Sailbourne

(Crossposted on Daily Kos and should appear on Facebook as well.)

As I write this, it looks like the BP – Deepwater Horizon oil spill may actually be coming to an end. The actual spillage, anyway. Despite the White House’s claim that three quarters of the oil spilled is now gone, the effects of this spill will last a very long time, and affect a countless number of lives in and around the Gulf of Mexico, and the whole world beyond. The ecology of the sea and the land around it has been changed, possibly forever, definitely not for the better.

I’ve been thinking for a few weeks that it would be worthwhile to put this incident into a greater context by telling the stories of other cases in our history of industrial disasters, toxic spills and mass pollutions. The truth is that nothing that’s happened in the Deepwater Horizon case is really new.

We’ve spilled it all before.

I’ve decided that before I start writing I would ask of anyone who is reading this: is it worthwhile? Would you be interested in finding out a little more about some past disasters, the lessons we could have learned from them, the motives that led to them which are not so different as those which inform BP’s actions before and after the Macondo well blew out? Or maybe someone’s already done this, and so there’s no need for me to cover that ground again. I admit, I think it would be great if that were the case.

Some of the incidents I’ve thought about covering:

• the molasses flood in Boston, January 1919: though it sounds like a joke, it killed more people than died aboard the Deepwater Horizon

the tragedy of Minamata, where a large corporation denied and covered up the truth of its deadly pollution for decades

• the toxic gas leak in Bhopal, December 1984: thousands died and the court cases drag on, one of them ending only this year

And plenty others besides. Sadly, there’s no shortage.

So please. Speak up in the comments and let me know what you think. Is it time for a history lesson?

“It seems no one reads Santayana any more. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be over there, getting drunk with the rest of the aliens.” — Susan Ivanova, Babylon 5

Getting back on track with a weekly (at least) posting, after skipping half of January and all of February. Right after my declaration of intent to focus on the most important things and get more organized, life threw us a very big curve: Joe’s dad passed away. We were in San Jose for ten days, helping with funeral arrangements, going through paperwork, preparing for potential family drama (which, in the end, turned out to be a lot less dramatic than we were afraid of).

February, and now the first week of March, has passed far more quickly than even a short month ought to, I think. But I feel like I’m finally able to focus and get my head back around some of the projects that I need to get going. One of them is a last-ditch attempt to revitalize the message board I run, The Starlight Teahouse.

The Teahouse is a general-interest message board or forum, where folks can discuss creative efforts, the latest in pop culture, the news of the day, politics, pets, and (of course!) tea. You can join role-playing games that run on the forum, try your hand at a round robin story written five words at a time, or share your favorite quotations. The Okamisan (that’s me!) does her best to keep the atmosphere friendly, civil, and spam-free. There are also no advertisements on the board for registered, signed-in members — and membership is absolutely free!

Over the past year or so, Facebook has offered some of the interactive possibilities that can be found at the Teahouse, but the Teahouse does offer a few things Facebook doesn’t. We won’t change our format every few months; there are no ads (once you are registered and signed in); and you won’t have to get all of your friends to join the game you’re playing in order to have any hope of success in it — or, for those who aren’t into games, you don’t have to set a bunch of filters to bypass a bazillion automated game-related postings. And when someone posts an item of interest on the Teahouse, you’re much less likely to miss it!

Please stop by The Starlight Teahouse and have a look around. Sign up and start a discussion. It would really make my day. And maybe yours too!

It is the beginning of a new year, the beginning of a new decade (as some reckon it), and a shade over five months since I posted anything here.  I wasn’t going to make a New Year’s resolution (having been pretty dismal about such things over the years), but a couple of days into January, as I was working my way through the mountain of paid bills and other paper-based minutiae of life, I realized that the last time I had done such filing was the prior November.

Not November 2009, a little over a month before.  November 2008, thirteen months before.  And to be totally honest, it isn’t the first time such a thing has happened.  Not by a long shot.  Clearly, it was far past time for me to do something about this.

There are so many things that have drawn my interest and effort over the years, so many things I want to do and try.  But it is far past time for me to admit to myself that right now, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to even come close to doing everything I would like to do.  And there are things in life that I need to do which take time as well.

Since I don’t have a robotic duplicate I can send out into the world to do stuff for me, and since I don’t anticipate getting a TARDIS any time soon, this means I’m going to have to set priorities, make choices, and (most importantly) stick to them.  And so the first part of my New Year plan is to pay more attention to the basic work of taking care of myself and my family, and make sure that we have the resources, the energy, the good health, and the time to accomplish what really matters to each of us.

(Granted, in the case of the cats, that’s largely eating, sleeping, and chattering at the birds and critters outside the window, but if they’re not healthy, they’re not going to be able to enjoy even those things.  So the point stands, even if it does mean getting carted off to The Evil Doctor now and then.)

My biggest priority for this year, beyond keeping on top of the everyday work of caring for myself and my family, is supporting and promoting Ollin Productions — especially “Afterhell,” but also “Dicebag Theater” and at least one other big project which will hopefully go into production this year.  Continuing support of Dreams Landing, my jewelry crafting efforts as the House of Sailbourne, and maintaining the online sim games I’m a part of are also important things for me.  And I want to organize a renewal of vows and celebration of Joe’s and my 20th wedding anniversary.

I’m realizing that these things, plus the day job that allows everything else to happen, add up to a quite full plate.  There are some things I’m going to have to let go of, at least for a while.  The first one, which I’ve already started on, is to cut way back on my Facebook games and applications.  Facebook is a great tool for connecting with friends and family, and the applications and games available on it are fun, but stack up a few of them and it becomes an almost frightening time sink.  There are only a few Facebook games and applications I’ll be maintaining from now on, and as the year progresses, it may happen that I have to cut back on those.  I apologize to anyone who is inconvenienced by this; I know most of the FB games depend on having as many friends as possible also playing.

Another item that is going on the shelf, for a while at least, is the It Was 20 Years Ago Today podcast.  I’m not abandoning it, but the podcast will go on hiatus for a time.  Exactly how long, I don’t yet know.  It will be back though.

A final note.  I plan to update this blog regularly this year, at least once a week.  I plan to use it to keep on track with my efforts both to take care of myself and my family, and to keep on top of the many tasks that will be priorities in this coming year.  I might even use it just for fun now and then — I’m sure the memes won’t go away, even if I resist the urge to play them all!

Looking for a relaxed, easy-going online spot to chat about the latest in news, events, and pop culture?  Want a place to compare notes on writing, art, sports … or tea?  Looking for a friendly place to share your favorite pet stories?

Writers — want a fun place to talk about the great art and craft of writing, where any genre and any level of experience is welcome?

Want to take part in a roleplaying game (or, if you prefer, collaborative storytelling) where the only limit is your creativity and imagination?  Pulp adventure, high fantasy, Babylon 5 or Star Trek — there’s a wide choice, or you could even start your own game.

You can find all of this and more at The Starlight Teahouse.  There are contests too!  Come check us out!

A special offer for my friends who read this message on Facebook:  send me a message with your email address, and I’ll create your account for you!

Thanks to Alida Saxon, longtime Teahouse member, who created the lovely logo above.

I’m assuming that most of you who read my journal are outside the Portland area, but just in case, I wanted to share this:

Humane Society Needs You (to adopt a cat)

Short version: the shelter’s full, they don’t kill cats for lack of space, but they can’t take in any more until they adopt some out. The goal is 100 cats by Thanksgiving. You can even adopt one adult cat and adopt a second for no fee.

We have no more room ourselves (five cats in a 1050 square foot apartment is really pushing it), but I wanted to spread the word in some way.

And a bit of fun to go with — my first attempt at a lolcat. This picture is of a feral kitten rounded up at JFK Airport in New York City. Those cats are not as lucky as the ones at the Oregon Humane Society — most of them face being euthanized.

I suspect the Portland Art Museum will be a bit more crowded for a while, beginning mid November, as people come to see something really special:

A Van Gogh Arrives in Portland(from the OregonLive website)

This will be the first Van Gogh in any museum in the Northwest. Luckily, I don’t think I have to worry about rushing if I want to see it. The conditions of its gifting included that it be on display to the public, and that it never be sold.

“If you dig it, do it. And if you really dig it, do it twice.”
–Jim Croce

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Somewhere around seven years ago, give or take, I was really impressed with the idea of message boards. Several of my friends had started them and I was, well, digging it. So I decided to start one of my own.

The Starlight Teahouse has passed through a couple of different board providers over the years but has resided comfortably with an outfit called Forumer for almost exactly three years now. We have a lovely forum logo by the inimitable , and an easy-to-remember domain name: Starlightteahouse.com.

We have forums for discussing anything from Dubya to Doctor Who to knitting. There are also a number of forums devoted to playing a variety of different role-playing games. There’s even a place to talk tea! To post messages, you will need to complete a simple registration — it’s free, and once registered, there’s no advertising on the board.

The Teahouse has been very quiet of late, and I’d like to extend an invitation to anyone who hasn’t been there — or hasn’t been around in a while — to give the Teahouse another try. Maybe you’ll dig it too!

For the very very few of you who didn’t get my email, I wanted to let you know:

I have started a new podcast, entitled “It Was 20 Years Ago Today.”  There will be new episodes almost daily, with each episode running five minutes or less. It’s about history and memory, and I think it’s
a lot of fun.

If you’re into podcasts at all, you can check it out at:  http://ayeshalan.libsyn.com/
The first episode is up now.

Please feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think!

Today you get a hat-trick … I have been posting these in the order in which they appear in my quotation collection page, part of my personal homepages. But the three which appear today are all appropriate to the feeling of the day for me, because …

Afterhell Volume 2 is done!
The disc is being duplicated now and copies go out starting tomorrow!

“All’s well that ends with a good meal.”
– Arnold Lobel

“It’s all malarky; even the wonderful part is malarky.”
– Robert Stack (1919-2003) on Hollywood

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.”
– Japanese proverb

Yes, I caved in and finally decided to start my own weblog. The look and feel of the page will no doubt change frequently over the next few weeks. To those of you who have yet to meet me, welcome. Current cat count: 17