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.