Face the Music, Pal

I'll get on the Polanski train. Yes, he should be brought back to the USA to face his sentencing that he escaped 30 something years ago. Just because time has come between he and a conviction doesn't mean he's paid his debt to society. Why have so many people signed a petition to keep him from facing the charges? I don't get that. Is it the same mindset that celebrities are exempt from the standards of a so called civilian? As in, "everyone needs to go green and reduce their carbon footprint while I fly around the world in a private jet telling people these things? Because I make movies that people love, there are no rules, just glamor, freedom, fiends and friends?"
People who break the law and have had their day in court need to face the consequences. Come on.
I heard an author talk about Polanski's life, and traumatic it has been. He made a great life for himself in spite of the terrible tragedies he experienced. But he screwed up badly. He raped a young girl without a thought of remorse. Because people who have remorse face their punishment. Even people who don't have remorse experience their punishment. Polanski didn't. He's had a grand life.
I think our society needs to see that people are punished for their crimes. Isn't punishment supposed to be a deterrent? Doesn't punishment give pause for redirecting future actions?
As a society I think we are suffering from too much leniency. My small example is the simple school district and the students thereof. There used to be swats, and bad kids in the Principal's office in the corner on their knees, and students actually afraid of the authoritarians who ran the school. Now the bad kids get a pink slip and go home to their parents who have not a clue how to discipline their own kids. Thus we have bad kids.
Polanski is a bad kid, except he is an adult who victimized a kid.

The Master of the House

This morning Hubby was watching a movie called "What the Bleep Do We Know?" I think it was interesting, because the last time we tried to watch it, the disk wouldn't play. We thought it was corrupted somehow. He said he got it to work without doing anything special. Which was interesting, because he did the same thing for a ceiling fan that stopped working a few days ago. Just his touch seemed to do the trick. He is the Master of the House.
I bring the movie up because it's a documentary wound around a fictional story of a woman learning about the cosmic side of life. There are interviews with quantum physics professors and chemists and spiritual advisers all explaining the spiritual side of matter and our physical presence.
I remember the first time we saw that film. We were on a family vacation with our teenage son, and I sat between Hubby and Sonny boy. Hubby was entranced and elated by the film; Sonny boy was distracted and pissed off by it. And when I sit next to someone who hates a movie, it bothers me to the point of not enjoying it myself. Funny, now that Sonny boy is studying molecules and quarks and atoms and such, he might like this movie.
We've always taught him that thoughts are things, our minds are the blueprints to our lives, and spirit is eternal. All this is so easy when he was 5, so hard when he was 15. A few years ago we were driving somewhere and he was telling me, "I always forget things." In my motherly advice/spiritual guidance counselor voice I say, "if you rephrase it in your head and say I'll always remember, it will be more productive." To which he responds. "the universe does not respond. " Then mumbled under his breath, "I hate you." I only laughed. Deep inside I know we've planted seeds in his head to cosmic thinking, and like it or not, they grow......what else are parents for, anyway?
So, I will tell you some of my favorite affirmations because they are the positive thoughts and brilliant life builders that can bring you goodness. And if not that, at least replace negative thought patterns that deliver more negative thoughts, emotions and physical disruptions. Not that affirmations can relieve serious, horrible things like huge catastrophes such as wars, hurricanes, meteors, or the coming of 2012 (haha), but affirmations can be calming.
Like lately I've wanted to create more friends in my life. I went to my little Metaphysical Meditations book that I've had for 40 years! There isn't a Create more Friends section, so I decided that friends are like prosperity and picked this one: In helping others to succeed, I shall find my own prosperity. In the wellness of others, I shall find my own well being and create a deep well of groovy friends. I added that last part.
So instead of wondering why didn't that person text me back, answer my email, invite me over? I repeat my affirmation lovingly. It makes me feel in control.
When my Hubby was working on a really tough project a few years back, we went to the little worn blue book and found the most perfect " boss" type affirmation. It went like this: I am the prince of peace sitting on the thrown of poise directing the kingdom of activity.
And I will always remember my first affirmation. I was 20, the 20 year old sister of a friend had been killed in a motorcycle accident, and the family was a collective emotional wreck. The friend who introduced me to Yogananda and his Metaphysical Meditations had me flip through the little book until my finger rested on a random saying. It was this one. I will help weeping ones to smile, even though it is difficult.

G Summit Makes Me Vomit

I start reading the paper this morning about the G 20 Summit. It reminds me of working in the school district and how all the suits sit around a big table and on paper write out the goals and accomplishments of a special needs child. I want to say "what fools." What bureaucratic fools.
Everything looks great on paper. Write down that a kid with special needs can go to the restroom on his own, cut out shapes, do the multiplication table while spinning on his or her head.
Anyone can sit around feeling full of themselves making speeches, dreams and statements. Big deal.
Neither special ed kids or the economy behaves just because someone on a committee says so. I don't care what the rules are.
Governments nor big fancy summits make economies. People do. And the more rules and regulation, the more hampered economic growth becomes.
Well, someone will say, "it will help stop the greed that happened with this last crisis." What? The same kind of greed and human nature doesn't exist in government as it does on Wall Street? HA.
Just hearing how the G 20 wants to even out the discrepancies in the world's national economies make me think of one thing. Communism. Isn't that the first thing I learned about the political philosophy?
Everyone from doctor to businessman to street sweeper all make the same salary? What an energy sapping rule. Where is the incentive?
And look to California to see how regulation strangles economies. Billions of dollars and jobs have left this state because of them.
And for those stupid commercials that say fluorescent light bulbs will save the earth....watch Discovery Channel, OK? Get a sense of the history of the earth.
Huge growth in government regulation and G 20 world decisions do not create jobs. OK, next time, my spiritual side, I promise.

Movie Spoiler, Sort of

September Issue is a very entertaining documentary. Because of The Devil Wears Prada, I had a certain expectation. So, seeing this documentary changed that expectation in a really fashionable way. (haha)
Anna Wintour is the editor and chief of Vogue Magazine. I have never bought a Vogue. As a matter of fact, I never enjoyed Vogue because there was too much going on on one page. I never knew what to read first. Maybe that's why I shop at Ross.
Her head stylist is an older unfashionable lady without a pinch of makeup and some frumpy hair and shoes, for sure. But the way she styles models for the shoots were breathtakingly beautiful. Her name is Grace Coddington, and she had been a model in her younger years, but was seriously injured in a car accident and needed lots of plastic surgery just to look normal again. She proudly showed the prints of her "20's shoot," and what visions they were. Anna, the big boss, cut out her favorite shots, and Grace was crushed. As was I. The photos in this movie are stunning.
The Vogue offices are typical business offices except for the chic entry. The hallways are crowded with racks of clothes, the women are hard working, everyday people who just want to get out the September Issue. These women did not look like Anne Hathaway when she came out of her disheveled appearance into the world of fashion.
It was a busy, deadlined-rushed workplace with Anna running the show. She had bleak facial expressions when it came to designers showing their collections. There was the occasional grin, but she means serious business. The interspersed interviews with her showed a more playful side, and in a couple of brief scenes with her daughter, I could really see how she softened up.
It's a stunning film. There are a few scenes from Paris, London and Rome that made me want to go there now! I just might go out and buy a Vogue.

The 12 Pets of Debby

In a sometimes colorful, but average life, I've owned about 12 pets. Skipper the Cat was the only pet I've actually ever had to put down. I gave the word over a speaker phone while the doctor explained the situation from the surgical suite. In a cracking voice I gave the permission to "put her to sleep." So when Hubby came home he said, "now we really have an empty nest." I settled up with the veterinary hospital today and donated her kitty condo, some canned cat food and a few packets of Advantage. I took back her cat carrier because I can keep it in the garage without it taking up much room and I'll have it if we decide to get another kitty. It's a nice reminder because we brought her home in it 14 and 1/2 years ago. About 6 months before Skipper came into our lives, we had Hersholt. He was a dwarf Russian hamster, but he died in a few months of what I think was some kind of diabetic problem. That little hamster drank water and peed all the time. When I mentioned thinking of taking it to a vet, a cousin of mine said, "that would be like taking a bic lighter to a repair shop." Right after we buried the brown and gray Hersholt, we got Lakewood. Lakewood was a white dwarf Russian hamster and disappeared mysteriously while we were out of town and the neighborhood boys cared for Skipper and Lakewood. They told us Skipper got the hamster, but I never believed them. Three years before marrying Hubby I got 2 goldfish I named Darryl and Darryl. They didn't last long, and I couldn't believe I didn't have the talent to keep goldfish alive. Years before the sad goldfish incident, my first husband and I had a cool dog named Zeke that we inherited from a friend going off to India, and 2 tabby female cats we named Crista and Anna. Zeke howled relentlessly if we left him alone, so he came everywhere with us. The cats were darling, and when I left the husband, I left them, and I suppose they succumb to feline diseases because I don't think either of us knew to get them shots. In my hippy years I acquired a couple of cats that ended up being given away. One was Cloud, a handsome male gray cat who had an amazing personality. He was a darling. The female cat, Muffin, was hilarious. I came home one day and the entire apartment looked like one big cat's cradle game. She had taken a skane of yarn and rolled it, chased it and batted it around all legs of the chairs, tables, couch. It looked like she had one heck of a party. I wish I had a picture of it. Ten years before the cat era, there was Sniffer the Rat. The rat had been part of my sister's science experiment, and when she was done, I kept it as a pet. Sniffer came along with us as we moved from a big old house to an apartment. He stayed in a cage in my room and one day I noticed he had a huge bulge in his cheek. When my mother took him to the vet, they, she and the vet, told me Sniffer was going to a great farm where rats love to live when they have tumors. I honestly believed that story for about 10 years. The only reason I knew differently is because someone leaked it to me that he was put down!!! And finally we come to my first pet, Rexy the collie. I loved that dog. He didn't get to come with us to the apartment, but he did get to go to a good home. Three good stories come from that collie. 1.He stole a rump roast off the barbecue one night while my parents were entertaining. 2.He came home from a 3 or 4 day jaunt (he wasn't neutered) and had ticks everywhere. He had to be shaved to get rid of all of them and my mom said he seemed so embarrassed that she would tell him, "Rexy you look Sharp!" and he'd cheer up. 3.He brought a doggie lady friend home with him and she had puppies next to our front door. She was a German Shepard and 3 of the pups looked like her, and one of them looked just like Rexy.

From 5 Stars to 3 and a half

We're planning a little get away on top of a little get away for Parents' Weekend at Sonny boy's college. Last year our hotel was across the street from the campus but was so funky, I rebelled and now we'll have to walk 6 blocks to see the big game. So for our little extended trip I go directly to Expedia and pick a picturesque sea resort. Hubby goes to the closest to find all of our maps. He finds 50 maps from 20 years of trips, including crossing the US, but can't find one for California. It's pretty funny. I know we have about 12 California maps lurking somewhere. We even needed to buy one on our last trip because we screwed up somehow getting on and off the main highway. How, I'll never know, and where that map has gone is an eternal mystery, like where do socks go?
Expedia finds me 47 matches for the town and dates I'm looking for. I scroll straight down to the 5 star resort. Hubby's eyes bulge. then he laughs and asks me, "don't they have the 'I feel like staying someplace cheap section?'"
I've paid my dues with those years. Really. Paper thin walls, rusty sinks, loose balcony railings, noisy pipes, all the lovely features of the cheap ticket. After a 10 day cruise on a luxury liner a couple of years ago, our flight was cancelled from NYC to California. The airline put us up at a hotel, and as we walked down the hallway to our room examining the thread worn carpet, chipping paint, and non existent molding around the door frames, Hubby says, "back to reality." Our perfect cruise stateroom with a marble appointed bathroom and walk in closest melted away to the obligatory hold over hotel that cuts a deal with the airline. This is life.
Years ago I accepted our state of finances and appreciated our chance to travel. So being a responsible consumer, never went over our budget. Now, as an empty nester, even in these days of lack, budget crisis, recession, I want a nice place to lay my head. We get so many mixed messages...SAVE, SPEND, which is it? I think I'll consider it while I gaze at the ocean from my beautifully appointed 3 1/2 star balcony.

Jury Pool from the Roster of the Unemployed

I just got off the phone with a friend who felt fortunate that she got off a jury duty panel that could have lasted for the entire month of October. It was a sentencing trial for a man who murdered two women. He'd already been convicted, the jury was just going to decide whether he should get life in prison without the chance of parole, or the death penalty.
I always thought it was the judge who decided what the sentence should be, but in this case, it sounded like it was going to be a whole other trial. My friend and I thought it sounded like a big fat waste of tax money. Then we exchanged other stories about jury duty. I told her how I got off of a panel because the man who was on trial was there because he had sold drugs. I told the DA that I think drugs should be decriminalized, and I was asked to leave the panel.
I think we should have a professional jury system. People who are trained in objective thinking, who understand medical terms and technical vocabulary and investigatory skills. I think it would not only be cheaper in the long run, but as far as our justice system goes, we would have better outcomes. My idea will never happen. But her idea could. Her idea is to have people who are on unemployment be the ones who are on the jury panels. They are already getting a check from the state, their available, so why not? It's a really good idea.

Where art thou, Water?

The bursting of the water mains in the city of Los Angeles are a perfect metaphor for the way government has been running cities, states and the nation. Forgo the work that needs to be done on infra structure because of the undeniable needs of the poor and sick and create department after department of well paid overseers and their staff who need their state holidays, yearly vacations, yearly raises, healthcare benefits and pensions, to make sure the needy get their monthly stipends. So many needy, so many more government departments that tend to the paper work of the needy. Not enough money to make sure pipes don't burst.
Then, on top of an aging water system there are the water issues, such as a God made drought...and a man made situation. The water infrastructure of the entire state has been barely maintained because of the aforementioned types of welfare/bureaucracies. On top of that are the environmentalists who brought a case to the California Supreme court saying the way our state pumps water kills the delta smelt. They won, so we in So Cal are getting less water to save the smelt. Our city leaders have put a water rationing system in place that allows only certain days to water our lawns. This increased and decreased pressure on the aging pipes created bursting events. I never did understand the assigned watering days. Is that because people don't know how to monitor their own amount of water they use and the government has to tell us how to use our water? Kind of like how they want to go after our health habits and our electrical use? Don't get me started on the Department of California Idiots who think our TV's are tooo big.
But back to the water issue. Saving the delta smelt cost farmers in the central valley their lively hoods because they got No,None, Zero water for their farms in the last year. Oh yes, while hundreds of millions of gallons of water went into the ocean instead of being pumped to the farms and to the cities in So Cal. It's sounds too unbelievable for words. Doesn't it?

Move On (dot) Feminism

According to Arianna Huffington's Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com, women are unhappy. There will be several articles over many weeks studying this phenomenon and all the "study after studies" that are saying how unhappy women are. I really just want to say, "Quit your bitching." But, for now, I will show a little compassion and some old fashion Donna Reed and June Cleaver philosophy of life.
Personally, my demeanor has always tended to be on the positive and happy side, but I know there were many younger years spent in an unhappy funk, contemplating my bellybutton, so to speak.
I did come to the revelation in my early twenties that I am the only one who can make me happy, can make me feel how I want to feel. So that was a learning moment. Not that I used it all the time! In fact, looking back, I may not have been unhappy, but I don't think I was that nice. Nice = Happy = Nice? or Happy = Nice = Happy?
I wonder if Arianna's intense investigation into this social dilemma will prove something that Dr. Laura says. Oh, that would be such sweet irony. Dr. Laura says that women are happy being a true "Housewife." That's my word, not hers. Meaning, biologically, women are the care takers of the nest. Women bare babies, nurse babies, create a home, and can build a happy home life. In making her man and family happy, women become happy.
I didn't get Dr. Laura's book, The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands when it first came out. I felt I loved being in a very typically happy, married life. I do the housework, cook dinner, wear the pearls. She talked about the book quite a bit during her show, so I picked up lots of tips just listening. One really big tip: you never have to fight. Whoa, what? Not! But, applying just the simple basics of her philosophy made our relationship more fun, loving, sexy, easy and happy!
Before her book ever came out, I used to think that women who are married and work full time with kids in day care was a drain on our society as a whole. I still do. When housing prices went sky high, insuring that it would take a double income to support a mortgage, I moaned, "who will take care of the kids?" to anyone who would listen. Boo Hoo. Was I not happy?
I did buy The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands just recently because I thought I was going to give it to a couple that I thought might benefit from it...but, I kept the book. It makes me happy.

Skipper The Cat 2

$500 was always the limit for the cat. That was 14 years ago, so maybe inflation dollars will allow my rule to spread to $1500. House values tripled, gas prices doubled, food costs increased by how much? When I booked the appointment, I asked if I could spread out the payments, but I knew the answer. So, I'll get points on the credit card.
Is it the money that bugs me? Hubby at dinner last night said he'd have no problem spending $1500 on me for a health issue. I'm so grateful. The vet who will enucleate her eye says, she's not not worth it. She's a very healthy 14 1/2 year old cat. Will we get our money's worth of kitty waking us in the morning scratching at the bedroom furniture, having us open the dining room door to let her in, then moments later, opening the garage door to let her out? Will we see her black kitty fur spread across the white carpet for another 5 years? Will her solid purr comfort us while we lay on the bed reading? We, her staff, have no legal commitment to keep her alive, but our kitty hearts can't take the pressure to put her down just because she's got a tumor growing in her eye.
We were so close to it 4 months ago. We figured it was a done deal. Now, I've booked the appointment for the eye removal. I checked it out on the Internet. Enucleation means just the eyeball, and not the surrounding tissues, is removed. Then the lid is stitched closed permanently. Then she has to wear one of those Elizabethan collars for 10 to 14 days. We've all seen them. It can get caught on things, so she'll need supervising in her daily activities. I asked if she can go outside to use the universal cat box. He suggested I get one for the house. She's never used one. She'll give me that look like, What the hell is this? I've seen that look before when she expects something good to eat, and I give her something that she thinks smells like poop. First it's the look, then it's the scratch, scratch, scratch of her paw to symbolically cover it up. It certainly isn't the worst of things that can happen. I will count my kitty blessings and worldly blessings and our emptynest will be cool calm and collected like any respectable cat household should be.

Liar Liar Pants on Fire

People who so easily call other people racist do this because they themselves are racist. Otherwise how would they recognize it? So back at you, Jimmy Carter, the accused anti-Semite. If he were so concerned with racist comments, where was he when President Obama admitted he didn't know the facts of a white cop arresting a black man, but said the police acted stupidly?
It isn't just racist when a white person insults a black person. It's racism when any color person insults another. We label it such. But why can't people just be angry?
What if Joe Wilson yelled out in sheer emotional expression, Love You! That would have been accepted. Decorum means only nicey nice words? And hadn't, just moments before the Wilson outburst Obama called other people, talk radio and cable news, liars? That's okay because he's the President and he said it because he needed to clear things up and talk everyone into his health care plan. It's OK to be in the presence of a liar...the whole entire joint session of LIARS, i.e., POLITICIANS, i.e. HUMANS, just don't say it Out Loud. How rude! As we are liars, we are racists. Admit it. If we make being a racist a natural outcome of competition, it makes everything on a level playing field and we couldn't pull that RACE CARD to get a rise out of people.
Perhaps we are all just Profilers. Profiling protects us, but we do call it racism. We mistrust and hate because we question everyone else's actions and opinions until they prove otherwise.
Serena threatened the lineswoman because she was suspicious of her Asian bias?
Kanye West broke into Taylor Swift's acceptance speech because he doubted her young white talent to receive an award?
Joe Wilson burst with emotion because President Obama is a politician and knows how badly they lie?
Let's just accept the fact that we want what we want when we want it. We don't want anyone of any color, shape or form taking that away from us, and we will do or say whatever it takes to get it.

Will Everyone Read My Blog?

Lots of stuff is filling the news, a celebrity rocker steps way out of line and crashes a darling country singer's glory at an awards ceremony, The King of Tennis looses the US Open, a young woman's body was found hidden behind a wall at Yale, a local Jewish Cemetery has been desecrating its own grounds to make room for more dead loved ones, Obama gives another lecture, The Dirtiest Dancer Dies.
There's never a dull day in what I call earth..."The Loony Bin of the Universe."
With so much to write about but no real "heady" feeling about it all, I didn't know what I was going to write about today. Then my late night radio listening gave me an idea.
The Ouija Board!
George Noory actually had a serious show on this Parker Brothers boxed parlor game, or so they call it. George's show is called Coast to Coast, and it's usually a lot about space alien abductions, so I don't listen often. But last night just gave me a little thrill.
My first experience with the Ouija Board was in the bedroom of a girlfriend who lived in the same apartment complex, and her name was Carol. She was from Phoenix, Arizona, and had moved to San Bernardino with her mother and older sister. She hated San Bernardino. She hated school and a truancy officer even showed up at her doorstep. The best part was, she liked me and she was OLDER. She taught me how to make a homemade Ouija Board and we used a black obsidian carved stone as the pointer. It was such a sublime experience to sit on the floor of her bedroom in the dim light with our fingers lightly touching that stone and feeling it move on its own across the board to answer if our teenage crushes would be consummated....
At one point I actually owned one of those Parker Bros. boards. The pointer felt unwieldy. It was so clunky compared to that little black stone. But that Ouija Board was a Christmas gift from a family friend that we spent every Christmas with for 20 years. I went to the house to help her do something, and I mentioned that toy for some reason, and the next day it was under the tree. Quite the juxtaposition, an instrument of the devil under the Messiah's tree.
When Sonny boy was about 7, I made a Ouija board for him and his friends. We used a shot glass for the pointer. The kids took it outside and the shot glass dropped and shattered. I think that was my last experience of a curious toy.

Snap

Snap. Snapping. Snapped! That's what Serena Williams did yesterday during her match against Kim Clijsters. She is an excellent tennis player, normally, and yesterday she had some brilliant moments. I called her a warrior. But when she was behind because of unforced errors, she lost her temper and smashed her racket on the ground. The camera kept showing her sister Venice in the audience. Venice had lost to Kim earlier in the tournament, and for tennis fans it was exquisite agony. Venice lost to a woman who had been retired for 2 years to have her baby. Now back, she is in great form. Venice and Serena, the African American Americans, who have ruled the courts at many a grand slam tennis match, were out done by a new mom and everyone is 'atwitter, so to speak.
But back to Venice. Every time the camera scanned her, she looked awkwardly uncomfortable. I think she knew what was coming. At every opportunity to pull ahead, Serena failed. Venus' shoulders slumped. Her face grew tense. Could she see the future? Did she feel the meltdown from Serena.
It started with that racket smashing. At first, Serena just twirled her racket, and it looked kind of cool. But then I think it dawned on her that she was getting a whopping, and crushed that damn racket for all it was worth against the court. How much do they spend on rackets at that professional level? All I could see were dollars flying out of the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Serena got a warning for that behavior. She was definitely on the loser track when she double faulted on a foot fault. She could have challenged the call. But she decided that going over and threatening the lineswoman was much better. She thought it was such a good idea, she started her serve, but in mid preparation, went over to her again. The people behind the lineswoman were riveted. We couldn't hear what was said, but it didn't look pretty. According to the paper, the f bombs were flying. At that point, Serena lost the match because the punishment for threatening a lineswoman is a point for the opponent. That was match point.
Clijsters stood on her side of the court with that look of "what's going on?" when Serena came over to her, whispered in her ear and shook her hand. That was the end of the match. It was such a winning let down.
In the paper this morning the interview afterward apparently didn't bare much fruit. Serena didn't take ownership of her threats or her attitude. She just wanted to move on.
An investigation will ensue.
Geez. How old is that woman? I used to see that kind of attitude with the kids in middle school. Snapping is a terrible thing.

Go Forth and Prosper

An article caught my eye because it was about college. Then I read that the UC system is raising the fees for college attendance. Yeah, just what emptynesters want to hear. More fees because of lack. Lack of money means boosted fees, meaning less money for families and students, leaving less money for families to spend on other things, which drops the tax base. It's a vicious cycle. Our whole economy is one big domino effect.
Which cliche do I want to use? I just found this one. Money: a businessman earns it, an economist learns it, a banker turns it, a politician burns it, and a wise man spurns it. I like this one, except for the "wise man spurns it." http://www.worldofquotes.com/topic/Cliches-and-One~Liners/16/index.html
Money is not evil.
Money means jobs. Money means health. Money means enjoyment. Money means protection. Money means education (just ask the UC system). Money is the physical manifestation of spiritual abundance. Money is the lubrication in the gears of the world.
I do not curse the rich. I really really want to curse the people who reprimanded the rich last fall because since then the hospitality industry took a dive...meaning hotels, restaurants, airlines, and any other service linked to those services were hit with huge loses.
When the powers that be came down on AIG for having a gala affair at a resort, the following effect was one big downer for places like resorts and hotels and paradise destinations. Guess what? When dollars are not spent on those places, jobs are lost. Lots of jobs.
I do object to government spending tax dollars on these lavish affairs, so it was a little dodgy because the tax payers did bail out AIG (not willingly), but what followed was private businesses becoming afraid that the public would hate them because of their profits, and canceled a billion dollars worth of hospitality business. That is not good.
Another big hit, because all of the sudden, big business is a terrible blight on our country, and people asking for government bailouts shouldn't use private jets. Learjet. They canceled contracts for already ordered jets. That costs jobs. When jobs are lost, wages are lost, taxes are lost, fees go up... you know the drill.
OK, wise men, stop spurning money. Stop hating the rich. Rich people do so many things that help the world by creating jobs, giving to charities and the arts, and paying a huge amount in taxes. Profits are a good thing.
I love this quote by Ayn Rand: Government "help" to business is just as disastrous as government persecution... the only way a government can be of service to national prosperity is by keeping its hands off.
Ayn Rand

9/11 Memory

Everyone has a story on this tragic 8 year anniversary. Here's mine. Hubby and I went to the gym around 5 AM. That day I was sleepy after my workout, so while he jumped in the shower, I got back in bed and was listening to the radio. There was a brief news blip that a plane crashed into one of the towers in NYC. I visualized a dumb little plane with a problem that grazed the building. Hubby pops his head out of the bathroom door and asks if I can get his lunch together. No problem. I head to the kitchen, stuff his lunch box with a sandwich an applesauce and some carrots. I get back into bed and hear on the radio that our country is under attack. What? A plane goes in one tower, not a little plane, a big old jet carrying lots of passengers and, then a second jet goes into the other tower. Then the Pentagon is hit, and all planes are ordered to land. In about 15 minutes, I went from thinking some curtain wall was crumbled to our entire country is up in flames. We never turned on the TV, I just kept listening on the radio.
Hubby went off to work and I woke up Sonny boy with the news. He got in the shower and was singing "We Didn't Light the Fire," by Billy Joel, at the top of his lungs.
Hubby calls and asks if we were going to work/school. Of course, was my answer. But it was mind numbing. I actually told the parents of the student I was an aide to, what had happened. The Dad said he will always see my face when he thinks of that day. Is that a good thing?
The second day, when Sonny boy awoke he asked if everything was normal. I told him nothing else happened, but nothing is normal.
Later, when I was walking to my car after work, a woman in front of me said, "It's nice to hear someone whistling."
"I was?" I ask her. Some molecule in my brain had a cheery spot.
She said, "I remember Pearl Harbor. This is worse." There went that molecule.
I remember going to the gym, shopping, taking care of things, but feeling as if I moved too quickly, I would shatter.
What a wake up call.
God Bless those who lost their lives that day in that act of war.

Blessings

The things I am grateful for today:

Waking in the morning feeling rested
I stretched in the smooth sheets and looked at the clock. It's early, I'm awake and have plenty of time to eat, read the paper and iron the outfit I want to wear.

Docent Meetings starting up at LBMA
After 6 weeks sans docent classes, meetings or tours, I am engaged once again at an art museum that is perched on the bluffs of Long Beach surrounded by creativity.

Breakfast
A steamy mug of rich coffee lightened with fat free half and half, some toast and a nectarine.

My 13 year old Lexus
When I get in the driver's seat, I will never get tired of its scent. I mentioned it this summer when Sonny boy was home, and when he got in the car with me that day, he said, "this car does smell good."

The people that have become my friends at the museum
We all gathered to hear the latest news about the fate of our museum. Wanting only the best for our beloved house of art. So far, so good. On to Auction XIII!
www.lbma.org

The beautiful and inspiring talent that I see and learn from when I go to the LBMA
Where else can you go to peak into the souls of the creative? Art in all shapes, colors, sizes and message.

The air in September at the Beach
It was crisp and nostalgic like saying good-bye to summer, 100 memories of first days of school, the tumbling leaves of autumn, the beckoning of Halloween and the deep colors of sunset.

My fast reflexes
Whew, I had it when I needed it and I am grateful! I was casually driving home from the museum, fiddling with the sunroof of my Lexus, and had to to swerve fast and hard to avoid colliding with a woman driving an SUV, who drove straight at me as if I weren't there.

Facebook
The friend whom I have never met, but she learned about my blog on a mutual friend's page, and has given me such wonderful compliments, I feel like I have gotten deep breaths of inspiration! Thank You, Kelli

Getting a good idea for a story/plot while working out at the gym
I pray for the discipline to get this one written. Oh, to be able to spend as many hours on this story as I do on, well, almost anything else but writing.

A call from my Sonny boy
He just wanted to say hi and fill me in on the latest stuff he's been up to.

As my dear step father used to say, "Counting your blessings is the way to make your life full and sweet." Amen
http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2008/04/does_counting_your_blessings_r.php

'Cause They're the Tax Man

A sink hole swallowed a fire engine the other day. And that was on top of a huge water main breaking and flooding streets, businesses and homes just a short distance away, days earlier. These are huge infrastructure messes that cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars and huge headaches for about as many bureaucracies. The California Assemblyman for that district, Mike Feuer, said in a sound bite, "These things happen because Californian's are so anti-tax these days..." or something like that. Of course we're anti tax, the legislators from this state have raised taxes so high that businesses and property owners are leaving the state. To balance the budget Californian's just got a 2% surcharge on our income taxes, a 15% raise on our sales taxes, the removal of a tax deduction for children, an almost doubling of our car fees, an increased amount on the first quarterly tax statement, and an adjustment of the tax brackets so that lower income earners have just moved up a notch, thus having to pay more taxes. The legislators also have in the works: taxes on services that have never been charged before like dry cleaning, veterinary services, attorney services, and it goes on and on. And we still have a deficit because of all the borrowing our state has done, the interest on the debt is killing us! Our tax coffers are low because no matter how much money our state has, the legislators find ways to spend it, and it's not on infrastructure. Obviously.... www.hjta.org
I've been wanting to write a blog that outlined my feelings about our tax structure here in sunny California, but being a bit lazy, haven't wanted to dig into all the necessary research. But paying quarterly taxes coupled with hearing Feuer's statement that we're "anti tax" helped me start the process, anyway.
Taxes kill economies. One of the reasons our tax bills are so high is because government employees belong to unions. Unions have contracts with the state. Unions have created huge benefit packages for their members. (oh yeah, they also support their favorite legislator come election time). Tax payers pay all of these benefits. Since Schwarzenegger has been Governor, he has created more state jobs. More taxes. So why isn't there any money for the cities for their budgets? Because the state takes it away from the cities to pay for all of its spending.
The more businesses pay in taxes, the less employees they can hire. The fewer people who are working, (we have a huge unemployment number) the less is spent on goods and services that help create a tax base. The more government grows, the more it needs to take money from its citizens. The more taxes taken from citizens, the less they have to spend. See where I'm going?
Our country was built on a tax revolt. I think another one is brewing.

A Moment's Notice

This last weekend my eye scanned the Calendar section and I thought I saw a man with long hair in a photo. At closer look, it's Annie Leibovitz. Oh. I read the article about her financial problems and truly wonder what she's going to do. Apparently, she over extended herself by buying a piece of real estate that needed a ton of work, and in so doing, caused a legal problem with the neighbor, and tons of money was thrown into that mess...on and on.
In the meantime, her long time companion died and left Annie with the kids. In trying to ease her money situation, she got a line of credit using her photographic work as collateral. Yikes. Imagine, all her work could be owned by someone else? The article outlined other celebrities who have needed to do similar actions and it just made me think how complicated wealth can be.
It also made me remember a moment's decision when I was about 17. I always call it my "I Could Have Been Annie Leibovitz Moment." I use it to remind myself to follow my heart and my passion to make a decision instead of someone else's off-handed remark.
It was class registration time in high school. We used to have to "run" for classes. And my first try at it was a lousy, unorganized, sweaty mess. We actually needed to go to the classroom to sign up for that class in the allotted period of time. We really did run from class to class. That happened twice a year. I got really organized after that first horrible experience of wearing my nice new outfit and new (tight) shoes to run around the campus, looking for the right room, spilling pencils out of my notebook and getting stuck with my least favorite classes.
After two years, the school reorganized the sign up process, and made it in the auditorium with tables replacing the classroom and kindly, motherly types processing the intake. Except, the motherly type that looked at my class choice of photography, held the card in her chubby hand, lowered her glasses, lifted her chin and said, "only boys take that class." "Oh," I say, "I guess I shouldn't take photography, then." I don't even know what I took. How dumb and weak of me. If I had taken a second and analyzed her statement, I should have signed up joyfully. I was a complete and utter boy crazy teen! What was I thinking? I do always wonder how taking photography in a high school class would have changed my life. I did learn that "I Could Have Been Annie Leibovitz Moment," and passed the information on to my Sonny boy, and for that matter, anyone else who will listen. I don't believe in "bail outs," so I sure hope Annie is clever for this life changing moment in her life.

The Last 5 Days

The things I've learned/and or experienced in the last 5 days:

Wine enhances the senses. On the way home from another Claire's wine tasting, the twilight shimmered, the street lights sparkled, the heat of the day subsided to a cooling breeze.

Hearing about the wildfire that has lasted over a week and burned over 154,000 acres is so overwhelming, the images of firefighters in the sweltering heat, blackened dead trees, charcoaled debris where a house stood, and brown layers of smoke repeat over and over in my head without ever having seen one of those images.

Cooking for people other than my immediate family makes me nervous.

My hubby loves college football more and more every year. Go Bears.

No one loves my videos as much as I do.

Losing 48 hours worth of work on new software doesn't mean everything is lost. I still have the know-how I didn't have before.

It's sad when people can't make it to the family reunion. It's frustrating when some people who are invited don't take the time to respond. When an olive branch is extended to disgruntled family members, they should be received, acknowledged and reciprocated, thus ending the Family Feud.....

New babies are intoxicating.

I think criticism sucks and will gladly be rude to anyone who aims it my way.

My hubby will do anything to keep his 50 mile a gallon status in his hybrid, including pissing off the driver of a big rig! (not too smart)

It's hard not to sweep the pool deck or start a load of laundry even when I promised myself I would only do vacationing type stuff today.

I will always love my blog, even when I miss a day or two. Is my blog the same as my videos?

And, Happy Labor Day, though this time of year always reminds me of school starting up and the end of summer has arrived.

The holidays are on their way. Yeah.

We Are Family

My blog has taken a backseat to a family movie I've been working on for 3 days. I have the slowest learning curve when it comes to new software. Though, I feel a little better, since I called a cousin who is a film editor and he told me the one I have sucks!
It's family reunion time and I want to have a DVD of the last 2 reunions I taped. We went to the one last year, but only snapped pictures. There's a series of photos where Sonny boy stood with a smooshed facial expression in every picture I took of other family members. It's pretty funny.
I love this family. When I watch the videos it gives me such a sense of history and hope. The babies that have been born the last few years bring new love and energy into our world. Every time I see a pregnant woman, whether it's in my family or not, I get the feeling that life will always move forward in a positive way. When I heard of ailing cousins right around the time of a reunion, I wrote this poem.

Ode to a Cousin's Party

Find time to mingle with good news and bad.

Find in your heart the cheerful and sad.

Take time for each face, each life and each heart,

Time ticks away, and then we depart.

No matter the toil, the miles, the chores,

Family leaves thumb prints deep in memoirs.

Precious our loved ones, funny and dear,

Come share your spirit, your stories, your fear.

We'll all stand together knowing bloodlines are true.

An empty spot in your place will just never do!

When I've lived out of town during my earlier married life, or out of state in my later single years, it always got to me when my mom would tell me she was off to a party for this cousin or that.

Now that I'm a stable married lady, I (hardly ever) miss family events. It's just too important. We are all spread out, so these get-togethers are dear. I secretly pray that any family feuds are soothed over. It's so hard to show allegiance to a loved one when he or she has a bone to pick with someone that I don't...or vice versa. Urrrrr....it reminds that someone unnamed is still doing business with my no - longer - step- someone who was a poo poo head, to say the least, but I digress.

(My sister says I have anger issues.)

So Sunday's the day. Can't wait to see everyone!

Smile Though the World is Aching

When can I use my incredible sense of humor for this blog? In the perspective of all the really bad things that are going on, it seems too petty to write something funny. Or maybe I'm not as funny as I think I am. Out of about 100 jokes in the last 23 years, my hubby has laughed at only 2. It's something about my timing. Out of the 2 funny jokes, he's made one of them his own. It was a pirate joke that I told in my regular voice. He, on the other hand, uses the tone, vernacular and gestures of a pirate to enhance the joke to an art. Of course, in lieu of today's pirates, there's nothing funny about those guys either. I do enjoy the fact that the way they saved the kidnapped captain of a ship was to make the pirates sea sick. The small boat that held the captain was tethered to the ship. The crew shortened the tether, sped up the ship, and that made the movement of the life boat treacherous to anyone who has the tendency to barf. So while the pirates were barfing over the side of the boat, the Navy Seals shot them and saved the captain. The shooting was not funny, though deserved. The technique was funny.
Right now there's nothing funny. I do enjoy the story of the Duggar family and their 19th baby due! This isn't an Octomom story. This is a happily married husband and wife who have created enough wealth to sustain this gigantic family! I heard an interview with them 4 kids ago. They sounded young and energetic and downright joyful to have those kids. All of them are "J" names. I didn't know there were that many J names. Today my crass radio guy used all sorts of metaphors for this mom's uterus. That was marginally funny.
Should we search for amusement in bad times? Should we laugh in the face of despair? It doesn't seem appropriate. However, if we allow every really bad situation make us cry, we would be crying all the time. Laughing is supposed to make us healthier. It creates exercise for the internal organs, joy hormones in the brain, and the surging of good chemicals through the blood vessels. I think after I've laughed so hard, my muscles feel relaxed.
So, a pirate walks into a bar.....