Thank you 2018 and Hello 2019!!!

Photo Credit: Ulet Ifansasti, Getty Images

Found on the New York Times newsletter

A wonderful last day of 2018!!
I enjoyed a lovely few moments standing next to a tree at Lake Washington with Mount Rainier to my right and a beautiful red/orange sunset to my left.

One of these days I'll insert a photo of it.  I was late getting to Medina Beach so I caught the tail end of the sunset.

Since I was standing in the air, on the ground, next to a tree, listening to the water - I took a moment to thank the Earth for all of it.  What a gift our planet is!!!

And I thanked 2018.  My plan for this year was that I would CHOOSE TO CHECK!  In last year's 'end of the year' blog post, I implied I'd do something digital.
That didn't last.  I couldn't find one that gave me what I need.
This year, I experimented with lots of different methods to remember my past, organize the present, and plan for the future. Every few weeks I would tweak it all over again.
Bullet Journal? Composition Notebook? Handwritten every day? Templates for each day?
I have too much fun creating new versions of my Daily/Weekly booklet every few weeks!
For that reason, I'm committing to my current version for the entire month of January.

I've spent time thinking about how I want to spend 2019.  Although I had an evolving checklist system in 2018, there wasn't anything in the system that held me accountable.  If I'm obligated to someone else, I will get it done (after procrastinating), but if it's just me and making my life better - no such obligation and I don't do it.  I had a space for exercise, but skipped over it all the time.  Same with spiritual reading and meditation.

So, this year my theme is ACCOUNTABILITY.
Nothing magic happened to make me more accountable. I don't have a plan for how to do it, except to do it. 
Right now, it's after 8 and my evening routine starts at 8:00p  Who will hold me accountable for not doing it?  Nobody.  It's a special day, so it's important I get this blog post completed.  I had it on my schedule for 7 - 8, but clearly it took me longer.  That's my other challenge - estimating time.
It will be another challenging, but exhilarating year for me!!!  Yay!

In the spirit of ending the year on a high note - I'll hold myself accountable and start my evening routine. 

I'll say quickly, though, this year I learned a LOT about myself and how I handle things.  One of these days, I'll review my writing over the last year to get a summary of all the 'insights' I had. 
Also, I started UW in Fall Quarter.  Not something I expected I'd be doing in 2018 at all, though I guess the seeds had been planted in various ways.  Taking the class was another way for me to learn about myself.  I think I'll become a better writer because I'm in school.  It was a huge accomplishment to get into the degree program.

The key to 2018 has been reflection and Morning Pages.  I'll continue using those tools in 2019 to make improvements and understand how/why it's important to be accountable to me.
My goals for the year are in my Worksheets for Life document. 

More on all of this at another time.  Right now...I wish you a  Happy New Year!!!!

"Forever" on Amazon Prime

This weekend I watched "Forever", a new show streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Unique, charming, at times funny, sad, and redemptive are words I'd use to describe this show.

The story is about Oscar and June and their long marriage.
Its a quiet story about really big themes.
What's the point of life? How do you stay together when one feels trapped and the other wants to stretch their wings? There are more, but they're not coming to me right now.

I saw a few reviews that talked about an ending in which nothing happens, or it's a cop out.  I can't understand that...it all came down to the ending.

I don't want to say anything more because it's worth watching without expectations.  I watched the eight episodes last night and today.
I will say, it requires patience and thoughtfulness to appreciate it's subtler moments.
I thought it was well worth it and I hope it has a second season.

President Donald J Trump...

I have so little regard for this person I can hardly stand to see his face and I don't like seeing him talk and his tweeting enrages me.
He's a fellow human on this Earth so I want to wish him well., and I do - for all our sakes.

Why do I dislike him so?  I wish I could count the ways.

I just went on twitter and commented on all his tweets today.  I feel a little better. 

Monday July 16, 2018

A different perspective:

From The Nib: Countering Terrorism...with Racism?

Saturday July 7

Time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin' into the future


It sure does.


Today, I saw these quotes (Thank you Oprah) and they spoke to me...the third one particularly.

We build our TEMPLES with the stones at hand. 
The stories we tell ourselves become temples in our mind.  That's interesting.  We do what we can with the stones we have.  Even if the stones we have at hand aren't healthy or positive, we create a temple with them anyway.
So true.  I assume the stone I have is a truth.  I may learn later that it isn't, but in the meantime, I created a temple to the idea of it as a truth...I'm not good enough, I'm not pretty, I don't fit in, I'm weird.  I stand my ground in the temple of my truth.
It's not easy to tear down that temple so I can find new stones and build a new temple.
Can I ever be sure the 'stones at hand' are true?
Even if they are, should I build a temple with them?

Intriguing.

Richard O Moore

I wasn't able to find Richard O Moore's context for the quote.  I guess that's okay, because it was interesting to me in its present form - I provided the context and it made me think.

February 25

My Dad, about 1959

Happy Birthday Dad!!!!

He's been a memory for more years than the years I could hug him.  

I'd love to talk to him again.

Now that he's had some time away from his life, what would he say about it?

Every day is a normal day, until it's not.

Attribution: By Steve Rainwater from Irving, US - img_5566, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56827044

Yesterday, another school shooting.
17 people died.
AR-15 Style Rifle was used.
Shooter is a 19 year old white male with mental health issues.

So many thoughts.

1. "another school shooting"...the fact that there are so many it's hard to keep track of them all is outrageous.
2. "another school shooting"...at a school.  A school for goodness sake. A movie theater, a church, a nightclub, the office. 
3. "17 people died" - what kind of trauma does that create in a whole generation of children/teenagers/adults?  I'm fortunate.  I complain even still.  What if this had happened in my life?  I can't imagine.
Heartbreaking. 
4. "AR-15" - an assault rifle the NRA supports and defends.  Who needs an ASSAULT rifle??? The NRA is the enemy of a free, peaceful, safe, United States.  They are cynical, manipulative, cunning, and care only about guns...they don't care about the United States of America.  They are a scourge. They twisted things around so people who support the NRA think they're supporting Freedom in America. 
I hope people will stop voting for candidates who support or accept funds from the NRA. 
5. "mental health issues" - we have GOT to get better dealing with mental health issues.  We ignore it and hope it goes away and give only a small amount of money.  The most horrible President in the history of the United States, Donald Trump, wants to spend more than 30 million dollars on a military parade for himself this year.  Maybe he should consider using that money for mental health issues instead.

I get it, these are tricky issues.  Right to privacy, freedom to choose, second amendment.
But, we're out of control right now.
Reasonable and common sense notions are thrown out the window because of partisan adherence to partisan principles that kill people.  One way or another.

Our government policies are determining the world we live in.
The current policies are not working to create a safe, equal opportunity, environment for all.
I don't blame the current administration entirely - though they are going backward on any progress we've made in these areas - but, really...mental health is not considered a primary focus for spending. And we allow the NRA to run roughshod over everything. 

Reasoned Compassion. Let's put some thought into things and have a little compassion for people who aren't exactly like us.
That's what we need.

Here are some articles on the side issue of NRA funded lawmakers and their 'Thoughts and Prayers' tweets:

Thoughts and Prayers and NRA Funding (opinion from NYTimes)

Bess Kalb, Jimmy Kimmel writer is tweet-sponding to the Thoughts and Prayers tweets of lawmakers.

And here are some articles in the wake of yesterday's Valentine's Day shooting in Florida

From The Guardian: How many US School shootings have there been in 2018 so far?

From the NYT

From the Washington Post

Eyes, The Television Show

Here's another show I liked that ended way too early - in fact only a few episodes aired.  Why?
I don't know. I thought it was great...and that's after only five episodes aired.  After more than a decade I still feel like we missed out on something.  Ah well.

Eyes on Wikipedia

Limitless, the Television Series

Did I ever mention that I liked the television show called Limitless?

It's not on anymore, but I thought it was fun.  I may have made a post about it already. 

Everyone did a wonderful job. 
It actually ended at a good spot - or at least as good as can be expected.  No major cliff hanger.

Limitless on Wikipedia

Twisting Reality - How the Powerful Pretend to be the Victim

Photos by James Brunt, via Colossal on February 8, 2018

My blog today, is copying someone else's newsletter.

Hey - they already used the right words to convey the meaning...no sense reinventing the wheel, right?

This is from today's 'Interpreter' newsletter from the New York Times.  

It's about the favorite tactic of Trump and Republicans and people like them. 

If I take my own opinion out of it, I'd say it's the favorite tactic of people in power who feel threatened.  

Today the authors (Max Fisher and Amanda Taub) started thinking about this because Germany's recent elections gave rise to the German Far Right party, which used similar tactics to make themselves seem like victims.  

Read on...the bolded portions are mine; I bolded the parts that resonated with me.

I’ve Been Punching Down So Long it Look Like Up to Me

Supporters of Germany’s far-right AfD party protesting against Angela Merkel’s government. Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images

“Don’t punch down” is one of our personal rules for interacting with other humans.

Punching down, for the unfamiliar, is a term coined by comedians as a way to tell the difference between jokes that tell truth to power and those that get laughs at the expense of vulnerable people.

The rule serves as a reminder that power matters, and context matters, when determining what is a fair or respectful way to behave. And that even people who don’t see themselves as powerful (say, just hypothetically, exhausted and disheveled newspaper journalists who are currently living out of suitcases) may actually enjoy considerable privilege and authority (again, strictly hypothetically, perhaps the journalists in question have their own column and newsletter in the Paper of Record) and should be careful to avoid carelessness or cruelty to people who don’t.

Over the past few years, we’ve noticed how a very particular sleight of hand disguises punching down as punching up. It has become a potent political tool --  one whose consequences we think are worth paying attention to. It often focuses on the supposed scourge of political correctness, which allows the powerful to present themselves as victims of the relatively powerless. What they call blows of self-defense, made against an overwhelming P.C. mob, are in fact punches that land squarely downward.

In Germany, for instance, supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, talked at great length about how oppressed they felt. Refugees, they said, now enjoy far more privileges and protections than ordinary citizens like themselves. Angela Merkel’s government, they said, cares only about foreigners. But it was “forbidden” to criticize that state of affairs, they insisted, and people like them had been silenced.

In fact, refugees in Germany tend to be poor and struggling, while the AfD supporters we spoke with were educated and affluent. And no one had been silenced, as evidenced by the fact that we were interviewing AfD voters at well-attended public rallies where speakers denounced the government.

But viewing refugees as a vast group allied with the government made them seem powerful, and let AfD supporters feel like valiant truth-tellers. And once that perspective was in place, criticism and accusations of racism from refugees and their allies could be  denounced as censorship, providing still more fuel for the grievances that supercharged the AfD’s rapid rise.

It’s not just Germany. In the United States, arguments about “political correctness” are often a way for pundits and politicians unsettled by social changes to re-frame the debate as one about freedom of expression.

That argument has resonated with the public, particularly on the right. There’s probably not a single political journalist who has not been barraged by voters who believe that political correctness has silenced real conversations about race, immigration and the threats they perceive from Muslims. Racial and religious minorities, in that narrative, have joined with liberals to impose unreasonable rules on everything from how ordinary people can talk to how politicians can govern.

In fact, of course, immigration was one of the most significant issues of the last presidential campaign. A series of incidents, including police officers shooting unarmed black civilians, have made race a subject of intense public conversation for the past several years. And undocumented immigrants and African-Americans are, objectively, poorer and less politically powerful than the average voter.

But those debates are often uncomfortable for white Americans who might resent or fear the ways that their country’s demographics, culture and political power balance are changing. Focusing on “political correctness” is a way to cast that discomfort as the result of unfair treatment, and the people punching up to demand change as a powerful group punching down at ordinary Americans.

In a recent Harpers Magazine essay criticizing the #MeToo movement, the journalist Katie Roiphe took a similar tack, presenting the movement’s supporters as an out-of-control, dangerous mob. Her sources required “deep anonymity,” she wrote, because they feared their reputations or careers would come under attack if their true thoughts were known. She compared the editor of a literary magazine to a “low-level secret policeman in a totalitarian state,” transmogrifying her from one woman with a controversial opinion into an enforcer for a dangerous and oppressive movement.

That doesn’t mean that anyone who worries about, say, college students banning speakers from campus is racist or sexist. Undergraduates have been taking things too far since undergraduates were invented; it would be weird if they stopped now. There’s nothing wrong with pointing that out.

But it’s important to distinguish between individual excesses and harbingers of creeping authoritarianism — and it can be surprisingly easy to mistake one for the other.

Bari Weiss, our colleague in the Times Opinion section, described such an error with laudable self-awareness on Tuesday, when explaining why she had deleted a tweet criticizing a freelance writer.

She regretted the way she had singled out the woman for public criticism, she wrote, but at the time, “it *felt* like punching up,” because she was defending Ms. Roiphe against what seemed like a unified angry mob on Twitter. In the thick of the criticism, she saw a frightening, overwhelming force instead of a single, relatively powerless individual, and reacted accordingly.

It’s a common human response. Lilliana Mason, a political scientist at the University of Maryland who researches the role of identity groups in politics, once told Amanda that “the best way to make someone defend their identity is to threaten it.” When critics seem like a scary, powerful mob, in other words, that will tend to make people feel more attached to their own group identities, and increase their sense that they are under threat from outsiders.

If that just leads to rancor and arguing, that’s unfortunate but ultimately not a matter of great concern. But the consequences can also be more significant. Professor Mason’s research has shown that when people’s identities harden, their fear of outsiders becomes more severe, which can fuel political polarization and tribalism.

And as we have written often in the past, polarization can be a tremendously destructive political force. It leads to gridlock, undermines governance and can even, in severe situations, erode citizens’ commitment to democracy itself. If disguising punching down as punching up contributes to such forces, it’s worth watching that carefully *** It's been tremendously frustrating for me to watch the powerful twist the truth and make themselves seem like the victims.  Poor me - the immigrants are taking my jobs. Poor me - the Black People want to announce that their Lives Matter Poor me - the women don't want to accept that I just wanna have fun. Ugh. After years - centuries - of treating immigrants like shit, holding Black People as slaves, and believing the only value of women is a means to an end. So irritating.  Eff Them. But, how do you counter their statements? I don't have a myriad of facts in my brain ready to spout at the first sign.  Also, it happens so quick it gets lost in the conversation.  I wish reporters and media broadcasters would stop them and say "The facts don't bear out what you're saying." Sigh.  I don't know the answer. Except educating people about civic debate and how to recognize tactics that aren't backed up by facts. Hey - it just now occurred to me that I'm dealing with a personal issue right now in which I've done THE SAME THING MYSELF - so I guess it's a little bit of human nature. I had an experience that I reacted to in a way that didn't have much of anything to do with the experience, but was more about protecting myself. Interesting.  I'll have to think of that some more.

I Finished a Book! I Finished a Book!

Yay! I finished a book!  Mostly. I didn't read pages 170 - 200.

It was an easy to read book and I laughed a few times.

It wasn't my cup of tea, though.

I bought the book based on the section where she described how she met and married her husband.  I thought that was fun, original, and interesting.

But, very quickly it changed into a Suburban Mom book.
It turns out the author has a very successful 'Mom' blog called "People I Want to Punch in the Throat"

The book is filled with all the stereotypes we see in "American Housewife".
I only watch that show periodically because the main character is always complaining about the other Moms and then does something equally horrible.

This book was like that.

As I said, it was easy to read and I did laugh a couple times (I don't laugh easily so that means something).

The theme, though, isn't particularly original (even in 2014 when the book was published).
I feel like the story of one Mom in the neighborhood being normal and everyone else is either rich or a Type A or perfectionist or whatever has been done and done and done.
I'm over it.

Oh yeah - I just remembered "The New Adventures of Old Christine" - another show about the same thing.
I loved that show.  I can't say I loved it on its original go 'round. Later, in repeats, I came to appreciate everything about it - JLD acting, Christine's friendship with Barb, her ex-husband, her brother, and her son.  I really liked New Christine.  Yeah - I should have watched that show.  Great writing and acting on all fronts.

"I'm Still Not Over...Julia Louis-Dreyfus' powerhouse performance in The New Adventures of Old Christine" from EW Magazine

2017 Perspective

Yes - 2017 was difficult for me. I want 2018 to be a year of change.

Here's a reminder that no day or year or season is good or bad. It just is. We make of it what we will.
I 'hid' in 2017. I was overwhelmed and I haven't gotten out of it yet.
But, today I am reminded that the world is good,  I'm not sure I contribute to the good of the world, but I won't contribute to the bad.
I still have a light.

I saw this commercial for the first time today. I'm conflicted that it came from a large corporation - do their corporate policies match the ideals in this commercial?
Although the commercial speaks strongly of the human spirit, I have a feeling it's also meant to encourage a lack of reliance on the federal government to come to the aid of strangers.

This is the commercial:  Mass Mutual - Unsung

Nonetheless, it's an inspiring reminder.



I wish everyone saw the federal government the same way I do - not as an overseer trying to rule our lives, but a way to combine our resources to do the most good for the most people.
It should also maintain a standard vision of what a United States of America means,
For me, it's that all Americans are housed, fed, healthy, and educated.
Everyone - every human being - can advance based on their merit and desire.
All Americans have freedom to speak and believe and do what they want as long as other people's rights are not infringed and they are obeying the laws of our federal government, with the caveat being that the laws of the federal government reflect the people's vision (that's the tough one).

#MeToo at First UU in Portland...I BELIEVE YOU

When Women Gather

I'm grateful that I'm able to make a post about the 12/10/2017 First Unitarian Universalist church service.  Three speakers made a huge impact on me and I was full-on crying by the end.

The service was called I BELIEVE YOU.

This link has a video and a transcript of the speeches.

The 2018 Golden Globes

This year the Golden Globes took on sexual harassment and gender inequality.

Women wore black gowns to the event (and looked smashing).

The theme of the night was "TIME'S UP"

I haven't experienced sexual harassment or gender inequality that destroys lives or even would be worth talking about.

The thing I've experienced, though, is the power dynamic that men have over women.

I've been confronted by angry men who I had to back down from because I couldn't be sure they wouldn't haul off and hit me.  

I've been confronted by one angry man who did.

It stays with you; that feeling of not being able to fight for yourself because you want to live another day.

I have placated men with delicate egos. 

They have undercut my efforts to succeed when given a chance.

Behind closed doors, I suspect I've known men who had little or no interest in respecting the women they work with, or had old fashioned expectations of women they live with.

I'll never know for sure.

I know what it's like to be female in this society and I've heard stories from other women.

I can relate to what they say even if I haven't experienced it.

It's true...TIME'S UP.

I hope this time it takes.  

I'm not sure it will, but maybe it will at least get better and the next time we reach a breaking point it will get better again.  As it is, I was lucky to live in my time.  Many women before me sacrificed so I could have an education, make choices, live free.  For the most part, I have been free.

AV Club - Please Enjoy Natalie Portman...

It seems the Whole World is talking about Oprah's speech.

It brought me to tears. MFT mentioned that she had tears in her eyes as well.

People liked the speech so much, we now have this...

She has always said she'd never run for political office. And I believe her.

But, last night Steadman (her 'rock') said she'd do it if the people wanted her to.

That surprises and confuses me.

She would get my vote.

Special Post: THE @DONALDJTRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Secretary of HUD, Ben Carson

Court Forces Ben Carson to give Better Housing Access to Low Income Families after he Refused to Do So.

Saturday Morning tweets from President Trump

This is a list of Trump's recent tweets as of 9:44 PST on Saturday January 6, 2018 in chronological order...

Here's a write-up in The New York Times about the tweets this morning

And here's the other really wacky tweet he posted earlier this week...

He's meeting at Camp David with Republican Leaders this morning and they had a press conference, standing together...

After watching the press conference, I'm struck by how warped our politics have become.  I don't blame Trump for this although he's certainly exacerbated it...he said "We need more Republicans..."
It really is this all or nothing game now.  Democrats all stick together and Republicans all stick together.  It's not healthy. The party system is kinda goofy anyway - which I've felt ever since I went to a legislative district caucus back in the 80's or 90's.  The party creates a platform and everyone who wants the party's financial support would, in theory, be signing on to that platform.  But, that's not the case - the party makes choices.  There has to be a party candidate in every race, and sometimes they have to compromise the party principles just so they can get someone with an R or a D behind their name in order to claim some kind of victory. 
That candidate, if they win, now becomes a number in the R or D camp, but they might not even fully believe in the R or D platform completely.  But, they're supposed to vote in a block or something.
I don't know - it's crazy and doesn't even make sense anymore.
We really need to get right on this political system.  And that's not even including Donald Trump.

Also, the Republican leadership are very excited about a right of center country.  They feel they're on track for that and this will make them very happy.
If it was just a 'right of center' country, maybe I could go along for a while. Unfortunately, I feel it's a Religious Right country they want.  Nothing 'center' about it.  Just Right, White, and Religious.
I'm sure it's not quite that stark for many R's, but it feels that way with Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions and Bannon and all these weird things happening in our country in 2017.

It's also odd to me that reporters don't ever question President Trump about his patently false statements.
He says it's been proven there's no collusion.
Really Mr. President? Where was it proven? Are ANY of the investigations concluded? If not, it hasn't been proven.
He says if you don't have anything to hide you are very free with access and transparency, just like his administration has been related to the Russia investigations.
Really Mr. President? Would you believe that theory also applies to tax returns?
He says his poll numbers are way up.
Really Mr. President? Who says that? 
There is proof that Hillary and the DNC colluded with Russia.
Really Mr. President? Where is that proof?

The reporters just let him say stupid things and move on.

Wasted time and effort. And so disappointing.

My current dream is that in 2018 the Democrats - or anybody who disagrees with President Trump and Michael Pence and Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell - will win a lot of victories.  Enough victories to change the House of Representatives (is it mathematically possible? we're so gerrymandered, maybe it's not possible) and we can start investigating the President. Or, we can take back control of the Senate so no more of those conservative, right-wing, religious judges get approved.

I don't think Mueller is going to save us.  If he had an airtight case, we would have known about it by now.  He has circumstantial evidence, at best.  And that will get us nowhere.  Again, it would only matter if people in charge wanted to do something about it.  If Mueller were to hold information until the Democrats were in charge and then suddenly everything comes out about Trump - even I'd think that was a little peculiar.  I'd be happy about it - but I wouldn't blindly throw my allegiance behind it. If the Republicans maintain control (which will make me feel very bad about the people in our country) there'd be no point in putting the information out there. 
I think Mueller has to be finished by the elections.  And it has to be far enough before the elections so people don't act like they did about the Comey info re Hillary's e-mails.
I hope it will be by April of this year.

I have a feeling Donald Trump's companies have always been involved in laundering money for the Russian oligarchs. 

I have no proof and I don't even care to look for it, but it makes sense to me. 
Too bad Donald Trump won't show us his tax returns.