Elizabeth

I see dead people

2010-12-31T17:40:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year!

It's new year's eve and I am getting ready to go away on a girl's trip for my BFF's 50th birthday. Before I do though, the year will spin around to 2011-amazing!

So what's this about dead people? Well-the first one is a boss of mine who died this year of brain cancer after deteriorating in front of our eyes. I've been thinking about him a lot more lately because since I moved over to the other side of the hallway, I pass his picture many more times a day, and somehow I feel right now that he is with me. He was only 50 when he died, and he was so angry to leave his teenage boys and the life he loved. I guess making a big fuss about my friend turning 50 (I am already there) made me think about him even more. The whole experience of watching him die was of course a reminder not to take anything for granted.

The second dead person-my dad. His 80th birthday is Sunday; of course he died at 70; almost 10 years ago now. For some reason I feel his presence more than usual now; maybe because I am having a psychic reading soon, maybe because it would have been a milestone birthday, maybe... I don't know, but he is here in a big way.

I did not know the third dead person very well-in fact only a few people really knew him well, and when he killed himself it was a shock to most of us-in fact I think many people thought he was pranking them and refused to believe it. If you were on myspace in the past several years of course you know I am talking about "Crabby" Will Driscoll. Why am I thinking about him out of the blue? Well he still has a facebook profile, and lately his face appears in my "people you may know". Kinda makes you wonder; especially since I don't believe in coincidences-everything happens for a reason.

So yes-this new year's I see dead people. but I don't feel creepy or maudlin, just contemplative and even more determined to figure out just why I am on this earth.

Happy New Year-thanks for reading and I hope all your dreams and wishes come true this year.

Pictures I put together the day we found out Dave died.

<"http://www.elizabethseyes.com/p1063581734">

negativity begone

2010-12-28T06:37:00.002-05:00

OK-new day, new week, and a short one at that. Time to try something new-think positive! yeah, I know, such a pollyanna-but what the hell, it can't hurt. I may have a negative force in my house with me, but that doesn't mean I can't turn my head and think up, always up. Financial ratios and work bullshit, look out, cause you are MINE

so what now?

2010-12-26T16:04:00.003-05:00

Still haven't decided whether this page is a graveyard for old myspace blogs to be visited in fits of nostalgia, or a real page to blog on. It's not as anonymous as I would like, but if I don't link it anywhere I guess I'm ok. Everything I write on the internet is fair game anyway, right?

Sometimes I think I'm just asking, begging to be called out as partial, as saying something inappropriate for someone with my job, cause damn it's a golden cage. but maybe I will just reserve the page for incredulity at my friends and family-but then what if they stumble on it and get really pissed? Like what do you say to someone who buys their kids everything they want, so I have no fucking idea what to get them for Christmas? And what about the people who go away for Christmas leaving their brand new grandchild behind? Yeah the kid's too young to remember, but the parents aren't. Or the fact that I'm getting a dishwasher for Christmas (well half of one, I have to pay for the other half)-yeah I know I'm a spoiled brat-whatever.

All those unsavory or snarky thoughts that used to find their way onto a myspace status-wtf to do with them now?

Working without a net Nov 10

2010-11-29T20:59:00.000-05:00

As fear goes, I guess it's not so bad, but tomorrow I start my new job in earnest. I'm on the road with my new colleagues; stepping out of that nice safe predictable cocoon and up onto the wire.

While it's true I am now just a peon and don't have the responsibility of holding a job together, managing the work and the people as I did only weeks ago, the work is new, the people are new, so for all my bluster, I must admit to a bit of trepidation.

Maybe that's why my immune system decided to allow a cold virus to run rampant in my nasal cavities, so I have to stock up on Sudafed or risk sniffling and snuffling through the day. UGH

No, this isn't what I want or need to say, but it will have to do, since I have NO FUKING IDEA what is on the tip of my tongue. The approach of this particular Monday morning is the only thing I can think of that could have me in a tizzy. So-while the logistics of a week on the road haven't changed, and the destination is familiar, the work is brand spanking new.

Wish me luck and have a great week yourself.

Thanks for listening as always, and please don't lurk.

Clinging to the side of the wall above the abyss...

when you follow the logic, there is no "choice" about it Oct 10

2010-11-29T20:57:00.000-05:00

Writing this in the old blog format; I hope they don't take that away too. I don't mind change, in fact I think you know I relish it most of the time, but dammit, if it ain't broke...

Anyway, enough about that; the folks at Myspace are going to do what they do; no sense getting all worked up about it. I am too tired/lazy to bother figuring it all out right now, but I am staying at least for now. I still need a place to be semi-anonymous and dump my thoughts every once in a while. Yes I did think about writing this as a note on FB too, but no, I don't think so.

You may know that my political views have done a 180 in the past couple years; well actually that is not strictly correct-I went from complete apathy to raging fiscal conservative in a very short period of time. The common sense of it all just woke me up-and we the people seem to be doing something about it, although the fight has just begun.

Although I am a fiscal conservative now, and believe in smaller (MUCH smaller) government, I am a libertarian in the sense that I don't really care what people do, as long as they are not breaking the law or infringing on my little patch of ground, and don't expect me to pay for it. This has always included abortion. In my apathy I thought that a "woman's right to choose" what she does with her body was ok with me, although I would never argue the point, because the pesky detail of the argument about when life begins always left me cold.

So I have changed my mind-or maybe I am just now willing to take a stand.

I am childless by choice; my ambivalence about being a parent is/was such that I would rather regret not having children than regret having them, and I married a man even more ambivalent about parenthood than I (me?) I've always been assiduous about using birth control, and terrified of getting pregnant-looking back I think I was terrified about having to make a decision whether to have an abortion, when somewhere deep down, I knew it was wrong. Of course my life would have been very different had I become a mother; maybe my shit would have been together a lot earlier, but certainly I wouldn't have been able to go back to college at 33 and get my degree. (sorry about all the passive voice, but I'm not going to fix it, so please bear with me.)

I do believe there is a reason that I never became a mother; something that I am supposed to do with my life that will require all the skills and experience gained so far, but I don't have a clue what that is; I am following a lazy river as always. So I don't regret my childlessness, but I do wonder about it.

Another thing about me is that even though I now consider myself a conservative, I am still an agnostic. This has not changed a bit. I understand the belief in God, and don't have any problem with it (well except when the shield of religion is used to cover a murderous and imperialistic cult of personality like Islam). However, I personally do not have an opinion about God; as an agnostic I don't know if He exists or not, so I sit on the fence in a big way.

So this problem with abortion does not come from faith, but rather, LOGIC. Yes, life does begin at conception, so while I do believe in birth control (Margaret Sanger's eugenics notwithstanding), I have to say that I really do think abortion is wrong and does kill babies. If life begins at conception, even if that life is a bundle of cells, it is wrong to snuff out that life, at any time, while in the womb or not.

Ok-so abortion is wrong-what do I say now about a "woman's right to choose"? Yes, her body is her body, so if she wants to do everything she can to prevent a pregnancy, I don't have a problem with that, but once she is pregnant, that baby is a living thing, and her body is only the steward, so I do believe she has no right to kill it.

So I've said my piece-revealed some more personal information and a controversial opinion. What do you think?

Oh and PS mulling over what font to use for my "live free or die" tattoo. May do a blog with the possibilities and ask for input-another subject you won't see on my fb page

Juan Williams wakes up Oct 10

2010-11-29T20:54:00.002-05:00

Ok, so-some beans spilled in the last blog? Check

Phillies win and take it back home for Saturday night, so my tickets are good? Check

Time for something completely different.

You may have heard about the kerfluffle over NPR "news analyst" (their words, not mine) Juan Williams-what he said on the O'Reilly Factor (yes, an NPRer also appears on Fox, whoda thunk it?), and what happened as a result of that opinion.

THEY FIRED HIM!

This is what he said- "Look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written
about the civil rights movement in this country," said Williams. "But
when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in
Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first
and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

If you want to see the video, here is the link.
http://eyeblast.tv/public/video.aspx?v=hdSU4zSU8z

But that is not the video I want to bring to your attention tonight.

But first I have to tell you that I have seen Mr. Williams on the Factor, and he has always annoyed me, but then he normally goes through all the talking points, so of course I'm annoyed. The opinion he expressed that got him fired by the dhimmis at NPR really turned my head though; he may be a liberal, but he believes what he says, and was not going to make any bones about being worried when he sees Muslims on his plane. hello-aren't we all? if you aren't you are sleepwalking-time to wake up.

Here's the video-I love it!!!

When Bill told Juan that this was a good thing for him, I smiled big! At first Juan didn't believe it, but as usual O'Reilly went through his reasons, and they are all spot on! Williams is MUCH better off away from NPR, and even better for him (and for us)-this may be the start of his own awakening-the first step towards a gradual realization of just what NPR and their ilk are all about.

The best thing that EVER happened to him!

EYES WIDE OPEN

Here is the link to Juan Williams' column at Fox laying it out, and more-boy does he have some dirt on NPR!! Do I see a book deal in his future? Still a liberal, but he may see the light yet

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/10/21/juan-williams-npr-fired-truth-muslim-garb-airplane-oreilly-ellen-weiss-bush/

Staying up too late watching Intervention, and other confessions Oct 10

2010-11-29T20:51:00.000-05:00

Can't get this out of my head this morning-can't figure out how to get it to play automatically.

UPDATE: I must add that although I mention people on the TV show, looking back, everyone that I ever actually knew with any addiction problem had something going on behind the scenes; I may not have known it at the time.

Now play the vid and read below. Thanks

On the road again, this time as a student at a school in Arlington, VA. Control of the remote is all mine! When I am on the road I tend to watch some of my fav shows on TLC and A and E, etc, that I can't watch at home, because of course, the hubby has control of the TV. Oh I get to watch my Phillies, but other than that, it's his chicken, and that's ok.

On the road though, it's a different story. last night I stayed up way too late watching two shows that make me feel both depressed as hell and the sanest, most together person in the world, all at the same time. That would be Intervention and Hoarders-OMG! They both show people in various modes of utter despair and distress, and you know their families are at their wits end if they made a video and sent it in to the show, because of course if the magic works, their loved one will get some help, that is if said loved one is willing to be helped.

Hoarders is just incredible. I mean, I have way too many pairs of shoes, and sometimes the books pile up all over the house, and I have two sets of health and beauty items (one for the road and one for home), etc etc etc, but these people make me look like Mrs Clean and organized. Literally breaking a path through the clutter like through snowpack in the winter, they surround themselves with stuff, from accumulated memories that they can't get rid of, stuff they may need "someday", unfinished projects, and shopping sprees that made them feel better for a little while. So sad-and many times disgusting; under those piles they find rotted food, animal poop, and sometimes even dead animal, not to mention insects galore.

Intervention, on the other hand, shows folks in despair and denial, but these people are addicted to drugs, alcohol, or some combination of the two, and the show gathers their family, some of whom have enabled the behavior in a big way, to try to get the addicted one to go to treatment.

Now I must warn you, I am going to disagree with the psychology on this one and reveal my own observations and personal experiences, so if you are a strict adherent to the addiction is a disease school, you may not like what I have to say. And I have no training in psychology, so if you say I am totally unqualified to even have an opinion, well I guess you are right, but dammit I gonna say this anyway.

Every one of the people on Intervention has some kind of trauma in their past; abandonment by one or both parents, abuse by a spouse, childhood sexual abuse, etc etc etc. From where I sit it seems that the addiction (whatever it is, even including the hoarders above) helps them hide from/ameliorate temporarily the pain and/or keeps them so wasted almost all the time that they feel nothing, no pain, no joy, nothing, like chemotherapy, their self-medication can not be targeted to solve the problem and so scars everything it touches.

Now there may be people out there who abuse drugs and alcohol because they are just catching a buzz, but to me those folks are not hiding from their lives. IDK, maybe there is no fine line, but that's another blog for another day. When the impact of the substances can be seen by the outside world, there is def a problem.

So-when these people go to treatment, of course they detox their bodies from the poisons, but they also must detox their minds, and to me this is what keeps them clean. The addiction is just a symptom of something wrong deep down; this something must be resolved and the pain managed and dealt with, before the person can really stay clean, otherwise, only the symptom is treated, not the cause.

One of the women on the show last night was sexually abused as a child by a family member, and she didn't tell anyone for several years. When she did speak up, her mother didn't believe her, and from then on it was all downhill. Promiscuity, drugs, you name it, this girl did it. To get attention, to block out the pain, because the abuse taught her to see her only value as sexual.

This struck a chord with me, because you see I know about this first hand. I was sexually abused when I was 13, not by anyone in my family thank goodness, but some guy from the neighborhood. I never told my parents or anyone else until just a couple years ago when I revealed it on my other page here. What a relief to finally understand a bit about my behavior! All that time I thought that I had control over my actions and that I had started being sexually active earlier than most people because I chose to!

However, when I thought back to my experiences at the time, this man groomed me in the textbook manner, and it was almost a classic case! What I did afterwords was also classic-acting out sexually, looking for that one guy who would make me feel complete and whole, all the while ignoring on all other parts of my life. All that mattered, the only part of me that mattered, was the sexual. Luckily I was usually serially monogamous, so it wasn't too bad, but I literally ignored the rest of my life, sleepwalking and partying my way through high school.

Yes I did drugs, but it never got out of control. My drug of choice was always pot-it made everything seem rosy and everything funny. I could gloss over a lot of ugliness when I was stoned.

I find it hard to believe that it took me so long to understand this experience and my reaction to it; I was in my 40s before I realized that the abuse had led me down a certain path in my life. I was lucky because I always functioned in the world, and as I got older(in my 30s), I stepped up my game and started using my brain and skills to get ahead in the world a bit. But it wasn't until another decade had passed that I understood about my behavior.

So-do I think that my "addiction" to sex, or need for sexual validation, or pot, was a disease? No, I don't. I used all of these things to try to compensate for what had happened to me, to try to deal with the pain and maladjustment; the fact that I felt different from other girls (well yes I was different, but never knew why). This comes home to me every time I watch Intervention, and although of course I never got to the level of the people on the show (maybe that's why it took me so long to discover the causes for my behavior), I suffered a trauma, and tried to cope the best I could.

Now I'm not going to say that the abuse is to blame for all the mistakes I made in my life, but it did set me down a path...

BTW, luckily I met my husband a month before I turned 18, and once we started seeing each other, I never had sex with anyone else again, so that could be another reason it took so long to figure things out. So that part of the story has a happy ending; no it all has a happy ending, although it's not over yet. The queen of reinvention still has the stage!

So-I am exhausted and the TV is OFF; I need to keep it that way and go to bed. Well, maybe after I look at some more of the lighthouse pictures I took over the weekend. the first set of pics is up on the website HERE-please have a look if you are so inclined.

Thanks for listening, and please, if you read this, even if you don't want to comment, please leave me a kudo. I had 51 views today, and that was before this blog, and I can't remember my mixmap password, so I don't know WTH is going on.

Thanks again.

PS The book below also helped crystallize my thinking on the topic of promiscuity; the thoughts and feelings expressed by the author mirror many of my own, and many of the pages of my copy are turned down at the corners.

I just want to go off into the desert by myself-Why I need both myspace and facebook Oct 10

2010-11-29T20:50:00.000-05:00

So have you heard anything about the BIG surprise announcement yet? Seems both MS and FB are cooking up some new chicanery-and the word on the street is
DRUM ROLL PLEASE

A MERGER!! OMFG!! Say it aint so!

When a bunch of my friends here decamped to FB, either deleting their pages here or coming so infrequently that cobwebs were growing, I reluctantly started using my page there. FB has its uses, don't get me wrong, but it is def the sanitized version of me, although I do post lots of articles that may have some of my friends shaking their heads, especially the ones about the scourge of Islam.

But FB is so vanilla sweet-it's not for the real me; the reason I have an online profile in the first place! My myspace profile is still semi-anonymous; I use a completely different email and my name is nowhere to be found. Now yes I'm sure that if someone really wanted to find out who I am they could, but the point is, if you search for me, my name, or any of my emails (except one), you will not find me here. And that's the way I like it.

I like to have a place where I can reveal some things about my personal life that I would never reveal on FB; not about my work, cause that really is pretty secret, but about my frustrations with certain people in my life, including sometimes co-workers.

A recent blog gets to this very point-it's about my husband (who never comes on line) and my BFF (who still has a page here but never visits) I could never express those feelings on FB, nor do I really think it is the appropriate place; after all, that's my real name out there. (BTW if you do find me and request me there, don't expect me to accept without your real name-new FB rule-I show you mine, you show me yours!)

Case in point-spent some time with the BFF today, and we were talking about a trip we're going on later on this winter-long story which I won't get into-and it's to a place I've always wanted to go. She's talking about how she's been to some of the places we're going, but only with her husband, and prattling on about how it will be different to see with her gfs (there'll be 5 of us altogether for a week).

Well you know me-sometimes too much company is too much-and I am longing to just take a drive out into the desert with the camera ALL BY MYSELF! And you know, I could really give a shit what they all think! Now that's not FB friendly, is it?

So MS, for all its flaws and nonsensical FB-like bullshit, is still very useful to me; and that's without mentioning the friends here who listen to and support me, like you are right now, EVEN IF YOU ARE LURKING!

So-what do YOU think of the rumors about a merger? And even though the subject's been done to death, do you have a fb page, and what do you think about this whole mess?

PS I know there has recently been a big kerfluffle of drama here; something about personal info being posted, and other things I won't mention, but I have no knowledge of it, and to tell you the truth, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!!!!

So done lurking around the drama-OVER IT!! What about you?

Curioser and Curioser Oct 10

2010-11-29T20:48:00.000-05:00

Seems that even though I am changing all the time, the ones who know me the best and the longest are the least curious about me and my hopes and dreams.

Could be by my own design

Could be that they need/want to see me a certain way, and the changes make them a little uncomfortable. But why now, why these particular changes?

I am the queen of reinvention, after all.

They should know better.

This is awfully distracting Sept 10

2010-11-29T20:47:00.000-05:00

WOW! I haven't seen a pair of shoes this hot in quite a while! NICE

what do you think?

oh and my next tattoo was going to be some kind of sun or something, but now I'm thinking about words. not just any words, but very powerful words

LIVE FREE OR DIE

Enjoy your weekend

sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear just pisses you off Oct 10

2010-11-29T20:45:00.000-05:00

So-in Chicago for a teaching assignment for a subject I really don't believe in anymore, that is if I ever did-but that is a subject for another blog-oh yeah I already wrote that one.

So-back at the hotel (home til the end of the month-my husband always gives me shit when I say I went "home" to a hotel room, but fuck it-it is home, at least for a while) after drinking maybe a bit too much wine at Bin 36 Wine Bar.

So-talking about my boss who died of brain cancer this (last?) year with someone who I like and respect even though she is a liberal (but never makes a fuss about it) who knew the boss and knows one of the people who was very close and felt his ANGER

more than any of us, and when she asked about his kids and how they are handling it, I had to tell her that I didn't know.

So-this has never been addressed at work. We are a very close knit group; especially those of us who spent/spend a lot of time on the road together, and before my boss D became a manager, he was on the road with us too. So there is a closeness that a lot of people may not understand-not necessarily outside of work, but in the space between work and personal. And yes for us there is such a space. But D's death and his deterioration from brain cancer which exacerbated his sometimes caustic self has NEVER been addressed at all. And the effect of his deterioration, during which he came to work, on all of us, and especially certain people who were closest to him-has NEVER been addressed. We have never had a meeting to discuss how we feel, never had anyone ask if we are ok or needed help-NEVER!!!

So-I understand how someone who was very close to him (our big boss) would not want to talk about his deterioration and death, but I have to say that her avoidance of the effect it had on ALL of us was the chink in the armor of my respect for her that let everything else, all the other things that lessen my respect, in. of course this is only one of the reasons I am leaving, but it is not a small one.

So-sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear just pisses you off so much that you want to stand up and scream.

So-yes I am venting here on myspace, yes I have vented about this before to certain people, one of whom was so close to the anger

that I worry about her internalizing and wonder if she has ptsd, but dammit I can't tell the person who really needs to know that she has hurt us all by not acknowledging the effect his wasting away, mind and body, and his DEATH had on all of us.

So-maybe someday I will be able to tell her, but right now I need to work there, so I can't, but I will not work for her anymore.

So-yes I am burnt out from the work, yes I don't believe in it and can't stomach it politically, but yes I this also part of why I am leaving.

So-RIP D. You were a crusty SOB with a heart of gold, but your ANGER burned us; we were too close.

Calling all angels-an album of pictures; all but one taken in Philly on the day he died.

wish I could get the video to play by itself-please give a listen cause it's what I hear in my head when I think of him...

Thanks for reading and being here

A new pair of glasses and signs of a grownup repost Oct 10

2010-11-29T20:44:00.000-05:00

Yes I am getting a new pair of glasses (I get to reinvent my eyeglass look every two years)-and they rock! Even more outrageously purple (but lighter in color) than the ones I have now, they make my green eyes pop, and at this point I can use all the help I can get.

But seriously, the new glasses got me thinking about the past two years; how much has happened, and how much hasn't. I have changed so much-I've become much better at the pictures (practice will do that), much more militant in my political views, and much more aware of the world beyond my little sphere.

That said, there is one big ingredient that hasn't changed-MY JOB! I went looking through my blogs to see just what I was writing two years ago. Although I was very preoccupied with my Phillies in the playoffs and the World Series, I was very seriously thinking about changing my job. Well-I finally reached the breaking point and just interviewed for a similar position-same company, same department, same type of job, but different type of work. I won't get into it, but I will say that my political views make it increasingly difficult for me to do my current work-I just don't believe in it anymore, and when I find myself in a meeting defending something I don't agree with, it's well past time to go.

So-I am jumping off a cliff in a way-it's a little scary because I am not going TO something, I am getting AWAY from something, and although it is really my only choice right now and I think it is the right one, I have to admit to more than a little trepidation. The work I will be doing looks pretty boring from where I sit, although to be fair there are different aspects and specialities to it, and I really have no business making judgements at this point. It does involve a lot of financial ratios and numbers I've never found interesting, but at least I can believe in the mission, for now anyway. Who knows what my next move will be? I am the queen of reinvention after all, but unless someone wants to give me a bunch of money to take pictures, I have to make a living, and this is the corner I painted myself into.

After I attended the 8/28 rally I got this brilliant idea that I was going to help soldiers with their finances (they are a target for scammers and some of them are so young!). There is actually a company that works for the Defense Dept traveling around doing seminars at different bases (sounds like me, doesn't it? get up on stage and talk, sit down one-on-one and help people) BUT it requires one be a Certified Financial Advisor, which in turn requires passing a test AND 1000 hours of experience in the field. Well shit-do the math-1000 hours? I think that may have to wait til I can retire! Still a great idea, just not the time for it yet.

So that is what is happening with me lately. I have to tell you that the interview with the two women who run the area I'd be working in went swimmingly. Neither one of them knew me very well, and they seemed impressed with what they found out. It's rare for someone to say they want to stay on the road, but I know that being in the office all the time would kill me-I need to be out on the road working in the field with the bankers; it's what I do best, and what I like the most about the job.

There are things about my job I will miss-especially teaching; I'm going to Chicago at the end of the month to teach and I am really looking forward to it, although truth be told, I don't really believe in what I'm teaching anymore. Instead of teaching, I'll be going back to schools-what a change! I will no longer be a technical expert with 10 years of experience under my belt, but a technical newbie who has a lot to learn. But if you know anything about me you know that this is far from a problem-in fact I embrace the change and challenge.

So in the spirit of looking back two years, I leave you with one of my favorite blogs ever, written in October 2008.

Thanks for persevering though this tome; I haven't written anything this long in many months. And thanks my friends, for being here for me.

Signs you are a grownup

This blog has been rattling around in my head for a while now and it needs writing, so I'm going to attempt it. Before I go any further, however, I think a disclaimer is in order.

I understand that many people find that becoming parents allows/requires them to grow up and let someone else be their top priority (other than a spouse which is a whole different thing.) I have no children and have never experienced this phenomenon, so please bear with me. Oh-and as always, feel free to call me on any and all content of this blog. Just be nice while you're doing it LOL

1) The world does not revolve around you.

This is one of those about which parents may have a jump on me, but it is crucial to growing up. Not only does this include the ability to put other people's needs before your own, but also understanding that not everything that happens in your world is about you. People may be pissed off or upset and just taking it out on you-relax and laugh them off. If you really have done something to piss them off, you'll probably find out sooner or later.

2) Your parents are people too.

Insight on this does not necessarily come with parenthood, although you'd think it would. However, I know some parents who still don't get it.

The people who birthed and raised you are just as flawed as all the schmos out on the street, and the hero worship of childhood has to be replaced by embarassment, then skepticism that they made it this far through life, and then finally some understanding and recognition that they are somewhere in between. Of course some parents are abusive and that's another paragraph.

For those of us lucky enough to have wonderful but flawed people as parents who only wanted the best for us, this realization is crucial to having an adult relationship with them and letting the perceived slights and other bullshit fall away. Everyone makes mistakes, and if you know in your heart that your parents loved you and did the best they could, it's time to let that baggage go (believe me, I do know otherwise very bright and accomplished adults who haven't figured this out yet-WTF?)

On the other hand, if you were abused by your parents, my heart goes out to you. However, if you can't move on from that abuse and be in control of your own destiny, then you are carrying baggage around that is weighing you down. Let it go...

2)Accepting that not everyone will like you.

All of us will come up against people that just don't like us, for one reason or another. Sometimes this is caused by an actual word or deed on our part for which there can't (or won't) be amends made, or is the result of jealousy or some percieved slight. However, this is usually just about a conflict of personalities and cannot be helped. Grown-ups understand this and don't dwell on it-after all, don't we all have those people that just rub us the wrong way? How presumptuous to think that we don't elicit the very same reaction in someone else.

The time that this really can rear an ugly head is when one of your friends has a friend that you just don't like and who just doesn't like you. This can make for some interesting interactions, to say the least, and can be uncomfortable for the mutual friend. I had this experience in high school; one of my good friends had a friend from her neighborhood that I never liked. Her personality and attitude annoyed me, and even though she might have snubbed me at some point (I really don't remember), it was the way she treated our mutual friend that really got under my skin. Now I'm no saint and I know I had days when I wasn't the greatest friend, but this person consistently took advantage of my friend and treated her like shit. Needless to say, we avoided each other like the plague. I really don't know what she thought of me or if she knew I was on to her, and still could care less. What a using bitch!

The funny thing is that the same type of thing seems to be occuring here on Myspace. Some of the friends of one of my friends don't seem to like me very much and I really don't know why. Believe me, I'm not losing any sleep over it, but it would be nice to know. I don't think I ever did anything to deserve their disdain, but oh well-whatever. I'm a big girl and it doesn't impact me one way or the other; it's just another opportunity to observe people's interesting behavior and shake my head.

3)Understanding your romantic patterns

This is something that people who always seem to make the wrong choices need to acknowledge and understand, and actually is applicable to friendships too. If you seem to have a pattern of attracting or being attracted to losers, it's time to reevaluate your own motives and thinking-many times we are our own worst enemies.

4) Acknowledging your own flaws and easing up on yourself

No one is or will ever be perfect, and the less time we spend agonizing over our faults the better. Of course making the same mistakes over and over requires a good hard look at why, and all of us can and should always attempt to improve ourselves, but there's a good chance that we'll all go to the grave with some faults and blots on our record-we're only human!

5) Comfort in your own skin

Under this category I include-not worrying so much about what other people think, striking out on your own road and not trying to follow the crowd, AND maybe the most important, not trying to make yourself into someone's perfect match/dream man or woman.

This last one affects us all at one time or another-we find someone we think we love and try to make ourselves into the person we think they want. This is a recipe for disaster from the first moment-we will never be anyone else but ourselves, and the quicker we understand that the happier we will be. One can only pretend for so long, and what a rude awakening when the truth comes out! Grown-ups are comfortable in their own skins, and when they display that confidence and pursue the things that fulfill them, they will find happiness and hopefully, love.

6) Finally, understanding that life is a journey and along that path we will learn much about ourselves and the world.

That said, there are many things we will never know, understand, or experience, and when we acknowledge this fact, we may breathe a big sigh of relief. There are only so many days in one's life, and choices must be made. Realizing the fact that the more we grow and experience, the more we realize we don't (and may never) know is quite a revelation.

So-I think I'm done. I know this is too long, and if you made it all the way through I thank you and ask-

Do you agree? and What can you add?

Thanks again!

8/28 in DC-my thoughts on the Restoring Honor rally

2010-11-29T20:41:00.000-05:00

Yes, I went to the Restoring Honor Rally in DC on August 28, and yes, I took a lot of pictures after sweet-talking my way pretty close to the stage.

I didn't quite know what to expect, but Glenn made it clear that the rally was not going to be political, and he asked everyone nicely to not bring signs or other political objects that anyone could misconstrue or twist around to their own purposes. With this in mind, I wore a purple Phillies t shirt from spring training and a Phillies visor. The only thing I carried that gave anything else away was the little American flag sticking out of my camera bag. Looking back on it now, maybe the reason that many people didn't talk to me was that I showed few outward signs of allegiance to our country-maybe they thought I was a liberal reporter in disguise. LOL I was also by myself when most people there had family or friends with them.

Anyway, I was there, I took lots of pictures, I listened to the speakers, I applauded, I cried-in short-I participated. I'm not going to give you an entire account of the proceedings; I will just say that Glenn spoke about honor and honorable people in this country, the role of faith, hope, and charity in the founding and in our lives today, and he gave out awards to three people he felt embodied those elements in our country today.

The whole thing was VERY inspiring and made me feel happy, proud, and lucky (or blessed) to be a citizen of this great country; blessed that all of my ancestors were bold, crazy, or just plain self-preserving enough to get on a ship and make it here. (FYI I am half Russian Jew, one quarter German from the Carpathians, and one quarter borderlands Scot. All of my ancestors came here at the end of the 19th century, some a bit earlier than others.)

Many parts of the rally were also VERY religious; not just spiritual, but religious, in a Christian sense. Now you may wonder how I, as an agnostic, felt about the religious aspect and the praise, not just of God and faith, but of Jesus. Well. I'm not easily put off by religion, I believe that everyone has the right to believe what they will, as long as they don't try to push me into believing the same. (I won't go into how followers of one particular "religion" want to kill me for being an unbeliever, that's another blog-or several-entirely.)

As the daughter of a lapsed Methodist and a lapsed Jew who together joined and brought their children to a Unitarian church, I am understandably a bit ambivalent/confused about organized religion. I won't say there is certainly a God, but I won't say that there isn't. As I get older I am leaning towards His existence, but then I also now believe that everything happens for a reason and there are no coincidences, so go figure. But this is not about my religious beliefs, but about how I felt about what happened at the rally.

I have to tell you again that I was not insulted in any way; I do believe that we are in some really deep shit right now, and you know maybe we need to reach out to a higher power to help us be strong and fight. I don't believe that God will bring us victory; I sincerely believe that is up to us, and it will be a long hard slog if we want to keep this great experiment as the brightest bastion of freedom in the world.

We are up against some formidable foes; internal actors who would ignore/spit on/subvert the constitution and continue to increase the size and power of the federal government for their own aims, including socialists, Alinskyites, etc, AND those, both from outside, and unfortunately now inside, who seek to bring us under the thumb of sharia law. I have argued with friends on facebook about these people; there are many "tolerant" folks who will not understand that even if there are a lot of muslims who say they don't think terrorism is right, their holy book commands them to kill infidels if said infidels will not convert. I sincerely believe that even though we don't all have knives at our throats, sharia is creeping into our nation and through political correctness, threats, intimidation and worse, they are gaining a foothold without any bombs at all. And we are so complacent and fat in our good fortune and the fruits of our labors that many of us refuse to believe that anyone would not want to gather round the campfire and sing kumbayah. It is beyond their comprehension that people would be driven to jihad, both physical violence and creeping sharia, JUST BECAUSE their leader (who is hundreds of years dead btw) told them to drive out infidels. This is all it takes; it has nothing to do with our actions. They may say it is because we are in their countries, but until we understand and accept that there is NOTHING we can do to change their thinking, no program to eradicate poverty, no process of appeasement-because it isn't what we do-it's who we are-it's the very fact of our existence that makes us a target, we remain sitting ducks.

Whew-this was not going to be about Islam but once I get started... Anyway-I was inspired, not oppressed or insulted, by the rally, and I am taking steps to get right in my own life, even without a steadfast belief in God. I believe in the people of the United States of America, because WE are responsible for our destiny at this juncture and always, and we need to step up and reclaim our country.

OK-if you made it through, thank you. If you are just here for the pictures-let me explain just a bit. I had a long day in DC, and the rally was only the start of it. I also visited two of my favorite museums on the mall, and one of my favorite restaurants before heading back to the Lincoln Memorial (and in the process, the WWII Memorial and Washington Monument) for some more pictures. So-enjoy and thanks for coming over.

Oh and as always, these pictures and more are on my website, http://www.elizabethseyes.com/

Great article by Caroline Baum Aug 10

2010-11-29T20:40:00.000-05:00

My emphasis added red and bold-good stuff

Squeezing the Rich Is Poor Way to Spur Growth: Commentary by Caroline Baum

By Caroline Baum - Aug 4, 2010 9:00 PM EDT ..>..>

Caroline Baum

Thirty-six years after an academic economist named Arthur Laffer drew a curved line on a cocktail napkin, the debate over supply-side tax cuts paying for themselves is still going strong.

Why, after all this time and an extensive body of data, are we still questioning whether reductions in marginal and capital- gains tax rates increase economic activity enough to generate more revenue for the federal government?

“Because they don’t like the answer,” Laffer says of the doubters. “It’s not tax cuts that pay for themselves. Tax cuts on the poor cost you lots of money. Tax cuts on the rich pay for themselves. Rich people can afford lawyers, accountants, and can defer income.”

That’s one answer. Another may be that, unlike the hard sciences, there is no conclusive test. In a dynamic economy, it’s impossible to hold everything else constant except tax rates. Monetary policy, government regulation, trade policy, and the stage of the business cycle all affect economic growth. Absent a controlled experiment -- giving one group a placebo and the other a (tax-cut) drug -- a conclusive answer is out of reach.

What we do know, empirically, is this: Over time, federal revenue as a share of gross domestic product has stayed fairly constant at 17.9 percent. That’s true if the top marginal tax rate is 91 percent (1950s), 50 percent (early 1980s) or 35 percent (2000s). Recessions are the one exception.

The Flat Fix

So, if the government’s tax take varies little, why create uncertainty over how much of our income we’ll have to fork over to Uncle Sam three, five, 10 years down the road? Why not flatten the rate, fix it and forget about it?

Fairness, for one. The government wants to take money from the rich and give it to the poor.

“They are wrong,” Laffer says. “It doesn’t work that way. The rich can change the volume, timing, composition and location of their income. Poor people can’t.”

Congress is the second. The tax code is the means through which lawmakers dole out tax breaks, credits and exemptions in return for campaign contributions. Which is why tax simplification in 1986 was such a short-lived phenomenon, says Jim Glassman, senior economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

While scientific proof for the supply-side credo remains elusive, we have lots of statistics from the Internal Revenue Service that demonstrate the effect tax changes have on the rich, or top 1 percent of income earners. Laffer described them in an Aug. 2 Wall Street Journal op-ed. Since 1978, a series of reductions in the top marginal tax rate served to increase the share of taxes paid by the rich.

Rich Are Different

This should come as no surprise. The rich have the luxury to respond to incentives, to opt for more work and less leisure when the return on work is greater. They are motivated to take risks, maybe start a business, invent something, and get even richer while giving others the opportunity, through hiring, to do the same.

The opposite is true for low-income workers. When the government raises taxes, someone struggling to put food on the table for his family may have to go out and get a second job to maintain his level of take-home pay. For this socio-economic group, higher taxes translate to more work.

To ignore evidence that the rich behave differently is silly. The government can’t get more blood from a stone, yet it keeps trying. Instead of demagoguing tax cuts for the rich, Democrats should try embracing them for a change.

Congress’s Play Thing

“It’s in everyone’s interest that the economy do as well as it can so that the government can fulfill the promises it’s made,” Glassman says.

If the trade-off is between fairness and dynamism, dynamism should win every time.

No economist will quarrel with the idea that taxes affect incentives, Glassman says. “When I have a choice between work and leisure, the tax decision makes a difference.”

That hasn’t changed the arguments for allowing the Bush tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans to expire at year-end. Academics are busy churning out articles claiming tax cuts for the rich deliver less bang for the buck because the rich save more of the money than the poor.

That’s true. It also misses the point. The goal isn’t spending, or distributing other people’s money to create “aggregate demand.” That’s a wealth transfer, not a net stimulus. (Fiscal policy gets its punch from monetary policy, from the increase in the money supply to pay for the spending.)

The goal should be to incentivize individuals to work hard, save and invest in the future. It’s about growing the pie.

Sound familiar? We’re right back to square one. I, for one, would like to see the debate shift from class warfare over tax rates and targeted tax relief to tax reform. Either scrap the tax code and introduce a simple flat tax with no deductions, or scrap the IRS and move to a consumption tax.

If you want to get money out of politics, there’s only one way to do it. Take the tax code out of Congress’s hands.

(Caroline Baum, author of “Just What I Said,” is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Caroline Baum in New York at cabaum@bloomberg.net

Everyone loves my governor-from Brietbart Aug 10

2010-11-29T20:38:00.000-05:00

From Breitbart-everyone loves my governor!!!

Can We Clone NJ Gov. Chris Christie?
by

Kyle Olson

“Governor Wrecking Ball” is showing it is possible to stand up to
special interests and do what is best for taxpayers and schoolchildren.
When human cloning begins, can Michigan have a copy of Chris Christie?

Christie is cleaning up the mess of previous politicians who bought
off special interest groups, such as the New Jersey Education
Association, with lavish benefits, unsustainable pay increases and a
retirement system that, like many other states is becoming a major black
hole.

Unlike other American politicians, Christie doesn’t appear to care
much about what people think of him. He’s there to do a job and fix the
problems, even if it means his elected life is short lived.

Others should follow Christie’s lead because taxpayers and voters will have their backs.

On a recent Today Show appearance, Christie responded to an exchange
with a school employee. What’s interesting from the clip is that most
politicians would be tepid for fear of having the crowd turn on them.
Instead, Christie’s crowd, which was not hand-picked, went wild – for
Christie’s answer.

Taxpayers are beginning to realize that it’s the politicians that
have created this budgetary mess and it’s going to require leaders like
Christie to stand up to the powerful special interests to fix it.

As Christie said in the Today interview, “we’re treating the people
of New Jersey like adults and telling them the truth.” Here’s hoping
America will soon have more leaders like Christie.

Isn't Matt Lauer a twit?

Why she's a liberal and I'm not July 10

2010-11-29T20:36:00.001-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about some conversations I've had lately with a colleague of mine. She and I have some of the same gripes with our work situation, and we're discussing them a lot lately. Even though I still don't mention my political beliefs (but if pushed I will not lie), and she is an unabashed liberal, we have a lot of the same problems with the internal politics of the job. For some reason, maybe because of my mid-life crisis or maybe because I've had about enough, I am much more vocal about my concerns lately.

So even though we have a lot in common, we also disagree about many things. I am getting better at making my point without blowing my top when she goes into her talking points; I guess several years of holding my tongue is helping me ease out of the closet.

It's funny-I grew up in the suburbs of Philly and always considered myself a city girl, but in the last ten years I've spent a lot of time in what some arrogant folks call fly-over country, in small towns in central and northeastern PA. I'm starting to think these interactions helped me along my way to the beliefs I hold now; seeing how local businesses and residents approached life and work opened my eyes a bit. My colleague, however, is very stuck in her liberalism and really believes some of the nonsense and talking points, in fact she spews them all the time. LOL

Ironic how many things about the job oppress me while others enlighten me!

So-here's a couple points on which we disagree-I reserve the right to come back and add more. (Keep in mind there are many points outside politics on which we do agree, but then I am ok with liberals as long as we don't talk politics)

My colleague believes that average people will never be able to understand loan documents-the products are too complicated-and will always have to be "protected" from the big bad banks. I believe that except for outright fraud, which of course should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, borrowers have an obligation to understand all the aspects and intricacies of any and all loan documents they sign, and if they don't understand the paperwork, they shouldn't sign it. To me this is a no-brainer! Caveat emptor!

Second point-my colleague believes that everyone has the right to a high-paying job, and that no one should have to work two jobs to support a family. Well HELLO, this is so ridiculous from an economic standpoint; the only way to ensure this is communism-bring everyone down to the same substandard way of living. I myself believe that we all have to make our way in the world, and if some skills are in greater demand than others, people should be paid accordingly. You may ask, "What about the overpaid "stars" and athletes?" Well, someone thinks they are worth the money, and if you don't like it, don't contribute to it. Life is a series of choices, and we are free to choose how we spend our money and our time.

As I said, I reserve the right to come back and add to this when and if other things come up.

What do you think about these questions? Thanks for reading and commenting.

Declaration of Independence July 4, 2010

2010-11-29T20:35:00.000-05:00

IN CONGRESS, JULY
4, 1776

The
unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united
States of America

hen in the Course of human
events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political
bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the
powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of
Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the
opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which
impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
— That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That
whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is
the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its
powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their
Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments
long established should not be changed for light and transient causes;
and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed
to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by
abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train
of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a
design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it
is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards
for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of
these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to
alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present
King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations,
all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny
over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid
world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary
for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing
importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should
be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend
to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large
districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of
Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and
formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records,
for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his
measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with
manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause
others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of
Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise;
the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of
invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for
that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners;
refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and
raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his
Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of
their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of
Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the
Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to
the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign
to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent
to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders
which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring
Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging
its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument
for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and
altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves
invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his
Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and
destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries
to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun
with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the
most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized
nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas
to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their
friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured
to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian
Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction
of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in
the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only
by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every
act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free
people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We
have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to
extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of
the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have
appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured
them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations,
which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence.
They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We
must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our
Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in
War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America,
in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the
world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by
Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and
declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free
and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to
the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and
the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and
that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War,
conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all
other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And
for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the
protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our
Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John
Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah
Bartlett, William
Whipple, Matthew
Thornton

Massachusetts:
John
Hancock, Samuel
Adams, John
Adams, Robert
Treat Paine, Elbridge
Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen
Hopkins, William
Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger
Sherman, Samuel
Huntington, William
Williams, Oliver
Wolcott

New York:
William
Floyd, Philip
Livingston, Francis
Lewis, Lewis
Morris

New Jersey:
Richard
Stockton, John
Witherspoon, Francis
Hopkinson, John Hart,
Abraham
Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert
Morris, Benjamin
Rush, Benjamin
Franklin, John
Morton, George
Clymer, James
Smith, George
Taylor, James
Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar
Rodney, George Read,
Thomas
McKean

Maryland:
Samuel
Chase, William
Paca, Thomas
Stone, Charles
Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George
Wythe, Richard
Henry Lee, Thomas
Jefferson, Benjamin
Harrison, Thomas
Nelson, Jr., Francis
Lightfoot Lee, Carter
Braxton

North Carolina:
William
Hooper, Joseph
Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward
Rutledge, Thomas
Heyward, Jr., Thomas
Lynch, Jr., Arthur
Middleton

Georgia:
Button
Gwinnett, Lyman Hall,
George
Walton

Brazilians and the nanny state June 10

2010-11-29T20:34:00.000-05:00

Caution-if you unaware, either of the rise of the nanny state or the
reality of hair removal, and prefer to remain that way, please stop
right here.

Ok-fair warning given. Just a little idea for a blog this morning. I
won't go into the details, but let's just say that I am in need of
certain services right now-a brazilian, actually. (If you don't know
what that is, please google.)

So, even though I adore my friend Trisch at Blue Mercury in Atlantic
City, and would love to drive about a mile to get my business done, I
have to drive up to Philly, to my friend Kelly at Blue Mercury on Walnut
St! Why, you say? Cause brazilian bikini waxes are ILLEGAL in NJ!!!!!
Clearly NJ politicians have nothing else to do-but actually they were
neck deep in doo doo when this story broke, with plenty of other things
to do.

But no-because a couple women got burned by some salon in North Jersey,
the state is now enforcing its existing rule against this type of
waxing!!!

http://www.gossiprocks.com../forum/beauty-skincare/982..99-brazilian-waxing-illega..l-new-jersey.html

WTF-so now I have to go to another state to get business done.

Not only does this inconvenience me in a big way, just think of all the
money that is going out of state to Pennsylvania or New York-all because
one salon couldn't do it right! hello-what about all the competent
estheticians out there with reduced incomes! This type of waxing is very
popular in NJ, and all that money is just flowing out of here (or salon
owners are risking fines or the loss of their license). Never mind all
the taxes that the state is missing out on!

Ok-now take this example of the nanny state and extrapolate-do you see
how your examples are ridiculous, economically imprudent, and just plain
freedom-grabbing?

Tell me about it

Avatars-a little nostalgic for simpler days May 10

2010-11-29T20:30:00.000-05:00

A new camera picture blog is coming soon, but this isn't about pictures-well actually maybe it is.

For some reason, maybe seeing Toy with a shoe today, I'm a bit nostalgic for the time back in the day when I could express my moods here with just a click-

Nowadays it's much more complicated-I may not be able to say what I feel in a status message, so I may not express myself. Even though I sorely miss the ability to change my avatar, I have not and will not change it until I feel better about the future of our country. I hope to have renewed optimism after the November elections, but right now I need to stay focused and keep reminding myself and all my friends just how high the stakes are-don't ever forget!

I leave you with the avatar I used exclusively for 2008 presidential election-related anger

like a phoenix, we will rise from the ashes.

Thanks for reading.

Justin Bieber-srsly? May 10

2010-11-29T20:28:00.000-05:00

OK srsly-Justin Bieber? What is the appeal?

I see you one 21st century teen idol and raise you-

No comparison-and I wasn't even that into the Partridge Family! well maybe a little ;)

What do you think?

so just where did that prayer come from anyway? April 10

2010-11-29T20:26:00.000-05:00

Lots of brouhaha on facebook and elsewhere about the "favorite president" prayer. But do you know the backstory? Where did it come from?

Welcome to the real drama-NJ politics. GO CHRISTIE GO

Teachers Union "Prays" For Death Of NJ Gov., Christie Not Amused

BY CHRIS GLORIOSO

PIX NEWS

12:56 PM EDT, April 9, 2010

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (WPIX) -

A memo that jokingly prays for the death of New Jersey
Governor Chris Christie has heightened the acrimony between the state's
Republican administration and its most powerful teachers union.

The Bergen County Education Association sent out the combative memo to
supporters this week. It closes with a mock prayer that reads:

"Dear Lord ... this year you have taken away my favorite actor, Patrick
Swayze, my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcett, my favorite singer, Michael
Jackson, and my favorite salesman Billy Mays.... I just wanted to let
you know that Chris Christie is my favorite governor."

Christie responded to the fake prayer at a news conference in New
Brunswick Friday.

"To have the leader of the union send out an email to 17,000 members to
tell them to pray for my death just goes beyond the pale," Christie
said.

When the death wish joke became public, the union backpeddled.

"Obviously, it's inappropriate. I would never wish anybody dead," said
Joe Coppola, who is President of the BCEA. Coppola signed the firey
memo which also encourages union members to "get some dirt" and "go
public" with attacks on Christie and the state's Education Commissioner,
Bret Schundler.

The BCEA is a branch of the statewide union, known as the New Jersey
Education Association.

Christie has spent much of his first year in office attacking the
teachers unions he says are bankrupting local governments by demanding
overly generous salary and benefits packages.

Union leaders emphasized that the fake prayer was a joke and was never
intended to be made public. Christie wasn't convinced.

"So private prayer for my death would have been okay, but public prayer
for my death would have been wrong," he quipped.

The death wish memo is part of the NJEA campaign against Christie's
demand that teachers accept a wage freeze and contribute 1.5% of their
salaries to healthcare.

The Republican governor has also locked horns with the NJEA over plan to
cut hundreds of millions of dollars in state aid to schools. In
February, school districts were stung by Christie's decision to slash
$475 million in education funding. The Governor is pushing a budget for
next year that would cut an additional $820 million in state aid for
schools.

The cuts would amount to about 5% of the average school district's
budget. New Jersey is facing a mid-year budget gap of more than $2
billion.

Christie said he got death threats from street gangs like the Latin
Kings when he served as US Attorney. He suggested the union memo was
not the sort of speech he views as criminal.

"Let's be serious. I don't think this is a threat. I think it's a
wish, but in some sense a wish may be more perverse than a threat."

Educate yourself!!!!!

is there hope for NJ-George Will on Chris Christie April 10

2010-11-29T20:25:00.000-05:00

George Will's column on Chris Christie-thank you Mr. Will for articulating the previously unspeakable question/topic-public-sector unions. Go Governor Christie!!!!!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

The Thunder Roars in Trenton

by George Will

MORRISVILLE, Pa. -- The bridge spanning the Delaware River connects New Jersey's capital with this town where the nation's most interesting governor occasionally eats lunch at Cafe Antonio. It also connects New Jersey's government with reality.

The bridge is a tutorial on a subject this government has flunked -- economics, which is mostly about incentives. At the Pennsylvania end of the bridge, cigarette shops cluster: New Jersey's per-pack tax is double Pennsylvania's. In late afternoon, Gov. Chris Christie says, the bridge is congested with New Jersey government employees heading home to Pennsylvania, where the income tax rate is 3 percent, compared to New Jersey's top rate of 9 percent.

There are 700,000 more Democrats than Republicans in New Jersey, but in November Christie flattened the Democratic incumbent, Jon Corzine. Christie is built like a burly baseball catcher, and since his inauguration just 13 weeks ago, he has earned the name of the local minor league team -- the Trenton Thunder.

He inherited a $2.2 billion deficit, and next year's projected deficit of $10.7 billion is, relative to the state's $29.3 billion budget, the nation's worst. Democrats, with the verbal tic -- "Tax the rich!" -- that passes for progressive thinking, demanded that he reinstate the "millionaire's tax," which hit "millionaires" earning $400,000 until it expired Dec. 31. Instead, Christie noted that between 2004 and 2008 there was a net outflow of $70 billion in wealth as "the rich," including small businesses, fled. And he said previous administrations had "raised taxes 115 times in the last eight years alone."

So he closed the $2.2 billion gap by accepting 375 of 378 suggested spending freezes and cuts. In two weeks. By executive actions. In eight weeks he cut $13 billion -- $232 million a day, $9 million an hour. Now comes the hard part.

Government employees' health benefits are, he says, "41 percent more expensive" than those of the average Fortune 500 company. Without changes in current law, "spending will have increased 322 percent in 20 years -- over 16 percent a year." There is, he says, a connection between the state being No. 1 in total tax burden and being No. 1 in the proportion of college students who, after graduating, leave the state.

Partly to pay for teachers' benefits -- most contribute nothing to pay for their health insurance -- property taxes have increased 70 percent in 10 years, to an average annual cost to homeowners of $7,281. Christie proposes a 2.5 percent cap on annual increases.

Challenging teachers unions to live up to their cloying "it's really about the kids" rhetoric, he has told them to choose between a pay freeze and job cuts. Validating his criticism by their response to it, some Bergen County teachers encouraged students to cut classes and go to the football field to protest his policies, and a Bridgewater high school teacher showed students a union-made video critical of him. Christie notes that the $550,000 salary of the executive director of the teachers union is larger than the total cuts proposed for 190 of the state's 605 school districts.

He has received some support from the Democratic president of the state Senate, Stephen Sweeney, a leader of a local ironworkers union. This suggests waning solidarity between unionized private-sector workers who are weary of paying ever-higher taxes to enrich unionized public employees.

New Jersey's governors are the nation's strongest -- American Caesars, really -- who can veto line items and even rewrite legislative language. Christie is using his power to remind New Jersey that wealth goes where it is welcome and stays where it is well-treated. Prosperous states are practicing, at the expense of slow learners like New Jersey, "entrepreneurial federalism" -- competing to have the most enticing business climate.

Christies predecessor addressed a huge unionized rally of public employees, vowing to "fight for a fair contract." Who was he going to fight? The negotiator across the table would be ... himself.

Saying "subtlety is not going to win this fight," Christie notes that New Jersey's police officers, the nation's highest paid, can retire after 25 years at 65 percent of their highest salary. In the state that has the nation's fourth-highest percentage (66) of public employees who are unionized, he has joined the struggle that will dominate the nation's domestic policymaking in this decade -- the struggle to break the ruinous collaboration between elected officials and unionized state and local workers whose affections the officials purchase with taxpayers' money.

Why my avatar is an upside down flag April 10

2010-11-29T20:23:00.000-05:00

Anyone who's been around my page for any length of time knows that I (used to) change my profile picture A LOT. I used pictures of myself and others to express my mood, and as you know that mood changes all the time. So-you may wonder about this flag-why I continue to fly it and give up one of my means of expression here, which I take very seriously.

The flag is a symbol of the worry and concern I harbor about the future of the United States of America, my country. The concern is with me all the time, so no matter what I write in my status or my blogs about my work, pictures, travel, the Phillies, whatever, the flag will stay.

The writing reads:

"The United States of America-A Nation in Dire Distress" and quotes from
the US Code

"Title 4 Chapter 1-The Flag

Section 8-Respect for Flag

The Flag shall never be displayed with the Union down, except as a
signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or
property."

You may think that I intend disrespect to our flag-I know it inspired
someone I don't even know to send me an email on facebook to tell me it offended
him. (Yes I use this avatar on facebook too-an exception to one of my rules regarding the difference between the two-yes IT'S THAT IMPORTANT)
I didn't ask him why or get into anything with him; in retrospect maybe I should have done. But I have to tell you that I
mean no disrespect to the flag or any American living or dead; I really
do believe that our country IS in a state of dire distress, and life and
property ARE in extreme danger.

You may disagree, but I implore you to keep an open mind. Don't be
spoonfed anything from anyone-educate yourself! Luckily nowadays we have
voices from all slices of the spectrum speaking out-this is so
different from when I was growing up-when network news and the New York
Times were kings. For a long time I didn't understand why I buried
myself in apathy, but now I know all too well and am not afraid to
express my thoughts out loud.

So-if you wonder why I fly this flag, there you have it. I will continue
to fly it until I feel a little more reassured that our great country
has a future and will not be ripped apart from within. And I hope that
every time you see it, you will remember how damn lucky you are to be a
citizen of our country, and remember your duties as a citizen.
Please feel free to unfriend me if you are offended by this, but dammit, I
grew up listening to people denigrate and apologize for this great
country, and I won't listen to it anymore.

Thanks for reading and remember your duty-many men and women have sacrificed much for our freedom-we owe it to them, and to ourselves as citizens of the greatest nation on earth. And if this blog, or any videos or articles I post here in the future, offends you, please feel free to remove yourself from my list. I don't choose my friends based on their political affiliation, and I don't spend all my time talking about politics, but I will not be silent about our future.

Thank you

Calling all angels-thoughts on Dave's death April 10

2010-11-29T20:22:00.000-05:00

This blog is dedicated to my friend and colleague, Dave, who died this morning. He was diagnosed with brain cancer two years ago, and fought bravely and obstinately til the very end. Dave was a softie with a hard shell-you all know the type. Called us on all our bullshit, made us go outside our comfort zones, and never suffered fools gladly.

He touched so many lives in so many ways, as colleague, mentor, teacher, friend, and father. He will be missed-he is missed.

Another reminder to all of us-whatever your path

make sure you stop along the way and take it all in

cause it's later than you think...

Thank you

Alice in Wonderland all grown up March 10

2010-11-29T20:20:00.000-05:00

Remember Alice in Wonderland? Well this is a story about a grown-up Alice-the wonderland she discovered, the people she met there, and the people who didn't want to know about her life there.

Alice was all grown up, with a job, a house, a husband, and many of the good things in life. One day she discovered a wonderland of sorts; not the kind of wonderland that blocked out or superseded the normal, everyday, outside world, but a place that she felt free to express herself and meet many interesting people.

Alice's wonderland wasn't difficult to get to, although it did require stepping through an open door, and then turning the key in another door. Alice knew about these doors long before she stepped through them, but she never thought wonderland had anything to offer her, so she stayed away, living her life outside. Eventually she walked through the open door and discovered a wealth of knowledge and information right at her fingertips! This part of wonderland held her attention, and along with outside world, was enough for a long time.

One day she decided to pass through the locked door and see what the fuss was all about. Many people had passed through their own doors over the years, some anonymously, motivated by a myriad of reasons. All the different people coming through their doors with all their intentions, and from all their directions, made this part of wonderland a little confusing for Alice. But she watched and listened to many people, trying to understand what made them tick. Some of them did not attract her, but many offered enlightenment and entertainment, and she enjoyed interacting with them.

The secret behind the locked door was Alice's own self expression, and she took full advantage of her new found voice. At last a place for her thoughts, both mundane and profound, to find wings and fly into the world. She also used the secret world to bring unpleasant secrets out of the corners of her mind. Sweeping those secrets out from under the bed liberated Alice, and after a time she realized that they haunted her no more. What a relief! Alice found a new voice, and a new eye, hiding behind the secrets and the walls she had erected over the years to protect herself. She realized how many distractions she deliberately threw in her own path to prevent her from thinking about those secrets, and eventually those distractions became unnecessary, to her great delight.

Alice spread her wings in the secret world, and became a new person in the outside world as well; a better version of herself, if you will. The secret world allowed her to understand her life in the outside world so much better, and this affected her deeply.

Alice had friends in the outside world of course, and these people knew her for a very long time, long before there was a secret world. She wanted to share her new-found sense of herself and her new voice and eye with her friends, especially Mary and Carol.

Although Alice was eager to share with her friends, for various reasons it was not to be.

The first friend, Mary, knew about the open door and occasionally came through it, and listened to Alice when she talked about her new voice and eye, but never wanted to come through the door and see for herself. This made Alice sad, but she knew that Mary did not feel comfortable behind the doors and accepted the fact that Mary would always be there for her in the outside world.

The behavior of Alice's second friend, Carol, frustrated and puzzled Alice all the time. Carol was very comfortable behind the open door, in fact Carol was an expert there. She knew all the ins and outs of that world, and moved freely around all its rooms and castles, interacting also in the shadowy place between its worlds. The thing that most puzzled Alice was this-even though Carol knew of Alice's new voice and eye, she was very resistant to Alice's place in the secret world, and refused to acknowledge Alice's newfound expressions there. Many times Alice found herself listening to Carol express herself in the real world without getting a word in edgewise. You see, although Alice could chatter about the surface of her life as much as anyone, her deepest thoughts and images did not come out so easily. In fact, somehow Alice felt so much more comfortable expressing these thoughts inside her wonderland, and even though she gladly held the door open for her friend to walk through, Carol would not follow; or if she did, she kept her travels a secret for some reason unknown to Alice.

At first Alice tried to understand why her friend would not want to come through the door, especially since Carol openly lamented the fact that Alice had so many thoughts and images she expressed only behind the door. Was Carol jealous of the fact that other people saw Alice's words and visions? Did she want exclusive rights to them-to hoard all for herself? That didn't make any sense at all to Alice; why would Carol be so selfish? Maybe Carol liked to think of Alice a certain way, and wasn't quite comfortable with the new Alice?

Although Carol's attitude and behavior puzzled and disappointed Alice, she didn't let it stop her from creating behind the door, and in the outside world as well. But what, if anything, to do about Carol?

A little story about Alice and wonderland. And as a friend of mine used to say, "I don't write fiction".

the kind of politician we all need March 10

2010-11-29T20:19:00.000-05:00

"This aint no party, this aint no disco, this aint no foolin around."

New Jersey-broke, broke, and broke, elected Chris Christie their (our) governor last fall. Some conservatives were unhappy cause they thought he wasn't conservative enough, but I think the man is a brave soul who knows what NJ needs to do. The ride is over, no more borrowing, no more taxing. It's time to pay the piper, and he has the balls to insist. After all, this is what we elected him to do, right?

yes yes yes!!!!!

From a speech he made to 200 NJ mayors on February 24, 2010.

Read it and cheer (emphasis in red is mine)

'We have no choice'

By CHRIS CHRISTIE

Last Updated: 4:35 AM, March 5, 2010

Posted: 12:58 AM, March 5, 2010

Adapted from Gov. Chris Christie's remarks to about 200 mayors at a meeting of the New Jersey League of Municipalities.

When I started in office, I had to close a $2.3 billion shortfall in the $29 bil lion annual budget -- and only $14 billion was left. Of that $14 billion, $8 billion could not be touched -- because of contracts with public-worker unions, bond covenants and commitments the state made in accepting federal stimulus money.

We had to find a way to save $2.3 billion in a $6 billion pool of money. The treasurer's office presented me with 378 possible freezes and lapses to balance the budget; I accepted 375 of them.

There's a great deal of discussion about me doing that by executive action. Every day that went by was a day where money was going out the door such that the $6 billion pool was getting less and less. Something needed to be done -- and the people didn't send me here to talk; they sent me here to do.

As we look ahead three weeks to my fiscal year 2011 budget address, you all need to understand the context from which we operate.

Our citizens are already the most overtaxed in America. You mayors know that the public appetite for ever-increasing taxes has reached an end.

So we're going to reduce spending at the state level -- because we have no choice.

We also have an obligation to work with the Legislature to give mayors the tools to reduce spending at the municipal level. The pension and benefit reform package just passed in the Senate is only a beginning. We need to change the rules of arbitration to level the playing field. The ever-increasing raises being given to public-sector workers as a result of the arbitration system tells us that.

By the same token, I'm tired of hearing superintendents and school-board members complain that there are no other options than raising property taxes. There are other options.

After a two-year negotiation, Marlboro gave teachers a five-year contract with 4.5 percent annual salary increases -- with zero contribution to health-care benefits. Yet I'm sure there are people in Marlboro who've lost their jobs, who've had their homes foreclosed on, who can't keep a roof over their family's head.

There's something wrong.

At some point, there has to be parity between what's happening in the real world, and what's happening in the public-sector world. The money doesn't grow on trees outside government buildings. It comes from the hardworking people of our communities who are hurting right now.

In this instance, the political class (of which all of us here are members) is lagging behind the public. The public is ready to hear that tough choices have to be made.

They're not going to like it. But they're tired of hearing, "Don't worry. I can spare you from the pain." They've been hearing that for a decade, as we have borrowed and spent and taxed our way into oblivion.

State government has done every quick fix in the book. Now we're left holding the bag.

All of you know in your heart that what I am saying is true. You know that we can't afford these raises that are being given to public employees of all stripes. You know the state can't continue to spend money it doesn't have. And you know that the appetite for tax increases among our constituents has come to an end.

So the path to reform and success is clear. We just have to have the courage to go there.

What we're doing is showing people that government can work again for them, not for us. It has worked for the political class for much too long.

There's no time left. We have no room left to borrow. We have no room left to tax.

Forget about the next election, the next newspaper editorial, the next angry letter or phone call from someone who wants something for nothing. It's time for us to show courage and resolve.

We can do it -- because we are from New Jersey. And I have never, in all my travels around the country, met a group of tougher people.

Chris Christie is New Jersey's governor.

Me again-I for one am convinced that the system has to change-and have come around to some pretty radical ideas for someone raised by liberals. Just one-how about our politicians? Why do they get health care and pensions? That is just ridiculous! Time for a real world wake-up call, people-they don't call it public service for nothing!

How is your state holding up? and what do you think?
Thanks for your comments.

Some good news about shoes feb 10

2010-11-29T20:18:00.002-05:00

Having an argument/discussion with my very liberal Depression baby mother last night that actually stayed very civil. Instead of talking personalities (Nobama,Bush et al) we talked economic theories,and it worked out much better.

Perusing some of the news feed I get at work led me to the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom, which in turn led me to this article. It explains why the jobs bill (HIRE-how much are we paying for someone in the White House to come up with the pithy (NOT!?) acronyms?) will not stimulate job creation that leads to economic growth, exactly the point I was trying to make at mom's last night.

The article (italic and bold emphasis added by me).
The link to Heritage

February 23, 2010

Senate Jobs Bill: An Ineffective Means of Reducing Unemployment

by James Sherk and J.D. Foster, Ph.D.

WebMemo #2814

Reduced investment and a drop in job creation--not increased job losses--have been the primary factors driving unemployment higher over the past two years. The original bi-partisan Senate jobs bill, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, did little to address this underlying problem. Instead the legislation was a vehicle for extending a number of separate taxes and spending policies that would otherwise expire.

For reasons unrelated to job creation, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) side-tracked the HIRE Act by introducing his own partisan "jobs" bill. The Reid bill stripped the original bill down to two main provisions:

Suspending the payroll tax for companies that hire new workers in 2010; and

Increasing federal highway construction spending.

If enacted, this bill will do little to encourage new investment and hiring. Instead it will increase the debt, placing a further drag on private-sector investment, job creation, and the economy. Ultimately, Reid's bill will fail to achieve results at a lower cost than the original proposal.

Hiring Tax Credits Marginally Effective

Although the first major provision in Senator Reid's proposal appears to encourage job creation, it will ultimately fail to do so. The bill would suspend the 6.2 percent employer payroll tax on newly hired workers in 2010. Companies that keep these workers on their payrolls for at least one year would receive another $1,000 credit against their 2011 taxes. This proposal, however, would create few new jobs.

Jobs come from the creation of valuable goods and services by entrepreneurs. Companies hire when the additional earnings that a new worker creates by producing those goods and services exceed the cost of employing that worker. The payroll tax suspension would slightly lower the cost of hiring workers. As a result, it would probably cause some companies to hire workers they otherwise would not have.

However, suspending the payroll tax for one year would not create better opportunities to produce valuable goods and services; nor would it increase the earnings a new worker would create for his or her company. Simply reducing the cost of a potential job will not cause an actual job to emerge if consumers fail to signal that such a job should exist. As a result, most companies would not expand and hire permanent new workers.

Instead, most of the tax suspension benefits would be claimed by companies that already planned to hire new workers. Even in this recession firms are hiring new workers: 49.4 million workers were hired for new jobs in 2009. Suspending the payroll tax would cost billions of dollars, most of which was spent rewarding employers that would have hired new workers anyway. Indeed, when Congress passed a similar tax credit in the 1970s, that legislation created relatively few new jobs.[1] Why? Because the employers who hired new employees would have done so with or without a credit.

Even if the payroll tax suspension created the jobs, these gains would be offset by a similar number of job losses. The tax revenue foregone due to the payroll tax suspension will require an increase in federal borrowing by the same amount; borrowing that deprives the private sector of capital to use as it sees fit, whether for business investment or personal consumption. Thus, the primary effects of this tax are to reduce labor costs for certain employers and reduce the funds available to others.

Government Spending Depresses Job Creation

The new highway spending in the bill will also fail to create jobs for two reasons.

First, it does little to encourage private investment. The private sector creates net new jobs through the processes of entrepreneurship--investment, expansion, risk-taking, and seeking opportunity. Government spending does not encourage entrepreneurship because it only reallocates resources in the economy; it does not make potential business projects more likely to succeed. While government spending leads to directly observable construction jobs, it does not encourage additional private-sector investment.

Second, the increased federal highway construction spending will crowd out private spending, both consumption and investment. Analogous to the payroll tax suspension, the resources the government spends are taken from elsewhere in the economy:

Each dollar the government borrows is one dollar entrepreneurs cannot invest and that private individuals cannot consume.

Each $1.00 increase in government spending reduces private-sector investment by between $0.46 and $0.97 after two years and $0.74 and $0.95 over five years, with the balance coming out of private consumption.[2] Government spending substitutes for private spending, it does not supplement or encourage it.

Such a "crowding out" effect is why countries in which the government spends heavily to create jobs have high unemployment rates. After all, government spending eliminates more jobs than it creates.

Low Job Creation Driving Unemployment Higher

To reduce unemployment Congress must first understand that the primary factor driving unemployment up has been a sharp drop in job creation--not increased job losses. From the start of the recession to the second quarter of 2009, job losses increased 8.7 percent while job creation fell 16.3 percent. Over that time the number of workers laid off at companies going out of business rose by 3.8 percent (48,000 jobs), and the number of workers hired at newly formed businesses fell by 10.4 percent (235,000 jobs).

This drop in hiring is unsurprising: annual private fixed investment has fallen by $313 billion since the recession started; a 20 percent drop. As long as business investment remains low and entrepreneurs hold back from starting new enterprises, job creation will remain low and unemployment will stay high. Research into past economic downturns suggests that low job creation will explain most of the net job losses throughout this recession.[3]

Recommendations to Congress

Reid's jobs bill would do little to reduce unemployment. Neither suspending the payroll tax for new hires nor increasing highway spending would notably raise the number of jobs in the economy. To lower the unemployment rate, Congress should create a better climate for entrepreneurs and businesses--without adding to the deficit. Congress should seriously examine a no-cost stimulus.

First, Congress should recognize that its threatened actions on taxes, health care, and cap and trade are creating an uncertain climate for businesses. In the face of these heightened, Washington-based uncertainties, businesses tend to hold off on expansions until the air clears and a more favorable economic environment begins to emerge. (YES YES YES a thousand times YES-I will continue to say this until I am blue in the face)

In addition, there are positive steps that Congress should consider, including:

Freeze taxes and costly regulations until unemployment falls below 7 percent;

Rescind the unspent stimulus funds;

Reduce unnecessary regulatory costs, such as repealing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act;

Reform the tort system;

Remove barriers to domestic energy production;

Suspend the job-killing Davis-Bacon Act;

Pass the pending free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama; and

Permit companies to bring foreign earnings to the U.S. without facing punitive taxation.

A cessation of threats from Washington combined with these positive measures would create a better business climate for entrepreneurs and encourage them to take risks, such as starting or expanding their firms. These recommendations would spur investment and meaningfully reduce the unemployment rate.

James Sherk is Bradley Fellow in Labor Policy in the Center for Data Analysis and J. D. Foster, Ph.D., is Norman B. Ture Senior Fellow in the Economics of Fiscal Policy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation.

[1]Robert Tannenwald, "Are Wage and Training Subsidies Cost-Effective--Some Evidence from the New Jobs Tax Credit," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Economic Review (September/October 1982).

[2]Alberto Alesina, Silvia Ardagna, Roberto Perotti, and Fabio Schiantarelli, "Fiscal Policy, Profits, and Investment," The American Economic Review, Vol. 92, No. 3 (June 2002), pp. 571-589, and Olivier Blanchard and Roberto Perotti, "An Empirical Characterization of the Dynamic Effects of Changes in Government Spending and Taxes on Output," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 117, No. 4 (November 2002), pp. 1329-1368.

[3]Robert Hall, "Job Loss, Job Finding, and Unemployment in the U.S. Economy over the Past Fifty Years," National Bureau of Economic Research Macroeconomics Annual 2005 (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2005), at http://www.stanford.edu/~rehall/nberjobloss.pdf (December 16, 2008); Robert Shimer, "Reassessing the Ins and Outs of Unemployment," NBER Working Paper No. W13421, September 2007; and Michael Elsby, Ryan Michaels, and Gary Solon, "The Ins and Outs of Cyclical Unemployment," January 2007, NBER Working Paper No. W12853, at http://ssrn.com/abstract=959129 (February 23, 2010).

Again I say this is as plain as it could be-no PhD in economics required to understand.

Thanks for reading

2010-11-29T20:18:00.001-05:00

Why government spending makes a giant sucking sound Feb 10

2010-11-29T20:17:00.000-05:00

The article (italic and bold emphasis added by me).
The link to Heritage

February 23, 2010

Senate Jobs Bill: An Ineffective Means of Reducing Unemployment

by James Sherk and J.D. Foster, Ph.D.

WebMemo #2814

Suspending the payroll tax for companies that hire new workers in 2010; and

Increasing federal highway construction spending.

Hiring Tax Credits Marginally Effective

Government Spending Depresses Job Creation

The new highway spending in the bill will also fail to create jobs for two reasons.

Such a "crowding out" effect is why countries in which the government spends heavily to create jobs have high unemployment rates. After all, government spending eliminates more jobs than it creates.

Low Job Creation Driving Unemployment Higher

Recommendations to Congress

In addition, there are positive steps that Congress should consider, including:

Freeze taxes and costly regulations until unemployment falls below 7 percent;

Rescind the unspent stimulus funds;

Reduce unnecessary regulatory costs, such as repealing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act;

Reform the tort system;

Remove barriers to domestic energy production;

Suspend the job-killing Davis-Bacon Act;

Pass the pending free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama; and

Permit companies to bring foreign earnings to the U.S. without facing punitive taxation.

[1]Robert Tannenwald, "Are Wage and Training Subsidies Cost-Effective--Some Evidence from the New Jobs Tax Credit," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Economic Review (September/October 1982).

Central Europe from 1997 Feb 10

2010-11-29T20:13:00.000-05:00

...Yeah it's Sunday night-back to work tomorrow. BUT at least I am on the road this week FINALLY-Bethlehem PA here I come.

The pictures-this is part two of a trip back to the pics I took on a trip to central europe in 1997. I went to Prague for 5 weeks to study at the University of Economics, and did some traveling when I was finished. What an amazing experience-one of the best things I ever did.

part one of my latest look at the the pics is Karlovy Vary-this link is now fixed, a spa town in western Bohemia very close to the German border (the German name for the town is Carlsbad.) This blog takes another look at some city shots from Prague, Budapest, and Vienna. Eventually I'll have more of these to show you; I went back to my prints today and have many more to scan and edit.

So-the pictures

Prague

Budapest

Vienna

And the last night of the trip-I left from Vienna

Thanks for coming by! I hope you enjoyed the trip-look for more soon.

have a good week

Friends, myspace and facebook Feb 10

2010-11-29T20:11:00.001-05:00

UPDATE WITH A FUN SONG!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

You may notice that Mada is back. UPDATE here-she is gone already LOL but here she is

(if you have never seen her before please forgive me-I do change avatars a lot- read about them here if you wish)

Thinking a lot lately about many things, as usual the ADD is going full blast. Sometimes I feel like Lexie-always walking around looking for trouble

but then she has an excuse. She's part Siamese!

So what is this about friends, and why did I put my top on random tonight? You may know that most of the people on my top friends are hardly ever here anymore. Oh they stop by to see some blogs, and I do communicate with them on facebook (and some on email and phone) and still love them all, but they are not the people that I interact with the most on Myspace. I don't make a big deal about it but the top friends are (or should be) the folks I interact with (on my page and on the blogs) most when I am here. So the friends are on random for now and may be for a while. Luckily none of my friends really care too much about the "top friend" game-they know they're my friends and I guess that's enough. (I don't pay much attention to it either.)

About facebook-yes I could write a rant about how much facebook sucks and how restrained I am there, but other people do it better (check out Carl on the subject-he is one funny mofo), so I don't think I need to rehash it all again.

I will say this about the difference and the function of each, in my mind anyway. Aside from being the place where all the kids I know hang out online, thus my Aunt Elizabeth persona, facebook is the place where many people I "met" on myspace are hanging out nowadays. That's fine with me, whatever floats your boat, but I find it a little boring.

To me facebook is the place you go when you don't want to meet anyone new. Maybe you reconnect with family or old friends, but it's really not conducive to meeting new people. Yes I belong to some groups there but they are really fan pages and they keep me up to date with what is going on, but they are not about one-on-one interaction.

"They" say myspace is dying, but I really think it has a place, especially if you like to blog and put your work and/or heart and soul out there. When you do this, yes your friends gather and comment, but there is always a chance that someone new, someone you never would have "met" otherwise, will come around and comment. Keeping myself open to meeting new people through words and pictures is part of why I am here. (of course I don't mean the pedophiles and creepy folks-luckily I don't attract them whew! I also check people out before I friend them, and I normally read their blogs and/or have some friends in common before I take the plunge-but that's another blog)

So I guess this explains why I am eventually going to rearrange my top friends, and why I reposted my AUTO-biography blog. Although I still interact with many of those friends in other venues, I continue to make new friends and readers HERE and I love it!

Thanks for being here and reading and commenting.

Do you have a facebook page too? (Don't worry I won't go trying to add you over there LOL. This is the real me anyway) What do you think?

snow on the beach the video jan 10

2010-11-29T20:10:00.000-05:00

One minute of snow on the beach

Have a great weekend! go out and play in the snow

it's as plain as the nose on your face feb 10

2010-11-29T20:09:00.000-05:00

Reading and hearing some of the many news stories about this bogus "help" for small businesses inspired my latest status and this blog. They just don't understand that many banks aren't lending because

a) they tightened up their lending standards in response to criticism from regulators
b) logically following the above, fewer businesses qualify for loans DUH

and most importantly

c)those small business owners who do qualify for loans are not seeking them.

This is a no-brainer (at least to those of us who are thinking)-and consumers are doing the same thing. Hunkering down, paying down existing debt, saving money. Why are businesses and consumers doing this? Because they want to be ready for the next assault on their pocketbooks! There's a new bogeyman every day, it seems, and no one wants to be the one without a seat in musical chairs. Until this administration and congress decide (or get voted OUT) that they are going to leave businesses alone to do what they do best-invest, take prudent risks, make a profit, expand and hire- businesses are going to sit on their hands and wait.

As it goes for businesses, so for consumers. I keep hearing about the increase in savings in the US. Well duh-no one knows how much things will cost or how much their tax bill will be, so a little prudence goes a long way. This is so simple and self-evident that only the most blatant of ideologues will miss it; all the rest don't want to know.

This is why an article like the one below really sticks in my craw-WE DON'T NEED a bogus "program" to encourage small banks to lend-it's counterintuitive!!!!! If businesses and banks feel that the economic environment has stabilized, and they can predict with a modicum of certainty what it will cost them to keep the doors open, they will borrow, invest, and hire. But until then they are still hunkering down, and this "program" is a pile of political dogshit stinking up our computer screens.

I keep thinking back to my econ courses at Stockton in the 90s, when we learned that in order for a developing country to make the leap to a successful economy, they MUST have a stable government and political and economic infrastructure. People and companies, both domestic and foreign, will NOT invest in an unstable country.

Well guess what-we are that unstable country now!!! The ground is constantly moving under our feet, so it's no wonder everyone is hunkered down!

So anyway-here is the article that underscores just how out of it "they" (most of the federal govt as well as the mainstream media) are. Read it and weep. Oh and please leave me a kudo if you read this. You may not want to comment but I really need you to THINK about this. Thank you

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100202/bs_nm/us_obama_lending

Oh and PS-the TARP money needs to go right back into the Treasury. Just sayin

snow on the beach sunrise part 3-more pics jan 10

2010-11-29T20:08:00.000-05:00

Update ps-although I love to play around in photoshop, these pics are totally untouched except for some cropping. The colors are all mother nature!

Finally getting around to this blog! I have too many pictures so will try to pare them down one more time, but be forewarned this may be a long one.

These should be in rough chronological order-the first one is the one I showed you last night

Not all of them include the snow, but I don't think you will mind-the sunrise was spectacular even without it!

Thanks

snow on the beach part 2-sunrise Jan 10

2010-11-29T20:07:00.000-05:00

I have so many pictures I don't know where to start, so no long blog tonight. :( I'm going to zone out with some britcoms. But I will leave you with one shot, it may not be the best but it's up there. Just a taste

Have a good night!

snow on the beach 2009 part 1

2010-11-29T20:05:00.000-05:00

I made it to the beach today about 11 AM. It was warm and still-quite a change from yesterday! Some pictures follow. Shooting part 2 tomorrow morning at sunrise; I'm counting on Lexie's empty belly to get me up in time

Today's pictures

All four layers-snow, sand, water, sky

Up and over the dunes

The wind at work

Boulders? No-chunks of ice!

Time to go back and get warm!

Thanks for coming by. Check back tomorrow for the sunrise

Snow on the beach Feb 10

2010-11-29T20:04:00.001-05:00

Good morning and happy Sunday! I hope everyone made it through the storm without too much damage. We had snow (a lot more than originally predicted) but some of you in the south must be hurting-those ice storms are not pretty.

I'm bringing you some old pictures of snow on the beach in part to help me get out there today and shoot some new ones. I haven't touched the camera in too long and it's a sparkingly beautiful day.

The link below is to a photoblog I did last year, with some cool shots in full daylight, and a couple of videos. Please check it out for a preview.

2009 version of snow on the beach

The shots below were taken two years ago when I wasn't even posting in a blog. They are in my albums though, so it's easy to post them here. The sunrise shots are the most beautiful-all taken with a crappy cellphone camera (I didn't have the blackberry back then)

I WILL get out there today!

Thanks for coming by, and look for some more shots later tonight. Enjoy your Sunday

Just when I thought it was safe again Feb 10

2010-11-29T20:01:00.001-05:00

And now for something completely different

I promised you shoe porn-well how about the sublime and the ridiculous?

When I saw this picture of Anne Hathaway at the Armani Prive show, I practically leapt out of my seat with joy!

Not about the dress-it's only kind of meh; of course she is gorgeous and I do like the gray, but the shape reminds me of Star Trek!

BUT THE SHOES!!!!! OMG They are gorgeous!!!

They are platforms, to be sure, but such a sexy shoe! YUM MEE And if I'm not mistaken she's making fashion history by NOT showing her toes! Whoo hoo!!! The whole peep toe mess was getting really old, especially on boots (WTF?).

Ok-so that's the sublime-what about the ridiculous?

Just when I thought that maybe it was safe to love shoes again, this assaults my eyeballs

OMFG. Unbelievable!!! FUGLY FUGLY

What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by

Some new/old pictures-karlovy Vary jan 10

2010-11-29T19:59:00.000-05:00

No new pictures today. I took these on a trip to central europe in the summer of 1997, and edited them down to the essence last night.

Karlovy Vary, a spa town in the mountains of western Bohemia.

The pictures

Thanks for stopping by-more to come soon.

Part two of the Pool at Harrah's Jan 10

2010-11-29T19:57:00.001-05:00

Doing this and then I must get back to some paying work! whateva

Some shots from the pool-isn't it gorgeous both night and day?

Night-when the 20somethings come out to play

The bar

Interlopers! But yes we were chatted up by some cougar hunters-LOL! Gotta get girlfriend to stop telling them she's going to be a grandma soon-WTF? A little mystery never hurt em

Daytime shots-still beautiful the next morning. I could hang out here all winter...

Thanks for being here and commenting! Friends I know you will comment-lurkers please drop me a bone-a kudo or a grunt will do ;)-thanks

Part one of the Pool at Harrah's-conformity

2010-11-29T19:56:00.000-05:00

All the pictures are done, but I am too tired to show you the whole thing, so I'll just give you a couple (not very good) shots and ask my question. I promise the rest of the pictures are much better-the Pool was very cool!

So what about those 20somethings? You may know that I love to observe people-that's why I am more comfortable behind the lens than in front of it, although a camera is not necessary. And people-watching with one of my oldest and dearest friends (see the profile pic for a shot of us that night) well it doesn't get much better!

This club we went to on Friday night is actually very interesting and beautiful. Harrah's built a gorgeous pool under a dome, and at night it's transformed into a dance club; one of the hot spots for 20somethings from miles around (north and south jersey, philly, ny etc).

Of course we noticed many things about those 20somethings; I have to say that I was a bit disappointed about the clothes! Most of the girls were wearing the same basic thing-a dress (or skirt) that looked like a tube top pulled down over their asses! Some of them were so short that they couldn't even dance without pulling at them all the time-so attractive LOL.

Here's a couple shots of some of the offenders-the first one was a real contrast-the girl with the tube top on her ass looks really trampy (ugly shoes too), but her friend had a gorgeous blue dress that was so flattering! What a difference.

Sorry about the image quality-I know it's really bad.
Here's another one of a group of girls by the pool.

Yes, one girl has an actual skirt on, but the others are encased in the tube tops! WTF? You may say that I am old and crotchety, but it's really not about the length of the skirts. I get that they are showing their legs and that is all good, but damn-the tube tops are ugly, plus what happened to originality? I don't think we all dressed alike when I was a 20something, but then that was back in the dark ages.

So what do you think? Are these skirts ugly? Do all the 20somethings dress the same?

Thanks

There must be something wrong with me Jan 10

2010-11-29T19:53:00.001-05:00

I hope to bring you another photoblog later today; this one from the land of the 20somethings, but this morning I must make a statement and ask a question.

A lot of folks here on the spazz are spending a lot of energy blogging about the Haitian earthquake-some exhorting folks to give, some poking fun and making (tasteless? IDK, I don't read them-you tell me) jokes about the plight of the people of a third world country. (And of course the actual facts about Haiti are not important-warning this is VERY simplistic-when a corrupt government steals all the money and there is no infrastructure or economy to speak of, well shit happens, and no earthquake relief money is going to solve that. But it may help them stumble to their feet-sorting the rest is up to them-and dammit I wasn't going to opine-but there it is)

Some are ranting about all the money going there (including our tax dollars from our president, but never mind-this is not about that disgrace to the office)-they bitch and moan about why there is so much emphasis on the suffering from the earthquake when there are so many people suffering around the world and of course right here at home.

BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!!

WTF? Please tell me if I am getting this all wrong, because I am not reading most of these blogs-I am just not interested in it.

But I don't understand why certain people have to broadcast all this shit to the world-I mean, can't you just make your donation or not and shut up about it? I'm sure many people who donated a little money to the earthquake relief donate to other charities as well when they are able-BUT THEY DON"T FEEL THE NEED TO BROADCAST IT ALL OVER MYSPACE. Again I say WTF?????

I may decide to tell you if I donated for earthquake relief, and I may decide to tell you about the other causes I am lucky enough to afford to donate a little money too, but you know, that is my business and I don't choose to tell you.
I RESPECT your right to choose the charity/cause you wish to support, and don't shove anything down anyone's throat.

Fine, it's ok to let your friends know about a worthy charity, but dammit, don't try to make me feel guilty about donating or not!!!! (BTW-none of my friends here do this-I am speaking in a general sense)

OK-I guess my rant is over. Thanks for allowing me to vent about one small part of my distaste with some folks here. yes, Lover there is a list, and dammit those folks are dropping off my subscription list like flies-I really don't give a shit anymore, thank you very much.

next up-why do the 20somethings all dress alike?, and other questions.

See you later

Visiting in florida-too cold for the pool jan 10

2010-11-29T19:51:00.000-05:00

We had a good time on our long weekend down in Florida with some dear friends, but damn-the weather followed us from New Jersey! I think they broke the record for coldest temps in Palm Beach County, so it was too cold for the pool. Even the dogs weren't going in

The dog's eye view

Reflections

Waiting to go for a walk

Gotcha!!! the dogs are so cute here! They love him to death :)

One of many artsy fartsy type shots of the fire and assorted reflections etc inside the house. This is the only one that made the cut for some reason.

Thanks for stopping by and have a good night.

More photos to come this weekend.

New's Year blog Jan 10

2010-11-29T19:50:00.000-05:00

Don't have much to say, but I have a couple pictures.
Beth and I at the Continental on New Year's Eve (there's a goofy one of all three of us on the blackberry-have to get that)

And the portrait ceiling! I had something to do on Walnut St today, so of course I walked by the Anthropologie store aka Van Rensslear mansion and took a couple shots. the portrait ceiling from the outside! I love the b and w but you really need the color to see the portraits. i scoured the internet for info on it/them, but found nothing. Another one of life's mysteries I suppose. maybe it's an old Dutch custom...

Thanks for coming by and stay warm!

Our favorite dogs jan 10

2010-11-29T19:48:00.001-05:00

A short one tonight.

One more day before we're off for a long weekend. Lots of plans but of course it's all about the people, and the DOGS!
These two are so smart and funny we can't get enough of them.

Some pictures

Thanks and good night! Stay warm

happy birthday dad jan 10

2010-11-29T19:47:00.000-05:00

I think this belongs on my crazy lady page, but fuk it-here it is.

Today is my dad's birthday; 1/2/31-1/11/2001. We don't really acknowledge those dates formally; we talk about him all the time, and when I am with my mother I always feel him there, whether I realize at the time or not.

I found myself in Borders today buying a book to read on the plane (going to visit the snowbirds soon ) and my eye fell on a book tossed casually on a table-who knows where it actually belonged.

I picked it up and started reading it, and I became so engrossed that I sat down in the nearest chair and paged through the whole thing. It was written in a very chatty style, as a FAQ to a spirit medium, and was very easy to read. The woman explained some of the basics of her gift and the information about death and crossing over she's gained over her life of communicating with the dead.

Some people (including my husband) are very skeptical about such things; you may be a skeptic yourself! As for me, well I've always been a bit apathetic and on-the-fence about the whole idea, but the older I get the more I believe that such things could exist.

Some of the stories in the book made me cry; I hid behind my glasses but there were tears coming down my face. My dad was in my head or beside me the whole time, and I felt his presence acutely (wrong word maybe?)

It wasn't until I put down the book, paid for my purchase, and drove away that I remembered something interesting-my dad's birthday! You may think less of me for forgetting, but I do think of him all the time, so another day was nothing new. But my mind was on birthdays, cause my nephew's birthday is Monday and I had no gift or card! Hopefully an I tunes gift card will soften the blow of a late birthday card.

(Just an aside here-I know I don't need to explain but I find it significant somehow. All three of my brother's kids were born only a day or two away from other birthdays in the immediate family. The youngest was born only two days after my father's bday, my niece three days before mine, and my oldest nephew only one day after my husbands'.)

The book mentioned coincidences and how they don't exist-every coincidence happens for a reason, of course. How did I see that book? I didn't know it existed until I saw it thrown on the table; I never would have looked for it. This medium would say that my father put it there as a sign for me today; a way of letting me know a number of things.

So I am here to acknowledge his birthday and his visit-happy birthday dad! I love you and miss you!

Some pictures

Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of the weekend!

You gotta laught jan 10

2010-11-29T19:46:00.000-05:00

having one more cup of coffee before I head off on some errands, and I just had to bring you my take on an ad featured on the home page today-WTF? You saw and heard my rant on ugly shoes; but at least I don't have to look at them all the time. So here's the offending piece of business

You gotta laugh cause this is one of the ugliest things I've seen in a long time, even on Sienna Miller. Speaking of Sienna Miller, do they REALLY think that females think this ugly POS will make them look like Sienna Miller? HELLO! WTF?

OK-didn't want to start the year with a rant, but I couldn't resist this one. Besides, I am laughing at it so it's all good.

What do you think?

One mor before the year is over Dec 09

2010-11-29T19:44:00.000-05:00

I stayed home today cause I just couldn't get out of bed-oh well one less vacation day next year. But I'm not a complete sloth; oh no. We have company coming to see the new year in with us! It's Beth, a very dear friend that we don't see very much. You may remember her from my hs graduation

and the reunion last year

So I'm madly rushing around getting ready-NOT! I am doing some wash and some cleaning in between looking at pictures and generally goofing off.

Speaking of pictures, I thought it only fitting to close out the year with some Philly shots-yes I know it's a bit boring but bear with me. They really are rather interesting. Anyway-from a ramble I took last week

and one from inside my favorite coffee shop

Thanks so much to all my friends who show up to read my ramblings and comment on my pictures! I treasure your friendship and wish all of you a very happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!

Rittenhouse Square tonight Dec 09

2010-11-29T19:33:00.000-05:00

Took the BFF Pat out for her birthday tonight, and we sat at the window looking out at one of my fav places-Rittenhouse Square of course!

First though-the Van Ransallear mansion aka the Anthropologie store. I can't stay out of that place. If you look at my photoblogs at all you've seen it, not that you'll recognize it from these.

The view from our table at Parc

Sunrise over AC Dec 09

2010-11-29T19:31:00.001-05:00

96 blog views today? OMG who are all these people? Please-if you take a look, don't lurk! Drop me a kudo at least-and if you think my pics suck, well dammit let me know. ;)

Sunrise this morning. On the other side of the 75 cent toll on the Expressway, about 4 miles outside Atlantic City, there is a place to pull over and get water for the car. It's also a place that I stopped today to watch the sun rise over the skyline-wow! in chronological order

Happy boxing day Fairmount park houses Dec 09

2010-11-29T19:29:00.000-05:00

It's boxing day; the day after Christmas, and thinking about how I finally found out just what boxing day is all about gives me a good excuse to avoid the paying work I must do and write this blog. (play first, work later?)

My sister-in-law, my niece, and I recently visited Fairmount Park in Philly to see some of the historic houses there dressed up for Christmas. This is a Philly tradition, and even though the houses are owned by different entities, including the city and the Art Museum, many of them decorate for Christmas and open for tours. We visited four houses that day, built in different architectural styles in periods of the 18th and early 19th century. I won't go into the history here, but if you google Fairmount Park houses you can take a look. I will say that many of these houses were built up on a bluff overlooking the river to allow their owners, wealthy Philadelphians (both patriots and loyalists), to escape from the periodic yellow fever epidemics that swept through the city.

So-what about Boxing Day, you ask? My knowledge of British history is very poor, but I can't imagine how this little tidbit of info did not make it into my brain at some point-shame on me! Anyway, I asked one of the docents in a house we visited about the origins of the day and the name, and she told me that it was tradition to give the servants off the day after Christmas, and to provide them with boxes of leftover Christmas dinner and goodies to take home to their families. Thus the name boxing day. Interesting, huh? I also learned another little tidbit of history that I'll reveal later on.

So now to some pictures

The Art Museum

Lemon Hill

The oval room and the view from

One of the curved doors

The tree upstairs

Mount Pleasant-very Georgian!

One shot of Ormiston

This last shot is from Woodford. These andirons appeared in many of the houses we visited that day, and I just had to ask about their meaning and significance.

The docent told me that they represent Hessians. Patriots used them in their fireplaces because they wanted all the Hessians to burn in hell!!!!! LMAO-can you imagine the savvy entrepreneur who created these things? I hope he made a fortune!!! Appropriately enough, I leave you with a very American success story-find a need and fill it.

Have a great weekend and happy Boxing Day!

year end blog Dec 09

2010-11-29T19:28:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: I can't get to comments until tonight, but I just have to update this right now. On this blog I mention popular bloggers and (almost)absent friends, but I don't say too much about the friends, new and old, that are here reading this. The blog isn't about you really, because you are still here and I treasure your friendship, your input on my blogs, and I also treasure reading yours. Thank you for being here and for writing those funny sad and insightful blogs I mention below. Love you!!! THANK YOU!

So what is it about Myspace anyway? I've been here over two years now and although I may have missed the glory days, I've been privileged to read many talented bloggers, befriend some of them and other folks. These people have enriched my life in many ways; they listened to my ravings, opined on my pictures, and allowed me to peek into their lives.

However, lately my world here has changed, which in itself is not a bad thing. For many people Myspace is a place for transition; they arrive here at a transformational time of their lives and express themselves to strangers who may become friends. At a certain point, even though they may take some Myspace friends with them, they leave and go offline, or stay online in another venue (maybe Facebook or Twitter).

So-changes in my world-many of the people that I am closest to here, and some that I have "socialized" with face to face, are gone or almost gone. Many of my top friends come here rarely, if at all, and although I still interact with them online and off, I don't see them here on a regular basis. The reasons those friends are no longer here vary, but many have defected to Facebook. I know that some of them found themselves missing a lot of blogs here and feeling guilty about it. I can certainly understand but I do think it's a shame that they felt they had to leave Myspace, but of course I want them to do what makes them happy.

Other changes are about me. I have already spilled a lot of what was bottled up for so long, and grown so much and learned so much from reading bloggers here, both friends and otherwise. It's the otherwise I want to get into here.

I never used the top blogs to help me decide who to read; luckily I found them on my own; friends of friends mostly. I read a lot of blogs, left comments on a lot of them, and got replies most of the time. But these people never to came to visit me on my blog or my page. Now of course I understand this-these were very popular bloggers and they could never personally visit all of their readers. I established a kind of friendship with them and that was fine. But I've become much less likely to comment on drama blogs, and the funny, sad and insightful blogs about life are fewer and farther in between, unless my friends write them of course! (that's you ) I am less and less interested in teh drama, and don't really read much nowadays; I read my friends and maybe some political blogs. I have less and less patience for leaving comments on blogs whose writers will never come over here. Whateva-I get it and really don't care.

So you see I've changed too. Although I am on facebook and even have some pictures there, in addition to my etsy site, I still feel that Myspace is my online home and I am not leaving. Elizabeth is not a persona-she is ME, warts and all, and that's why you won't find her if you google my real name. My facebook page is the family-friendly version; if anything that page is a persona. This is the real thing. So-some friends and readers may come and go, and I may occasionally clean out my blog subscription list, but I still want to be here and am not going anywhere.

Not a persona, but the real me. How about you?

Thanks! Merry Christmas, happy whatever you celebrate, and have a happy and healthy new year.

Ugly shoes Dec 09

2010-11-29T19:26:00.000-05:00

In my last blog I bemoaned the state of the USA, and gave you Caroline Baum's take on jobs, banking, and what comes next.

I'm still bemoaning here in this blog, but the subject is completely unimportant compared to the future of our nation. HOWEVER, it is important to me and anyone who follows the state of SHOES. if you are a shoe-lover like me, you probably either love or hate the shoes available right now. Well, I'm here to tell you that I fall down on the

side. All the shoes are either sky-high ugly platforms or little baby-girl flats-what happened to the shoes that turned me into a shoe-lover? Alas they are nowhere to be found! (actually that isn't strictly true-there's a pair of Manolo Blahniks below that I would love to have)

So here it is-feast your eyes on some really ugly shoes, and after you are done I'll treat you to the Blahniks.

And how about these for evening wear? BAHAHAHA

I saw this next pair in Lucky mag and they inspired this blog; they sum the whole thing up rather nicely I think.

All of these shoes make me feel like I'm supposed to be at war with my shoes and the world. WTF? I want my clothes to make me feel better-more comfortable, sexier, whatever. I guess I am out of step with the trends. And this one can't go away fast enough. Maybe when we throw the Dems out of DC? hmmmmm.

So-our reward for making it this far-the Blahniks. The existence of these shoes does not mean that Manolo passed on the trends above, but it does indicate that he understands how a really beautiful shoe transcends the dull and ugly.

So tell me-what do you think? Are these shoes ugly?

Doylestown and Philly photoblog Dec 09

2010-11-29T19:25:00.000-05:00

Words elude me, EXCEPT-- I have to ask about the 81 blog views today and not one comment-wtf?-who are these people? Leave me a comment-good or bad-or kudo please.

A couple more pictures

sunday in cape may dec 09

2010-11-29T19:24:00.000-05:00

I don't have much to say tonight, but I do have some pictures.

oxoxox

Thanks

Philly (and NY) photoblog Nov 09

2010-11-29T19:22:00.000-05:00

UPDATE-Got rid of all the bullshit here-I left only the good thoughts and the pictures. Love you.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Mine was delicious and a lot of fun! My niece and nephews are growing up so fast, but I love it (maybe I should only admit that in secret-call me crazy but I just love their teenage selves ).

But enough about Thanksgiving, this is about me, for a change LOL.

New shots for your perusal are below. As always, I love to hear your opinion. Thanks and have a great weekend.

Now to round up all the Facebook defectees! LMAO

Veterans Day photoblog Nov 09

2010-11-29T19:20:00.000-05:00

Yes this is a repost of a tribute I put together a couple years ago. The older I get the more I understand many things about my childhood. Not just secret things that I don't talk about here, but the assumptions and idiocy I was raised to believe as the truth. In the text below I sugarcoat the fact that the veterans in our family were not honored for their service-my parents never really spoke of them as heroes or at all-such a disservice to them and their sacrifice!

I was born and raised in the Vietnam war era, and that was the only war or soldiers my parents ever talked about. The war was wrong, our soldiers worthy only of pity, our leaders were evil, our country was always wrong (at least since the days of the sainted Roosevelt!) I write today as an adult with eyes wide open, finally SEEING my world as it really is, finally through the long process of ridding myself of all those liberal ideas I was raised to believe (but could never quite sign off on). So here is my Veterans Day tribute

Remember our Veterans today!

I never heard much growing up about my relatives' service in the US military-it wasn't a secret, but somehow for various reasons that I won't go into here, we didn't talk much about these brave men, our blood relatives, who risked their lives for our freedom.

It's a little embarrassing that I don't know more about these men, but I'm not going to let that stop me from paying tribute to them here.

My father was a genealogy buff and in his later years, the collector of old photo albums and conversations on tape with some of his many close relatives. I have inherited all this and have not done much with it as of yet-another embarrassment-sorry dad.

At least I have pictures from my father's side. On my mother's side I have nothing but some stories my mother heard when she was young. Sometimes these stories will just pop out of her without warning, and I always want to take some notes so I remember more, but instead just listen. I hope I can convince her to write it all down, so her grandchildren know a little bit about that part of their heritage.

Geez, I wasn't going to get into all this family shit....

So-the rest of this blog will honor all of my relatives (that I know of) who served their country.

My father's mother was one of ten children, and all six of the boys served in WWII in one capacity or another; exactly how I'm not sure, but here's a page from my great-grandfather Arthur Jacobs' album

and the back of the photo, with my dad's notes at the bottom. Top row-Earl, Arthur, Kenneth, second row Mel, Arthur Sr, and Raymond, and Paul seated on the floor.

The next shot is my dad with his uncle Mel-who was in the Navy, obviously.

The information on my mother's side is even sketchier, but I do know that her father, Abraham Mankoff, came to the US as a teenager sometime in the 1910s and enlisted in the army. He had some experience with horses as a boy in Latvia, so he took care of calvary horses somewhere in the desert southwest.

My mother was the youngest of three children; her brother-in-law Morris Rose served in WWII in the Pacific under Pershing for four years. Her brother Lawrence Mankoff didn't come of age until the last year of the war, but he served in Japan in the aftermath of the war (as far as I know).

I'd also like to pay tribute to my father-in-law, John Rozsa,

seen on the right with his business partner of many years. John was born in 1915, so he was a little older and working as a machinist (the trade of his father before him) when the war broke out. Someone looked at his credentials and pulled him out of the line-he spent the war serving his country working on the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to put this tribute together. I'm so proud of all the brave men and women who serve our country, past, present, and future, and proud to remember my ancestors who played a small part in that noble fight.

Thank you

Arthur, Earl, Melvin, Raymond, Kenneth and Paul Jacobs.

Abraham and Lawrence Mankoff.

Morris Rose.

John Rozsa.

Catching up Nov 09

2010-11-29T19:18:00.000-05:00

Happy Caturday, everyone! Yes, it's me, the patron saint of whatthefukeva, typing a blog, such as it is, here on my page. I know I haven't been around much, and now that things have quieted down just a little bit, I thought I would fill you in on what the hell's been going on. If you are not interested, you may leave now, although before you go answer me this-and then leave me a kudo lol, why did you open this in the first place?!:)

harmonic convergence-that's not what happened to me-actually it was more like a chaotic convergence. Of course my Phillies were in the playoffs and advanced all the way to the WS, and I was lucky enough to attend a couple games in each series. What a ride that was; what a shame we couldn't make it all the way... I really don't want to dissect what happened or who did what-maybe we can talk about it in January or February, but right now I think not. Thanks.

The second thing happening in my world-my pictures! I stumbled on an opportunity to show my pictures (and participate in an opening-type thing) in a gallery of local artists at a local furniture store. So-I've been spending a lot of my free time in the past month or so doing a blog asking for opinions, putting a book of 5X7s together (none of the pics were printed), deciding which ones I want to show, trying to get more logistical information about my participation (like what and when?), getting frames, prints, etc. I'm really enjoying the whole process, BUT today is the day that I commit to all the custom mats for my 16X20 frames I bought yesterday, and also the final 8X10s of the pics. The open house is scheduled for November 14, as far as I know, so if I want to be ready and earn a living too, I have to get my ass in gear TODAY!!!! So please wish me luck. When I know that my pics will definitely hang on the wall, I will post the info so anyone in the area can come see them IN PUBLIC, but until I'm sure I don't want to jinx it.

A couple of new ones, just cause I can

As if the above wasn't enough, I also had a pleasant but exhausting couple weeks at work. Teaching is one of the things I do to keep myself from going stark raving mad at work (you may know I am bored with, and don't believe in, all of it FYI). For many reasons there are a couple things that I ended up being an expert about (my job involves knowing about A LOT of different regulations-and we all have our specialties), and I do have the opportunity to teach one of them to new folks from around the country. This is so much fun in many ways and usually gives me the opportunity to travel around the country to places like San Francisco, Chicago, Minneapolis etc. (you may recall that I was in Minneapolis during last year's world series-here's the link to that story).

BUT this year I didn't travel anywhere-the school was held in Philly! So in addition to the teaching aspect, I was also caught up in the logistical side, AND I still had to drive home 60 miles every night (except for staying in town to go to the world series-whole nother story).

So-this is why I haven't had the time to blog, or even read many blogs here, in several weeks. In fact, even though I did update my status and maybe comment on yours, all myspacing has come from the blackberry-a poor substitute for the real computer.

Now you know what I've been up to, now please tell me what you are up to.

Yes, I subscribe to Miles so I heard some of the fuss about BTR, and I see how many folks changed their name to anonymous (still able to tell who you are BTW ;), although I still don't know what that is all about, and yes that I missed Guy Fawkes day LOL, BUT

I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING IN YOUR WORLD!!!

Even if you know I subscribe to your blog, PLEASE put a link in my comments here so I can come over this weekend and visit-I miss you all.

Thanks and have a great weekend!

A couple of sunsets oct 09

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Raw and unedited

enjoy your Sunday night!

Take off your bra and make yourself at home Oct 09

2010-11-29T19:16:00.000-05:00

Maybe I should call this blog bewbage #2, cause that's what it's about. Another silly piece of jetsam floating around in my head.

Ok-visualize with me here-
you get home from work, get out of the car, walk in the door and throw down you keys and whatever baggage your are schlepping.

What is the first thing you want to do? What one act will make you breathe that first sigh of relief that you are back in your castle, or on your ship ;)?

Here's were the boobs come in. Some people might say that they want to take their shoes off, others maybe sit down in their comfy chair, of course there are many answers to this question.

As for me (wait for it lol) I want to TAKE OFF MY BRA!!!!!

Yes I like to take off my makeup, and eventually my shoes and maybe some more articles of clothing, but the bra MUST come off. It is oppression personified, especially when your IBTC doesn't need the damn thing at all.

So now you know my secret. Tell me-what is the first thing you want to do? What is the thing that makes you feel at home?

Thanks

15 movies Oct 09

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15 movies, my favs, changed my life, can't forget.
Ok. Here there are, in no particular order. I tried to find trailers for all-I could try to show you favorite scenes but that would take forever.

Say Anything
I LOVE Cameron Crowe and just about anything he does, but this is my fav of his. Two misfits finding each other... and the music is great! and love Cusack and Syke of course

Next on the list-I'll give you another Cameron Crowe-Almost Famous. To anyone younger than 35 or so-if you want to know a bit about the 70's this is it. No of course we weren't all groupies, but he catches the vibe to a T!! and the cast and music is incredible

Thought this scene might not stand up without the backstory-but actually it does

Next on the list Gone With the Wind-a classic

Back to the late 20th century-Slums of Beverly Hills-love this movie-Natasha Lyonne, Marisa Tomei, and Alan Arkin-this is an underground classic

The Breakfast Club-my fav of the brat pack movies-maybe I identify with the misfits? Judd Nelson bad boy!

My Cousin Vinny-fokin amazing cast and dialogue! Marisa Tomei's courtroom scene is over the top

just a taste of my fav scene

In my notes I wrote Coen brothers here-but which one? Fargo, Raising Arizona, the one with Clooney as a convict? I guess it has to be Fargo (remember Frances McDormand from Almost Famous? LOL)

True Lies is next-tongue in cheek action-love it!

Philadelphia Story-a classic starring some classics-couldn't find a trailer.

Thelma and Louise-the ultimate road movie. If you don't know the ending-go check it out

Some Like it Hot-another oldie but goodie!

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World-what a hoot!

and last but not least-my fav foreign movie-Kolya. What a gem. Not the best video,but a great movie. In Czech of course but English subtitles available. I highly recommend it

is that 15? maybe not but I am done. Tag yourself if you would like to do this one.

oxoxox

Bewbage-from the sublime to the ridiculous Oct 09

2010-11-29T19:11:00.001-05:00

This is one of those things that is rattling around in my head screaming to see the light of day-so here it is. The world is more ridiculous every day-well here's my little spot.

From the sublime to the ridiculous-yes of course I notice breasts-I'm not excited by them, but geez how could I live in this world without noticing them. They are everywhere-and such a fuss-oh but that's another blog.

Sublime

The first thing I have to say about sublime bewbage is that it is REAL!!!!

My soft spot for Gia really has nothing to do with her boobs-but they are (were-she's forever young) damn near perfect.

So where do we go from here on the road from sublime to ridiculous?

I don't know who this is (maybe Jennifer something?) but it doesn't really matter.

This one-well I bet she has marks on her back from the bra straps, but that cross sure looks sexy.

Guess who? Not to bad for an old lady-let's just say they are aging well LOL

but I'd take the chance to have just a little cleavage-oh well

So yes I did save the ridiculous for last. Lucky you. I must tell you that my ridiculous may be your beautiful, so be forewarned I reveal my bias here ;)

Nothing against anyone who's had breast "enhancement" surgery-whatever gets you through the night as far as I'm concerned-but I find most of it really ugly, (I mean WTF?)

to the surreal-how the hell does she remain standing upright?

So do you agree? What's your version of sublime?

Details-Atlanta photoblog

2010-11-29T19:10:00.001-05:00

UPDATE-more pics of the one that doesn't fit AND the mystery plant at the bottom. Please scroll down to the end. Thanks!

I took lots of pictures at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, but instead of showing you all of them, I'm going to do something different.
Take a look at these and tell me which one doesn't fit with the rest and why.

Thanks for stopping by

So-which one doesn't belong, and why?

Here's the update and the answer-all of the pics are leaves except for #6, so according to my calculations, that is the one that doesn't belong. Love all your answers though-everyone had their own rationale and you guys made it more fun! Richard-the pic that looked like a painting was just an effect. Here is the atrium, graced by the glass sculpture (by Chihuly no less) with the leaf sculpture behind it.

and another one

and another Chihuly-just because I can

Now about that mystery plant-here it is in color

After some digging on the internet and thinking about a convo Pat and I had after I took the pic, I realized that these are carnivorous plants of the Heliamphora variety (link to wiki) (aka marsh pitcher plants). They are notoriously difficult to grow and the Atlanta Botanical Garden is very proud of their collection.

Thanks for coming back to get the answer-well my answer anyway :)
oxoxoxoxox

Phillies at Turner Field part 3

2010-11-29T19:07:00.000-05:00

So where did all the pics come from?

Pat and I went to Atlanta for a girl's weekend-some baseball, some visiting with her aunt and uncle and two of their granddaughters, and a night at the W Midtown.

The original plan was to go to the game on Saturday night; Pat had tickets behind the Phil's dugout BUT her uncle got a hold of tickets right behind home plate for Friday night, so we went to that game instead. It turned out to be a good decision, because of course the seats were AMAZING-also-the Phils won, and the weather was beautiful (you may know that it is still raining cats and dogs in Atlanta-with some serious flooding-not funny!)

So-not were the seats right behind home plate, they were on the side between the Phils dugout and the plate, so every time someone walked to the plate, they walked right past us! I was also able to get the player on deck and the one at bat in the same shot-incredible!

So-more pics

Phillies at Turner Field part 2 Sept 09

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Home from Atlanta, but staying at Pat's tonight so my ride to Johnstown tomorrow is 4 hours instead of 5.

More pics from Friday night's game

So what do you think?

More to come tomorrow

Good night!

Phillies at Turner field Sept 09

2010-11-29T19:05:00.000-05:00

It's late and I'm tired from doing nothing all day lol. So even though I have a bunch of pics ready, i"m only going to show you a couple. you'll just have to wait for the rest.

and undercover cutie-Pedro Feliz

Thanks and more tomorrow!

Gia's grave Sept 09

2010-11-29T19:01:00.000-05:00

So, it's Sunday afternoon and I'm sitting at home doing a blog-hah! Yes, I'm lazy, but in my defense I must tell you that
a) I'm sick with a nasty head cold
b) yesterday was extremely draining emotionally-the mother of my dear friend (who is next to me in these pictures) died and we went to her funeral-so many memories...

c) I'm gathering my strength so I am awake for the Phils tonight-Pat and I have seats right behind the dugout and I'm really looking forward to it.

So now that I am done explaining myself-seriously wth is that all about? Maybe I'll write about it sometime...

I want to share some pictures with you. I haven't felt the cam very much lately, but for some reason (maybe Alice's death and the fact that I was right around the corner from the cemetery) I felt compelled to go visit the grave of model and (my) muse Gia Carangi. She was a Philly girl born in the year of my birth, 1960, and is buried in Sunset Memorial Park, right up the road from all of my stomping grounds.

You may know that I have a soft spot for Gia; she was a wounded soul who got in over her head and paid with her life. She died at the tender age of 26. You know I would normally link you to wiki or some informational site, but just Google her and you will read her story.

She is forever young-just cause I feel like it, a shot of her-age unknown

and a shot of me on my honeymoon at 25-I am not forever young of course-being an old coot now!

So on to Gia's grave-

I had some information about the approximate location of the grave, but it was very difficult to find because there are no headstones in this cemetery! Unless one pays for a crypt or some other larger memorial, all of the stones are set in to the ground and you must be right on top of them to see the name.

I finally found it-the jet is in the background

Getting this next shot was a bit more difficult than I expected, but I guess this turned out ok (lying down in the wet grass for a shot-I am insane!)

Thanks for indulging me-I hope you enjoyed my little trip to the graveyard. Now what are those Phillies up to?

oxoxoxox

9/11/09

2010-11-29T18:59:00.001-05:00

UPDATE: last year I did a little photoblog about baseball on 9/11. Baseball as healer? is what I called it. Just in case you are interested. Back to the blog-

I wasn't going to write a blog today. So many people have and will say it so eloquently and I don't really have anything to add.

But sitting at home, reading some blogs and watching some videos, I remembered a book of photographs that I bought from here is new york. During the months after the attacks, I traveled to manhattan several times; not to go to ground zero necessarily, but somehow to make it real in my mind. I don't think people understood my motives, and you might not understand them now, but there it is. I didn't take many of my own pictures, and I can't find the ones I did take. maybe it's better that way. I always felt that taking pictures somehow detached me from the situation, and I wanted to make it a part of me so I would never forget. (I know that it was a part of my political transformation.)

So the book of pictures I have on my lap now takes me back. They move me beyond measure. if you are interested-hereisnewyork.org

So where was I that day? In Philly, at work. We spent most of the day in front of the TV, transfixed. No I didn't lose anyone that day, but I mourned for all of those who did, and for all of us. But I was also mad as hell-those motherfuckers!!!

Although I roamed the city in those days in the aftermath, taking in many memorials-Union Square, the little church downtown, and all, the memory that haunts me the most is the missing signs-all over the city. Coming up the escalator from Penn Station onto the street-hundreds of them plastered everywhere...

Dedicated in memory of all those who perished on 9/11-in New York, Virginia, and on a field in western PA. And to all of those who fight for the cause of freedom.

To all my friends who lost someone that day-I'm so sorry for your loss. This must be such a difficult day for you-I am thinking of you.

Thank you and God bless America-the noblest experiment of mankind on this earth.

Fire in lower Chelsea Sept 09

2010-11-29T18:58:00.000-05:00

For some reason I haven't been feeling the camera much lately, but when I woke up at 2 AM Wednesday morning to the sound of fire trucks on my street, I decided to take the camera outside with me. I thought since I was up and watching the scene, I might as well shoot if I was at all inspired. I made some of these black and white, but I'm a little ambivalent about it-the fire is so red and fiery against the night sky. But some of the shots look better in b and w (the fire hoses, for instance). Please let me know what you think.

Just to be clear-my house was NOT on fire. Although we were a little worried about the sparks at one point (considering we are wood and all wood), we are fine.

Thanks for coming by and your comments-as always I love to hear your thoughts.

Bits and pieces-a Wilmington and Philly photoblog

2010-11-29T18:56:00.001-05:00

Another traveling day at the end of a work week-seems that's when I do my best pics?

Wilmington

Philly from the car

You think this guy has some wisdom for me? LOL

and of course...

Enjoy your Sunday

I was born to drive these roads-and FAST August 09

2010-11-29T18:54:00.000-05:00

Home again after a week in PA; see the previous blog for some shots in the mountains.

My favorite part of the journey home from working in PA is the drive through Philly; many of my favorite shots of the city were taken on these Thursday and Friday afternoons. Something about being back in my city after a week on the road just kick starts my weekend, and it was the same today.

I don't have pics today, but some maps of my favorite drive in the city. Wissahickon Drive and Kelly Drive (aka East River Drive), along the Wissahickon Creek and Schuylkill River, respectively.

I was born to drive these curvy roads along these beautiful bodies of water, and the act exhilarates me like almost nothing else. I used to joke that I could drive these roads blindfolded after all the years riding in the car with Mom; this was her favorite way to get into Center City from the burbs where we lived. But when I found out that my parents drove them to get to work in town when I was in the womb, I realized why they felt so familiar to me.

A fast car with five speeds and a way with curves is a must-it's just enough speed and danger to get my blood pumping. One of these days I'm going to get one of those helmet cams (or enlist an accomplice to shoot the video), and make a vid of the trip. Not only is the road hella fun, but the scenery is beautiful.

But until I have the vid, these maps will have to do. My hand was a little shaky on the laptop pad, but it's late, so please forgive me.

First map-Wissahickon Drive from Wissahickon Ave to the Schuylkill, where it follows the creek into the river and turns into Kelly (named after Grace Kelly's dad, a Philly big shot) aka East River Drive.

The second map shows Kelly Drive from the Falls Bridge down to the Reservoir, past Laurel Hill Cemetery (pics in one of my Philly blogs)

And the third map takes us around a couple wicked curves to the end of Kelly Drive at the Museum of Art (pics in another blog, along with shots of the river views from the museum) and the Ben Franklin Parkway, which leads into Center City past several fountains, including the one in Logan Circle that I shot in the Details blog.

Thanks for coming along and I promise to get you a video-it's quite a ride!

Have a great weekend

The view from Hawk mt August 09

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A quick video before I leave for work-more pics later

And here are some pics-enjoy!

Thanks for coming by or coming back!

Is peace an illusion? August 09

2010-11-29T18:50:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is the second post today. I've been thinking about something for a couple days now and am getting it off my chest; or maybe more appropriately from my hip, cause I really should do some research but I'm not going to. This is all coming from my gut.

One of my friends recently left me a picture comment with the words "Peace is our Birthright". You might say this is not really controversial but it really got me thinking.

You may or may not know about my political background (look for the David Mamet blog if not), and know my VERY liberal-minded parents raised me to believe all the canards were the gospel truth. They would probably agree that peace is our birthright and that war is avoidable, if only the right people are in charge. I don't think so!

All my apathy now makes sense to me-I didn't believe a word, and now consider myself a fiscal conservative and social libertarian. Ok, enough exposition-damn I always feel the need to explain myself all the time-wtf is with me?

Anyway, I have a problem with the slogan "Peace is our Birthright". I don't think it is our birthright. Peace is a good thing, of course. I certainly don't want to see people die, and I'm not talking about any particular war here, so please spare me the Bush-bashing. Yawn...

I'm asking you to think about this over the entire span of human history. There are always those who, for whatever reason, covet the land or resources of others, and those others usually fight back, sometimes to their death and/or usurpation of their entire culture. Peace is only achieved when someone wins. Given the number of heinous megalomaniacs and tyrannous dictators (and even some who thought they were doing the right thing) throughout history, many people have fought and died (or been enslaved) for their freedom. This is nothing new, and I have come to believe that it will continue unabated as long as humans populate this planet.

I could cite many examples of peace achieved through battle or surrender (the only means available),but I won't since I didn't do my research. Yes there may be times when compromise works, but usually that compromise is only a smoke bomb detonated to throw off the scent-the Czechs are still pissed about the Allies' abandonment in WWII. But that is a specific example about which I have limited knowledge, and I wanted to keep this on the big picture.

I like our Founders' idea much better. They knew that George III would never allow them the kind of peace they desired, and they realized the our only birthright is the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is that right to liberty that we continue to fight for so bravely and valiantly, "against all enemies, both foreign and domestic".

Something else that got me thinking-schoolhouse rock

So what's your birthright?

warning beach photos ahead 8/2/09

2010-11-29T18:48:00.001-05:00

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Some pictures. Keep in mind that details is the new word for me and my camera. No sweeping vistas here.

And no videos-but if you're jonesing, here's an old one

For the pics

Getting the details July 28, 09

2010-11-29T18:47:00.001-05:00

Some of the pictures from my trip around Philly today. A lesson in details....

Thanks for stopping by...

Night in Venice (actually OC NJ) July 28, 09

2010-11-29T18:44:00.000-05:00

This is my 200th blog-amazing isn't it? And I'm posting it on a day that I always remember-well give or take a couple hours. So here it is-the latest effort.

My weekend was a lazy one; just what I needed. It seems I find it difficult to get out of the house many days-that is unless I'm going someplace fun like NY or even Philly. But to go to the cleaners and Target? Nah...

Mark suggested that we take a boat ride down to Night in Venice in OC on Saturday night. This is a yearly tradition in which the whole town goes a little crazy. People decorate their boats and parade down the intercoastal past all the houses, which are also decorated and full of revelers. The best place to see the decorated boats is from the island itself, but I know it has to be a mob scene and to try to drive home after-well forget about it.

So we boarded the boat about 5 PM with hoagies and drinks along for the ride.

The tide was out pretty far so I got a couple shots under the house, yes I said under.

Pretty wild, I know.

The pilings and steel that hold us up (yes that's the jet on the street in the background)

and just because I like the way they look

and a shot of the porch all freshly painted

First floor not so much...

And we're off

accompanied by our drinks of choice (Mark drinks G and Ts but I like this bottle better)

Bridges along the way

An early view of the boat crowd anchored up

A bit later

Tried to get a shot of the two of us but they were so goofy you'll have to settle for this one

Now you know normally I'd be linking you to the Night in Venice site and more pictures whatever, especially since the night time shots were impossible, given that I had no tripod AND was on a boat, but I'm not going to. Check out the Press of Atlantic City for more pics if you wish.

I'll leave you with this one-just a taste of the light show

Thanks for coming by for a ride on Nadya

I love NY-again July 13, 09

2010-11-29T18:36:00.000-05:00

I am so behind on blogs right now I am ashamed of myself. Please forgive me for not visiting you lately. It's been a busy weekend.

Mom and I went to NY this weekend for a 36 hour whirlwind of art and art and art, and then some Noel Coward, Blithe Spirit, to be exact. Angela Lansbury, Rupert Everett, et al put on a fun and funny show.

But that was on Sunday-here's the way it all went down on Saturday. We arrived at about 11:00 AM and went straight down to Soho to the Eleanor Ettinger gallery to see paintings by Michael John Hunt. Great stuff-what he does with light is amazing!

Then to the hotel, a travelzoo special at the Warwick Hotel. Dropped bags in the room, and then left for the Frick Collection to see the Whistlers.

Then up to 92nd St to the Jewish Museum where the exhibit of Dutch masters told an incredible story of the loss to and repatriation of paintings stolen by the Nazis for Hitler's personal museum! Wow!

Heading down Fifth Ave, we hit the Guggenheim for the exhibit of Frank Lloyd Wright drawings, plans, and models. The people were a pain in the ass and the venue is pretty damn annoying, but I'm glad we went to see it, especially after seeing two of his houses out in western PA a couple weeks ago, Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob.

Then to the Metropolitan, after a little peek at the stained glass windows in the Church of Heavenly Rest.

So much to see there, but then just the permanent collection is a daunting display!

Between Saturday night and Sunday morning we saw medieval drawings, Michaelangelo's first painting,
and treasures from Afghanistan,

BUT the exhibit I enjoyed most was this one, The Model as Muse.

The rooms were full of the clothes from some of the most iconic fashion shots of the 20th century and profiles of the models, all grouped chronologically, but I was drawn to the photography in the actual magazines and photos on display.

Some of the greatest photographers worked in fashion; people like Cecil Beaton, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Patrick Demarchelier, Steven Meisel, and Peter Lindbergh, among others.

The photography blew me away-I am actually a bit shocked at how little attention I paid to the clothes. I was poring over the magazines and the photos.

My fav of the show Rene Russo and Cheryl Tiegs by Helmut Newton. Love it!

I was also very gratified to see my Gia Carangi represented with a small profile and several photos; she gets short shrift in the story of models-but then she was a supernova whose flame glowed too bright and hot and burned her. I have a soft spot obviously....

So-my weekend. I promise you will not be sorry you visited any of these links-enjoy.

Oh and also-if you are on Manhattan and looking for some great original art for a reasonable price, walk down Fifth Ave immediately south of the Met. Much of what you'll find is not original and may be a bit touristy, but poke around a bit and you'll be rewarded by the gallery on the sidewalk.

Ok-so it's pimp a blogger month, right? If you look at my subscriptions you know I couldn't possibly tell you about everyone, SO

I'm pimping myself and inviting you to pimp yourself here in the comments. It will really help me get up to speed on all your blogs and maybe pique someone else's curiosity.

I can't show you my pictures but I can take you to the sound june 27,09

2010-11-29T18:35:00.000-05:00

As you may know, I was working in Johnstown PA this week, and of course I have a bunch of pictures that I will share eventually. The highlight of the week was our trip to two Frank Lloyd Wright houses in the mountains of southwestern PA-Kentuck Knob and Fallingwater.

I am free to post the Kentuck Knob pix (exterior only) but that will be another blog.

I may not show you my pix from Falling water (exterior and interior), however. The website warns against publishing any images, even if not for profit, so I must comply. They even charge for the use of the images from their own website, so I'm just going to link you here. Lots of good info on both websites.

I did take some video at falling water; but not of the house (no video allowed). I wanted to bring you the sound of the water-imagine the experience of the Kaufmans listening to this all the time. What a perfect retreat from the steel mills of Pittsburgh.

Thanks for reading and listening and look for more Frank Lloyd Wright soon

High water and why this house is four and half feet higher June 09

2010-11-29T18:21:00.000-05:00

Good evening! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Father's Day and a great weekend!

We just got home from dinner at some dear friends' place, and I had to park the jet down the block and wade home through the high tide.

Here is a little video of the house and the street-reminds me of why we spent way too much time, aggravation, and money lifting this place 4 1/2 feet. In case you need a little history-some info and pix about the house.

Enjoy your week and look for some pictures from Johnstown PA (from one flood to another LOL).

I am back on the road again finally-YAY!

All in one day photoblog

2010-11-21T17:07:00.000-05:00

Just another picture blog-the 24 hours from Thursday July 2 to Friday July 3. On the road from Clarks Summit, PA to Philly.

Here's why they call it Viewmont Mall

The moon

Trees in front of the hotel

On the long ride out of the mountains

Plenty of time before the Phillies game to check out a fashion exhibit at the Perelman building

And for a walk through and around Rittenhouse Square

And finally to the Phillies vs the Mets-the classic rivalry

It is the 3rd of July-

The Phanatic's drubbing of the Mets "man" was right on the money. The Phils won the game, and proceeded to sweep the four game series, sending all those Mets fans back to NY awfully unhappy.

Thanks for coming by and joining me for a day on the road.

Love you all-don't take anyone for granted, You never know what may happen.....

Why I need not sell myself to the highest bidder summer 09

2010-11-21T17:06:00.002-05:00

The Phillies finally won their tenth in a row in the 13th inning, so it's time to sit down and pound this out-I have some splainin to do.

Many of you probably know that I feel trapped in my current job; I don't believe in the work I do and the political climate we live in now has made that even more palpable. For background please read this blog from April.

For some reason (maybe the new moon and the lunar eclipse tomorrow) everything came to a head today when I realized that-well never mind it doesn't really matter. When I walked out of work at damn near 6:30 I was crying tears of frustration and rage. Enough!

But if you read the blog you know I am stuck-especially now that the economy is in the shitter. I have dreams of reinventing myself again but that part of my mid-life crisis will just have to go to the back burner for now. (Maybe another tattoo would help ease the transition LOL)

I was fuming the entire ride home; even my Phillies could not cheer me up, but I did feel a little better stepping out of the car onto the "boat".

This is the street tonight-the high tide of the new moon

So after a bit of imbibbing and discussion with Mark, I had an epiphany! I don't have to sell this old carcass after all! Whoo hoo what a relief-I have an out that I didn't even see through my rage and tears!

The best way to explain it is that I work with a group of people doing one type of work with a group of customers/clients. I like the clients, my colleagues (except when they are showing their blue state colors) and the traveling the job entails; the problem is the work.

Ok, so even though the alternative is not my dream job and will probably bore me after a couple years, it is viable and will allow me to be on the road working for the same company and with the same clients, but doing different work with a different set of colleagues.

The new work will be much more compatible with my maturing political beliefs, and the mission is much more palatable, at least for a while.

I will still need to find something else to do eventually, but making this move will give me a bit more time and allow me some breathing room. Since most of my ten years of experience is with the old work, I will have to start at the bottom on the other side and probably attend classes instead of teaching them, but you know that is ok too. And they won't be able to pay me any less, so it's all good.

I am so relieved that I figured out a way to avoid becoming a cog in the new political order-I can't say any more than that but...

I do want to run my idea by a former colleague of mine; an old-school guy who is now retired but has always been a cheerleader. He helped me when I applied for that job last year, and he always has good ideas and insight into me and my predicaments. I think he will also understand my growing dissatisfaction with the political elements-he sends me conservative political humor all the time!

So there you have it-I will not have to sell my body (** on my up-coming birthday) to pay the bills.

Now of course this is not a done deal, but it is eminently reasonable and I hope doable; it is not pie in the sky. I still need to figure out wht it is I'm supposed to be doing, but this way I can pay the bills and not go stark raving mad.

Thanks for reading and commenting as always-I really appreciate your point of view.

Summertime photoblog summer 09

2010-11-21T17:02:00.001-05:00

July 2010-I love it! I am finally entering this blog in a Summertime A*N*D contest (category 1)! A year later, but who's counting? I could add more pictures; if you have been around you known I've come a long way with my pictures in a year (thanks JG ) but I think I'll leave it exactly as is.

I will pimp my photography website though, http://www.elizabethseyes.com/f987117282 is the page showing all the galleries-check it out for more shots, old and new (and lots more central europe here). Thanks and make sure you read all the blogs in the contest-link below.

Originally posted on July 9, 2009 but I'm jonesing for summer about now. How bout you?

A quick note-not all of the pictures are labeled, but they are all mine, except of course for the ones in which I appear. Enjoy-and please check out the A*N*D page and contest blog.

Summertime means vacation to to many people; when I was a kid my parents packed us up in the station wagon (remember those?) and took us all over the country. But these days vacation can be any time of year, especially since we moved down the shore in 1991-we live where many folks vacation LOL!

But when I think of summertime vacations I think of my parents of course; my dad especially cause he is no longer on this earth.

Thanks Dad!

From a trip we took to Bermuda together back in the early 90's-it was kind of a fluke but looking back I'm SO glad we did it

Of course the big summer activity with Dad-THE PHILLIES!! You may remember those intentional double headers they used to play-one game after the other for one ticket. Well bless his heart, my dad could squeeze the life out of a nickel-we saw every double header growing up, from Connie Mack Stadium in North Philly to Vets Stadium in South Philly.

A shot of the two of us at Vet Stadium circa 1992?

So this is a big reason why the Phillies are an enormous part of my summer nowadays. I am a lifelong fan in one of the toughest baseball cities in the country, and I can boo with the best of them. Although I don't throw anything on the field

Win or lose I am a fan, but last year was a dream come true

I only wish that Dad could have seen it.

Of course the best team in baseball in the best baseball city has the best mascot in all of sports-the Philly Phanatic!

No proper segue to this next set of pix, but here they are anyway-summertime is the time for convertibles! I'm severely addicted to the feel of the pedals under my feet, the sky above me, and the wind in my hair.

My first car-camping on Cape Hatteras

Mark in his wife's car LOL

One of the reasons I stay at my job-the jet

And a little flashback to the old days

So where do I take my car in the summertime? Well of course you know I spend much of my summers on the road driving all over Pennsylvania through some of the most beautiful scenery

but one favorite summertime spot is Chincoteague, Virginia

for the pony swim, penning, and auction

But the greatest adventure of my life happened in the summertime; the summer of 1997, to be exact. Someday I'll write about the experience, but right now I'll just tell you that during the last summer of my college experience (over my 37th birthday), I decided to quit my job and travel to Prague, Czech Republic, to study at the University of Economics. Of course the whole thing was meticulously planned and executed; I think Mark was a bit nonplussed but since the bills were paid and everything taken care of, what could he say?

I spent 5 weeks studying in Prague

The spa town Karlovy Vary, one of several side trips

After my time in Prague, I took off on a road trip.

Four days in Budapest

And four days in Vienna

The last shot of the trip.....

But there's no place like home-down the shore.

Come home with me

to that time of year when the windows are open

and the cats are in them

the flounder are biting

and the crabs are shedding their shells

Fried soft shells-only in the summer

The parade of boats we see from the back porch. Some ugly, some yar...

and the sunset that is beautiful any time of year

And last but not least. I leave you at one of my favorite places in my favorite city-Rittenhouse Square.

Thanks for your attention. I hope you enjoyed my summertime memories.

Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult Jun 09

2010-11-21T17:01:00.001-05:00

Perusing a blog by someone I don't normally read (pimped by Mantana PR) and I saw a comment by someone called Cleverly Disguised as a Responsible Adult. After I read and closed the blog, I started wondering about the person who used that title/name/moniker here on Myspace.

What was their deal? So-I went looking for them and this is what I found

Thirty two people who decided they were cleverly disguised as responsible adults.

Hmmm-now you could argue that all of us wear such a disguise; are these people more honest than the rest of us, or just more arrogant?

What do you think?

Cuffed Sandals? summer 09

2010-11-21T16:59:00.001-05:00

From Piperlime, the Gap's online shoe store:

UPDATE: More for your viewing pleasure. After some additional thought I had an idea-maybe everyone thinks that women should be wearing ankle monitors? LOL-maybe the celebs who bought in to this trend!

What do you think?

Just to give you an idea of my taste and one of the only pair I saw at any price that I wanted to buy today:

I know, my heels are a mess-time for a pedicure!

So what do you think?