Help Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell

If you are interested in this issue, you can go here and sign a letter from Lt. Dan Choi to Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking her to help do away with this ridiculous piece of bureaucratic BS.

Update on Yesterday's Post

I just got an email from Rene' and Danny Britt informing me that yet another Austin resteraunt is jumping on the band wagon. As I said, gotta LOVE this town:

The Cannoli Joe’s “Tex-Italia Wine Celebrations” have been such a success, the owners of Cannoli Joe’s have decided the “Tex-Italia Wine Celebrations” will run throughout 2009. The wine events are held on Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 6 – 9 p.m., with free wine tastings, jazz music and food.

Cannoli Joe’s has chosen Artz Ribhouse to be the beneficiary for four evenings. (March 4
& 5) and (March 11 & 12). Artz Ribhouse will receive 100% of all profits from each night.

Four wineries will be represented each night, offering free wine tastings (two wines or one wine and one Texas Spirit). Bottles or “by glass” purchases of their wines/spirits will be offered at highly reduced prices for all guests. Wineries, wines and spirits include Robert Mondavi, Clos Du Bois, Llano Estacado, McPherson Cellars, Messina Hof, Fall Creek Vineyards, San Angelo, Esperto, Flat Creek Estate, Capezzana, Centine, San Juan Capistrano and Tito's Vodka, among others.

The wine events are open to the public, and there is no additional charge for the wine event or the wine tastings.

Free performances include: Larisa Montanaro Jazz trio (March 4 & 5); Sarah Temple trio (March 11 & 12)

Guests will also enjoy Cannoli Joe’s’ new menu items, some of which include more heart-healthy and vegetarian options. New menu items include Bruschetta dal Giorno (Bruschetta toast topped with garlic-white bean puree and roasted wild mushrooms); Pork Medallions Fiorentina (grilled pork loin cutlets topped with a wild mushroom, sage cream sauce, served over sautéed spinach); Spicy Pasta “Texinara” (whole grain penne pasta, mushrooms, scallions, zucchini, red bell pepper, and broccoli florets tossed in a spicy roasted jalapeno marinara sauce); grilled salmon; Stuffed Polenta Cake (Italian cornmeal cake filled with basil pesto, sun-dried tomato puree and a blend of Italian cheese) and Grilled Vegetable Lasagna Verde (mixed grilled vegetables between thin layers of pasta and a creamy pesto filling).

These events are in addition to Cannoli Joe’s extensive wine list that features 30-plus wines (with 17 of those from Italy), chosen by Bob Hauser, Cannoli Joe’s chef /owner and graduate of New York’s Culinary Institute of America.

Cannoli Joe’s is located at 4715 Hwy. 290 West in south Austin, near the Berger Center. For more information, contact Bob Hauser at (512) 892-4444 or bobh@cannolijoes.com, or visit the website at http://www.cannolijoes.com/.

CANNOLI JOE’S: Cannoli Joe’s has seven separately themed dining areas, each with its own eclectic Italian personality, ranging from the Marco Polo Room with its giant mural of the Leaning Tower of Pisa to the Mambo Room with the walls plastered with photos of the Rat Pack—Dean, Sammy and Frank. A fully stocked bar features an extensive wine list with 17 Italian wines, Italian and domestic specialty beers, and signature cocktails like Joe’s famous Texas Bellini Swirl, and the Caesarita margarita.

Cannoli Joe’s is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. Weekday lunch is $9.99. Monday through Thursday dinner is $13.99. Friday dinner is $15.99. Saturday brunch is $13.99 and Saturday dinner is $15.99. (Extra items are added to the list of offerings on nights and then more on weekend nights). Sunday brunch is $13.99 from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. and then regular offerings from 3 to 9 p.m. for $15.99. Children three and under are free; those 12 years and under are half price. There is no additional charge for the wine event or the wine tastings.
- 30 -

Gotta Love This Town

Having lived in a couple of 'music towns' and spent time in several others, I can say with a little bit of authority that there is no place like Austin and the music community that makes its home here. Despite of all the changes and growth taking place here, the heart of this community within a city still beats strongly. Whenever a musician is in need, it pulls out all the stops and comes together in ways that I have never seen anywhere else. It seems that there is always as benefit for someone happening somewhere and I have attended quite a few of them. The one I went to last Sunday stands out from the others in several ways.

One of my favorite funky South Austin spots is ARTZ Ribhouse. This place is so cool that even some vegitarians I know go there. To a rib joint!!I have been going to ARTZ since before I moved to Austin and it is one of the first places I took Stephen to when he moved in with me. It was also the first place he played here. Paul Barker made a place for him on the Bummer Night schedule. This happened because Kerry Polk was kind enough to give him some time from her set. ARTZ is special for so many reasons. It is South Austin funk at its best. It is home to interlocking circles of music and barbecue fans who show up on different nights to support their favorite musicians, enjoy each other's company and chow down on some of the best babybacks around.

The crowd changes from night to night. Sunday afternoons they host the Central Texas Bluegrass Association. Monday night is owned by Sarah Elizabeth Campbell and the Banned. They play a long set and then there is a break set called the bummer set played by a guest artist. Tuesday is the Old Time Fiddler's Jam where everybody plays. Wednesday is usually Shelly King and Carolyn Wonderland. They bring the south Austin hippie crowd with them. The other nights are booked with semi regular artists such as John Emery, Eddie Collins, Danny Britt, George Enzle and many others. Each night is a little like going to Cheers. If you make it a habit to go on a certain night each week, pretty soon, everybody knows your name. Monday night has always been my favorite. ARTZ closes at 10:00 and you can go on over to Don's Depot after that and hear Chris Gage and the same people will show up there as well.

Due to some tax problems, the sagging economy and huge medical expenses for Z (Art and Z are the owners), Art had to close the place down. It closed on a Sunday and by Monday night, the first benefit was in full swing. The staff went in to work for free. They prepared and served what food was there. Musicians lined up to play. There were way too many people showing up to get into the place or to be able to park so at one point, there was a woman on the parking lot with a donation bucket t so that folks could drive by and contribute. This raised enough money to keep the place open temporarily. Meanwhile, a larger venue was searched for so a bigger benefit could be held.

Here is the really cool thing about this particular benefit. It was hosted by Scholz Beer Garten, another food, beer and music venue. How cool is that? Scholz' could have said no. After all, Scholz and ARTZ are competitors in a way. I every other town in which I have lived, that is how they would have viewed each other and there is no way one would have hosted a benefit for the other. Make non mistake, Scholz did very good business for itself. The money for the benefit came from the door charge and the silent auction and other sales activities. I took my massage chair and started to do massages to raise money but the place was soon so crowded that I had no room to work and had to put it away after making only $40. This was OK with me because that meant that there was going to be a huge take at the door.

I have yet to hear an amount for the day but I am sure that it is sufficient to keep this treasured piece of South Austin afloat for a while longer. ARTZ sits on what I am sure is prime real estate right now and some developer would most likely love to get it and turn it into yet another condo complex or trendy, generic restaurant the likes of which we already have plenty around here. It seems that the places that helped make Austin the city to which everyone wants to move are being rapidly torn down in favor of the kind of places that the people are leaving behind when they move here. At first glance, the ramshackle building that houses ARTZ doesn't really look like much. A closer look and a trip inside reveals its character and a piece of the soul of Austin. I am glad that we will have it around a while longer and am I even more happy that things will be a little easier for Art and Z.

They Are Everywhere.....Except Home

I had some errands to do today which took me into a couple of retail outlets. The stores were busier than usual on a Monday morning during the school term. It was easy to spot the Ike evacuees. They were the ones with buggies full of plastic storage containers, food, clothing and other necessary items. They did not have trinkets, AV equipment or anything that could be considered the least bit unnecessary or un-needed. Most of them couldn't quite return a smile, either. A lot of them were talking on their cell phones and saying things like, " We can't go home yet because our street is still flooded," or " There was water in my house but I don't know how much or if it's still in there."

I can only imagine what it must be like for these people. Stephen and I were kind of homeless in 2002. We had left Asheville and come back to Austin with nowhere to lined up to live and no permanent work for either of us. We lived in a tent at the Kerrville Folk Festival for almost a month. We were pretty sure that someone would turn us on to some cool digs for little money while we were there and, sure enough, that's what happened. The only catch was that we could not move into the new place until the first part of July and the festival was over at the end of the first week of June. We managed to find a couple of house sitting gigs to get us by until then. In the meantime, some stuff was going on at the Festival that we would really have liked not to have had to witness and it was a hot dry festival that year and our tent was in the sun. I really wanted to leave but we had no place to go. I became physically ill.

When I hear people talking about not being able to go back home and know that they may not even have a home to go back to, my heart goes out to them. I heard on the radio that the Food Bank was asking for grooming supplies such as razors, shampoo, etc., so I went to my local dollar store and loaded up on some of these things along with some crayons and coloring books and dropped them off. It was a madhouse over there to say the least. If you don't live where there are a lot of evacuees and still want to help, here is a link where you will find a lot of ways to do so.

Soundtrack for this post: A Littlel Help From My Friends

A Great Site for Books

Nothing beats buying books from a favorite local bookstore. However, they don't always have the titles that I want and sometimes I just don't want to drive 20 or 30 minutes so I order online. A few months ago, Mistrel Boy at Harp & Sword, posted regarding some questionable business practices by Amazon.com. Since that time, I have been searching for a better alternative for purchasing books online. I think I have found it. I have made my last few purchases from Better World Books and have been more than pleased with their service. I also like that their profits are used to fund literacy projects throughout the world. I also like their shipping practices which are usually extremely low priced or even free. This has not affected the time it has taken to get my books. Check them out.

Opportunity Knocks (X3)

We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another. ~Luciano de Crescenzo


Her Dogness and I were headed for the park when we saw the person walking up the road carrying a couple of market bags from our local grocery chain. We live on a dead end road that is about three miles or so long. It is probably about three and a half to four miles from the end of the road to the bus stop so not a lot of people use it and there isn't much foot traffic down here. There are a few people who hike up to the bus stop now and again but I had not seen this person before. I think what got my attention was that I couldn't tell if it was male or female. Tall and square shouldered, the person had a waist length ponytail and a gimmie cap pulled down over the top of it. Even a glance in my rear view mirror offered no clue but did reveal a walking cane.

It was a muggy day that promised to be hot a sweaty really soon. I wanted to get on with our walk and get back to the house before that happened if possible. We spent about twenty minutes or so in the park and headed home. As we made the hard left and started into the straight away that leads to our house, we saw the same person. This time, her loose hair was dancing wildly in the breeze of a passing truck as she struggled along the side of the road with her loaded bags. With a car just a few feet on my tail, I slowed down but was unable to stop. I got home and cleaned up a little, had a snack, gave Lani water and completed a few other mundane tasks that I can't remember before heading out again to fun some errands. I was almost to the end of the road when I saw her yet again. She had only gotten a few yards farther along from where she had been the last time I'd seen her. A truck close behind me but I stopped anyway.

"Do you need some help?"

"Oh, yes! I'll give you a couple of bucks to take me up the hill. Just get me up the hill and I'll be able to make it the rest of the way."

"Let me go up there and turn around."

The road is a narrow two lane affair with a center stripe but no sidewalks. I had to go about fifty yards to a driveway to turn around. Meantime, she is standing in knee high weeds.

"I can't thank you enough. I didn't think I'd have to do this today. I didn't know how I was going to make it up that hill."

There is a low water crossing just below my house, after which there is a sharp rise in the land which forms a short but steep hill.

"Where are you headed?"

"Just let me out anywhere after the S curve. I can make it the rest of the way."

"I might as well take you on home. I have to turn around somewhere anyway."

"You know where Etta (St.) is?"

"Sure, I used to live just past it."

I took her to her mobile home where there were a couple of cars in the driveway. She explained that her battery was dead and that they hadn't had time to jump start it.

"If you ever have trouble, I hope someone stops to help you."

"They already have."

She tried to give me two bucks but I was backing out of her drive already.

I passed her by twice before I stopped to help. I wonder how many others had passed her as she struggled with those bags. How desperate had she become to walk almost two miles to the bus stop and try to make it home with those heavy bags? I am grateful that I was given that third opportunity to make a difference for someone else.

Soundtrack for this post: Chuck Brodsky's We Are Each Other's Angels (I just found this version and I love it. I hope you will give it a listen.)

A Good Cause

I have made several references in previous posts to my friend David LaMotte, a wonderful singer/songwriter from the Asheville, NC area. I just returned from one of his concerts and was reminded of one of his many projects. David and his wife Deana spent their honeymoon in Guatamala where they visited several schools. One of the schools had several glaring needs....water run from the well to the restrooms, a place to prepare lunch for the kids and a few other things. The cost to build the lunch facility and run the water line was about $1000.00us. David returned home and began telling his audiences about the situation. He collected the needed funds in only three shows. That was the beginning of PEG Partners, a grass roots organization which now provides funds for several schools in the country.

I invite you to take a look at the PEG Partners website and be sure to watch the video. Contribute if you feel like it, but if you don't, just soak in the inspiration. Enjoy.

Photo is borrowed from David's website.

How to Help

In all the hoopla over last Tuesday's primaries, it seems that little attention has been given to the fact that there were tornados in the midsection of our country and that people died and that people lost many, in some cases all, of their earthly possessions.

I found this link http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2008/02/call-to-action-help-tn-tornado-victims.html on Harp & Sword. It lists several ways to help. Take a look and do whatever feels right to you.

Addendum: I'm sure it would be a big help to add a post with this information to your blog. The more people who see it the better.

Can You Help This Horse?

Or do you know someone who can?

Please take a minute to read this post at Guilty with an Explanation.

Oops!

I have come to realize that by my asking for prayers for the baby, I may have inadvertently spread worry and concern about him. These feelings are natural to all of us in these situations. However, since I believe that we get what we concentrate on, I am doing the very best I can to envision him as a healthy and whole child. A child who laughs and smiles at his parents and who is thriving in this world. I ask that you join me in seeing this vision.

Peace to all.

Ten Thousand Villages

“Do you know what “wisdom” means?”

I looked up from my seat on the floor. I was counting rocks. The were imported from India and each has a word carved into it….Joy, Peace, Love, and Wisdom. (We were out of Strength.) They had to be inventoried and to do so, I was sorting them so that I could count the rocks that had each word on them.

She had asked is she could read the words on the rocks. I had said that of course she could. She had spent a few minutes looking at them and announced the there were many Joys. We agreed that we could certainly use more Joy. She giggled and left to examine some of the store’s other treasures.

I did not realize that she had returned until I heard her question. I looked up into her six year old face and had to think about how to answer. “Yeah,” I said, then paused a few seconds. “ It’s like being smart,….and knowing how to use it. Does that make any sense to you?” She is very solemn for a few seconds. “Yeah,” she said with a smile.

With her long straight hair and inquisitive expression, she reminded me so much of my daughters when they were that age, which only seems like a few days ago. She was one of a dozen or so people who had taken refuge in Ten Thousand Villages from a furious rainstorm.

It is spring break and in Austin that means South by South West, a music conference that draws people from far and wide, as well as the state basketball playoffs and the rodeo. Ten Thousand Villages has a great location on South Congress in an area known as SoCo. Once an inexpensive hippy hang out, the area is now terminally trendy and is not to be missed by our ever increasing horde of tourists. I have been volunteering there for a few weeks. It is a nonprofit organization which brings fair trade art and décor to market from developing countries. There are Ten Thousand Villages stores all over the country. Most of the workers are volunteers. The Austin store has two full time and one part time employees. You can see the Ten Thousand Villages website to see if there is a store in your area.

KIVA

Have you ever wondered what you can possibly do on an individual level to make a positive impact on global problems? I have. In fact, I think about it a lot. What can I, one person, do that will really make life better for people in other parts of the world? It seems that there are so many problems on so many levels that it is hard to figure out what to do about any of them. It is so overwhelming that most of the time, we don't do anything at all. One of the complex issues that we hear about a lot is illegal immigration. The solution, as far as I can tell, is to help people thrive where they are. If people have everything they need at home, there will be no need for them to immigrate to other countries, legally or otherwise. I was blog jumping just now. I went to one blog then started reading the blogs the first blogger listed. After jumping from blog to blog for a half hour or so, I found the Pondering Pig. One of the sites listed on this blog was KIVA. KIVA offers a way for anyone who has an extra $25.00 to make a positive impact on the lives of people in developing countries who are trying to make a living where they are by building their own businesses.

I had $100 my dad had given to me for Christmas. It had been in my wallet since Thanksgiving. I wanted to spend it on something special, something that I would feel good about owning for a long time. When I found KIVA, I knew that it was the place for the money to go. For my $100, I was able to loan money to 3 women from Mexico and Central America. One is selling tamales to support her children since her husband lost his job and headed to the US to look for work. She needs equipment and supplies. Another sells cakes to support her self and her children since losing her husband. She also needs equipment and supplies. The other has a grocery store, which she needs to expand so that she and her husband can support themselves.

As a small business operator myself, I certainly realize just how much a little cash at the right time can mean. I invite you to go to KIVA.org


So that you can share in this opportunity. 95% of the loans are repayed. It is recommended that you divide the money you want to loan between several business owners so that if for some reason one of them cannot repay the loan, you have not lost all of your investment.

A request for healing

I have struggled with whether or not to write about this. It is such a downer.

Yesterday I was just going about my business....a little shopping, a little cooking, thinking about my business and how to make it better. The kind of things that we all do day in and day out. The weather here was perfect. Lani and I had a good walk even though we had to stay on the paved trails due to the mud left by the rain the day before. I was happy about the rain since our area is still under drought conditions. I figured up my gross income for the past year and it was more than I thought it had been. All together, I was having a great day.

Then I checked my email.

I have a huge chosen family. These are people to whom I feel very close. They are scattered over the world. One of my brothers lives in the northwest. At the time I received the email, he was flying to a city in the south. His birth (as opposed to chosen) brother and family had been the victims of a home invasion. The wife had been shot and killed. The husband heard her screaming at the shooter to please not hurt the baby. The baby was in bed with the husband. He rolled over onto the baby and was shot in the head and in the hand. He is expected to recover, physically.

These people have been constantly in my prayers since I heard about the event. I ask anyone who reads this to send them your prayers as well. As hard as it is, I am also praying for whoever did this. I cannot nor do I want to imagine the kind of pain a soul has to been in to do something like this. I ask the Universe for healing for everyone involved. That includes me.....and you.

A Heads Up

This is a heads up to everyone to read Christine Kane's blog today. She writes one of my favorite blogs and her take on our "resolution" tradition is not to be missed.

Have a great New Year and be safe.

Ch Ch Ch Changes

As I write this I am listening to John Edwards speaking from Iowa. I agree with so much of what he says. He is speaking of each of us taking responsibility for where we are and what we as individuals and as a country can do to facilitate positive changes in our world. I have been waiting for some time for him to announce his candidacy for president. A few days ago, the following email was forwarded to me. I am posting it here so that anyone who sees it can take whatever action he/she wishes:

For the past two years, we've worked together to build an America
that lives up to its promise -- one where we all share in prosperity
at home and one that shows real moral leadership around the world.
I'm proud of our successes fighting poverty, supporting working
families, and standing up for what we believe.
Now, we have a big decision to make -- and I do mean we.
I'm getting ready to take this effort to the next level - to bring
Americans together in all fifty states to tackle the big challenges
facing our country, from poverty and lack of health care, to energy
and global warming.
But this is our effort, and we can only succeed if we're all in it
together. So before I make a final decision, I need to hear from you:
Are you ready?
If you're ready to take this to the next level, and launch a renewed
national effort to change America, send me a note and let me know:
JohnEdwards@readytochangeamerica.com
If you have friends or family who share this vision, I want to hear
from them too. Please forward this on to anyone you know who might
want to join this big new effort.
I believe we can run a totally new kind of endeavor -- one that puts
our ideals into action, and puts the hopes and dreams of the American
people above the personal ambition and play-it-safe strategy of
traditional politics.
I can't promise you where this will ultimately lead. But I can
promise you this: if you're on board, we'll launch a renewed
commitment to change our country from the bottom up. We'll always
speak from the heart. And together, we'll reach out to millions of
people to let them know it's still okay to dream big dreams, and do
everything we can to make them real --because that's what America is
all about.
So the only question is: Are you ready?
If you want to take this effort to next level, send me an e-mail and
let me know:
JohnEdwards@readytochangeamerica.com
Stay tuned: I'll let you know what we decide early next week.
Happy holidays, and may it be a bright new year for all.
Your friend,
John
PAID FOR BY JOHN EDWARDS
If you would like to unsubscribe from email communications sent by
John Edwards, please visit this link:
http://www.readytochangeamerica.com/unsubscribe.html

Nobelity....worth watching

We just watched the film Nobelity. I had seen it previously at the Crossings. We found a copy of it at the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar. The film is a documentary put together by Turk Pipkin. He went around the world interviewing Nobel Prize winners in all kinds of catagories to get their opinions on the 10 biggest problems facing the world and what they think can be done to address these problems. It is inciteful, beautifully shot and has a great sound track.

Anything important enough to complain about, is important enough to take action aimed at its improvement. There are many ways to take action, from making donations of time or money to meditating on a good outcome to spreading the word about the efforts of those who are affecting change. As Jody Williams says in the film, change is not hard to accompllish. You just have to get off your ass and do something.

The Antidote

In my last post, I wrote about the effect that BigBox retail is having on our communities and the world at large. It is easy to gripe and complain about what someone else is doing to us, to our way of life, to the environment. They are always up to something. One of my favorite quotes is from Walt Kelly’s Pogo who said, “I have seen the enemy and he is us.” In other words, there is no they. We are all creators of our world and we all play a part in whatever happens to it.

How, then, do we change the things we don’t relish? It is hard to even know where to begin. It is very easy to feel so discouraged that we just give up and don’t try to do anything at all to facilitate change. I think the best thing to do is to be conscious of each choice we make, whether it is paying cash or paying attention.

One of my favorite thinkers and authors on the world situation and how each of us can make a difference in it is John Perkins. His book Confessions of an Economic Hitman is a must read. It has spent 59 weeks on the New York Times best seller list. He is the founder of the Dream Change Coalition, an organization that came into being after John was told by a South American shaman that the world is how we dream it and that having dreamed up a nightmare, we must now change the dream. I encourage everyone to visit http://www.dreamchange.org/ and learn more about what we can do to change the dream.

Light a Candle

A click on this link gets a dollar for AIDS research.

https://www.lighttounite.org/