Seven Days Blogs: 802 Online

Nina Gaby Studio and Gallery

Yesterday I finally made it to the Nina Gaby Studio and Gallery in Brookfield (that's a long "i" in Nina — "N eye na" not "neena"). I had wanted to swing by this spring for the Divine Devotion show, but Brookfield is, like, an hour away, and I just couldn't find the time. Fortunately, some of the shrines and dolls and things were still on display, along with a bunch of bizarre clay masks.

I took a bunch of pictures, but unfortunately forgot to get artist names to go with them. So if you want to find out more about these captivating works, you need to contact Nina or visit her quirky little one-room gallery. It's around back of her house, next to the Green Trails Inn. If you like semi-creepy devotional art, it's worth the trip.

If you're thinking about going out there, you might also want to check out the nearby Floating Bridge, and Vermont's oldest library. My family also stopped in Williamstown, at the Spider Web Farm.

The John Woodruff Simpson Memorial Library

Q: Why should you get in your car and drive to the North East Kingdom to see this tiny little library in the middle of nowhere?

A: Because where else in Vermont can you see an ostrich egg, a blackened monkey skull, an eyeless jaggedy jawed pirhana, a complete bible that fits in the palm of your hand, and a fan from "Biskra, a city in an oasis in the desert of Sahara?"

Actually, those are exactly the kind of things you'd find at the fabulous Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, but the John Woodruff Simpson Memorial Library is so much more intimate. And it was founded by Jean Walker Simpson, a wise and feisty woman would ride around Craftsbury Common in her horse-drawn chariot on Old Home Day, while wearing a Roman toga.

I got to spend a morning last week visiting the library and getting a tour. My story on the experience is out this week. I highly recommend taking a day trip to East Craftsbury to see this place. I definitely plan to return.

Real VT: Overheard conversation in Uncommon Grounds

Sitting in Uncommon Grounds on Church Street in Burlington, drinking coffee and working on my laptop online. I'm in one of the window seats, facing the street. And yes, there is a free wireless signal here, though I'm not sure where it's coming from.

A 19ish or twentysomething woman is sitting behind me, also apparently using the signal. Suddenly a digital pop tune I've never heard starts playing. It's her cell phone. She answers it and says:

"I totally just myspaced you!"

pause.

"Nothing, I'm just coffeeing and interneting downtown."

pause.

"Not much. I was just checking email and myspacing."

pause.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. I might go to the gym. I'm about to go check my work schedule for next week."

There was more, but nothing else worth taking up space here.

Take me out to the ballgame!

An account of the Montpelier Mountaineers' opening day, from Chris Fells at From the News and Sports Desk:

Recreation Field is set back off of Elm Street, in a residential area of the city. The parking is limited, so there are always shuttle busses running from various parts of town. The park itself is one you would expect to see back in the days of baseball where there wasn't a steroid controversy, and astro turf wasn't even a thought. The park seats about 1,500 or so in one of those old fashioned covered grandstands. On many nights, you can catch fans sitting on lawn chairs down the first and third base side, which gives the kind of homey feeling to the park. Of course, one can still get their fill of hot dogs, chicken dinners, and every piece of merchandise one can eat, or wear for that matter. The park itself is surrounded by the trees that have made Vermont so famous. Being in such a wooded area makes you step back a bit, and really enjoy kicking back with a hot dog and soda(No beer, this is a family friendly environment.) and watching some good baseball.

Governor Vetoes Gender Identity Bill

Yep, Governor Douglas vetoed the gender identity bill that passed both the Vermont House and the Senate with tri-partisan support. I'm sure there will be more about this in the news in the coming days — I just came from a rally/protest/press conference at RU12? Queer Community Center. Lots of activists and pols there, including B-town mayor Bob Kiss and Reps Bill Lippert, Jason Lorber and John Tracy.

I know this isn't my usual blog fodder; I'm updating on this because I posted about it before and wanted to follow up. 

Tuesday Deadline Linkdump: Real Vermont edition

When I started 802 Online, I had this notion that I could use Vermont blogs to give people a better idea of what Vermont is really like down all those back roads that lead off into the woods. I thought of it as a kind of antidote to "the Vermont brand."

I haven't given up on that idea, but it's actually pretty difficult to find many dirt road type stories. I keep looking, though. Here's lookin' at you:

Love Suddenly: from Vermont Diary.
Hosta takeover: by the Mad Linguist of Viridis Monster.
Satan's Rockin' 666 Eve: Details from Burlingtonian Matt G. Paradise.
Full-Screen follies at a Vermont videostore: from Daily Routine.
Bluebirds at Dorset Farms: via Dorset Farms Neighborhood.
Alison gets her new book: via DTWOF: the Blog.
Pictures of birds: via Dohiyi Mir.
Sunday: via Now Norma Knits.
Power outage in Bethel: via Abada Abada.
Rollerblading on the bikepath: via 8th Nerve.
Rainville and Tarrant: via Green Mountain Daily.
Kid skiing at Jay Peak: via YouTube.
Dumb nameless drunkards: via YouTube.

This kind of hyperlinked snapshot is limited only by what's out there. Or what I know is out there, anyway. The more voices, the more diverse and more accurate it is.

Real VT: Bartering for syrup

Greg from Pages Within bartered MP3s for syrup.

So, last week marked the height of sugaring season here in Vermont, and that meant that everywhere you drove in the state you could find smoke billowing from the sides of mountains, where it before seemd impossible that houses even existed. As I rode my bike to school last week, I could swear I could smell cooking sap mixed with woodsmoke everywhere.

Ah, Vermont.

Real VT: Basketball Online

Vermont doesn't have any big name pro sports teams, but it's about to get a pro basketball team. Sports Illustrated contributor and Cornwall, Vermont, resident Alexander Wolff is organizing an ABA team dubbed the Vermont Frost Heaves. The Frosties? Heaves? will play at the Aud in Barre and at Memorial Auditorium in Burlington.

You've probably heard Wolff on VPR or seen him in the news. He's been at this awhile. One of the interesting little twists in this tale is that he's using the Internet to engage fans in his quest to put the team together. Says the Frostbite's website:

As the Frost Heaves' founder, Wolff will file regular, insider dispatches to Sports Illustrated and si.com about the birth and life of the team. Any fan who joins the Bump in the Road Club will get those updates by e-mail, and can vote over the Internet on select team matters. Eventually play-by-play of Frost Heaves games will be streamed over the Web, so people all over the world can follow every twist in the team's fortunes.

The Frost Heaves model is built for both the 21st century and Vermont: part reality series, part high-tech demonstration project, part New England town meeting, part local hero. In other words, a lot more than your typical pro basketball team.

On Monday, Wolff is letting b-ball fans vote on the Heave-ho's coach. To receive a ballot via email, you need to sign up for the Bump in the Road club. In an email, Wolff says fans will probably have 48 hours to vote once the ballots go out. Gotta be signed up by 3 pm Monday to participate.

Real VT: Seedlings

Spring. From the good folks at Old Shaw Farm in South Peacham.

Real VT: a blogosphere wedding

Bill and Emily are getting married and of course Bill announced it on his blog.

Writes the intrepid Candleblogger: "We'll be starting a web site for details and probably a blog as well when things start happening. I'll post here when that happens."

So much for those engagement announcements in the newspaper. Congrats!

Real VT: Standoff in Winooski

As a reporter for a weekly newspaper, I rarely cover breaking news, but this kerfuffle is happening just down the street from me, so I figured I'd blog it.

According to one of the camera guys from one of the local TV stations (I didn't talk to any of the police, so bear that in mind), a 59-year-old guy in the white house, last one before the convent, is holed up, drunk, with a bunch of weapons. He's been firing shots from his house, and now he's surrounded by cops, state troopers and the state trooper tactical team (a SWAT team, I guess). I ran into a few guys in full camo gear and riot-type helmets carrying what looked like high-powered rifles. Not the sort of people you usually run into in this part of Winooski.

I looked for some other mention of this drama on one of the TV station sites, but haven't seen anything yet. Did see a few of my neighbors milling about, trying to see what was going on. This is all happening two blocks or so from my house. Lots of people standing just inside their porch doors, talking on telephones, telling people about all the police cars. The camera guy said the police are hoping he comes out, but if not, they'll go in and get 'im. Right now, everybody's just waiting to see what happens. More when I know more.

UPDATE, 3/5/06: I found this link to a story about the incident on WCAX. Apparently, the guy surrendered peacefully yesterday morning. The story gets a few things wrong. Like, the standoff happened on St. Peter Street, not St. Francis (though it's across the street from St. Francis school and church), and though the people living there might have been longtime residents of Winooski, they had recently purchased that house. At least, that's what I understand from neighbors. I know the house was on the market recently. The guy is supposed to appear in court tomorrow (Monday).

The Burlington Free Press did carry a short story on the incident this morning, but it was buried in a "News Brief" section in the Vermont page. I don't think they had a reporter covering it. Well, it was big news in my neighborhood. But we're little old Winooski.

Real VT: Gender Identity at the Statehouse

I know it's not really a novelty anymore, but I can't help feel a little thrill every time I whip out my laptop and blog from the Statehouse in Montpelier. There's just something exhilerating about sneeking my slightly subversive perspective into these hallowed halls. I highly recommend the experience.

Today I'm here for the floor debate on H. 865, the gender identity and expression bill. I'm sitting in the plush Cedar Creek Room. Just got done interviewing Ace McArelton, builder and part owner of Black Sheep Books. Ace was born female, but considers himself "genderqueer." He says, "I don't feel like a man, and I don't feel like a woman. I feel like a transgender butch. That's a great way of describing it for me."

Ace is here to support the bill, along with a whole passel of queer activists. This is a shot of him in the Cedar Creek Room, sitting next to that nekkid slave lamp that caused all that fuss last year.

Also ran into Euan Bear, who recently stepped down as editor of Vermont's GLBT newspaper Out in the Mountains. I asked her what she was doing here, now that she's no longer an official member of the fourth estate. She shot back, "I'm a citizen. I'm allowed." So true, so true!

UPDATE, 6:46 p.m.: I should also mention I had a lengthy conversation with Kevin Blier, from the Center for American Cultural Renewal. He opposes the bill, which passed on a voice vote in the House tonight. I first encountered Blier at last fall's "Freedomfest," a gathering of conservative and libertarian activists looking to galvanize a new right wing in Vermont. At the time, he told a workshop I attended that defeating the gender identity bill was one of his group's top priorities this legislative session. But I guess they lost this round of that fight.

I enjoyed talking with Blier. We'd spoken over the phone briefly after I wrote a story about Freedomfest — he didn't appreciate my characterization of his organization, and let me know in no uncertain terms. But this time we spoke sitting just inches apart on one of those little Victorian-era loveseats they've got positioned throughout the Statehouse. Man, those benches are TINY.

We agreed to disagree about things like two moms raising a baby boy (I'm for it, he's against it). But I walked away really appreciating the fact that I live in a country where two people who disagree so passionately about something like that can have a civil conversation. And what better setting for that than the building in which our little state works out its differences? Man, I love the Statehouse.

UPDATE II: But wait! Burlington Rep. Jason Lorber just called me to say that there will be more debate about this bill tomorrow. Apparently it's not a done deal yet. Stay tuned... Here's a link to today's AP story about the bill.

UPDATE III, Wednesday 2:45 pm: I was listening to the legislative session today and it sounds like the House just passed H. 865, the gender identity bill. Voice vote, no debate. On to the Senate...

Real VT: How NOT to win the heart of a satanist

In case you were curious, Friday Coffeeblogging's own "special blossom" Matt G. Paradise riffs on the difficulties of being a single Satan worshipper. In a post entitled, "Women who shouldn't be attracted to me, Matt, 37, describes the various types of girls he's encountered in recent years. This is interesting and entertaining window onto this particular subculture, which I confess I know little or nothing about.

Here's Matt on "the Satan Chic Appeal," which I never even knew existed:
To the chagrin of all of those harried housewives and uptight god-fearing men, the human representation of Satan often gets the girls. Regardless of the times, it still serves as societal Spanish Fly to select women.

I never knew! And Matt on the "Mysterious Guy Appeal":
Oh, please, gals. Get over your Tim Burton movie-garnered and media-derived fixations, and find yourself some complimentarily uninspired and subculture-obsessed boy toy, posthaste. Maybe you can even dress him up like The Crow. And wouldn't that be fun?

Yes, ladies, Matt takes his Satanism seriously. So what does it take to win his heart? I asked him Friday, and he essentially said he's not telling. One of his friends overheard my question and asked, "what heart?"

Real VT: Christmas caroling Burlington style

I just came from a clever Queer Liberation Army protest. A group of the "queer elves" stood outside the General Dynamics building and sang Christmas carols. Er, sort of. They rewrote the songs for the occasion. Some lyrics from their version of "Jingle Bells":

Dashing through the snow
In leftie Burlington
Oh how much we want
Revolution

The QLA sings
Making spirits bright
Oh what fun it is
To fight the radical right!

Jingle Bells, George Bush smells,
Make him go away.
The neocon empire is in its final days, hey!

You get the idea. More in Wednesday's paper.

Real VT: Senator Leahy goes shopping

Reason # 347827859 why I love Vermont: from Hall Monitor's Darren Allen, who ran into Senator Patrick Leahy at the Hunger Mountain Food Co-op on Saturday. Leahy spent the weekend at home before returning to DC as the session winds down.

After a brief chat with the senator very much in the news lately for opposing President Bush's approach to renewing the Patriot Act -- and for angrily denouncing a domestic spying program that has Bush very much on the defensive -- he bade goodbye.

As he left the checkout line, a woman in the aisle spotted him, and started clapping loudly. Soon the entire store erupted into cheers.

I'll bet you that most senators in the country don't get that kind of a reception while stocking up on a few provisions.

I love it that it's possible to run into one of our two senators at the local co-op.

Real VT: Zephyr's new campaign

No, she's not running for anything...Russ Ellis is. Russ is a former headmaster of Rock Point School, where I worked as a dorm counselor a few years back. He's running for Burlington City Council, for a seat he used to occupy before he was unseated in the last election.

On Vermont Daily Briefing, Philip Baruth spins a good yarn about a campaign strategy session at which Zephyr Teachout volunteered to help set up Russ's email list. That's kind of like holding tryouts for your band's new drummer, and having Jon Fishman drop in and ask to back you up. Or like playing a pick-up basketball game at the Y, and having Taylor Coppenrath ask to be on your team. Or like, um, uh... I'm running out of Vermont celebrities...

Real VT: the Vermont brand

Hey, I'm live-blogging via free wi-fi from the 23rd annual Vermont Travel Industry Conference  at the uber-swank Equinox Resort in Manchester Vermont. Theme — "From Yesterday to Tomorrow: Marketing the Vermont Brand." This conference draws folks from Vermont's hospitality industry, as well as representatives from media ad departments, state government, educational institutions, etc. Needless to say, it's a well-heeled affair.

There's a lot of talk here about using the internet. There are sessions called "Websites that work for Vermont," and "Marketing your website to capture real business, though I didn't get to either one. There are also a bunch of web-related sponsors, like NoWirz, which implements wi-fi systems, and websites like ExploreNewEngland.com and VisitNewEngland.com. Oddly, though, nobody here seems to have a laptop. They're all filtering into the hotel's business center to check their email. Or maybe they've just left their laptops in their rooms.

I stopped in Rutland on the way down here, to see a nun. I saw a couple houses on Baxter Street that had peace-related displays out front, and snapped some pictures for posterity's sake. This is what comes to mind when I think of the Vermont brand — outspoken, stubborn, creative, resourceful.

UPDATE: Here's a link to the story I wrote about the conference in Manchester.

Real VT: My night with Mary Kay, the healer

New York Ex recounts a recent encounter with a group of healers. Honestly, I would stick this in the paper if I could. It's a nice little snapshot of what really goes on in those meetings you read about on flyers at the co-op.

Here's an excerpt:

...Finally, the Leader and her entourage arrived, including two rambuncious dogs. I was happy to see the dogs; they always bring a comfortable level of realness. The Leader, on the other hand, looked liked a crisper version of Mary Kay. As I bent down and asked to pet them, the Leader said in an English accent that could cut glass,

"You CAHN'T pet them."
"Oh. Really."
"No, I'm serious. You CAHN'T pet them until I get them under control."

She yanked their leashes and dragged them over to a corner, her enormous diamond glittering with the effort.

I won't say that I slunk back to my chair but I was certainly taken aback and immediately thought of Pisces, who yelled at her dog during our first phone conversation. A HUGE red flag.

This reminded me of the Campbell sisters, and their story about the spiritual teacher who lured them to Vermont. Yep, them Green Mountains are full of charlatans!

PS - I probably should have posted over the weekend, but I just couldn't bring myself to pay attention to work. I was actually going to put something up on Friday, from Friday Coffeeblogging, but Bill didn't bring his recording gizmo, so I bagged my blog post.

Happy belated Thanksgiving y'all.

Real VT: Reporting on the secessionistas

Last Friday, the Second Vermont Republic hosted an all-day conference on secession at the Statehouse in Montpelier (here's a link to my story about them in Seven Days). Some Vermont bloggers have shared thoughts on the movement. 

The folks at Vermont Commons have the official write-ups of speeches and the schedule. Here's a thumbs-down report from False 45th. And here's a colorfully snarky convention update from Yankunian at The Vermizzle, who had formerly expressed an open mind about the group. In a post titled "Hatemongering," she writes:

I rolled up just in time to hear the keynote address by James Howard Kunstler, the author of a book called The Long Emergency. The subject of his talk was “The Cheap Oil Endgame.” I guess I should have been warned by the remoteness of this topic from Vermont secession (….but petroleum has EVERYTHING to do with Vermont secession, I can hear them crying now.)

Kunstler was like Chicken Little with a New York accent and a serious crush on himself...The crowd was loving Kunstler – they applauded like crazy as he howled about the evils of the suburban lifestyle and the supreme dumbness of the American people. And they continued to applaud as his vitriol picked out a more specific target: “The Nascar fans of the South are a pretty rude group of people. They crawled out of the mud and into the middle class 20 years ago, and have limited experience with society. And they worship firearms … I think we can expect a fairly violent future ahead.”

For me, it's always been easier to focus on the positive side of Vermont’s liberal bias – the wonderful sense of community, two Independents in Congress, many good health food stores, and socially-responsible businesses. But its dark side is pretty ugly: a whole population that’s smug, self-congratulatory, and elitist. And doesn’t mind a bit of classist hatemongering on a Friday morning, just as long as it’s directed at the right kind of underclass.

After the talk ended I didn’t feel like staying for the afternoon panel about secession. I went to Capitol Grounds and scowled at the graying, Patagonia-clad, latte-drinking liberals. And then I decided that maybe the secessionists’ strategy was to make everyone else in America so sick of Vermont’s self-righteous indigation that they would be happy to part with us. If that’s their aim, I think they may actually have a shot.

Ouch. 

Real VT: Nice hair.

From the anonymous substitute teacher/lesbian/tarot reader who blogs prolifically as New York Ex: 

 Tails on Heads

New trends in Vermont middle schools: tails. On boys. Braided.

Isn't that so, like, 1986?

I just want to go up to to them and say, no, no, no! No tails!

Real VT: Snow!

Ernesto hasn't moved out yet. Yesterday, he got some snow. Wow, that's way more than I saw on the ground yesterday in Huntington.

Real VT: this Halloween is a little too happy...

I wanted to put this post in the paper, but ultimately, I decided I didn't want to embarrass these people any more than Yankunian has. From the Vermizzle, an account of a house in Waterbury that goes all out for the holidays.

Real VT: Not one, but TWO chicken pie community suppers

Jessamyn West has this first-hand account of social capital, alive and well in Central Vermont.

Says our friend the intrepid librarian: People who nod their heads and say "That is JUST how community is disintegrating" when they read Bowling Alone may want to come for a visit to Vermont during the Autumn. There is a lot of celebrating going on what with the harvest, the leaves and the last gasp before it gets too cold to really want to go anywhere. We went to chicken pie suppers in Chelsea and in East Bethel. Astute readers may remember the East Bethel Grange because it was the site of the talent show last month...

Incidentally, I'm one of those Bowling Alone fans. I interviewed Robert Putnam when he came to speak at Middlebury in March. He didn't tell me much about Vermont specifically, but he talked about how, after a hurricane or an earthquake, you see a spike in "community-mindedness" that then falls off again after awhile. I think we're in that drop-off now with the hurricane survivors.

Real VT: I almost hit a cow

I can't believe this wasn't the first thing I posted this morning. So last night a little after 8, Ann-Elise and I were driving past the dairy farm down Mallett's Bay Ave, about a mile from our house on North Street in Winooski. Suddenly, a dark shape darted out in front of the car. I thought it was a deer, or a moose, but no — it was an enormous black and white dairy cow.

I slammed on the breaks and barely missed her. The car coming towards us in the other direction wasn't so lucky — they smacked into the cow doing I guess about 35 mph, though they were slowing down as it happened, I think. Knocked the cow over. I could see its legs in the air when it rolled. But it got up and walked over to the barn! I couldn't believe it.

The driver of the car got out, shook the broken glass off her sweatshirt. Her passenger was hurt. Another driver pulled up — he had just missed the cow and had turned around to come back and tell the farmer. He corralled the hurt cow, and kept her off the road, shouting, "hey Bossy, hey Bossy, c'mon." He seemed to know what to do with her, and also seemed to know the people who owned the farm, and their neighbors, which was comforting. Other drivers stopped, and somebody went up to the house to get help with the cows. Ann-Elise and I clapped our hands and yelled at a couple other cows that had also jumped the fence, to keep them from running into the road.

It took Colchester Rescue a few minutes to get there, but they responded with ambulances, and the cops came. When we left the scene, the cows were all back in the pens, including the one that had been hit, and the EMTs were getting out the stretcher. There was nothing more we could do. I hope everybody's ok.

It's a little surreal to think that this kind of agricultural scene could play out so near our house in Winooski, the most urban, densely populated city in the state. It's definitely a different world, and it's disappearing. Treacherous cow crossing or no, I find that sad.

Real VT: freaking out in Barre

Kristen Battles-Burden of Milkweed Hill discovers a new phobia — she's afraid of yellow jackets.

I didn't know this until I found a dozen of them flying around my kitchen this weekend and, after several minutes of smushing each and every one, found myself nearly fetal on the floor of the hallway, hyperventilating, with David on the other side of the baby gate asking if I was okay.

"What's wrong mommy? Did those yellow jackets sting you?"

Me sobbing: "No, David. Mommy's is just really, really scared of them. I'm just feeling very sad right now."

Wow, that's some calm, cool and collected parenting. Way to voice your feelings! Kristen's feeling better now. To find out how they're getting rid of the pests, read on.

Real VT: Dyke Drama

New York Ex wants your dating advice. She's moving along with that woman she wrote about weeks ago, and now she's kinda stuck.

Her latest post begins:

Pisces seems to think that we can sleep naked next to each other and not have sex yet. A nice theory, for sure.

By the end, Pisces thinks New York Ex is calling her a "cocktease" — which frankly, doesn't make sense since they're both women, but whatever — and NYE says she never said that, yadda yadda. Ultimately, NYE is in a bind.

So, do I bag this chick and head home? Wait for those greener pastures; different girl, different iss.ues? Should it be this hard and roller-coastery?

Chime in here if you feel so inclined.

Real VT: A Barre Home Companion

Where the soft serve is called a cremee, the baby goats are fat and the mommies are all a bit tipsy. Via Milkweed Hill...

Real VT: Sunday afternoon at the fair

Just got back from an afternoon at the fair. Here's some disturbing photographic proof. The first photo shows some hats made by A&W Designs (check out the inscription on the one in the foreground!). The second photo is of a sign from the sideshow on the midway that my friends and I paid $2 apiece to see. Not surprisingly, the cat turned out to be pretty pathetic, and not even alive, though the 6-legged goat and 6-legged cow were both real. Last shot is from the back of one of the merch tents. The creepy stuff is always in the back. We actually had a fun time, and ate lots of greasy junk. I highly recommend the experience.

Real VT: Woman Seeking Woman

New York Ex is on the prowl. She hit the three email mark with her new potential paramour earlier today and will talk to her on the phone tonight.

I wonder if NYE will tell her about the blog? Blogging dating ethics fascinate me. How does that work? When do you tell someone you've been writing about them online?

Sometimes I tell Ann-Elise that I've written about her on my blog. She still doesn't look at it. Sigh.

Real VT: a week in the life of a rural community tech mentor

Just came across an interesting August 5 post from Jessamyn West, the former Rutland Free Library Outreach Librarian who is now working as an Americorps-funded community technology mentor in Randolph. Jessamyn writes librarian.net, but she also keeps a personal blog, and that's the one where she describes a typical week in the life of a rural tech teacher. Here's part of Wednesday's entry:

I went to a low income housing development in yet another town where I teach a regular every-other-week class to a group of mainly single mothers. This week we learned: how to filter mail in Yahoo mail, cutting and pasting between applications, what a cookie is, and how to use the Undo function. Everyone felt good by the end of it. The lady who runs the Family Center where the three-computer lab is made us all scones.

Real VT: windows to the war in Iraq

I went to Enosburg Falls last night to report on a Cindy Sheehan-related vigil there, which drew 30 people. Enosburg Falls is home to a number of National Guard soldiers deployed in Iraq. The photo shows several marchers in a procession toward the St. Matthew Episcopal Church.

NTodd at Dohiyi Mir writes frequently about the war. He asks others to share their vigil experiences.

Frank at the pro-military Cool Blue Blog is asking for donations to buy voice-activated laptops for wounded soldiers.

Who else in Vermont is covering the war? I'm still looking for Vermonter soldier blogs.

Real VT: August in Winooski

Sunflowers and a spider web. 6:30 a.m.

Real VT: Hypnosis at Higher Ground

Sarah from The 8th Nerve went to see "comedy hypnotist" Frank Santos, Jr. at Higher Ground on Saturday, with her husband Steve.

I have seen hypnotist performances before and they are always hilarious, but this time it was different, because Steve got himself hypnotized...It's one thing to see this performance of people you don't know, it's quite another to see it happen to your husband and to know without a doubt that he is not making any of it up.

Read on if you dare. Poor guy ends up doing an exotic dance to Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy."

Real VT: oh honey, honey!

Maryellen at Old Shaw Farm blogs about their first honey of the season.

Real VT: Happiness is a clean gun

I really enjoy debunking the myth that Vermonters are all hippie peaceniks. Here's Jeff Soyer, the Gay Gun Nut of Fairlee, talking about what he did during his leisurely Saturday afternoon. His post, Fondling My Gun, isn't nearly as pornographic as you might expect, though some folks may still find it offensive.

When I used to collect guitars, I would sometimes lay them all out and polish them, remove any fingerprint, tune them over and over, feel and smell the wood and laquer.  I would just revel in them, that I owned them and loved them. I'm like that with my guns...Sometimes, I treat them better than my cats. I spread them all out before me, clean them all even if they don't need it...I hold my P-45 and think, "you will protect me from EVERYTHING". I hug my Marlin .22 bolt and think, "I had you when I was 14-years-old"...

Lest anyone think this post is about more than just, er, weaponry, Jeff reminds us of his true purpose:

Firearms and the Second Amendment are all we have standing between us and a totalitarianism, fascist government dreamed-up by the leftist, liberal members of our once frontier, bold nation.

Have you fondled your guns today?

Well, have you?

Real VT: hallucinate, try not to hate, love your mate

The new INXS reality show is apparently popular among Vermont men both gay  and straight. Heather Aja, of Get Real, is talking about it, too.

Not having TV, I wouldn't know a thing about it. That's an INXS reference in the title, by the way.

You'll Meet A Lot of Nice Folks

Howdy, all!

Many thanks to Cathy for trusting me with the keys while she's out of town. I'll try to be as on top of things as she always manages to be. Any feedback will be sincerely appreciated! I'm looking forward to a fun week, since 802 Online tends to cover topics I find fascinating — particularly the development of new media, and the exploration of "Vermont-ness." On that note:

Last week I visited Rural, Vermont. You won't find this burg on the list of the 251 Club (joining info here, courtesy of Dohiyi Mir's NTodd) — it's an online version of a complete yet entirely fictional Vermont town. The site is pretty darn involved, and very "Newhart"-esque. A full cast of characters with made-up names, occupations and photos serves as the starting point for pages of chat rooms, recipes, a literary journal, a bookstore, and links to statewide business associations, events listings, and pending legislation. It hasn't been updated since 1997 or ’98, but when it was first launched it won some community site awards. I thought at first it might have been a gimmick by the VT State Department of Tourism or local chambers of commerce, but it seems to have been fashioned out of whole cloth by Advantage Type & Graphics, a design firm in West Pawlet (now defunct?). They explained why they created the site, and seemed to have big plans for future development. But that was seven or eight years ago. I wonder what happened?

Anyway, this sort of thing strikes me as somewhere between cool and really weird. I mean, it's neat that someone cared enough about what makes Vermont such a nifty place to try to distill it into an online community, but this sort of treatment risks glossing over the real problems of the real people who live here by enveloping visitors in a fog of apple-cider nostalgia. I imagine that if Rural, VT ™ (yup, the phrase is trademarked) had been chartered today, it would have taken the form of a blog.  What do you think? Does anyone know of fictional/marketing blogs in Vermont or elsewhere that walk the borderline of the reality-based community? I'm taking bets on how long it will be before Cabot, Ben & Jerry's, or another Vermont-based brand jumps on the bandwagon.

Real VT: the dangers of commuting in Vermont

Sarah from The 8th Nerve almost hit a moose the other day.

Real VT: Barre Bear

Both Ernesto Burden and his wife Kristen Battles-Burden blogged about this bear sighting in their Barre backyard. You know what they say, the familiy that blogs together stays together.

Real VT: Ah, summer

I know, I know, three of these Real VTs in one day is a little much, but I couldn't resist. From New York Ex:

Fire in June

Okay. Just got back from Jacki's and had a great dinner: yummy salad, chicken sausages...and organic burgers. Sounds great, right? A barbeque in June. Except we were SITTING BY THE FIRE. Inside. Wearing coats.

Real VT: Northfield Crime Wave

This just in, from the Northfield News 5/27/05 police report, via So Joyful!:

Received a report of a suspicious discovery at a Dickinson Drive residence. A back half of a frog was found stuck to the side window of a car in the driveway. Educated guess is that a bird flying past the car with a frog it had caught had dropped it. No other frog parts recovered.

Real VT: Tractor Love

The folks at the Old Shaw Farm are very happy with their new Farmall International Cub.

Our Cub has two sets of hydraulics (rear and belly mounted), which raise and lower racks of metal tines. The tines can be adjusted to match up inversely with the rows of veggies in each bed, and then the tines are lowered slightly below the soil level. As the tractor moves forward, the shovels and sweeps attached to the bottom of the tines disturb the soil and kill the weeds.

The things you think about in South Peacham.

Real VT: Slow down!

They post those speed limit signs for a reason. NTodd snapped this photo after an oversized load tractor trailer overturned on Rt. 58 south of Irasburg. Luckily he had been following the guy at a reasonable distance. Yes, he made sure the driver was ok before he took a picture.

BTW — I've been posting these Real VT links to other people's blogs because I've been 1) busy and 2) sick. More original reporting to come. But probably nothing as titillating as pictures from an accident scene.

Real VT: Dog v. Skunk

Katie from So Joyful!:

My dog was outside on his run (a long rope attached to the house) when the skunk wandered into the yard. Within moments, the dog was barking at the skunk, who was frightened and tried to run away.

That would have been great, had the skunk not become entangled in the rope. It was all wrapped around his feet and he was flopping around on the ground trying to get loose. Not a foot and a half away was my dog, trying desperately to get away from the smelly skunk, to no avail. I mean, how can you get away from something that's tied to the same rope as you?!