Tree...Roots...Lineage

A rose by any other name comes down to the relatives of your relatives, long passed. If you think about your daily life, then you begin to look back at it in year long chunks then by decade and finally across the entire span of your life, you pack alot into those years. So just imagine trying to fathom or get a real grasp on the life of your great-grandmother on your mother's father's side, or your great-great grandfather on your father's mother's side.

Watching these segments of the "Who Do You Think You Are" tv show has been fascinating. Of course, you tell yourself they only aired the individuals who had interesting background stories but my guess is we would all find something interesting in our heritage. If you think about how many opportunities you have to look, every single person branches off to two more people who branch off to four more people, etc. etc.

The show really makes you want to start digging into your own family's history but I also recognize that they have facilitated a great deal of research and investigation for these people which was necessary to not have the viewers falling asleep or flipping the channel. What an incredibly smart marketing ploy by Ancestry.com. Really, really smart. I've already had one cousin ask me if I had information on my grandmother's mother's family. I could tell the show got her started on the search.

Now it's back to the future.

Sarah Palin...really?

I just refuse to believe this is for real. How can so many Americans, especially women, be so stupid?

Do they possibly think she has spent the last 5 months learning her US and world history and geography so she can answer at least some reporters' questions accurately?

An expensive suit does not an intelligent/professional woman make. And she's the perfect example, in fact she made that point time and time again within her public appearances over the latter part of the campaign after they dug her up.

If you saw John McCain wince repeatedly while she was talking, it's a pretty good indicator she's an idiot. This happened time and time again, not to mention the wincing going on in the audience. Does anyone recall her "performance" in the Vice Presidential debate perchance? It was all Joe Biden could do not to laugh out loud at some of her atrocious answers.

Just how many clues do you need?

Come on, you all are smarter than this. I would however support the nomination of Tina Fey!

Sunshine on my Shoulders

I wrote that because that's what it's doing outside right now to the tune of about 70 degrees or so, phenomenal beginning to our Spring. But of course, what it makes me think of is John Denver (53) and the fact that he died in October of 1997 when his experiemental plane called a Long EZ crashed in the Pacific Ocean, almost 13 years ago. Holy Cow where does the time go?

And I come home today to Breaking News that Robert Culp of "I Spy" television fame died today from falling down on the sidewalk in front of his house. You have to watch those sidewalks, they can reach up and grab you when you aren't looking. Seriously he was 79 years old and probably not thinking this was going to be his last day on earth when he walked out the front door.

Kind of eerie when you think about it that way. Do you think people, famous or infamous, would act differently on their last day if they knew in advance it was going to be their last day. Kind of like "Meet Joe Black" where Anthony Hopkins is negotiating with Brad Pitt (Death) through the entire movie for more time before he is finally taken. Even though you have two hours to prepare you I still get teary at the end. Silly.

Just thinking though, at age 31 Rudolph Valentino came down with appendicitis and gastric ulcers, even though they operated on him he then developed peritonitis, they still thought they had him on the mend when he was so weakened he developed pleuritis in his left lung and subsequently died. Women were hysterical, clearly he went before his time. If he'd known this would be the result might he have lived his life differently in the months prior to his death?

Both Sonny Bono (62) and Natasha Richardson (45) went skiing one day, separate days, separate places and by the end of the day they were dead both from hitting trees. How bizarre is that? So, would they have taken different ski runs if they had known that was going to be the result?

Jim Henson (53) was a classic case I refer to frequently when people who are ill aren't taking care of themselves. He was sick, didn't do anything about it for way too long, went to the hospital, was diagnosed with pneumonia and died a few days later of a severe strep infection. I'll bet if he had it to do over again he'd be hotfooting it to the doctor insisting they figure out what was going on the first week he was sick.

Do you suppose it is statistically significant that 2 out of 5 of these men who died unexpectedly, did so at age 53?

March 19, 2010

Do you know what event this date commemorates; 7 long years of war in Iraq. Now there's something to celebrate. The bizarre invasion, the widespread destruction, the tragic, countless deaths (on both sides), the appalling amount of profit experienced and enjoyed by the Halliburtons (the Dick Cheney's) of the world as they snicker at the rest of us apathetic idiots behind their hands.

Over $1.4 Billion of Halliburton billings classified by the Pentagon as unreasonable and unsupportable overcharges. There were more than 180,000 contractors in Iraq in August of 2007 alone.

Do you have any concept of the lives, the culture, the ancient art and artifacts that have been destroyed by this pointless action? The fact that our country's name was even remotely connected with it, let alone directly responsible, is not to be borne.

And what exactly have we gained?

Pros

- Saddam Hussein eventually died, I don't remember why.

Cons

- All of the above in my opening comments, plus,

- Over $713 BILLION of financial loss (I never got to vote to spend my taxes in this way, did you?)

- Over $900 BILLION in total has been approved for spending (they still haven't asked me)

- Over 111,000 (some estimate this may be as high as 600,000) Iraqi civilians killed (mothers, children, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, etc.

- Over 4,300 US soldiers killed

- Over 31,000 seriously wounded; this excludes serious psychological injuries (we will continue to pay for all of their care and future mental/emotional trauma - over 30% develop this kind of trauma within 3 -4 months of coming home)

- Over 2,255,000 Iraqis have been displaced within Iraq

- Over 2.2 Million are refugees in Syria and Jordan

- Unemployment is over 27% - 60% where the curfew is not in effect

- Only 37% of Iraqi homes are connected to sewer systems

- 70% of Iraqis are without adequate water supplies

- Over 67% of Iraqis feel less secure as a result of occupation

The day we took this unprecedented, unwarranted and insupportable action, we forfeited any claim we had to being considered a positive and influential leader among civilized countries in the modern world.

Oh Yes!

It was worth it but I'm too sleepy tonight to say more than that.

Marathon Night

OK, it's here! I'm sure I'm going to question my sanity 5 - 6 times tonight as I'm sitting there watching the screen through my funky 3-dimensional glasses and the clock passes into the witching hour. And don't forget the free popcorn.

Is anyone else sick of hearing about all these men's affairs? Stop putting them in the headlines for pete's sakes! As long as the media is stupid enough to do that, they'll continue to make the effort to get the publicity. It's disgusting to me, all these "sincere" apologies for all the hurt they've done to their families; it's a bunch of crock. They could care less about their families, it's all about them and getting what they want when they want it. All they're sorry about is getting caught, except for the publicity that is.

And does the Catholic Church abuse of children ever end? It makes you ask a chicken and egg question. Do only sick men go into the priesthood or does the priesthood eventually make them all perverted? Nothing to do with celibacy is natural for mankind, it just makes sense that it would spur unnatural and unacceptable behavior. It's like trying to build a dyke to hold back a river (New Orleans comes to mind), all you need is severe weather and it will overflow and reclaim the land that "rightfully" belonged to it.

Get a load of this...last night I was watching the most recent Bruce Willis movie, Live Free or Die Hard, where his sidekick (Jason Long) is a young hacker, the polar opposite of the Willis character of course. And who of course saves the day. So tonight I run across this headline out of the UK...

"QUARTER OF UK KIDS HAVE TRIED HACKING, SURVEY SAYS." Most of them have tried to hack into accounts they identified through Facebook, some into their friends accounts. There is no way kids have enough to do. What ever happened to schoolwork? Chores? Jobs? Time with their families? They clearly have way too much time on their hands. This does not bode well for future generations who are already getting into computers by age 2 or even earlier. We go retro with most fads, I wonder if we'll ever go retro to kids playing out in the backyard, riding their bikes or their roller skates or their pogo sticks, or even playing board games. It's just plain scary the direction we're going.

Alice

In just two days it will be my turn. I can't wait. Sitting in our wonderful, little neighborhood theater in my 3-D glasses, watching a Tim Burton masterpiece (not to be confused with some of his more inferior stuff) and to top it all off, free popcorn! I'll be pouring the Diet Coke down to keep myself awake but this once, it will be worth it. The next morning, 6:00 AM will be coming even earlier than usual.

Last time I did this was the first night of the first ever Pirates of the Caribbean. We all went to the midnight showing on a Friday night and had a blast. The entire theater audience is always so into the first showing ever in the city. It's like group experience vs. an individual watching.

I fully expect this to be the same. We will have the freedom to talk to make comments to enjoy together, should be a night to remember.

Life Through the Eyes of a Three-Year-Old

You see hope. You see delight in little things. You see unlimited possibilities. You see happiness. You see black and white. You see that the people you love are important to you. You see each new thing as an adventure. You see each new experience as a learning opportunity. You see colors, shapes, letters and numbers in absolutely everything. You see beauty.


You don't see bad. You don't see evil. You don't see mean. You don't see ugliness (except maybe some fish). You don't see pain. You don't see failure (unless your marble run falls apart). You don't see disaster. You don't see bleak. You don't see pettiness. You don't see depression.


You simply see that life is good.


It's too bad he'll have to eventually deal with all of the bad with the good, especially once he starts a job.

A Weekend with Wonder Boy

I say this because he fills me with wonder whenever I'm around him.

I've never known a 2-3 year old who could recite all the planets, including the moons of Jupiter. I've never known a 2-3 year old who knew his alphabet so well he could actually read books and the signs when you're walking or driving down the street. I've never known a 2-3 year old who could count to 100 and beyond. I've never known a 2-3 year old who could print my name and really wants to write it in cursive. I've never known a 2-3 year old who wants to understand the meaning of words like "similar" as used in comparing two Halloween pumpkin decorations to each other. I've never known a 2-3 year who could name the majority of the color crayons in the Crayola box of 64. I've never known a 2-3 year old who can do algebra, basic but still...!

Until now that is. And I'm going to enjoy my Baby Boy all weekend! I'm sure I'll learn plenty from him!

Life is Just a Chair...

You know that cutsie, optimistic stuff by Mary Englebright, products with those little sayings on them like, "Life is Just a Chair of Bowlies", "Begin Again, It's A Brand New Day", "The Best Antiques are Old Friends", etc.

I'm not sure why I'm even bringing this up except that my mom told me tonight she was depressed about all the things happening on the news. I told her well your first mistake is to watch the news. I make a habit of not watching the news, the newspaper, the CNN breaking news on-line, etc. for exactly that reason. I can't help though listening to the repeated reports of large-scale earthquakes off the coast of or even in Chile, how can that country possibly recover? See, my point exactly.

You could say I should be doing my part and I do contribute to Mercy Corp, I'm sure I could always do more though. It's almost like you don't want to think about all the problems too much because you can't control any of it and all the stuff going on just doesn't bode well for our future or the future of our extended families. I worry about that but then I try to think about something else because I seriously doubt that I'll be able to influence the future one way or the other. I'm going to stop now, I don't like anything about this post and if I weren't so lazy and worn out after the last week, I'd simply delete it. Oh well, it's probably an appropriate post considering where my head is at tonight.

I'm going to watch "Passage To India". David Lean was a marvelous director. Baby boy tomorrow and through the weekend, yay!

2010 Reel Awards

And the winner is...Marilyn Monroe! Yes, I did say 2010, and yes, she looks as good or better than she ever did. I am the last person to voluntarily watch impersonators but even I have to admit the likeness of some of these people to the real (sometimes dead) stars was amazing. And it wasn't just about appearance, many of their voices, even singing voices, were dead ringers (no pun intended).

These people don't just do this for fun and prizes either. Their agent said they can make anywhere from $450 to $10,000 per engagement.

My guess is that Marilyn Monroe commands

the upper end of that scale. Here's why>

Dean Martin he's not but she is 110% there.

Too bad they didn't pair her with a

Tony Curtis or Jack Lemmon look-alike,

straight out of "Some Like It Hot".

And here is the link to connect you to

all the other close but no cigars.

http://www.thereelawards.com/home

If only I could make that kind of money impersonating people's grandmothers. At least that's the only "person" I've been told I look like by anyone, their grandmother, including a UPS guy when I had just turned 21. Yea, I still remember that slam.

Around The World In 24 Days

Eat your heart out, Phineas Fogg. Luxurious private jet vs. hot air balloon, train, ship, horse, elephant, and every other mode of transportation he and Passpartout used to get around the world in 80 days all those years ago.

This expedition is exactly what and where I want to be when I grow up...it includes highlights like the Serengeti,

the Amazon Rain Forest, the Lost City of Petra,

China's Great Wall, the Cook Islands, the coral reefs of Papua New Guinea,

the Forbidden City of Beijing, etc.

And, you are accompanied by world-reknowned anthropologists, ethnobotanists, award-winning photograpers, and all-around explorers. A learning experience from start to finish with no time wasted trying to find a decent place to stay or planning/catching your connections, getting sick because the food or water isn't safe, etc.

This would be my kind of exploring aka roughing it.

I call it pioneering after the trail has already been well-blazed. Comfortable & clean bed, lacking in at least the big bugs/snakes and opportunity for staying somewhat clean style.

Well, I can dream can't I?

Financial Future

Just exactly how much debt is the country in at this moment? Can anyone even spell the number let alone say it? Can anyone even fathom just how much that really is?

My question is, what does all this debt mean to those who are going to be depending on the government, the financial institutions, the economy to be able to retire in the next five years? And if they go ahead and retire, what's to say the money they begin with won't all of a sudden just be gone at some point after that? And if it is, who do you complain to? And I'm only thinking about those who are close to retirement (ME), I'm not even accounting for all those poor seniors who couldn't get back into the job market on a bet, Walmart and McDonalds aside.

Perhaps we could complain to the Chinese government who has invested so heavily in this country's business at this point as we seek anyone and everyone's assistance to bail us out. Perhaps we could complain to South Korea who has also invested because we bailed them out 60 years ago, right? In fact, how many of the potential countries who could financially take us over have at some point been beholden to us? Probably some if not all. I hate it when the shoe is on the other foot, especially when I'm the left foot.

It's a very unsettling feeling when you know you have no control over your future but lots of other people do. The fact that I'm going to be in this bad place with millions of other people only makes it worse. I need to come up with a back-up plan and fast. That would be a back-up plan everyone else hasn't already thought of. The problem is I'm tired of racking my brain, I've done that for the last 45 years of my career.

Retirement should not mean having to rack your brain, Dennis Hopper told me so, sitting on that chair in the middle of the desert surrounded by blue sky. I want what he has, is that too much too ask?