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 |  Here's to bloggin' around the block--one word at a time. |
| I am so angry. I’ve tried to stay detached from politics lately. I’ve been emotionally invested for a long time and I was getting as close to being burned out as I want to get. I promised I’d give myself a year, and so far nothing has gotten to me enough to be quite this angry. I guess it was bound to happen if I paid attention at all. Last night on the news Brian Williams reported on the bank “Northern Trust” of Chicago that put me over the edge. This story was broken by TMZ Entertainment of all places. I read more about it today. It seems that this “Northern Trust” took $1.5 billion in bailout money from the government then laid off 450 workers. Last week they flew hundreds of clients and employees to Los Angeles for four days of luxurious living: posh hotel rooms, salmon and filet mignon dinners, music concerts, a PGA gold tournament a the Riviera Country Club with Mercedes shuttle rides and Tiffany swag bags. Each night they hosted lavish dinners and concerts: Wednesday, the group Chicago for a $100,000 at the Ritz Carlton; Thursday was Earth Wind & Fire at a rented private hangar at the Santa Monica Airport; and the House of Blues on Sunset Strip on Saturday for another $50,000 dinner with Sheryl Crow. They also offered a seminar on the credit crunch, probably to give tips on how to bilk the taxpayers even more. The bank even claims they didn’t “seek government investment” and that in fact they had made a profit of $641 million last year. Oh, and raised $3 million for LA Junior Chamber of Commerce Foundation and other nonprofits. Well, okay then. That justifies it. They’re actually doing us a favor by taking that money then, huh? How insulting!! I saw a clip of Barney Frank spouting off about how they should give back “at least the cost of this party.” Well, he seemed pretty anxious to push Paulson’s plan to sock a bunch of money into these banks – with no restrictions on how to spend it! Did he really expect them to do the right thing? How about getting it all back??!! Northern Trust has not been the only untrustworthy one, just the latest to come to light. In President Obama's speech last night he said, "This time, CEOs won't be able to use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet. Those days are over." Will they listen? If we really have to bail out these “masters of the universe” could we make sure their plan isn’t just to thumb their noses at us? |
| I don’t know about you all, but I’m feeling the need to do some real escaping. I’ve been devouring novels at the rate of two and three a week. I’ve read all kinds from Jonathan Kellerman to S.E. Hinton to Jennifer Weiner to several authors I had never read before. I just finished a good one by a new author (I can’t remember her name) titled gods in Alabama. I gave myself a goal of reading fifty novels this year. I haven’t counted them yet, but I know I’ve read over a dozen since the first of January. I’m not exactly setting the world on fire with my other goals, but at least I’m accomplishing something. Never mind that it’s the most enjoyable goal I made. We’ve also been watching a lot of movies. We both really liked the 2004 movie Crash which was basically about race relations. Great acting and character development. I was worried for awhile it would be too sad to watch but it left me feeling a little hopeful. We also watched War of the Worlds . Not very good even with that little Dakota Fanning whose screams rivaled Faye Ray in the old King Kong. And Tom Cruise was much better in Mission Impossible III than he was in that. (We’re going to have to watch the first two MIs now.) Another fast paced action thriller we watched was called Vantage Point . We tried Snakes on a Plane but couldn’t hack it. A little too predictable and actually kind of stupid. We also watched one of our old standbys, Agatha Christie’s Evil Under the Sun Now, I want thank my friends for the badges, cnotes and kind wishes for my birthday yesterday. You’re very thoughtful and I appreciate it a lot. I didn’t really do anything exciting. It was a nice quiet day. We’re actually going to celebrate tomorrow by going out to lunch then to my favorite place, Half-Price Books. I did splurge a little on some Reese’s Cups tonight. Don’t worry, I checked it out and Reese’s does not purchase peanut butter, peanuts or peanut products from the Peanut Corporation of America. |
| … there are a lot of things to celebrate in February? I mean besides Groundhog Day, Valentines Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, Darwin Day and my birthday -- like Spunky Old Broads Month. (Fitting, huh?) You could observe National Condom Month, Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month, Mend a Broken Heart Month, and Boost Self-Esteem Month. There are whole weeks dedicated to such worthy causes as Dump Your Significant Jerk, Rejection Risk Awareness, and International Flirting Week. There’s Jell-o Week, Pancake Week and Solo Diners Eat Out Weekend. Speaking of food this is also both Cherry Pie and Sweet Potato Month. I hate to tell you that you’ve already missed Liberace Day, Laugh and Get Rich Day, and Wave All Your Fingers at Your Neighbors Day. But tomorrow you can both Blame Somebody Else and Get a Different Name. There’s still time to Do a Grouch a Favor on the 16th, holler “Hoodie-Hoo” at noon on the 20th, and take it easy on No Brainer Day which is the 27th. And these are just a sample of special occasions in February. Who knew this short month could be so much fun!? |
| For some reason I have been remembering my old job. Several years ago I worked for a Cardiology practice in the clinical research department. One of the studies I was in charge of was for patients with severe congestive heart failure. Before the study began the doctor called me into her office. “I just want to warn you these patients are going to die. You will have to be prepared for that.” It was a double blind study which meant that nobody knew what the patient was taking until the end of the study. Patients who qualified were randomly assigned to one of two different doses of the drug or a placebo, no drug. Some call it a sugar pill. Interestingly patients sometimes respond very well to the placebo. I was the study coordinator which meant I handled everything that the doctor didn’t do. After the patients were screened and enrolled in the study, they were seen on a regular basis for follow-up. There was one patient named Jerry that I dreaded to see come into the office. He was grumpy and depressed and he was absolutely terrified to have his blood drawn. Of course blood draws were required at every visit. At first he insisted that a medical assistant he already knew draw the blood, but eventually he trusted me to do it. He always had his sweet wife pinch him the whole time to try to take his mind off of it. We tried teasing him out of it, but it made him angry. A few weeks into the study Jerry started to behave like a different person. He came into the office smiling, joking, said he felt so good he wanted to climb trees. He was still terrified of blood draws, but his biggest fear was that they would take the drug away from him. Soon I began to look forward to his visits and presented him with a sticker that said “Super Patient.” One morning his wife called me to tell me my “super patient didn’t make it.” No matter how much I had been warned I still wasn’t ready for that. She told me she had found Jerry slumped over the kitchen table. At the visitation his daughter hugged me and said, “Thank you for helping my father.” I had a lot of other patients, but Jerry will always stand out as the “super” one. |
| Got this through the email and it made me laugh. Dr. Calvin Rickson, a Professor of Sports Medicine at Texas A&M University has invented a bra that keeps women's breasts from jiggling and bouncing, and prevents the nipples from pushing through the fabric when cold weather sets in. At a news conference, after announcing the invention, a large group of men took Dr. Rickson outside and kicked the shit out of him |
| A while back I wrote about my neighbor’s new little dog, Lulu. She had been abandoned, and the shape she was in, the vet said she probably wouldn’t have made it much longer. I’m happy to report that little Lulu has thrived in her new home. In fact, you could say she has pretty much gone from bag lady to royalty. We’ve walked her a few times when my neighbor had to work late. The other night when it was -10 degrees, I let Jack walk her but I went over to help get her ready. Our neighbor has finally created barricades for the kitchen that Lulu can’t manage to scale (apparently she was very resourceful while on her own.) Except when we walked in that evening we found the fluffy little critter snuggled on the couch and proud as can be. She jumped up to greet us, presenting her belly for a rub. Somehow she had managed to squeeze out, only knocking over a few things in the process. Anyway, we had our orders from her “mom” and I finally managed to get her two sweaters on her – actually a little sweatshirt under a sweater -- and Jack took her on the assigned walk. Lulu has different outfits depending on what day it is. She had a Halloween costume with a witch’s hat, and she was all decked out at Christmas with a Santa hat and red and green dress. Over the holidays our neighbor invited us over for snacks and to watch a Christmas movie. It turned out that Lulu wasn’t feeling very well that day. She was snuggled on one of her beds under a chair wearing her pink flowered night gown. She snored so loud we had to turn the volume up on the TV. Now the neighbor is sick so Jack has had the honor of walking Lulu for the last two days. (Actually, I'm the dog lover, but I guess I'm spoiled, too.) There’s a foot of snow on the ground so she doesn’t get to go to her favorite spot. However, she has a new rain coat to go over her sweater. I know she sounds spoiled, but considering the shape she was in when she was found, she deserves it. I think, though, we’ll stick to having grand-dogs and a niece-dog. That way we can enjoy them and send them home. |
The first blog entry I read today was chicochica  ’s "Invalid Entry"  Her first paragraph reads: I appreciate those who have proclaimed in the last week "I'm so tired of hearing about how Obama is the first black president! If we want to end racism, then we shouldn't say it this way. He's a good man, can't we just leave it at that?" It’s a good attitude but misguided. Others have said very well why electing our first black President is a big deal. I’ve added this as a comment a couple of times. I might as well just post it here. To me, it’s amazing. I found this in the New York Times: The president’s elderly step-grandmother brought him an oxtail fly whisk, a mark of power at home in Kenya. Cousins journeyed from the South Carolina town where the first lady’s great-great-grandfather was born into slavery, while the rabbi in the family came from the synagogue where he had been commemorating Martin Luther King’s Birthday. The president and first lady’s siblings were there, too, of course: his Indonesian-American half-sister, who brought her Chinese-Canadian husband, and her brother, a black man with a white wife. When President Barack Obama was sworn in on Tuesday, he was surrounded by an extended clan that would have shocked past generations of Americans and instantly redrew the image of a first family for future ones. |
| I don’t like to talk or even think about my ex-husband most of the time, but today I need to vent. My daughter told me that she called him to tell him about her new beau. It’s been a long time since she’s even bothered to date anyone let alone feel excited. It’s surprised and pleased her a lot and I’m really so happy for her. So what does her dad say when she tells him? “Have you got yourself in shape for him?” Now our daughter has had breast cancer, suffered from depression, has a thyroid problem and is always self conscious about her weight. In fact when she called me she was shopping for clothes and said something about needing to get them "custom made at the zoo." So her father makes a remark like that. He’s told her he wished she’d “call him with some good news for a change” and when she did, he said, “Well, don’t talk about it. You’ll probably jinx it.” How I lived with that jerk so long I don’t know. It’s way past time for him to grow up and stop being a bully and an ass. I’m really grateful that he’s out of my life! My son told me he doesn’t pick at him anymore because he told him bluntly, “I’m not going to listen to this shit.” Good for him! I sure hope my daughter gets to that point, too. At least she lives clear across the country and doesn’t have to see him very often. Okay. I feel better. And I hope it helped my daughter to talk to me, too. |
| Penny for your lack of thoughts I’m having trouble staying focused. Yesterday I lost the cap from my water bottle. This morning I found it at the bottom of my pill bottle along with two nearly dissolved pills. Lucky there’s a new script waiting for me at the pharmacy. It’s thyroid medication and I just learned my thyroid’s out of whack again so the doctor is increasing the dosage. Maybe it will help me feel better. I hope so. I’m beginning to worry I have a case of terminal laziness. My husband got a very nice rejection letter for his nonfiction book yesterday. The editor apologized for keeping it so long. He liked the tight focus and his writing style. He really wanted to publish it. Unfortunately they have a limited number of books they can publish. He’s actually pretty happy about it. Better than a form letter or no response at all. Me, I have nothing out there to be rejected. I can’t even focus well enough to create some goals. The most important thing I did yesterday was watch the inauguration on television. I started crying when Aretha Franklin was singing. I’m filled with relief and hope for our new president, but he’s not a wizard and our task is daunting. I loved his speech. One of my favorite parts was when he said it is time to “put aside childish things.” I also liked that he acknowledged several religions and nonbelievers. I don’t think that has been done before. Indeed, the times are a-changin’. |
| OK. My muse can come out of hiding any time now. It’s been so long since I’ve written anything I beginning to worry that she’s gone underground for good. I hope not. I kind of miss her. I haven’t had the energy or enthusiasm for much of anything lately. I have been reading a lot, though. The stack of novels I’ve finished is getting so tall I had to shove them against the wall for support. (No, I haven’t been cleaning and the bedroom is a pit.) This morning I finished Jacquelyn Mitchard’s emotion filled Cage of Stars . Excellent! We’ve also been watching movies. For an edge-of-your seat sexy thriller I’d recommend Perfect Stranger with Halle Berry and Bruce Willis. And for a sad, thought provoking story Gone Baby Gone with Casey Affleck (directed by his brother Ben) and Ed Harris. The only problem with that one is we had to turn on the subtitles. We Indiana hicks couldn’t understand the Boston accents (apologies to any fellow Hoosiers out there  ) I do think the fog is finally lifting and I’m beginning to feel much better. It helped that yesterday I turned over the last of the boxes from my office and finished training the woman who has to take over part of my job. It was time to leave for many reasons, and I left on a good note. Now I feel relieved. I feel free! I don’t know what I’m going to do next, but I think I’ll know it when I see it. And getting all that office junk out of here gives us a lot more room. So…I want to just let go and let life. |
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So glad to see your blog again, and I like the idea of a 'new' Clean Slate. I may just do that myself! I look forward to reading more from you! 
