Don't Forget to Just Hang Out

I went out with fifteen or so girlfriends the other night, to celebrate a good friend's 50th birthday.  (This is the type of friend that you would walk 100 miles through the desert for, if she needed you to.) 

We had so much fun, laughing and chattering (there may have been wine, too) for hours.  It is amazing what some time with good friends will do for you.  We forget to just be with our friends, as grown-ups - remember when you were a kid, then a teenager, then a twenty-something?  You would rather die than miss hanging out with your friends.  Where does that go?  (I guess I kind of know; we're tired!!!  The kids are wearing us out!!)

Anyhow, it's so good to laugh until you can't breathe, to smile across a table at friends who you love, and who love you, to hug it out.  And to gather for a friend who you love, and who does so much for others...just icing on the birthday cake.

So, happy birthday wonderful friend, and kudos to our friend who planned it all.  I felt like the little guy in the picture above.  Tee-hee!

Making Waves

OK, a little post about puttin' it out there:

I have so far garnered 29 glorious signatures for my petition to request a name change for the show "GCB," and so I wanted to ruminate for a moment on "causes."  If you go to www.change.org, you will see many, many petitions that you can sign, and my feeling is that we will all be receiving more of these petitions as times get a little more heated and there is more and more to fight for, and against.  You may want to send a petition out yourself, one day.

Here is my feeling on working for causes: it is very important - if it is important to you.  Some people really float through life, and they don't let these things (like "GCB") bother them - they may not agree with it, but hey, who are they to say?  I wish I were more like this - and I am getting more like this on many things as the years go by.  But I really think that it's not the mountains you move, but your willingness to try.  All the ripples together make a wave - if we all waiting for the time when we can change the world by ourselves, well...we'll be waiting for a long time.  We were created to work together, like the parts of the human body, each created to perform a different function.   Similarly, if we create art or music solely for the masses instead of for our muse, or to follow our creative instincts, we fall short.  It is our unique contribution to life that we leave behind - a wonderful recipe, a great sense of humor, a story, a poem, a cause, a drawing in the sand.

So put it out there in the way that suits you best. Create!  Petition!  One of my 29 signers may say, "Hmm, I'm going to start a petition about so-and-so," and create another ripple that joins with mine, and the wave builds a tiny bit.  That's what it's all about.  Then, after you do your part, move along happily, and be able to leave a cause behind.  It doesn't mean that you abandon every cause (some are grand in design, and cost their flag-bearer everything, and that is meant to be.) I just mean that it's ok to do your little part in many cases, and then happily move on.

Bye for now...

Protest the name "Good Christian Bitches" or "GCB"

I have created an online petition to ask ABC TV to re-name their "GCB" television show (the GCB stands for "Good Christian Bitches.")  I have no opinion about the show itself - it will probably tank on it's own - but I feel strongly that NO religion should be portrayed in this way on a supposedly family-friendly network.  WE view these programs, and hence give these networks their very l existence - we can have a say when they cross the line - and we should. Protect the sanctity of all religions by standing up for one.

http://www.change.org/petitions/petitioning-abc-television-network-change-name-of-abc-s-gcb-to-reflect-deletion-of-christian-in-title

Please sign the new petition I created at Change.org, which will go to ABC...

If you are moved to do this, you have taken a step towards being in control of what you are fed on television.  Congrats! 

Have a great day!!

Doonesbury is Done-sbury in My Book

Has our society gone completely,

irretrievably insane?  Issues of name-calling and civility are popping up almost too quickly to react to these days, and then thrown like handfuls of seeds by the internet, radio and tv, which causes even more inflamed reaction, which provokes even more comment...and so on and so on, in a whirlwind that leads straight to hell.

A conservative radio host calls a young woman "slut" (while another liberal television host is calling a woman a c*#* and t***, and getting away with it, because, lets face it, he is "cool.")  And he's on cable, and can say more, and get away with it.  Cable programming like HBO and Showtime, those visionaries so fawned over at every awards show, are at the forefront of turning slimy language, previously unimaginable sexual imagery, and the slip-sliding of many a fine actor and actresses' career into the go-to source of "edgy" and "hip" of the modern world.  Puhleeze.   A television show that I am in the process of actively boycotting called "Good Christian Bitches" hits the air, and now Gary Trudeau, in a stab at a return to relevancy, writes a week of comic strips about abortion.  The only thing more graphic than his work is the actual topic of his work, a "procedure" that is one of the most heavily-debated social issues of our time.  Here is a summary of Doonesbury strip (thank you to blogger Jim Romanesko whom I am linking to); scroll down a bit, then peruse at your own discretion.  The only thing we can be grateful for is that no artwork is supplied with the sneering  text in this week of strips.  I love liberal outrage at a hint of humanity that costs someone something cloaked as artistic (free-pass) commentary, don't you?

What has happened to our civility, our morals, our class, people?  Where, oh where are the days where Charlie Brown and Linus and Snoopy smartly commented on the times of our lives in a piece that you could ponder, laugh at, and then proudly hang on the fridge?  Where did our creative intelligence go? Why are we stabbed in the back by our own television networks, airing GCB with a grin and an outstretched hand, ready to sell us out to help sell soap?  Why the heck are we swearing so much in the public square; name-calling now being the go-to tactic? (You too, Rush.) As Charlie Brown would say, "Auugh!"

Our society has hit the skids.  Sure, there are societies that are worse, but they never showed the promise that ours did and does, they never where what we once were.  Our fall is a hard and painful one, because the drop is so far.  We are a fractured society too obsessed with words, and celebrity, and good intentions as stated on Twitter and Facebook - it doesn't even matter if we follow through - just saying that you care is enough these days.  (If you "like" it on FB, you care.)  We are a reactive, scared, angry, dull society - and we need to wake up, get up, and become who we once were.

You don't have to be actively against abortion, as I am.  But you should admit that it is a relevant, important moral discussion that this country is having, and not go insane, surly, disgusting and cruel when one side gains some ground in favor of life.  That's what I don't see - if there is even a question that a fertilized egg is a life, then isn't this the situation to err on the side of caution; of life?  When the Texas legislature attempts to do so, all hell breaks loose - or at least the pen of a liberal darling artiste.   Repeat after me, ladies: I am an enlightened American woman because I accept the consequences of sex, and am prepared to deal with them, in every way.  I think ahead, or think quickly, in a loving, responsible manner.   I don't make my decisions behind a locked door with a doctor in a mask that doesn't care about me.  That is not feminism.  That is a woman - a person - in bondage.

As for "Good Christian Bitches," stay tuned.  I will be posting contact info for their advertisers, and for ABC (you can also find this info elsewhere with a quick search; I am by no means the only or first one to be upset over this.)  If you want to let your money talk, don't patronize these advertisers, and let them know.  And tell the network that it's Easter here on the planet Earth - and we won't stand for this anymore.

Time to make Lucy, Linus, Charlie and Snoopy proud.  Let's use our minds to get what we want - and let's not want fame, but good.  Let's not want attention, but only to contribute.  Let's not want cleverness, but intelligence. Let's aim for edginess only as it pertains to really solving some of the problems and ills of our time - let's invent things again, let's challenge anyone who wants to change what is pure and strong about us.  That is what is good in a rational, moralistic, caring country. Time to seperate the wheat from the chaff.   Hang on, Snoopy!

Giving Up People for Lent!

Lent is a time of preparation for Easter - and, a time of giving things up to heighten our focus on Christ.  Lent, or "Lint," as my 12 year old keeps calling it by accident, then correcting himslef - can be a challenge for even the most well-intentioned Catholics.

I, in the past, have given up People magazine; why in the world do I need even a few minutes a week of celebrity gossip?  What is that bringing to my life?  Well, in a sign of the times, I am giving up People.com this year; I now read People online.  It may seem a small thing to give up, but it is kind of important; in a society where celebrity no longer has anything positive, on the whole, to offer us, not a moment should be spent idly perusing pictures and articles about people who seem more and more to be in their own version of hell.

Kids are amazingly good at sticking to their Lenten obligations; one year my youngest son gave up video games, and I never heard a thing about them for 40 days - while I was at the check-out line of the grocery store cocking one eye at the magazine rack and deep-breathing through the screaming headlines and "fun and flirty" fashions being worn by air-brushed stars that I could "copy at home - myself - even on a budget!"  Oh no - was one of my favorite stars having a breakdown, taking pills, or having an affair?   It's funny, but once you are actively giving something up - cigarettes, caffeine, sweets, a relationship, celebrity mags - you begin to see in high detail their pull on your life; the exhaustion and stress even seemingly innocent things can cause.  In this way, Lent frees you, instead of imposes on you.

So, I will continue to avoid People, and when I want to read it - or, more accurately, when I, like a zombie, move to my drop-down bar on my computer to select People.com in a break from work  - I will pause and say a prayer to be better, to give more, to thank my lucky stars for everything I have, everyone good and fine I am blessed to have in my life.  And my son will be quietly and steadfastly giving up all soda for the next 39 days, without a word of longing or complaint, fulfilling a promise he has made to God.  Amazing, energizing, and something to emulate.

How To Look Like Ryan Gosling

Oh my gosh, so funny...I LOOOVVVEEE "The Notebook"!! Can stop and watch it any time!!!

Whitney Houston - Didn't We Almost Have It All

I

I have two wonderful memories of Whitney Houston's music, although I have a great familiarity with most of her songs as her music was my generation's music, and she was part of the soundtrack of my young adulthood.  The first memory is of dancing to Whitney's I Want to Dance with Someone who Loves Me with my young husband at a friend's wedding, and being so happy that I was dancing with someone who loved me.  I can still remember it well; bee-bopping around and thinking, "Wow, I'm married!"

The second memory is of this song that I've posted, Didn't We Almost Have It All.   Back when I had my first  two little boys, I took an aerobics class every day, and at then end of the class the teacher would lower the studio lights and we would stretch and relax soundlessly, listening to this song in the dark, tired and open to the music.  There were more than a few eyes glistening when the lights came back up.

Thank you Whitney, for being a big part of my soundtrack back in the day.  Rest in peace.

Can Santorum Swell be turned into Conservative Tsunami?

I would be all for a Santorum Swell in the Republican race for candidate for President of the U.S. of A.  Is the time right for this Catholic to feel some faith from the voters?

Santorum needs to fix a few things if he is to continue, in my opinion, but they are things easily fixed.  He can be whiny, as a debater, and does a little too much pleading, and not enough commanding of the debate stage.  This is easily overcome with the right debate coach and a little practice - in front of the mirror, in front of his wife, , his team, his kids...whomever.  It is imperative that this be corrected, or Obama will mop the floor with him in Presidential debates, should it come to that. When speaking to a crowd Santorum is much better - he is passionate, and can clearly crystallize a cohesive conservative message for the masses.  Interestingly, he was the best, and most relaxed I've seen him, when he returned from his very ill young daughter's bedside to comment on his campaign; he was relaxed, unruffled, and speaking with the insight of one who has just had his priorities re- aligned by the health of a child.

One of Romney's senior strategists compared Santorum's three-state sweep on Tuesday night to a
"student body election," effectively dismissing the importance of Santorum's victories - even an embarrassing, to Romney - victory in Minnesota, where Romney has Pawlenty stumping for him, and is a state he won in 2008.  Of course in 2008 he was a conservative state's conservative choice against McCain...and now in 2012 there's a new conservative kid on the block in the sweater-wearing, clean-cut, unabashedly Catholic Santorum (we have heard precious little about Mitt's Mormonism - for good reason, he must feel.  Voters are as a whole way too unsure about what Mormons believe - which equals a potential weakness for the Romney campaign in the general, I would surmise.  Although in a general election, you would fight one "Mormonism" with a Reverend Wright comeback, and come out ahead.  Of course, all of this would be un-spoken, and in the mind of the voter, but faith may be a real factor in the general election, because Church and State is becoming a hot-button issue in the country.)

Santorum's biggest asset, right now, is the backward movement of the government, the courts, and the "Boob Group," Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer "Race for the Cure."  I call them this not because I disrespect breasts - I have two myself, have had two biopsies in the last ten years as a result of mammograms, and care about everyone's breast health.  But SJK acted like boobs when they walked back their cutting of ties to Planned Parenthood - a group under Congressional investigation, and an organization that is a "pass-through" in the breast cancer fight; they issue referrals for mammograms, but do not offer mammograms directly.  Why is it wrong, Komen, to only offer grants to organizations that do offer the mammograms themselves?  (Note: Check out the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for an alternative to Komen when donating; Komen CEO makes $450,000 per year in salary, funded by you.)

Santorum can take the outrage of conservatives over 1) Komen, 2) the California court's over-ruling of the will of the people - a ban on gay marriage, and 3) the White House's recent decision to make Catholic Charities provide "health services" (morning-after pill, birth control) and bundle it into a perfect storm for a real conservative candidacy to be backed by both the Republican establishment, and conservative America.  He can stand up forcefully - skip the whining - and speak from the heart, and from his record.  He can fight the vast moneyball of the Romney campaign as best he can, and give conservatives a true choice with which to battle Obama. ( Romney is not a good debater, and I think that we are in trouble right there if he gets the nomination.  Can you see a flustered, high-octave, bumbling Romney agains the King of Slick and Cool?  C'mon, he can sing!  Marvin Gaye and Al Greene!)  Plus, Romney's money, his tactics and his faux-conservatism irk me to no end.

Is the Santorum Swell a tsunami in the making, or just an errant wave on a low-tide sea?  Time will tell.

What of Art? What of Longing? Where Is My Head?

Okay, so I remember when I was posing for this sculpture...(nah, just kidding.  I have never had, nor will I ever have, rippling abs.  I also have my head, and all extremities too, as of this writing.)

Anyhoo, this sculpture lives in my yard. About seven years ago I was in a garden shop and I saw this sculpture and I said to myself, "You know what, Self?  You have three sons and a husband - you are drowning in playoff games, fart noises, and Axe deodorant. The last intellectual thing that went on in your house was a game of online Solitaire.  But what of Art?  What of Culture?  What of Man's Longing for that Which Is Indefinable Yet For That Which Is Still a Part of the Search for That Which...oh, never mind, Self.  Just grab that statue and let's go."

Well, my sons, at that time, ages 5, 15 and 18, were horrified when I put my statue in our old backyard.  They immediately wrapped her in a beach towel, and begged me to throw her away.  (I privately named her Clothilde; classy, mait non?)  For boys that snickered endlessly about "boobs," when presented with two plaster breasts, they had precious little to say, but did a lot of blushing.

Oh, I forgot to mention - she had a head back then - a cute Greek head with those precious short Greek curls; one can imagine the subject of the sculpture gently sawing off her curls by the Aegean Sea with a seashell when they became too long.  Anyway, she moved with us to our new house (I remember she was hanging out of my husband's window, looking expectantly down the highway) and recently I glanced up into the garden to the side of the driveway and noticed that dear Clothilde was...headless.  What?  I stormed in and demanded, "Where is the head of my statue?"

My youngest son James, who is 12, and has been vehemently opposed to Clothilde since she came, said, "Oooh,  about that, Mom.  I, well, I accidentally kicked a soccer ball when I was out with the guys, and it knocked her head off."  I was distressed; Clothilde did not remind me of all that is pure and fine and desirable in Society with no head; instead she reminded me of...well, she just wasn't herself.

And yet, she was herself.  I do still like to look up in the garden and see Clothilde turned gracefully to look out to sea.  I still like how her plaster has aged, and how she reminds me of that day's persistent internal response to a piece of plaster gracefully rendered.  And as any friend would, I've looked for her head, but it was apparently thrown away in fear; right into the back of the trash truck as it rumbled away.

Ah, Clothilde, together we still search for that which is nameless and yet pursues us like wind as we walk...ah, forget it.  But rest assured; headless and ever beautiful Clothilde knows just what I mean.

Not By My Chinny-Chin...chilla?

This cute little fella, pictured at left, is a chinchilla.  Basically, a very large mouse with a squirrel's tail and the attributes of a superhero - chinchillas can run off walls, never touching the floor, they can move at lightning speeds, and they jump pretty fiercely, reaching some pretty surprising heights.  And I am putting all my efforts into not becoming attached to one.

We are chinchilla-sitting right now; my husband, my 12 year old and myself.  My college son's girlfriend has been away, so the job of chinchilla-sitting fell to him...which means now it has fallen to me.  And I love animals, and this animal presents a whole new world of excitement: chinchillas take dust baths!  (You buy dust at the pet store - no kidding - and they roll around in it!  Seriously!)  Chinchillas are soft!  (They used to make fur coats out of them.)  Chinchillas often like people, and bond with them!

So, I have been instructed to avoid this chinchilla's adoring gaze, ignore his soft fur, and turn away when he is jumping around appealingly, inviting me to observe his antics.  You would think it would be my 12 year old my husband is worried about - it's me, instead.  "Peanut has to go home soon," he said gently last night, as I was gazing into (our) chinchilla's little red eyes while I cleaning his cage.  "He has a real mommy.  We are just baby-sitting.  This is not a forever pet, just a visitor."  (Then he hands me my binky and my blanky and I toddle off to bed.  Come on; I'm a grown-up.  A grown-up that has to have a chinchilla or I'll just die!)

I know, I know.  You would think 2 dogs, a tortoise and a horse would be enough.  But...is there ever enough cute jumping softness in one's life, I ask?

P.S.  These cuties live a long time, so if his real mommy takes more trips or needs a sittter...Aunty is waiting!!

Iowa Primary Results...Veddy Interesting

Wednesday AM, Post-Iowa Caucus:

Such an interesting race to the GOP nomination this year!

I stayed up as long as I could to watch the results in Iowa, and ended up hanging off the couch almost upside-down (which makes the cadidates' faces look very long, in an interesting optical-illusion aside.)  The rest of the fam had long gone to bed, and after 11 PM it was clearly shaping up to be Santorum's night, a tie being a win in this case. (I think Romney was 3 votes ahead in the end.)  Who would have guessed just a week before, when it looked like Newt Gingrich would be the big opponent for Romney?  Newt is now calling people liars and looking utterly exhausted.

I think that Romney is vulnerable to Santorum in a way he has not been vulnerable to the others because a) Santorum has no baggage, like the other contenders (Cain, Newt, Perry's early debate flubs), and b) Santorum is truly conservative in a narrowing field.  Mitt has had to play the game by switching positions to move ahead, which I don't entirely oppose - views do change, and you must be pliable, let's call it, to move forward in politics.  But Santorum is who he is, or seems to be who he is (does that even make sense?)

This election is so important, that in the end, the candidate must be able to beat President Obama.  Period.  If the jobs numbers look up, the President will gain swift traction, even though he is currently boasting Carter-like numbers of the approval-type.  Yikes!  The Republican nominee must be a good debater, have no "buzz-phrase" weaknesses (Romneycare), and must be able to connect with independents (I think this ultimately goes to Mitt, with his business experience.  It will be a JOBS referendum.)

There is something seemingly made of steel about Romney - he just presses forward, from election to election, debate to debate, and now primary to primary.  There is a forced-jovial doggedness to him that is both impressive and scary.  Remember the scene in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" where Butch and Sundance are being chased through the plains, and they keep looking back, and then at each other, and saying "Who IS that guy?"  His name is Mitt Romney, boys.

The next two debates will tell so much; buckle your seat belts and grab your score cards!

**I am assuming this is goodbye for Bachmann; good job, girl.  Good effort.**