Hawk's Eyrie

merhawk @ 2017-01-04T22:41:00

2017-01-05T06:41:09Z

Due to the LiveJournal servers being moved to Russia, the removal of https security from the platform, and the fact that the Russian government has been censoring and causing issues for Russian dissidents who use this service, I will no longer be posting to it and very probably no longer reading it either.

I'm over at Dreamwidth with the same user name. I'm also on Tumblr and G+; ask if you can't figure out those logins and you want to subscribe. I don't plan to delete this journal (at least not yet), but I will be cleaning it up and deleting entries that are mirrored at DW.

merhawk @ 2016-08-31T21:17:00

2016-09-01T04:18:18Z

This is amazingly hilarious and disturbing at the same time.

Australia is beautiful: See a hawk literally throw a snake at an innocent family

talons / Rake your talons / Link

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Street harassment

2016-08-24T00:48:09Z

Today while taking my walk, I ended up in an intersection with a male waiting for the light to change. I was talking with a friend on the phone, and noticed that he had angled himself to look me over like a piece of meat.

Hawk: crosses arms across chest and glares, while moving away from him.
Pervert: continues to obviously stare at my chest.
Hawk (talking on phone loudly): There's a pervert here looking me over. He's being incredibly skeezy staring me up and down.
Pervert: Moves behind pillar to make it look as if he's not looking me up and down.
Hawk (talking on phone loudly): No, he just moved behind the pillar thinking that makes him less of a slime ball. He's still starting at my T&A
Pervert: checks me out one last time and then slinks farther behind pillar so he can't actually see me.

My friend thought I should be flattered that he finds me good looking (guess I've lost enough weight, right!) but it's just sleazy and lewd. If it hadn't been a busy street corner, I wouldn't be surprised if he'd tried to put hands on me.

It is NOT a compliment when you're just walking on the street and get looked up and down and all around. This is not the first time it's happened to me, and unfortunately it's not going to be the last. Hopefully, by calling him out loudly and publicly, he'll think twice about his actions. Because, no matter what anyone says, it's not my responsibility to dress in a burqa to stop the male gaze. I shouldn't have to police my clothes to make sure that I'm not harassed. Men who are doing it (and women too - I've been sexually assaulted by a woman before at a friend's party) need to own their own behavior and not harass women. This isn't a woman problem, this is a harasser problem.

So let's start letting them know even more that their behavior is unacceptable. They need to be called out. And usually by someone who is like them; I'm just the "other". I'm the bitch that doesn't know how to take a compliment. I'm the frigid slut because I don't want to have their attention. I'm whatever excuse they want to make, to make it all about me not being willing to have their gaze/hands all over me. What if this had been a woman a little less sure of herself? Or too young to know how to handle it? I have nieces at the age that people like this start harassing. I don't want them to have to go through what I've had to. I don't want them to have to tell their friends "Oh, it wasn't so bad. It wasn't rape at least." [Yes, that's what I said to my friend on the phone when she was horrified that it had happened.] I want them to have the freedom to be able to not understand how it happens.

talons / Rake your talons / Link

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Stereotypes need to go away

2016-08-04T19:29:20Z

Look, I'm all about getting to a world we have enough representation of various groups that these sorts of videos are just random coincidence and aren't representative of subconscious biases. Until we get to that world, however, can people please check themselves before putting something like this out?

It's not like it's that difficult to check on this one. Blond hair, pale woman purchasing car? Check. Black choir in the background singing to support the white woman? Check. The singing is supporting her buying on impulse & emotion instead of facts about the car? Check. Is this commercial using tons of stereotypes? Check. Should we revamp it to be less stereotyped? Yes!!

If only they'd done that last check before putting this out on the national stage.

2016 Honda Fit | Honda Summer Clearance Event

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Fascinating studies on asthma

2016-08-04T19:11:25Z

Amish's low asthma rates could be due to exposure to cow germs, study suggests
The Amish may be farming the cure for asthma in barnyard animals

Fascinating study. I hope that they can figure out the exact triggers and help with asthmatic cases.

talons / Rake your talons / Link

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merhawk @ 2016-08-03T14:08:00

2016-08-03T21:09:26Z

Hummingbirds use hawks as their bodyguards.

Raptors are amazing. *grin*

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Bird Fight!

2016-07-31T17:09:44Z

Bird v Bird fighting action FTW?

From Tumblr

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Humor

2016-07-29T18:57:53Z

I'm finding this way too funny.
‘You’re’ not ‘your’: Estonian president corrects illiterate Trump fan’s grammar

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Unexpectedness

2016-07-29T18:37:47Z

I've got music on in the background, and a random political satire song from the Capitol Steps came up. It's from their 1994 album "Stand by your Dan" entitled Gorby Gorbachev. The line that caught my attention was ..."there’s a guy who told that Donald Trump my schedule’s got no room..."

So it seems that the corridors of power know that Trump's been colluding with the Russian's for over 20 years. 😏

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Presented without comment

2016-07-27T22:20:25Z

Stop Worrying

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Duke'd again!

2016-07-27T22:17:49Z

In the "you need to find something to laugh at so you don't start crying" category:
Duke’s fulmination is clarifying on a variety of points. First, it makes clear that the white supremacist has never actually eaten gefilte fish, because he thinks it’s something someone would want to win in a bet.

In World’s Least Surprising Twist, David Duke Blames Melania Trump’s Plagiarism on the Jews

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Don't stare into its eyes

2016-07-23T18:47:58Z

Cthulhu pie

I'm not a pie maker, but I wish I was now. Cthulhu pie looks amazing!

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Getting rid of double standards

2016-07-22T22:14:51Z

Jordan Klepper investigates why evangelicals think Donald Trump is the best at G-d.

This interview is really good. There’s always a cognitive dissidence where people justify why a person they like did something bad (ex/ this pastor excused Donald Trump being an adulterer) and blaming someone they don’t like for the same thing (ex/ The same pastor says without any irony that it’s Hillary Clinton’s fault that Bill cheated on her.)

That cognitive dissidence is even more disgusting once you realize that it’s not just about praising someone you like, but it’s about making it the woman’s fault that the man can’t keep it in their pants. If Hillary or Ivana were better wives, their husband’s would never have cheated. And if those other women hadn’t tempted Donald and Bill, they wouldn’t have cheated. It’s infantilizing men by saying that they don’t have to be responsible for their actions. Additionally, it demonizes women by saying that they are temptresses that men can’t resist unless they cover themselves up/hide away.

How about we teach all our children to be respectful of each other and to take responsibility for our own actions? I promise you, we’ll create a stronger society when we make everyone responsible for their own self.

talons / Rake your talons / Link

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Never again

2016-07-22T21:19:37Z

George Takei Pleads With Latino Voters Not to Elect Donald Trump in Powerful Video

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
-Martin Niemöller

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1 down, another 1 to go

2016-07-21T23:35:43Z

1 down, and a second one decided to get into the IRS scam game. At least they pretended it was a different fake lawyer this time! Reblocked, FTC complaint in, this was seemingly called from the same number that they want you to call back on.

I went the full force of the united states government to fall on these people. For me, it's just a nuisance. For many people, they fall for it and can lose their savings.

They deserve pretty much any penalty they get if they are actually arrested.

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"Dear" IRS robocall scam people

2016-07-21T23:18:54Z

"Dear" IRS robocall scam people,

Don't screw around with someone who has nothing else to do other than recover from surgery. I listened to your entire scare call, got the actual phone number that is supposed to be used to call you back at, and reported your idiot tuches' to the FTC.

Have fun explaining yourself to the government. They might not take all the scams seriously, but they do take the IRS one.

Enjoy!

Hawk

P.S. I love using the "block contact" number on my iPhone. Have fun trying to get through to me again for a while!

talons / Rake your talons / Link

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merhawk @ 2016-07-18T19:16:00

2016-07-19T02:17:59Z

Fascinating article. My spondylolisthesis can cause bad cramping, so it's always nice to read of ways to help prevent them.

A New Way to Prevent Muscle Cramps

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Political humor

2016-07-12T06:08:10Z

An amusing (to me at least) take on it all:
Donald Trump's Racist Tweet Problem-The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

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Guns

2016-07-08T16:47:36Z

I went on a bit of a gun rant on tumblr. I get really annoyed when incomplete statistics are used to justify gun regulations. We need gun regulation - don't get me wrong - but let's do it with the complete story rather than the scare tactics.

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merhawk @ 2016-07-01T00:03:00

2016-07-01T07:04:37Z

Sorry, but this new Apple patent could stop you from Snapchatting at concerts

This is dangerous technology. Sure, they talk about using it to block people from recording concerts. However, I can easily see it expanded to blocking people enacting their free speech rights, from recording police actions, etc. If you're from the SF Bay Area, you might recall when the BART police put cell phone blockers in the BART stations to keep protestors from organizing to protest the death of Oscar Grant by a BART police officer.

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merhawk @ 2016-06-30T12:25:00

2016-06-30T19:29:04Z

Via Tumblr: Video: President Obama Demonstrates 5 Things That Are Harder Than Registering to Vote

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Jewelry update

2016-05-20T00:49:29Z

Looks like I haven’t updated with any new jewelry pictures since November. What’s that all about!? Here are things I’ve worked on in the interim.

This is a remake of a previous iteration of this necklace. I liked it before, but thought it was too much moss agate. So I ripped it apart, added some silver findings, and slightly shortened its length.

This necklace is primarily onyx, with peridot findings instead of silver. In between the peridot are alternating pieces of garnet and amethyst. The silver finding has mixed carnelian, turquoise, citrine, amethyst, and peridot bits. This is mostly likely for sale.

Not scared of black cats? Easy to prove when wearing these black cat earrings with surgical ear hooks. Made for sale.

I got a set of stone card suites to use to make BF some wine charms. However, they didn’t work for that. They do make fantastic earrings, however. Made for sale.

I saw these bird houses at a bead shop in VA and know I had to have them! When I got home, I paired them immediately with my red tail hawks. I made them for sale, but I might end up keeping a set for myself.

I loved how the above tails came out, so I looked online to find more of the birdhouses. I finally found a place that had the ones I wanted. I thought I was getting a mixed bag of colors, but it turned out I bought 100 red bird houses. *wry smile* Well, red tops might blend too much with the tails, but they look great with my peregrine falcons. Made for sale. More of them will be made.

I found some blue and white lamp work bunnies, so I decided to make some earrings with them. So far I’ve made two sets, one in each set with blue bunny and white seed bead and the other with white bunny and blue seed bead. Made for sale. More of them will be made.

I made some jewelry for canyonwalker’s side of the family. This is a cloisonné blue and purple necklace I made for his mother. I figured she’d wear it to church, and it reminded me of stained glass, which seems like an appropriate theme for something you’d wear to mass.

Carved fluorite and quartz flower with silver finding necklace for a SiL. Her favorite colors are all the colors that end up in fluorite, so it was the perfect stone for her. She ended up getting it right before Mother’s Day. All her mom friends were jealous!

I got these cut crystal and glass beads from my great-aunt’s estate years ago, and I paired them with some more modern silver and glass beads for one of our young nieces. She’s very sparkly and bubbly, so this fit her perfectly!

That being said, I was reminded exactly why I hate using beads that need to be multiple stringed!

This brightly colored glass necklace is for our 2 year old niece. I wasn’t sure if her mom would put it on her, but one of our other nieces told me that she was wearing it and roaming the house soon after getting it. So I’ll call that a success!

This blue African jasper and silver findings necklace (with matching blue African Jasper focal) ended up arriving the day before our niece was going to a dance. She made sure her outfit matched this when she went out the next night.

This is a fluorite and silver necklace for one of our nieces, with mixed shaped fluorite added in for accent. I put together the focal piece just for this necklace.

Blue glass beads from my great-aunt paired with gold findings for one of my SiL’s.

This amethyst is cut in the “dog-bone” style. I paired it with two different types of silver findings for one of our nieces.

Turquoise and silver necklace for a SiL. I put together the focal specifically for this necklace.

A closeup of the turquoise focal.

I saw this Eye of Fatima Star of David during our travels and I bought it for myself. I paired it with moonstone, and some minimal silver findings.

I made this purple jade and quartz necklace, with cats eye and garnet accents. The clasp is moonstone. I haven’t decided if I’m going to sell it or keep it. I have 3 other focals like this in different colors: red jade, black jade, green jade.

This is a green jade necklace with a dragon rainbow jade focal piece I picked up at the Jade Market in Hong Kong. I haven’t decided if it’s for sale or to keep.

I had made this a necklace a long time ago, but it got too tight. It was in my “to redo” pile when a friend saw the beads and fell in love. So I made her a commission necklace instead.

canyonwalker wanted some new tie tacks; here’s one I made for him.

This is the other tie tack I made for canyonwalker.

I had some extra tie tack backs, so I made this one out of an antique glass bead that was my great-aunt’s. NOT to canyonwalker’s taste, so it’s made for sale.

IIRC, this is Blue Opal. Another tie tack I made because I had extra backs. For sale.

P.S. I'm close to dealing with the business license. Next week.

talons / Rake your talons / Link

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It's going to be one of those weeks

2016-05-16T19:17:31Z

Due to a minor procedure on Friday I can't take any of my pain meds stronger than Tylenol. I didn't expect too much of an issue as things had been on a decent keel. Except today, I woke up and my back doesn't want to bend. At all. Ugh! Hopefully the heat pad I put on it will loosen it enough so I can do my stretches to be able to partially bend.

FML.

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I promised what!?

2016-05-16T05:01:31Z

So, my mother, in typical Jewish mom fashion, has been nagging me to get my business license to sell my jewelry. And I, in stupidity mode, told her that I'd probably do it by her birthday.

Which is this Friday.

That isn't the bad part, per se. The bad part is that I don't have a business name and haven't been able to figure out one that really calls to me. Help?

I'd create an actual poll, but it requires one to be registered with DW which not everyone is. What do people like off this list?

A) Bead aerie
B) The jewelry nest
C) Delightful designs
D) Other (list suggestion)

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Email breeches

2016-05-07T07:42:29Z

Reuters news article: Exclusive: Big data breaches found at major email services - expert

FYI, Google and Yahoo! are part of this breech. I have at least one friend affected by this. It was the kick in the pants I needed to set up two factor authentication on my Yahoo and Tumblr[1] accounts. Supposedly they’ll let affected accounts know, but who knows how long that will take.

Plus changing the passwords. Just in case. Even though I've had each account with it's own unique password for years now.

[1] As it's owned by Yahoo!, so who knows if it's mixed up in this or not.

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