Just registered for Physiology and Nutrition-two classes. Anatomy was full again, despite the priority 1A registration. I could still go and try to get in as people drop, or just do that Spring Semester when a friend of a friend will be teaching??? Anatomy before Physiology is the recommended order, but it may not make that much of a difference... I hope. Had lunch with the aunties at Seva and then went to the Bead store so we are all adorned and on our various ways now. Mary goes back to England tomorrow, Karen is back to work, the girls and I are back at Lynne's, and Caleb is on a bike ride. He is yet unadorned, atleast with jewels like the rest of us. He does have on a new Eddie Bauer shirt though. Anja chose a large Tiger's Eye stone and had it made into a necklace on a silver chain. Sofie is wearing a lovely strand of Mother of Pearl, and I have not one, but two pair of Czech glass earrings. It is interesting how we have chosen french postcards and Czech jewels on our Michigan trip. The more we familiarize ourselves with something, the more attractive it becomes, to a degree, of course. I never was attracted to France until I spent six months there, and now it seems I can't get enough of it. The Czech glass originally was Mary's idea for her own earrings and she has such an eye for things, I quickly copied her design idea in other colors. We have an offer on a house in Sebastopol that we have not yet looked at which is entirely our own fault as we could have seen it before leaving. We should find out soon whether it's a go or not. Thank you Boz for photographing it and giving us a sort of photo walk through. We looked at three houses here in Ann Arbor this morning. The most interesting one was a fixer upper that was already being converted from a duplex to a single home. If we did buy it, we would likely convert it back to a duplex.
No trip to Michigan goes without discussing our family's dirty little -no longer- secret incestuous behavior. So over our hippie hashbrowns and gluten free noodles we discussed taboos and their insidious nature. Or I should say, I lectured the aunties on the topic with much disapproval from the one who thinks perhaps she chose the British lifestyle simply to avoid such uncivilized honesty in the first place. I feel sorrow in the fact that my open honesty is often met with disapproval almost as if I am the one doing harm when in fact, I was the victim of the crime that everyone would still wish I'd shut up about, so as not to hurt the pedophiles and the people who love them. The message I am getting is that it would be advantageous to stay silent and allow these men to continue molesting children so long as noone has to know about it. Silence destroys!!! Now the other auntie was astonished, shall we say, at the fact that I would discuss my uncle Tom's behavior at the table with the children present, that they would lose respect for men from listening to me. I am expected to not mind sitting out of all activities that involve the pedophile(s) including weddings, funerals etc... I am of course (sometimes) invited, expected to show up and shut up so everyone can have a good time. Then if we are all there together, one big happy family, I am supposed to not bat an eye at people hugging the man and laughing at his jokes, though if I were to engage in such illustrious behavior with him, what would that make me? I should scowl at him periodically to make sure all those in the know understand. Then my irritatable behavior will be described as PMS or some other sort of woman's problem directly related to the uterus no doubt. If I can't take it anymore and shout or storm off for a walk, that would then be hysteria, a well-known women's disorder due to weakness and general malalignment of the brain and uterus which are directly linked and extremely unstable in the female of the species. I am expected to not tell my cousins what he's done despite the fact that they have children and noone else is going to warn them. Above all stay silent and not tell my children about pedophiles so they won't be "manhaters". How else can one work to end a taboo, but to out it? Who is going to feel bad at not having said anything when the cousin's kids are molested? My children are in no danger of becoming "manhaters", as if there is such a thing in this patriarchy, as they have plenty of positive male role models in their lives, my uncle and father not included. We are all just learning, and I have had plenty of time and motivation to think on the subject, so I will continue to just teach my truth. To stay silent is furthering the behavior, aiding and abedding... ha ha

My Fabulous Friends, who happen to live in Ann Arbor

On the right we have Angela, who is not an Ann Arborite by her definition, despite the fact that she has lived in Ann Arbor pretty much all of her life, give or take a year or two here and/or there. I find this intriguing. Clay, on the left, did not readily claim to be one of them either, though to my knowledge he has resided in Ann Arbor most of his life. Are there people who do call themselves Ann Arborites? Or Sebastapudlians? I know there are New Yorkers, but are they self-proclaimed and truly from there? Who do you identify with and how does it influence your thoughts and actions?

Bigger is better in Motown

More sights on the way to and in Detroit. We went to Rocky's which is a great nut shop where I was able to buy plenty of nut meals to bake with. Almond, Walnut, Hazelnut, and Pecan. YUM! Tasty fresh stuff there!

Ypsilanti

This is the big dick of the city formerly known as Ypsitucky. It holds the water. Recently efforts have been made to disallow our fond name as it is derogatory toward the southern element, ruling that we should come up with a new pet name atleast for the festival. Rust belt roots revival has been proposed. Ypsilanti is truly a diverse area. It is what Sebastapudlians and Ann Arborites claim they want, atleast for their children's education, if not for their actual neighborhood.

All Up In The D

We were all up in the D last weekend. This is Caleb at Eastern Market and me on Belle Isle, with our water supply in the background, here in the city of Ypsilanti. Lynne was our tour guide. She told us a story of some Dutch reporters who came to report on the D as it is very popular currently in Europe. They were carjacked on their trip, but survived, and she made sure to tell us that it was their fault for driving on the wrong street. They were in the Brewster projects on their way to see where the Supremes grew up. These projects are now abandoned like many other buildings up in the D.