Author: Jana

  • friends


    dora-chan, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    Went to the WACK feminist art exhibit this afternoon with friends, including four of the X2 bloggers and some AROOM participants. So fun! As we toured the exhibit that showcased feminist art from the 1970s and 80s I couldn’t help but think of our collective sisterhood that’s grown out of our affinity for the work started by the feminist foremothers of Exponent II in the 80s. The early X2’ers, like the WACK women, had a growing consciousness of oppression based on sex and gender. They organized themselves and produced books and a newspaper. They wrote poetry, fiction, and personal essays, created art, and aimed to change the world.

    An important legacy that we now carry on as Exponent bloggers and blogreaders.

    And while I recognize the significance of this legacy, I’m also just thrilled to have this bright and beautiful bunch of women to call my friends. :)

    So at the exhibit there were numerous provocative pieces of art. Many challenged gender stereotypes or highlighted the social violence directed towards women. My favorite art piece was a small closet-sized room where all of the walls were painted black. Suspended from the ceiling and from each of the walls was an irregularly woven web of white crocheted yarn. I stood in that room for quite awhile alone. Feeling the warmth and security of being wrapped in a cocoon. But also feeling the connectedness of each of the fibers that composed the web that surrounded me. That experience was, for me, symbolic of the relationships that I have with the world. Yes, there are many patterns and textures to my ties to the people around me–as there were in this particular art installation–but it’s the variety and strength of those relationships that make my life so meaningful, that give my days their joy and purpose.

  • fantasy

    The following youtube clip shows a group of LARPers (Live Action Role Players) and their devotion to “acting out” the fantasy worlds of games like D&D and World of Warcraft. From this trailer I get the sense that the director of this film is poking fun at the LARPers. I’m particularly uncomfortable with the depiction of the woman using a wheelchair who discusses how role-playing allows her to to be free from the restrictions of her disability.

    I know people who LARP and people who play D&D and people who very intensely play fantasy games. They are smart and articulate and fun to be with, perhaps even more so than some of my friends who are involved in more ‘mainstream’ types of hobbies.

    So much of life is a fantasy–from dressing up to go ‘clubbing’ to driving an SUV to participating in esoteric religious rituals. I see no reason to ridicule or pity folks who participate in fantasy play. Not even those who have disabilities.

  • Number 6


    IMG_3667, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    This was taken the last time a Harry Potter book was released. Can you tell we’re getting excited about book #7? :)

  • Saw It!

    Despite the fact that the 5th Harry Potter movie was advertised for release on Friday, it opened early (midnite last night) and we saw it this afternoon. Wow. Good stuff.

    It’s hard for me to completely collect my thoughts on this one, I’m actually hoping to go back and read the book again and think about a few of the issues that are raised. It’s certainly darker and less whimsical than the first two, and the director does a fine job of building Harry’s anger and frustration to the boiling point. The ending was full of gee-whiz special effects and again it came down to a battle between Harry and his nemesis. Definitely worth watching on the big screen. Especially sitting with kids who can point out any deviations from the original text and whose resemblance to the main characters is more than just superficial. :)

    Oh, and     Helena Bonham Carter really stole the show as Bellatrix. The actress playing the Luna character also did well. It’s fun to see this batch of kids grow up and mature in the span of the films. Neville is hardly recognizable, looking more like a young John Cleese than his child-self in film #1. Harry’s hair is shorter and his jaw is squarer, perhaps fitting given the adult responsibilities that he now carries. Hermione seems the one character who has changed the least physically, though she’s certainly no longer the rule-abiding priss of the first film.

    Can’t wait for the final book to be released. And at the same time, I’m a bit sad given that my kids have grown up alongside Harry & Hermione and I hate to see that end! :)

    The trailer for those who haven’t seen it yet:

  • oh my heck…

    My kids can sing all the words to this Mormon commercial despite the fact that they’ve never seen it themselves. John and I have sung it to them many, many times. Weird, eh?

  • if this is you…

    If your bionic leg is in the shop for repair (new socket and a few minor tweaks) and your bike is in the shop for repair (new chains, tune up and brake adjustment) and so you are rather lazily lounging on your comfy purple couch planning your trip to Boston this Fall (woohooo!), well if this is you, you might just want to spend a few minutes browsing the pics on this site. Especially the ones of Ewan McGregor. Because kilts rock. Yah. :)

  • Contact

    Friends: If you want to get in touch with me, feel free to contact me at my email address (phddillyATyahooDAWTcom). I’m not much for returning phonecalls from unknown blogreaders (protecting my privacy, I am).

  • 8 Random Things, a meme

    Playing along with this meme from BiV and JourneyGal:

    1) I have difficulty with auditory discrimination. Meaning that if I have several incoming sounds my brain can’t prioritize the sounds very well and I don’t end up hearing much of anything. So chatting in crowded restaurants is tough and I usually sit at the front of classrooms. It also means that I have a really hard time “hearing” the words of songs or movie dialog. If I like a song I search out the words and I watch movies with the subtitles on.

    2) I rarely wear nail polish although I like the idea of wearing it. My favorite color of polish is pale pink. I have strong fingernails that I can easily grow out very long.

    3) Like most other people in my family, my second toe is longer than my big toe.

    4) Until about 5 years ago I hated cats. I thought they were whiny, annoying, and they made me sick (quite literally, because of severe allergies). I resented my friends (and my sister) who liked cats. Now I am a zealous cat lover and the allergies are gone. Nearly every day I cuddle my kitties, sing them songs, and feed them their favorite treats. I find them an endless source of joy and delight.

    5) Until about 5 years ago I hated chocolate. I liked chocolate-flavored things like cake, but hated the taste and texture of chocolate itself (PayDay was my fav candy bar because of its lack of chocolate). Yet at some point I got some very fine dark chocolate and fell head over heels. Now I don’t do milk chocolate and I only eat fine (as in 73% or above) organic dark chocolate. I almost always have a bar in my cupboard and nibble away at a few squares of chocolate per week.

    6) I can touch my tongue to the tip of my nose. And I can do “the wave” with my eyebrows. I can also wiggle my ears–even one at a time.

    7) Vanilla is one of my favorite smells. I am particularly fond of The Body Shop’s vanilla body spray and of Yankee Candle’s French Vanilla scent.

    8) In the spirit of BiV’s “famous-people” list, I’ll add a few of my own. I’ve already written about my relationships with the Broncos. During my cancer treatments I had a few other brushes with famous folks, including Kenny Loggins. At a summer camp for cancer patients I took a drama class from an actress on the then-popular show “Hill Street Blues.” When I was a college student I dated a Japanese Chippendales dancer a few times (my roommate was dating his best buddy so we frequently went out together or hung out at our apartment). That was an ‘interesting’ experience–the hubris of someone who carried 8×10 glossies of his (mostly naked) self at all times. Yah.

  • phantoms


    zinnia, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    Photo: Closeup of a bright pink zinnia flower

    Last night I was up most of the night with semi-awful phantom pains. Not so bad that I was screaming (which happens occasionally), but bad enough that my hip and leg were spasming at regular intervals and keeping me from sleeping soundly. So I am a bit tired and a bit testier than usual today (that, coupled with the realization at 4 am that I’d left the water running when I was soaking a friend’s garden yesterday evening, grrrr–but fortunately when I got out there early this morning I found that another gardener had turned off the water for me! whew).

    So, I went out to the garden much earlier than usual this morning. And it’s an overcast day and just perfect for toodling around out there. So I picked a passle of tomatoes, cut some flowers, pulled weeds, and just enjoyed watching the dew drip from the leaves of the plants. It was just what I needed after a very long and uncomfortable night.

  • leaning into the light


    mini roses, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    Photo: Two small pale pink roses, wet with drops of water.

    How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when one finds darkness not only in one’s culture but within oneself? There are simply no answers to some of the great pressing questions. You continue to live them out, making your life a worthy expression of leaning into the light.
    ~Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams

    Last night I had the strangest dream (queue 80s music now)…
    I was in the garden and it was early dusk. We were all enjoying the warmth and joy of the evening as we do on a regular basis. But then it got very dark very fast and we looked up and realized that night was coming on like a huge storm (can night do that?). The moon was full and dark, with clouds covering it. It wasn’t the large moon that I am used to enjoying on evenings in the garden. I felt afraid.

    I woke up early, perhaps prematurely, and had a big glass of water and decided to go back to sleep. I returned to my garden in my dreams. I was sitting around the table with my family enjoying the evening again. Only this time a huge group of people from our former church life–the ‘leaders’ rather than our friends–came by and were peering over our fence. I felt threatened and defensive.

    I woke again and snuggled into John’s shoulder and felt safe. Then I got up (for the final time) and enjoyed a cup of Wedding Imperial tea and a generous slice of apricot cake.

    All is right in the world again.

  • my garden, part II


    on the right, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    From here you can see my garden on the right: the sign, some flowers, Ned the elephant, and the peach tree way in the backity back.

  • my garden


    on the left, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    In all of its weedy glory. This is the view over the gate and to the left. You can see some tomatoes, squash, peppers, etc.