I Was Worried About the Worrying

First of all, thanks to my friend Jay S from Bailey’s Buddy  for listening to me ramble from a bad cell connection in my running car and getting online so he could publish the previous post for me.

All through the week I had tried to find internet service or call someone with no luck. My cell appears to have been damaged when the power first surged and it doesn't hold a charge for long. And there weren't any resources around.

I was so worried about all of you worrying about me. And Hope.
I don't take our friendship lightly.

So
I have so many stories to tell but my internet and phone service is still dicey so I'm going to post a few pics I got from NJ.com and from the Keyport Boat Club. Pics of places I love that are forever changed.

 The Seaside Heights roller coaster.

 A beautiful home in Union Beach that I have driven past and admired many times.

 Flooded and burned homes in Breezy Point. I have spent many summer weekends there.

 This was a main road near me.

Hot Dog Bobs - I've posted pics from here of the giant inflated hot dog and Fourth of July decorations

 The Inn at the marina. I sat by that window and had brunch many times.

 The corner where the Keyport mosaic stood. The trailer office for the boat ramp was pushed all the way up the street by the force of the wind and water.

These last few shots are all of my beloved marina. The spot where I had early morn coffee with the "old guys", where I fed the birds and watched the sky and waves and boats.

I have learned a new term - "disaster tourism"
People drive about looking for devastation to point at and take photos of.
I have not ventured around much, after 3 hours on a gas line you don't feel like driving.
I leave my camera at home. I saw a woman screaming at a car full of people who had stopped to take photos of her home. She was crying and telling them "this is my home, this is my home".

I love youse guys

All They Are Saying ...

The people of Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Tunisia did not trade the tyranny of a dictator for the tyranny of a mob

~ Secretary of State Clinton



A Good Boy

Many of you have probably heard about this by now but I wanted to post some good stuff with a touch of cute thrown in. Of course there's always another Hope post but her birthday is next week so you'll get plenty of her then.

This is Bear

He lives with his family in Michigan.
Bear's human baby brother strayed away from Mom for all of a moment and fell into the pool.
The baby's Mom immediately realized her son wasn't next to her and rushed out to the yard to find him floating face up in the pool. His lips were blue and he appeared unconscious.

As she pulled him out of the pool she discovered that the reason he was floating is that Bear was under him, balancing the little boy on his back and keeping him afloat.

Good job Bear

If you don't spend much time around small children it's easy to wonder how this can happen and to perhaps even judge. It does sometimes boil down to a split second.

The little boy is Stanley and after a trip to the emergency fire station and a follow-up at the hospital he's fine.

You can read the entire story HERE and see a short video of Mom talking about Bear

News Twos

If you're like me then you're sick of me. Of the cat crap and healthcare hub-bub and disability drama.

So I thought I'd share some stuff from the news. That got me to thinking of a title which made me think about what rhymes with news since I'm such a poet neurotic and then I saw this photo ...

and I decided by twos was my theme.

That's the mom who is addicted to tanning and may have taken her 6 year old daughter into a tanning booth with her. Whether she did or not doesn't even seem to be the question to me. If you can cause this much damage to your own face - left is from 4/24 and right is 5/2 - then I think you need lots of help taking care of yourself and your child.

Roger Clemens told Congress he never juiced up. Then he allegedly told Andy Pettitte that he did. Then Andy told the Feds. Now Andy says he may have misunderstood.

Millions of trial and hearing dollars later the entire mess yields nothing and solves nothing.

I'm so sick of millionaires who become millionaires simply because they can make team owners billionaires because they can throw/dunk/carry/kick a ball. Let's turn the world upside down; give millions to scientists and teachers and make sports and entertainment asshats beg for funding.

Never trust a man who spends more than 5 minutes on his hair. Trust his assistant even less.

Andrew Young is a bitter vindictive man. Edwards is a disgrace. His oldest daughter left court in tears yesterday after listening to accounts of her mother's reaction to news of Edward's affair. That's all on Edwards and he should spend the rest of his life making it up to her and all his children - including the child he had with the mistress.

Maryland passed a law that basically says pit bulls are more dangerous than any other dog breed. The law calls for harsher penalties for pit bull owners - and even people who rent an apartment to someone with a pit bull - than for any other dog owner. They cited 7 serious cases in the past 13 years. Don't mean to be callous but 7 in 13 is anecdotal and I don't think laws should be passed based on stories and photos of an injured child with his crying mother.

There are as many, probably more, stories of how loving pit bulls are

Animal experts say that violence in pit bulls is NOT in the genes but in the way they are trained and treated.

6,000 to 10,000 years ago some dude with blue eyes appeared and according to a research group in Denmark every blue eyed person who came after is a descendant. So all blue eyed folks are related.

My brother has blue eyes. So that means he's related to Frank Sinatra.

Which means I'm related to Frank? How cool is that.

Isadora is improving, still waiting for some results and a definitive course of treatment. And she wants to know if she's related to Frank Sinatra.

Mr. Mike Wallace

My Nana always called him that. "Dianne, did you see Mr. Mike Wallace chasing that crook? He's a character that Mr. Mike Wallace."

Nana also told me that one of the most difficult things about getting older is that people you have known and respected all your life die. And when they pass you feel you'll never see the likes of them again.

Mr. Mike Wallace passed on this weekend at the age of 93. He spent 68 years in radio and television, 38 of those years on 60 Minutes.

His good friend Morley Safer said -  " For half a century, he took on corrupt politicians, scam artists and bureaucratic bumblers. His visits were preceded by the four dreaded words: Mike Wallace is here."

Mr. Mike Wallace believed a good journalist should - Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable

I loved Mike most when he would look at the person he was interviewing with an incredulous expression and simply ask “Why?” His direct stare would never waver and he would allow no wiggle room.

He told reporters late in his life that if he could write his own epigraph, it would read, "Tough But Fair."

Peaceful Journey Mr. Mike Wallace

One Woman in Egypt

I intended to post about Isadora and her recovery but as I sat down to compose I tuned into CNN and have been riveted by the latest developments in Egypt.

Iza is fine, thanks everyone for all good thoughts. I'll post some pics and tell a few funny stories about the past few days in another post.

A few days ago I saw this photo taken at one of the protests in Tahrir Square. I can't stop thinking of this woman. Standing up tall in that sea of men. I have a sweater just like hers. I have a purse just like hers. I imagine our lives may be very similar in spirit. We love our family. We have worked hard. We are strong. We detest lies and oppression.

Earlier today the Minister of Defense told the democracy movement protesters that "all your demands will be met" and people were joyous. They gathered in the square to wait for Mubarak's speech believing he would step down, transfer ALL power to his VP and the transition to a new democratic election would begin.

What they got was Mubarak saying he would transfer "some" power to the VP. Then the VP spoke telling the people to go home and go to work.

Did Mubarak intentionally stir up the hopes and passions of the people so that he could crush them? Does he want their frustration and anger to turn to violence so that he can unleash the military and kill as many revolutionaries as possible?

My feeling is that the answer to those questions is YES.

While I think of myself as a spiritual person with a peaceful heart I also recognize that revolution against corruption and greed rarely comes without conflict - some of it violent.

I wish the people of Egypt strength. I wish them safety. I hope they will continue to stand together and protect each other. I hope the looters will be exposed as operatives of the Mubarak regime.

In the last decade the gap between the poor majority of Egyptians and the rich rulers has widened by huge proportions. You just can't step on people forever.

I don't know what I want the US to do for Egypt. We so often muck it all up and make it worse and our real intentions are usually self serving.

It doesn't surprise me that Dick Cheney referred to Mubarak as a "friend". It doesn't surprise me that assholes like Glenn Beck claim President Obama is being passive on Egypt because he's part of the "secret Muslim brotherhood" plot to take over the world. Heaven forbid a US leader think before he acts.

All I know for sure is that I want the woman in the photo to be safe and free.

The Post That Started Out as Not a Post

I was going to post about how I didn’t have anything to post – I’ve been trying to write my scintillating tale of Lust for KAY but I’m not in a writing mood.

So I was going to come here just to say I’m back in a photo only (just barely) mood and my words fail me.

But …

I woke up this morning to the sound of saws and loud men. Wow! Must be a party!! No – it is a tree killing spree going on next door. I am so sick of these neighbors. I have tried getting along. All last summer I smiled and said things like – “A new gate would look so pretty against the white fence.” When what I really wanted to say was “Your baby keeps running into the street you incompetent pieces of crap.” Or. “I am so sick of worrying about whether or not your little dog is under my tires as I pull into my driveway.”

Finally they got the gate. Of course they’re so busy texting while scratching their asses that they often forget to latch it properly but really – what can I expect from under developed craniums. Twittering twits – they could work in Congress.

I tried telling myself they’re just a bit overwhelmed. After all it’s not easy having a toddler and a dog. Surely they would settle in and things would be more stable and peaceful again.

So – what do they do? They get another dog. A puppy that will grow, is growing, into a giant dog. And guess what? The giant puppy doesn’t get along with the little old dog. And guess what? The giant puppy needs attention. Shocking. Don’t babies and puppies and old dogs just care for themselves? How “socialist” of these creatures to expect any care and respect from the people who created their circumstances. I’m thinking that in addition to being low class assholes these neighbors are Republicans. Make a mess, have that mess affect everyone around you and then stand there stubbornly and refuse to fix it. Get all dressed up in tuxedos and have galas where you mock the people who are doing more in 6 weeks than you did in 8 years. And don’t forget to worship your new fat pill popping junkie god. What a rush!

Oh back to the tree killers …

Winter is a wonderful buffer time – I didn’t see them much and that made my urge to punch them in the face lessen.

Until this morning… First of all – I had finally fallen asleep. I’ve been sleeping in two or three hour bits these days. And I’ve been sleeping on the sofa - pushing my hips into the sofa back while elevating my swollen leg helps. Thanks to my torn tendons and twisted knee joints my balance and gait are so off center that my back is in an endless state of spasm. I really should do my physical therapy and I really should take some pain killers and I really should go back to therapy – all this chronic pain causes psychological issues. What is it with people who won’t take care of themselves until they wind up in an ER? How irresponsible of them to not practice preventative care.

Oh wait – I don’t have my health insurance any more. Silly me. Expecting affordable health care. After all I just worked all my fucking life and paid all my taxes. I ran a small business and insured my workers. I bought a house I could afford, a house much cheaper than the one the bank told me I could have. I drive a ’95 heap of bolts and haven’t taken a vacation in years. How “socialist” of me. I should have just stolen from friends, neighbors and charities – then I could live in a penthouse and expect to keep my 62 million, after all it’s MINE. Me precious, Me precious – fucking Gollums of Wall Street.

But I digress …

The trees. The sweet wonderful beautiful trees. Living creatures that expect nothing more than some rain and an occasional trim. And for that they give clean air and cool breezes. They shade your baby and dogs. You miserable selfish pieces of low class crap. You came here from a concrete pile of crap claiming you wanted a quieter prettier place to live. And then you create a concrete pile of crap. I hope your lawn burns and that the sun beats down onto your miserable piece of the broken American dream until your AC runs so long and hard that it levitates and lands on your giant empty heads, causing your dull lifeless eyes to pop out of their sockets.

Don’t worry. If your dogs and baby are left fending for themselves I’ll step in. After all I have far more than they do and I can afford to lend a hand ...

I’m not a Republican.

The President's First News Conference

I have always liked to learn, to research, to consider. Back in school I hated CliffsNotes - I wanted to read the entire book and then read all the other works by that author and then the author's biography.

I have watched every Presidential News Conference. I've never felt comfortable with summaries by commentators.

Don't let people tell you what they want you to think someone said. Listen and decide for yourself.

For 8 years I would tune into a Presidential News Conference - not that there were very many, after all clearing the brush at Crawford was a priority - and within a few minutes I would have to turn away. I would read the transcripts instead. It wasn't because I disagreed with everything being said. It was because it was a joke, an insult to my intelligence, and an affront to the English language.

The endless "um" and "uh". The squinting. The demented puppy staring at a shiny object demeanor. The guffaws. The contrived paling it up with the press.

I know that act - it's the act the stupid yet clever bully would put on to charm the teachers into thinking he was a regular kid. Then he'd blow up the science lab. And blame it on the new kid.

Tonight I watched President Obama's entire news conference. And wanted more. And it wasn't because I agreed with everything being said. I didn't.

Words were spoken. Questions were considered. And answered. The tone was serious. It is the business of running a country and it was treated as such.

Intelligence. Eloquence. Thought. Civility.

I can get used to this.

My favorite quote of the news conference was in response to the "revisionist history" being employed by some Republicans ...

"... you know, this notion that somehow I came in here just ginned up to spend $800 billion ..."

You can read a full transcript of the news conference HERE and a million other places.