Cardinals in the Snow

The bird feeder seems to be particularly attractive to cardinals. They light in the tree in the front yard and take off from there to hit the feeder. They go back and forth. While the male is brighter, I find myself hunting out the females, to be sure they receive their time in the spotlight.

 

It Snowed! Huzzah!

The snow began falling Saturday night and fell into mid afternoon on Sunday. We ended up with about 7 inches on the ground.

Looking northeast on Sunday morning.

Looking straight north on Sunday morning

The backyard.

Husband and his tractor to the rescue!

I think he actually likes playing in the snow.

Looking northwest. I took this shot this morning.

Another shot from this morning. Skies are still grey.

This tall pine used to be a twin; a high wind some years ago knocked over the other one.

 

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. What is your favorite animal and why?

A. I like deer. They are cautious yet curious, and lovely to look at it. The deer is also my spirit/totem animal.

2. Are people animals? What separates humans from animals?

A. I think people are animals, and some are more animal than people. Speech and the opposable thumb are two things that separate us from animals.

3. Which animal is the most dangerous?

A. Poisonous ones, like certain snakes and spiders.

4. What should you do if a bear approaches you?

A. Make yourself as big as you can and slowly back away. Do not turn your back and run. If you can make a lot of noise, that helps, too.

5. Do you like dogs? Why do people call the dog, man’s best friend?

A. I like dogs. I am highly allergic to all animals, but that doesn't mean I don't like them. People call dogs "man's best friend" because dogs are loyal and tend to consider their owners as part of their pack.

6. Do you enjoy going to the zoo? Some people consider zoos to be cruel environments for animals. What do you think?

A. I have not been to a zoo in 40 years. I think zoos have a place in ensuring survival of decimated species, but I am not keen to see animals caged up.

7. Where is the best place to see animals in your country? In the world?

A. In the United States, the best place to see animals would be Yosemite National Park. In the world, I assume on a safari in the Serengeti in Tanzania, Africa.

8. Are you a vegetarian? What makes some people give up eating meat?

A. I am not a vegetarian. I presume people give up meat because they don't like, or maybe for environmental and health reasons.

9. Which animal is most helpful to humans?

A. Since machines now perform most work performed by humans, at least in first world nations, companion animals such as dogs or cats are most helpful. In areas that depend upon animals for various uses, such as agriculture, oxen or horses might be most helpful. If you're drowning in the ocean, a dolphin is good to have around.

10. If you could be any animal (besides human), which animal would you like to be?

A. I would be a bird of some kind.

11. Who would win in a fight between a tiger and a lion?

A. I have no idea.

12. What do you think about hunting animals? Would you like to try it?

A. I think if you're going to eat the animal, it is ok. If you're simply shooting to have a trophy, then shame on you. I hunt animals with a camera, not a gun.

13. Books like “Watership Down” and “Animal Farm” give animals human characteristics like human thoughts or language. Is this how you think animals really are? Or are those really just stories about people?

A. Animals have a broad range of emotions and human-like characteristics. I have observed deer return to the spot where my husband killed a buck, for example, and appear to be searching for the one missing. I have seen squirrels gather around the body of a dead one, not to eat it, but as if saying goodbye. Certain animals mate for life and do not mate again if one dies. I suspect their thought processes are quite different than humans, but perhaps not as "bird brained" as one might think.

14. Some animals are endangered due to illegal poaching. How do you feel about this issue?

A. I think people should stop killing endangered animals.

15. If we can bring an extinct animal from the past back with genetic engineering, should we do it? Which animals should we bring back?

A. I think we should leave well enough alone. I would not bring any of them back, although I admit I would like to see a pterodactyl flying overhead.

_______________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

Saturday 9: Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (1973)

Unfamiliar with this song? Hear it here.

1) Bette Midler sings that the bugle boy wakes up Company B every morning by playing reveille. What awakened you this morning (phone, alarm clock, sunrise, etc.)? Or did you wake up on your own?

A. Alexa wakes me up in the mornings.

2) This single was produced by Bette's arranger/piano player, who went on to have a successful singing career of his own. Do you have a favorite Barry Manilow song?

A. I Write the Songs.

3) Bette was named after Bette Davis. Her sisters, Susan and Judy, were named for Susan Hayward and Judy Garland. So now we know who Mother Midler's favorite actresses were. Who are yours?

A. Meryl Streep, Gal Gadot, Melissa Benoist, Sharon Gless, Tyne Daly, Sandra Bullock, Kate Jackson, Nicole Kidman, et al. and not in that order.

4) Bette has been married since 1984 to artist Martin von Haselberg. She was 39 years old, already a star, and had never married before. Yet within six weeks of meeting him, she was so sure Martin was "the one" that they tied the knot. Have you found that love takes time, or, like Bette, have you fallen in love quickly?

A. I fell in love quickly. My husband and I met in October and I knew by Christmas we would marry, it was just a matter of time.

5) When their daughter Sophie was growing up, it was Martin who taught her to cook. What was the last thing you prepared in your kitchen? Did you use the microwave, stovetop, convection oven, blender, coffee maker . . .?

A. Microwave.

 
6) Bette says that listening and compromise have been the key to their happy marriage but adds, "Compromise is hardest of all." On what have you compromised recently?

A. My husband's retirement.

7) Bette and Martin have a farmhouse in upstate New York. She enjoys feeding the chickens (whom she has jokingly named The Kardashians) and puttering in her garden. Do you have a green thumb?

A. I have been told I do, but I haven't really gardened in a long time.

8) In 1973, the year this song was popular, actor Neil Patrick-Harris was born. He's best known as Barney on How I Met Your Mother, which ran from 2005-2014. Were you a fan?

A. No. I watched it a few times but it seemed rather pointless.

9) Random question -- How often do you put crackers in your soup: Always, often, seldom or never?

A. Often.

______________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

A Dusting of Snow

Thursday morning we woke to a few inches of snow. It was enough to make the roads slightly treacherous but otherwise not a big deal. We are expecting more snow this weekend, however.

 

Thursday Thirteen

Things I fear:

1. Losing my husband.

2. Losing my brother.

3. Losing other people I love.

4. Authoritarianism 

5. The patriarchy

6. Snakes

7. Surgery

8. Losing my eyesight

9. Worsening health

10. Not thinking clearly

11. Mean people

12.  Rats

13. Losing myself

_____________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 692nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Not Everything is Political

The discourse continues to be vulgar and dismaying.

This morning, the first entry on my Facebook feed came from author Nora Roberts decrying the awful comments on a post from yesterday, when she announced that Netflix was making a movie out of one of her books. The movie would star Alyssa Milano.

I don't know who Alyssa Milano is. I've heard the name but until I go look her up here in just a second, I am clueless.

She's 48 years old. I have not watched a single thing she's ever starred in. She comes up as a political activist and apparently has something to do with the "me too" movement in 2017. She campaigned for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and endorsed Joe Biden. Apparently she is therefore a bad person because she's a Democrat.

So, apparently, is Nora Roberts.

This is important, because we have all lost our way. Social media plays a big role in how we relate to one another today - not as human beings, but as blobs behind keyboards. We aren't looking one another in the eye to speak. We're casting about with our personal agonies being thrown against others, who actually have nothing whatsoever to do with whatever one might be feeling. We need to own our feelings and deal with it, internally and alone, not send that out in the world. The world didn't do whatever it is one thinks it did. The world simply is.

I read the comments on the announcement. It is the same stuff I see elsewhere on TV station news, the local papers, etc. "Libtards are bad and I will never watch this movie." Name calling from adults is so 2016. Isn't it time to grow up, at least a little?

Neither Nora Roberts nor Alyssa Milano knows the majority of the world, and have done nothing to engender such acrimony. If you disagree with either or both of them, keep it to yourself. That is what we used to do. You know, back when people actually spoke to one another.

I will let Ms. Roberts speak for herself here:

I’ve read many of the comments on Laura’s announcement of the Brazen Virtue adaption for Netflix, starring Allysa Milano. And I’m simply and sincerely appalled.

The vitriol, the hatred, the anger, the bitterness and the demands are astounding to me. 

. . . I keep politics off my pages. That’s my choice. Now many readers have dragged their own onto this page, so I’m going to state, for the record. I’m a liberal Democrat. always have been, always will be. And as one, I’ve always believed everyone has a right to their political beliefs, and has a right to express their opinions. But I don’t have to tolerate insults and ugliness on my page. 

For those who want to claim Freedom of Speech—look it up. This FB page isn’t the government. Some have comments on here using ‘liberal’ as a slur, an insult, equating it with communism. Others have used outright slurs against an actress, while claiming she should keep her opinions to herself. (No doubt those same people would be quick to assert their own First Amendment rights.)

Some will never read me again because Milano will headline this adaption. One reader stated she intended to BURN all my books in her collection for this choice of actress.

. . .

Over this past long, hard year, we’ve lost over 400,000 friends, loved ones, neighbors to COVID. We’ve been isolated from each other, and I for one yearn for the company of my pals again. I wonder, truly, why this grief, this hardship hasn’t taught so many of us we need each other. Instead, as illustrated by that comment section, it’s hardened far too many into an us and them mentality.

The viciousness I read in too many comments below hurts my heart. And realizing because I’m a liberal Democrat, many of those comments are directed at me for that reason alone is a real eye-opener.

Watch the movie when it comes out, or don’t. But lobbing nastiness at an actress or threatening me doesn’t do anything but illustrate your own limitations.

You go, Ms. Roberts.

 

Vultures

 

Beau of the Fifth Column

I have been watching this fellow on youtube who looks like he comes from the farm here in my county.

However, he is well-spoken, apparently educated, and well-followed, given the hundreds of thousands of views his videos receive.

He recently did one that cited #45 accomplishments. Twelve accomplishments and two negatives, because, as he said, it was his video.

So for my #45 supporting readers, if there are any left, here you go. It's six minutes or so. Watch to the end.

 

Here's the link he lists on his video.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Which is more romantic: an expensive, glittering bouquet OR flowers that were hand picked as they grew beside the parkway?

A. I'm allergic to either one, so neither. I'm happy with a smooch.

2. Do you know yourself well enough to understand why you feel the way you do?

A. After years of therapy, I'd better know that.

3. Which do you do more often: let movies, songs and books put your feelings into words for you or put your feelings into words by yourself?

A. I do both.

4. Do you believe celebrities when they are endorsing a product?

A. No.

5. What kind of movies do you wish were made more often?

A. Movies with strong female leads. Not necessarily fantasies, like Wonder Woman, but other movies. For instance, why couldn't Pretty Woman be done again with the roles reversed?

6. Does fashion matter to you?

A. No. It never has.

7. Should politicians be held to the same legal standards as everyone else?

A. Yes. Everyone should be held to the same legal standards regardless of wealth, color, gender, etc.

8. If you became president, whom would you invite to sing at your inauguration?

A. Melissa Etheridge, Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen, and Dolly Parton.

9. Do you try to write/say what you are feeling in a true and simple way?

A. I didn't know there was any other way to write it.

 

10. What is your worst daily habit?

A. I sniff. I have constant sinus drainage. (It used to be biting my nails but I have (mostly) stopped this with the pandemic. I tried for 50 years to break that happen and it took a pandemic to do it.)

11. If you had your choice which one TV show would you have canceled?

A. None of them. Just because I don't like them, doesn't mean others wouldn't. Although on second thought, maybe Fox & Friends should go off the air.

12. Do you like the taste of sweet or salt?

A. I like them both.

13. Are you very precise about what words you use to describe your feelings and thoughts?

A. I try to be.

14. What do you feel the most guilty about?

A. Not having a job.

15. Do you meditate?

A. I try to meditate. I do not do it very well.

_______________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them. (#370)

Saturday 9: Why Did I Choose You?

Saturday 9: Why Did I Choose You? (1965)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Barbra Streisand reassures her lover that, if she had it all to do again, she would still choose him. Tell us about a decision you've made that you never, ever regretted.

A. I have never regretted marrying my husband. He is a good, strong, kind, loyal, wonderful man.

2) The music was composed by Michael Leonard, who studied classical music at Julliard and the Handel Conservatory of Music in Munich. Do you often listen to classical music?

A. Sometimes. I wouldn't call it often. I do listen to the music from the Lord of the Rings movies a lot. It is kind of classical sounding. Here's a nice guitar version of some of it:

3) The lyrics were written by Herbert Martin. He taught music in the NYC public school system and during the summer worked in summer stock. That's how he met and began collaborating with Michael Leonard. Tell us how you met someone important in your life.

A. I met my husband many times only we didn't know it. We rode the school bus together for several years, but he was four years older than I, so he ignored me totally, and I thought he was not nice. Then, my father set a field on fire, and my husband, at the time a volunteer firefighter, came to put the fire out. I was down there all sweaty and dirty from trying to beat back the flames and keep them out of the forest; that was the summer I was 19. Then a few months later, in October 1982, we were properly introduced underneath the goal posts at the intra-county rivalry football game. He didn't say much so I stood there asking questions about football even though I'd been in high school band and thus attended numerous football games and understood the game very well. He asked me out for the next night and I had to turn him down because I had plans with my parents. After the football game was over, we met again at Mike's Market, where everyone went to get a soda, and he asked me out then and there, and we went dancing.

4) Ms. Streisand was a very good student, graduating fourth in her class at Erasmus Hall High School when she was only 16. One of Barbra's classmates was Neil Diamond. Do you have a favorite Neil Diamond song?

A. Play Me.

5) While she didn't go on to college, she continued her education by attending two different acting schools simultaneously. Did you enjoy being a student?

A. I loved being a student. I will still be a student if I could.

6) Barbra and her first husband, Elliott Gould, shared a New York apartment over a 5th Avenue restaurant called Oscar's Salt of the Sea. Elliott originated the role of Trapper John in the movie M*A*S*H. On TV, the role of Trapper was played by Wayne Rogers. Can you think of another role that's been played by more than one actor?

A. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was played by Kristy Swanson in the movie, and by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the TV series.

7) Oscar's Salt of the Sea has ties to Sesame Street. Jim Henson loved their food and was amused by how inhospitable the owner, Oscar, could be. That's how Oscar the Grouch got his name. Which is your favorite Muppet?

A. The chef.

8) Back to Barbra . . . She is a successful recording artist (nominated for 45 Grammy awards, winning 8) and an Oscar-winning actress, but she's suffered career disappointments, too. In 2010, she read the book Hidden Figures and tried to buy the rights so she could direct the film version. She lost out to fellow Brooklynite, director Theodore Melfi. In 2016, his movie of Hidden Figures was released. Did you see the movie or read the book?

A. I have not done either. It's on my to-do list.

9) Random question: Your best friend takes up painting and proudly presents her first framed work to you. You think it's atrocious. Would you hang it in your home anyway?

A. I would hang it for a while.

______________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Cardinals

 

Thursday Thirteen

President Biden wasted no time in setting about to undo the last president's edicts as quickly as possible. I do not agree with executive orders from either side, as I don't think that's a power the president should have. Rule by edict is not how our system was set up, but it how it has evolved over the last 40 years. 

It needs to be fixed by the legislative branch. Laws, orders, and monetary spending needs to be created and overseen by the legislature. Not the executive branch.

Things being what they are, I can only watch. Here are some things that happened on Biden's first day:

1. He asked Michael Pack, the acting head of Voice of America, to resign, and he did. Pack immediately turned what was a non-partisan news outlet for the soldiers overseas into a propaganda tool for the 45th president. He was also accused of channeling $4 million in charitable contributions into his own production company. He was only in the office for 8 months.

2. Federal officials last night unleashed tear gas against rioters in Portland, Oregon, where protesters smashed in windows of the Democratic headquarters there and declared Biden could not save them or make the changes they required. The New York Times called these people antifascists and radical justice protestors.

3. One of Biden's executive orders appointed Jeffry D. Zients as the official Covid-19 response coordinator. Additionally, he reinstalled the National Security Council, a group the last president disbanded.

4. He signed another executive order requiring masks on federal property. This is not a national mask mandate. He implemented a "100 days masking challenge." This asks all American to wear masks and urges state and local officials to work to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

5. He reinstated the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that protects immigrants brought here as children from deportation. The order calls for Congress to provide a path to citizenship for these immigrants.

6. He revoked the last administration's plan to exclude noncitizens from the census count.

7. He ended the "Muslim ban," which had blocked travel to the U.S. from predominately Muslim and African countries.

8. He halted construction of the border wall with Mexico, immediately terminating the 45th president's national emergency declaration that allowed for the use of billions of dollars of redirected funds, not appropriated by Congress, to build the wall. 

9. The United States will again become part of the Paris Accord, which address climate change. Additionally, he revoked the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, reversed decisions that had slashed the size of several national monuments, and re-established a committee on the social costs of greenhouse gases.

10. He ended the 1776 Commission (the page was removed from whitehouse.gov within hours of Biden's swearing in), which historians decried as a distortion of the role of enslaved people in the United States. The report allegedly was a white-washed fairy-tale version of American history. I did not see it personally but by most accounts it was a white supremacists' rewriting of history. It was only released two days ago so I don't think many people saw it.

11. Biden extended a federal moratorium on evictions and asked other agencies, such as Housing and Urban Development Departments, to prolong a moratorium on foreclosures on federally guaranteed mortgages. The extensions run through the end of March.

12. Another executive order reinforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, requiring that the the federal government not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, reversing policies put in place by the last administration.

13. He established ethic rules for those who serve in his administration. He ordered all of his appointees in the executive branch to sign an ethics pledge. Additionally, he ordered a freeze on all new regulations put in motion by the last administration in order to give his administration time to evaluate them.

You can read about all of these orders, and others, at the New York Times link.

I have no quarrel with any of these actions. I am particularly glad that Mr. Pack is no longer in charge of Voice of America. As for many of these other actions, I would have preferred a legislative solution, not an executive one, but things being what they are, I understand why these executive orders were issued and Biden is using that particular power. He is following the precedent set by previous presidents, including and especially the last one.

This is what happens when the legislative branch collapses, which it essentially did under President Obama because Senator Mitch McConnell refused to move legislation forward under that administration.

Additionally, I (a) have no clue what is going on in Portland and (b) consider all of this to create, at the least, a distrust of the United States from within and without.

If we are going to pivot every time we change presidents because of these executive orders, then we are not a country any nation can securely do business with. Such strident policy changes make planning difficult, even for folks like me. If the rules change every four years, that is an undue burden on the populace, especially the business sector. 

As a personal example, I have heard for most of my life that Social Security won't be available by the time I am of age to take it. I hope it will be, but it's not money I can count on in my senior years, even if I did work all of my life and pay into the system. 

A country needs stability of leadership, and that should be coming from the legislative branch, and not from executive orders that, as we have seen over the last four years, can undo 50 years of regulations at the stroke of a pen.

_____________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 691st time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

A New Year Now

I feel like a child who has watched the abusing parent being hauled away in a helicopter. After four years of bullying tirades and threats, today's inauguration of a new president was a welcome relief.

It was also a day of many firsts as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayer swore in Kamala Harris as Vice President of the United States.

Harris greets well-wishes after her swearing in ceremony.

After watching men reign supreme for my entire life, finally, a woman represents half of the country in a national office.

Finally.

Only 400 years after the country was founded.

Only 100 years after we obtained the right to vote.

Only four years after a woman ran for the office of president on a major ticket, and lost.

I'm fairly sure the men in my life have no idea what this means to me. My husband has an idea, but I suspect others are clueless. They have always seen themselves reflected back at them; I have not.

No woman ever has. Not in a national elected office.

Oh yes, we have made strides. But now we've made a huge leap.

***

This morning was fraught with fear for me. I would have preferred a more secure area for the ceremony. Inside somewhere. I feared for the life of everyone who was sitting on that balcony. I expected to see a bomb detonate on live TV. I held my breath as I watched, wishing them to hurry it along even as I applauded the bravado, the steadfastness, and the willingness to show to this country and the nation that we will not succumb to those who would deny the U.S. Constitution and its promises.

When Kamala Harris took her oath of office, I teared up. I couldn't help it. I didn't join in with other women who are wearing pearls and Chuck sneakers today, but I didn't need the trappings to admire and be mindful of this historic moment.

When U.S. Supreme Court John Roberts swore in Joseph R. Biden as president of these United States, he actually grinned. A real, honest and from the heart smile. Even my husband commented on it.

I don't think either of us had ever seen him smile before. At least, not enough to note it.

There was little spectacle in this inauguration. Lady Gaga came out in an expected outfit, large physical-distancing skirt trailing around her, a golden dove of peace flying above her bosom. She sang a lovely rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.

Garth Brooks later sang Amazing Grace, asking at the end for everyone to sing with him. He left the podium and enthusiastically hugged everyone within reach. (I was glad to hear commentators note that everyone out there had been tested at least twice for coronavirus in the last 72 hours.)

The National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, read an amazing poem. She did a great job. Her cadence reminded me of my college professor, Jeanne Larsen, and how she reads her poetry, stressing certain syllables and lines. 

Gorman's poem was called The Hill We Climb.

Here are a few lines:

We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it,

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.

And this effort very nearly succeeded.

But while democracy can be periodically delayed,

It can never be permanently defeated.

It was nice to have poetry back in D.C.

I am not naïve enough to think that this is the end of things. It is simply a different beginning. I do not want to go back to the normal of four years ago - that normal wasn't working. I want to move forward, into a brighter and better future.

Find our better angels, as our new president said.

They are out there, somewhere. All we have to do is look around.

Now, I can breathe.

Caught In the Middle

My word for 2021 is this:

Moderate.

As in, moderation in all things. Eating, drinking, talking, watching TV, playing video games, whatever.

Moderate.

As in, not a Republican (I'm too far left for them), and not a Democrat (I am too far right for them).

I'm a moderate.

Stuck in the middle. My former editor once told me I was what the Republicans used to be, back in the early 1970s.

What are the things I value, then, if I don't fit into any nice square box?

Authenticity
Balance
Compassion
Citizenship (that means different things to people, but to me it means pay my taxes, vote, serve on a public committee or in a non-profit, volunteer to help. I've done all of those things.)
Contributing
Creativity
Fairness
Honesty
Justice (not revenge)
Kindness
Knowledge
Learning
Love
Peace
Respect
Responsibility
Spirituality
Stability
Wisdom

Some people might look at that list and say, Oh my, those are all liberal values. Somebody else might look at it and say, those are conservative values. Somebody else might look at it and say, shouldn't everybody value that stuff? I don't know. There are other things I value too, like peace of mind and feeling secure.

Why am I too far to the right for the left? 

• I agree with gun control (everybody does, if you ask the appropriate question. If you ask nearly anybody if someone who has proven to be mentally ill and dangerous to society should have a gun, the answer is no. That's gun control.) but not to the point of taking away guns. I have no problems with requiring training, insurance, purchase limits, background checks, or what kind of weapon you own (those are already in place, I can't go out and legally buy a rocket launcher). We live on a farm. We have varmints. Sometimes one must shoot a varmint.
• 
  
• I also don't agree with total student loan forgiveness. The program needs to be revamped and modified. The loans should have flexible interest rates, not the high percentages currently on a lot of them. People should be able to refinance them like they would a house loan, say. But not forgiven. There are many ways to get a college education if you want one, and since we don't have free universities here in our little capitalistic love-land, then people need to find ways to pay for it. For example, I took eight years to get my bachelors (10 if you count the time I was at community college), and it was completely paid for when I graduated. I did not use student loans; we took out a home equity loan to pay for my last year so I could push things along and finish before I turned 30.

Why am I too far left for the right?

• Social safety nets are necessary (so that knocks me off the side of the right) but we need larger government oversight so that the participants meet criteria (that is not the neoliberal way, either). That means we need more social workers or client engagers or whatever you want to call them, instead of having 3,000 people looked after by one single person. It should be like 100 to one or whatever a person could adequately handle in a 40-hour workweek without being stressed. This includes programs like SNAP, unemployment, TANF, etc. I'd throw Medicare, Medicaid, and disabilities into this, too. With appropriate oversight, then the people who really need the money would get it, and the ones who do not need the money, or are receiving the funds when they shouldn't be, (like a dead granny's Social Security check) would be weeded out.
• 
  
• Of course, to ensure a single mother can do a job, we need to provide childcare, which we do not do well in this country. I would be amenable to government-provided childcare for those who need it. (I don't know of any party is offering this up.)
• 
  
• Some people simply can't do what is required of them in a job, for whatever reasons. Human beings are not robots, and they're not all alike. Some people have health problems, some people are mentally deficient, some people can't deal with stress. These people can contribute in some way, but there again, oversight or a program to help these folks along is necessary, and that requires bigger government. Not the starved beast we're currently watching thrash about in the throes of death in the moat. A government whose focus is on the welfare of its people, as it states in the U.S. Constitution.
• 
  
• I am pro-life and pro-abortion. (Yes, you can be both.)
• 
  
• I don't care if you have an alternative lifestyle, because I believe what other people do only becomes my business when it affects me as well. As in, wear a mask because you might have covid and if you gave it to me, I would die, but I don't care who you sleep with so long as it isn't me.
• 
  
• I believe in climate change, but I don't care what is causing it because I think making the air and water cleaner is a good idea even if it doesn't affect the climate. Who wants to breathe in all that toxic crap spewing out of these industries? Not me. I'm all for regulating that.

Those are some of the hot button topics. Generally speaking, we all want the same things. The disagreement is over how to go about it.

Time we find some common ground.

MODERATE is a good word for 2021.

Once Upon A Time in La La Land

Recently we watched two movies, La La Land, and Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood.

I heard rave reviews about both.

I disliked both movies. My husband didn't like them either. There was nothing of substance in either one.  We kept looking at each other and then asking, "What are we missing?"

Sometimes the question was, "Do you have any idea what is going on in this movie?"

Movies are not of great interest to me, so I do not consider myself a movie critic. But honestly, shouldn't there be a plot? Character development? A message? Something to make me not want back the 2.75 hours I spent watching the show?

Sometimes I see a bad movie or read a bad book, and wonder what on earth were they thinking?

Beats me.

If you liked these movies and care to explain why, have at it. I'm always up for learning something.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

A - Annoyance: "This is your second call about your vehicle warranty."

B - Bestest Friend[s]: My husband, my brother, and I have three women friends with whom I am close.

C - Car: I have always liked the looks of a Toyota Avalon.

D - Day or night: Day, now. When I was younger, night.

E- Easiest person to talk to?: My friend Mama T.

F - Favorite Month: June.

G - Gummy Bears or Worms: I don't eat gummy anything.

H - Hair Color: Brown with lots of soft white grey in it. That's my hair color, if that's what this is asking.

I - Ice Cream: I don't eat ice cream.

J - Jewelry: My wedding band.

K - Kindergarten: All I remember about it was that the boys always hogged the truck toys.

L - Longest Car Ride: In 1976, my parents drove my brother and me, along with my grandmother and my two youngest uncles, from Virginia to California and back.

M - Most missed person: My grandmother.

N - Number of Siblings: One. I have a fabulously wonderful brother whom I love dearly.

O - One regret: Not taking better care of my health.

P- Part of your appearance you like least?: My feet.

Q- Quote: Love is never wrong. - Melissa Etheridge.

R - Reality TV Show: Deadliest Catch

S - Shoe: Sneakers.

T - Time you woke up: about 7:15 a.m.

U - Unpredictable?: Sometimes.

V - Vegetable you hate: I don't like coconut, but I don't know if it is a vegetable. Siri says it is a vegetable.

W- Worst Habits: Overthinking and overeating.

X - X-Rays: I've had plenty.

Y - Year you were born: Long time ago.

Z - Zoom: I have never zoomed. I used Facetime at Christmas. Does that count?

Saturday 9: Thank U, Next

Saturday 9: Thank U, Next (2018)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Ariana Grande thanks her former boyfriends for what they taught her about love, life, patience and pain. Do you believe you have learned more from your successes, or your mistakes?

A. Probably my successes. I'm one of those people who doesn't do things I don't do well. That's not a good thing, by the way. It is limiting. However, I cannot handle stress and when I don't do something well, it stresses me. So I try something. It seems ok. The result is promising. Then I see if I can make it better, because the bottom wasn't bad. (This is why I don't knit. I tried it. I made a couple of scarves. Even I could see that I am not good at that sort of thing.)

 

2) One of the young men mentioned in the song is Pete Davidson, a cast member of Saturday Night Live. SNL has been on for more than 45 years now. Who is your all-time favorite cast member?

A. I seldom watched Saturday Night Live. Wasn't there a Mr. Bill on there? I'll go with Mr. Bill. Alec Baldwin did a great #45 in the past four years in the clips I watched on youtube, but I don't think he is a cast member.

 

3) Thinking of funny people . . . As you can see from the video, Ariana performed "Thank U, Next" on Ellen DeGeneres' talk show. Ellen makes people laugh every afternoon. Who in your life can you always count on to make you laugh or smile?

A. My husband can usually coax a smile out of me.

 

4) It looks like Ariana Grande's personal romantic saga will have a happy ending because at Christmastime, she announced her engagement. Do you know anyone who is getting married in 2021?

A. I know two people who are getting married but I don't know the dates of their weddings. So I am not sure. I just know "she said yes."

5) Ariana loves Harry Potter and named her dogs Snape, Lily and Sirius Black after characters in the J.K. Rowling books. Are you a Harry Potter fan?

A. Yes. I have read all of the books. I liked the movies, too.

6) She loves board games, especially Monopoly. Sam isn't crazy about Monopoly because it takes so long. How about you? Are you a Monopoly fan?

A. I haven't played Monopoly in a long time. It is okay.

 

7) In 2018, the year this song was released, Toys R Us closed all its stores and went out of business. Who received the last toy you purchased? What was it?

A. My great-niece received a purple cow for Christmas.

8) Also in 2018, Aretha Franklin died. What's your favorite Aretha song?

A. R E S P E C T

9) Random question: Are you more likely to shed a tear at a wedding or during a movie?

A. I cry over the ending of The Lord of the Rings trilogy every time I see it (which is at least 20+ times), but I have been to weddings and not cried. So I guess I am more likely to cry during a movie.

______________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Unnamed Song

 

This is a song I wrote. I've been working on the guitar part for a bit; the words came this past week after January 6.

I am not happy with it, but I thought it might be interesting to somebody to see the work in progress. I suspect I will have to put it aside awhile and rethink it, when I am not so stressed. I do not consider this to be finished, or even good.

Here are the words because my singing is not the best in this recording. The chords for the words are on top; the guitar part is much more complicated than two chords, that is just to keep me on track. "Guitar Bridge" means that little bit of guitar part I play in between the verses.

Unnamed Song - by Anita Firebaugh

Am

You tell me that you need war

D

I don't know what you want it for.

Am

You tell me that you see red

D

All I see are thousands dead.

Guitar Bridge

Am

You crossed a line that you can't see

D

You're taking away my right to breathe

Am

You believe you have the might

D

I know that it don't make right.

Guitar Bridge

Am

We all know there's a great divide

D

How many tears must the victims cry?

Am

You have all the things you need

D

And now you're stealing liberty

Guitar Bridge

Am                  G

And there are no words . . .  (repeat)

Am

To stop this now