TheBanyanTree: stop the presses!
LaLinda
twigllet at gmail.com
Sun Jan 14 03:52:47 PST 2024
Congratulations, Julie, I was just telling Kevin. Yesterday about your
retiring. And, Tobie, good for you for standing up for yourself.
On Sat, Jan 6, 2024 at 7:12 PM tobie--- via TheBanyanTree <
thebanyantree at lists.remsset.com> wrote:
> Gad Zooks!
>
> Many of us remember Julie from Nerdnosh days, then Spoon and this
> current incarnation. Well known. Recognizable from the first words.
>
> I am trying to catch up after my "office" was dismantled for a few
> days and I find that "little Julie Anna Teague" is retiring. Although you
> are not exactly the retiring type, I commend your attempt to try slowing
> down. It’s good not just to slam on the brakes or put it in reverse when
> you’re going 70 mph.
>
> I read the list, your list of qualifying criteria and there was
> something you sort of glossed over. Little Julie Anna Teague is a
> phenomenal writer, deep, ironic, funny, generous, keenly observant and
> whole. We are all waiting to read what you have to tell us about life in
> the next to the fast lane.
>
> Long may you wave,
>
> Love,
>
> Tobie
>
>
>
>
> > On Jan 6, 2024, at 6:30 AM, Kitty Park via TheBanyanTree <
> thebanyantree at lists.remsset.com> wrote:
> >
> > Julie, I have no words (which is why it has taken me so long to comment)
> > for your retirement plans. Building a business at the top of a long
> list,
> > WOW! When they say retire, I don’t think this is what they had in mind!
> > But it’s your time to finally do YOU! Yahoo!!
> >
> > Kitty
> >
> > On Fri, Jan 5, 2024 at 10:27 AM Pam James via TheBanyanTree <
> > thebanyantree at lists.remsset.com <mailto:thebanyantree at lists.remsset.com>>
> wrote:
> >
> >> oh no Julie!! I LOVE the passion and I am always amazed! And I get the
> > same way when / if I get started on 'my kids'!
> >
> > All I really is my walkway and it's got loads of gorgeous lilies that
> grow
> > tall, bloom gorgeously, then die and leave ugly stalks behind to rot...
> >
> > I thought I would put a little corner garden area in my backyard.
> Whenfor
> >
> >>
> >> Carla was here we covered the area in cardboard and I 'edged' it off
> with
> >> stone-thingies from Lowe's, and then added a couple of bushes that Carla
> >> said the butterflies would love, and covered the whole thing in mulch to
> >> sit until spring. Standing at my back door, it was in the far left
> >> corner. Nobody ever goes there because all the action is in the
> far-right
> >> corner (hahahah) where the other dogs are to bark at!!! I built it all
> in
> >> the safe corner.
> >>
> >> And now it's where Bella goes to poop, and by the way, both bushes are
> >> down.... they may or may not grow back, but so far I have a corner of
> >> mulch... it's gorgeous!!
> >>
> >> On Fri, Jan 5, 2024 at 10:19 AM Teague, Julie Anna via TheBanyanTree <
> >> thebanyantree at lists.remsset.com <mailto:thebanyantree at lists.remsset.com>>
> wrote:
> >>
> >>> No worries, Pam. There are easy things to grow. And the cut flower
> >>> business is just a whole 'nother level of work so they have long stems
> >> and
> >>> a long vase-life and different varieties than you find as plants at the
> >>> nursery. Ain't nobody got time for that unless you are planning on
> >> making
> >>> a buck off the effort. My old method of having a nice flower garden:
> 1.
> >>> throw some plants in the ground and the ones that live, live, and 2. Go
> >> to
> >>> the flower nursery in May like ever-buddy else and get whatever they
> got.
> >>> In other words, I was pretty much like you until I went nuts on this
> >> thing,
> >>> and I still managed to have flowers blooming. Okay, maybe I've been
> >>> somewhat nuts about it for a long time. But you can have flowers, too,
> >> with
> >>> just the method you are using. Although I think I mentioned to you,
> Pam,
> >>> that I could get you a list of things that can be treated like old
> shoes
> >>> and still thrive in your garden. The ONE rule you can't really ignore
> in
> >>> gardening at any level is "Right plant in the right place."
> >>>
> >>> And now I'll cease and desist on the gardening talk. I'm hell at
> >>> parties--you don't want to get me going on the subject. Most of my
> >> victims
> >>> start nodding off and heading to the drinks table after five minutes.
> >>>
> >>> Julie
> >>>
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: TheBanyanTree <thebanyantree-bounces at lists.remsset.com <mailto:
> thebanyantree-bounces at lists.remsset.com>> On Behalf
> >>> Of Pam James via TheBanyanTree
> >>> Sent: Friday, January 5, 2024 7:53 AM
> >>> To: A comfortable place to meet other people and exchange your own
> >>> *original* writings. <thebanyantree at lists.remsset.com <mailto:
> thebanyantree at lists.remsset.com>>
> >>> Cc: Pam James <pamjamesagain at gmail.com <mailto:pamjamesagain at gmail.com
> >>
> >>> Subject: Re: TheBanyanTree: stop the presses!
> >>>
> >>> So you just killed me on ever wanting a flower again!!
> >>> holytediouscrap!!!!!!!!!! NO WONDER I could never get much to grow
> >> around
> >>> here!!
> >>>
> >>> If they weren't tough enough to land in any ole sized hole, at any ole
> >>> whatever depth, then they just didn't have what it took to survive my
> >> vida
> >>> loca!!!!!
> >>>
> >>> hahahahahaa!!! I brain can't do all that and I so freaking applaud the
> >>> wiring in your brain that DOES!!!!!!!!! Rock on Jules!!!!!!!!!!!!
> >>>
> >>> On Thu, Jan 4, 2024 at 5:08 PM Teague, Julie Anna via TheBanyanTree <
> >>> thebanyantree at lists.remsset.com <mailto:
> thebanyantree at lists.remsset.com>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Linda asked, are they micro mini flowers that I'm growing?
> >>>> Ha. No, just a micro-mini sized "farm". There will be some very big,
> >>>> beautiful flowers (God willing and the creek don't rise) and some
> >>>> micro-mini flowers. There will be lots of flowers of all sizes and
> >>>> colors. Everywhere I can squeeze in a flower on my .3 acres (minus
> >>>> house), I'm squeezing one in. First up: daffodils of many varieties.
> >>>> I've planted
> >>>> 200 or 300, I've lost count, and tulips, both the elegant, single,
> >>>> long-stemmed types and the fancy frilly types. I prefer the single
> >>>> long-stemmed beauties. I've planted 600. I think. I have records of
> >>> all
> >>>> of this somewhere. These have all been planted as bulbs in the
> Autumn
> >>> and
> >>>> thank God we had a long autumn. I also have ranunculus which grow
> >>>> from corms that look like a tiny octopi. I've been growing them in
> >>>> low tunnels since late Fall and babying them along, covering and
> >>>> uncovering them at mother nature's whim. They like cold, but not too
> >>>> cold. They don't like a lot of wind. They like water, but not
> >>>> standing water, and god forbid you get their leaves wet and don't give
> >>>> them enough air circulation to get dry. They are one of the
> >>>> Goldilocks of the flower world but I love them beyond reason. This is
> >>>> my first time growing ranunculus, so it's all a big, somewhat
> >>>> expensive experiment, and really, if you have any mojo to spare, send
> >> it
> >>> to my ranunculus patch, I beg you.
> >>>>
> >>>> As for annuals, I'm growing snapdragons (my favorite), zinnias,
> >>>> sunflowers, lisianthus, cosmos, love-in-a-mist, sweet peas, feverfew,
> >>>> daucus, dill, ammi, poppies, scabiosa (a terrible name for a flower,
> >>>> IMO), angelonia, buplurem (excuse me), and many, many dahlias--which
> >>>> are actually perennial here only if one can keep the corms alive in
> >>>> one of the complicated and highly debated methods usually involving
> >>>> being dug up at the exact right stage, separated at exact points with
> >>>> a large, sharp, sterilized knife, and stored at exactly 35 to 45F
> >>>> degrees and at least 80 percent humidity. I'm not making any of this
> >>>> up. Dahlias are a ridiculous amount of work in my zone but they are
> >>>> the main flower of most flower farmers because man do they bloom.
> >>>> They bloom until you are almost (but never entirely) tired of them
> >>>> blooming. Most dahlias have names and are collected by dahlia freaks.
> >>>> I mean lovers. I can't get my hands on a Kelgai Anne at any price but
> >>> anyone will sell me Linda's Baby. Even Linda.
> >>>> I will probably get a year out of them and then kill them all in
> >> storage.
> >>>> I have some withering in storage right now, in fact. All of this
> >> stuff
> >>>> needs to be staked or netted or nursed, started from seed on certain
> >>>> dates and moved out on other certain dates, all based on a last frost
> >>>> date which is never the same date two years running and can vary by a
> >>>> month. The seeds need darkness to germinate or they need light to
> >>>> germinate--and don't mix that up or you get zilch--and must be allowed
> >>>> to sprout on a heat mat unless they are the ones who despise any kind
> >>>> of heat and must be kept at a comfy, cool 65F. There are those that
> >>>> must be started in pots indoors to have a snowball's chance in hell,
> >>>> and those that can only be started in the ground because their roots
> >>>> must not be disturbed at all costs. It's a miracle that the world has
> >>>> a bounty of lovely cut flowers, is all I'm saying. If I end up with a
> >>> few handfuls, I should consider myself lucky.
> >>>> I've got a stack of books and five thousand internet bookmarks, all of
> >>>> which I'm reading and reviewing and researching nearly any minute that
> >>>> I'm not working/eating/sleeping.
> >>>>
> >>>> All of these tricky-trickster annuals, the meat and potatoes of any
> >>>> flower business of any size down to micro-mini, are built around a
> >>>> foundation of perennials I've planted and have been keeping happy for
> >>>> two years now at the "new" old house. The "new" old house had nary a
> >>>> plant other than one very ancient lilac and a few scruffy, prickly,
> >>>> ugly shrubs that need to be dug out. I have several roses now--two
> >>>> el-cheapo floribunda roses that bloom their pea-pickin' hearts out
> >>>> despite being the commoners of the rose world, readily available at
> >>>> Kroger or Home Depot, or maybe because they are the commoners of the
> >>>> rose world. They try hard and refuse to be humbled despite living
> >>>> cheek by jowl with seven heirloom or David Austen roses--roses with
> >>>> names and pedigrees. Two more will arrive with their lineage papers
> >>>> in the Spring. Our Lady of Shallot and Anne Harkness shall join HRH
> >>>> Queen of Sweden, who is currently slumming out back with the likes of
> >>>> Hot Cocoa (that tart!) and the rest of the gang. I should really give
> >>>> names to the floribundas---I think Nelda (red) and Patsy (orangey
> >>>> pink) will work. I'm putting in Heritage mums for late October blooms
> >>>> (they probably have names but I'm trying not to get too attached yet),
> >>>> peonies (which definitely have names which one really should
> >>>> remember), coneflower, daisies, alliums, achillea, buddleia, lavender,
> >>> sage, false indigo, foxglove, geum, and natives like joe pye weed,
> >>> larkspur, and others.
> >>>>
> >>>> It's a lot. I feel like I'm working on a PhD in flower
> >>>> growing/tending/harvesting. And don't get me started on harvesting.
> >>>> Everything is harvested in a certain way, put into a certain temp of
> >>>> water, at a certain time of day. Or else, they say! It's a lot.
> >>>>
> >>>> Julie
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> -----Original Message-----
> >>>> From: TheBanyanTree <thebanyantree-bounces at lists.remsset.com> On
> >>>> Behalf Of LaLinda via TheBanyanTree
> >>>> Sent: Thursday, January 4, 2024 2:24 PM
> >>>> To: A comfortable place to meet other people and exchange your own
> >>>> *original* writings. <thebanyantree at lists.remsset.com>
> >>>> Cc: LaLinda <twigllet at gmail.com>
> >>>> Subject: Re: TheBanyanTree: stop the presses!
> >>>>
> >>>> OKAY!
> >>>>
> >>>> So, I gotta ask, are the flowers mini-micro?
> >>>>
> >>>> On Thu, Jan 4, 2024 at 12:56 PM Teague, Julie Anna via TheBanyanTree <
> >>>> thebanyantree at lists.remsset.com> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> Dear Tree Folk, some of you have known me forever and a day, and
> >>>>> during the whole time you've known me, I've been here at a computer
> >>>>> screen, pressing my silly little keys and keeping my silly little
> >>>>> life afloat by writing computer programs which ostensibly provide
> >>>>> those-in-charge with the information they need to keep charging.
> >>>>> Well, I did some calculations this morning. Or, rather, I opened
> >>>>> the handy-dandy Excel spreadsheet in which I had previously coded
> >>>>> and saved the calculations almost three years ago (when the numbers
> >>>>> seemed impossibly high and nearly insurmountable). And what these
> >>>>> calculations told me, in the form of a single number with a lot of
> >>>>> backstory, is this--
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Ahem.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Little Julie Anna Teague,
> >>>>>
> >>>>> who was born into a dirt poor family in Nowheresville, Indiana
> >>>>> (population 500), who has worked her entire life at jobs with
> >>>>> varying degrees of meaningfulness, including almost 41 years for
> >>>>> Indiana University, who has written a story or two, climbed a
> >>>>> mountain or ten, and been owned by a cat or twenty (and currently
> >>>>> one very spoiled dog), who has done yoga, breathwork, meditation,
> >>>>> acupuncture, reiki, vision-boarding, primal screaming, long distance
> >>>>> running, art therapy, sound therapy, talk therapy, and several
> >>>>> things that were self-destructive but felt good at the time, who has
> >>>>> loved and lost and loved again, ad nauseam, etc., and so forth, who
> >>>>> has tried always to be kind and giving to her friends and family and
> >>>>> animals and the environment and other good causes, who has scraped
> >>>>> and saved, made do and paid off, re-used and re-grouped, eaten all
> >>>>> the leftovers and composted all the scraps, and raised two damn good
> >>>>> kids,
> >>>>>
> >>>>> has FORTY-NINE actual working days left in her working life at
> >>>>> Indiana University.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Forty-nine. LESS THAN FIFTY DAYS, FOLKS, and, to paraphrase the
> >>>>> great MLK, I am free at last, free at last, Thank God Almighty, I am
> >>>>> free at last to live my life no longer beholden to a forty hour work
> >>>>> week or shackled to my computer with the proverbial golden handcuffs.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I get the key to the handcuffs in forty-nine days, and guess what,
> >>>>> they aren't real gold anyway. I've mostly stopped worrying that
> >>>>> I'll end up eating cat food, but getting my teeth cleaned twice a
> >>>>> year will become my budget luxury item.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> And before anyone responds with, "You'll need a PLAN to get through
> >>>>> your retired days." I think every person I've told has said that to
> >>>>> me. No worries, I have plans. I have grandkids to nurture and am
> >>>>> gaining two more in the Spring. I have reading, classes, art, and
> >>>>> volunteering I want to do. And my big plan, already in the works
> >>>>> for many months now, is that I'm starting a micro-sized flower farm
> >>>>> in my urban back yard and will be selling at the Farmer's market.
> >>>>> It is hard work, but it's the work of my heart and never feels like
> >>>>> work. I can be in my garden all day every day, doing the crappiest
> >>>>> of garden tasks, and come in exhausted and filthy and with my back
> >>>>> aching, and it
> >>>> still feels more like joy than work.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> So, that's where I'm at. Let the countdown commence.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Julie
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Need to change your name, email address, or password? Or have you
> >>>>> forgotten your password? Go here:
> >>>>> http://lists.remsset.com/listinfo.cgi/thebanyantree-remsset.com
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> --
> >>>>
> >>>> ^v^
> >>>> ,/'^-,/'^v-^v ^v^
> >>>> v^\/ ^-,-^ ^,-v^
> >>>> ^v '-^ ^-, ^v
> >>>> v^v^ v^ v^ v ^v^
> >>>> { { \ \// } }
> >>>> } } |``| { {
> >>>> { { / / \ \ } } ________________( )_______
> >>>> ---
> >>>> ----
> >>>>
> >>>> Need to change your name, email address, or password? Or have you
> >>>> forgotten your password? Go here:
> >>>> http://lists.remsset.com/listinfo.cgi/thebanyantree-remsset.com
> >>>>
> >>>> Need to change your name, email address, or password? Or have you
> >>>> forgotten your password? Go here:
> >>>> http://lists.remsset.com/listinfo.cgi/thebanyantree-remsset.com
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>> Need to change your name, email address, or password? Or have you
> >>> forgotten your password? Go here:
> >>> http://lists.remsset.com/listinfo.cgi/thebanyantree-remsset.com
> >>>
> >>> Need to change your name, email address, or password? Or have you
> >>> forgotten your password? Go here:
> >>> http://lists.remsset.com/listinfo.cgi/thebanyantree-remsset.com
> >>>
> >>
> >> Need to change your name, email address, or password? Or have you
> >> forgotten your password? Go here:
> >> http://lists.remsset.com/listinfo.cgi/thebanyantree-remsset.com
> >>
> >
> > Need to change your name, email address, or password? Or have you
> forgotten your password? Go here:
> http://lists.remsset.com/listinfo.cgi/thebanyantree-remsset.com
>
> At my first meeting of the faculty wives club of the University of
> California at Berkeley way back pre post feminism:
>
> Other wife looking at my name tag: Hello. What does your husband do?
>
> I: I’m a musician.
>
> Other wife: No. I asked, "what does your husband do?"
>
> I: He married a musician.
>
>
>
>
>
> Tobie Helene Shapiro
> tobie at shpilchas.net <mailto:tobie at shpilchas.net>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Need to change your name, email address, or password? Or have you
> forgotten your password? Go here:
> http://lists.remsset.com/listinfo.cgi/thebanyantree-remsset.com
>
--
^v^
,/'^-,/'^v-^v ^v^
v^\/ ^-,-^ ^,-v^
^v '-^ ^-, ^v
v^v^ v^ v^ v ^v^
{ { \ \// } }
} } |``| { {
{ { / / \ \ } } ________________( )_______
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