One heck of a day

Gosh, what a day. among other unnerving things, my boss had a nice talk with me about my health probs. He also asked me why I was dressed up and I knew he was pulling my leg but I went for it. I said, "I always wear this." "Then what is it?" "I cut my hair." "Well, it looks very nice." "Why, Thank you!"

It doesn't look that great. He is just so nice. I wonder if he's trying to motivate me to try harder, to reach higher? He's a great person. Kind of like a Professor Henry Higgins grooming his Eliza Doolittle for bigger and better things. I hope I can stand up to the challenge.

I came. I saw. I passed out. Well good night, bambinos. I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open. It's time to retreat into the horizontal position and catch some z's. My kitty is already in the zone. Good night. Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite. 'See' you in the morning light.

Sacagawea

The Lewis and Clark Expedition hired Sacagawea (pronounced Sack-ah-ja-we-ah). She was hired as an interpreter of the Shoshone language, not as a guide. Although the captains hadn't planned it, she was a sign of peaceful intention to Indian nations, since women didn't travel with war parties. Three times she recognized landmarks in her home country of southeastern Montana, and told the captains about them. She is remembered as a protector, a peacemaker, and a guide. The gold colored Sacagawea dollar coin is thought to bring guidance and good luck.
My mother gives this coin to all her friends and although she calls it the Hiawatha coin, it performs just as well. For instance, for a little while she was at a really nice old folk’s retirement home where they starved the residents and didn’t pay the help very well. But it was a beautiful place with very nice people.
My mother made friends with one of the maids who was going through a rough time because her husband had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and she was so worried so her cousin was taking her to Lake Tahoe to go gambling and forget her problems for at least a little while. Well, my mother told her, "you better take this coin with you. It is good luck. And sure enough, she came back so happy because she had won $900. She bought my mom a porcelain angel. You can ask to buy Sacagawea dollar coins at any bank. We can all use a little guidance and good luck in our corner so don’t hesitate to ask Sacagawea, or Mary, or Jesus, or Buddha, or Mohammed, etc.

I Get A Haircut

I was agonizing over whether or not to cut my hair and I finally did it. I was lucky and it turned out really cute.

Today I had some blood drawn. The most painful part is the bill and the idea that I somehow need all that blood that they took from me.
My doctors know me intimately. They know everything from my blood glucose level to my cholesterol to my HIV status, all not too bad I should point out but things could be better!
I was in my other doctor’s office this morning--not the Egyptian lady physician--when I realized that my hair looked like a hornet’s nest. He has a big, beautiful mirror by the door. So, after I left his office, I went to get my blood drawn and then stopped by Panda Express, which J says a lot of people don’t like because they are too expensive and their food’s too greasy. Later in the afternoon, after I let the kitty out for an hour I went and had my hair cut. The girl who cut my hair was really nice and had a cute short cut so I asked her if she’d mind cutting my hair kind of like hers. She did a great job; I really like the finished product but I don’t think it looks anything like hers. At any rate, I’m not complaining; on the contrary, I’m very happy. Another big change is I’m going to stop coloring my hair black.

Two Tenants

by Claire

Talking in remnants,
Two tenants
Leave the pulp and cork
Of a vacant room in New York.

Talking in remnants
They look around
The wooden boards creaking
The only sound.

Talking in remnants,
They cross the floor
And talking in remnants,
They close the door.

Eurydice

I thought I would blog about how beautiful these three stories are and how they complement each other, anecdote/introduction, poem, and myth.

By way of introduction, Gelert wrote on his blog:

"On the walls of the subway from Waterloo bridge is a poem
stencilled that I always stop to read between the buskers and
the walk upwards. I always wondered what it was, and tonight
I found it on someone's blog. It makes me sad."

Eurydice
by Sue Hubbard

I am not afraid as I descend,
step by step, leaving behind the salt wind
blowing up the corrugated river,

the damp city streets, their sodium glare
of rush-hour headlights pitted with pearls of rain;
for my eyes still reflect the half remembered moon.

Already your face recedes beneath the station clock,
a damp smudge among the shadows
mirrored in the train's wet glass,

will you forget me? Steel tracks lead you out
past cranes and crematoria,
boat yards and bike sheds, ruby shards

of roman glass and wolf-bone mummified in mud,
the rows of curtained windows like eyelids
heavy with sleep, to the city's green edge.

Now I stop my ears with wax, hold fast
the memory of the song you once whispered in my ear.
Its echoes tangle like briars in my thick hair.

You turned to look.
Seconds fly past like birds.
My hands grow cold. I am ice and cloud.

This path unravels.
Deep in hidden rooms filled with dust
and sour night-breath the lost city is sleeping.

Above the hurt sky is weeping,
soaked nightingales have ceased to sing.
Dusk has come early. I am drowning in blue.

I dream of a green garden
where the sun feathers my face
like your once eager kiss.

Soon, soon I will climb
from this blackened earth
into the diffident light.

(see: http://www.suehubbard.com)

Juliana Podd wrote on Eurydice in Encyclopedia Mythica, and I paraphrase:
In Greek Mythology, Eurydice and Orpheus were young lovers, who were practically inseparable. So enmeshed was their love that they could not live without each other. They spent their time frolicking together through the meadows, where one day Eurdice was happily running when a serpent bit her and she died from the bite. She immediately descended to Hades.
The great Olympian god Apollo who in many ways was the god of music was Orpheus' father and so Orpheus was blessed with musical talents. Orpheus was so saddened by the loss of his love that he composed music to express the desperate emptiness which pervaded his every breath and movement. He found so little meaningful, without Eurydice that he decided to petition Hades, overseer of the underworld. Hades' heart was hard as steel, as befitting his position. Many mourning souls approached Hades to beg for loved ones back and as many were turned down. But Orpheus' music was so sweet and so moving that it softened the steel hearted heart of Hades himself. Hades granted permission to Orpheus to take Eurydice back to the earth's surface to enjoy the light of day. There was one condition--Orpheus was not to look back as he ascended. He was to trust that Eurydice was following behind him. It was a long journey back up and just as Orpheus had almost finished the last part of the trek, he turned and looked behind him to make sure Eurydice was still with him. At that very moment, she was snatched back because he had not trusted that she was still there. So, when you hear music which mourns lost love, it is Orpheus' spirit who guides the hand of the musicians playing it.

P.S. Sue Hubbard's poem Eurydice is a sad and beautiful poem. And what a fitting place to stencil this verse. I'm pretty sure that the subway is a metaphor for Hades which is not our Hell but the Underworld of Greek Mythology. And I think that the poem is about lost love, like the Greek myth of Eurydice and Orpheus, a beautiful love story. With the rain and the train I am reminded of that old movie "A Man and A Woman" where they part, perhaps for good, and there are raindrops like teardrops on the window and when she gets off the train he is there and they embrace and the music builds.

30 Days

This weekend I watched the TV show "30 Days" with Morgan Spurlock and his lovely wife as they struggled to make it on minimum wage. Morgan Spurlock is the guy who made the 2004 Oscar-nominated documentary "Super Size Me" the expose that took on McDonald's and other fast food chains. Unfortunately, he was up against "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Born Into Brothels," which took the award for documentary about Calcutta's red-light district brothels and the children of the prostitutes.

Spurlock is very entertaining but to see this young, likable couple struggle like millions of Americans do all their lives is heart-breaking. When I think back, this is how I grew up until eventually my father established himself in his career. But if my mother had not been a penny-pincher and if I had not been the family servant (cooking, cleaning, you know, everything I am reluctant to do these days!) we never would have made it. And they were never rich. My mother continues to struggle now that my father is deceased.

For me, "30 Days" is more entertaining and enlightening than "the Simple Life" with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie and the non-acting is genuine, no staging involved. Although I like to hear the girls call the people whose homes they destroy "gorgeous."

I stayed home today because I have a time-off award and I was just worried about my cat so I stayed home with him. He is 15 years old and shows signs of nausea as he has lost his appetite. He also threw up in the kitchen a couple of days ago. My boss told me to do something fun today so I am writing in my blog and listenning to headphones, Plantronics to be exact, the first ones on the moon. I also went out to lunch at a Mexican restaurant across the street from where Video Town used to be. Video Town was my favorite Video/DVD rental place until they closed just about the time I started my blog, about two months ago. It was a win-win type of place. The people who worked there were so low-key nice and the selection of movies was outstanding while the prices were dirt cheap. You can't beat that but sadly, they went out of business. No more cute red-haired guy, with the motorscooter and the interesting T-shirts like Ren and Stimpy, talking on the cell phone to his girlfriend he still had it together to comment on your rental. Wednesdays were discount day with new releases only $1.50. Unheard-of! No wonder they went out of business when Blockbuster and Hollywood Video are charging roughly $4.60 per movie. Going out to pick out your movie was half the fun. It's another example of globalization with conglomerates such as say, Starbucks moving in and squeezing out the little guy even though I do appreciate their coffee. Now, I gaze at the empty building where they had a going out of business sale. I really don't buy videos much but I went in just to say good-bye and bought "The Motorcyle Diaries" and "The Weatherman." I told the red-haired cutie-pie guy that I was going to miss the place and he said that he was, too. I said "It's too bad." He agreed. He was so cool, he commented that I had picked two good movies. I thanked him wishing I could do something.

Alabina

I have a CD, Alabina Album 2, to be exact, that is a surprising mix of Spanish, Arabic, and Hebrew. I think Alabina, sadly has disbanded, correct me if I'm wrong. But the beautiful, Israeli-born singer, Ishtar, has embarked on a solo career. My neighbor, a very nice but extremely right-wing individual explained to someone asking what that music was coming out of my window that it was some so-and-so crap, subversive and all. So I now listen to it with headphones only. I looked up Habibi in the online 'Urban Dictionary' so I kind of understand what Habibi means but don't know what Habibi Ya Nour el Ein means. It is interesting that the expert explained that Habibi is also a word in Hebrew, like many Arabic words, which brings me back to my argument. These people are more alike than different, so it is very frustrating that they cannot live in peace with each other.

I get the impression that this music is more Pop and for an older audience while the younger generation prefers American or English contemporary music. What I enjoy about it is that I understand the Spanish and I like the upbeat rhythms. My favorite track is Alabina Megamix. Wish I could understand Arabic.

On winning

I won something this morning! I was not feeling particularly lucky so this blind-sided me. I won the September issue of a magazine that isn’t even out on newsstands yet and some candy. What a great way to start the day! I never win anything except the time I went to a fashion show at the local shopping center and won a $200 shopping spree in a very nice department store. I told them I’m not very good at putting outfits together so could someone help me shop? The sweetest, most efficient young woman helped me and she had great taste, too. She found me an off-white linen pantsuit with a silk woven shell to match and another pantsuit in a blue-green linen with a hooded jacket. We went a little over the $200 but she let me have them anyway. I will never forget her, she was so nice. I still have the pantsuits. I only wear them on special occasions.
Once I saw a black SUV with cocoa interior in the newspaper so I asked J to go to the dealer with me because as a woman alone I didn’t think I could get the good deal that was advertised in the paper. I was ready to walk at any moment. More than anything I was curious to see if this was a bait-and-switch gimmick. We took a test drive on our own, the salesman trusted us, that was weird, then we went into a little room surrounded by glass. At one point, the salesman said he was going to pull up my credit score. He came back in the room and declared, "You’re a winner!" I thought I actually had won something until he said your credit score is really high so you qualify for our financing. "Oh no, I said, I’m planning to go through my bank." He had to go consult with his manager as to whether the sale price was still good without the financing deal. While he was gone, J asked me, "Do you know what ‘you’re a winner’ translates into? It means, ‘you’re a loser.’" Oh, I just lost it! I started laughing and laughing and I couldn’t stop. It struck me as so funny. "Yes, I see what you mean," I told J. When the salesman came back he said that we could work out something else. I told him I had to leave but that I would think about the deal. We shook hands and I walked. I bet he got rid of us in record time. Oh, and on the way home, I couldn’t stop laughing. So, J said, "What?" "Oh, you’re just so quick, so funny."

Bad Religion

Why I don’t believe in organized religion? I remember a childhood friend’s mother’s experience with a priest. She went to confess that she had slept with her boyfriend and the priest asked if she was going to do it again. She answered that she didn’t know but probably yes and so the priest said he could not forgive or absolve her. So, she turned away from Catholicism and never looked back.
Religion is used to manipulate us with promises of rewards in the Sweet Hereafter, with fear, with anger, and with guilt. Otherwise, it doesn’t have much hold over us.
It’s too bad that what starts out as part of our inner life, as our very spiritual nature ends up getting all twisted around.
I believe in religion, it’s organized religion that poses the problems.
I know someone I call my friend who feels the sting of rejection because he is gay.
Love should not be dictated, it is a natural function that happens between people.
Certain individuals, for whatever combination of reasons, namely, nature/nurture theory fall in love with someone of the same sex. One’s sexuality can not easily be changed so I assume that people conduct themselves in their private lives as they see fit, according to a code of ethics.
It’s wrong for the pope to come out against birth control or condom use. It is misguided for bible-pounding preachers to teach eternal damnation for what they arbitrarily, out of their own hang-ups, or in their ignorance deem wrong and "sinful." Issues such as masturbation, sexual relations outside of marriage or for other reasons than for procreation, abortion or a woman’s right to choose what happens to her body and her life, and homosexuality are matters that should not be policed either by religion or by the medical profession unless they are there in compassion and understanding of human nature.
Parents and teachers are agents of civilization. Hopefully, for the survival of the species and to maintain social order they are very influential in the socialization of the child and carry on their influence into an individual’s adult years. Unfortunately, due to being human beings with their own problems they may give mixed signals to the impressionable young. They are supposedly loving and protecting without prejudice but they do have biases. They may preach love and equality in one breath and spout hatred and condemnation in the next.
It is sad indeed, when a loving human being grows to think that the Almighty disapproves of him or her and does not take him or her into the fold. But this is people shunning or attempting to control, not what God wants or teaches IMHO (In my humble opinion).

Legal Alien and Immoral Majority, I appreciate your comments. Here is the complete sonnet:
"The New Collosus"by: Emma Lazarus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame,
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips.
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

The Statue of Liberty Rocks

The poet Emma Lazarus saw a different statue in her sonnet "The New Colossus" which constituted a recasting of the statue's officially intended meaning. Lazarus's Statue, a "Mother of Exiles," speaks:
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries sheWith silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" (Lazarus 1888, 202-3)

Fuming

It is one thing to admit you don't understand, you're clueless and quite another to hate which leads to hate crimes. You can think anything you want and it won't bother me but when you go calling yourself a patriot, a minuteman and you're spouting racial hatred, that's unAmerican and that's not what this country stands for. How dare you take the name Minuteman?!!!!!

I found a blog by mistake written by a person declaring his prejudice against illegal aliens as if it were the most natural thing, the most everyday thoughts and actions. All I have to say to him is, " Let me tell you something, you're wrong, dead wrong! Let's not EVEN go there!"

A friend's father used to say many years ago, "There's more horses' asses in the world than there are horses." I guess things haven't changed much.

Signage

Signs are an ingenius device to give warning or to entice customers. But they don't, for instance, keep people who have a mind to from off-roading on the cliffs of the Hawaiian Islands! Like some people who like to search newspapers for misprints or other wording that should not be taken literally, I like signs that are amusing and often confusing as well.

I used to pass a white building with red and blue signs on it that read, "Nothing over 99 cents, and up!" There was a banner outside a local cafe which had the most unusual motto, "Fun every five minutes!" So, inbetween, I guess people weren't having fun? I'm sorry they took that sign down. Then there's a combination of signs on a road I often drive. One sign says, "No Passing" another says, "Pass on Left."

Jamaican road signs have to take the cake though. A road sign for a two-lane road going up a hill warns people not to pass other drivers with "A quick overtaking may lead to your undertaking." I am curious if anyone else has encountered a funny sign.

In Praise of Club Soda

First of all, I want to say that there is no such thing as "bad karma," just your teachers are all around you. And people on Earth all being students, all are learning the same lesson so don't take joy in the misfortune of another for it is the other side of your own coin. The same goes for one who thinks he or she is holier than thou, for that's another two-sided coin. And don't harbor jealousy for those who seem to have more, for it is true, less is more! I'll get to Club Soda in a minute, please bear with me.

That being said, I have bad line karma, bad popularity karma, and bad stain karma. First, by bad line karma I mean that I always have picked the slowest moving line I can find. If there is one person left in line at the cashier, and I go and get in that line, the person is trying to pass counterfeit bills, does not understand the language, price check, or for some other reason they have to call the manager, who is nowhere to be found. It doesn't work to get in the longest line, either. I'll explain; I have bad line karma.

Second, I seem to have bad popularity karma. Although I try to keep my trap shut most of the time, I still manage to tick people off who have an axe to grind. I try to see everyone's side of the story, but I secretly harbor my own thoughts and opinions which seem to collide with those of others. For instance, show of hands, who still thinks the presidency was stolen from the Democrats? Most have forgotten about that for thinking of how bad things have deteriorated.
That was a joke. But it goes to show how obnoxious I can get. Oh, and just when I start dressing nice for work, I decide to buy a couple of expensive jeans and wear nothing else to work, not a good example or image. And for some, image is everything. Popularity? Not interested. Been there done that, got the T-shirt. Boo! My bad!

I was born with the bad stain karma, but where most outgrow this tendency, I never did. I always manage to get a stain on my clothes. For instance, you have fruits and vegetables which are loaded with vitamins and water or juice. Where the beautiful Princess Maxima Zorreguieta could hypothetically eat a big plate of spaghetti and drink a bright red wine and not get a spot on herself, I on the other hand, goob on myself no matter how careful I am. That is just what people with bad stain karma do, as the saying can be applied here. "That's just what we do." (at this point I'm being sarcastic, but wait, I get genuine)

The third thing changed, oh man, did it! For the better since I first tried Club Soda. I love this stuff. It is probably good to drink but I'm too busy pouring it on my blouses. And add salt, I'm not talking about Margaritas here. Problem solved.