After putting my beauty booty to bed I decided to spend the rest of the evening with PJ Harvey. I listened to Terri Gross' interview from last year and downloaded "Let England Shake" which is brilliant and devastating. This is an album about war, death, beauty, country loyalty, home and is a big departure from much of Harvey's previous work in that it seems like she has moved beyond the personal and into the inspired.

War photographer, Seamus Murphy directed 12 short films to accompany the songs on the album.

Here are PJ Harvey's words:


"Death was everywhere,
in the air
and in the sounds
coming off the mounds
of Bolton's Ridge.
Death's anchorage.
When you rolled a smoke
or told a joke,
it was in the laughter
and drinking water
it approached the beach
as strings of cutters,
dropped into the sea and lay around us.

Death was in the ancient fortress,
shelled by a million bullets
from gunners, waiting in the copses
with hearts that threatened to pop their boxes,
as we advanced into the sun
death was all and everyone.

Death hung in the smoke and clung
to 400 acres of useless beachfront.
A bank of red earth, dripping down death
now, and now, and now
in the air
and in the sounds
coming off the mounds
of Bolton's Ridge.
Death's anchorage.
Death was in the staring sun,
fixing its eyes on everyone.
It rattled the bones of the Light Horsemen
still lying out there in the open

as we, advancing in the sun
sing "Death to all and everyone.""

A whole week off from school.
Strange. But not uncalled for. The road conditions since late Tuesday have been increasingly challenging with the latest ice storm impossible to drive in.
We have been told it will soon melt but as of now, 9:30 am we still have an inch of ice covering everything.

Last night we built another fire (we are running out of wood), made popcorn(the last of it) and watched Singing in the Rain. Booty laughed hysterically at the part of the movie when Donald O'Connor sings, Make 'em Laugh.

Our fish, Sophie and Lena (not related to Lena Lamont) are doing very well. They do seem a bit food obsessed but we too have been a little food glutted during this storm. I believe I reached the sugar-saturation stage experienced by most shut ins yesterday afternoon after demolishing a Lindt orange liquor and Dark chocolate bar with a slice of Wednesday's granola crumble apple pie.

Time for us to get out!

Recorded two days ago in Seattle.

Now an ice storm.
Booty is outside on the back pork attacking the ice-crutsted snow with a small rake.
We have an ice phenomena happening today that doesn't usually happen (well snow doesn't usually happen either) in this area.

If you are from the Northeast this kind of thing is commonplace but if you know a little about weather and how it is affected by the geography etc. you know that sometimes events like this are so addictive. I can't get enough information.

For more good Seattle area weather information check out this awesome blog:

Cliff Mass'

Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King Jr.!
We have had one seriously exciting week!



We were so excited to see how Booty would react to her first snow. So thrilled that Mr. D was able to witness it, (and take a picture or two).





Tuesday and Wednesday our school called a snow day. We ended up making apple pie, soup, pancakes, setting up an aquarium...



Building a fire, reading and playing lots and lots of Mancala and Uno.



And it feels pretty complete. However, we have another snow day tomorrow. That leaves us with one day of school this week.

Tonight I sang the Martin Luther King song for Booty,

"We bake a cake. We blow it out.
Happy Martin Luther King we shout.
I have a dream, he said
All people hand in hand
Working and singing throughout the land."