Still life from this weekend:

the chair capital of New England, singing, Olivia Newton Longjohns, squeaking creatures in the night, truth, greek yogurt, dog parkour, 8 hours in the car, snoring.

Gone Mental

I've been debating about writing this post for... oh... 6 months or so. I'm still debating, even as I write this.

What follows is a sort of personal musing on a recent health issue. If you aren't interested in that kind of thing, maybe you would like to go look at this. Or this.

Jolly Green Man

Anybody else look at The Green Giant and see the Green Man?

From Jung.org:
One of these ecological myths is the story of the Green Man. He has been part of our Western heritage for centuries. Depth psychologist Carl Jung says that archetypes are embedded in our collective unconscious and these archetypes are shared by all. That is why we find very early images of the Green Man in Iraq and all over Europe. His face, which has leaves sprouting from his lips, eyes, nose and ears, can be seen on buildings and signs throughout Europe that date back to the Middle Ages. He is a combination of man and nature; he shows us that we can never be separate from the natural world, that we are part of the earth. He signifies irrepressible life and represents the human longing for the natural world. He is an image from the depths of prehistory and his origins are much older than our Christian era and he is still honored today in England and Europe in May Day festivals where he is evoked to bring in a bountiful growing season.

Jolly Green Giant in a dickie:

TEOTWAWKI

I like reading survivalist blogs of various sorts, have a wide collection of how-to books, and dream of having my own small farm someday for this very reason, but it's nice to see some analysis of where it comes from. This, surprisingly from a Reuters report about preppers:

"With our current dependence on things from the electric grid to the Internet, things that people have absolutely no control over, there is a feeling that a collapse scenario can easily emerge, with a belief that the end is coming, and it is all out of the individual's control," [Patty Tegeler] told Reuters. She compared the major technological developments of the past decade to the Industrial Revolution of the 1830s and 1840s, which led to the growth of the Millerites, the 19th-Century equivalent of the preppers. Followers of charismatic preacher Joseph Miller, many sold everything and gathered in 1844 for what they believed would be the second coming of Jesus Christ.

...

"Most people have a gut feeling that something has gone terribly wrong, but that doesn't mean that they understand what is happening," [Michael T. Snider, who writes The Economic Collapse blog] said. "A lot of Americans sense that a massive economic storm is coming and they want to be prepared for it."

Sometimes I think people always feel like something has gone terribly wrong, or is about to. It's a totally normative response to the fact that we never know what's coming because we can't know the future. Annnd...this is a scary time to live in; in general, Americans are only experiencing the smallest waves of the truly horrific shit that is happening in this world right now. 

And then again... this appeals to my practical nature:

Tegeler, who recalls being hit by tornadoes and floods in her southwestern Virginia home, said that none of her "survival center" products will go to waste."I think it's silly not to be prepared," she said. "After all, anything can happen."

via

I seriously know how to skin a squirrel.  When the zombies* come, who are you going to take with you?

No, I seriously have this edition of The Joy of Cooking.

*it occurs to me that zombies make a great fill-in for the big, scary unknown that is coming. My handy and reliable research source tells me that zombies were big in the 20's and 30's, in the 50's, and of course intermittently since the '80's. Maybe zombies stand for that thing that is unspeakable, too big and too frightening for us to name: an approaching world war, an economic depression, nuclear bombs. Zombies are the thing that are human and not-human, alive and not-alive. They live in the uncanny valley with that Polar Express movie. But they are inexplicable and thus scary. Hm.

Life: It's Just One Thing After Another

The last few months have been a real struggle. I mean, hey, if I can't be honest here, what the heck. Struggle. Yes. It's been one.

My body is still recovering from the celiac, I think (and recover is sort of a misnomer, isn't it, since I'll have it for the rest of my life). I wake up from nightmares that I'm eating bread. I still get glutened despite my best efforts to avoid it. And my immune system is still wacky: I've had a sinus infection, a bladder infection, and an acne breakout. It all makes me feel real sexy! 

In addition, my team (yes, team) of mental health professionals is trying to figure out if I might have a mood disorder, which would not at all be surprising considering my family history; I'm currently on FOUR psych meds, although I'm trying to get down to two. Two seems reasonable, in comparison. But I can't tell if my emotional swings are related to celiac or not, and I suppose I will find out in a year or two (that's how long my nutritionist says it will take for full healing). 

So, for the time being, I self-medicate with youtube videos (babies and kittens, I don't know, who am I) and escape by reading (got a kindle for xmas from my awesome dad) and dig my fingernails in and crawl to the end of every week. It will get better. I know this.

On Quitting Smoking, or Not

In a Word:

akrasia

n. weakness of will

“I see and praise what is better, but follow what is worse.” — Ovid

More Tiny Thingssss

Dollhouse version of a hoarder's house by Carrie M Becker

Just sayin

Celiac disease linked to depression in women:

“We found that most [study] participants frequently adhered to a gluten-free diet, and this greater compliance with diet was related to increased vitality, lower stress, decreased depressive symptoms and greater overall emotional health,” study co-author Josh Smyth, a professor of bio-behavioral health and medicine at Penn State University, said in a university news release. 

“However, even those people who were managing their illness very well reported higher rates of stress, depression and a range of issues clustered around body image, weight and shape when compared to the general population,” he added.

Suck on that, short term disability deciders.