Category Archives: News

Beautiful Blogger Award Nomination

Fellow blogger Le Artiste Boots has nominated me for Beautiful Blogger Award.  How rude of me to forget until now!  I’m somewhat embarrassed, since I don’t think I’m worth it.  But, thanks Bettye, for this honorable nomination.  Now, if you want to see a beautiful blog, please take a look at Bettye’s!  Also check out her companion site: Bettye Harwell Fine Art.  Both are truly inspirational.

The rules require me to list 7 random things about myself.  Hm…where shall I start?  I’ve been in a random state of mind since November 6, 1963, the day after I was born.  But, here we go:

  1. I’m an avid dog lover.  My followers should have figured that out by now.  I have a wolf’s head tattoo on my upper right shoulder; it was a 45th birthday present to myself.
  2. I’m allergic to cats.  I don’t hate cats.  In fact, I helped out a friend with some yard work last week, and he and his family have 2 cats, both females.  One, in particular, took a liking to me.  I couldn’t pat her for too long, though, otherwise my skin would start itching.  It was already dry from raking leaves.  My dog, Wolfgang, didn’t take kindly to the thought I was with another animal all day long – a cat, no less!  If it was another dog, I’m sure he’d understand.  He growled at my knuckles.
  3. I love older model cars.  I’m an avid model car collector.  Most anything pre-1980 is worth examining.  I have three huge Rubbermaid containers full of Hot Wheels and Match Box vehicles my parents bought for me when I was a kid.  Among them is the original Batmobile model car!  A friend of mine told me I probably could sell it on Ebay and get a few hundred dollars for it.  I told him to shut up and blocked him from my email for a month.
  4. I’m actually a truck guy now.  I drive a Dodge Ram 1500, V6.  I wanted a V8, but at one point many moons ago, I also wanted a Jaguar coupe which has a V12.  So, I buy what I can afford.  I like the Dodge better.  If you drive a Jaguar, people think you have money and try to cut in front of you and slam on their brakes.  If you drive a Dodge truck, they think it’s insured by Smith and Wesson, so they leave you the hell alone.
  5. Black is my favorite color.  Yea, yea, supposedly black is not a true color, but those rules don’t apply to me.
  6. I wish I’d gotten married and had kids years ago.  But, I was too shy, short and ugly in my youth.  Now, I’m mean, short and ugly.  Hey, no one can say I haven’t improved my life in some ways!
  7. I hate math.  Always have and always will.  Algebra, calculus and trigonometry don’t serve any meaningful purpose.  Instead of teaching those courses, schools should teach kids basics like checkbook balancing, budgeting and how to tip wait staff and bartenders.

Here are my nominations for the Beautiful Blogger Award.

Beyond the Mesas – Matthew’s points about life for the Hopi people of Arizona may be political at times, but they’re equally inspirational.

Bucket List Publications Lesley has the right idea: make a list of things to do because you want to live, not before you die!  Why didn’t I figure that out before now?!

Catnip of Life for sharing beautiful photographs and illustrations.

Doubleyoo Tee Eff – you have to read it to understand why I love this blog.

Essa on Everything – her humor and opinions are raw, controversial, but always unrelentingly hysterical.  I still want to spend a weekend with her and be her bitch.  I’ll make nachos!

Fabulous 50’s (a.k.a. “Travel Spirit”) who takes some great travel pictures and – for a 50-something broad – ain’t half bad.

Guitar Monk for the beautiful music he shares.

Laith’s Ramblings because he gives fresh meaning to the word “random” – in a good way.

Le Artiste Boots – please see above.

QGB Tilted Tiara – a true Southern belle, Val proves nonetheless that not every tiara fits perfectly; her reflections on life are honest, thoughtful, humorous and sometimes painful, but always real.

Rumpydog – why would I not like a dog who can write?!

Simply Creating – Sharon’s insights on writing and publishing make me realize how much I love to create stories.

Spencer Angel whose love for animals equals my own.

Subtle Kate – her quaint reflections on the daily aspects of her world make me realize what’s really important in my own life – from thousands of miles away.

Templar Knight who provides riveting and meticulously detailed research on medieval Europe and the Middle East.  It just puts the world into perspective.

The Write Transition for her frequent and humorous play on words and bits of literary inspiration.

Thank you, everyone!  Average people like us keep the world going!

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In Memoriam: Hostess Snack Foods, 1930 – 2012

Who would’ve thought Twinkies would go extinct before polar bears?!  And, what a shame, too!  Just when Maryland and Washington pass marijuana laws!  Now, I read that Grupo Bimbo, a Mexican food company, may try to buy out Hostess.  Oh dear God!  The Chinese own our banks, and now Mexicans are trying to buy our snack foods!  I don’t recognize my country anymore!

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It Gets Worse

Here’s the photo of the shirtless FBI agent, Frederick Humphries, that’s mixed up in this horrifying sex scandal involving two top military officials.  Ooo – how obscene!  I wish Congress would get this upset over the photos of our young military personnel returning home in body bags.  If you notice, Humphries kind of looks like those two test shot dummies, which I think was the point in him sending it out.  In other words, it was all a joke.  For the record, Humphries had emailed this photo to several people, not just to that one woman, so hopefully she doesn’t feel too special.

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Counterstrike

“To batter this woman because they don’t feel they have the ability to batter President Obama is something we the women are not going to stand by and watch.  Their feckless and reckless speculation is unworthy of their offices as senators.”

– Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), defending Susan Rice after McCain’s comments.

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Bad Irony

“She’s not qualified.  Anyone who goes on national television in defiance of the facts five days later…we’re all responsible for what we say and what we do.”

– Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), criticizing United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice over her response to the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya.  Rice has been named as a possible replacement for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  McCain and other Republicans have vowed to block Rice’s confirmation for that position.  McCain later dubbed Rice “not very bright.”

Poor John McCain!  Years of wandering in the Arizona desert while doped up on Viagra have really done a number on his brain.  McCain thinks Rice isn’t “very bright?”  Well, you know the old saying about a picture being worth a thousand words!

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More Post-Election Stupidity

“Liberals brag about having won the hearts and minds of America, as if through logic and argument, they’ve persuaded people to accept their bankrupt European socialist ideas.  Democrats haven’t changed anyone’s mind.  They changed the people.  More white people voted for Mitt Romney this year than voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980.  Barack Obama lost white voters by 20 points – the widest margin since 1984.  But in 1980, whites were 88 percent of the electorate.  In 2012, they were 72 percent of the electorate.  Not only that, but the non-white electorate is far more Democratic than it was in 1980.  If the same country that voted in 1980 had voted in 2012, Romney would have won a bigger landslide than Reagan did. [snip]  The only hope is to run another appealing Republican candidate in four years – when we’re not up against an incumbent president – and return our immigration policy to one that helps America and not just the Welfare Party.”

– Ann Coulter, lamenting that Obama’s reelection wasn’t due to the failure of the Republican Party to connect with Hispanics, but that there are just too many Hispanics in America.

Damn!  Just when I think Coulter can’t prove herself to be a bigger asshole, she actually outdoes herself!  Like most Republicans in Congress, she’s obviously terrified of a Caucasian washout by all these colored folks who have the audacity to practice their right to vote.  How dare they!  For the record, Hispanics – as a people – have been here longer than most any other ethnic group, save Native Americans, with whom we have a common heritage.  That’s not liberal bias; that’s a simple fact!  The nation’s history books haven’t figured it out yet though.

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Saving Books, Too

Among the casualties of last month’s Hurricane Sandy, books are the least recognized.  The “Reach Out and Read Program” at New York City’s Bellevue Hospital was hit particularly hard, when they lost thousands of books to the storm.  Children visit a doctor’s office more than most any other place before they start first grade, so the “Reach Out and Read Program” aims to place children’s books in doctor’s offices.  There’s nothing more valuable than the ability to read and write, and providing a child a book can introduce them to a greater number of opportunities than they might otherwise encounter.  This nation has spent too much money on war and prisons.  As individuals, we can certainly make a difference by spending money on one book to donate to the program.

You can make a monetary donation here.

Or, contact Marie Betancourt at roramarie1@aol.com to find other ways to donate.  She’s already advised me, however, that Bellevue is currently closed because of the storm.  But, I think we can all still have a more positive impact on the lives of the patients it serves.

American Red Cross.

Image courtesy Literary Hoarders.

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Bitter

“We have to face some truths.  We have to face some reality.  We are outnumbered and we are losing ground.  This was not a glitch.  This is a trend.  That happened last night.  This is the trend.  We are outnumbered.  Whether you want to put it in terms of – have we lost the country or not?  There’s no other explanation.”

– Rush Limbaugh, on his radio show November 7.

Well, he’s right about one thing: loud-mouthed bigots like him, Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter are, indeed, outnumbered; outnumbered by the increasing diversity in the United States and its equally increasing number of open minds.  In other words, America and the world are no longer the playgrounds of White heterosexual Christian males.  Damn!  They actually have to share now!  Imagine that!  Pardon me if I don’t break out the violin.  As a mostly White male myself, I still can’t relate.  I’m just not an asshole.

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The Last Binder

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November 11, 2012 · 3:32 PM

Yea – Still Here!

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November 11, 2012 · 3:31 PM