seattle fun

spent the weekend in seattle. it is such a great city. unless you are on a hunt for a pair of boots, ones that have to be so tall, so tight, so black and not so easy to find. we went in search of the perfect pair, came back with other misc items including sheet sets and groovy shoes! stayed downtown at the edgewater hotel..sounds great although the interior looks more like a cabin then some log homes i have been in.
on the way back, just before the alex fraser bridge i got a speeding ticket! first one in over 20 years! i told him he was ruining a perfect record...he didn't find any value in that statement at all. i guess 126 in a 90 will make ya a little too serious! he was kind enough to give me the smallest allowable fine of 138 bucks. less 25 bucks if you pay it in less than 30 days! what a great concept- i think we should get discounts in far more areas of life. lets start with utilities, cell phone bills and mortgage payments.

"fall" ing.... into a new season

just spent the past weekend taking in the okanagan wine fest. i had originally planned to get away with a.m. but her life took a hard left and she was unable to make the trek (she knows that i missed her presence immensely :( )

in 'subbed ' my spontaneous and high energy friend ..AC..i am grateful she was able to go with on such short notice.
we started the day early on the friday and i decided to travel via hwy 3 as the colours are spectacular now and with all the time to spare, you can take in any sight that catches your eye.... and often the ones that occur during any given pee spot.
this season is my favorite..the unique hues of natures pallet give you a visual buffet..enjoy the hints of reds, the splashes of orange and the floods of yellow. along the stretch of highway 3 you will find winding raging rivers, fields dotted with specks of cows and multi colored horses, blankets of bug wood and the changing leaves of maple trees. the local markets switch up the experience based on the harvest. this time of year the squash litter the landscape and adorn the markets. from pumpkins to ghost squash to turban squash the varied hard veggies leave one in awe. truly a great sight and as the picture above shows, the harvest allows the artist in everyone to express themselves!

we spent the weekend moving between kelowna and the naramata wine bench.the highlight was a gospel experience at the blasted church winery, headed up by the ever impressive jim byrnes blues experience. then off to a day of winery hoping and sipping fruits of the gods for breakfast! overall a great weekend had by all.

Gobble,Gobble

on the eve of thanksgiving i thought it would be fun to explore the bird we love to include in the celebration meal.
facts:
production turkeys are artificially inseminated as they are lazy lovers. the "toms" are milked and the hens get probed.
here is a great article on a guy who did this dirty deed as a job
www.upc-online.org/fall94/breeding.html

- Only tom turkeys gobble. The hens make a clicking noise.
- Canada is the eighth largest producer of turkeys at 19.6 million a year
- History associates turkey with the first Thanksgiving feast celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621
-When US astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin sat down to eat their first meal on the moon in their historic 1969 voyage, their foil food packets contained roasted turkey and all the trimmings.
- Recent fossil evidence has been dated to show that turkeys have roamed the Americas for about 10 million years.
- Sandwiches are the most popular form of turkey consumption
- Turkey is high protein, low fat, low cholesterol
- Turkey down is used in pillows. Wing feathers are used in fletching arrows
- Their field of vision is 270 degrees.
- They can fly short distances at up to 90 km/h and can run at speeds up to 40 km/h - domestic turkeys do not fly due to selective breeding
- Turkeys do not see well at night

Bon appetite

A Fine Frenzy - Whisper

sometmes i am amazed how the words of another can crawl so easily under my skin and into a secret part of me...i allow it to seep from surface to heart..and in a moment it becomes the food i crave.... it feeds my pain, my joy, my wishes,my regrets.
i play it over and over again until it attaches itself to the cells of my unborn satisfactions...

this comes to me from a.m. , i thank her for this find.

please listen ....



But if you keep real close
Yeah, you stay real close
I will reach you

For the Bible Tells Me So - Vancouver International Film Festival

http://www.forthebibletellsmeso.org/

today we saw two flics..one very dark about abortion in Romania in the late 80's. bleak and stark reminding us of the choices so many women did not have and continue not to have.

The other very emotional film was "For The Bible Tells Me So".

it is the story of how religious groups interpret, an often in contradictory terms, the bible, based on need to control any one group. it talked of current day pressures related to living as a gay person with the discriminatory relaying of the religious writings. these discriminations bare down on the soul of those who choose to love god but are restricted to gods-unlove by those who take the bible in the literal sense, often for their own gain and political agendas.

long story short- so much persecution still occurs at the hands of those who take the worlds oldest book and choose to control others through its fine print.

i am thankful that my experience of being non-heterosexual in these times has been without major incident, hurt or loathing.

perhaps my tenacity is to be credited?

...or perhaps my god has said "your path will be easier than some;take not for granted the freedoms that you have been blessed with"

and i don't.

hear or not to hear

tonight i saw a fab documentary on people who are deaf. the story is of a couple who have been deaf all of their lives, and decide at the very late age of 65+ , to embark on cochlear implant surgery. this trip into what they believe they want ends with them going back to what they know and feel comfortable with. i cant help but think ...at times we all do the same thing. wanting and needing becomes one selfish act often actionable to a detriment. the problem lies in that we are not always right in our assumptions that the grass is greener on the other side.

why i hate winter

ughh...just thinking about going into the sock drawer creates aniexty...

terrie -isms

while spending a very, very late night working on a paper, my dear friend "A" pointed out that there are many things i say, repeatedly, like strange sentence ending points or not-so-words-of-wisdom. she thot it might be funny to allow those who know me to bring such terrie-isims forward. so love'm or hate'em, now is your chance to poke public fun at the binns!!!!
she started the list :

"i was born ready"
ADDITIONS:
how about the worst offernder of all..."what's up buttercup?"

OR

"just 'cause we're camping doesn't mean we have to live like animals!"

heres a great addition :
"You have so many friggin' isms that your friends need a Binnsictonary to understand you most of the time!"

river road sightings

this is a very exciting time of year! all over richmond the cranberry fields are being flooded and the fruit is being harvested. this little field is near to the road so i have been watching the berries grow for the last few months. today as i drove by, many men with long white beards and mutlicoloured head gear walked through the speckled red waters . they coax the delicious fruit away from its nest and into the truck that will take them to the nearest packaging plant. i love turkey day , especially home made cranberry sauce; not to sweet and a little chunky please!

darkness descends

yearly, the change envelopes me
yet i feel surprised
the night reaches too far into the day
black becomes the overhead light

morning clocks betray inner need
slumber holds fast
dreams stretch on
bedding cocoons

room temperature makes me sneak
toe by toe out of my bed
cradled sleepiness guides
me into the dark morning

my spirit is heavy
winter arrives without permission