The Crab Chronicles

Catching Up in March

I have not been feeling up to blogging lately but finally it occurred to me I should do a post, even just a small post, and let folks know what is going on. Nothing really earth-shattering but here's the scoop.

I have had the flu. Not normal flu that's easily recognizable, nope. I've had a weird strain of flu. Started feeling bad last Wednesday. By Thursday, I felt so awful I went to the doctor, which I hate to do. I felt awful -- headache, body aches, chills, nausea, weakness. The weakness scared me. I can never get my internist on the phone so I called the cardiologist. He's a great guy and saw me two hours after I called. I really thought it might be a heart issue because of the weakness. [Nope, my heart is fine.] He listened to me recite my symptoms and said "You have a weird strain of the flu. Everyone in my family has had it. I'm going to write you two prescriptions."

You cannot imagine my relief. WHEW.

Yesterday, after two days on the medications, I was feeling 90% normal; just didn't have any energy.

That was the yucky news about last week.

Well, it was also a weird week because we had several really cold [temps in the teens or 20's] nights. Some of the plants got blasted. I had to wear my heavy coat while walking Lola in the morning.

There was also good news. One of my essays, "Memories of Segregation" was selected by The Bitter Southerner. You can read it here.

I was contacted by a distant cousin who is also a descendant of John McConnell. He found me through this blog, after reading my post about McConnell. He is a college professor and has done a lot of research on the family and it's been fun emailing with him.

Friday was St. Patrick's Day. I was still feeling yucko but I recalled that at my house we always celebrate a little differently because my parents met at a St. Patrick's Day party in 1956. By the time St. Patrick's Day 1957 rolled around, they had been married about 6 weeks. They stayed married for 40 years.

That's all the news.

Piers Morgan Rips Meryl Streep a New One

Never thought I'd be saying this but I actually agree with British journalist Piers Morgan about something - Meryl Streep is in need of a slap.

Sorry, Meryl, but that hypocritical anti-Trump rant was easily the worst performance of your career (apart from that time you gave a child rapist a standing ovation)

Here are my favorite points he made:

1. THE MOST VILIFIED?!?!

"She began by saying that Hollywood, foreigners and the press are ‘the most vilified segments of American society right now’.

At which point the cameras panned out to hundreds of the richest, most privileged people in American society sitting in the audience in their $10,000 tuxedos and $20,000 dresses, loudly cheering this acknowledgement of their dreadful victimhood."

I have a cousin who is on the police force in a small town south of Atlanta. I worry every day that he will be the target of violence against police. We have seen that skyrocket in recent years.

What about women and children who are victims of sex trafficking? I'd say they have a much bigger claim to being vilified than a bunch of rich Hollyweird elitists.

2. MAKING MONEY OFF VIOLENCE

"what Streep said next: ‘Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose.’

At this point, I laughed out loud with incredulity.

Not at the words themselves, which are laudable.

No, it was at the hypocrisy.

You’d be hard-pushed to find an industry that encourages more disrespect and violence than Hollywood.

A place where rich powerful people make billions of dollars by regularly pandering to the lowest common denominators of sexism, racism, homophobia and misogyny.

And happily exploit ever more hideous, graphic violence to make a fast, easy buck."

There are very few movies nowadays that don't feature graphic sex, violence, bad language, etc. Silly violent action movies with nearly incomprehensible plots like the Avengers movies are prime examples. Or the Transformers series. Or the Batman/Superman movies.

There are movies aimed at people over the age of 13, such as The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, that MAKE MONEY. Hollyweird lives off the comic book exploitation flicks, though.

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

Those are just my two favorite points. He made a lot of other good points.

Meryl needs to stick to acting -- which she's good at, I admit. I've enjoyed her movies immensely over the years. She is drunk on power, though, if she thinks most Americans agree with her point of view. Hollyweirdos do, yes, but they have no clue how the rest of us feel.

Thanks, Mark Walberg:

"And she’s simply re-confirmed to them what Mark Wahlberg said a few weeks ago when he urged actors not to talk about politics:

‘A lot of Hollywood is living in a bubble. They’re pretty out of touch with the common person, with the everyday guy out there providing for their family.’"

I also applaud Kellyanne Conway who pointed out that Streep didn't say one word about the white teenager tortured live on Facebook last week.

 

 

Actors and Politics Don't Mix

Rarely does anything in my Facebook feed pop up that I think is really clever, or interesting, or even accurate. There's a lot of mis-information out there, even though the weirdest election in history is now over.

Celebrities like to make self-important videos and tell us what to do. Click here for an example. I wanted to vomit, watching it -- except that, I must reluctantly admit, some parts of it were mildly funny.

However, this video [I hope the link works] is spot-on. It reminds us that celebrities have ONE JOB -- they are supposed to entertain us. Period.

Now, if a celebrity wants to urge people to donate to a worthy charity, I'm fine with that. Use your celebrity, in that instance.

However, there are certain celebrities who have earned my everlasting disgust and disdain because of their idiotic insistence on trying to impose their beliefs on the rest of us.

I'm going to especially call out Martin Sheen. He didn't go to college. He has no credentials for political commentary. I don't care how many seasons he acted the part of the president on TV, that doesn't give him the right to try and influence national elections. As an American citizen he has the right to free speech, and it's his right to say whatever he wants. However, I have no interest in his opinions nor do I think he is worth listening to. [Plus, he fathered Charlie Sheen -- a totally insane drug-addled nightmare of a person.]

Ditto for Miley Cyrus -- best known for led behavior and zero talent. Make all the crying videos you want, girl, it won't change the election. She has ZERO credibility.

Singers are also on the bandwagon. Bruce Springsteen says he's terrified to live in America when Trump becomes president. OMG! Bruce is scared! Everyone, quick, RUN!! RUN AND HIDE.

Celebrities, listen up:

Your job is NOT to try and tell us how to vote. Your job is to entertain us.

PERIOD.

You can use your celebrity to try and influence the election but be forewarned: there will be a backlash. I have such disgust and disdain now for Martin Sheen and Robert DeNiro and Bruce Springsteen and every person on The View that I literally will not watch any movie or TV show where they appear. The idiotic comments made by Jim Carrey and Liam Neeson about gun control make me want to slap them both. I certainly don't intend to ever watch one of their movies again.

A lot of my friends feel the same way I do. We are turning off the TV and skipping the movie appearances of celebrities who push their political agendas in our faces.

Even if you think they are right, stop and think for a minute, why should you listen to a celebrity tell you how to vote? Would you listen to them tell you what car to drive or where to send your child to college? Of course not. THEY AREN'T QUALIFIED. Nine times out of ten they haven't been to college. They aren't even especially intelligent. They are ACTORS.

Some celebrities defend Trump but does that make the nightly network news? No. In my research for this blog I came up with this story about Tim Allen. Watch it. I dare you. He didn't come out as a huge Trump supporter but he made a very good point, which is that in Hollyweird anyone who wasn't on the Hillary bandwagon was bullied and belittled.

Nice.

Now, I will admit there is one actor whose opinion I will consider when it comes to politics: James Woods. Why? three reasons. One, he went to college -- and not just any college, MIT. Two, he majored in political science in college. Three, he has a genius level IQ of 180.

There are actually a lot of highly intelligent and sometimes even well-educated actors in Hollyweird. Check out this article. Does that mean they have the right to tell me who to vote for? No, of course not. However, it does mean if they do publicly spout off about a politician I will at least listen to them and consider their opinions.

Call me an education snob. I will own that label. It takes more than simple intelligence to get a college degree or an advanced degree. What college teaches -- among other things -- is the ability to weigh different opinions and consider a lot of information and figure out what's credible and what's not. It teaches critical thinking. I've met very few uneducated people with the skill to really think and argue critically and appropriately.

I used to enjoy arguing with my professors in college and in grad school because it was fun to mentally spar with someone possessing the same verbal and reasoning skills, although theirs were of course far more advanced than mine. Does that mean a college professor has the right to tell me who to vote for? Nope.

Nobody really has the right to tell me -- or anyone else -- who to vote for. Everyone should make up their own mind about their vote. Celebrities who use their public faces to try and sway elections are AS BAD as Putin. Probably worse, in fact.

Do your research. Read unbiased materials, if possible. Don't let ANYBODY -- even a celebrity -- tell you how to vote. If you do, you are part of the problem.

UPDATE:

I started watching the Golden Globes last night and turned them off after about 30 minutes. In the first 15 minutes of the broadcast, Jimmy Fallon did 5 anti-Trump jokes. Really? I like Fallon. I think he's funny and creative. The Trump jokes were cheap shots, though.

I turned off the TV well before Meryl Streep got up and gave her hate speech about Trump. Thank goodness. That would have made me want to yell and throw things at the TV. Streep thinks because she went to an Ivy League School she has a right to lecture everyone in the world, I suppose. I wrote about her a couple of years ago when she tore into Walt Disney at an entirely inappropriate time.

People criticize old-school Hollywood actors sometimes for NOT being more political. I think they had class. When your job is to be an artist or an entertainer it's inappropriate to switch gears and try to talk politics just because you're on TV.

Let's change it up for a moment and imagine if a politician stood up in Congress and ripped apart Meryl's performance in a movie. Totally inappropriate. Probably even ridiculous, right? What right would a senator have to be a drama critic? NONE.

I don't know if Trump will be a great president or a dismal failure. I am just waiting, just like everyone else. A year from now it will be much clearer. However, the attitudes of people in Hollywood, who think they have the right to lecture America on politics, may prove to be their undoing. They have no idea of the backlash they are spawning because they live in their own little insular world, divorced from reality.

 

 above, James Woods

Divided America and Former Friends

I just got a nasty email from a person I thought was a friend of mine, telling me off because we voted differently in the presidential election a few weeks ago. The irony of the email [which she won't ever understand] is that she was denouncing me as being judgmental and yet she was being extremely judgmental.

She said: "It is one thing to have a political opinion and another to show hate, bigotry and derision towards your fellow man." I have never been a hater and I'm not a hater now, but she views me that way.

What she doesn't see is that my choice not to vote for Clinton -- according to her and several other people who have de-friended me on Facebook and in real life -- was my attempt to try and bring about real change in America, not an endorsement of a candidate in the same league as Hitler/the devil/Saddam Hussein, etc. You get the picture.

She views Hillary Clinton as a saint and Donald Trump as a monster. Both are gross distortions.

It saddens me that there are folks who cannot simply say "Hey, I don't agree with you politically but I still like you personally."

There are a number of friends of mine on Facebook who disagree with me when it comes to religion, politics, sports -- all hot-button issues. Yet I don't think they are insane or evil because we don't agree. We simply view the world differently.

I thought once the election was over things would calm down, yet the news media is still stoking the fires of divisiveness, even as they name Trump the Person of the Year over at Time Magazine. The story starts off by hinting heavily that Trump is incapable of understanding working-class people because he's so wealthy. Like Clinton is poor?! According to a story from PBS from last May, Clinton has earned more than $22 million since 2008. It goes on to say:

The Clintons own well-appointed houses in the suburbs of New York and in the nation’s capital. They hold a sole mutual fund worth between $5 million and $25 million. They are regulars at Caribbean resorts and New York’s exclusive Hamptons beachfront.

Hillary Clinton’s three-year speaking tours often came with premium travel – flights on private jets, luxury “presidential” hotel suites and transportation and accommodations for the retinue of loyal aides who traveled with her, according to her contract demands.

Did the Time story mention that? Nope. It implies that Trump was the only wealthy person in the race.

Did I make the right choice in voting for Trump? Maybe. Maybe not. I didn't agree with him 100% and I was appalled by some of the things he said. However, I didn't trust Clinton. As always, I feel like I've voted for the lesser of two evils -- which happens every 4 years.

The guy hasn't even taken office or had the chance to really DO anything, so at this point it's anyone's guess as to whether or not he will lead America back to glory or lead us down the path to hell.

I am sorry that some of my friends have decided I am a horrible person because I didn't vote the same way they did. I don't view them as despicable, or crazy, or deplorable. We just don't agree.

It's so sad to me that the news media, the candidates themselves, so many voices -- have divided us as a nation. We need to come together and get problems solved. If Trump is a terrible president he can be impeached, or voted out.

I pray every day that the leadership of our country will make good choices. I also pray that the president and Congress will make good decisions for us and we will all benefit. If they DO, maybe I will get some of my friends back. I'm not holding my breath, but anything can happen, right?!

 

Protecting Our Girls

The digital age has made it increasingly tough to parent. I read with horror this article a friend posted a link to on Facebook: Sex Before Kissing: How 15 Year Old Girls Are Dealing With Porn-Addicted Boys. I thought/hoped this was a big problem more in Australia than here, because the writer is talking about Australian kids in the article.

However, one of the comments made by another friend on Facebook made it clear this happens here in the US also, which is just awful.

"As someone who taught in CMS for 10 years I cannot tell you how heartbreakingly on point this is. I have taught multiple girls who ended up on sex tapes their first time having sex with someone they thought "cared" about them, girls who believe a blow job or sex really is no big deal with no emotional consequences, girls who had several abortions or miscarriages by the time they were sophomores (that's 15 or 16 years old, people!), and girls who were endlessly harassed with sexual innuendo because of how they were holding a pencil or how they tilted their heads back when they laughed. Girls on my softball team were getting nude photo after nude photo of boys asking them to have sex with them. It breaks my heart to see this and to see so many parents completely oblivious to what their kids are going through on a DAILY basis".

From the article: "Sexual bullying and harassment are part of daily life for many girls growing up as a part of this digital generation. Young girls are speaking out more and more about how these practices have links with pornography—because it’s directly affecting them." / "If there are still any questions about whether porn has an impact on young people’s sexual attitudes and behaviors, perhaps it’s time to listen to young people themselves. Girls and young women describe boys pressuring them to provide acts inspired by the porn they consume routinely. Girls tell of being expected to put up with things they don’t enjoy."

The article reports that very young girls are under terrible pressure to have sex with boys who view them as only objects.

A few years ago I was absolutely stunned when I heard one of my son's friends, who was about 15 years old, had taken a photo of his penis and sent it to a girl he wanted to date. I couldn't believe it, but I know it was true. Nice boy. Nice family. Educated, decent parents. Totally stunned that he would do something like that.

Not long before that, maybe a year or two before, when my daughter was in high school, she told me something that shocked me. She said that during a power outage one of the boys had wanted her to go in the back of a classroom and have sex there. She refused. She was a pretty girl. I thought the boy must have just been some low-life from a terrible home. I was rather shocked he went to that high school though; we bought the house where we live because we had heard that the high school was one of the best in Atlanta. It was, at one time. I wouldn't say that now, unfortunately.

I had totally forgotten about both of those incidents until I read this article and I realized, this sort of bullying of girls by boys DOES happen here in America, every day, and something needs to be done to remedy it.

I don't know what, though.

I'm not an educator and I don't have kids in the public schools any more.

How things have changed. When I was in 9th grade I remember a whispered conversation on the school bus about a girl that had been in middle school in my class and who became pregnant at 14, and dropped out of school. She wasn't a friend. I have no idea what became of her or the baby. I was totally shocked to hear about the pregnancy, though. I didn't know anyone who was having sex with boys as a 14 or 15 year old. All the girls I knew were too busy with school and sports and church activities.

Then again, we didn't have access to thousands of porn videos.

It's shockingly easy for teens to go on porn websites now and see things that would stun most parents. Parents are seldom aware, I don't think, of the dangers of giving kids access to the internet, unchecked. Or perhaps they simply don't think they can really effectively monitor it. Even if your child has no access to porn on his/her devices at home, it's likely some of their friends have parents who don't care. Short of moving to the middle of nowhere, living off the grid where there is no internet or WiFi access, there's probably little that can be done.

People in my kids' age group [15-25] are generally much more immune to being shocked than I was at those ages. Comedies like We're the Millers or Sisters reference sex acts very casually. Sex is everywhere - in jokes [see Trainwreck] outfits on celebrities, TV comedies, movies, YouTube videos. It's EVERYWHERE. It has to be tough for most teens to avoid it, unless they are homeschooled.

So our teens live in a culture where sex is treated so casually, and then we are surprised when it's taken way too far? We shouldn't be.

Remember recently the outrage expressed over Brock Turner? He was convicted of raping an unconscious woman and was given a 3 month sentence. Read this article: Outrage over 6-month sentence for Brock Turner in Stanford rape case.

Turner is a symptom of a much bigger problem.

How do we protect our girls?

My daughter is grown now, and in a relationship. If I had a 15 year old daughter at home, right now, here's what I would do. First, we would have a long discussion or possibly several discussions about not giving in to boys wanting sex and pressuring her to do it. What most 15 year old girls want is love, a real relationship with someone who care about them as a person, not mechanical sex acts.

Secondly, I would do my best to get her into martial arts classes, so she could defend herself against anyone trying to rape her. I would buy her pepper spray to keep in her purse. I would tell her to stop all contact with any boy who sent her a nude photo.

I would also go to the school and RAISE HELL.

Would any of it do any good? I don't know. All I know is this: every parent in America needs to read Sex Before Kissing and find out what's going on with their child[ren] so they can to re-educate the boys about the dangers of porn, and warn the girls and try to help them avoid doing sexual things they don't want to do.

I honestly don't think there is a "safe place" any more, unfortunately. Really, the only way to reverse these dangerous patterns is for parents to really get involved and monitor their kids closely.  Talk to them about what's okay and what's not. Pay attention to what they say. Get them involved in sports and church activities. Keep them busy. Listen without judgment and then get them the help they need, if you find out they are a victim or a victimizer.

I do not want to imagine what will happen if parents DON'T pay attention and reverse this trend.

Brazil Olympics Disaster

Someone asked me the other day if I was watching the Olympics coverage. I'm not. It got me to thinking, why not? When I was a kid I always watched the Olympics. Summer games, winter games - I was glued to the TV. Of course back then we only had three channels, so very little choice in what to watch.

I've never been a fan of hockey but I remember vividly how I felt watching the 1980 hockey game where team USA won, called The Miracle on Ice. I was very proud of our team and proud to be an American. That was the last hockey game I ever watched. It might have something to do with the fact I graduated from high school that year and started college, and life got really busy then - and has stayed busy. Or not. Being a Southerner, hockey just isn't big here. Even our own Atlanta Thrashers eventually gave up and went to Canada, eh.

However, I'm not here to write about hockey.

So far, the Rio Olympics seem to be disastrous.

That makes me angry and sad.

For months we've been seeing news coverage about the zika virus. Back in June, Time magazine wrote Zika Has People Freaked Out About the Olympics But Experts Aren's Worried. Some athletes decided not to go to the Olympics due to health worries.

I was horrified yesterday to see the video of Scary injury: French gymnast Samir Ait Said snaps his leg on vault on Facebook. Hasn't France had enough issues lately?! Sacre bleu!

What horrifies me most, since swimming is the only competitive sport I've ever attempted [4 years on the neighborhood team anyway] is that some athletes are going to be swimming in RAW SEWAGE. What Happens When There's Sewage in the Water?

That article was from back in March. The issue hasn't gotten better.

According to a British article: Rio 2016: Athletes warned to keep mouths closed when swimming in faeces-infested water "Researchers found that many of the beaches in Rio de Janeiro have been long contaminated with raw sewage, household garbage, and even dead bodies, creating hazardous swimming conditions for the 500,000 people expected to descend on the city in August.

“Foreign athletes will literally be swimming in human crap, and they risk getting sick from all those microorganisms,” Rio paediatrician Dr Daniel Becker told the New York Times. “It’s sad but also worrisome.”

UGH.

How desperate are you to win a medal? Desperate enough to swim in poopy water?!? Bumping dead bodies out of the way? Keeping water out of your mouth while swimming in a race isn't really possible. Lots of splashing goes on. I know this from experience.

My family had a speedboat when I was growing up and I remember my disgust sometimes at the dirty water in Lake Loudoun near Knoxville. However, that was was pristine in comparison to Rio.

I do not understand WHY the Olympics people didn't inspect the water and make the Brazilians clean it up! WTH?! They should move to safe, clean waters, and penalize Brazil for this. It's absolutely disgusting and - far worse - a huge health risk. Dang y'all, get it together.

I do not want to watch our athletes, or any athletes, swim in raw sewage. This is ridiculous.

 

above, at the lake with my dad and cousins, abt. 1977

Making the World Better

So much of what we see on the news every day is so negative. I love seeing stories that are more positive - I look for them. I seek out stories with a sense of fairness and justice. We need more of those stories. We need inspiration.

 

Every night before I go to bed I eat a carton of Chobani yogurt. It tastes great and it's high in protein. Mother often eats it for lunch. We buy about 12 cartons of Chobani a week. I love this story: At Chobani, Now It's Not Just the Yogurt That's Rich.

If you don't want to read the whole thing, here's the main point:

"Hamdi Ulukaya, the Turkish immigrant who founded Chobani in 2005, told workers at the company’s plant here in upstate New York that he would be giving them shares worth up to 10 percent of the company when it goes public or is sold. The goal, he said, is to pass along the wealth they have helped build in the decade since the company started. Chobani is now widely considered to be worth several billion dollars."

The employees who have been at Chobani the longest will get the biggest payouts. Oftentimes when a smaller company is sold the person who founded the company makes out like a bandit, but the workers are left in the dust. Not so for Chobani. 

I've worked for big companies whose CEOs were billionaires, while the people who worked hard to keep the company profitable could barely pay their bills. Is that fair? No. I'm not in favor of socialism or communism - I've seen the results of that firsthand. It doesn't work. However, when the inequality of earnings is so stark and unfair as it is at many big companies here, there needs to be a change of some kind.

It's not only about fairness, though. Doing what's right instead of what's easy often pays off in the long run.

I have a cousin who started working at a small company as a secretary when she got out of high school. The owner of the company recognized her intelligence and promoted her, even though she had not gone to college. Skip ahead 20 years. The owner died and the small company - which was still small but now highly profitable - did something extraordinary. He didn't have children to leave the company to, so he left it to his employees. My cousin, who worked there her entire adult life, kept the company thriving and profitable after the original owner died. She retired not too long ago, very comfortably. That's an example of the kind of thinking we need more of in this country.

I remember seeing a story on TV years ago about a Japanese car company that gave out ownership interests to its employees. Once they became vested owners, they worked harder and were happier, and the company thrived.

 

I also love this story: French supermarkets must now donate all unsold food to charity. France is a country that cares deeply about good food, and I love that about it. Now it's mandatory for grocery stores to not waste food. How cool is that?!

Grocery stores throw away tons of food every day here in the USA, and yet there are thousands of hungry people. That bizarre dichotomy is just disturbing to me. If you want to read the sad facts, check out the website Hunger in America. Many people have "food insecurity" in our country. That's just ridiculous, since grocery stores are throwing out food DAILY.

I watched an episode of one of my favorite shows, Bizarre Foods, and this episode, Dumpster Diving in San Francisco, was fascinating. These two young women get food from dumpsters that's perfectly good, perfectly edible, and "cook it for anyone in need."

Why can't that happen everywhere?!?

The Atlanta Community Food Bank is always in need of donations. Why can't they go to Kroger or Publix and get the food that's being thrown out every day? If I were hungry and had no resources I wouldn't mind eating an overripe banana, or some vegetable soup. Once you throw everything in the soup pot and bring it to a boil for a few minutes you've killed any germs. 

Maybe my feelings are this come from the fact that when my son was small, he often went hungry.

Here's a little story about how that still impacts him today.

I put compost in my garden over the winter, and much to my shock, I am now growing potatoes. I would never have even tried to grow potatoes. Michael and I were outside yesterday and I pointed out the potato plants, which are numerous and thriving, just grown from peelings. "I've picked potatoes before, in Kazakhstan," he said quietly. "When you were with your birthmom?" I asked. "I don't know. I just remember picking them. I don't remember details," he said quietly. It was clearly not a memory he treasured, but rather something sad. I know when he was with his birthmom they were often homeless and hungry. He refuses to eat a banana now unless it's so unripe it's green. She would get bananas from the trash and feed them to him when he was small.

The effects of hunger last a long time, physically and emotionally.

When you walk into an orphanage and look into the faces of kids who aren't fed well, and know that many of them are only there because their parents cannot afford to feed them, it changes you. It gives you an incredible sense of the fragility of life.

 

If you know a similar story to these, drop me a comment and let me know. I really want to spread positive stories, and encourage folks to think about justice and fairness - in employment, in food situations - in everything. My dad used to always said to me "Life isn't fair. Better get used to it."

Well I got used to it, but I still don't like it.

Why can't each of us try, in our own small way, to make the world a better place? Maybe if we do that, it will become a reality. Worth a try, right?!

Here's one way you can help. My friend Stephanie, has adopted 13 kids, all special needs. Her son Nate would love a special therapeutic bike. Nate was severely abused in an orphanage before Stephanie and Warren adopted him. He is nonverbal and has huge challenges. This bike would be such a blessing. Check out their Go Fund Me page and help if you can. Thanks!

Catching Up

I just realized I haven't posted all week, and anyone who knows me might be wondering what I've been up to. Life is very busy of late, but in a good way. So here's a rundown of my recent activities, and a few observations.

I hate shopping in malls and even in big stores like Target, so on Monday I did 95% of my Christmas shopping, online. The packages have already started arriving and I've spent a fair amount of time getting things wrapped and under the tree. This always includes a hunt for all the wrapping paper, tissues, and bows from last year. This year it was also vitally important to get presents under the tree because Lola likes to walk under it.

The tree is right in front of french doors in the family room, and Lola's favorite activity is sitting in front of those doors, looking for people walking down the street that she can bark at. One day I heard her barking and went over and Michael was walking in. Lola was directly under the tree and her tail was wagging furiously - and all I could see was the tail in the tree, threatening some glass ornaments with imminent destruction..

Now, there are enough presents that she is not trying to walk directly under the tree any more. I did leave her a spot where she can still sit in front of the french doors and look out at the street.

Last Monday and Tuesday were mainly spent calling every rental car place on this end of town, trying to find Michael a rental car. Since it was the end of the holiday weekend, most places didn't have any economy cars in and it wasn't until late Tuesday afternoon we found Mike a car. It was at a Hertz place in Buckhead. That's about 15-20 minutes from my house. We got there and got him in the car, then had to fight HORRIBLE traffic to get home. Took me 90+ minutes and I had to stop and use the potty at Target. I've not been working an office job in almost a year so I had forgotten the commute ordeal. It was so awful I came home and wrote a short story about it.

Michael's car is a Kia and it's a color the clerk called "gold." I would characterize it more as "burnt pumpkin."

Michael had finals at school on Monday and Wednesday and I helped him study.

The other big thing I accomplished this week was getting Michael registered for next semester. He is again just taking two classes, but he is also working and I don't want him to feel overwhelmed. He's not keen on college, yet, and I keep praying something will ignite a spark in him and make him WANT to learn. He's taking Intro. to Psychology, which is something he's very interested in, and basic Russian. Hopefully he will enjoy both classes.

He decided last night that it would be fun to basically shave his head. Not just a short buzz, SHAVED. Looks like he just started basic training. I argued against it, but he was determined. Told him he will just wind up wearing a lot of HATS all winter..

A Final Thought...

The shooting in California is a tragedy, but unlike most of the politicians I don't think there are any easy solutions. In general, I am against the idea that more gun control is needed. However, I was disgusted by Republicans Block Two Gun Control Measures. If someone is on a terror watch list, of course they shouldn't be able to legally buy guns. Jeez Louise that's a no-brainer. However, the sad situation in our country is that the solutions to mass shootings aren't easy. We need better mental healthcare. We need to involuntarily commit people without the ACLU going nuts about it. We need to restrict radical Muslims from living here, which is very hard to do. We also need to arm ourselves, because criminals and crazy people don't obey gun laws. It's a complex problem.

 

Dear Mr. Zuckerberg

I was reading that the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, is getting ready to donate a lot of money to charity in the coming years. I'm sure this is going to be interesting to watch. The article says that:

"Mr. Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, said they were forming a new organization, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, to manage the money, through an unusual limited liability corporate structure. “Our initial areas of focus will be personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities,” they wrote."

I know there will be tons of people clamoring for this money.

I have a proposition, though.

There is one simple way to really ensure that the money will truly impact the future, and it's very simple: give all the money to children and mental health.

No child in America should go to bed hungry. No child should get a substandard education. No child should do without adequate mental health services. No child should get pregnant at 13 or 14 and have a baby that's going to live in poverty and do the same thing in 13 or 14 years.

There are thousands of children in the foster care system in the USA and many of them will grow up to populate our prisons. That cycle needs to end.

Every child that wants to go to college should be able to go, regardless of cost. If they cannot do college work they should get remedial help.

Should the government be doing this, instead of private charities? Sure, but the government is too much about power, and it's utterly corrupt.

If we invest in children, who will shape the future, we invest in ourselves. We invest in our descendants. We put human lives ahead of all else, as it should be.

 

So much of the violence in our society stems from people who are mentally ill, and we have closed down most of the mental hospitals in America. We wonder why there are so many shootings. It's not the guns. It's the mental illness. Sane people do not commit mass shootings. We need treatment options. We need places where people can be put away but treated with compassion -- not the horrors of old-time mental hospitals.

How bad is it? According to Mental Health America:

"The numbers are alarming: Over 42 million adults suffer from a mental health problem, with over eight million reporting suicidal thoughts. Over eight million adults suffer from a mental illness and are uninsured, and one out of every three adults with a disability report inability to see a doctor due to costs. Additionally, over six million children suffer from an Emotional, Behavioral, or Developmental (EBD) problem, and more than eight percent of youth have attempted suicide. Young females are twice as likely to attempt suicide as compared to teenage males, and one out of every three families report that their child’s insurance was inadequate."

 

If we can solve these two problems, Mr. Zuckerberg, or at least make significant inroads, there will be a lot less suffering in America and the future will be much brighter. These problems cannot be fixed with a legislative bandaid, though. We need real help for the long-term.

 

Thanksgiving Drama

Well, my brother came in Wednesday afternoon and we had our big meal Wednesday night, because Michael had to work yesterday. I posted this on Facebook yesterday:

The Thompsons had a small but delightful celebration. All the "big" cooking was done last night because that's when we could all be together. Michael had to work all afternoon today and Bruce had to go home this afternoon and be at work tomorrow morning. So last night was the feast -- steaks, scallops, homemade mashed potatoes, squash casserole, roasted onions/carrots, pecan pie, and Apricot Brandy pound cake. YUM.
Today, Bruce and I went to lunch at Hudson Grille when Michael was working and I had the traditional lunch - salad, turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and apple pie. Bruce had a ginormous burger. We both could only eat a fraction of our food, so we walked out with several takeout boxes and there's enough food left over from my lunch to feed Mother and I dinner -- although I may not eat again until Saturday! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

So last night, after dinner, I was in my bathrobe watching TV and I got a call from a friend, LeeAnn, whose daughter is a friend of Michael's. She had seen Michael standing outside his car in front of the mall and he had been in a wreck. LeeAnn and her wonderful husband picked up Michael and his friend and brought them home.

Michael was turning left and another car came out of nowhere and hit him. He got cited because he was turning, though. He was SO upset. Really really upset. The car wasn't that badly damaged but it had to be towed.

I hope the car can be fixed. We don't need all this extra stress right here at the holidays, but I just keep telling myself it could have been worse.

Michael has final exams Monday. It's his last day of class, though.

Let's hope Christmas will be drama free!