Monthly Archives: November 2016
The View From the Hill
I love California. Wish I could have made it work here. Lived here for six years, three in San Francisco, three in San Diego, and of course I’ve visited many times. Finished my MSW here and worked various and sundry jobs. I was just starting too late to fully enter into ‘the good life’ in the Golden State. But I suppose if it had worked I would just be missing New Mexico and my New Mexico family. Such is life with that greener grass always just over there.
Nine days to look forward to now…doing exactly what I want…being pampered…being the family elder isn’t all bad…
THE VIEW. FROM ARRIVAL IN THE RAIN LAST NIGHT TO RIGHT NOW. The poor man’s version of time-lapse photography.
VACA…starting in seven hours
Not sure I’ll publish this…it sounds like I lead a very decadent life as a surly lush who only loves words and pictures, not people. Not entirely true.
It has been a hectic fall. I’ve abandoned my introverted ways for a big social schedule of friends, movies, concerts, clubs, gatherings (even) and friendly coffees and lunches. Phew…giving that up as of January 1, 2017. Enough extroversion, back to my books and off-work solitude.
Meanwhile let me tell you about this morning. Twelfth day after the election-from-hell (eventually I will be able just to say ‘the last election’, not yet).
I am leaving for San Diego this afternoon where I am pampered by my California family. It is indeed WONDERFUL. Ten days of good company, good food, California THE FREE STATE ambience, and time to blog and think and write a little and enjoy the pleasure of being a grandmother to delightful grandchildren (in December I get to do the same thing in New Mexico—it’s just more regular, therefore ordinary, here where I live, however the grandchildren are no less delightful, and one even has a perfect dog!)
The thing I’m getting around to is that at 10am on a Sunday morning I am drinking a few glasses of my excellent white wine and eating a baked potato. (So okay, I can’t even have a wine when I get to my kid’s house in SD at 7pm—my serious medical/ hypochondriacal issue with drinking or eating after 4 or 5 pm. It makes us do strange things.) I feel positive for the first time since the 8th. It has taken a ban on all news media and three glasses of wine to bring me to this place but, hey, happiness is happiness.
It is so weird. I have nothing scheduled for this time until the airport. I NEVER leave open time. EVER. Of course throwing the Surface in the backpack and showering and dressing are there but that’s a few hours from now. Aaaahhhh. Netflix. I’ll start House of Cards, the final season. Maybe Netflix IS the answer to most questions?
The only thing I miss about my media ban is Fareed Zakaria on Sunday morning. But I can read his columns. It’s just that I’m so used to those images before my face. Is it good that on-line seems to take a bit more thought, focus, intent? Or is that because I’m old? Anyway…Here’s to VACA…
The Sixth Stage of Grief
It is a sad statement that as I write this I can’t help but wonder if we are not heading back to a McCarthy-era place where we must fear the personal, familial and professional backlash of engaging in free speech! … such as this post. ‘Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid’ –to steal a line from an old horror film The Fly (how appropriate after all…)
Ten days have passed between election day and today. American Progressives—among whom I would count anyone who objects to the idea of electing a president who embodies all of the ‘isms plus being a shyster of the first order—have not been sleeping well. Moving on productively is the trick to getting back to some new normal. So…reviewing the seven stages of grief (we have after all lost something quite loved—that last shred of innocence we had about who we are as Americans) let’s see where we are now.
I am in Stage Six.
Just to remind you: it goes like this:
- Shock & denial
- Pain & guilt
- Anger & bargaining
- Depression
- The upward turn
- Reconstruction & working through
- Acceptance & hope
To Arrive in Stage Six, this is what I’ve done:
- My ringtone is We Shall Overcome.
- Television is gone (not the thing itself which is after all the source of Netflix and Amazon Prime but the channels of fake news, sports, smutty and/or inane network ‘comedies’ and REALITY shows). I’m sure it will be back some day but for the foreseeable future it is banned—the sight of the smug aging white faces of the shyster and his buddies must be kept to a minimum if sanity is to reign.
- The NYT doorstep edition suspended briefly—or longer. I still have access on line but it’s easier to skim over ‘those faces’ on the screen then when opening up the front page to them before one is fully awake…gag me, etc….
- HuffPost US banned. I can get all of the regional and reliable world news from HuffPost Canada, UK, Australia and South Africa, Aljazeera and on-line PBS without seeing what I’m starting the think of as ‘the faces from hell.’
- Signed up for the January 21st WOMEN’S MARCH ON WASHINGTON. Have my plane tickets to NYC, and a friend and I will bus or drive down to DC.
- Making small but at least symbolic monthly dollar commitments to Move On, ACLU and Planned Parenthood. There will be other commitments as The Movement develops, and while all small, every dollar is a vote for what I believe in…
- Paying close attention to Bernie, Elizabeth, and others like them regarding next steps. One of the first has been to get Keith Ellison to assume leadership of the Democratic Party.
- Vowing to work hard (and we all know how much easier vowing is than actual doing—but here’s to a renewed commitment to ‘doing.’) to elect honest progressive Democrats as Mayor of Albuquerque and Governor of New Mexico. Preferably ones who can generate a bit of enthusiasm in addition to being hard-working and honest!
Of course it’s easy to write a Saturday morning post about all of this. I think this time however, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT ALL OF OUR RESOLUTIONS ARE KEPT. Just watched Geena Davis (The Fly on youtube) saying with fear, trembling and loathing in her voice “Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid.” Watch this when your enthusiasm is lagging Marjorie!
Off to the Free State of California for the holidays.
Today is Not a Good Day
I do promise this is my last political rant for a long time to come.
I’m physically at work after a mostly sleepless night but mentally I am SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY.
I spent last night veering between almost-vomiting and almost-crying as I paced the confines of my tiny living room and periodically tried dozing. Couldn’t turn on the TV once I realized the worst had happened and reading was difficult.
So I simply mourned—for the loss of Presidential intelligence, experience, good citizenship and good manners, adult behavior, the ability to articulate ideas and goals, and possibly a broad interest and knowledge of the whole wide world. Gone.
This is the last time I will write about The Shyster and his adoring public and there’s not much to say that all of us haven’t said over and over in the past few hours.
But one more time I must say this: it is so sad to think half of our voting population is ill-informed and/or terrified of the world and/or racist, sexist, misogynistic, xenophobic and/or just plain mean and dumb. And thanks to them I can’t write a happy little blurb saying “Phew, thank god THAT’S over.” I am happy to say MY states did okay: New Mexico, Minnesota, California. Good job us.
The Shyster IS NOT MY President. Hillary won the popular vote which is what I go by. But he wouldn’t be in any case.
Becoming American
No secret I’ve never been all that Capital A-American. The US, like every other country is only as good as it treats the least among us…which puts us somewhere in the middle ranks I would say. I consider the flag a piece of cloth…although I do feel patriotic when hearing either Battle Hymn of the Republic or Simon and Garfunkel’s We’ve All Gone to Look for America.
In honor of election time however, in the last couple of weeks I’ve worked hard at becoming a Real American. When Hillary is declared the winner I want to celebrate my country, little slow on the draw but we finally come through…often. If the Shyster should win, next time I’m home in Minnesota I’ll be one of those border jumpers, right across the Rainy River or a soy bean field on the west end of the state. Here’s how I became a ‘Real American’:
So #1, I acquired “a team.” I was just in Chicago and now I Am A Serious Cubs Fan.
#2. I went to church at 10am yesterday, Sunday. At least I’m pretty sure it was church. There were a bunch of books resembling hymnals and bibles piled around and a couple of stern old guys resembling prophets straight out of biblical times.
-
- VERY stern prophets.
#3. I ate pizza.
#4. I spent the afternoon with some ‘girls gone wild.‘
GO HILLARY!
Friday Morning: A Minute of Weather
Gripe, complain, piss and moan…all I ever do about the endless Albuquerque sun. So we are supposed to have Weather (not WEATHER) today and tomorrow. However, as usual, it will only last a minute or seven. Any Albuquerque Weather deserves a photo or two don’t you think?
LEAVING HOME
ARRIVING AT WORK
VOTE…unless you’re a Trump supporter which I am pretty sure none of my FB Friends are…
TODAY 