Ceallaigh's Blog
Please Note: My work on the next ConLangs 101 entry is ongoing, but it will probably be another week before I post it, and I'll be moving to a monthly posting cycle for that series going forward. The research and writing for those entries is somewhat time-intensive, and there has been some minor movement in my efforts to place my novel series (though certainly nothing reportable as yet), so I'm eager to stay on that task. Thanks for understanding, and I hope you enjoy this Activism Update. ~ C.S.M.
In this edition of Activism Updates, I'm reviewing Will Potter's book Green Is the New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege. Potter is a journalist who begins investigating the "Green Scare" after being threatened with a domestic terrorist label for participating in a peaceful leafleting campaign against animal testing lab Huntingdon Life Sciences. His investigation leads him to associate the targeting of environmental and animal activists with the McCarthyism of the 1950s, and while he doesn't gloss the sabotage of property some activists have perpetrated, he does make a compelling argument against the escalation of anti-green rhetoric by uncovering its origins.
I've written before that my husband engages in vegan advocacy online by way of direct interaction with people and the issues they discuss around the topic. Often this approach works well, but as with all conversations on the Internet, sometimes it brings the bridge wardens out from underneath their charges, if you know what I mean.
Responsible Ceallaigh: Well, I've ordered copies of Batman #1 and Batgirl #6 to complete my collection. Now it's time to get to work!
Organizational Ceallaigh: You know, if you finished that unread stack of comic books on your desk, you could put them in the read stack and bag and board them all together this morning.
Geek Ceallaigh: (whispering) That's right! You tell her!
Responsible Ceallaigh: (eyes the stack) Well, I *am* collector as well as a reader, and I *do* want to keep them nice...
Geek Ceallaigh: (with pom poms) Read the comics! Read the comics!
Responsible Ceallaigh: No, I can read them after I finish my edits, and they're not going to suffer any damage where they are.
Geek Ceallaigh: (pouts)
Organizational Ceallaigh: I tried.
I received a call from Hope for Wildlife this morning about a newborn seal pup in Shelburne whose mother had been killed. The pup was so young it still had its umbilical cord attached, and the folks who rescued it had to cut it free from a stand of tall grass. Once they freed the pup, they began to feed it cow's milk and sardine juice and called Hope, who told them to stop. (For the record, unflavored Pedialyte provides electrolytes to thirsty wildlife babies and is usually safe to use in hydration. Beyond that, it's important not to feed them except under the supervision of a veterinarian or wildlife rescue person). Shelburne is a solid two and a half hours away from here, so Sean and I hopped in the car and headed down. Three quarters of the way there, I received a call from the folks who had the pup. Apparently, its mother wasn't dead after all and had returned. They put the pup back on the beach, and the mother took over, nudging it into the ocean.
Last night's Na Sgeulaichean "The Storytellers" was a great success and tremendous fun. We had fiddle tunes, songs and stories aplenty along with homemade, vegan oatcakes (Thank you, Norma!), tea, coffee and other treats. We gave away an awesome basket of Gaelic goodies that alas, I didn't win, a 50/50 pot and a music CD. Doug and I weren't completely awful as emcees, and both Cathy and her daughters worked tirelessly before, during and after the event to make certain everyone else had a good time. Today, therefore, I am content.
My husband and I take very different approaches to activism. While I'm more rescue and writing focused, he's an advocate and excellent vegan cook. Together, we make a fairly well-rounded team, but until now you've only heard from one of us. That changes with this guest entry, which will hopefully be one of many going forward.
I asked him to write something about our love for human animals, since vegans are often accused of sacrificing them in favor of the non-human variety. What he gave me was the following excellent discussion of the physical and psychological benefits of the vegan diet. So without further preamble, I give you my husband and fellow activist, Sean P.O. MacCath-Moran.
I'm past-due for two blog entries; the Activism Updates series post, which will be up tomorrow with a guest article by activist, engineer, scone chef and husband Sean MacCath-Moran. The other is the ConLangs 101 series post, which has been delayed by the slow death of my laptop and the setup of my new computer. I plan to have that one up by Monday next.
Greetings Everyone,
Welcome to Issue #3 of my quarterly newsletter, posted to www.csmaccath.com and e-mailed to subscribers on around Beltane 2012.
It's becoming increasingly difficult for me to format posts that look good on my web site and on LiveJournal at the same time, since LiveJournal imposes certain restrictions on formatting that I find somewhat limiting and difficult to work around. With this last conlangs post, these restrictions crossed the boundary from limiting to flat-out time sink, so with rare exception, I'm only posting teasers to LJ from now on. You'll be able to follow a link on each teaser to the full entry on my web site, where you'll also be able to comment, if you like. I know it's an extra step, but my web site is comment-friendly now, so I hope you'll feel comfortable there.
This second post in the ConLangs 101 series is intended to help English monoglots begin to think outside the structure of English-language communication. It isn't comprehensive by any means, but I hope that by the end if it you'll feel a little less dependent upon your mother tongue as you begin to experiment with language construction. You polyglots will have already internalized many of these concepts, but I hope you might be encouraged to range even farther afield with the languages you construct.