...holiday gift-giving...

...is going to be rough on many people. With our current economy, Christmas is tight this year. I will be making bedroom slippers for all of my friends.

This gift is practical and affordable, and solves that age-old worry...am I getting something that the recipient already owns? I think it's a splendid idea--you can customize for different holidays, or for birthdays or other occasions.

Should you wish to do the same, I've included the instructions below.

How to make bedroom slippers out of maxi pads: You need four maxi pads to make a pair.

Directions: Two of them get laid out flat, for the foot part. The other two wrap around the toe area to form the top. Tape or glue each side of the top pieces to the bottom of the foot part. Decorate the tops with whatever you desire, silk flowers (this is most aesthetically appealing), etc.

These slippers are: * Soft and Hygienic * Non-slip grip strips on the soles * Built in deodorant feature keeps feet smelling fresh * No more bending over to mop up spills * Disposable and biodegradable * Environmentally safe *

Three convenient sizes: (1.) Regular, (2.) Light and (3.) Get out the Sand Bags.

This is a photo of the first pair I made so that you can see the Nifty slippers for yourself.

...I think I know these guys!

Bobby died in a fire and his body was burned pretty badly. The morgue needed someone to identify the body, so they sent for his two best friends, Cooter and Gomer. The three men had always done everything together.

Cooter arrived first, and when the mortician pulled back the sheet, Cooter said, "Yup, his face is burned up pretty bad. You better roll himover." The mortician rolled him over and Cooter said, "Nope, ain't Bobby." The mortician thought this was rather strange, so he brought Gomer in to confirm the identity the body. Gomer looked at the body and said, "Yup, he's pretty well burnt up. Roll him over." The mortician rolled him over and Gomer said, "No, it ain't Bobby."

The mortician asked, "How can you tell?" Gomer said, "Well, Bobby had two assholes."
"He had two assholes?" asked the mortician. "Yup, we ain't never seen 'em, but everybody used to say, "There's Bobby with them two assholes...""

...this is my favorite place on Earth...

...aside from my family, this is what I would like to see when I wake up every morning for the rest of my life. When I croak, this creek is where my ashes are going...so beautiful, I almost can't wait!


Just kidding.

...we haven't been this excited since JFK...

...so we voted for ------>----->----->----->

We held our collective breath, until we heard the final vote tally!

Our new beautiful first family! We wish them well!

...EAT THIS!

The Healing Properties of Cacti


Nutritional Values of Cacti:
Vitamin and mineral content
Potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, vitamin A &C
Amino acids
High-quality source of protein
8 essential amino acids
Fiber source
Found in the mucilage: “sticky juice”

Uses:

Diabetes - The fruit and stems are used

as a primary anti-diabetic herb by managing

blood sugar levels for adult-set type 2 diabetes.
Poultice and ointment -

Skin sores, burns, rashes, insect bites,

muscle and arthritis pain.

Can be used like aloe by slicing open the pad,

heating and applying to the area needing attention.
Homeopathy - Spleen and diarrhea.

Want to know more?
The book: PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS MEDICINE, by Ran Knishinsky has everything about treatment for Diabetes, Cholesterol, and the Immune System. Get it at your local library or your favorite bookstore. Or go on the Internet and search for “prickly pear cactus medicine”.

How to prepare:

-You can singe the little hairy stickers off over the gas stove burner. (Stick a fork in it and you can twirl it like a marshmallow over the flame!)
-Peel them and eats them like an apple. Beware: They'll turn your fingers a lovely shade of purple.
-Use them to top a pavlova, a cheesecake, as a fruit garnish, or to add unique color to a fruit salad. When seasonal berries and kiwi are expensive, tuna are a great substitute.

Preparing the juice (if you want to make drinks):

Prickly Pear Juice Extraction
1. Collect prickly pear (tunas) with kitchen tongs or leather gloves.
2. Rinse tunas in water to clean out insects and dirt.
3. Place tunas in freezer.
4. Get container which will hold the juice.
5. Place frozen tunas on cheesecloth over a colander.
6. Place the container under the colander.
7. As the tunas thaw, the juice will flow down into the container.
8. Use the juice in your favorite recipe.
9. Do other chores while the tunas are thawing!!!!

Prickly Pear Margaritas

6 oz Tequila

4 oz Triple Sec

4 oz Lime Juice

4 oz Prickly Pear Cactus juice

2 oz Orange Juice

Directions: Mix ingredients and pour over ice.

Tuna Juice Wine Cooler

1 Scoop of ice 4 ounces Prickly Pear juice

1/2 glass Chablis wine

1/2 Glass 7-up

Directions:

Fill glass with the ingredients and stir well.

TEQUILA SUNRISE
2 oz. Tequila

4 ounces cactus tuna juice
2 dashes (3/4 oz) grenadine

Directions:

Pour tequila and tuna juice in a highball glass.

Add ice and stir. Tilt the glass and pour the

grenadine down the side. The grenadine should

fall to the bottom of the blass and then rise slowly.

Garnish with an orange slice. This drink is

sometimes stirred gently.

NOTE: If you're away from home and plan to have more than one drink, please get a designated driver!!!

...some people think the desert is boring...

...these photos might change your mind. This first picture is of prickly pear cactus flowers blooming. Once the flower has stopped blooming, the fruit appears. You can buy them in grocery stores around the country. They are egg-shaped. Peel them wearing leather gloves that you devote only to removing peeling from this fruit! The fruit is called "tuna." It doesn't taste ANYTHING like fish. The closest I can describe the flavor is like watermelon. The fruit is magenta color, and looks beautiful in a fruit salad. I just slice it up. You can put it through your blender and use it when you make Margaritas to impress your friends. You can cook it down with sugar and pectin and make jam.

These are saguaro flowers. They appear at the ends of the branches, and are usually way, way to high to pick to stick in some kind of floral arrangement. When the desert is in bloom, the variety of colors of the cactus flowers are stunning.

It is exciting to watch as storms appear in the desert and come toward you. The lightning appears wide, and with no buildings in the way, you can see it jump from the clouds to the ground unobstructed. You can feel the heat being blown away, and the cool breeze approaching. The wind kicks the dirt and sand up, and you can smell the wet earth and plants. I love listening to the sound of the rain hitting the hard ground and rocks. Those are the Santa Rita Mountains--my greatgrandparents, grandparents, and parents saw these beautiful mountains from their windows.

...sunrise in the desert is every bit as exciting as sunset. Imagine seeing this every day of your life! When we were in Arizona for our family reunion, we ran outside to watch it.

Watch for future photos!

...Ode to P U

A fart it is a pleasant thing,
It gives the belly ease,
It warms the bed in winter,
And suffocates the fleas.

A fart can be quiet,
A fart can be loud,
Some leave a powerful,
Poisonous cloud.

A fart can be short,
Or a fart can be long,
Some farts have been known
To sound like a song......

A fart can create
A most curious medley,
A fart can be harmless,
Or silent, and deadly.

A fart might not smell,
While others are vile,
A fart may pass quickly,
Or linger a while......

A fart can occur
In a number of places,
And leave everyone there,
With strange looks on their faces.

From wide-open prairie,
To small elevators,
A fart will find all of us
Sooner or later.

But farts are all bad,
It's simply not true--
We must never forget.......
Sweet old farts like Me and You!

~ Edwina

...MY HUSBAND SCOTT IS AN ASSHOLE.

(The photo is of our son Matthew with Scott, at the hospital back in March, looking at photos Matthew took of our grandson, Michael's birth.)

He thought I wouldn't write that. In fact he DARED me to write it. Actually, he DICTATED it to me. He said, write, "My husband is an asshole." I don't know why, but it could be because he feels slighted because I write about Barack Obama, but not him. So, I will write a little bit about him. (He's really not an asshole...except he STILL smokes coffin-nails, and snores, talks in his sleep, and grinds his teeth.)

He can make a burrito out of ANYTHING edible, and they always taste good. My favorite is his leftover-Thanksgiving-dinner burrito. Everything we ate for dinner on Thanksgiving except the pies, goes into it. And I CAN'T WAIT!!! Only a couple more weeks, and my tastebuds will be tickled again.

He has something he calls "waistband cancer." In the summer when he perspires, his skin gets irritated around his waist from wearing a belt, I guess. He insists that men must wear belts. So, he gets a few little red bumps, and freaks out, insisting he is going to die of "waistband cancer." This has been going on for 25 years, and he's still around. The cancer is gone now that the weather has cooled, but come May or June, we'll go through the whole ordeal again.

Oh yes, he also complains that he occasionally has "fuzz-balls" in his brain. I'm not kidding about this. Excuse me, I've been corrected: "cotton balls"...his head feels "cloudy" and full of cotton. This happens when he is trying to multi-task...you know, doing more than one simple task at a time. He says that when women do tasks they use both sides of their brain, but when men do tasks, they only use one side. He says he's not a "brainologist" but this is his explanation and he cannot be dissuaded. "Fine," he says, "post it just like that."

You might think I'm being mean to him, but I am running each sentence by him for accuracy, corrections and commentary as I type it.

Let me see, what else can I say about him?

Oh, he drank some cherry flavored rum this past spring. Too much of it. I think I was shopping, and he decided to paint our bedroom while I was gone. Apparently he dragged the ladder, a can of paint, and one of those "roller pans" into the room, along with a bottle of rum and a glass. He called me about every thirty minutes to see what I was doing, and his conversation became a little more unusual each time. By the fourth call, he was saying, "I'm an asshole." By the sixth, he was not only calling himself an asshole, but also telling me he was so ashamed of himself. I thought maybe he had gotten paint on my new curtains or on the bedspread or carpet. By the time I got home, he was laying on his back sideways across the bed, whimpering, "I'm SUCH an asshole" because he'd had a glass of rum, and he was too dizzy to paint. The half-empty bottle revealed that he had had a very, very tall glass of rum, while the lid still on the paint can revealed it had never been opened. I felt kind of sorry for him. We seldom drink--an occasional glass of wine a few times a year, we split one six-pack of beer throughout lawn-mowing season. And may have a Margarita when we go out for Mexican food. So I guess he doesn't know his limits...you know I DO know mine! I will never drink more than one glass of anything because of my barfaphobia.

When I met him, he thought pickles grew on trees...he's from New Jersey. Oh, he took offense to THIS comment. But it's true!!

He loves Hellmann's mayonnaise and won't eat any other brand. He insists he can tell the difference between Jif peanut butter and all others (but he can't...I tested him back in 1983 by scooping generic p.b. into an empty Jif jar...he never noticed a difference). But he CAN tell the difference between Hellmann's and all other brands. He uses mayo on everything. He makes sandwiches out of anything, and slathers it with mayo. He puts as much mayonnaise on a sandwich as I put chocolate frosting on chocolate cake. Last night he made a spaghetti sandwich, with mayonnaise of course. Tonight I fixed meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans. His ended up between two slices of bread with Hellmann's.

Enough for now, his head is getting a little big, since he sees this long article written about him. Oh, now he's threatening to write his own blog...not too likely. He'll get on the computer and be distracted by SLINGO, or Texas Hold 'Em.

...of someone who needs our prayers...

My friend, Linda "Hairdryer" has had one hell of a life...but that's another story. Her daughter, Kellie, pictured here with her younger brother Dylan, has confined to a wheelchair since being thrown from her brand-new-21st-birthday-present-from-her-grandpa Ford Bronco. She sustained massive injuries to her head and brain, and was in a coma for months. She was not expected to live. She beat the odds and survived, but suffered irreversible brain damage, and is paralyzed on the right side. She got married to a great guy a few years ago, and is living in a rural community in Wyoming. Against all odds, last year Kellie, at age 37, gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Steven. Very recently she began having unusual symptoms, including seizures, and the doctors do not know whether she suffered a stroke or brain aneurysm. She is not doing well. The nearest hospital equipped to do testing is far, far away in Salt Lake City. She is also far, far away from her mommy in Florida... Linda has a guardian angel who gave her an airline ticket to spend some time with Kellie and her precious grandson. Please keep them all in your thoughts and prayers. Linda already lost her older son, Kerry, in 1999 at age 31, to a hideous rare disease called primary amyloidosis. He had never been sick a day in his life. It was less than five months from diagnosis to death.

...these few lines put a lump in my throat...

So, I was reading my friend, Boo's blog, and these few lines unexpectedly grabbed my by the throat and tore at my heart...

"Did you imagine the final sound as a gun?"

October 20th marked the one-year anniversary of the death of Steven, my son Matthew's friend, who died of an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Matthew, despite using his EMS training, was not able to save Steven's life. Did he ever imagine that the last sound he would hear in his short life was the sound of a gun going off next to his head?

"Or the smashing windscreen of a car?"

Yesterday, three boys who were high-

school seniors in our community died

in this automobile accident on their

way home from school. It was raining

hard, the narrow road they were driving

home from school on was slick, and they

swerved into oncoming traffic. Their VW

was demolished by a van--all died at

the scene.

"Did you ever imagine the last thing
you'd hear as you're fading out was a song?"

Last December, David Beningo, an acquaintance and former schoolmate

of my son, died of acute alcohol

poisoning... at a work-related

Christmas party.

As a mom, these words made my heart ache...babies dying, far away from the loving arms of their mommies to hold them and comfort them.

...more symptoms!

Center of attention, experiencing discomfort when not the center of attention.
Sexually seductive, displaying inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behaviors towards others.
Shifting emotions, the expression of emotions tends to be shallow and to shift rapidly.
Physical appearance, consistently employing physical appearance to gain attention.
Speech style lacks detail and tends to generalize, and when speaking, aims to please and impress. Dramatic behaviors, displaying self-dramatization and exaggerating emotions.
Suggestibility, other individuals or circumstances can easily influence.
Overestimation of intimacy, or level of intimacy in a relationship.

Time is Running Out for Bush to Free Border Agents

With a little over two months left in office, President Bush has the opportunity to right an incredible injustice. He has the constitutional power to pardon former Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. Bush should step forward and grant freedom to these agents who were doing their job protecting America.

For those how haven't followed this case, Agents Ramos and Compean shot an illegal alien as he was fleeing back to the Mexican border. The illegal alien, Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, was in the process of smuggling approximately a million dollars worth of marijuana into the U.S. What happened next has set the stage for President Bush to take action in his closing days as president.Rather than being commended for protecting America's borders, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton decided to prosecute the agents. Sutton granted Davila immunity in exchange for testimony. Sutton said the agents "shot 15 times at an unarmed, fleeing man." Sutton also claims that the agents "decided to lie about it, cover it up, destroy the evidence, pick up all the shell casings and throw them away where we couldn't find them, destroy the crime scene and then file a false report."

In a statement issued in January, 2007, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) said that it was "irresponsible" to punish Agents Ramos and Compean with jail time.
"The Border Patrol is America's first line of defense against the constant and unrelenting efforts of drug and human smugglers to illegally enter the United States," said Congressman Hunter. "Agents Compean and Ramos fulfilled their responsibilities as Border Patrol agents and rightfully pursued a suspected and fleeing drug smuggler. It is irresponsible to punish them with jail time.
"The security situation on our Southern land border requires a strong law enforcement presence. This conviction demoralizes our nation's Border Patrol and sends a clear message that we are not serious about protecting our borders and enforcing our immigration laws."
Hunter's communications director, Joe Kasper, commented at the time that the facts of this case are "so nebulous" that the case represents a "severe injustice."

"Agents Ramos and Compean felt threatened and acted appropriately to apprehend the individual. At most, an administrative punishment is required but certainly not 11- and 12-year federal prison sentences."

As Ramos and Compean languished in prison, the illegal alien drug dealer...Davila was arrested again for drug smuggling.

The Washington Times quotes T. J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, as being critical with the timing of the indictment against Aldrete Davila.

"Osvaldo Aldrete Davila should have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for these felonies two years ago," said Mr. Bonner, whose group represents more than 12,000 Border Patrol agents. "This deliberate and unconscionable delay directly resulted in the wrongful incarceration of two innocent law-enforcement officers."

According to Drug Enforcement Administration documents obtained by The Times, DEA investigators believed they had sufficient evidence to indict Aldrete Davila in late 2005, but their requests to do so were denied by Mr. Sutton's office.

President Bush has the opportunity to correct the actions by Sutton and to set Ramos and Compean free! Please contact President Bush and urge him to do the right thing. A presidential pardon will allow Ramos and Compean to return to their families. And encourage your friends and associates to send a message, urging President Bush to pardon Ramos and Compean. President Bush has only two months left to take action.

Bobby Eberle, November 11, 2008

...do you have any of these symptoms?

Believing that you're better than others
Fantasizing about power, success and attractiveness
Exaggerating your achievements or talents
Expecting constant praise and admiration
Believing that you're special
Failing to recognize other people's emotions and feelings
Expecting others to go along with your ideas and plans
Taking advantage of others
Expressing disdain for those you feel are inferior
Being jealous of others
Believing that others are jealous of you
Trouble keeping healthy relationships
Setting unrealistic goals
Being easily hurt and rejected
Having a fragile self-esteem
Appearing as tough-minded or unemotional......

Thinking so highly of yourself that you put yourself on a pedestal.

You may come across as conceited, boastful or pretentious.

You often monopolize conversations.

You may belittle or look down on people you perceive as inferior.

You may have a sense of entitlement.

When you don't receive the special treatment to which you feel entitled, you may become very impatient or angry.

You may also seek out others you think have the same special talents, power and qualities — people you see as equals.

You may insist on having "the best" of everything

You have trouble handling anything that may be perceived as criticism.

You may have a sense of secret shame and humiliation.

In order to make yourself feel better, you may react with rage or contempt and efforts to belittle the other person to make yourself appear better.

...which reminds of of a poem!

I love me

I think I'm grand.

I sit in the movie

And hold my hand.

I put my arm

Around my waist...

And if I get fresh...

I slap my face!

...this is the face of a victim of hate...

I have NO tolerance for intolerance. This boy was only four years older than my granddaughter...

...from a news article I found online...

APRIL 22, 2006

Houston, Texas
David Ritcheson, 16, is attacked by racist skinheads at a house party after supposedly trying to kiss a white girl. David Henry Tuck breaks Ritcheson's jaw, knocking him unconscious, while screaming, "White power!" and calling Ritcheson a "spic" and "wetback." Keith Robert Turner joins in, and the two attackers burn Ritcheson with cigarettes, kick him with steel-toed boots, attempt to carve a swastika into his chest, pour bleach on him and finally violently sodomize him with a patio umbrella pole. It takes 30 surgeries before Ritcheson, confined to a wheelchair and wearing a colostomy bag, is able to return to school.Tuck is later sentenced to life in prison. Turner gets 90 years.A year after the attack, Ritcheson, who up to that point has not been identified in press accounts by name, goes public and speaks out to the U.S. House of Representative's Judiciary Committee. In wrenching testimony, the boy recalls the horrific experience for lawmakers deliberating over strengthening federal hate crime laws. "With my humiliation and emotional and physical scars came the ambition and strong sense of determination that brought out the natural fighter in me," Ritcheson testifies. "I am glad to tell you today that my best days still lay ahead of me."Less than three months later, the teenager commits suicide, jumping from a cruise ship into the Gulf of Mexico. Before his death, he assisted the Anti-Defamation League in creating an anti-hate program at his alma mater, Klein Collins High School.

I HATE HATE. Speak out against loud and clear against hate when you hear it or see it. Vote against referendums, propositions, or laws that discriminate. Support programs that teach tolerance. Support the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League.

...is THIS what I have to look forward to someday?

...sadly, racism still exists...

Hatewatch

Southern Poverty Law Center - http://www.splcenter.org/blog
Support the Southern Poverty Law Center

After the Election
Posted By Mark Potok On November 7, 2008

"After 250 years of slavery, a century of Jim Crow laws, and a legacy of racial terror that includes the lynching of thousands of African Americans, America has elected a black president. It was a day that many thought would never come.

In all the euphoria after the election of Barack Obama, it is tempting to see the era of overt racism in the United States as past, a dead letter that has no relevance in a country that has finally overcome its ugly history. But sadly, that would be a mistake. Obama’s election reflects the fact that the country has made enormous progress in the area of race relations and is likely to propel it to even greater heights. But progress is never a straight line. There is always the danger of a backlash.

Even before the campaign was over, racial rage, clearly driven by fear of a black man in the White House, began to break out around the country. Effigies of Obama appeared hanging from nooses on university campuses. Angry supporters of John McCain and Sarah Palin shouted “Kill him!” at a campaign rally and even screamed “nigger” at a black cameraman, telling him, “Sit down, boy!” The head of the Hillsborough County, Fla., Republican Party sent an E-mail warning members of “the threat” of “carloads of black Obama supporters coming from the inner city to cast their votes.” A reporter who has covered every presidential election since 1980 told me he had never seen such fury. Similar scenes were reported nationwide.

Naturally, the rage also engulfed the radical right. Thom Robb, an Arkansas Klan leader, described for a reporter the “race war” he sees developing “between our people, who I see as the rightful owners and leaders of this great country, and their people, the blacks.” In Tennessee, two neo-Nazi skinheads went further, allegedly planning to murder black schoolchildren, shoot and behead other African Americans, and assassinate Obama. They were arrested two weeks before the election.

A healthy majority of Americans did vote to send Obama to the Oval Office. But, clearly, there are people — perhaps millions of them — who are deeply upset over his victory for reasons that are fundamentally racial. And their anger is likely to intensify as the economy, especially unemployment, continues to worsen.

“Historically, when times get tough in our nation, that’s how movements like ours gain a foothold,” Jeff Schoep, the leader of the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group with 73 chapters in 34 states, told USA Today. “When the economy suffers, people are looking for answers. … We are the answer for white people.”

Unfortunately, Schoep is right. And the economic meltdown set in motion by the subprime crisis is not the only reason. Indeed, there seems to be a kind of perfect storm brewing of factors favoring the growth of hate and hate groups.

Non-white immigration has been successfully exploited by white supremacist groups in recent years, to the point where the number of such groups has spiraled from 602 in 2000 to 888 last year — a 48% increase. (“This immigrant thing in the past couple of years has been the greatest boon to us,” Schoep said.) And nativist fears have not been limited to extremist groups; politicians and pundits routinely vilify Latino immigrants in public forums. That is likely to continue or worsen as the economy raises new fears among Americans of job loss and wage depression.

At the same time, the U.S. Census Bureau has predicted that whites will lose their national majority by shortly after 2040, leading many to fear that they are somehow losing the country that their forefathers built to both Latino immigration and the comparatively high fertility of our native Latino populations.

And now, a black man has been chosen as America’s president.

David Duke, the former Klan leader and convicted felon who is the closest thing the radical right has to an intellectual leader these days, believes this could all work to his benefit. In an essay this summer, the neo-Nazi ideologue argued that an Obama victory would serve as a “visual aid” to white Americans, provoking a backlash that Duke believes will “result in a dramatic increase in our ranks.”

Even as we embark on a new national adventure, the signs are worrying. It may be that the hatemongers are wrong, that Americans’ better angels will prevail and the changes that are sweeping America will not result in a growing rage on the right. But experience tells us that while we hope for the best, we also must prepare for what could be a dangerous, racially motivated backlash of hate."

(I posted a comment on their website after I read this article this morning, and received about a half dozen comments from other readers in my e-mail just now. This was one of my favorites, and I agree with the author, Norman:

His comment: "I have been a supporter of SPLC since immigrating to the US from Canada in 1977. The problem is that no sooner is one hate group prosecuted than another makes it appearance. We must reeducate tolerance at the developmental level. This is proceeding by the SPLC program of teaching tolerance in the schools, however it must be expanded. Perhaps with the new administration, we can persuade the Government to make this a priority, eg a sub cabinet position." What a great idea!)

...why did the chicken cross the road?

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted change!

JOHN MCCAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

SARAH PALIN: You betcha he crossed the road, but let's not talk about that, let's talk about energy policy, and how gosh darn hard it is for a middle-class hockey mom to manage the budget of the only state in America with a massive surplus, especially while surrounded by countless Russian and Canadian chickens we have to keep an eye on.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure - right from Day One! - that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken...What is your definition of crossing?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain... alone.

JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people s ee the plain truth? That's why they call it the 'other side.' Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay, too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like 'the other side.' That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.GRANDPA: In my day, we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

thanks Edwina!

...here are three generations of our family

Back row from left: my brother's youngest daughter Susanne's husband Bryan, my sister's oldest daughter Jennifer, my youngest daughter Mallory, my son Matthew, my oldest daughter Monica, my middle daughter Meeghan. Middle row from left: Susanne, my sister Jan, my brother Michael, his wife Maxine, me, my brother's second youngest daughter Michelle. Bottom row from left: my three granddaughters Sarah, Rachel and Ariel, Susanne's two children, and Michelle's son. Missing from this photograph are my brother's two older daughters Debra and Karen, their spouses and children, Michelle's husband, Jan's daughter Jill and her husband, Jan's son Joshua, his wife Michelle and their son Cannon, and my precious little grandson, Michael.

...Mitakuye Oyasin...we are all related...

...how important it is to be surrounded by a loving family! We returned from our trip to Arizona where we were able to get together with some of my cousins. This photograph represents four generations of my family.

...I couldn't agree more...

I thought that once the campaigning had ended, and Obama won the election (YEAH!!), there would be nothing left to become involved in or upsetting enough to write about. But boy, was I wrong! California voters had the opportunity last Tuesday to not only choose a new president, but to decide whether to vote yes or no on something they called Proposition Eight. Back here in Virginia, this might have gone unnoticed. Thank goodness Keith Olbermann, whom I greatly admire, reminded me when he gave the following commentary on last night's show. By the time he was done, I didn't know whether to cry, or mail him some home-made chocolate chip cookies and a thank you letter:

"Finally tonight as promised, a Special Comment on the passage, last week, of Proposition Eight in California, which rescinded the right of same-sex couples to marry, and tilted the balance on this issue, from coast to coast.
Some parameters, as preface. This isn't about yelling, and this isn't about politics, and this isn't really just about Prop-8. And I don't have a personal investment in this: I'm not gay, I had to strain to think of one member of even my very extended family who is, I have no personal stories of close friends or colleagues fighting the prejudice that still pervades their lives.

And yet to me this vote is horrible. Horrible. Because this isn't about yelling, and this isn't about politics. This is about the human heart, and if that sounds corny, so be it.
If you voted for this Proposition or support those who did or the sentiment they expressed, I have some questions, because, truly, I do not understand. Why does this matter to you? What is it to you? In a time of impermanence and fly-by-night relationships, these people over here want the same chance at permanence and happiness that is your option. They don't want to deny you yours. They don't want to take anything away from you. They want what you want—a chance to be a little less alone in the world.
Only now you are saying to them—no. You can't have it on these terms. Maybe something similar. If they behave. If they don't cause too much trouble. You'll even give them all the same legal rights—even as you're taking away the legal right, which they already had. A world around them, still anchored in love and marriage, and you are saying, no, you can't marry. What if somebody passed a law that said you couldn't marry?
I keep hearing this term "re-defining" marriage. If this country hadn't re-defined marriage, black people still couldn't marry white people. Sixteen states had laws on the books which made that illegal in 1967. 1967.
The parents of the President-Elect of the United States couldn't have married in nearly one third of the states of the country their son grew up to lead. But it's worse than that. If this country had not "re-defined" marriage, some black people still couldn't marry black people. It is one of the most overlooked and cruelest parts of our sad story of slavery. Marriages were not legally recognized, if the people were slaves. Since slaves were property, they could not legally be husband and wife, or mother and child. Their marriage vows were different: not "Until Death, Do You Part," but "Until Death or Distance, Do You Part." Marriages among slaves were not legally recognized.
You know, just like marriages today in California are not legally recognized, if the people are gay.
And uncountable in our history are the number of men and women, forced by society into marrying the opposite sex, in sham marriages, or marriages of convenience, or just marriages of not knowing, centuries of men and women who have lived their lives in shame and unhappiness, and who have, through a lie to themselves or others, broken countless other lives, of spouses and children, all because we said a man couldn't marry another man, or a woman couldn't marry another woman. The sanctity of marriage.
How many marriages like that have there been and how on earth do they increase the "sanctity" of marriage rather than render the term, meaningless?
What is this, to you? Nobody is asking you to embrace their expression of love. But don't you, as human beings, have to embrace... that love? The world is barren enough.
It is stacked against love, and against hope, and against those very few and precious emotions that enable us to go forward. Your marriage only stands a 50-50 chance of lasting, no matter how much you feel and how hard you work.
And here are people overjoyed at the prospect of just that chance, and that work, just for the hope of having that feeling. With so much hate in the world, with so much meaningless division, and people pitted against people for no good reason, this is what your religion tells you to do? With your experience of life and this world and all its sadnesses, this is what your conscience tells you to do?
With your knowledge that life, with endless vigor, seems to tilt the playing field on which we all live, in favor of unhappiness and hate... this is what your heart tells you to do? You want to sanctify marriage? You want to honor your God and the universal love you believe he represents? Then Spread happiness—this tiny, symbolic, semantical grain of happiness—share it with all those who seek it. Quote me anything from your religious leader or book of choice telling you to stand against this. And then tell me how you can believe both that statement and another statement, another one which reads only "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
You are asked now, by your country, and perhaps by your creator, to stand on one side or another. You are asked now to stand, not on a question of politics, not on a question of religion, not on a question of gay or straight. You are asked now to stand, on a question of love. All you need do is stand, and let the tiny ember of love meet its own fate.
You don't have to help it, you don't have it applaud it, you don't have to fight for it. Just don't put it out. Just don't extinguish it. Because while it may at first look like that love is between two people you don't know and you don't understand and maybe you don't even want to know. It is, in fact, the ember of your love, for your fellow person just because this is the only world we have. And the other guy counts, too.
This is the second time in ten days I find myself concluding by turning to, of all things, the closing plea for mercy by Clarence Darrow in a murder trial.
But what he said, fits what is really at the heart of this:
"I was reading last night of the aspiration of the old Persian poet, Omar-Khayyam," he told the judge. It appealed to me as the highest that I can vision. I wish it was in my heart, and I wish it was in the hearts of all: So I be written in the Book of Love; I do not care about that Book above. Erase my name"

SPECIAL COMMENT
By Keith Olbermann
Anchor, 'Countdown'
msnbc.com
updated 9:13 p.m. ET, Mon., Nov. 10, 2008

Wow. I knew this proposition had passed, but I've been so busy that I hadn't given it a lot of thought. How devastating it must be to the thousands of hopeful and now heartbroken couples in California. Now that our family reunion has passed, and I am caught up on kissing my little grandson and doing homework, it's time to get busy again. This means my politically-aware daughters and I are once again going to have to crank up our letter-writing campaign. We are pissed off. And you know what that means...

...about Michael Grant, our little blessing...

Mallory and I took Michael in his skeleton custome to buy him a pumpkin for Halloween. Here he is trying ice cream for the first time. ..ICE CREAM HEADACHE!!!

...what joy he has brought us. We look forward to waking up each morning to the sounds of him singing to himself in his crib, and seeing his smiling face when we enter his room. With three teeth on the bottom, and four coming in on top, he looks like a little jack-o-lantern. He now can say, "dada," "mama," and "OBAMA"!!!

...that I could go for a slab of something chocolatey good...

...and suddenly a recipe for chocolate chip & pecan pie miraculously appeared! I'm trying this in the morning.

Recipe:Pecan-Chocolate Chip Pie

...I'm not going to waste my time...

...worrying about whether or not I have offended someone with my writings. A while ago I posted a blog entry about a particular problem. Apparently I have ruffled some feathers. Oh, frigging well. What I write on my blog are my personal thoughts and opinions. If anyone doesn't like it then he/she has the option of not reading it. In this country, our Constitution guarantees the right of free speech and freedom of the press. I have never printed anything that isn't true. If someone doesn't like what they read about themself, whether it be a politician or other knucklehead, they can go pound sand. Nothing I write is a lie. And if one doesn't like what is written, then perhaps that person should try to dispell the impression they leave by actually changing their behavior, rather than threatening me with nonsensical lawsuits.

In a country with a population of around 301,139,947 according to 2007 census records, one could only imagine the number of people with the same first name. Even within a geographic region, one would imagine quite a few people with the same name. To suggest that one could be slandered by the mere mention of a common name, makes me think that person has nothing better to do with their time, and is simply an unhappy person.

As for my blog, I don't suppose that I have a very large following...yet. Who knows, maybe someday I'll be syndicated!

I prefer to spend my time writing about important issues, and not drivel ("childish, silly, or meaningless talk or thinking; nonsense; twaddle. to talk childishly or idiotically.") I removed my "offending" entry, and hope this will silence the beast.

Ah, what a wonderful world it would be if people would be responsible and law-abiding citizens, loving and involved parents, not rely on alcohol or drugs, and strive for peace and understanding among all inhabitants.

Reference:

drivel. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved November 10, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/drivel

...if you don't like what I write in my blog...

...then don't read it! Simple as that. First Amendment...read it.

...it's time for a potluck!

Twenty-some years ago, my friend Jerry and I began a tradition of monthly potluck dinners for Native Americans from all tribal affiliations. The men brought their drum, everyone brought a gift for a giveaway and a food item to share. We generally had between 75 and 125 friends gather every month. In the warmer weather we had softball games as well. Many of our friends were military, and of course ended up transferring out of the area. Meanwhile, we lost our potluck location. This past week, we had an opportunity to reconnect with some of those friends, and I am pleased to say that we are trying to find another location so that we can begin our monthly potlucks again. I wish I knew where I knew where I put my photos of some of our best times at potlucks and powwows, so I could post them.

Jerry and another friend from South Dakota came to town to research some archives in Richmond and at Hampton University, which was a Native American boarding school during the 1860s. They were taking a brief break from their tour--they have written a play, and perform it all across the country. They performed in Pennsylvania, and after their performance here, they are on their way to North Carolina and from there to St. Louis.

We met with two Ojibwa friends, Bob and Michael from Michigan and Wisconsin, and are looking forward to getting together with a couple more old friends, Dan and Jack, Lakota and T'Hono O'odam (Papago) respectively. Everybody has been busy in their own lives for some time, and it will be good to be together again.

YES WE DID!

The citizens have spoken loudly and clearly...we are ready for change. This has been a stressful election season, and the candidates' true colors have been revealed. I truly believe that our country is beginning to turn the page in our ugly history of racism. The best person who can possibly lead us forward into an era of openness and compromise has been elected. The world will be watching and expecting something better from us now that we have Barack Obama ready to lead us. It seems, from watching the news, that people are celebrating all around the world!

I hope that all minority issues will be addressed--particularly the plight of Native Americans across the country. My friend, Jerry, from Pine Ridge tells me that the unemployment rate on the rez is disheartening. Fetal alcohol syndrome is too common, depression and suicide and alcoholism rates are high. Social services are overwhelmed. Housing is substandard. We were out on the Navajo reservation a few years ago, and know they face the same problems.