Am I the only one wondering where September went? This will be my second month participating in SortaCrunchy’s “What Are You Into”. You can see last month’s here.
On My Nightstand
Yeah, I’m still reading Simplicity Parenting. Bad me. I’ve been on a bit of a “light reading” bent lately and just haven’t gotten much farther into this book. Also on my nightstand is Cornelia Funke’s Inkdeath, since I finished Inkspell during the 600+ miles driven for vacation, and the intervening time spent in Maryland. I also picked up several books while in Maryland. We stopped in at a church’s thrift store when they were having an end-of-season sale. And all of their books were free. Yep, free. One of the ones I picked up was Babyhood, a memoir by Paul Reiser on being the parent of a baby. And. It. Was. Hilarious. Seriously, go read it.
Want to Read
Yeah. The same books as last month, minus Inkspell. Oh, and those books I picked up for free at the thrift store? They include Edges: Human Ecology of the Backcountry, which reaches out to the agrarian in me. Speaking of agrarian, I ordered myself a new copy of The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture because it’s been a good four years or so since I read it the first time and in all my relocating I seem to have lost my original copy. I also received a copy of The Handmaid’s Tale via PaperbackSwap, so we’ll see how that goes. Like I said, I’ve been doing a lot of “light reading” lately when it comes to books, which is a change for me in recent days. I think it has something to do with how “heavy” a lot of the things I’ve been following online have been, but we’ll get to that later.
T.V. Worth Watching
We just finished Season Seven of House, M.D. This saddens me, as the first episode of Season Eight just aired on television this past week. That means I’ve got about a year until it comes out on DVD, Le sigh. On the bright side, Season… Seven? I think?… of Bones releases on Netflix next week, so that’s happy. 
Movies I’ve Seen
Sweet Land – “Banking and farming don’t mix.” So says the protagonist a couple of times during this film. I love that he still farms with horses, while his neighbor gets the “Biggerbetterfaster” (also known as a tractor), and so on and so forth. Basically? It’s a cute love story surrounding a German mail order bride and her attempt to integrate into post World War I rural America. Granted, the film’s “socialist” was a “rabble-rouser” at a property auction, and in the way he was protesting the bank selling off this farm, they made him seem like a positive character… but a socialist, I fail to see him as. The movie didn’t really flesh out what its opinion here was – it seemed to approve of agrarian ways, and felt a bit negative about the idea of industrializing agriculture by always seeking the newest technology, and going into debt to do it (hence the whole property auction thing.. but if I say more, it will spoil it for you)… neverthelesss, it still had a pretty good message, and I enjoyed it.
Hachi: A Dog’s Tale – Richard Gere. Loyal Akita. Yeah, I cried. But then, I’m a sap like that. Heck, I cried at the trailer, so…
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil – Um, yeah. I had my doubts, since… it’s a sequel, and sequels tend to be poorly made. It didn’t fail to disappoint on that count. We finished it, and I thought, “Hm. That was a waste of time.” Do yourself a favor. Get the original Hoodwinked. It’s actually.. original. And has amusing music (the sequel does not). This … was just an attempt to get everyone to buy it because it had the same name and the “same” characters, thereby cashing in on the name of it. There was not storytelling involved. They went the way of the Disney sequel. Shame on them.
Things I’m Following:
Like I mentioned earlier, I think my reading fare has been lighter because the rest has been heavier. As you might have noticed in my latest link roundup, I’ve been following the battle of food rights, and the presidential election, as well as dwelling, praying, and worrying about the possibility of a move next year. As a follow-up to the whole “you don’t have a right to produce or consume food of your choice” fiasco, there have been some positive developments. For example, in Los Angeles County, there is a proposal coming before the County Board of Supervisors that would greatly protect the food rights of the citizens of their county.
As submitted to by Vonderplanitz to the Board of Supervisors, it is a “Resolution recognizing the rights of individuals to grow and consume their own food and to enter into private contracts with other individuals to board animals for food.”
The resolution concludes, “Be it resolved that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors supports, endorses, and encourages the recognition of the right and freedom of people to raise their own food, including food derived from agricultural animals, for the enjoyment of themselves and their families, either by their own investment and labor or through the assistance of others through contractual arrangements.”
I’ve contacted David over at The Complete Patient regarding getting a copy of the full resolution, and he’s put me in touch with someone who can hopefully do so. Our regional newspaper just ran an article yesterday about the pros and cons of raw milk, and what with the whole Wisconsin climate, and now this… I am thinking that the time might be ripe to submit a similar proposal to the officials in my county here in upstate New York. Granted, it’s New York, and politics here are… well, they smell. Strongly. And not of coffee. But, I have hope. Whether it will entail simply passing along the proposal with a letter, or perhaps starting petitions and gathering signatures, I am not sure yet, but I will keep you posted on that front. Like the food movement itself, I am thinking that the food rights movement just might be able to get its foothold by starting locally.
Around the Farm
- The chickens are spending more time in the coop, what with the colder weather – less pasture time and more kitchen scraps.
- Queenie the Muscovy has decided that it is the perfect time of year to set on a clutch of thirteen eggs.
- I’m doing a lot of fence repair at the farm where I work, getting winter pastures ready for the Shires.
- I’m still trying to sell our Kiko/Boer corss buck, BamBam, in the hopes of downsizing for the winter.
- We had our first frost last night.
Looking Forward to Next Month
Well, really, it’s this month, because I’m a slacker an didn’t post at the start. But October? I’m looking forward to the change of the leaves, and The Wee Goon turning seven months old. Ehm. That’s about it. I think it will be a “quiet” month. (Watch me regret that statement.)
