Sunday, June 30, 2013

Walk In My Shoes

For the last few months I have been walking in the evenings.  Our neighborhood has sidewalks.  It is a good way to burn up some calories, get some exercise per the doctor's orders, spend time outside, and truly become familiar with my new surroundings.  Truly a win all the way around.  Each time I try and walk a slightly different route, so that I see something new.  Of course, there are plenty of houses that I walk by all of the time.

We have a cable guy in our neighborhood.  Even though he parks in his driveway he still uses the traffic cones to block his truck front and back, like he would if he parked it on the street at a service call.  Does anyone else think that is odd?  He also has a television in his garage.  Every time I have gone by it is on.  I am beginning to think the garage must be his Man Cave.  All I know is this: if so, the Man Cave is hot.  We live in Florida.  I would rather live in the house.

There is one house on our street that is loaded with squirrels.  I have never seen so many squirrels in one place... ever.  I think a notice must have gone out on the Squirrel Hotline that there were a lot of nuts there or something and they came from all over to settle down.  Now, it is one huge squirrel settlement.  I am so glad that we don't live there.  My dog thinks that squirrels are meant to be hunted down like prey and killed.  Having that many squirrels run past our windows shaking their little tails at her would drive her insane.  That said, I always enjoy walking past that house and watching all of the busy little squirrels run to and fro. 

It occurred to me about a week ago, after having a lovely conversation with an older couple who was out taking care of their garden, that I never see children playing.  I see older people tending their lawns or gardens on a regular basis.  I know that there are plenty of children in my neighborhood.  I see them going from house to car occasionally.  Sometimes I see evidence of their existence in the garage (aka a scooter or bike), but I never see the kids themselves out playing with other kids in the yard or even the street.  We don't live on a busy street. 

In fact, we live on a street very much like the one I grew up on.  The street  at the end of the road is rather busy, but the street traffic is fairly restricted to the people who actually live here.  If I had children tween age and older, I wouldn't have any problems playing in the front yard or with other kids who lived on the street.  I would probably employ the same rules my parents did.  If you are going to play with a friend who doesn't live on the street, I want to know about it.  If you are on the street, have at it.  You cannot go off the street.  Have fun.  Be home for dinner.  My mom had a whistle.  She would stand outside and blow it at dinner time.  If we didn't hear it, a call would go down the street, from kid to kid, or parent to kid, that me or my brother was being called home for dinner.  Very effective system. 

In fact, when I was growing up, all the kids played outside.  There was always activity in the street.  If there wasn't a kickball game going, there were kids playing with chalk.  Or jump rope.  Or skating.  There was a short skateboarding phase until one of the kids fell and broke her arm.  That ended that one.  All of the cars on our street knew to go slow because there were ALWAYS kids playing in the street. 

I wondered why I was having such a difficult time relating to C-Man and H-Girl, who are now teenagers.  I was saying things to myself like, "I was a kid once, I should be able to find some common ground here."  But there isn't any.  My childhood and their childhood don't look remotely the same.  I can see it clearly now.


image found at www.weheartit.com

Friday, June 28, 2013

WRiTE CLUB

Before I hit the "meat" of this post, I do want to give yesterday's post a Shout Out.  For anyone who didn't check in yesterday, I did do the Thursday post.  Yes, there are dedications.  Yes, there might be one for you.  No, I haven't been by all of the blogs to whom I graced a video dedication, so there could very well be a surprise here for YOU.  Even if there isn't, I hope you stop in and see what has been happening in Blogland this week.  All of you were very prolific and mighty entertaining.  Truly, had YouTube been more cooperative, this might have been a 2-day post.  You guys are the BEST.  I strongly encourage you to visit all of the recipients... not just this week, but every week:)

What is the "meat" of this post?  Well, I discovered a few days ago that D.L. Hammons over at Cruising Altitude hosts something called WRiTE CLUB annually.  When I first read just those two words my insides knotted up and I thought, "No way."  Then I read the rules.  And I thought, "Maybe."  Once I let a "maybe" slide into my thinking it doesn't let go.  I have been working on something ever since.  Yeah, that is how MY brain works.  I have until June 30 to sign up and commit.  And so do YOU.  If you haven't heard about it these are the basics and you can check out D.L.'s blog if you want to learn the specifics of how to submit your entry.


Here are the general rules of WRiTE CLUB (with explanation) that guide the competition, loosely based on the Fight Club rules.

1st RULE: You MUST talk about WRiTE CLUB - Spread the word far and wide so we can involve as many writers as possible. Display the WRiTE CLUB banner prominently on your own blog. Write a post about it. Tweet it. Mention it on Facebook. Heck, send up smoke signals if you can.

2nd RULE: You DO NOT talk about WRiTE CLUBOnce the competition begins you are not allowed to solicit votes. All of the writing entries are anonymous, and we want it to stay that way. This is not a popularity contest!

3rd RULE: If someone taps out, WRiTING is over - Tapping out means a WRiTER can decide at any time during the 8 week competition to withdraw their name from the pool. If that happens the next writer from the open pool with the most votes will move into that spot.

4th RULE: Only two people to a WRiTE - This is a head-to head competition, no ganging up allowed.

5th RULE: Two WRiTE’s per week - No matter how many submissions I receive this year, there will only be two WRiTE’s per week.

6th RULE: No shirts, no shoes - Come on, tell me you didn't giggle at that one.

7th RULE: WRiTES will go on until Sept 9th - On that date the 16 winners will be matched up against one another on daily posts until the ultimate WRiTER is chosen. At some point the WRiTER will be asked to submit a new 500 word sample.

8th RULE: Anyone can WRiTE, but you have to have your submission in by June30th. – No late entries will be accepted this year. 



As for me, I am still on the fence.  I think I will probably jump and submit.  Since it is anonymous, no one will know (but me) if my entry even makes it into the competition.  So, if my ego takes a bruising, it will be fairly low-key.  And if it actually even gets to compete, that is awesome.  There are some amazing writers out there in this ole blogosphere.  So, if you feel like getting your Write On, I encourage you to Get Busy.  Oh, and if even if you don't submit, you can still participate in the fun of voting when the competition starts.  So, it is all good:)

Thursday, June 27, 2013

HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY

SURPRISE. Drum roll please. It is once again HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY. Yes, you read that correctly.  HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY is back on Thursday.  For those of you unfamiliar with the once again weekly HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY posts, I bet you're wondering what is going on.   Well, peeps, let me give you the skinny on this event...


This is a weekly event landing typically on Thursdays.  The best (or worst) part is that I am not going to explain why I chose "whatever" footage for each of you. If, you watch your footage and are scratching your head at the end, well that means I didn't do a very good job. However, all is not lost. You can email me at rarichards68@gmail.com and ask me what I was thinking when I chose that particular piece of footage off of youtube and connected it to you. And then I will tell you. Then I will start sending up prayers that I haven't offended the crap out of whoever is on the receiving end of that email....lol. Because, honestly, I will tell you right now... I admire all of you enormously so I really hope that doesn't happen.

Also, this is not an exclusive venture by any means. I hope that you will take the time to watch ALL of the footage because I don't pick bad footage:-) I also hope that you might check out the blog of the person I dedicated the footage to because they are pretty darn awesome. If you haven't figured this out yet... I pick the footage based on something that you've written or something that I've gleaned from your personality. Think on that for a while... If you are having trouble watching the entire video (meaning it is being cut off on one side), click on it a couple of times and it will take you straight over to youtube. If you click on the four squares at the bottom corner of the video, it will enlarge it to fill your screen. The escape key will bring it back to normal size. The back arrow will bring you back to my page.

Now, let's get this PARTY STARTED!!!!

This one is for everyone:
 


This one is for Mark Means at Left and Write:


This one is for Steven at Steven Symes, Writer:


This one is for DiscConnected at BACK IN THE USSR:


This one is for LD Masterson:


This one is for Empty Nester at Empty Nest:


This one is for JJ The Disconnected Writer:


This one is for Rawknrobyn at Life by Chocolate: Robyn Alana Engel's Blog:

image found at www.weheartit.com

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

How A Thursday Post Comes Together (or not)

Over the years, many of you have addressed in the comments my "process" regarding the HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY posts.  When those posts do come together, it is *magic.*

Let me give you a few examples of how it has been this week.  This week has not been magic, but only because YouTube has not been working for me.  Ironically, in terms of what you guys have been writing, it has been *magic.*

For instance, klahanie wrote a tongue-in-cheek post offering up his services as a Sex Coach.  This sparked my mind to immediately go to a scene from the amazing John Hughes film She's Having A Baby.  This is another 80s wonder, and I have seen it about 50 times give or take.  In college, it was on Play on our VCR All Of The Time.  I think I know most of the lines by heart.  Yes, this film is about having a baby, but mostly it is about adjusting to being married.  Towards the end of the film, they do decide to have a baby, and hence the name.  Anyway, even that doesn't come easy and it involves doctor visits.  The husband, Jake, is very upset about the whole thing.  They are lying in bed and his wife makes the mistake of saying, "I talked to my mom about it..." And he just blows.  (this is me guessing at the lines more or less)

"You talked to your mom. Did you talk to the neighbors?  Who didn't you talk to?  Geez."  Then he goes into one of his fantasy sequences.  He pictures her parents at the end of the bed with flashlights on their heads giving them... Sex Lessons.  Her dad is saying things like, "Jake get your butt a little higher."

And now we have come full circle to how She's Having A Baby just tied in to klahanie's post on Sex Coaching.  Voila.  Only problem:  they don't have that clip on YouTube.  They have lots of other great clips from the movie, but NOT that one.  Sorry klahanie.  I did think of you.  This sort of thing happens a lot.

Jay Noel posted on his blog about purposefully changing the words to certain songs.  He had an entire list of songs that he lyric-changes on purpose.  He gave his version of the lyrics above and then the actual lyrics below.  Soooo funny.  Well, that made me think of this scene from the movie Bull Durham.  Yeah, another darn 80s movie.  Crash and the boys were on the bus and Meat starts to sing a song, but he is getting the lyrics wrong.  Not on purpose, though.  It is driving Crash crazy.  He finally starts correcting him.  H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S.  Is it on YouTube?  Nope.  Other funny scenes from Bull Durham are there, but not that one.  Drat that YouTube.  It is killing my process.

Red Shoes wrote a rather naughty post giving the nod to No Panties Day.  Shoes, Shoes, Shoes.  We are going to have a talk someday.  LOLOL.  The post was fairly harmless and a typical Naughty Shoes post.  They are always labeled, so you know what you're getting.  Moving on... That immediately made me think of this specific episode of the long-defunct TV show Felicity.  That was the first brain-child of JJ Abrams.  I took several tours through that show since I have it on DVD.  The first time I watched it on TV, the second time I was desperately trying to understand Felicity's choices, and the third time I just enjoyed it (again).  JJ Abrams writes really amazing characters.  Now, how did this episode relate to the Shoes post?  Well, let me tell you.

Sean and Meghan were secondary characters on that show.  Meghan was rather wild, but gave up that side of herself when she got together with Sean.  She was beginning to feel the strain, and was clamoring to go out to this Underground Party.  Sean was wanting to get in touch with his Jewish roots and that was his Holy Night, so he didn't want to go.  They were clashing Big-Time.  In the end, she ended up ditching the party for church and he went looking for her at this party in asslass chaps.  And we have now circled back to No Panties Day.  She is waiting for him at home and he walks in all decked out in leather.  He is ticked.  He has been looking for her all over NYC.  When he turns to go upstairs is when you see the lack of ass in the chaps.  Hahahahaha.  Happy No Panties Day, Shoes.  I know it wasn't what you had in mind, but that is what made it so perfect.

Unfortunately, that has been what this entire week of reading has been like... Thursday is not looking promising:(

image found at www.weheartit.com

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Paula Deen In The Stew

Yesterday I saw a video of Paula Deen making this rather vague apology to anyone she might have hurt.  She was clearly upset about it.  She seemed sincere.  I had no idea what she was talking about based solely on her video.

The TV media folks cleared it up somewhat by saying that apparently Paula had made use of the "N" word 20 years ago (or thereabouts) and may have also used other racial slurs.  Really?  Paula Deen?  A woman who grew up in Georgia sixty years ago when the schools were still segregated?  That woman might have used the "N-word" back in the day?  She might not have known any better and repeated the same old garbage that her parents said and their parents before them?  Huh.  I am shocked.

Apparently this "news" is all being brought up once again thanks to a former employee, Lisa Jackson, back when Paula was first getting her start in the restaurant business.  Jackson claims that she witnessed numerous acts of violence, discrimination, and racism during the five years that she worked there.  That didn't stop her from penning the following letter to Paula three months before she quit:

On Friday, CNN's sister network, HLN, obtained a letter to Deen written by Jackson, the plaintiff, three months before she quit her job at the restaurant. It read, in part, "When I came to work for this company, I felt hopeless. I needed something, some opportunity that could provide me hope as an individual, as a woman, to make it on my own. At 15, homeless, without parents and with a young child, my life was headed in a direction no one could ever assume positive. ... Since then I have become the independent woman I have always wanted to be. I have been given opportunities that I never thought possible, all because of you and Bubba."

If you want to read more about Paula's back story (very interesting stuff) you can do so here.  It is also where I found the letter quote above.

Given the letter, it seems to me that Miss Jackson wasn't really all that unhappy about her restaurant job or Paula Deen.  She is just another Greedy Grabber looking to cash in on a good thing.  In so doing, she has dug around and pulled out the magic word: Racist.  You call anyone a Racist in today's world and you can sink their ship.  All we know is that Paula Deen grew up in a time when Racism was rampant and she admits that Back Then she used words that she would never use now.

When you know better, you do better.

That isn't enough for The Food Network.  Apparently, you can still be fired for the sins of a lifetime ago.  I am sure that they are letting Paula go to make sure that they are standing on what will be the Politically Correct side of this thing.

All I can say to that is that if we are all about to be judged for things that we did twenty years ago, that is really going to suck rotten eggs.  This life is all about learning from your mistakes.  If we all can't move beyond every stupid thing we've ever done, can't apologize, then we are all just stuck.  

Thursday, June 20, 2013

HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY

SURPRISE. Drum roll please. It is once again HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY. Yes, you read that correctly.  HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY is back on Thursday.  For those of you unfamiliar with the once again weekly HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY posts, I bet you're wondering what is going on.   Well, peeps, let me give you the skinny on this event...


This is a weekly event landing typically on Thursdays.  The best (or worst) part is that I am not going to explain why I chose "whatever" footage for each of you. If, you watch your footage and are scratching your head at the end, well that means I didn't do a very good job. However, all is not lost. You can email me at rarichards68@gmail.com and ask me what I was thinking when I chose that particular piece of footage off of youtube and connected it to you. And then I will tell you. Then I will start sending up prayers that I haven't offended the crap out of whoever is on the receiving end of that email....lol. Because, honestly, I will tell you right now... I admire all of you enormously so I really hope that doesn't happen.

Also, this is not an exclusive venture by any means. I hope that you will take the time to watch ALL of the footage because I don't pick bad footage:-) I also hope that you might check out the blog of the person I dedicated the footage to because they are pretty darn awesome. If you haven't figured this out yet... I pick the footage based on something that you've written or something that I've gleaned from your personality. Think on that for a while... If you are having trouble watching the entire video (meaning it is being cut off on one side), click on it a couple of times and it will take you straight over to youtube. If you click on the four squares at the bottom corner of the video, it will enlarge it to fill your screen. The escape key will bring it back to normal size. The back arrow will bring you back to my page.

Now, let's get this PARTY STARTED!!!!

This one is for everyone:


This one is for klahanie:


This one is for Susan at I Think; There, I Yam:


This one is for Mind of Mine:


This one is for Shoes at Red Shoe's Chronicles:


This one is for The Blue Grumpster at The Blue Grumpster...well, usually...:


This one is for Rawknrobyn at Life by Chocoloate: Robyn Alana Engel's Blog :

image found at www.weheartit.com

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Apathy and Agendas

image found on www.weheartit.com


Arlee Bird posted a blog yesterday about Apathy on his blog Tossing It Out.  He always throws out a question on Mondays for discussion.  Yesterday he asked if people in the Good Ole U.S.A. were suffering from Apathy?  I responded with a resounding YES to that question and went on in great detail in his Comments section.  I know many of you have been on receiving end of my comments will find this very hard to believe.  Not.

As I see the political climate becoming more and more frightening, I have begun following more political blogs.  I have been doing more reading than I ever have before.  I have encountered some thinking that has been so far outside my Knowledge Base that I have had to do Outside Research to even understand What The Heck They Are Talking About so that I can follow along.  One thing I have discovered is that the more questions you ask, the more questions you have.  The more things you find out, the more you wish you didn't know.  And that is the truth.

Nothing on this Political Stage is happening accidentally, coincidentally, or without specific purpose.  Make no mistake.  And the Apathy in this country will be the thing that takes us all down if we don't wake up and begin to take notice of what our elected officials are doing, and have been doing, with our liberty.  I know that most people think of the United Nations as this Wonderful Entity that exists for the betterment of all.  I would like to take a moment to disabuse you of that notion.  For example, right now Iran is in charge of the talks on Global Disarmament.  Hmmm.  I have plenty to say about that, but I will let that statement just stand on its own merit.

Instead, I would like to bring to the table something that the U.N. has brokered that actually will affect all of our lives eventually in a very real way: Agenda 21.  Agenda 21 is an Agreement that all the countries have agreed to, and are actively implementing, on Sustainable Development.  It is 371 pages and can be found on the Internet.  I did not read it all.  In fact, I only made it to page 38, and was skimming, but I still found some disturbing items before I gave it up and watched the Video I am going to post below (Agenda 21 for Dummies).  Here are some examples that I copied and pasted directly from the document:


5.22.
An assessment should be made of the implications of the age structure of the population on resource demand and dependency burdens, ranging from educational expenses for the young to health
care and support for the elderly, and on household income generation.
5.23.
An assessment should also be made of national population carrying capacity in the context of satisfaction of human needs and sustainable development, and special attention should be given to
critical resources, such as water and land, and environmental factors, such as ecosystem health and biodiversity.
5.43.
Population programmes should be implemented along with natural resource management and development programmes at the local level that will ensure sustainable use of natural resources,
improve the quality of life of the people and enhance environmental quality. 

As I said, after enough legalese, I was ready for the video.  Just give me Agenda 21 for Dummies Pleaaaaase.  I think this effectively explains, via many people who sat in on this conference, have read the document thoroughly, and have received instruction about implementation, that this Agenda IS being brought to YOU.  You just don't know it.  By the time you do know it, it will be too late to stop it.  So, you can thank me now with your adoration in the Comments Section.

 


How do we KNOW that we are racing toward the implementation of Agenda 21 (aside from all of the examples cited in the video)?  The government is working so hard to take our guns and destroy the 2nd Amendment.  When that happens, the next step is Agenda 21.  They cannot implement Agenda 21 while the populace is still armed.  However, when they disarm us, it is a totally different story.  So, mark my words:  The only thing standing between YOU and the complete annihilation of your freedom is the 2nd Amendment.  When that is gone, so will be your life as you last knew it.  Look long and hard at that map.  It will be the New World under the United Nations paid for by YOU.  Only you will own none of it. 

Are you still apathetic?

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Easing Into Father's Day

I miss my dad all of the time.  Days like today merely amplify the feeling.

I know that he is looking over my shoulder.  I know that he knows precisely what is going on in my life.  I know that he is goes to all of my doctor appointments and is nodding in approval at the direction my path for wellness has taken.  Each time I meet someone and learn something new, or read something that turns me onto eating better, living better, putting my body into balance, I know my dad is there.  He may have even orchestrated it somehow.

As an aside: have you ever noticed that when you get on a path of learning about something that more and more information continues to come to you on this topic?  I would say that God understands that you are finally in a place to receive, so it comes at you from every which way.  It is a wondrous thing when it happens.  It is the reason we must never give up and always continue to search for a better way or an answer.  If you continue to search, you will eventually land in that place where you will receive!  Maybe you just have to do a lot of living and try a lot of Wrong Things so that the information you get will make sense.  For some of us, that may take longer than for others of us....

My friend JJ The Disconnected Writer has talked about balance and being in balance for the Longest Time.  I think my dad understood that, though he never spoke in those terms.  My dad was way ahead of his time in terms of understanding that the body became ill due to deficits.  If a person wasn't getting enough of a vitamin, or necessary mineral, than the body couldn't sustain itself and became ill.  A good diet was the foundation.  However, some people were so lacking from poor nutrition that a good diet needed the help of supplements to get back on track.  My dad read and read and read about this sort of thing for the last forty years.  And he talked about what he read.  I know that he felt like he spoke mostly to brick walls.  People don't want to eat healthy, won't believe that eating organic is better, and don't want to quit the Junk Food in favor of the healthy stuff.  And they don't believe that their ailments can be cured by anything other than a Rx.  Plus, they won't take anything unless their medical doctor prescribes it.  Period. 

My dad was a Big Believer in taking care of your own health.  No one will care more about your health than You.  Your doctor certainly isn't going to care about it more than you will.   My current doctor might not care about my health more than I do, BUT she believes in a natural path to getting better just like my dad.  She believes that once your body is restored to its natural state of balance everything will function as it should.  I think that is what my friend JJ has been trying to say for a long time, too.  I have simply been so far out of balance that the concept has been difficult to grasp.  However, I feel myself becoming more aligned all of the time.  What once seemed impossible, now seems possible.

All of the books on natural medicine say that the body wants to restore itself to it's natural state of wellness.  Being in a state of dis-ease is simply not natural.  The body's natural state is one of ease.

From a purely selfish point of view, I wish you were here dad when I reached that state of ease again.  However, I know that you will know, and be celebrating where you are.  Maybe we can meet up in my dreams and have a nice chat about it.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY

SURPRISE. Drum roll please. It is once again HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY. Yes, you read that correctly.  HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY is back on Thursday.  For those of you unfamiliar with the once again weekly HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY posts, I bet you're wondering what is going on.   Well, peeps, let me give you the skinny on this event...


This is a weekly event landing typically on Thursdays.  The best (or worst) part is that I am not going to explain why I chose "whatever" footage for each of you. If, you watch your footage and are scratching your head at the end, well that means I didn't do a very good job. However, all is not lost. You can email me at rarichards68@gmail.com and ask me what I was thinking when I chose that particular piece of footage off of youtube and connected it to you. And then I will tell you. Then I will start sending up prayers that I haven't offended the crap out of whoever is on the receiving end of that email....lol. Because, honestly, I will tell you right now... I admire all of you enormously so I really hope that doesn't happen.

Also, this is not an exclusive venture by any means. I hope that you will take the time to watch ALL of the footage because I don't pick bad footage:-) I also hope that you might check out the blog of the person I dedicated the footage to because they are pretty darn awesome. If you haven't figured this out yet... I pick the footage based on something that you've written or something that I've gleaned from your personality. Think on that for a while... If you are having trouble watching the entire video (meaning it is being cut off on one side), click on it a couple of times and it will take you straight over to youtube. If you click on the four squares at the bottom corner of the video, it will enlarge it to fill your screen. The escape key will bring it back to normal size. The back arrow will bring you back to my page.

Now, let's get this PARTY STARTED!!!!

This one is for everyone:


This one is for Liza at Middle Passages:


This one is for Alex at Alex J. Cavanaugh:


This one is for Mind of Mine:


This one is for Shoes at Red Shoe's Chronicles and JJ The Disconnected Writer:


This one is for Memphis Steve at Steve's Nude Memphis Blog:

image found at www.weheartit.com

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

1984

Do you ever have a whole bunch of stuff in your head?  I am talking so much stuff that it feels like buzzards are circling in there?

One of my Facebook friends from high school has a parent who is sick.  The parent is retired and on Medicare and is having difficulty staying hospitalized despite a serious infection in her back.  My high school friend is about ready to explode if her status updates are any way to gauge the situation.  This is the same friend who posted on my status, after the election, that she wasn't sure that we could remain friends if I continued to post my political views now that the election was over.  I told her to delete me if she couldn't just scroll past my posts on her Wall.  She decided to put her Big Girl Pants on.  Of course, one of my big problems with Obama was ObamaCare.  Well, now my friend is living with the reality of ObamaCare firsthand.  I am finding it very difficult to be supportive without pointing the obvious: Elections Have Consequences.  But, bless my heart, I am trying.  One of HER relatives was kind enough to state the obvious on one of those threads, and put the blame right where it belonged: on ObamaCare.  Thank goodness.

Now that the news is filled with one scandal after another at the Big White, I am reading on many blogs bits and pieces, and occasionally full-on rants, about what is going down.  If you didn't know, today is the vote on Amnesty.  I was unaware (until today) that Marco Rubio has changed his position on his own bill and is now saying that this bill should pass as is.  Legalization must come first.  Wow.  In my humble opinion, this bill has been flawed all the way down the line.  Now the speculation is amping up for what will happen next.  The GOP is backing away from this bill like a tuna fish sandwich left out in the sun for a week.  Some say that Rubio has shot his political aspirations into the toilet and all but cleared the way for Jeb Bush's rush at the Presidential bid for 2016.  Are you groaning yet?  Me too.  I should have seen this one coming.  Manzanita predicted that Jeb Bush was the Candidate that the Non-Republican Republicans have been grooming for this Nomination right after Romney lost.  If I take anything away from this it is to never disregard anything Manzanita says... ever.

What do you think about the NSA snooping on people via every telecommunications device they can?  Right this moment the Whistleblower's name escapes me, but do you think he is legit?  I have read varying things.  I am not convinced that specific guy is the Real Deal.  However, I am absolutely certain since The Patriot Act that the NSA is listening in on our phone calls and reading our email.  I have no doubt that they have gone far beyond the scope of what most Americans would find acceptable -  if they knew the breadth and depth of the monitoring.  It is a good thing we are used to being lied to and accept the lies like we do our morning cereal.   As for me, I think George Orwell was a man ahead of his time.  He was all too familiar with the human condition and he saw this coming.

 “The choice for mankind lay between freedom and happiness and… for the great bulk of mankind, happiness was better.”George Orwell, 1984.

Given that, how am I remaining sane?  I weeded an area for a garden.  That felt great.  I can't weed out our government, but I can weed a small space that is mine.  Yanking out those suckers was extremely cathartic.  Then I planted some tomatoes, peppers of all colors, cucumbers, and oregano.  Now, I am going to water and watch something grow.


image found on www.weheartit.com

Thursday, June 6, 2013

HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY



SURPRISE. Drum roll please. It is once again HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY. Yes, you read that correctly.  HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY is back on Thursday.  For those of you unfamiliar with the once again weekly HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY posts, I bet you're wondering what is going on.   Well, peeps, let me give you the skinny on this event...


This is a weekly event landing typically on Thursdays.  The best (or worst) part is that I am not going to explain why I chose "whatever" footage for each of you. If, you watch your footage and are scratching your head at the end, well that means I didn't do a very good job. However, all is not lost. You can email me at rarichards68@gmail.com and ask me what I was thinking when I chose that particular piece of footage off of youtube and connected it to you. And then I will tell you. Then I will start sending up prayers that I haven't offended the crap out of whoever is on the receiving end of that email....lol. Because, honestly, I will tell you right now... I admire all of you enormously so I really hope that doesn't happen.

Also, this is not an exclusive venture by any means. I hope that you will take the time to watch ALL of the footage because I don't pick bad footage:-) I also hope that you might check out the blog of the person I dedicated the footage to because they are pretty darn awesome. If you haven't figured this out yet... I pick the footage based on something that you've written or something that I've gleaned from your personality. Think on that for a while... If you are having trouble watching the entire video (meaning it is being cut off on one side), click on it a couple of times and it will take you straight over to youtube. If you click on the four squares at the bottom corner of the video, it will enlarge it to fill your screen. The escape key will bring it back to normal size. The back arrow will bring you back to my page.

Now, let's get this PARTY STARTED!!!!

This one is for everyone:


This one is for Yenta Mary the Food Floozie:


This one is for JJ The Disconnected Writer:


This one is for Steven at Steven Symes, Writer:


This one is for Rebecca at Rebecca Green Gasper:


This one is for Jay Noel:


This one is for Liza at Middle Passages:


This one is for Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out:

image found at www.weheartit.com

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Whose Line Is It Anyway?

It felt like the never-ending vacation, but it ended.  Finally.

Mom and I returned home this weekend in something resembling a lump.  Make that two lumps.

I did promise you some details on my nephew's wedding.  That seems like Forever ago.  To be fair, it was a couple of weeks ago... It was a Catholic wedding.  As you can guess, the church was lovely.  There were something like three weddings happening in that church that day.  This one was at noon and was pretty short insofar as Catholic weddings go.  The first memorable moment (for me) was simply how happy my nephew looked when he saw his bride at the back of the church.  His face lit up.  I really thought his smile would engulf the entirety of his being.  I had a difficult time looking away from that joy to even focus on the bride.  Turns out, she had that same look on HER face.  I didn't expect to cry, but I felt myself tearing up.  Yeah, I needed a tissue.  But, that was the ONLY time.

The other memorable wedding moment came during the vows.  My  nephew said his first.  When the bride began her vows she accidentally said, "I (groom's name)..." and then stopped realizing what she'd done.  She had no idea what to do.  She looked at the groom in horror.  Then looked out at the congregation with his look on her face that clearly said, "Now what???"  The priest said something in her ear that got back her on track.  She began again using her own name - instead of the groom's - and everything went smoothly after that little hiccup.  Of course, those are the stories that make a wedding great!!!

The reception was amazing all the way around.  The food was outstanding.  There was dancing for anyone who felt like getting out there and shaking their groove-thing.  The DJ was one of those who only played about a 60 seconds or so of any given song.  That was a plus and a minus.  If you loved a song and were really digging it, so much fun to dance to, and if you hated a song and not a great dance tune, well you only had to suffer through it for 60 seconds or so:)  The crowd was mostly 20 somethings, so I spent the bulk of the reception hanging out with the older folks (yeah the 40 somethings).  That included my brother, sister-in-law, and her siblings.  I mostly danced with my sister-in-law, one of her brothers, and my brother (occasionally).

There was one of those cool photo booths at the reception with an entire table of funky junk for you to wear while taking your picture.  I hopped into that thing with my mom and brother.  My mom has that picture or I would post it for you.  But I do have the ones that I took of me and my sister-in-law's brother that we took after stepping off the dance floor.  We took two trips through that Magic Machine because someone left the curtain behind us open and we didn't realize it until our session was nearly over.   All I can say is whoever thought of those photo booths... great idea!


If you are wondering why I have no pictures of the bride and groom... well, I still don't own a camera.  And I can't figure out how to download anything off my phone.  So, I didn't take one single picture this entire vacation.  I am counting on getting some professional pictures or copying some off of Facebook before this is all over.