A seventy-four year old attempting to stay current with a voguish vocabulary

 

 Feeling like a dinasaur, not understanding the younger generations language the same as mine, I look up their words. Not understanding the language on the media I refer to Wikipedia and online dictionaries. Then I make a flip card lexicon.

 

 

 

With the New Year approaching, I decided to turn a new leaf. I would act completely out of character wishing my grandchildren with pop culture language with these sentiments:

  Have a "RAD New Year. Bright as LID s on high! Without Fucking circuit breaking!

 

https://qz.com/119200/oxford-dictionary-adds-twerk-derp-selfie-phablet-and-more-voguish-vocabulary/

Guest Author: Eve Culley

Today's guest author, Eve Culley writes amusing and clever children's books, aimed at ages 7-12 years old. I have to say her covers would have me liking the books without needing to read a single word. 

Her first is Adventures in Barn Town where the residents are friendly and there is mischief and mystery around every corner. The story is written from a feline narrative by a life-long resident, Ol’ Stripe (Deputy of Barn Town) as he shares with the reader the highlights of life in Barn Town – a barn situated on a large farm. 

After trudging through a vicious storm as a kitten and claiming the barn’s territory as his safe haven and his new home, Deputy Stripe is caught off-guard when trying to shoo away a trespasser, Stinky, a skunk who is quite territorial himself. 

When a group of humans finally moves into the Village House, however, and move their many animal companions into Barn Town, the noise, smell and attitudes of the animals take some getting used to. From a coup, led by the rooster, Cogburn, followed by committee meetings to decide Cogburn’s fate, Deputy Stripe does all he can to keep his ears and eyes open in order to maintain peace and order, with a hilarious outcome.

One reviewer said about the book, "Author Eve Culley's Adventures in Barn Town is a delightful story! The author had me laughing at the antics of her characters! Eve has a way of making the animals come to life and will entertain younger readers and listeners. Ol' Stripe's adventures are a fun escape and will keep you smiling!"
 

Further Adventures in Barn Town, the second book in the Barn Town series came out September 11, 2017. It is a clever book of hilarious anecdotes. It is told in a feline narrative by a life-long resident. Ol’ Stripe (Deputy of Barn Town) shares with the reader the highlights of life in Barn Town – a barn situated on a large farm. Deputy Stripe does all he can to keep his eyes and ears open in order to maintain peace and order, with a hilarious outcome.
 

About the author, Eve Culley:

In the middle of the 1970’s and 80’s, my husband and I were missionaries working in the United States. We worked in different church print shops where Bibles, New Testaments, and individual books of the Bible were printed in different languages and shipped to different countries around the world. We traveled across the U.S. to other churches and businesses to raise money for paper, ink and shipping cost for the Bibles. To gather the necessary money needed, a lot of travel was required and as we traveled I would tell stories to our two young sons of adventure, heroes, and villains.

As our sons grew into adulthood the stories to them became less and less until they stopped. When our grandchildren would visit, the stories were requested again until those stories, too, were a thing of the past. But the storytelling refused to die and go away. Instead, a hunger grew in me to put my stories on paper and books grew out of them. I write, of course, adventures for children to read, believe in and take life lessons from them.

Story-telling is as much a part of me as breathing is to my body. I have found that I tell stories, put them on paper to make room for the other stories that are building and will need to be told soon. 

Buy links:

Adventures in Barn Town

Further Adventures in Barn Town

hope for the best

Vote! Make your voice count!

The following is something that made me smile and hope it will you too. Either way this election goes, thinking positive is not just a slick expression. It is what we need to do for a good life for ourselves and loved ones.

You cannot come in unless we deem  you worthy. 

Cheese would go a long way toward making you worthy.

A Philosophy of Aging

In my late 60s and a lot closer to 70 than 65, I generally spend little time thinking about my own aging; but for some reason I've been more aware of it this winter and spring. Adding to my awareness have been more articles I notice on it.

Women's looks and aging

Were there this many articles on the subject before the social media grew into a powerful factor for information? Maybe. I don't know, but I do see more than when I turned 50 or maybe even 60. It's analyzing a lot of the feeling about what age brings. Some would say it's shallow when it's about what we look like. So they can say it.

On a personal level regarding my awareness about aging, this winter I seemed to jump to old more than middle aged. I don't know if that's reality or simply my attitude. For a long time, when it came to my physical being, I didn't see that much change-- like from my mid-40s into mid-60s. I have a possible theory on why it might be now, and it would relate to hormones-- the same thing that makes for big changes in early teen years and then a kind of leveling off. If my theory is right, my 70s may not see the fast changes I notice now-- unless there are health problems to throw the whole calculation in the air. I would expect then more changes again in my 80s as more of  the body wears out-- like kidneys, liver, etc.

So 60s are the gateway to old age. 70s, you are fully in it. 80s, you are entering the second act. 90s, make ready for the curtain to go down. Some plan to live into their 100s but average people don't. They are fortunate (or not) to make it to their 90s especially if they are in good health.

My basis for how I see it is not so much my own aging as I am only barely through the early part of this old age chart, but more what I have observed with others. Middle age actually lasts a long while and begins in our 40s (for some even their 30s) and lasts until early 60s for what it is like and how things appear. Not to say there are not subtle differences all along the way. Genetics and lifestyle, of course, play their part in all of this for appearances and health.

So we have gradual and faster aging which is pretty much what we have in  puberty. It's hormones. I won't say it's all hormones because the body is also wearing out and that is a fact of life regardless of how some want to deny it. Denying we are old won't change the fact that we are old. What it will do is deny us what old age can mean, what it should mean.

I see aging and yes awareness of it in my BB when he comes back to Tucson and cannot do what he could the last time here. He looks up as though-- I used to leap to that fence. I don't know how much animals understand that kind of rather abstract concept; but he, of the white muzzle, and slowing of his movements, does seem more aware than I would have expected. Even though he wants out down here, I cannot let him have the freedom he once enjoyed as there are predators here that would take advantage of his slowing down.

We as humans though, we can assess our experience and our reality, we can learn through books, listen to the stories of others, calculate, observe, project, and think abstractly. We can use all that to improve our days, plan for the future, or we can deny what is out of fear or ego.

To me a major philosophy of aging should involve simple awareness of physical reality. Denying our own by saying 60 is the new 30 is silly talk. Someone 30 is not closer to the end of life or when that happens, it's the unexpected. Sixty is moving into a new territory where change in the body is going to be part of  life right up until life ends.

What I am trying to adjust to more than fear of dying or physical weakness right now is what some would say is shallow. It's what I hear others talk about (and what the article above was about) that invisibility that some say comes with old age. That writer was enjoying that (but she's in her 50s if I remember right). I won't like not being noticed. Well I no longer have guys honk as they drive by or yell out something as I walk past, but they do still see me. Being noticed gets me service, lots of smiles, and an acknowledgement I am here. I don't know what it will be like to feel invisible. I don't think I will like it.

But what's the alternative? If I get bent out of shape over knowing I don't look as good as I once did, if I fret over why people don't still treat me a certain way, who's the one going to be miserable? I am working to adjust to the coming change, and I admit for me it's not always easy.

Before somebody says old women can be beautiful. I agree, but what they cannot really be is sexually exciting. Sorry but that's just a reality and it's the rare old lady that still will have a man's libido turning on (unless he's her mate anyway). I think virility and sensuality are more a product of those young and middle years. The beauty of old age is a different sort and won't have a horn honking as a man drives by. 

It's not that I'd ever want to be young again. Young might look better (although I have always felt women reach their peak of beauty around 35) but young had so many drawbacks for the need to gain experience, to get a handle on who we are, what we can do, build our life. It's a time of finding our power. By its very nature, young has a lot of strife and chaos attached.

Those middle years, however,  I liked them a lot. I loved the period from when my kids were launched, where I could see them doing well, where I still felt strong and had power to draw people to me. Good years and for anybody still into them-- enjoy. Those really are power years. Yes, I would hold onto them as long as I could-- but not at the cost of denying reality.

That's the key to old age, I think-- alertness, awareness and acceptance. Pay attention to bodily signs as catching problems early is a big plus in solving them. Be aware of what is real versus a fantasy and finally accept what is without wishing for what cannot be.

In some ways my life right now is as exciting or more so than it's ever been; but those pesky changes, they are more and more obvious. I have dreams, plans, but they take into account reality-- I think.

I used to have a theme song (one of a couple actually) which said a lot about what I felt. It's by the Eagles-- Take it to the limit. As I got older, I felt myself do that time and again. One more time I can pull it all together and present an image to others that is all I want it to be. I can do it. (for anybody who says they don't need an image, well good for you, but I enjoyed that feeling, that ability. It was fun for me) Today I am feeling less and less that I can do it.  That doesn't depress me. It just is what it is when someone is on the border of 69.

I need a new song... Maybe Bitch... Yeah, I like that one-- Or am I too old for that one too? ;)  Good-night Irene? I am waiting awhile for that one! I hope.

Photo from webcam and at Tucson house on April 23-- it's 100 F. outside...

what if...

This cartoon came from Robin and Roger to my email and after I finally figured out how to share it here, I thought it'd be a humorous addition to the global climate change debate.

Profile photos

Maybe because I am a very visual person who loves to take photographs, paint and admire other's painting, the photo I use for a profile is both important to me and always a challenge. It's not that I don't like photos of myself, but more that none ever seem to say the right thing-- for long.

Where others might only see my profile photo once in awhile (if they notice it at all), I see it every time I come which is more often than it used to be since blogger went to an updating blog roll making it easy for me to visit my favorite blogs when they have a new topic.

My profile photo that I liked the longest, which lasted clear through the summer, was black and white, a little fuzzy, with shadows across my face which might be why it lasted so long.

Since seasonally I update them, no sleeveless tops when it's freezing outside, I change them regularly but am rarely satisfied with the results. If the photo is smiling, what about when I don't feel like smiling? If it looks contemplative, someone always thinks that means I am sad. Well sometimes I am but it's more that I don't go around smiling all the time. I want a photo to look like I look-- well not necessarily in harsh unflattering light.

To take a new one for here, one that I like but probably is a bit on the somber side for some people, I lightened up my own mood by having some fun doing it as I took a few other possibilities. To be honest, if you and I were having a conversation, you'd probably see some of them now and then. I know you'd see some if you watched the news with me.

The last one suits well how I feel whenever I read or see anything about Joe Lieberman! You in Connecticut, who want a public option, you have a big responsibility here to lay weight on this guy! And next time he comes up for re-election, can't you send him to the lobbyists where he clearly belongs?



So what do ya think? A, B, C, D, or E?

News Distractions

To start, what I think the news should be covering, what is not a distraction in my eyes, is the health care debate as it's a key issue for our well being-- however you see it. Other important things are going on (wars, climate questions, civil rights) but nothing with such an immediate impact on us all.

I know some, who have reliable insurance, think it's not an issue to them, but if the costs keep going up, it will be. The insurance corporations have said if they are forced to cover the people who they currently kick off of insurance for any reason they can find, they will up all our premiums; so you can bet it's going up.

Thanks to 'special interest' politicians on both sides, Americans are confusing "insurance" with actual medical care. The cost of this insurance is going so high (and if you don't know how high, it's because your employer pays it) to keep the profits high for those corporations and benefit the stock market. What insurance has to do with health care is stand between the sick and extremely high medical bills-- except today it does not always do even that. Whatever good it actually does the sick is being done through higher and higher premiums to keep the stock market looking good and the profits high enough for those CEO salaries.

So when I saw that Roman Polanski was arrested, I was upset. Not because I care if the disgusting rat goes to prison. He deserves prison for what he did to that girl. Sorry but Lolita was a disgusting view of girls and anybody who is buying into that is sick. A thirteen year old deserves to be protected. Too bad her mother didn't agree. But my upset wasn't that he would be dragged back to this country kicking and screaming; it was that I knew the media would be covering it-- every disgusting detail will find its way into the news entertainment media.

It became quickly another tool for the fools who whined (because a few Hollywood celebrities defended Polanski) that it shows the difference between the good people and the bad. The story goes that the good people, Republicans, want Polanski to spend serious time in prison for raping a girl and skipping out before he could be sentenced. Democrats think it's been too many years to worry about it, the girl has been paid off, he isn't doing bad things today (so far as anyone knows), and he had a lot of bad things happen in his life. Well there is a third view from we who wish the courts would handle it and we could quit reading about it and him.

If that wasn't enough distraction from the important issues like what to do about Afghanistan or Iran's nuclear weapon program, we had Obama going to Europe to try and get the Olympics for Chicago and the United States. Now this kind of thing is what a lot of leaders do and since it was an overnight flight, short speech, it really was a non-player for how long it took (except to the partisan right who didn't mind Bush going on vacations to Texas regularly but a trip to Europe-- definitely bad) but then it became a news story when the United States didn't get the Olympics.

Once again news distracted itself from actual information on the health care proposals (of which there were many that week). Instead it was-- What did the loss mean for Obama's political future? I will tell you the answer. It meant exactly nothing. Those, who supported him before, still do. Those, who didn't, hope every falter is the end of the road.

As for the media, we saw videos of Rush Limbaugh chortling over it as though he thinks this will have made Obama ready for a nervous breakdown. Failure. Oh the woe. How can Limbaugh Obama stand it? I was left with two other questions. First, since I don't watch Limbaugh or listen to him, why is my liberal station constantly running clips of him? Second is Limbaugh on some kind of mood drugs to lose the weight he has? He is joyous that the United States didn't get the Olympics because it will hurt Obama? Then he was upset that our country has a president who was honored by the Nobel Peace Prize. Is there ever a time he can be proud of us for anything but bombing someone? What does patriotism mean to someone like him?

Last week there were a lot of stories again about Sarah Palin. Her ex-future son-in-law is evidently going to pose for Playgirl (does it get any ickier than that?) and she has a best selling book putting her back in the news distracting from say what should we do about the prisoners in Gitmo who cannot be released, cannot be tried because of torture, and some fear our US prisons aren't sufficient to hold. (How are we holding the other bad guys?)

Palin didn't write her book but worked with a politically oriented ghost writer which is not unusual for celebrities. You can bet this book will be about politics and not about her personal life beyond whatever sounds like Mother Knows Best. If you hoped for the truth of her life, her family (maybe even written by her), that book is somewhere down the road. This one is all about getting big fees for speaking and maybe becoming the next Republican candidate for president.

Her title, Going Rogue, was an interesting choice. A rogue animal is one that interferes with the effectiveness of the herd, that threatens all around it. Does Palin really know anything about nature, life or anything beyond herself? Did someone trick her into using that title?

An interesting side-note to the Palin distractions was a journalist who suggested the reason Republicans want her is because she annoys the left so much. So in other words the pleasure that the right gets at maybe running her for president is because the left goes completely crazy at the idea? Okay then should the left run Michael Moore? Just a thought...

And finally to distract from the (some democrat and all republican) Senators stonewalling the public option was the story of David Letterman having had affairs. Oh the shock. A famous celebrity, who was also famously marriage shy, had an affair-- or rather multiple affairs with women who worked for him.

There are those who will never watch his show again. Of course, they never watched it anyway but that's not what is important here. It's making the point that the right wing doesn't approve of sex outside of marriages, between employees and bosses, or maybe kinky sex anywhere.

I won't even go into the Ensign story coming up again because about now I am thinking I need a glass of Merlot-- for my health...

Living in Oregon

I don't generally pass on emails here but this one seemed to fit since I just did what almost amounted to a travelogue on Southern Oregon. It came from Parapluie's husband, Fisherman. He and I are both native born Oregonians (in my case several generations), and I have to say that a lot of this (not all) does seem pretty accurate to my experience of Oregon-- especially that about measuring distance in time, not miles.

***********************************

THIS IS WHAT JEFF FOXWORTHY HAS TO SAY ABOUT 'LIVING IN OREGON !

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Oregon .

If you've worn shorts, sandals and a parka at the same time, you live in Oregon.

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number, you live in Oregon.

If you measure distance in hours, you live in Oregon.

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Oregon.

If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' and back again in the same day, you live in Oregon.

If you install security lights on your house and garage but leave both doors unlocked, you live in Oregon.

If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Central, Southern or Eastern Oregon.

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a 2 layers of clothes or under a raincoat, you live in Oregon.

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow and ice, you live in Oregon.

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you live in Oregon.

If you feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash, you live in Oregon.

If you know more than 10 ways to order coffee, you live in Oregon.

If you know more people who own boats than air conditioners, you live in Oregon.

If you stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" signal, you live in Oregon.

If you consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it is not a real mountain, you live in Oregon

If you can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle 's Best, and Dutch Bros, you live in Oregon.

If you know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon, you live in Oregon.

If you know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup , Abiqua, Issaquah , Oregon , Umpqua, Yakima and Willamette, you live in Oregon.

If you consider swimming an indoor sport, you live in Oregon.

If you know that Boring is a city and not just a feeling, you live in Oregon.

If you can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Thai food, you live in Oregon.

If you never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho, you live in Oregon.

If you have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain, you live in Oregon.

If you think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists, you live in Oregon.

If you buy new sunglasses every year, because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time, you live in Oregon.

If you actually understand these jokes and forward them to all your OREGON friends, you live or have lived in Oregon.

Boycott

Having seen how the right punishes or attempts to punish those who do not remain loyal to their party—regardless of right, wrong or individual conscience-- think Steele threatening the three Republican Senators who voted for the Recovery Act that he might take away RNC help for their future campaigns (if it looks like that would lead to a democrat taking that seat, he may think twice on that), I was trying to think of who, we on the left, could boycott as being disloyal to the nation.

Always remember when thinking of boycotts that it is not for us or our political party that we do this but the greater good! It's not out of hate but out of patriotism! The other guys hate!

So, *rubbing hands together* (well not really or I couldn't type) who supported GW Bush or maybe even just was nice to him, campaigned for John McCain, or praised Sarah Palin (since Alex Baldwin praised her beauty, should he go on the list?)? Who should we on the left refuse to buy their products, quit watching their programs, or listening to their music?

The first to come to my mind is John Rich of 'Big and Rich.' What a disappointment he was to me. I know many of you do not know who he is since he's a country western singer, song writer, and all-around nice seeming guy; but he actually sang for McCain and wrote him a campaign song-- True it was a bad song (he must need Big more than he knows) but still-- Bah humbug. Er should I come up with a stronger curse? Should I take my favorite Big and Rich CD outside and dramatically stomp it into the ground?

Except... can I stand never again playing Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy or worse Deadwood? Who would my doing that hurt except me (and, of course, Farm Boss). Wait, I can't let personal needs get in the way of this. I must be strong as after all, this is about making a statement. Yes, for the good of the country, I must stand against that traitor and dispose of any evidence I once enjoyed his music.

Bo Derek is a Bush fan or was. She comes out to campaign for any Republican presidential candidates... Now this is the best kind of boycott. It’s not like I would miss looking at any photos of her (don’t have any) or watching her movies (haven’t seen any). She’d make an excellent, no-pain-to-me boycott target.

How about the ones who supported Measure 8 in California which banned gay marriage? I could feel a genuine enthusiasm for boycotting them if I knew who they were. The only one that I can think of, off the top of my head, would be Marie Osmond. That’s an easy call also since I was never a fan of the Osmonds and seeing her in that weight loss ad has not been enthusing me to start the plan.

Hey this boycotting stuff could be okay... other than the Big and Rich album. But heck, wasn't it really temporary insanity for him. I will let him off (plus Farm Boss said no stomping that album).

You know I am being silly here, but it's not actually a silly topic. There are a lot of boycotts threatened all the time. It's the American way, likely the human way. We have a right to not spend our money where we don't enjoy the product. Making such enemy lists is how people often unite themselves. Economics, picketing with signs, these are all non-violent methods of control, but they aren't the end for all.

Death threats came to the Dixie Chicks when during the run up to the Iraqi War, they spoke out against President GW Bush and going to war. If you aren't familiar with them or have forgotten what happened, Wikipedia gives the general story. There are many who still can’t hear the Dixie Chicks name without growling.

Because Clear Channel refused to play their music, their career was damaged. Was this due to groundswell of public opinion or did all that resentment get cultivated? A lot of boycotts serve purposes way beyond the obvious. Did someone want that war and didn't want Americans thinking too much about its potential cost? Was it a conspiracy? It didn't require one. Clear Channel, who controls a lot of country western stations (likewise talk radio stations) could just do it. Maybe they quit playing the Chicks because they got irate phone calls. People can speculate over their motives; but it's like which came first, the chicken or the egg.

Who does stuff like that? Creates and sends around those hate emails? You know that during the last election the accusations against Jane Fonda circulated again, much of it proven untrue by the people listed on the emails, but it doesn't have to be true. What did it have to do with the last election? I think one thing and one thing only-- stirring up hate. Hate is a powerful emotion.

I get told that I hate Bush, but it's by people who don't know me. I don't hate Bush at all. I hated what he was doing. I hated his policies, but not the man. I don't even know the man. If I did, I am guessing I wouldn't like him much, but I have no reason to hate him. Sometimes I have felt sorry for him. I don't have anybody I actually hate... although Cheney is sure on the no use for list. No way to boycott him though.

Do boycotts work? I just said they probably did with the Chicks. Sean Penn, however, just won an Oscar while he’s on a lot of those lists. He is outspoken, a peace activist and played a gay... A multiple oops to the right. Being on those lists hasn't seemed to hurt his career, but then he's not trying to appeal, with his films, to the right wing.

There’s always some food making company or fast food chain we are encouraged to boycott. Remember the Colonel Sanders one that I think PETA was trying to shut down over abuse of chickens. Didn't it lead to the chain changing its name but they are still in business. I think. Most recently it has been that McDonalds imports their lean beef rather than buying it from US ranchers. Now that one comes home!

Does boycotting make sense to you? Do you think it works other than to make people who are mad feel they are doing something? Have you ever boycotted and if so, what? How long do you keep such a vendetta going?

Jane Fonda might wonder about that. She has said for her it will last until she is dead. Since she is doing a show on Broadway, picketers came out to remind her of what she did over 30 years ago. She has apologized, stated she did wrong (on the part she actually did), but nothing is enough.

I could work up some enthusiasm of a boycott against Alan Keyes as he’s trying to inspire the weak-minded to think that the Health Officer for Hawaii would lie about seeing a genuine, Hawaiian, birth certificate for Barack Obama or that Chief Justice Roberts would put his own reputation on the line by swearing in Obama (not once but twice) if there was doubt about his legitimacy.

Alan Keyes, with his call for the military to overthrow this 'illegitimate' administration, has inspired at least one soldier to refuse to obey orders saying that Obama is not the president. Keyes must want to set in place a president of his own choice. Maybe he'd like to be the one. Is not this the definition of treason? I could definitely get into boycotting him... except what does he do that I could boycott???

Some of this has been lighthearted because most of these lists seem silly to me, but I am old enough to remember the McCarthy era. In one of her books, Ann Coulter has tried to turn McCarthy into a hero and claim he stopped the flood of communists who would have taken over this country-- except there is no proof of any such thing. Not that proof is a factor in such accusations. The more distance you have from an event, the more you can create your own mythology around it.

McCarthy came down on anyone, most especially in Hollywood, who had ever attended a communist political meeting. Blacklists drove some from their jobs and led others to create under a pseudonym.

Keep in mind one thing about McCarthy-- it is legal to be a member of the communist party in our country. It is a genuine political philosophy which some believe in. Not every person who believes in communism is out to subvert our government. I incidentally am a democrat which I know some equate with communism but it's not. I don't believe in the communist doctrines as viable methods for society. In short, I don't think they ever work-- at least not for other than a short period of time.

During the McCarthy years, particularly in Hollywood, some were blacklisted, not because they were communists and helping the USSR, but because they refused to testify.

Yes, it was a time of the Cold War where both the US and Soviet Union were sending spies into each other's countries to try and figure out what was going on. Fear was rampant that we would be nuked by the USSR. When I was a child, we had drills for what to do in such attacks, all of which, of course, was silly and ineffective.

If you make people think you are doing something to keep them safe, they will accept a lot. Enemy lists give certain groups power they'd not find otherwise. Having an enemy is what keeps some from noticing what is happening to their own lives. We need a greater cause, dontchaknow.

Daily Show Nails it Again

Because we all need to laugh, check this one out from the Daily Show: [To the Poor House].

I tried to embed it but Comedy Central doesn't seem to work well with blogger. Please do click on the link. Jon Stewart is equal opportunity with how he nails them all!

Clinton is for what's his name

To my dismay, I had seen clips from Bill Clinton's comments on the View and was aghast. He was defending those who vote on gender saying it was a valid way to make such a choice. Is voting on race alone okay too?

He's been everywhere lately. When he was on David Letterman, Chris Rock came right afterward and had this reaction: Hillary Lost.



It seems to me there has been little doubt that Hillary's most bedrock supporters want to see McCain win no matter what damage it does to the courts, to wars, to the environment, the economy, to anything. Bill says he supports Barack but then he says things to undermine him. For Bill it appears to be resentment about losing the primary and looking toward 2012 with Hillary running again (guess he doesn't think a Vice-President Palin will be a factor in blocking that ambition).

I would have added Hillary to the above paragraph except if she's doing this, it's not in public. What I have seen of her, her campaigning for Obama, it seems she really wants to see him win. What she does behind closed doors, that I don't know; but this is about Bill and all his recent appearances.

So Clinton says he supports what's his name; even as he constantly says what a good man and how ready to govern John McCain is. He even defended McCain for saying he would cancel the debate to solve the whole economic disaster in a couple of days.

Bill said on The View, voting for a woman, because she's a woman, makes as much sense as voting on say issues or character. By now, it shouldn't have, but it still flabbergasts me. A vagina, that's all it takes? But then we were talking about Bill...

Uncle Jay Explains Congress

Someone made a comment regarding how can these candidates run all over the country and still do their jobs which reminded me of this little explanation of how hard Congress works. On top of that, they decide on their own ethics, their own salaries, their own health care. Is it any wonder people are as dissatisfied with Congress as with the President.

Last subject the comment was made about why would Congress spend all the time they were on steroid hearings with so many major problems out there-- which is a good question. Steroid use is illegal. Where are the police in investigating it. Considering how little time they actually are there, it makes it even worse.

Enjoy Uncle Jay. He has many topics he explains on other YouTubes. In case YouTube doesn't come in well for you-- Uncle Jay Explains Congress

What if there's bears?

One of the things I love about the Internet is when you are looking for one thing, sometimes you stumble across something totally different. True, you can do the same thing in a library when doing research but it takes a lot longer.

I don't even remember what original article I had been reading when one thing led to another and this title caught my eye giving me the laugher I needed. But what if there's bears? on Funny or Die.

But what if there's bears? is probably funniest if someone has watched any of the wild animal shows on cable like where the guy goes around the world searching for the most dangerous creatures that walk, slither or crawl over the earth.

Laughter is good medicine!

YouTube: caught on tape

Politically, YouTube has changed the landscape as it provides a way to quickly spread the word. If the videos let us laugh at the same time, more power to them. This one was put out by a group called Our Future. It stars Jason Alexander and uses the Harry Potter phenomena for its storyline. It is funny, but the points it makes are anything but humorous.

Ratings

Reading Maya's Granny-- bookmarked in my blog links-- I saw where there was a place that rates our blogs for content like they do movies. I thought might as well find out what mine is, what the heck er make that hell.

To be honest I was disappointed. Nothing worthy of at least a parental guidance suggested? And I likely only made G because I used the word rape once. My usage of it probably referred to the environmental destruction wrought by the Bush administration. Without that one word, I might have been showing up as something by Disney. Heck Hell... even Disney is PG these days.

It is not that I want to be writing with a lot of profanity that I don't use in my daily language. I am not a fan of crudity, but still... G??? What the heck hell is G these days???

Another cute commercial

This first one was on Andrew Sullivan's blog, the Daily Dish; and it made me laugh. Then I started looking at other Guinness ads. Since I don't watch much TV, I miss this kind of thing. Too bad I don't drink beer :)

Cat Herding

Being a cat/western lover, I would naturally like the following video. To add to my enjoyment, I have known a few cowboys who made extra money doing these kinds of ads, but it's also good for two other reasons.

One is that with things are they are in the world, there are so many negative, upsetting things, that it's easy to get so negative that we don't smile, don't laugh, don't effectively deal with anything. We can't afford that.

The second reason is this is a colloquial phrase about trying to herd something that is heading off a thousand different directions which is the way the world seems right now.

So yeehaw!