Tag: politics

Baby


If you remember the calendar I shared here on October 8 that I decided to repurpose, I just colored the first pen and ink print from it. The cover.


I kind of love him.

The original is a print of a pen and ink. I colored in with pencils.

Sorry to duplicate an Instagram post here, but like most everyone else in the USA, I’m a bit distracted and anxious.

Tarnish

There’s an edit at the end of this post.

Tonight I actually DID watch something on TV, The Way I See It. It’s a documentary about the work of Pete Souza, former Chief Official White House Photographer for U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama (also he was a former director of the White House Photography Office).

It was so good. I knew I was in trouble when I began crying over photographs taken during the Reagan years. No way would I have made it dry-eyed through the Obama years. So while I watched, I polished some of our silver plate items. I think it’s pretty obvious which are polished and which are not.

There are also more tarnished pieces than are shown here, but hopefully I’ll finish the project this weekend. They can’t go back into the cases in the small dining area until I also remove and wash everything else in there and clean the dust off the shelves. Ugh. Does anyone enjoy dusting?

Meanwhile, I’m working on a short story and the third of my four-novel set. All this activity is a manifestation of pandemic and election season stress. May my writing be like the pile on the left and not the pile on the right. =)

ETA on 10/18: Not perfect, but better. My advice is don’t wait two to three years between polishing.

Button Sunday


I am so tired of the daily effort to hijack and suppress every shocking news cycle with something more startling, more distracting, more of everything disgusting and disturbing. I don’t forget any of what’s being done with all this smoke, mirrors, hocus pocus, whatever we call the politics of diversion and division. I hope other people won’t.

I’ve never looked more forward to voting in my life.

Thanks for the button.

Character

Earlier in September, I posted about a book I bought. I realized that it was damaged and had to be returned. Yesterday when I went to get my flu shot, I found a good copy. I’m showing it here with two of my FCTRY action figures.

David Lienemann was the White House photographer for Joe Biden during the Obama-Biden administration. I became aware of him through Pete Souza, who was Barack Obama’s WH photographer and who I’ve mentioned on this blog several times. I followed Souza’s work throughout his entire eight years on the WH Flickr account, and I continue to follow him on his Instagram account. His pictures remain powerful, moving, inspirational, and comforting to me. I’m interested in knowing Lienemann’s work better.

This year has been a time of deep reflection, as well as a time of growth. I’ve let go of some things and focused more on what matters to me. I sometimes review my personal history to better understand the people who, and experiences that, shaped me.

In relationships, I could provide an entire list of things I reject when they’re said to me, about me. I don’t like to be defined by others who think they know me when they don’t really know me, and when they come up with labels for me that I know are inaccurate. Some annoy me; some amuse me; some hurt me. I’ve lived a thoroughly examined life. I know who I am, and no one better knows my strengths, flaws, abilities (or lack), and vulnerabilities than I. I’m my toughest critic, and sometimes I need to be my most enthusiastic cheerleader. In my defense, I do hear what is said and consider it before I reject it. I can also learn new things about myself. A few years back, Jim (my writing partner) made a statement about me that was startling, but I acknowledged the truth of it. It gave me a deeper understanding of myself.

The good news for you is: I never imagine I know you better than you know YOUR self. That doesn’t mean I don’t sometimes struggle to unlock the code of a person who confuses me. That’s kept me awake many nights of my life.

Some things that once would have sent me careening downward emotionally I can shrug off now. Words still have the power to hurt me and incite me, but I find it easier to shift my focus to the words that inspire, enlighten, or comfort me. I recognize my finite amount of time and energy left on this planet. I make choices to use those as I believe best.

I’m no stranger to skepticism, but I’m still the enemy of cynicism. I choose hope. I choose optimism. I choose, as I have always said, to act on the side of compassion. When I see a lack of compassion in others, from people I know to people I will never know, I quietly recognize it, acknowledge it, and try hard not to give it power over me. I don’t have the time or energy to debate. I no longer have the inclination to try to teach or enlighten. There are better, wiser sources for enlightenment than I will ever be. If I’m goaded into speaking when I don’t want to, it rarely goes well. I still listen. That’s built into my DNA as someone who likes people and their stories and also as a writer.

If my right actions in life are not enough for you to know my character, then nothing I can say will inform you anyway. If my wrong actions are hurtful, and I know about them and apologize–and I have no problem saying these words: “I am/was wrong.” “I am sorry.”–and maybe you can forgive, though you can’t forget and let it go, but you also can’t let me go, I understand. I think you, too, may act on the side of compassion. I think you, too, may have come to the conclusion that the things that divide us are not as powerful as the things that unite us.

I cry a lot more than I used to. I try to accept that as a sign that I care. That I’m still engaged. That I’m not dead inside.

We make choices. Sometimes I share mine. Sometimes I don’t. I can say without hesitation that my choice to vote for Joe Biden is one I’m not reluctant to share. That choice has been determined by his character and his actions, which I’ve examined for many years, not just in election years.

I never think any public figure–politician, celebrity, personage in any number of fields–is flawless. We all make mistakes. We all fail and falter sometimes. What do we learn from that? How do we grow? How do we strive to rise to the best in ourselves? How do we treat others? All those things figure in to how I measure a human.

I also take into consideration how a person makes me feel. If I feel torn down, emotionally damaged, sad, defeated, or hopeless because of someone, I will not trust that person’s character.

A lot of words. Not particularly organized. Just some honesty off the top of my head prompted by this information I found when researching a writing project.

There Are None So Blind As Those Who Will Not See:

According to the ‘Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings’ this proverb has been traced back to 1546 (John Heywood), and resembles the Biblical verse Jeremiah 5:21 (‘Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not’). In 1738 it was used by Jonathan Swift in his ‘Polite Conversation’ and is first attested in the United States in the 1713 ‘Works of Thomas Chalkley’. The full saying is: ‘There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know’.

Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings” by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).

I mourn


Went through several lists to find changes based on cases Ruth Bader Ginsburg researched or argued while an attorney. I can definitely say I personally experienced some of the rights women were denied before the laws changed.

  • The right to sign a mortgage without a man
  • The right to have a bank account without a male co-signer
  • The right to have a job without being discriminated against based on gender
  • The right for women to be pregnant/have kids and work
  • The right to not be abused or killed by your husband
  • The right for women to be lawyers and lawmakers
  • The right to a pension equal to male counterparts
  • The right for men to receive widowers’ Social Security benefits
  • The right for a woman to put her husband on her health insurance if the employer covered male workers’ wives
  • The right for women to have business loans and mortgages without male co-signers
  • The right not to be denied admission to schools based on gender
  • The right for women to have equal pay to perform the same job as a man
  • The right for men as well as women to have FMLA leave as needed

Her life was an inspiration. Her memory is a blessing.

Mood: Monday


I think every Monday I should steal borrow someone’s photo from the Internet and give it this caption.

Came back to add the below thread, because damn. This is roughly what my brain yells daily.

‘For years during Obama/Biden, you Trumpers claimed “AMERICA!” like you were cowboys or had stormed the beach at Normandy. You screamed that Obama, the constitutional law attorney, was violating the constitution. You claimed to be patriots, constantly. You bitched about…

‘Executive orders, Benghazi where four Americans died in a terrorist attack but then mocked a president who shed tears after 22 little kids died at Sandy Hook. You called these kids parents “crisis actors” while they grieved for their children. When 600 were shot in Vegas…

’58 killed, you just pounded out excuses why we need MORE GUNS! Our country is about freedom of religion, yet You wanted to ban Muslims. You hold up the flag like it’s a deity, but wear it as a shirt, or size 48 cargo shorts so your armpit sweat and ball-cheese desecrate it…

‘We are all watching the unraveling of this wild experiment, America. Trump has cheated, lied, stolen, does it daily. He’s gotten people killed, pulling the troops out of Syria got Kurds, our allies slaughtered. The Russian army has a base WE BUILT. You don’t care. From day one..

‘..with that crazy ass Edgar Allen Poe inaugural speech, to lying about the crowd size. He’s lied 22000 times, your leader. He’s lied about the wall, taxes, infrastructure, job numbers, Epstein, Cohen, Parness, so many have come forward and told you who this failure really is…

‘You shrug it off, he’s killed our free press, at least to you. You think you’re “American?” Seriously? The same people you believed about Obama/Biden, Nixon, whenever they fukd up, you call “fake news.” About a 7 time bankrupt multiple business failure who paid off a pornstar

‘he raw dogged while his illegal immigrant wife was raising their newborn. You claim to follow Christ?! He was sued for raping a 13 year old. Case got dropped 16 days before the election. Wonder what that check looked like. Russian Bounties on our troops, you still have his back..

‘You think you’re Patriots? You make me gag. 200 thousand of your countrymen are dead because he wouldn’t do anything, and Dr. Fauci, a man that was instrumental in stopping AIDS, gets death threats for telling the truth. You pick a man WHO CANT READ, over a genius virologist. Wow.

‘You like him because as many of you say “he’s like me!” Is he? A man who was handed 400 million dollars when daddy died? That sound like you? He’s like you in some ways, he’s not smart, he’s out of shape, he doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself. Like you. That’s not US…

‘at all. The greatest generation worked together to beat Germany, and Japan and all who tried to roll over and kill democracy and freedom. We were liberators of concentration camps, now we have concentration camps. And you are fine with it, obedient cult members. With nothing to

‘…show WHY you believe in him. WHY you’re okay with his racism, misogyny, lying, incompetence and destroying an economy that Obama and Biden built back after W’s and Cheney’s destruction of it. No evidence, unless you own stock in coffins and eviction notices. You give reasons…

‘…why it’s okay for our black brothers and sisters to be shot by some asshole teenager wilding with a AR-15. You back him up while a man gets shot seven times. in front of his three kids. “HE HAD A KNIFE!” Bullshit. Or a woman, a nurse, just sleeping, cops bust in, kill her…

‘…against everything this country stands for. It’s unbelievable, unconscionable, unGodly and like you Trump supporters, UnAmerican.
You’re okay with him breaking the post office, filling his pockets with your tax dollars, saying he’d date his daughter. Cuz U wanna date yours?

‘His buddies have been convicted of felonies, he pardons them, you paid for the trial, you paid the cops, the investigators, the judges, and he let em go. Our rule of law, just a history lesson. You’re not American, you don’t give a fuck about America. You’re ready to go into the

‘…street and shoot, pepper spray and run over your countrymen, people who are protesting injustice FOR THIS ASSHOLE? A man that let 200k die, wants you to inject disinfectant and thinks that because he can remember Person Woman Man Camera TV. He’s a genius. Do me a favor because

‘I love this country, what it stands for, the free speech it affords, the opportunity it presents, the freedom it provides, I’ve only done well because of the promise that is America. You say you’re Americans, but you just live here. You don’t cherish it, you sold out cheap

‘to a bankrupt used car salesman who smiles and says “you’re getting the best deal” but the car breaks down on the ride home. Call yourselves what you like, Trumpers, Magats, Deplorables. I don’t give a shit but NEVER call yourselves “AMERICANS” you don’t know what the word means.’

Christopher Titus

Mood: Monday


Near sunset recently: That’s a POW-MIA flag flying beneath the American flag at a Houston post office.

Never say to me that you support the troops or the military or veterans if you are not screaming at your representatives right now to stop the administration’s attack on the USPS so they can commit voter suppression.

  • Do you know how many veterans work for the USPS and depend on that income while hours and jobs are being slashed?
  • Do you know how many veterans count on the US mail to get the prescriptions that save their lives and keep them healthy or treat the PTSD they got serving this country?
  • Do you know how many people, civic groups, churches, and other organizations use the US mail to help families and supporters communicate with those currently serving in the military?

Go ahead and be blindly loyal or believe the lies or pretend it’s not real. Your choice. But never do that and say to me that you support our troops or our vets. That makes you a liar, too.