughter", in which he gives his grand daughter advice and reflects on his own life and the choices he made, good and bad.
I'm not that far into the book yet but one topic so far has given me pause to think :
Poitier writes about living a life caught between want & need & how he lived like that for many years, starting in his impoverished childhood, & when he was 16 years old living alone and washing dishes in N.Y.C. & into his acting career. He talked about living on the razor's edge of both of those choices & the many times he could have fallen into the abyss, but was saved by fate or luck.
What he was stressing was striking the right balance between the two. One thing I've never been able to do very successfully. I think I still live on the razor's edge of want & need.
How about you?

The Truth of the Matter...

Gideon would have you believe that all I do is set around, drink wine & think about vaginal symbols. Not true!
Besides a full time job, I have hobbies & projects in the works...

Problem: Living in an apartment pretty much limits a persons options as to having pets & gardening.
Solution: Fish & aquascaping. Check out this video...

Aquascapes ...are the most beautiful & serene solution the apartment dweller has to a real garden.
Keep in mind the above video is world class & I am only a novice.
My very beginning Aquascape.

I could only get the above Dwarf Baby Tears growing on lava rock at a store that was about 2 hours away. The substrate needed to really plant them, I had to order on the internet (It is on its way!) . There are other plants I'd like to use in my aquascaping which I will only be able to get if I travel long distance or spend lots of money shipping them off the internet.
But I am undaunted! I am excited about our local sandstone which I am using in my aquascape, & I believe our soft water will also be an advantage. I think the potential for some awesome scapes are here. My inspiration was my recent trip to Gold & Silver Falls.

What goes along with my aquascapes is my fish. I have 3 Betta, I believe they are the closest thing to dogs in the fish world.My newest, a Crown Tail Betta.

I'm not done yet, though! I decided a fountain on my Fire Escape was in order.
So that is my focus outside of work & my community life, which is another post altogether.
Me taking pictures of my budding aquascape. Vaginal symbols Unite!

Speaking of Vaginal symbols...

I found this excerpt while looking for references to vaginal symbols on the net:

When looking for vaginal/womb images in our society the most obvious is the purse. Many women have an intimate relationship with their purse, and they view it as an extension of themselves. A purse is often guarded and clutched on to, and no one but its owner is allowed access to the purse. While another woman’s uninvited access to a purse is considered an invasion of privacy a male’s going through a woman’s purse is often experienced and expressed as a violation of the person. Woman who have had a man take or rummage through the contents of their purse often state that they “felt violated” by the intrusion, and some relate prolonged feelings of anxiety or nausea when they think about the violation.

After digesting the info and pondering the explications, I googled purse images & saw them in a new light. Here are a few of the most suggestive:

This lady is coyly pulling a cupcake from her purse


This is called a gate purse (really it is). I'm thinking, back gate!


Somehow I get the feeling this fortress is well guarded.


Enough said!

Good With Out God.

I know this is an inflammatory picture & some Christians hate it when you remind them of the scope of inhumane acts condoned in the name of God throughout the ages. I've included it not to be obnoxious, I think it illustrates the point I'm trying to make.

I found this bit of "Christian, good. Atheist, bad" philosophy on the net:

I know this is an article written by Christian believers for other believers. I'm won't argue the logic of that, although I think there is a valid argument against that sort of religious logic. But I'll concede that argument for the sake of bias.

Enjoy ;]

"Those who reject God, if you have met one, for they are many, they are dead inside, totally fade and empty of any life. Their soul is dead, or deadened by their efforts to suffocate the natural feel for God and the natural acknowledgment of God, facing a vast and beautiful, orderly and harmonious living universe.

They deny the need for a maker for they do not see the maker. They deny the designer for they do not see a designer. They deny an orderly universe, they deny their own existence as nature is responsible for our existence.

Believers on the other hand are full of life for their soul is not dead. Their spirit is alive and kicking. They have hope for everything. They see God in everything. They are not blind. They are opened eyes, opened hearted and opened mind.

They do not despair and do not wait for a none coming God for they know that God exists. They feel God in their hearts for God fills their hearts. They feel God in their souls for God is their soul. They see everything in white, they are optimists for there is hope.

Life with its presence, origin and finality has a specific role for the believer. The believer in God works for God. He thinks about God. He knows God through God's creation. They have answers ready for every question. They know while atheists are ignorant. Believers are in the light while disbelievers in God rest in darkness of their caves.

What a difference between an atheist and a believer: one lurks in dark ignorance and the other lives in full light."

Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/meditation-articles/atheists-despair-of-life-believers-live-out-of-hope-in-god-3438139.html#ixzz1D6QihT12
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution


As a Secular Humanist, I reject this article on the basis that it does not acknowledge any kind of humanist element in the equation.
What I mean is there is no acknowledgment of the worth of any natural human goodness or any inherent/intrinsic moral values .
As the picture illustrates, religious people through the ages have treated other human beings as if they deserve to die horrible deaths because they were not good without God.

The title of my article comes from the fact that we are reading the book, "Good Without God" by Greg Epstein in my secular discussion group. You can listen to an interview with Greg Epstein, about the book on the Humanist Network

Food For Thought...

Coincidence?

Probably.

Is there such a thing as reading too much into a religious symbol.

Of course! But, it's a privilege of belief/faith to be able to interpret whatever we want when it comes to religious symbolism. It would be nice to think that all that power comes from the woman's womb.
Of course, in a round about way, it does. ;]

That's the secular humanist in me.