Syria - A letter to President Obama

I plan to send President Obama a handmade card.  I'm hoping that will get me an autographed photo or some other souvenir.  I've had no luck when I use the 'contact us' link on whitehouse.gov.
If you know me, you know it will take me a LONG time to get a card out.

And in the meantime, trouble's a brewin' and I have to get a message to the President before it's too late!
I sent him this message using the 'contact us' link on whitehouse.gov.

Dear Mr. President,
I'll keep this short and to the point.
I do not support intervening in Syria.
Using violence to get what we want is never going to help.  It doesn't make things better on a personal level, and it won't make things better on a global level.
No good can come of it.
Why are the deaths we cause using bombs less despicable than the deaths caused by chemical weapons?
There is no acceptable war, so don't convince yourself that some line has been crossed now that chemical weapons were used...the line was crossed when the first bullet was shot, and we did nothing (which I agree with).
It's horrible that people are dying.  We shouldn't add to it.
I wish you the best President Obama...I know these will be hard days for you.
Thank you for everything.
Vicky

Fingers crossed this note will make the difference!!!

And now I know...Whodunnit

The killer was revealed in Sunday night's fnale.  Three contestants remained, a final quiz that involved a lot of running...it was an exciting finale.
Except the part where the killer is revealed.  That part still confuses me.  The killer was a castmate who was playing the game all the way through with the rest of the contestants?  The killer didn't know how the murders were done, but only knew that he or she was the killer?  Was the killer an employee then?  Or a contestant they selected randomly?

I felt bad for Lindsey who was suspected to be the killer most often, and the one who knew it was Chris the whole time.  She came in second - the last victim.  But, Cam played a good game so it's fine he won.

Oh well.  It was a fun enough show. I'll leave the final word to Andy Dehnart at Reality Blurred, who writes better than I do, and I agree with what he says.

P.S.  I'm sorry I thought you were the killer Melina!

Orange is the New Black

I spent 13 hours this weekend watching all episodes of "Orange is the New Black" on Netflix.
Why?
'Cause it was good, that's why!
(I managed to take a couple walks as well, so it wasn't all couch potato time)

Love all the characters, the acting is fantastic, interesting setting, nice blend of comedy and drama.  Great show.  I'd like to tell you about the character/cast standouts, but they're all really great.
I like every character...except the male guards/counselors - and I'm not supposed to like them!

I'll note Kate Mulgrew because I've been watching her from Mary Ryan on "Ryan's Hope" to Mrs. Columbo, to Star Trek Voyager.

I also like Uzo Aduba as Crazy Eyes

Her character's real name is Suzanne, but everyone calls her Crazy Eyes. She's very intense and straight forward so she seems childlike sometimes.  But, she can be threatening, sexually provocative, and aggressive as well..  "You don't want to see me when I'm angry", she says.

And now that I've named two I feel guilty for not naming all of them.
But wait, there's more!
The characters in Piper's home life are good too (Piper's the main character).  I want to dislike her best friend because she's too sassy and hip and rich.  But, the writing (and acting, of course) are keeping her balanced; I DO like her!

On the more dramatic side, there's a lot of story to tell, about the personal lives of the women, and the prison system in our country today.
I recently heard the US imprisons more people than any other country in the world.  I don't think they limited it to the 'western' world, but ALL the world - even our nation's enemies don't have as many prisoners as we do.

I hope the success and praise the show is receiving won't cause too much stress for the creator.  I've seen it happen many times to shows I love - they get a lot of buzz and suddenly the show turns into cardboard mush; generic story, plot without motivation.  Ugh.

Bah I'm getting all negative about the future when I've only just finished watching and loving the show!
It's worth checking out on Netflix.  Do it!

I am grateful for...

a soft place to rest my head...I know for many, this is a luxury.  I didn't do anything to earn it except keep my head above water.  

In a 60 Minutes profile of Zhang Xin (billionaire real estate developer changing the face of Beijing), she talked about months as a child when she slept on a desk with a dictionary for a pillow.  

I wonder, was she born with the courage to rise up from her difficult circumstances?  Did she learn the skills she needed from her parents?  Or, did the hardships of her childhood awaken something in her?  

It's a fascinating question to me.  

Another Whodunnit

Cast of "Whodunnit?"

I wish they hadn't named the show "Whodunnit?" 'cause how would I know?  It doesn't even mean anything.  It's throwing me off.  Last night Melina became the next victim of the killer...?  She's the one I thought WAS the killer.  But, in the previews for next week she was walking near Giles (who is tied up with guns pointing at his head), so I'm not sure what's going on.

And, if the killer is Lindsey then that's no fun 'cause she was the obvious choice since she kept switching sides.  And, would the killer really win as often as Lindsey has?  Of course, if that's my criteria, the killer is Cam 'cause I don't think he's won as many as Chris or Lindsey.  And I don't think it's Cam.  Although he seems like he's 'acting' less than the others.  Cam or Chris seem like they've done some good work to get where they are.  Lindsey as well except I'm going to hop on board the 'Lindsey is the Killer' train.  

Oh, I don't know!

I guess at this point it doesn't matter.

I liked the idea of this game, and it's been compared to The Mole, but even in that series I couldn't figure out how I could play along to answer the question who is the Mole?  Or, in this case...Whodunnit?

I like the puzzles though and that's what keeps me coming back.

(I've previously written about "Whodunnit?" here and here)

The Kiss Off

"I do desire that we may be better strangers."

That's a nice kiss-off from "As You Like It"

I have no idea the context in which this line is spoken.  I have never read a Shakespeare play.  I believe I've seen a play or movie by, or based on, Shakespeare, but I couldn't tell you which ones or when.

Everything I know about Shakespeare is from other people's references to him or his stories.

I like to think I'm well read - but, I'm not.  I just listen to what people who are well read have to say.

(and even then, I forget quickly until it comes up again and then it will pop into my head)

I want to say "I do desire that we may be better strangers" to someone.  Love it.  Where did I hear this?  On Slate's Dear Prudence column today.