Thursday 13:Talk like a Viking? We already do a LOT of that....

This was a suggestion tossed to me by CountryDew.  So, I decided to catch it and run with it.

Remember:  All Photos enlarge with a *click*.  If not I'll find out why not and hang the miscreant by the thumbs!  That is, after I've put and arrow through his liver.  (OMG, my inner Viking is manifesting!)

I just tested it and found it wanting so I enlarged them all.  Stingy Google.....

So.... here we go!

1. Here is a site that explains the origin of the Runic Alphabet.  Don't be scared off by the introductory part of the of the web page.  If you can read it, you can "get" it.

Also, a little 1.5 here....
Five words that have come down from the Vikings, to your English tongue.

dirt – drit (excrement)
dregs – dregg (sediment)
mire – myrr (bog)
muck – myki (cow dung)
rotten – rotinn.

Feel like going and washing out your mouth now?  This is from HERE

2. On that page (in #1) are other links to the ways and sometimes the "means" of the Viking surge.  Actually, first there were waves of raiding hordes up out of Germany.  Somehow they had gotten a little too much of the Roman gene for wandering and marauding.  At least that's what I think.  Anyway, they raided Northward into Denmark, and probably the rest of Scandinavia, leaving behind the runic alphabet.

At THIS Nova site, you can write your name in Runic characters.

3. Once Denmark got over the smarting blows of the Romany hordes, it went on a rampage of it's own.  "Them Danes got around", as one of my teacherly rockhound friends was told when the sickle cell tester was in her 3rd grade classroom.  She is totally Scandinavian, and she happily did the test.

4.  Yggdrasil, the tree that launched a thousand ships...

See that ^ little outhouse up there.  heehee

5.  I intend to read this Book in the Kindle Edition.  It will be the MOST I've ever paid for a kindle book.  It is mentioned in several places as the definitive book about the Mythology and Religious beliefs of the Vikings.

6. You will recognize much of what you read about on the Viking pages as being borrowed to create the Hobbit books and later the films. Let me say, the author of that page linked in #1 is AWESOME!
The page includes a lot of origin mythology..  It's not a Viking page, per se, but it illustrates a shared mythology of all of Northern Europe.

7.  All right.  Now I'll tell you a few things I think are impressive about this people.  They built massive boats that could take off across the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, some of the Harshest of all Oceans.  And, sometimes the whole family went along for the ride.  They were expert sailors, like the Polynesians and the Phoenicians.  They could, and did, take  ROW boats from Greenland across to Northern Canada, and BACK again.  They were so incredible.

8.  I like their Gods.  Especially I like Loki, who is just a nut!  He's very appealing to me as a God.  He's a cripple and a trickster.  HERE is a list of the Norse Gods.

9.  I love Buri, shown here as depicted on a Wiki Fandom Card,  and he is the progenitor of the other Norse/Germanic Gods.  In some accounts Buri is androgynous, which to me is very appealing for a progenitor Figure.

I'm guessing the Raven is HIS bird.

10.  Let's get some women in here.  Darn it!  First is Freyja.

Johannes Gehrts

 She gets even with Loki for being a naughty teller of tales.  Or is he??  ;o)  Naughty Freyja....

11.  Idun, a gardener Goddess.  She has bewitched me completely.  Read about her HERE.

Of all of them, she's my Grrrl...

12.  The Goddess Hel, from whence came the wide spread epithet flung at all creatures and things who disappoint us or otherwise give us fits.  Here she is with one of her dogs.  She was a Dog person, like me.

Johannes Gerhrts 1889

13.  "The Real Vikings" is a show I haven't watched yet.  If it's not just LOOSELY based on history, maybe it's time to braid my hair, and get out my bow and arrows for a total immersion therapy session.

She's definitely taking aim at some red headed tyrant out there
on the shore.  Vikings don't take a lot off Red headed Tyrants.
They send them to Greenland into exile.  Now there's a thought!

This was fun.  I think it's time to post and skip on home to Denmark.

State Department being gutted. Will we be left defenseless? Who knows?

Our so-called president is busily emptying out the State Department.  With as cozy as he appears to be with Russia, this just makes him look even more guilty, in my eyes, than he ever has.

Oddly, he has a whole "Cadre of Agency" from various places who are more than willing to forward what seems like an "agenda".  Can the Republican party not connect dots?  Can they not see what is happening?  We do not need or want a civil war here.  But we can't just roll over and play dead, either.

With this I end my involvement in the sad outrage.  I'm done.  I am just going to knit for the hospital where my daughter died.

She was one of the victims of the crap medical care that we have here in the US.  She didn't get help soon enough because the company had it's OWN medical coverage, which was woefully inadequate, but was a hack of the Affordable Care Act that the Republicans forced upon the legislation, that employees of companies who had their own medical plans in place would be ineligible.

The only reason she got any help at all was that she was too sick to work anymore, and had to quit her job because she thought it was killing her.  (Well, it turns out that it was.)
Anyway, this put her into the uninsured group, who were eligible, in California for Medicaid, and gave her the chance to finally get a test that could have saved her life, if only she had gotten it sooner......

So, if you have a stake in this game, wake up and fight.  We can't let this happen.  It's all the lives of our children we are fighting for.  Think of them ... THINK of them.

GOP budget Loopty Doop...This isn't politics, this is theft.

I have a big problem with the Republicans.  They want us to bail out the big Automobile companies, and the Mega sized banks, but we can't help the poor with our money?

And I quote:

A long excerpt from the New York Times analysis HERE

"It looks as if the tax bill rises for some people who drop coverage.
Here’s why: The subsidies Obamacare offers to low- and middle-income Americans who buy their own insurance take the form of refundable tax credits, a kind of government-issued gift card that can be used only to buy health insurance. But if fewer people who qualify for these gift cards choose to buy insurance, the government spends less in tax money for the population that qualifies. The tax scorekeepers count this reduction in tax credits as an increase in tax liability for the group. Individuals would not actually pay more in taxes.If they don’t buy insurance and don’t get the gift card, is that really the same thing as paying more in taxes? Republicans say it is not.
“Nothing in our mark will impact the availability of premium subsidy credits,” said Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, on Thursday, using a technical term for draft legislation. “This is the result of an assumption about economic behavior that is 100 percent voluntary.”Mr. Hatch has a point. The subsidies may count, technically, as tax benefits, but they are relatively unusual in the tax code, because they can be used only to buy health insurance. People who get insurance can get a gift card. People who don’t get nothing. But if someone chooses not to buy insurance, does that mean they’ve lost out financially?Some analysts consider those losses real losses, because it appears that some people are spurred to investigate their insurance options because of the mandate, then learn they qualify for free insurance. Without a mandate, they might remain uninsured. (And even some of those who don’t qualify for free insurance might end up better off buying it — people who contract an expensive disease, or get in a serious accident.)'In my view, those people are definitely better off with coverage than without coverage,' said Aviva Aron-Dine, a senior fellow at the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. 'They’re protected from financial catastrophe. They can get primary and preventive care. And the mandate gave them a nudge.'But others say that if customers valued health insurance, they would buy it.'Since the credits go exclusively to pay the premium, it’s a little weird,' said Len Burman, an institute fellow at the Tax Policy Center, a research group that evaluates tax laws.

Would the Poor Pay More Under the G.O.P. Tax Plan? Senators Disagree, and Here's Why
A comparison of tax rates under the current law vs. the Senate tax bill’s proposed changes.
Nov. 17, 2017Another weird thing that Mr. Burman noted is that the more expensive health insurance gets, the bigger a tax increase the change appears to be in the government estimates. Under the Affordable Care Act, people below a certain income cap can’t pay more than a percentage of their income to buy health insurance, so as prices go up, so do their subsidies. Economists think that lifting a requirement for healthy people to buy insurance will tend to make the resulting pool of customers sicker, driving up insurance premiums. But the actual cost of insurance for that group wouldn’t increase.'The credits look more valuable, because the proposal sabotages the health market, and premiums go up,' he said."

I suppose we can all now read it and weep.  Thanks a lot, you duly elected Trumpky-ites.  You just don't want to have the unwashed poor getting health care coverage now would you?  What happens if we need those big Treasury dollars to bail out another bunch of gamblers who risked it all in international finance?  Hey, it's our damn money, not yours!  We'd like to be better than a third world country, thank you very much!

Also, I guess we just can't afford to have poor people so where do we ship them all?  Canada?  Cuba?  Orin Hatch's backyard?  Will he provide the soup lines, tents, and warm blankets?  

About the internet’s origin: New York Times

From The NYT

" 'The F.C.C. chairman appointed by President Trump, Ajit Pai, above, said the change would allow the government to stop “micromanaging the internet.' ”

The internet is a CREATION of the United State's of America's people's government.  Now to use it, they will have to pay whatever pre-ordained price that Private Industry, which can use it for free, now can charge?  And get 'limited' and probably 'pay per view' websites selected from whatever the Net company decides to offer?

HERE is the latest article of information on the formation and invention of the internet.

Sunday Stealing: Monday Morning blues.... or not...What's up?

Monday Morning Meme

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. You may have heard the expression, “honor among thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from, if possible. We also provide a link to the victim's questions in our "Previous Victims" widget. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") Sometimes we edit the original meme, to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, to select the best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from recently asked questions from a previously post. Cheers to all of us thieves!

We stole this from Phoenix the Blogging Mama , who stole it from Karen, who made up the questions herself.

1. How has your life most benefited from the Internet? Whether it’s meeting people, cutting business overhead, finding rare collectibles, or simply sharing funny cat pictures, share how the web has made life easier.
I like having the chance to meet people from all over the world who are trying to make their lives and the lives of others better.  I like that we can do fun things like the memes, and have blogs, and keep in touch with family a lot easier now.  And, I like all the Birds and Animals and Flowers on Instagram.  Easier?  I guess that it's easier, but the great thing about it is that the Internet has added a dimension of fun to life that never existed before.  I am worried about how it can be used against us.  And just who is going to control the content.  I don't like what's happening with net neutrality, but Big Business is always trying to maximize it's take, isn't it?  I'd like to be able to use a cattle prod on every hand that reached into my purse and tried to steal freedom, money, or joy from me.

2. How do you deal with negative comments on your blog?
The person making trolling comments would get banned.  That's only happened once, back before 911, even.   I argued for healthcare for about three months with a troll.  Finally I banned them when they decided that they were going to up the hostilities.  

3. There’s never enough time, is there? What would you do with an extra three hours today?
I don't have this problem, but back in the day, I would have killed for three more hours to sleep!

Disney of course.  I was trying to find the one that Gal used
but alas.  It was of Prince Charming starting to kiss Sleeping Beauty.
She was thinking, "If he really loved me, he'd let me get more sleep!"

4. The getaway car is waiting outside – where is it taking you?
Is it a Limo?  In that case, Mr.Z and I want to go to our Yacht in San Diego Harbor.  From there we'd sail north, dock at Santa Cruz harbor, rent a big vacation house, and then take all the kids shopping, via the sea, in San Francisco.  Then we'd all spend Christmas together in that big house.  Dream big they say!  

5. Who was your "arch enemy" in high school? Do you have any enemies today?
I don't remember having enemies in high school.  Junior High, oh ya....  
In High School, I was not popular nor controversial enough to have enemies.  I was basically invisible to other kids whom I didn't run with -the semi bad girls and some very nice girls who had formed a sort of alliance.  
As far as the NOW:  I have some people in real life that I don't trust an inch with my heart.  To interact with them, which must be done, I look inward into their souls and love the soul. For sanity's sake, I've learned to do this.

6. You’re giving the keynote address to the graduating seniors of a high school today. What’s your advice to them?
Get your education!  Don't let anything stop you.  Start early looking for scholarships that are hidden and that are small, but get them if you can.  They are a respectable way to shave costs.  Don't expect not to work while you are at school.  Get a cafeteria job or other small on campus job if you can.  

Having said this, I am now going to vent.....This Article from the New York Times describes a fierce fight to get Commercial Banking out of the student loan market.  This should have always been handled through University Grants, scholarships, Pell grants, and other grants (Pell grants having been re-instated some great while after Reagan did away with them).   Governments should be in the business of helping the PEOPLE who pour their money, hearts and souls into the "Cash Cow" called the United States Treasury.  It has, after all, saved Car Companies and Giant Banks from being thrown under the bus after they played Texas Holdem with their assets.  Trump should know all about this, having been a bankrupt.  Political Fact Site Article

Private enterprise will always try to make a dollar on anything they touch.  They should not have been let into that Education, and been able to make a "market" there.  Some things are just too important.

7. Thinking of words of wisdom: What's the worst advice you've ever received?
Advice?  None.  However, I was the recipient of some very STRIDENT insistence that a certain person's horse was tired and would therefore be a perfect lamb to ride.  The woman was basically an idiot when it came to her horse, and I was an even bigger idiot for listening to her.  

8. Tell us about the best summer vacation you EVER had.
The one where we took a few weeks to go up the West Coast as far as the Oregon Border.  I wished we'd been able to go even further up the coast all the way to Vancouver Island and been able to take some of the kids with us.

9. What do you have to have with you when you travel? Why?
I'm a gypsy.  I like having my home on wheels with me.  It makes my life a lot easier.

10. Would you accept $1,000,000 tax free, if it meant you had to leave the country and never come back?
Now that would have to have three more zeros on it for that to happen.

11. Do you believe the world will be a better, or worse, place 100 years from now?
I hope it will be better for the sake of the animals and little children, but with the concentration of power and wealth around the world, and all of the elite in denial, I haven't much hope about it.

12. Do you expect to buy a new winter coat this year?
No.  I have a down jacket and the only other thing I'd like to have is a down coat.  I like them a lot.

13. If you could spend one year in perfect happiness but afterward would remember nothing of the experience, would you do so?

I don't think I'd give up a year of mental growth and living with my family and friends and Wolfie, just to have, basically, a dream I couldn't remember when I woke up.  Seems pretty DUH to me!

Saturday9: Johnny Cash: Man In Black

Saturday 9. 

Like to join in to this meme?  Go HERE to see how. 

My note.....This song shows how musical genius works...

Saturday 9: The Man in Black (1971)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) Black is this week's signature color because Friday, November 24, was "Black Friday," when retailers cut their prices and consumers flock to the stores. Did you score any "Black Friday" bargains?
No, I didn't.   They aren't selling anything I need.

2) Among the biggest the Black Friday advertisers are Target, Kohl's, Macy's and Best Buy. If you could have a $100 gift card to any one of those stores, which would you choose?  What would you buy?
Best Buy.  Electronics.

3) Feasting and football are also popular Thanksgiving weekend pastimes. Do your Thursday-Sunday plans include pigging out or watching a game?
The game was on and a few people were watching parts of it here and there.  We had a very nice potluck dinner.  

4) Thanksgiving weekend is a major time for travel. How far did you venture from home for the holiday?
We traveled about seven miles.

5) This week's song, "Man in Black," is about a singer who refuses to wear bright colors. What color are you wearing as you answer these questions?
 I'm wearing a night shirt that has little cartoon elephant heads all over in many colors, along with black dots scattered around between them.  

6) Johnny Cash first performed this song at Nashville's Vanderbilt University. When were you last on a college campus? What brought you there?
Our whole, nuclear family was at Berkeley, to watch Gee graduate.  This was in June of 2014.

 7) The average American man wears a 10.5 size shoe, the average woman wears a 7.5. Johnny Cash wore a size 13. Are your shoes bigger or smaller than the national average?
I wear an 8. Sometimes a 7.5.  Depends on the shoe.

8) He preferred his coffee very strong. To make sure what he was drank was to his liking, he carried a jar of instant coffee with him and would ladle it into his cup in restaurants. What about you? What's your standard coffee order? 
I rarely drink coffee anymore and haven't had any for at least two years.  When I did drink it, I liked it strong and black.

9) While in the air force, Cash wrote short stories under the pseudonym "Johnny Dollar." Make up a pen name for yourself.
Thorvold Reinhart.  I have a "thing" about Vikings.  I like them very much.  I would like to pretend to be one while writing.  

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.......

To all my readers: I am wishing you a very peaceful and safe holiday with your families and friends.  

Wednesday Knitting - President Kennedy, and Happy Thanksgiving, to all....

I want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.  I am off for a bit to make more of these short fingered gloves, this time for the hospital... I might do the three weekend memes; you never know.

On a sad note:
Today is the anniversary of the day President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.  I meant to do an entire post, but I'll just say a few words about that day. 
It was a real Horror for the American people.  I still think there is much more to the story, maybe not what has been presented as such, but something that has not yet been fully disclosed.

"Something is rotten in the State of Denmark."
Kennedy was about to bring all the troops back from Vietnam, and he would have done it.  He was such a scholar that he could easily see that this was a civil war, and that we should have stayed out of it.  Time has proven him right.

KD Lang... Crying...Music Monday on a Tuesday

I'm done with crying over anything. 

“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.” 

Rainer Maria Rilke 
From Letteres to Young Poet

Chemical exposure.. Flint Michigan...Living Down Stream, Rolling Stone Article

I'm doing this post because weakening the EPA is not something that will be pretty.

We had good presidents from both parties who didn't do harm or weaken it but now we have another short sighted demagogue who puts quick profit above Earth systems that clean the air and water.  We can't afford to not pay attention and we must fight this.

Here is the article about Flint, Michigan, from The New York Times.  We should be mad as hell about this.  To me, this is about human rights.  And animal rights, too.   Dumping or burying toxic chemicals in the land or our water should be a crime.  The streams and rivers also get polluted.  My daughter found stream pollution in Santa Cruz.  This in a Locked, secret site.  

Water will carry deadly chemicals anywhere it percolates through the soil, which is just about everywhere.

Living Down Stream , The web page.  The book that spawned this page was a must read for environmentalists.

Rolling Stone article about Flint Michigan.  

Sorry about those pop up ads.  The Rolling Stone is a great publication, but it's got to live. So,  I accept the ads.

If you can't do this - become informed and active - for yourselves, do it for all the little children.  

Goodbye Sanity...Hello There Hell.

See the Bees in the side bar?  They are saying goodbye...and they will take us with them...

Senator Feinstein's Rejection of EPA "Scientist's" appointment 

Will this be the Fox guarding the hen house?

Anyone who thinks what is going on in Washington is OK just isn't paying close enough attention.   What's happening there reminds me of all the cloned brooms in Disney's Mickey Mouse version of  "Sorcerer's Apprentice", something dire that an inept little underling creates that just goes on replicating itself over and over again until it starts a fire that consumes all.

Sunday Stealing: Thankgiving, and a little taking I reckon.

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog  authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. You may have heard the expression, “honor among thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from, if possible. We also provide a link to the victim's questions in our "Previous Victims" widget. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") Sometimes we edit the original meme, to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, to select the best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from recently asked questions from a previously post. 

Cheers to all of us thieves!

With Thanksgiving coming up this week, I thought it might be fun to find a set of Thanksgiving-related questions.  This came from a site called Documented Legacy

1.  What made you feel patriotic this year?
Thanksgiving, for me, has a different focus. Patriotism has nothing to do with this one it seems to me.
 I guess I'll answer anyway.  I feel better about being American, when I know that the Justice Department, the Courts, and the Senate and House members are starting to work together to save the Constitution from Crass Vulture Capitalism and the War Industry it spawned.  
I know that Constitution belongs to all the People and their Government, and will be protected.  It's not going to be handed over to some far right pseudo Christian group but will remain free of any establishment of Religious zealots, just as Jefferson, Washington, and the other signatories of the Declaration of Independence meant it to be.  It's a People's Government, Of, By and For the People.  ALL the people.  All of us... Not just some, All..... 

2 . What do you value most about your life?
My family.

3.  What do you appreciate about your friendships
That we can have fun together, respect and love our diversity, and share things, especially laughter.

4.  Name one person who can make you laugh, even months later. Why?
Do you mean someone whose jokes make me laugh even months later?  My sister used to have the craziest sense of humor.  I used to love to spend time with her and go places with her because we both shared our mother's droll, ironic sense of humor.  (Our brother does, too, actually.)  
My sister once said that God should remake the earth, and humans, but instead of Adam and Eve, He would say to Himself, "Well that didn't work out well LAST time, so this time I shall make Eve and Eve."  She made movements with her hands as if to shape two new beings from the dust.  
(I know there are a LOT of men who would be missed sorely, but many that would NOT be.) heehee

5.  What is the funniest thing you remember about a Thanksgiving past?
Funny?  Nothing funny... I'd love to meet all the girls and their Partners out somewhere like we did once at Joshua Tree, and have that very special meal together.

6.  Do you have any unusual traditions, rituals or habits around Thanksgiving?
Not really.  I change the Blog Header.  What we do now is just an average sort of thing.  It's sort of a classic Norman Rockwell, mid-western meal.  We do play the LCR game.  It's a blast.  That and the pie is what I truly enjoy about it now.  I just take my knitting and and stay out of the way because it's loud and I can't talk loud.  

7.  Name one ancestor that you think about on Thanksgiving and tell us why.
My Mother.  She strove to keep every holiday fun and traditional for her children.  She wanted us to have happy memories.  Mother was one of the quietest persons but she had a little will of iron sometimes.  She could make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, you see.  She was good.

8.  Is there a family heirloom at the Thanksgiving table? What its story?
No.  I don't think there was much left of what mother inherited from her parents, and not anything you'd use at Thanksgiving.  The already rich relatives on Grandpa's Mother's side got it all.

9.  What is your favorite part about Thanksgiving Day?
I suppose it's the little bit of catching up I get to have on the Grand Nieces and Nephews who come to that celebration. And I'm always happy to see  some others there, also.  

10. What random act of kindness did you perform or that was done to you this year that makes you feel grateful?
Mr. Z gets that one for our family.  Recently, he stopped, and, with another man who also stopped, they managed to rescue a little dog off a busy four lane street where it was running around.  They found the owner, through a neighborhood network site, who was visiting from another state.  There ensued a very a happy re-union.  Special happiness. 

My random acts are usually through PayPal and involve meat market dogs, as well as any and all other earthlings.  The only thing random about that is that I get an email from time to time for a cause.  
Mr. Z reminded me that I give money to homeless folks.  One of them was on a freeway ramp in Santa Cruz, this June, and when he spoke I thought immediately "I am meeting the Lord!"  It was a random thought so there's the random part.  There was just something so different in this man's voice and demeanor.   He was so gentle even if  ragged and careworn.

11. What do you appreciate about the change of seasons?
We don't really get a change of seasons here, and lately we haven't had much of what we and the Australians call, "The Wet".  We are just not getting ANY rain, and I thought we would have a wet September.  All the signs were there but it didn't happen.  So we have having an unending thing called, "The Dry".  I'm exhausted with it.  I want rain!

12. Name five things that make you happy about today.
1.... Doing this meme since I do it on Saturday night. 
2.... Reading, answering and commenting on blogs in the Saturday9 meme ring.
3.... playing our on line game together 
4.... working the cross words together 
5.... flying low through Instagram this morning, and seeing all the sunsets, birds and animals!

13. How has the celebration of Thanksgiving today changed from when you were little?
Not a lot.  Holidays were stressful then even though mother did her best to make things go well.  I've found that Holidays away from my children are sad and stressful.  I never knew that my family would scatter, but they are happy where they are, so I'm thankful for that.  

14. If you could share Thanksgiving dinner today with one person in history who would it be? Why? (Note: it can be a relative)
I can think of no one but my daughter Elle, and I don't want her back for just a day.  So, No one I guess.  

15. What is one wish you have for the next generation as they begin to establish their own Thanksgiving traditions.
I wish them Peace, as Heaven gives it, and not as the World does.  I think that about covers all the ills they may be facing in the years to come, and it would be something besides material wealth that most people thank God for at thanksgiving.  This is something that they can have without any, "yes, but only ifs" build into it. 

NOTE:  If you would like to see more participants blog entries, or participate yourself, please go HERE

Son of a Preacher Man. Saturday 9

Welcome to Saturday: 9.  

We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Saturday 9: Son of a Preacher Man (1968)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

Want to join the fun, or see other entries? Go here
  
1) This song was originally offered to Aretha Franklin, who turned it down. What's the most recent thing that you said "no" to?
Off hand,  I can't think of anything.  Maybe it was a “no” to something to eat?  Most likely it was no to very tempting chocolate,  and directed at myself. 😂

2) Two years later, Aretha recorded "Son of a Preacher Man." What's something you changed your mind about? 
By the time I get through examining something, 🤔 I usually don't change my mind.

3) This song tells the tale of Billy Ray, a young man who could be very persuasive. If we wanted to change your mind about something, would you be more easily swayed by an emotional argument, or with verifiable facts?
 That would take Verifiable facts, and not easily. It's the Emotional, knee jerk stuff  that has gotten us all into this current mess - well, that, Black money, and voter fraud, to name a few crimes against humanity arising recently. 

4) If you ordered a "Son of a Preacher Man" in a bar, you'd get a cocktail made with peppermint schnapps, gin and lemonade. When did you last have lemonade? Was it just lemonade, or was it spiked with alcohol?
It was only lemonade,  and with fish and chips.  Putting booze in lemonade sounds like a good way to ruin perfectly good ingredients.

5) Dusty had a thing for maps. She admired them artistically and enjoyed using them to take long car trips. Do you use printed maps? Or do you rely on technology, like GPS or Google Maps?
I also like maps for the reasons that Dusty did.  And, I like to use a mix of maps and technology.  I can read charts, but I like sonar and radar, too.  I can read quadrangle (topographic) maps, and road maps.  I also like GPS and to a certain extent Google maps.  I have trouble with Google because, unless it's on my PC or iPad, the map is rather small.

6) As a girl, she attended convent school. There, one of the nuns discouraged Dusty from performing, telling her that if she would do better to be a mother or a librarian. When you were growing up, did the adults in your world encourage your dreams? I had to keep my grades up or I got a whipping from the sperm donor dad unit.  Happily, I was smart enough to do this.  Mother was the only one who encouraged us in any meaningful way.  I bless that woman every day and say good night to her, and I tell her that I hope she can hear it.

7) That nun inspired Dusty's first major act of rebellion. In an attempt to make herself look less like a future librarian or housewife, she bleached her hair platinum blonde. In school, were you much of a rebel? Or did you conform to the expectations adults had of you?
I was a non-conformer but it really didn't show in rebellion, per se.  I just bided my time, kept my grades up, and kept hoping that somehow I would be able to use my brain to get me somewhere.  Unfortunately, the one time my mother tried to help me finish college, my father's short comings as a real parent nixed it. 
And then Viet Nam took over for our generation.  It Loomed out there like a seething, fiery, black cloud. No one really knew what to do.  I'm glad to have met and married when I did.  DH had had to quit college because of his own situation with his parent, and he was "prime meat" to land in uniform.  We met just in time to establish our family and save this wonderful guy from a later life of horror or worse.  I thank God for this every single day.

8) Early in her career, Dusty provided the entertainment at a family summer camp. She appeared on the bill with a clown, a fire-eater and a hypnotist. Have you ever been hypnotized?
Nope.

9) Random question: Have you ever played matchmaker to your friends? If yes, did your efforts lead to romance?  No, I never did that.  I wasn't dating myself so, no surprise.  

Adding new California Wildfire Link....

This pertains to the recent fires in California.

The link is at the top of the side bar.  This is important.  The link comes from a letter Diane Feinstein posted to her constituents today.  I wanted to spread the world.  These fires were terrible, and if you know someone who is affected by this, be sure that they know about this FEMA relief package.  Thank you!

Thursday 13: Thirteen of my favorite bird snaps over the years.

I got tired of trying to post any bird pictures in Instagram, my camera is just not a Canon EOS or Mark V, it's a creaking ancient little Canon SLR.

But when I went to look for these in google pictures, I thought, this is a perfect T-13.  In no particular order, here are 13 (well 12, as one is a bird house) of my favorite bird photos.


*Clicking* the images makes them larger

1.

Adult Herman's Gull.
These are the prettiest gulls that we see in California
Or maybe the prettiest is the Mew Gull.

2.

Late afternoon light makes the pink on the bird bath reflect more
on the pink chest of this Mourning Dove.

3.

Fledgling Herman's Gull, waiting for it's parents to return for it.

4.

Little Costa's Hummingbird
 sitting in his stealth attack place.
This was actually taken by Fujica 35 mm

5.

Mama, sitting, Papa gaurding

6.

Baby dove from last year. 
 Sadly, this year's hatchlings didn't make it.

7.

Female Allen's Hummingbird, pausing on an aloe stem
before getting more nectar from the aloes.

8.

Lonely little penguin at the Monterey
Aquarium.  He was being re-habed
and would sit and stare out the big windows
out to the sea for hours.

9.

Hand crafted basket and penguins
 by Jimmy: pine needle basket and felted birds.

10.

Fledgling California Jay, singing his baby songs,
pauses to look me in the eye before turning
away to continue vocalizing

11.  Well, this isn't a bird, and it's not mine but I aspire to make a few in the next year.

From Scandinavia.  Very cute.

12.  A bird in the hand ..... but it's sad

Anna's who was killed in a territorial battle

13.  Little Pepe, My foundling parakeet.

He was walking around the grass at Shelter Island.
He was easy to catch, and then he happily chowed
down on some raw broccoli someone in our rockhound club had
brought.  Pepe picked up a few words and/or phrases-
"Good morning, Pepe" was one of them.  "Hello" was another.

Wayback Wednesday, and Not Quite so wordless Wednesday. I won't link to either meme....

I put this post up on my blog 10 years ago, on Rachel Carson's 100th Birthday, HERE.

Since Heroes who inspired us came up again in a recent meme question, I'm posting this to tell a little of Rachel Carson's Story, a tiny fraction of all that she did for the future generations.

She should remain an inspiration to us all.  We will need all the courage we can muster to stop the Greed and the Guile spewing out of  mouths in Washington, DC.   

Tuesday Tails. Cute rescue of a baby squirrel....

....by his mother.  This came after being hand raised for a time by the man who had found him.

This is so cool!  Such a sweet man, too.

Sunday Stealing: The Simple Life.

The Simple Life

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. You may have heard the expression, “honor among thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from, if possible. We also provide a link to the victim's questions in our "Previous Victims" widget. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") Sometimes we edit the original meme, to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, to select the best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from recently asked questions from a previously post. 

If you'd like to join in or to see more responses go HERE 

Cheers to all of us thieves!

This is from a blog called Haley from Home.  
Haley is a mom in the UK.  
She's a mom to 3 boys and is on a quest for a simple life.

And now for the questions!

What are five things you would like to do more.
I would like to travel more.  I'd like to go all the way up the West Coast and see all the things, like Canon Beach and Vancouver Island, that I've never seen.


What is your quote to live by 

What was the best thing that happened this week?
Today is Sunday.  I think I'll need a little more time to formulate an answer on this.

What is something you are stressed about?
Having at least two Dr.  Strangeloves in the White House.

What book has influenced your life?

I read this book when I was about 6 or 7.  It changed my mind and focus forever.  I fell in love with the Ocean.  One thing my parents had in common is that they were both readers.  It rubbed off on me.  

Share a childhood memory
I loved being with my maternal cousins and young aunties.  I remember that they had several local kids with whom they shared comic books.  Every Sunday afternoon they would all get together on the rug at my Grandparents' house, and trade and read.  I learned a lot from reading comic books, in fact, they were the  reason I endured being  taught by Psycho Dad to read.   I wanted to get to read the comics because I knew Mother and I were going back to Ohio that summer for the birth of my little sibling.  

What fictional character would you most like to be?
Bilbo Baggins.  I love his house, and I sort of like  that he went out to have fabulous adventures and then got to go back to his adorable little house among the Hobbits.  I'd also like to be able to eat that much. heehee

What is something you are proud of?
My daughters.  They are all making their own way through this scary life on their own.  Yesterday was the twins' birthday.  I wanted to be there but that, well, things came up.  

What was the last thing you celebrated?
We went out to dinner for our Anniversary. It was lovely.  I had my favorite pasta dish, Mr.Z had fish tacos, and we split a dirty sundae.  I was stuffed by the time we walked out of there. 

What are weird things you like?
Since most people think that people who like spiders and snakes are weird, I'll go with "liking snakes and spiders" for weird.  I also like weeds.  They get bugs on them, and seed heads , all of which visiting birds and field mice feast on.  
I like to see if there are patterns in things.  Like Trump's recent sale of 16 billion dollars of war machines to the Saudi's. Now they are sabre rattling and I wonder where that came from???   You never stop putting things together.  I'll be glad to get back to my knitting and turn off the world.

What is your favorite song to sing?
I like a lot of songs but to sing?  Hmmm  I guess it would be a folk song called "Barbara Allen." It's beautiful and I will always love it.  I'm sure my grandmother sang this one. grandpa played the guitar.



I like this one, too. Emmy Lou Harris from the soundtrack of the movie, "Song Catcher"



Name three things you do well.
I can draw.(1) 
I knit well.(2)
I am a good cook. (3)

What are your priorities in life?
My husband, our family, my friends, Wolfie.
Dogs are a priority and I feel that helping dogs is something I can do even in an insane world.
Bless the Beasts and the Children!

What is something that scares you?
What's happening in Washington. We've never had this extreme a divide nor an Executive that far to the Right.  Oddly, he cozies up to Putin.  WTH is that?

Best book you read this year?  This one:

My political blog....

....Is now private.  I'll gladly add you to a vetted list of people who can see it.  Just email me and be patient as I don't wade through all the detritus at Gmail often, so it's hard to spot something I actually want to read.

I will snipe from here, but I don't want my every word to be scrutinized by trolls.  I'm tired.  I need to get back to my knitting.  I'm sure there are those out there who can say anything better than I can, anyway.  I just want the kids growing up in America to know that someone cares and is on their side.

For some reason, Too few of us even THINK OF ALL THE CHILDREN WHEN WE VOTE,  APPARENTLY!

Think about someone besides yourself, American Voters, because the right wing (or the left for that matter) doesn't give a damn about American Kids, and make it abundantly clear with every thing that they do.

We have a nation that is free from being run by religious fanatics, and socialists, and we'd like to keep it that way!

For the Children who believe in the constitution, I do this for you.  God Bless you, Little Ones.  You deserve to grow up in Freedom.

The Third Safeguard in Separation of Powers.

This is EXACTLY why the Ultra Conservative Right wing cannot be allowed to stay in power.  They are a minority but can crush the power of our Constitution's Separation of Power edicts and all the citizen's rights.  And, since they know everything about everyone, they aren't above a little black mail to do it.  I'm thinking of all the Republicans who are saddled with these guys.

From the New York Times...

How Trump is Rapidly reshaping the Judiciary

Does anyone even have this on their radar besides Law Scholars and others who still care about the "government for, of,  and by the People", as Abe Lincoln so aptly said it?

We have a monster in office who far exceeds, in magnitude, the evil of any other person who has ever been in Office since Nixon or Cheney.  This is OUR country.  We need to act like the USA is in danger of collapse, or we'll lose even more rights.

Saturday 9: Get Down Tonight: K.C. and the Sunshine Band

Welcome to Saturday 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! 

Saturday 9: Get Down Tonight (1975)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

Want to join in the fun?  Go HERE

Saturday 9: Get Down Tonight (1975)

1) Tonight, KC has three things on his "to-do" list: do a little dance, make a little love and get down. Tell us three things you'd like to accomplish this weekend.  
I'd like to get two loads of laundry washed, dried and folded.  
I'd like to cast on some short fingered gloves
And, I'd like to change the sheets and wash them today.  
(this is being written and published on Friday, but I'm thinking ahead to the weekend.)

2) This week's song is considered emblematic of disco, a genre that had as many detractors as fans. Is there a kind of music you simply cannot stand? I've made no secret about the fact that I can not stand Rap

3) Before becoming a musician, KC, aka Harry Casey, worked in a record store. In those days, record stores were very popular. Peaches, Coconuts, Sam Goody and Tower Records are four store chains that once dotted the landscape but now are gone. Today, if you wanted to purchase a CD, where would you turn?
I can't think of any place to buy a CD except on line.  They can still be bought at Target and Costco, I think.  Maybe..  

4) One of his duties at the record store was unloading the big corrugated shippers filled with LPs. What's the heaviest thing you've lifted lately? Wow, those things must have been heavy!  The heaviest thing I've pick up, lately, is a laundry basket.  My little 15 pound doggie's getting lighter as he gets older, unlike Me!

5) KC is proud that he's lived his entire life in Miami-Dade County. Do you expect to change your address in the next year or so? 
No, but I wish we could.  I'd really like to move away. Somewhere above Los Angeles County, and  along the coast of California.  I hate trying to drive through L.A. County anymore.  If it were easy to fly, or you could actually save time doing it, I would.  The time expenditure comes awfully close to the same for that 1 hour flight.

6) In 1975, the year this song was popular, former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa disappeared, never to be seen again. Many theories flourish about what may have happened to him. Is there a famous criminal case that has a hold on your attention?  Actually, now that you mention it, I'd like to know what happened to Jimmy Hoffa.  But, back to the question.  No, there is no famous criminal case at the moment that I'm paying any attention to.  There might be some very interesting ones in the next couple of years. You can bet I'll be paying attention.....

7) Jaws was the most popular movie of 1975. Are you afraid of sharks?  That's both a "Yes" and "No".  I don't want to swim with the known aggressive ones but I'm glad they are out there, doing what they have to do to keep the ecosystems healthy and for the last 50 millions of years give or take.  Most sharks are harmless little guys, and I like seeing them. This is one of the tiny ones.

The Walking Shark

8) Actress Angelina Jolie was born in 1975. People magazine once named her "most beautiful." Who is the most beautiful woman you can think of?  I had a friend in the Club we were in, here, that is probably the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.  She was also a very intelligent and utterly kind person.  She may not still be alive.  But if she is: Anne, you're the one! 

9) Random question: A wizard offers you a choice -- would you like your life to stay as it is right now (in terms of your health, your career, your relationships and your finances) for the next 5 years, or would you like to take a chance that the future will be brighter?
It's a very poor Wizard who can't offer better choices than that! lol  And this one has very bad little habits Indeed!  Tilt!

Pinball Wizard's Page on Pinterest

I'm not one to mess with fate.  I don't particularly like where I am right now so wouldn't want to stay here another five years. The future is what it is.  No one likes to think about it, but in the next two minutes, your life could, and sometimes does, change drastically.

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

Friday is way too long.... Please send Monday

*Winks*

Well, I'm sleeping now.  See you on Saturday 9.