Tag: in the news

Viewer discretion advised

    I’m about to upchuck TR*MP nonsense, because it’s my party and I’ll do what I want to.   Bare with me and Bear with me, both apply. 

    This is where I ask any of you, if you are indeed a Tr*mp supporter… please, in the name of all things that are holy, sacred, sane, rational and within reason.   Tell me here, please.. tell me…. why you are willing to give that man the power of being the President. Of .The.United.States.of.America.    All I ask is that you don’t just say “I want something different.” or …you know, what we all feel… “f*ck the government”.  Because if you say that, and you vote for the wrongest candidate to ever hit the podiums just because  – f*ck the government –   and he actually wins… we’re all f*cked.  You included.


 And I gotta say this… from the very beginning when he came on the scene and I thought it was surely a joke (ha!)  …. I don’t believe he really wants the job!  Can you imagine The D*nald leaving the comfort and security of his ultra lavish home(s) to live in the paltry by comparison White House with all it’s high security and staff and demands and necessary regimens and you know, people that he’d actually have to answer to and work with and not just boss around? …. You think he actually wants to be so CONTAINED??…. Hell.. no.  No, I don’t think he ever really wanted the job.. but now with his cult following and that ginormous ego, he’s STUCK.  Unless he finds a save-face way out.  Like getting fed up with the GOP and going independent.  I wouldn’t put that past him, because I honestly don’t think he WANTS THE JOB.    

I was rude to a friends friend on Facebook yesterday.   My friend posted something..  and the gist of it was she doesn’t understand how any woman can vote for Trump… and this is what her friend upchucked, like a hairball, if you ask me.  There was more in her initial comment but this is the gist. 
She: I want something different. I’m going to take my chances on Trump. 

Here’s where I opened my big mouth:   Me: Somehow, XXXX, I bet you don’t approve of racist pompous woman demeaning egotistical bigotry either. His own Mother said he would be a terrible President. He was certainly a horrible husband at least twice. For some reason some people are turning a blind eye to some really important facts.

She: Speaking of horrible husbands Bill was no angel ; Hillary has a law degree and plenty of connections…why didn’t she send the bum packing…she didn’t need him . She wants to be president yet she didn’t show much backbone…unless she just didn’t care what he did or with whom.I have not been impressed with her performance over the past decade.I’m willing to take a chance on Trump. I’m so sick of political correctness. I referred to someone as being Oriental and someone jumped all over me and said that’s now considered racist…well crap on that …like I meant any harm to some ASIAN I didn’t even know! And please tell me if I should say Black or Afro-American? At least I can get what Trump is saying and I like him be-cause he is genuine but that’s just me. By the way,Karen XXX XXXXX, it’s been nice talking with you. Want to be friends?

Me:  XXXX,  I’m not a Hillary fan either but she has shown more backbone in her lifetime than Trump, who thinks only of his bottom line. I’m not just saying it, you need only look at the facts. Something Trump supporters just don’t want to do. You sure are taking a chance on Trump, and as far as -getting what Trump is saying-? A kindergarten student can get what he’s saying, there’s not much substance to it. F political correctness- how about just common courtesy, how about diplomacy, not belittling women, people of other ethnicity and those with disabilities? You think he’s genuine?? Please- other than chirping some of the dissent we all feel, show me where he has proved to be something other than a genuine self serving self adoring prick? That includes his personal and professional life. It hasn’t been nice talking to you, XXXX , because I’m horrified that there are so many following that train wreck like sheep because they – want something different- I do too- but that ain’t it. That’s like hoping for an alligator instead of a gecko and getting Godzilla. I hope that’s a reference you can understand. Pardon the political incorrectness of insulting your intelligence, but then again, it’s something Trxmp does regularly, so you’re good with that, right?


*silence


 I’m guessing XXXX no longer wants to be my friend.  But seriously, folks.  I want to hear from you if you’re a TrXmp supporter.  Give me an intelligent answer, one that shows thought and reason and logic and FACTS, the real ones.  Not mine, not yours… real proof that that man comes within two continents distance of being what we all hope for as Presidential material to lead this great nation.  I’m all ears if you’re all heart and without malice.  Ready?  Go …. 
  

*sigh

     This week has had some horrible headlines.

49 people killed by an insane  axxhole who’s wife knew he was planning a mass attack and yet let it happen. She even visited the site of his crime with him several times and “tried to talk him out of it”.  …. She should be arrested. She should be on a terror watch list.  Oh wait..   HE  was on a terror watch list and had been investigated at least two times… and yet he had a permit go carry and buy guns.   He was employed.. as a security guard.   This time the axx was a homophobe.  And actually, now it appears he may have been secretly gay… maybe he just couldn’t stand himself and his reality and so he lashed out at a people who would have embraced him if he could have embraced himself.   Really, people, we all need to get over ourselves and even our chosen religions.  Before religion there were just humans. Before segregation there were just humans.  Before travel became a thing and we weren’t stuck to just one region where everyone looked the same, we were just humans.   The world was a kinder place then, despite the lack of all the convenient technology that is supposed to make life so much easier.  We all need to be – just human- again…

     The anti-gun restrictions people are full of hysteria over – it’s not the guns that kill, it’s the people.   Don’t take my guns away, blah blah blah blah.   We own guns in this house, to be clear.  We would pass criteria checking on our mental health status and our criminal record or rather, the lack of one.  I don’t mind someone checking into that.  If you have guns, I want you to pass that checklist too.  Why is that such a hard pill for gun owners to swallow?  It may not stop the madmen from their act, but it would sure make it harder. Doing nothing is not the answer.  It’s not any answer at all.  When the politicians and the religious leaders say “Let us all pray for the families of the victims”…    well prayer is nice and good and maybe even comforting, but it sure as hell isn’t enough.  It’s becoming a joke, that statement, used by those who have the power to do more about it, but don’t.

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     Last night a family was enjoying Movie Night on the beach at the Grand Fl*ridian Disney resort. Their 2 year old boy just yards away from them, was splashing around in less than a foot of water at the lagoons edge.  A sandy beach lagoons edge. You’ve probably read it already – he was taken by an alligator right in front of his parents.  They’re still looking for his body.  What a horrible, horrible thing.  Already, insensitive people are chirping about the ignorance of the family who lost their boy in one of the most horrific ways you could imagine..right in front of them as they tried to pull him from the jaws of the alligator.  Disney has “no swimming” signs posted along the beach, but they truck in loads of sugar white sand to encourage people to gather there.  No signs say “WARNING: ALLIGATORS”.   You can bet the ranch if any of us saw a sign that says that, we wouldn’t be chilling on that sugar white sand beach making sandcastles, right?

M and I, years ago along the shores of that same lagoon…. Look like alligator territory to you? Back then there were no “no swimming” signs either.

 

 I feel so badly for the families in Orlando today – all of them.

In the Toilet

   Target is getting huge flack for allowing Transgender people to use the bathroom they feel comfortable using.    This is what I wrote on their FB page –  


Congratulations for being a company with a conscience. I don’t know what it’s like to be born with a mixed gender identity, nor do I know what it’s like to be born with black or red or lily white skin , blue eyes, mental illness or a physical handicap or gay. What I know is none of these things is a choice, we are who we are. Treating those who are not made exactly like we are with hateful behavior is ugly, prejudice, small minded. I think a separate bathroom for ignorance might be a good idea though. Target, I like you even more now. Thank you for standing up tall and treating all with the same respect. As for worrying about your kids and grandkids in public bathrooms- you shouldn’t send your kids into a public bathroom alone – creeps come in all shapes and sizes. Just read some of the comments on this thread.  – and there were many nasty comments on that thread. 


  I’m sure some of you disagree with me.  I ask you this – and these are questions that would have to be answered if you continue to go down this thought path  logically. Who is going to monitor the “gender” of people as they enter bathrooms?  Who’s going to verify the integrity of the monitor and who’s responsible for paying them? I guess they need to be EVERYWHERE, right?    There are thousands of documented cases of priests, teachers, coaches… who are PREDATORS.   Hell, some of them chose their profession because of it’s access to vulnerable victims, often children. Where are the stats on Trans?…  is it such a non-issue that there aren’t any?   Therefore…bare with me and  keep going down this path of thought… should there be separate bathrooms for adults and children?  Should there be separate bathrooms for priests, teachers, coaches?….. Sounds ridiculous, right?…. kinda not do-able at all.  So where are you drawing the line?  Transgender people were born feeling they were something different than what their parts told them.  That alone doesn’t make them dangerous.    One thing is clear – Their life ain’t easy if they choose to be what they feel is  their genuine self – because of how  some people perceive them – as freaks.   They may be different than you and I, but that doesn’t make them predators.. or freaks.  It makes them different than you and I.  


Bottom line in the public restroom procession is…….you’ve been peeing next to trans all your life,  maybe you just didn’t know it.  It’s not a new phenomenon.  It’s becoming more prominent because they are tired of hiding in the shadows.   I can’t understand what it is to be them, and neither can you. We can only try understanding,  show compassion, humanity.  Every being deserves that. 






Shove It

     We are all complaining about the candidates but one of the worst evils of our time is the power we have permitted the media. It’s not enough that we support them by viewing their spin- and on every single network they have their own spin- but so many follow their lead like sheep.
      As for the reporter who pressed charges for being pulled back from harassing Trump, grow a skin. I saw the video like so many others- big f*cking deal- I’ve gotten jostled more on the Staten Island ferry. I don’t like the man himself- and now even less with his asshole remarks about women needing to be punished should they choose an abortion. Later amended to Doctors should be the incriminated for providing them. But incidents like this reporters complaint are making us all look just as bad as the crap coming out of candidates mouths.    When did we become such a wuss nation?
      One more thing for those of you who are cogs in the wheel in either party , still scratching your heads – Trump has such a big following because the parties have been screwing up and forgetting who they are representing for so long now, the people are fed up. You brought Trump to the table with your own ignorance and arrogance., the responsibility lies EVERYWHERE.  


Just sayin- 

Cookies, Creatures and a Chill… or two.

     Made these cookies the other day… absolutely delicious.  We’re -trying- to go gluten free around here, although we haven’t actually succeeded 100 percent yet, but I have yet to make a baked item with GF flour that tastes edible.  These are NOT GF, but damn, they sure are good.  The fresh strawberries, white chocolate and cream cheese come together beautifully in this soft cake-like cookie.  My first batch was gone in 5 hours.

http://omgchocolatedesserts.com/strawberry-cookies/

   
     TRUMP.  Holy cow, how did we get here?   Not ever would I have believed….  and so totally embarrassing, the way these “men” behave on that stage.   Not a sound choice in the lot…  And yet the government definitely needs a huge shaking down… and you know what?  I’m starting to think TRUMP  is not the worst thing that could happen. Maybe it’s the shake down the “establishment needs”.  For sure, they’ve brought it on themselves. They asked for it.  Just so hard to accept that this is the level we have all sunk to, and I think we all bear responsibility, I do.

  For a while I said.. I’m not voting!! These choices aren’t acceptable!!… but not voting isn’t the answer either.  I’m weighing out the lesser of two evils, myself.  I hope you do the same, whatever you believe that to be. Apathy is a bigger sin.

  Spring is starting to announce that she indeed intends to show up.  I am thrilled!  Barn chores are so much more enjoyable when your hands don’t sting from the cold despite double glove wearing and you don’t include ice chipping of water buckets/ bowls and snow shoveling in the daily lineup of duties.  We’re going to Agway today to pick up some seed planting “stuff”.  I’ve ordered my seeds already from Baker Heirloom seed company… purple dragon carrots and an oriental variety of purple sweet potato are in the plans.

 The girls enjoying some oatmeal with raspberries a few mornings ago.  They’ve made it clear they prefer blueberries though.  Truly, I wonder what the difference is between the two… they leave the raspberries till there’s nothing else to pick on.  Blueberries disappear in seconds.

   Out on our morning walk.. the crew discusses the results of Super Tuesday. I couldn’t help but notice their conversations were more coherent than the candidates and there was no mention of the size of their… digits.

  Have you seen -Black Mass –  the movie about  the real life story of Whitey Bulger,  portrayed by Johnny Depp?  Great movie, probably one of Johnny Depps best performances. He’s an incredible actor anyway, one of my favorites… but in this?   Well.. first let me tell you my husband put the movie on and I hadn’t known who was in it, hadn’t paid any attention to the ads for it before hand.  I had NO IDEA while watching the ENTIRE MOVIE that I was looking at Johnny.  The eyes were haunting to me, but I could not place it, did not see -him-.   Amazing performance.   I highly recommend the movie-  a real,  chilling,  gritty piece of our american story.

 Best “chiller” you’ll see all year, I promise. 

Pull up a chair and grab a cuppa… it’s a long one and it goes all over the place

Because SNOW.  

     It’s 7:40 a.m. and I’ve already fed the dogs,  chickens and rabbits, mucked stalls and fed and watered the horses, let them run around for a bit and closed them back in.  The snow started to fly about an hour ago and we’re told it’s gonna be a good one.  I’ve got work to do at my editors desk here, so being snowed in is probably a good thing.. less distraction to take me away from it when the -inside- is more pleasant than the -outside- .

 This picture was taken yesterday during the -pleasant- portion of our winter weather.

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      Have I told you lately how much I love being able to work a job I enjoy .. from home?… it’s a big blessing. Back in the day, there was a three year period of time where I worked a secretarial job in a windowless office. For a girl like me, that was very depressing. I need to see the daylight, the sky, branches on trees, the weather…

     My son and his girl have been enjoying the sun and sand and 80 degree temps of St. Maarten, returning tonight, weather permitting.   As if I needed another reason to worry, of course they fly on a storm day.  We have not been to St. Maarten yet.. but the kids have enjoyed it so much and friends have recommended it highly, I think we’re going to take a family trip next January.  Of course, it takes two years to get the Mr. to agree to take a vacation.   Remember the Fonz… and how he just could not bring himself to say he was  Wrrrrrrrrrrr…………….wrrrrrrrrrrrr…………….    wrrrrr…rrrrr….rrrrrrrr…..wrong?   Just swap that word out for Vaaaaaaa…v aaaaaaaaa..a…..vaaaaaaa……cation.  

   

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The husband and I are trying to avoid gluten, so in the following recipe I will swap out regular pasta (woe is ME!!)… for the gluten free variety.  I have yet to find a gluten free anything that tastes as good as the original stuff, but I have to admit I feel so much better when I don’t eat it.

Anyway!… this looks great for a cold winters eve, don’t ya think? 
Chicken Bacon Pasta
Recipe HERE


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  How about that Superbowl!!!….

   I’m a Patriots fan, so it was not my most favorite. Here are my thoughts.. I don’t like extremely cocky players, for me that kind of behavior takes away from the game.   Not all agree with me, and that’s OK.  SO… I think Cam Newton and his team played outstanding this year and deserved a spot in the Bowl, but there is big attitude in that camp and lots of unsportsmanlike behavior in my opinion… and so perhaps they were knocked back a little  and reminded they are not Gods with this loss. Newton certainly appeared rattled, blowing a little tantrum as he lay in the field at one point.

   It was a weird game… kinda reminded me of preschool in some ways — there were players with what appeared to be  pacifiers in their mouths, some pattycake play, a temper tantrum or three or four…

(pic from another game, but here it is.. the new in-thing, the pacifier! )

   As for the poor behaviors – the excess celebratory gestures for even the littlest things, the pushing shoving stomp-on matches,.. the temper tantrums…   See, here’s where I think these athletes need to be held responsible for their behavior. They have kids and grown adults looking up to them, idolizing them… they’re paid a ridiculous amount.. so why can’t they be held to a certain standard of behavior?  They aren’t curing disease or saving lives, they play damn good ball, that’s it.  So .. at least set a good example or pay a hefty fine.. too much to ask?

This guy likes to do the Superman Gesture …

  To me the measure of a true athlete who deserves the worship is one who behaves well even in defeat.  Sorry, Cam.. Superman, you ain’t. Not because of the loss, dude, everyone loses sometimes…

GOod article in the New York Times about this very thing…. HERE

   The Broncos – also not their best, having many opportunities to pull ahead and yet not achieving them.  Their defense was stellar, and deserved the win.   In the end they managed it, and I’m happy for Peyton Manning.. who is or isn’t retiring after this win.

Weird Bowl for sure.

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 I love this tee shirt, decided to order it today from the Sundance catalog… my favorite “shop”. HOwever, they’ve gotten so expensive I don’t order much from them anymore..

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     I’ll close the post with a picture of the two sisters who arrived in CT yesterday afternoon – now known as Daisy and Dolly…. Their mom was an aussie, not a lab – I had that info wrong.  Dad was probably a rotti, me thinks.   These two are adored already – life is good!

Palin? … or Progress.. …

   If you dared to click on the post after reading that title, no, you won’t be subjected to another lengthy political rant  because frankly, I’m too disgusted… her return to the arena produced it’s own sort of shock and awe  around here, forgive me for resurrecting that phrase too…..

     Maybe just a brief one –  So.. If you’re still a Palin supporter after all this time… I have to ask you… WHY WHY WHY?… see transcript of her pathetic endorsement of Trump here.    If he’s not regretting that action by now, there is no hope… at all.

   And.. it gets better  – if  you really haven’t had enough… if you’re still standing strong in Palin territory  –  (can you see Russia?… just wonder’n) .. then take a gander at this… she flicks responsibility of her son’s  assault of his girlfriend off on someone else…. The President of the United States…. shock and awe again.  Read HERE

    That being said.. I’m just gonna shut up and move on.. to progress… of the rocking horse variety.

    You’re relieved, aren’t ya.

    After discovering my rocking horse is indeed about 110 or so years old, but the paint was bastardized and the tack not original (actually vinyl and deteriorating quickly)… I decided to strip him of all the crud and give him a makeover.  I used acetone to get all the debris off his frame,  and my son and I pulled about 2,479 brads (tiny nails) out of his tack and stripped him bare.

  Then I went to the hardware store for advice on the best paint to use –  Amitha Verma chalk paint, clear wax and grey antique finish… I used painters tape to cut out circles and create the dappled grey effect with two shades of chalk paint –

… and this is where we’re at…  Notice his new ears – courtesy of a grey pair of suede work glove thumbs.  I’m waiting for a real horse hair bundle to arrive in the mail for his mane and tail, not the kind with hyde attached –  no horses were injured in the acquisition of such hair – they regrow what is cut off, and yes I tell myself that regularly because  I gotta believe it.

 I’ve also ordered some leather. I’m not a saddle manufacturer, this is gonna be interesting.  As for the base – I think I like it original, scuffs and chips and paint splatters and all.  What say you?…

Randomocity

  So tempted to talk about the pathetic list of presidential candidates and their debate behavior, but none of us need another one of those rants right now, do we. Something that irks me more than even Donald Trumps in-your-face obnoxious behavior?  Get religion out of politics.  It does not belong there.  Your religion is not my religion is not their religion. Any of your religious beliefs should not hold law making or program cutting weight.  Enough said.

 
     We’re having a Christmas Eve gathering here of family and friends, and I’ve been making batches of cookies to set out as a big platter with the desserts.  Two new fun things I tried, and they are no bake .. so easy to make, pretty .. and most importantly delicious.

Christmas confetti Truffles….  recipe HERE.

Chocolate covered oreos with crushed candy cane topping.   No recipe. All you do is buy a package of oreos, two bags of Hersheys Special Dark Chocolate chips for baking, etc.  and crush some candy canes. Melt the chocolate in a pot or the microwave, dip the oreos in the melted chocolate to coat them and place on wax paper, sprinkle with the crushed candy canes and allow to dry and harden before putting in tupperware in freezer or refrigerator until ready to serve.  THEY ARE DELICIOUS!

     

  An update on my father – He has settled in to nursing home life as well as can be expected.  He did take a fall a few weeks back and cracked his hip – was walking around unassisted with his door closed, two no-nos they have asked him not to do and he fell into the door.  A week later after pin insertion surgery at the hospital, he was back at the home and is once again not listening to care instructions.   He complains constantly about the food, which is actually very good considering it’s a care facility – and when I bring him something different to eat it’s not the right thing and he would rather have had something else.  The something else is not right the next time.  

I have stopped getting angry. That’s a big step for me.  Finally I see that all his issues have nothing to do with me. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.   It must be very lonely, living in a self that is so –  self centered.  I am glad I don’t know what life is like for someone who doesn’t look beyond their own being, their wants, their ideas… to the vast and interesting and enriching world and relationships that are before us all.

His loss.

 I’ve been running a lot of errands for the holidays and this… this is the face I get when I walk out the door with my Jeep keys in hand….

 Frasier is my rescue dog. I’m telling you.. there is no greater love.  

 Speaking of which, we’re holding an adoption event in Cromwell, CT this weekend for two dogs that have been in a CT shelter and now foster for a while.  We’d love to get them a home for the holidays at last.  If you’re local and interested, go meet Dottie and Nanny  this weekend!

Boys in the Trees

   If you’re my age or older you’ve  probably sung along to at least a few Carly Simon tunes in your younger  mad-love angst-ridden years.  I’ve always loved her music, and that of her famed ex-husband James Taylor too.   Until now I only imagined what their (story-book?) life must have been like as a couple and always thought it a tragedy that they weren’t able to keep it together for a long and at least sometimes happy marriage.  Having never really delved into the whys of their break-up, I just enjoyed the music and hoped for a reunion someday, if not as a couple, then an extremely talented duo who’ve brought so much soul to  music over the years.  One of my all time favorites is a concert Carly gave on the Vineyard Haven docks, Marthas Vineyard.  Not just because I love that island with all I’ve got, but it was her best most natural performance in my opinion, in a place she loves and calls home.  You felt it if you were watching.

   I just read Carlys newly released memoir, Boys In The Trees –  what  in my opinion appears to be a thoroughly honest, (sometimes embarassingly so!)  heartfelt account of her life story. That era was just before my coming of age so I wasn’t fully aware of the movement in the music world back then, but.. wow.    To say I had no idea is an understatement… and for those who want to read it I won’t spoil your read by putting the contents here.  Some of the artists are still entertaining today, it’s an interesting look back.

  Two things I can tell you without spoiling too much.  James Taylor does not speak of or to Carly Simon.  He pretty much “erased her”, in her  words in interviews, after their early 80’s divorce, although she only eludes to this in the book.   She treats him fairly here, but honestly.  Which is to say she doesn’t sugar coat their problems at all –  hers or his.   His heroin addiction since his teen years and chronic infidelities made him pretty much non-present in their ten year marriage and he owns up to it in subsequent interviews too, so it’s not bull.  Her anxiety and  insecurities stemming from the non-approving relationship she had with her father made her disfunctional and accepting of really poor treatment and low self worth, which ruled the landscape of her life for so very long.

      While it’s clear JT suffered depression and the ills of a substance abuser, I still can’t help but like him a lot less now.   Hard to believe the man who wrote and sang so many soulful songs of longing and caring and love and loss is the one who now thoroughly cuts out such a significant partner of his earlier days – one who stood by him when he needed love most.  His children should matter to him more than that.   He actually describes himself as a self absorbed artist who wasn’t fully present for his first set of kids or his first marriage.    

    I guess some habits never die.   You’re so vain, James, and the song wasn’t even about you.