Walk to defeat ALS and Folkies For Eric

No one knows me long before I start sharing music with them.
Music is a driving force in my life. And musicians are special people to me.
I've had the great joy of knowing Eric Lowen, of Lowen and Navarro, as singer and songwriter with a gift of storytelling without being maudlin.
You might know his big hit, "We Belong." As in Pat Benetar, 'fess up, children of Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Eric lives with ALS, a degenerative disease that steals your mobility inch by inch.
ALS is an evil existance, and I for one will not stand idly by and let it continue without research and support for the folks and families dealing with it.
So I'm walking Sept 12 in honor of Eric and his light with the Rocky Mountain Capter of the ALS Association.
Thier slogan is walk because you can. I'm walking because I cannot NOT do it.

http://walks.alscolorado.org/index.php?s=42&group_id=41

and www.lownav.com

Getting Frugal

So the time has come for me to get serious about grocery prices.
List? Helps.
Coupons? Not so much, as I rarely use name brand. I need a Sunflower Market 20c off a pound of almonds or some such.
So, I'm designing a price book.
Basically, a price book lists an item, say, tofu, and the price at each store.
A page (and the template I'm using is 3x5: index card sized) has the item at the top, rows for the stores (four in my situation for now) that list the size, cost, and unit price.
like this:

Denver Tofu

Vitamin Cottage 1 lb 2.09
Sunflower --not available
Whole Foods/ Louisiana Pearl--1 lb 1.99
WF /HR 1 lb 2.09
King Soopers 1 lb 1.99

This allows a shopper to know straightaway where the deal is...and if you should pass in a given store.
I will also place a note on travel time. All trips cost the same on the train/bus, but the time involved can be diverse.

Anyone using a price book?


My template idea was taken from Dollar Stretcher:
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/09/09apr06j.cfm

Pete Seeger should be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize

And it was my metalhead son who sent me the petition.
Here's the link:
http://www.petitionthem.com/default.asp?sect=detail&pet=3774
So why do I think Seeger should be honored so?
His work with social justice, environmental causes and his spreading of peace through his music for so many years.
And let's not forget how he handled McCarthy's witch hunts.

Well, Feb. 21 is this blog's new year

Or, I fail at posting weekly.
I've had my son here for several weeks and have been out of pocket. Even took my second week of vacation to hang out with him
Having a late-teen son is a blizzard of think-on-your-feet choices.
He wants a purple stripe in his hair? OK. All of it? Not so OK.
He has the stripe. Looks good.
Luckily my years of communist hippie vegetarian indoctrination ...er... modeling healthy food choices.. have paid off with a son who eats salads at all meals and has no great desire for large amounts of meat.
He goes through yogurt, however.

More importantly, he's mentally creating his life beyond living with parents.
He's delaying secondary education. He wants to work in the music industry as a tech and eventually be a sound engineer. His big dream right now is running a recording studio/distribution network for bands who don't want to go the A&R / big label route.

I discovered what it is like to simply consult and have little control over the decisions made.
This is my time for letting go of the child I bore and accept the almost adult I raised.

Thanks, Kiddo, for reminding me that choices have size.