A Study in Mixed Emotions

Had a faboosh day yesterday. Gardened at my house and then spent a bunch of time with my excellent friend K and her guy at their house planning their garden. I also cooked them a special dinner as their son was headed out for a three day trip - his first ever trip away from home without the parents! Big goings on for both parents and the son!

The dinner was a cioppino of gorgeous squid, mussels and smoked oysters. I cooked it with chicken broth, red wine, balsamic vinegar, beer, onion, garlic and loads of good Italian seasonings - parsley, dill, thyme, some red chili for bite, some mustard, paprika and celery seed. It came out beautifully.

Then I made some flavored couscous and a spring cabbage, cuke and onion salad in a balsamic/mustard sauce.

Nom nom NOM!

None of these fine people really LIKE to cook and they had all this gorgeous seafood in the freezer, so I just did my thing! I like to make others happy. It makes ME happy.

Which brings me to the topic at hand.

After my day of gardening and being outside and getting a play date for my doggie with NORBERT the mouser (who, incidentally did not catch the gray mousie in my kitchen which is now in a Havaheart trap on the way across town!), I decided to meet up with a couple friends at the local watering hole that I love.

So, in comes this OTHER person who shall remain nameless other than calling him Mr. Cretin. So Mr. C comes in all puffed up like he usually does (mind you, NO one likes this guy. Can't name one person who would call him a friend).

Well, of course, he sits himself right down next to me. Ugh.

See, I know of a certain something that Mr. C did to my friend K (up there ^). I know of his lies and his attempts to cheat his ex-wife out of something and the lies that he asked my friend to tell on his behalf.

I also know of a couple shady business practices this person has going on.

He is a misogynistic bigot and, frankly? I don't want a thing to do with him. I've had go-rounds with this CRETIN on more than a few occasions. He does NOT like me because I'm way smarter than he is and his daughter looks up to me.

Well he started in on his name-calling and swearing at me and insinuating that because my politics do not align with his that I am dumb.

I informed this person that, in fact, I'm not a Democrat or a Liberal or a Republican or a Conservative. I'm an independent thinker and am very independent in the voting booth. His assumptions are incorrect. Period.

Then, I politely asked him to please stop talking about subjects that we obviously would not agree upon. I just wanted to visit with my friends and have a nice evening.

Well, this CRETIN would not stop. He would NOT stop. I even moved away from him physically - and what'd he do? He kept yelling at me across the bar.

Very suave.

Shocking that you're single, there, Bub.

Shocking.

See, I was there with FRIENDS. That like me and call me and come to my house and we really like each other.

You, Cretin-face, on the other hand, inserted yourself where you were not welcome.

So, what happened, pray tell?

Security was called (not by me) and one of the big, burly guys who is my friend, came and sat next to me and basically dared this CRETIN to continue his tirade of crap.

He was cut off (he'd been drinking beer and was getting a little, let's say, wobbly).

He embarrassed himself further by stating "You know, this country went to hell in a handbasket the minute we gave those broads and immigrants the right to vote."

Very debonaire.

Impressively ignorant.

Again, SHOCKING that your wife divorced you. Hmm. A real mystery there.

So, my thing is this. Today was the first day a woman piloted one of the Thunderbirds.

Yet, we still have to have this sh*t thrown at us. Like it's some MYSTERY that a woman can fly a godd*mn plane.

WHAT THE H*LL?

This makes me angry and sad all at the same time.

Why is this some big deal? Of COURSE women can do anything that men can do.

Of course.

Duh.

I've been saying lately that just because you have a penis, it does not give you some sort of special privilege in this world. But I guess I'm one of the few that truly believes it.

Since I was a kid people always kind of pigeonholed me as a "tomboy." I didn't want dolls or to play house, I wanted Matchbox cars and magnets and even a cap gun. I liked fishing and climbing trees and playing sports. I loved school and learning and words and my microscope and telescope.

Animals were always my thing - from pet spiders in the garage to the beautiful fish I'd catch and pet. Tadpoles, mud puppies, ducks, muskrats, beavers, birds, ocean critters, swimming, pretending I was a mermaid.

Never was or will be a girly-girl, I was and continue to just be a person with big dreams about sailing the Seven Seas and being out in the wilderness.

So far I've sailed the Eastern and Western North Atlantic, The Caribbean, The North Pacific, The Mediterranean and The Aegean Sea.

And the list continues to grow as I learn more and live more!

What I'd like people who read this to think about today is how we raise our children to be in this world. Don't automatically assume that your child wants to wear a dress because she's a female. Likewise, don't assume that if your male child is attracted to pink and likes sparkles that he's wrong for liking those things.

I didn't want to wear dresses or skirts. I wanted to dress in a practical way so that I could run and jump and play and do the monkey bars and dig in the dirt.

Kids are just people. We're all just people. All colors, races, ethnicities, cultures, ideas, dreams, souls.

If we could all just wake up and literally smell the roses, do our jobs, open a window, listen to the birds, enjoy a view over a lake or mountain or even just a nice sky...

It's not that hard to find the tiniest little pleasure in a smile from a baby or even a nice "hello" when you see someone.

Yesterday there was a woman at that same watering hole where I encountered cretin-man. Well, she was in a KILLER dress and had a rockin' body and was just gorgeous. One of those all-natural beauty types. She was probably around my age and she was stunning.

So, I quietly went to her table and apologized for interrupting. I told her that we all were admiring her beautifulness and that the dress was amazing on her.

I cannot TELL you how happy that made her! She thanked me about 20 times before she left with her friends. Told me I made her whole week with that one little compliment.

It is NOT hard to make others happy. It just takes the tiniest effort.

So. Whatcha waitin' for?

Ciao for now!

xoxo

Sam Smith is totally my newest favorite male artist!!

I was soooo happy that Sam Smith won the Grammy for Song of the Year! (Not to mention all of the others.)

If you have not heard this young man sing, or if you have not seen one of his gorgeous videos or performances live (he did a stint with the SNL crew - blew my socks off. I recorded it, luckily, and played the live performances over and over and over), well, if you've not listened to this angel sing, you MUST!!!

YOU MUST!!



He is, for me, a young incarnation of Boy George. I loved me some Karma Chameleon back in the day, but Sam's music (I refer to him like I know him personally - that's how GOOD his writing is) is a new level of lovely.

Harmonically and lyrically speaking, this kid is just DA BOMB, to use a very old and worn-out phrase.

I watched the Grammy's of course, because I love love love music and musicians and lyricists and producers, BUT!!! Mostly, this year? I wanted to see Sam Smith do another of his magical performances and I was NOT disappointed.

All of my favorite people were there!!!!!

Prince! Beyonce! Mary J Blige!! Rihanna! Sam Smith! Jessie J (who, by the by, looked incredible), Pharrell Williams! Katy Perry!!! MADONNA!! Sia! Kristen Wiig!!  (WOW!)

And Ed Sheeran. Could he possibly be any more adorable?

Beck!!

Even back up bands were filled with amazing talent like Quest Love, Herbie Hancock.

ELO performed. Do you know how much I loved Electric Light Orchestra in my highschool days? That band was the background music to my entire teen life!

Hozier and Annie Lennox. Absolutely stunning song. Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani? Holy schniekies! I do believe that Adam and Gwen have been drinking from the fountain of youth. Just flawless the both of them.

John Legend, LL Cool J!

Jimmy Carter for Spoken Word. Really powerful if you've not read it or heard it - "A Call to Action." Our Congress would be wiser for even having this pumped into the building.

Jeez with the food stamps now under attack? Heaven forBID we feed hungry homeless poor people.

We don't want kids actually eating FOOD, right?

They should go live off the land like the rich, fat, white bloated assh*les running our country right now.

Oh. Right. These assh*les have free lunch and free haircuts and free health care and free-DOM. More like FREE-DUM.

I cannot believe that these idiots were VOTED into office by the very people they are enjoying screwing out of their hard-earned dollars and now food? Read about it. It's a thing.

Ok. Back to the Grammys. You know how I get on a rant and can't let it go. I just hate that everytime I turn my computer on first thing that pops up is another horrid act by our GOP leadership. I seriously don't know what happened to these entitled people as kids, but they are forgetting basics like free speech and the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to our Constitution. I wonder if they could even sing our National Anthem? Or say the Lord's Prayer?

These are basic things that our original leaders cherished above all other things. Common Decency. I come from the COMMONWEALTH of Massachusetts. Most people don't know the difference between a State (like Alaska) and what it really, truly means to be a Common Wealth.

It means we take CARE of each other. When I'm up, I'll help you if you're down. And Vice Versa.

The pay-it-forward culture is alive and well and it resides firmly where I grew up in Michigan and then for almost 30 years in Massachusetts. My friends and family over there on the East Coast are fiercely smart, fiercely independent thinkers, fiercely challenging at times (which I appreciate) and FIERCELY LOYAL.

If you knew about the outpouring of love and offers of help I received from my buddies and friends and even acquaintances when I just had my identity stolen here in Alaska? You'd be shocked! And maybe jealous! I had people wanting to fly me back, I had 10 young men who call themselves my little brothers all ready to hop on a plane to take shifts protecting me and my home!

Luckily, it didn't come to that because the police (God Bless) came to my aid and took my reports very seriously. Crime is pervasive in Alaska due to the transient nature of the work force in the oil fields called "The Slope." With oil prices plummeting, the funding is drying up here, so we've got a huge homeless problem and a BIG drug and alcohol problem which fuels the domestic violence problem.

Big Oil has retreated elsewhere, leaving a lot of people without hope. Plus the return of many vets from Iraq and Afghanistan is also creating some really sad situations. PTSD left untreated? Now we've got suicide rates going through the roof and leaving behind wives and husbands and children that are lost without benefits...I've helped a load of lovely young families just to feed their children. I'm part of a couple groups here that make sure the kids and families are being aided. Clothes, boots, food, bedding. Basic stuff.

So, when Congress decides to cut funding to the VA and now for food stamps?  Yet the kickbacks of BILLIONS of dollars to Wall Street? Corporations that operate tax free?

I pay 35% tax on my income. THIRTY FIVE PERCENT. And I'm a tiny tiny tiny business.

So, I get to earn 65 cents on the dollar.

Great. Thanks, Congress.

Oh, well. I digressed again. See? You get me going and I just explode!! But it's all true.

I'll continue my Grammy post tomorrow. So many more artists to talk about! Really a great show this year, I thought.

Ciao for now. And think about how and for whom you'll vote coming up. Please.