The morning after drill

Thomas Jefferson — 'The government you elect is the government you deserve.' And we deserve exactly what we are about to get. 

Especially the Arabs who wouldn't vote for Harris. I bet jared and trump are on the phone right now finalizing the Gaza beachfront condo development scheme. It should make them a fortune. They will call it TRUMP GAZA.

And the Latinos who didn't want to vote for Harris. I hope YOU or a family member doesn't get deported in the largest deportation trump has planned. Fcuk YOU.

I didn't think Harris was a shoe-in, but I thought in the short time she had she ran a great campaign of hope and joy and progressive vision of unity. 

I turned off all news at around midnight and absolutely refuse to watch the the-big-orange-twat give a victory speech. I hear he said something about bringing the country together and making America Golden again, or some horse shit. I really missed David last night, he was always my rock, my levity, my balance. It just felt dark and alone to experience such shame in one's country without him. I did have the kids and especially Mason! She and I have had some great political discussions the last couple of days. 

She ran home the other day to announce (like it was the plague) "she had THREE Trumpers in her class". I told her that there would always be differences in politics and usually if your parents are a certain party, you will probably be too. BUT everyone has the right to vote for who they want to vote for, that is what this country is all about. Then we moved over to Women's Health Care. That was trickier. Talking about abortion and how that is not for everyone, that it should be legal, women have the right to make their own choices about their bodies and their healthcare. I explained that I was voting for her and Noah's right as women to NOT have the government tell them what to do.

Speaking of healthcare ... RFK Jr. is saying he is going to gut the FDA. 

Here was my response: "Thinking we might all die of measles, shingles, pneumonia, Covid might be the quickest way out of this mess! Thanks Jr. for that solution"

 And then there Elon Musk's (who spent election night at Mar-a-Largo) statement about how our economy (and us) will suffer for awhile, but it will all be worth it. Hope no one has pre-existing health issues, or likes their SS and Medicare. Fcuk you billionaire sack of shit. And probably say goodbye to ACA ... he has promised for over 9 years to get rid of that ... with no plan to replace it.

 

"Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has pledged over $130 million toward Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, recently stated that a Trump victory could lead to "temporary hardship" for Americans. Musk, set to head a government efficiency commission under Trump, proposes deep budget cuts to reduce federal spending by trillions, highlighting his view that America needs to "live within its means." Musk defended this plan, describing it as a pathway to long-term prosperity, despite potential short-term economic challenges. 

 

In a recent "Telephone Town Hall" on Musk’s platform, X (formerly Twitter), he suggested these cuts might not be well-received but stressed that both he and Trump see the need for broad financial reform. Musk referred to the concept of "everyone taking a haircut," indicating that all citizens might feel the impact of these fiscal adjustments. Trump’s plan, supported by Musk, envisions balancing the budget by cutting waste across departments rather than affecting popular programs like Social Security and Medicare. 

 

Economic experts have expressed concern, noting that drastic reductions could potentially spike prices and reignite inflation, particularly if paired with Trump’s mass deportation plans and tariff policies. While Musk insists that reducing government waste is crucial, economists argue that equating government budgeting to personal finance is flawed, as countries operate on principles unlike individual budgets." 

 

"Musk suggested that this budget cutting — combined with Trump’s mass deportation plan — would cause a market-crashing economic “storm.”"

 

His victory speech hardly left his lips and MSM are normalizing him again. Spare me! I have had enough of his psycho family for a lifetime. I just listened to jr. in a coke-filled rant a couple of times yesterday. So, yes, I know all about his family. The man who can't be loyal to ONE wife. So Fcuk you, MSM.

This is how I am feeling like now. 

 

 

 
A few more things to look forward to:

On a lighter note, Wolf Hall's first season, which adapted the first two novels in Hilary Mantel's Cromwell trilogy, was released in 2015, season 2, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, arriving almost a decade later, March 2025.

Nature at its best

Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. He joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion to paint the scenes. He was not the first artist to record the sites, but he was the foremost painter of them for the remainder of the 19th century. 

Bierstadt was born in Prussia, but his family moved to the United States when he was one year old. He returned to study painting for several years in Düsseldorf. He became part of the second generation of the Hudson River School in New York, an informal group of like-minded painters who started painting along the Hudson River. Their style was based on carefully detailed paintings with romantic, almost glowing lighting, sometimes called luminism. Bierstadt was an important interpreter of the western landscape, and he is also grouped with the Rocky Mountain School.

"The More You Eat, The More You Want"

Did I mention that I fell and thought I had broken my arm. Picking up Noah at school, had to ask people for help getting up because I could not put pressure on my wrist. Well, it has been over a week and it is feeling better ... but still aching, not broken. Noah: "well, that was embarrassing", me: "yes, it was". 0

My eyes are getting better. Still putting eye drops in and getting adjusted to having these lens in my eye. Distance and colors are amazing. Seeing up close ... sucks. I am still figuring it out. 

Someone found this at an antique store! 

"Someone placed their collection of Cracker Jack, cereal box, and gumball machine prizes under glass and now it's mine."

Gosh, I remember these toys so vividly. I wish I had kept them from my past! David really loved them. And just a little internet search for them is so much fun. Cracker Jack is an American brand of snack food that consists of molasses-flavored, caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of trivial value inside. The Cracker Jack name and slogan, "The More You Eat, The More You Want," were registered in 1896. Food author Andrew F. Smith has called it the first junk food. 

Prizes were included in every box of Cracker Jack beginning in 1912. One of the first prizes was in 1914 when the company produced the first of two Cracker Jack baseball card issues, which featured players from both major leagues as well as players from the short-lived Federal League. Early "toy surprises" included rings, plastic figurines, booklets, stickers, temporary tattoos, and decoder rings. Books have been written cataloging the prizes, and a substantial collector's market exists.

13 days until ... well, what?

I think I will do just an ugly political post so I can keep the ugly and the pretty stuff separate. 

I can't lie, I am nervous, very worried! I can't wait until this election is over so we can see if we are a democracy or if trump and elon and the rest of the oligarchs will run the country into the ground. trump will hand over Ukraine to putin, arrest his enemies, shut down news organizations that have sad something mean about him. It will be interesting and either way, I am out of politics. 8 years fighting this shit is enough.

But it is that time again where the caravan is coming from the southern regions unknown to take over our country. Remember last time they cried "the caravan is coming" and what a nothing-burger that was?

Many post that mention Hitler have been taken down by Meta today? You ask why? Good question? So if Hitler has become such a bad word we are not allowed to mention it on social media … maybe we shouldn’t have a president wanting to normalize his past behavior or wanting generals like he had?

This was a good story about the liars and the ridiculousness of the right. When they asked Michele Morrow with Stand Firm, running for NC State Superintendent, for her autograph, then she realizes she is autographing these stupid tweets, she runs for the hills. I mean, come on you stupid cow, you tweeted that hate, then stand by it.

GOP candidate for NC schools chief has spread falsehoods, ‘groomer’ rhetoric. I see more pedophiles, groomers and sex abusers stories on the far right and in churches.  

How stupid is our country ... okay, don't answer that. 

 

Oh, I could go on and on and on ... but I will stop here. 

 

Oh gosh, I totally forgot to mention Mitch, who has come out with a book ... "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered a scathing assessment of the modern Republican Party in an upcoming biography, saying the “MAGA movement is completely wrong” and that Ronald Reagan “wouldn’t recognize” the party today." Thanks Mitch, you POS, too late!

Weathering pillars

I am getting more able to use my hand and I am very happy about that. I don't think it was a break or fracture, I think it is a really bad sprain. I can't grab or lift with that hand but it is not constantly aching. 

BTW, if I have not mentioned this before ... this stuff is a miracle. I bought it at the local pot shop and it makes all the difference in my sore back, arms, neck, and I have been using a toothpick to dig the remaining little bit out and put it on my arm. Dragon Balm - Extra Strength - Pain Relieving Roll-Up. It was a little expensive (not as expensive as on the website I linked to) but well worth it! There are so many different roll-ons and sprays out there ...

I saw these on Facebook ... looks amazing ... The Manpupuner rock formations (Man-Pupu-Nyor; Mansi: Мань-Пупыг-Нёр [manʲ.pupiɣ noːr], literally ’Small Idol Mountain’; Komi: Болвано-Из [bolvano iz], literally ’Idol Stone’) are a set of 7 stone pillars located west of the Ural Mountains in the Troitsko-Pechorsky District of the Komi Republic. They are located on the territory of the Pechoro-Ilychski Reserve on the mountain Man-Pupu-nyor, between the Ilych and Pechora rivers. They are also known as the Seven Strong Men Rock Formations and the Poles of the Komi Republic. Deemed one of the Seven Wonders of Russia, the Manpupuner rock formations are a popular attraction in Russia, though relatively unspoiled by tourism. 

The height of the rocks varies between 30 and 42 metres. About 200 million years ago at the location of the stone pillars, there were high mountains. Rain, snow, wind, frost and heat gradually eroded the mountains. Solid sericite-quartzite schists, from which the remains are composed, were eroded less and survive today. Soft rocks were destroyed by weathering and carried by water and wind into depressions. 

 

Still keeping up with the ongoing hurricane clean-up and disaster. Those poor people who have lost everything! I keep wondering where do they take all of that furniture and mess? What landfill is large enough to accept all of that?

 I found this post from 2009 ...

What am I?
My brother's keeper?
My mother's confidant?
My husband's truth monitor?
My son's moral compass?
An unfinished painting?
An unread book?
Working robot?
Invisible blogger?
A hesitant writer?
Fabric not sewn?
Book full of untested ideas?
An absent friend?

Who am I? Really?

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I don't know if I am losing my mind or losing myself. My time becoming so much more valuable. I feel like my dreams are lost. My future, cracked. Can it all be mended? Glued back together? I am searching for my solutions within my grasp.

A possible break from reality

Well, I finally did it. I fell. Not badly but tried to stop myself with my hand. My wrist is now out of order and I had to beg someone, actually two someones to help me up. Embarrassing. Noah was embarrassed. I have not gone to the doctor yet because I am not convinced it is broken. It is in my arm just above my wrist, I can feel exactly where the problem is. Matt bought me a great splint and I have had it on for two days. I really don't want a cast, all hard and itchy. I am arm still hurts, I can't do much with my hand like holding something heavy. So I will see how it feels tomorrow and probably go to the doctor. I have still managed to do dishes and I can type ... did think I probably could. 

Bri bought me a couple of bottles of good red wine, should help me through for the next couple of days. The kids have been acting up and I think she is trying to soften me up from being mad at them LOL

Besides that, not much. The deck is coming along nicely. Matt is losing interest and we have to be diligent about bitching at him to get going on the weekends. I really want it finished before the rain comes. Bri is dreaming of how to "stage" it with new furniture. The dogs are sick of walking on the exposed foundation. 

Did you hear about how the trump cult were left at Coachella without a way back to their cars, 2 hours away? Well, I have laughed all day at the responses. Of course, they are blaming the mayor? The sheriff? It is a conspiracy? They didn't think about this is trump's rally, think he is responsible for this dilemma!

My one of two blue Texas friends sent me this great story. I have been so blue (pardon the pun) about the thought of that dumb ass criminal winning that I can hardly think straight. Then there is a great story like this, in a state that I had basically written off being all red. "A ‘Locally hated/Dyslexic Hairstylist’ battles the Christian right in a Texas town" She is my current hero. If you are down and out, read her story.

I have been watching the hurricanes cleanup ... it just breaks my heart. These people have lost everything! All of their belongings piled up in the front yard!

 

 Lucy Levenson, folk artist

Cas Holmes

Leafworks - Everything I do has at its heart my love for the natural world and I hope to draw attention to the complex design of plant forms. I would like to encourage you to look again at your local flora, your gardens and your landscapes. My hope is that this will allow you to experience the details of your environment and to become aware of its vulnerability in these days of climate change and species loss.

Coming out of a shadow

Andrew Gifford captures light and shadow beautifully!

 

"The landscape of Lower Wensleydale is one of narrow lanes that swoop and curve following the swell of the land. Bordered by drystone walls and fences, they cross rivers on old stone bridges or undulate between flail-cut hedges and ivy-covered trees. Close by are the moors, where curlews cry and sandy tracks lead among the heather. This is the landscape that has inspired the work of Simon Palmer, one of Britain’s leading watercolour artists."

 

 

Anne Ovendon is a British fine artist and a founder member of the Brotherhood of Ruralists.