Political Tuesdays: Panem et Circenses

Arguably there were several points during Rome's long and ugly fall at which a twist of history might have averted chaos and barbarism.  If Gaius Gracchus had not established the bread donative as a sacred right, of course -- that is the easiest "what if."  Rome at that time (2nd century B.C.) was a strong and independent republic of fierce and loyal warriors, demanding self-discipline and virtue from her citizens.  Her leaders refused on principle to call themselves "king" -- but that was before they discovered that they could call themselves something else and have all the power of a king, and then some.  With the establishment of statist welfare provision as a sacred right, the plebeians became a permanent dependent class and their support automatically went to their feeders.

If only the party of Marius and the party of Sulla had avoided violent retribution against their political enemies, but instead practiced some of that historical self-discipline (it was a recent memory then) in steering Rome toward a course that didn't involve demagoguery.  If only Julius Caesar had been less imperialistic, or, if not that, once he had conquerered Gaul, if he had retired quietly to Rome without his army like Cincinnatus, content to act in an advisory role in the Senate.  After his assassination, if Augustus had been less insistent on his own godlike prerogatives and turned his considerable administrative skills to supervising a reasonable transfer of power to the Senate.  Certainly, it would have been nice if Augustus had chosen a wiser successor than Tiberius; better yet, if he had set up a system for ensuring a peaceful succession that did not depend on one man's ego.

Source: accla.org via Katherine on Pinterest

Tiberius.  Tacitus complains about Tiberius that new words had to be invented to describe the depravities he committed.  There was to be no change for the better under his rule; in fact, the Praetorian Guard took on new and excessively unsavory duties, while Tiberius himself disengaged from public affairs and left governance to his underlings, who had their own agendas.

There were brief moments when the Republic might have been restored, or at least, the absolute power of tyrannical emperors might have been curtailed.  There were even a few good emperors; "good" in that they were competent administrators and took necessary steps to ensure peace and stability - Vespasian, Titus, Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius.  But the high places were not destroyed, and they continued to accept and even demand the worship of the people as a basic pledge of allegiance.  And of course they continued the official policy of persecution of Christians, that dangerous sect loyal to a city not of this world, who were viewed as dangerous because they were not "Roman" enough.

Source: google.com via Katherine on Pinterest

Marcus Aurelius, the scholarly Stoic.  He had considerable wisdom as a philosopher, but spent his life in the saddle carrying out increasingly futile wars against masses of barbarians.  Plagues and natural disasters added to the burden of leadership.  He also was curiously unwise in his selection of his son Commodus as his successor.  Commodus was narcissistic and perverse, and his reign began a period of social instability and financial collapse lasting more than 100 years.  The Praetorian Guard could be bribed by anyone who really wanted to be emperor; but as soon as money to pay the legions ran out, so did the emperor's time in office.  The people who had once refused on principle to negotiate with an armed enemy took to paying off the barbarians to leave them alone.  By the time marginally competent leadership emerged once again, it was too late.  Rome had lost its cultural integrity and its ability to convince the world that "Roman" was a good thing.  The Empire was too big to be ruled by one man, and even the barbarians knew it.  It has been fashionable for centuries to blame the Christians for the fall of Rome, but that argument ignores the very obvious trail of internal corruption and self-absorption that is available to any serious student of history.

The American presidential election last Tuesday gave us an extremely clear-cut choice; I see it as a little like choosing between Tiberius and Marcus Aurelius.  And we rejected a decent, capable, intelligent man in favor of a self-absorbed, detached man-child who sends his own thugs out to do his bidding while trying to find himself.  But as long as we get our free birth control and entertainment, about 50.5% of Americans prefer to return the party that feeds us to power.  Granted, there were good leaders after Tiberius and very few after Marcus Aurelius.  Granted, Obama is not the pervert that Tiberius was, and Romney is a Mormon, not a Stoic (both of which have been confused with Christianity in the past, by the way).  A checkpoint has been passed, and we are quite a bit further down the road to chaos.  When the Chinese become the majority shareholders in the American GNP, when Russia demands even more "flexibility," when the true barbarians in the world today demand that we implement Sharia law, will we have enough cultural cohesiveness to stand up to them?  Will we be able to convince them that being American is a good thing?

If you want some analysis more directly related to the election, I enjoyed David Bahnsen's blog post.  For the ominous implications of Obamacare alone, check out this article.  Plenteous opportunities for observing the political circus games can be found on the Drudge Report.  And how about those incredible imperial scandals with the Petraeus Guard, I mean the Praetorian Guard, and the various cherchez-la-femmes associated with them?  Who even lives like that?!  For us plebeians raising kids in non-gated communities, working a dead-end job that barely pays for the gasoline for the commute, it's quite entertaining to see the soap operas unfold.  It keeps our minds off the worry that we will be forced into the bread lines next.

Design Wall Monday and Stash Report

On the design floor today, two Christmas quilts I pinned for my mother-in-law yesterday.  She has been busy!

I harvested a mystery gourd, possibly a pumpkin (it was growing in the compost pile), and two zucchini the other day.  I was impressed with zucchini in November.

Stash report: It has been several weeks but I need to get back to doing this regularly.

Fabric used this week: 1.5 yards for backing and binding Feathered Star
Fabric used year to date: 76 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Added year to date: 28 yards
Net used for 2012: 48 yards

Yarn used this week: 320 yards for Mayan Spring shawl
Yarn used year to date: 7064 yards
Yarn added this week: 0 yards
Yarn added year to date: 3503 yards (all handspun, not purchased)
Net used for 2012: 3561 yards

Randomday

Well, poop.

That was my Facebook status update Wednesday morning.  Some may argue that my usual command of the English language failed me, but I think it's le mot juste.  I've been writing a lengthy post about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in my head all week, but it's still not actually, you know, written.  The reality of four more years of incompetent and misguided leadership is becoming more depressing with each passing day.  But the blog must go on.

Saturday is never long enough for all the randomness that needs to be done on Saturday.  Have you noticed that?

Steve is making lots of applesauce. 

Winesap apples are my very favorite kind.  I thought for a few years that Arkansas Black might take their place, but the Arkansas Black apples are almost too crispy/starchy.  But it's a close competition.

My students all had their final exam on Thursday.  I've graded all of them, but there are still a bunch of other assignments to get through before turning in the grades.  Latin bloopers provide some much-needed comic relief in a week like this.  For example: the 7th grader who translated "adhibenda est in jocando moderatio" as "be moderate in your jocking."  Twice.  And the other 7th grader who left an entire portion of the vocabulary section blank.

I quilted an entire Feathered Star wallhanging today on my Megaquilter.  I did all the feathers freehand, and I am really pleased with how it turned out.  Pictures of that will have to wait until another day though.

Here is shawl #10 in my 12 shawls in 2012 challenge.  Made with some of my handspun from a batt from Butterfly Girl Designs in the "Mardi Gras" colorway.  It is "Mayan Spring" (with the presumption that we will still be here after the Mayan calendar thing, which I'm not so sure about now, but anyway).  It has been turned over to the designer, who asked that she not be named and the shawl not be pictured in full until she has a chance to submit the pattern for publication.  I listed it in the Ravelry group with this picture and a brief description of the circumstances, and the post is gathering lots of "disagree" votes.  Don't you just love the cattiness of some knitters?  I'm going to need to hide the disagree button again.  I was just getting tough enough to handle seeing it in the political groups... but this is the shawl knitting group!

I'm going to bed to finish reading The Mark of Athena.

Political Tuesdays: Memories of Election Days Past

Election Day, 1968 - I was learning to walk.  My family was living in the Netherlands as expat American grad students.  I have no memories of this election day, but the Republican won.

Election Day, 1972 - I think I have very hazy memories of this.  Vague separation anxiety as I accompanied my mother to the polls in Akron, Ohio but couldn't go into the booth with her... I kept an eye on her legs.  And it was interesting that everyone else in the voting booths had only legs to look at.  I think I asked her in the car afterward who she had voted for, and she told me it was a secret.  It is quite possible, at this stage of her life, that she was still voting Democratic.  But the Republican won. And I'm not sure I even was aware of the name "Nixon" until the day he resigned, because my mother made a point of taking us down to the TV in the lobby of the dorm where we were staying at Westminster College in Pennsylvania for the New Wilmington Missionary Conference to watch his resignation speech.

Election Day, 1976 - I cast my vote for Ford in the mock election at Turkeyfoot Elementary School in Portage Lakes, Ohio.  I was disappointed when Carter won, both the mock and the real election.  But my father did tell me it was remarkable that a peanut farmer who had never been heard of outside his home state could become the President of the United States.  And his daughter was my age.  My dad said he would see about arranging a playdate.  I worried for 2 whole years that Amy Carter might show up for a sleepover and my room would be a mess.

Election Day, 1980 - I was definitely political by this time, staying up late to watch election returns in our den in Manchester, Ohio.  I kept track on a sheet of notebook paper as the states rolled in for Reagan.  I remember how excited I was when it was New York that put him over the top.  I know there are a lot of people rooting for a similar turnout today.  Now I'm teaching students the same age I was during that election.  If today is as uplifting and exciting as the Reagan landslide was, great -- but I've also seen reverses of political fortunes and have learned there is a season for everything.

Election Day, 1984 - There was real partisan pleasure in watching Reagan trounce Mondale.  I won't deny it.  Is it really true as George Will suggests, that Minnesota has a chance to swing red today?  I sincerely hope so.

Election Day, 1988 - The first presidential election in which I was eligible to vote.  I was a senior in college, voted in Ohio by absentee ballot, and watched election returns and debates from whatever TV I could find available in the dorm lobby or basement.  Bad reception.  It was Grove City, so there was only one token Dukakis voter in our midst.  I learned in this election cycle that the guy you support in the primary is very rarely the guy you get to vote for in the general, and that it's all okay as long as the party comes together for the good of the country.  It may not seem like it's that big of a lesson, but it's one that many voters of middle age or older still haven't learned yet.  Of course, George H.W. Bush wasn't Reagan.  But even Reagan wasn't as Reaganesque as our memories would have him be.

Election Day, 1992 - I was a newlywed, working for National Right to Life, voting in Northern Virginia, and this was a hard one.  I was young and idealistic and I didn't think it could be possible that God would let a philandering, lying narcissist like Bill Clinton win over a thoroughly decent, classy guy like Bush.  We got a fax from the campaign mid-afternoon that basically said internal polling put the writing on the wall.  It was in black and white and I still couldn't process it.  The day after I went with several other junior staff (senior staff were probably too depressed to deal with it, and gave their tickets away) to the White House lawn to welcome President Bush back.  We saw the helicopter land, waved American flags, hugged each other and cried.  Bush gave his speech about how maybe history will have a different opinion, Rai Rojas picked up a leaf which he would later use as a metaphor for lost hopes for unborn children, and we returned to the office, convinced that we had worked harder to re-elect Bush than Bush's own campaign staff.  As a Calvinist I had an easier time accepting the results of the election than many of my Catholic friends, but it was hard.  I learned that God has different plans than mine, and I also learned a certain amount of distrust for the voters who don't weigh moral values highly in making their voting decision.  To this day, I heartily despise Bill Clinton, although I will admit he was a more competent leader than Barack Obama.

Election Day, 1996 - Secundus' due date was November 5, but he came 3 days early.  I was at home in Littleton, Colorado with two little boys.  My mother and grandmother were visiting, my lifelong-Democrat grandmother brought a little stuffed elephant labeled "Bob Dole".  By this time I was used to tuning out the President, and I had a brand new baby to distract me, so this loss wasn't quite as bad.  But I'm pretty sure both my little boys were born with a preference for Rush Limbaugh's voice.

Election Day, 2000 - We had just relocated to Washington State in 1999, and I had a new little girl, my "extra-chromosome right wing", who gave me extra motivation to vote against Al Gore.  I knew that my vote would not really matter in my state, but I was ready for the light at the end of the tunnel.  I was optimistic that Bush would win; when the initial Florida results came in I was thrilled and figured that was it.  But of course, it wasn't.  This was the election I learned to have contempt for the "anything to win" mentality of the Democratic party machine.  And when I realized how fractured our national culture had become... sadness at that and happiness at the fact we had elected a decent man were mixed for me in this election.

Election Day, 2004 - It was hard to imagine how any Democrats, no matter how partisan, could support the arrogant John Kerry, but we were still agonizingly sharply divided.  I began to be frustrated by the apolitical and third-party voters populating my community... why didn't they see how big the stakes were?  Why didn't they realize that an imperfect candidate is much to be preferred to giving up their voice altogether?  I really hope their pure idealism has comforted them during the last 4 years.

Election Day, 2008 - There was something Kennedyesque about Obama's rise to power from obscurity.  I consoled myself with the thought that his election proved America was not a racist country, and at least he seemed like a personally upright individual in comparison to Clinton.  I strongly supported Sarah Palin because I liked her, I liked her ability to give an inspiring speech without a teleprompter, I liked the fact that she was a fellow Down syndrome mom and committed to the pro-life issue.  As a knitter active on Ravelry, I had been terribly distressed by the absolute vitriol directed at her by the ultra-leftist hate groups.  (If you think civility on the internet is at an all-time low, you should have seen the online knitting forums in 2008).  It was a harsh education, but I don't regret it.  But more than ever, I'm convinced of the need for Republican leadership in the presidency, and particularly the need for Christian "values voters" to make their voices heard.  If we don't, we forfeit our say in the future of our civilization.  The stakes are very high.  There is no guarantee that the American republic will endure, not without citizen education and involvement.  Or even with it.

So there you have it, a history of my electoral thoughts over a lifetime, two continents, and from one end to another of America.  Your votes are already cast, so you can amuse yourselves by reading this if you, like me, are anxiously watching the returns roll in.  I'm wearing my team colors - red, been wearing red for a week now - and I've been encouraged by a lot that I've read.  But it could still be a long night, with disappointment at the end of it.  I'm hoping not, but let's stay strong.

Book Review: Mossflower

Mossflower, by Brian Jacques, was the book that introduced me to the Redwall world, and is still my favorite.  I was initially drawn to the paperback in my senior year of college by its lovely cover art, reminiscent of medieval illuminated manuscripts:

Source: routeduvin.typepad.com via Katherine on Pinterest

I bought it for the cover, and because it sounded like the kind of fantasy I loved: childlike, innocent, yet fiercely fought and with timeless themes.  And I was amazed that it followed through on the promise of the cover.  Several years ago I was able to take my children to a book-signing with Brian Jacques, where he talked about his inspirations for writing these stories... chiefly The Iliad and The Odyssey.  It's hard to go wrong with that kind of inspiration!

Source: google.com via Katherine on Pinterest

So there is a bit of a Redwall race/ reading challenge going on in our family.  Some of us are reading through the books in chronological order.  I've reviewed Lord Brocktree and Martin the Warrior.  Now Mossflower.  I had originally intended just to quickly review the characters, but I ended up doing a full re-read.  Martin is a returning heroic character if you've read Martin the Warrior, but he shows up in this book with no hint of the self-doubt that was explored in the prequel.  He is the heroic freedom-fighter who unites the woodlanders, oppressed by the evil Tsarmina, a wildcat who rules from the dark fortress of Kotir.  Joining Martin are Gonff the mousethief, a jolly and cheeky creature whose thievery is mostly confined to food; Lady Amber, chieftainess of the woodland squirrels; Dinny the mole; Bella of Brockhall, the wise badger lady who wishes to protect the small creatures of Mossflower wood.  Of course there are many other characters, both good and evil.  No Redwall epic tale is complete without a multitude of characters, a quest, a mysterious riddle, adorable woodland babies who must escape right under the nose of the enemy, infighting among the enemy, and at least two battles with vermin.  This story delivers all of those items and much more.  Don't forget the wonderful descriptions of the feasts!

In my opinion, this or Redwall is the best choice to introduce your children to these fantasies, preferably as a read-aloud.  Good times and good memories await.

Randomday - Use What You Have

A good Randomday, like good soup, is made with available ingredients.  This was pretty good soup.  Leftovers of Costco chicken, an acorn squash, some assorted greens, potatoes, and a "clunk" of stock from the freezer.  (A "clunk" of stock is frozen chicken or turkey stock, and may vary in size from 4-8 cups.  I've been using the term since Secundus coined it for the 4 and 5-year-old Sunday School class cookbook.  His recipe, for potato soup, was one of the few ones that was actually possible).

Secundus celebrated his "Sweet Sixteen" birthday yesterday.  We had Filet Mignon and mashed potatoes, with apple pie for dessert.  Daniel skyped us from college.  His roommate was wildly successful in a game called "humans vs. zombies."

Today we added Secundus to the cell phone plan and got him his own phone.  It's definitely a dumb phone, not a smart one.  Don't expect him to start texting because it's not on the plan.  I have never texted in my life, and my phone is even dumber.  Its camera quit working over a year ago.

We took a jaunt into downtown Portland to the farmer's market in quest of Winesap and Arkansas Black apples.  We also picked up some cider and chestnuts.  It was a bit of culture shock, walking into the midst of all those hipsters.  On the way home we had lunch at McDonald's.  Quarta at first did not know what we meant by "Micky D's."  Tertia got it before she did.

Steve harvested the rest of the apples from our tree today and is working on his second large pot of applesauce.  We will really need to freeze some of it.

I finished grading the pretest quizzes today.  I give a pretest for the final exam that includes about 40% of the material, usually the most concrete and easiest to grade.  I secretly (or not-so-secretly) hope that most of my students will test out of this material so I won't have to grade it twice.  Because grading is becoming more and more painful as my classes get larger.

Literally painful.  So this week, in my ongoing quest to cope with chronic neck pain and headaches, I took the chiropractor's advice and had my first ever therapeutic massage.  I apparently have a lot of muscles I previously did not know existed, and every single one of them has muscle memory, and somehow all these muscles have got it into their muscle memory that they need to be in knots.  And now, every single one of them hurts.  I felt absolutely wonderful for the first 45 minutes after the massage, and then the pain started.  Now, I am noticing more and more that the way I hold my head while grading Latin papers is almost impossible to do without pain.  Maybe it will be good to be aware of all those previously nonexistent muscles, if I can figure out ways to do everyday tasks without hurting them.  I am going to try to be a good patient and do my stretching exercises, and drink lots of water.  But ow!

I need to enter the grades in my database and send out last minute advisories to some parents.  We've got a busy week next week with finals for the 1st quarter and oh yeah, a national election.

I've been thinking about how nice it would be if I could do just one Harry Potter spell.  I'd have a hard time choosing between "scourgify" and "reparo."  Even better might be one to grade papers.

UFO to FO - Log Cabin

This wasn't the UFO I was supposed to finish for October.  Finishing the top was my UFO goal for... I forget which month, but I did it.  The individual blocks were all made and I just needed to join them up.  And then it sat in my quilting queue.  And I finally finished quilting it, about a month ago, and then it sat, half-bound, for almost a month.  I finally finished the binding last week and it is an official FO!  Hanging up in the dining room for now, because I think it has a good wintry/ Christmas feel to it with all those red centers.  It's a lap size quilt at 48"x60".  Now I really need to get some other tops quilted.  My Feathered Star is on the machine now but I'm scared of all those feathers I want to free-motion quilt.

I'm linking up to Judy L's UFO challenge.  The number for November is one I've already done -- Jack's Chain, which I had broken down into two halves, but once I got started on it back in the Spring I just kept going until I had a finished top.  It's in the quilting queue too.  So that gives me a little freedom in November to work on a different UFO number, one of the four things I've blown off when their number was called.  The trend seems for me to not make bags or felted projects, but it would be nice to have at least one of those 4 finished so it won't have to go on next year's list.  I'm being sucked in by Bonnie K. Hunter's mystery quilt again this year, I think.  I really enjoyed Orca Bay last year and I'm always up for a challenge.  I'm thinking of colors already.  Does this quilting insanity ever stop?