Hiatus

I'm swamped with my business these days, I hardly have time for anything else.  When you are self employed, your boss is usually a ruthless bitch and keeps you working 24/7.

On the bright side, I'm here in upstate NY and had plans during my two week stay to visit NYC.  But Irene was a bitch, too, so there went THOSE plans.

Have they named Hurricanes "Karma" ??

I am sorry, I'll take this back up when I get a minute or two.

TGIF 14

Roy Zimmerman is here in the Boise area tonight!  He has many wonderful songs on YouTube.  Here is a favorite of mine:

                         "Larry Craig is Completely Heterosexual"

TGIF 13

I'm in Portland for business this week, and I must pay homage to the Decemberists, who hail from here. 
I'm a fan of their latest album "The King is Dead" and this song is great...

                                              Down By the Water

What's Cookin' (9)

This is a hearty, spicy tomato soup that comes together with little trouble, especially if you use canned tomatoes instead of fresh. But don't cut corners with the Parmesan cheese; use the best you can find. If the soup is a little too thick for your tastes, stir in a bit more stock or water.

Don't use sliced bread for this recipe. Most slices will be too thin and disintegrate. Buy a whole loaf and let the kids have fun tearing it into small pieces.

Pappa Pomodoro

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 pounds tomatoes, peeled, cored, seeded and chopped (or 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes)

3/4 pound day-old Italian bread, torn into 1-inch pieces

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock, or water

1 cup loosely packed chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high until hot but not smoking. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaf and red pepper flakes. Saute 2 to 3 minutes, or until the onions are softened.

Add the tomatoes and their juices and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the tomatoes begin to soften and break down.

Put the bread chunks in a bowl and pour the stock or water over it. Transfer the bread and any liquid in the bowl to the saute pan. Return to a simmer and cook 8 to 10 minutes, or until the bread has absorbed as much liquid as possible and is the consistency of soft baby food.

Stir in the basil and 3 tablespoons of the extra-virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for another 10 minutes to develop the flavors. Remove the bay leaf.

Stir in the butter, then ladle the soup into serving bowls. Garnish with the cheese, then drizzle with remaining olive oil.

End-Around Justice

Let's assume you have a clearly guilty-by-all-accounts, tried and found guilty in the court of public opinion defendent, and the jury returns a verdict of innocent.  The prosecutors failed to prove beyond a reasonable suspicion or doubt in the minds of the jury, that the person did it. 

But hey, the rest of us all know they did it, amiright?  I mean, who else could have done it or would have done it and besides, I repeat, WE ALL KNOW THEY DID IT.  Nancy Grace said so!

OJ Simpson.  Casey Anthony.  I mean, seriously, right?  They clearly did it.  And they got off scot-free.  They got away with murder.  Outrage upon outrage, the whole country goes up in arms over these terrible miscarriages of justice.

So what can a country that doesn't like its own justice system when it fails to convict someone who is found guilty by the majority of the tabloid news junkies who-pass-for-patriotic-citizens, do? 

We've found a way!  We apply justice after the fact. 

We make sure to entrap these losers in every legal loophole we can dig up.  They won't know a moment of peace if we can help it.  We sue them in civil courts to make money off our loved ones' deaths and entrap them by stealing their possessions so they stupidly try to steal them back (OJ).

Or we say, OOPS, we goofed when we told you that your probation could be served while you were in jail (because we seriously never thought ever in a million years that you would ever be found innocent and be released) and presto!  Casey Anthony is returned to Florida to RE-serve probation that she already served...

One way or the other, we will get you if we want you bad enough.

TGIF 12

This song was recorded years ago during the Bush Administration, but it seems especially true today.

               James McMurtry "We Can't Make it Here Anymore"

Media Sexism via Pictures

There's a lot of internet space being taken up about Michelle Bachmann's picture on the cover of Newsweek.  Her rightwing supporters are pissed, saying the picture was a deliberate attempt to make her look batshit crazy.  The leftwing blogosphere is making hay on that picture as if it's proof she's a nutburger of the first magnitude. 

I've noticed over the years that women in power tend to have very unflattering pictures used in the media.  Eyes blazing.  Slackjawed.  Angular cheeks and twisted lips.  Hillary Clinton's and Nancy Pelosi's pictures have been awful, in particular.  Sarah Palin's pics are similarly goofy.  And Ann Coulter always looks hideously evil. Elena Kagan?  Please.  And what about poor Janet Reno? 

Ugly pictures have been a tool for each side for many years, so it's not new tactics.  And George W Bush almost never had good pictures published.  So it's not always women.  But c'mon, folks.  Even though I think Bachmann is a hypocritical political hack, she's not unpleasant to look at.  

When I start seeing more neutral or flattering pictures published of women in power, I'll know we as a society are judging them for their works and not their looks.  That will be very satisfying to me, as a woman.

Political Polarization

So there’s some debate these days over the intense political polarization we are caught up in, in this country.  Is it new, is it uniquely American, is it caused (or exacerbated) by social media, is it economically driven?

None of the above.  It’s existed since the beginnings of civilization, it’s happening in every country (witness European strife these days), social media is just how we hear about it 24/7 and it has nothing to do with the economy, but the hard times do tend to make everyone more easily upset.

I have a theory.  I think it’s growing worse now in the US because of the increasing loss of white male privilege.  Think about it.  Things were polarized before, but after the Civil War the blacks gained freedom.  Then the women got uppity and got the right to vote.  Then the blacks got the freedom to not be segregated.  Then blacks and whites got the freedom to marry.  Then women got even more uppity.  Then our immigrants started being more brown in color.  And now the friggin’ gays are acting like they deserve to have civil rights, too.  What’s a white man to do?  

Archie Bunker would be a Teahadist, today. 

What's Cookin' (8)

Chicken Artichoke Rice Salad

1 pkg. (6.2 oz) rice-a-roni fried rice                           

1 can (2.25 oz) sliced black olives

2 T butter                                                                    
¼ c mayo
2 c water                                                                      
4 green onions, chopped
1 jar (6oz) marinated artichoke hearts                         
1 can (10 oz) white chunk chicken
1 can (8oz) sliced water chestnuts

Prepare rice-a-roni per package directions using the butter and water…then cool.  Drain artichokes, reserving marinade.  Coarsely chop artichokes.  Drain olives and water chestnuts.  Combine all the ingredients (including the reserved marinade) in a large bowl.  Cover, chill before serving.

Let Bert and Ernie Get Married

A petition is online to let Bert and Ernie finally tie the knot.  They've been living together in an apartment on Sesame Street, IN SIN, for more than 40 years, now. 

How much longer will we make them wait to be official, especially as same sex marriage is now legal in New York?  Show them some mercy!

Sign the petition!

Mebbe I Write Good?

I love words and music, so I'm usually in tune with folks from that side of the creative aisle, moreso than with the painters, photographers, and sculptors, etc. I tend to surround myself with creative people, it's very energizing to the soul.

I also don't think I have a lick of creativity in my pore tired old body. Hence the need to gain some culture by surrounding myself with "those who can".

Artists of any sort are usually their own worst critics.  I know songwriters, musicians (they're not always a combination in the same person) and writers of blogs, novels, short stories, and poetry.  They get all caught up in the drama of how bad their work is, and the rest of us roll our eyes because we know they're the latest version of sliced Wonder and we love their work. 

But maybe I'm one of those tortured artistes of a sort.  I've been writing for years, it's a need I have.  And I'll admit that once upon a time, I thought I was pretty decent in that department, I had something to say and I was pithy and sometimes clever and it worked for me.

I gave it all up for a moderately-paying day job a few years ago.  Obviously with this blog it's apparent that the urge is returning.  I'm not sure why.  I don't think it's because of the audience.  I had people asking me to write again almost as soon as I stopped.  I had fans seeking me out.  But I had to give it some time, and come back to it on my own accord. 

And then today happened.  I was mingling with some favorite creative authors.  I was surprised to hear several of them praising my talents.  Especially weird when I haven't produced anything of note in like, forever.  After lunch I spent my afternoon dreaming up new stories to write, new plotlines and twists.  Maybe I can write reasonably well, when the mood takes me and I let it drive. 

But then the demon sitting on my other shoulder piped in that maybe they were also being charitable, flush with their own successes and just in a generous mood.  So it got me to wondering, maybe I'm just like them, I'm my own worst critic, too. 

There's the rub.  More than anything, I fear letting the kind words go to my head.  I don't want to think I'm all that and a bag of chips and start churning out drivel.  It's like a kind of stage fright.   

I'm getting angsty again.  I thought I was WAY too old for that.     

TGIF 11

I've loved Brian dePalma's Phantom of the Paradise since I discovered it in the mid-90s (and that was more than 20 years after it was released).  It predates Rocky Horror Picture Show by a year and it stars Paul Williams, who is an absolute doll (and I love his voice and lyrics, too!)

My favorite song from the show is below.  It's not an official video, it's mostly pictures from the show, as the song actually ran during the closing credits. 

                                           "The Hell of It"

Backwards Economics

Recently I was privy to an online conversation about the economy.  The well educated participants brought up the obvious fact that the Republicans have not created jobs, and some wondered if that was even possible.

One very astute comment was about the fact that for 31 years Republicans have had a monster-sized boner to cut taxes for businesses, stating that concept will help create jobs.  This person made the case that it doesn't work that way.  It's exactly backwards from reality.

The reality is that big businesses in this country are profiting like never before.  They're making out like bandits, reporting huge profits every damned quarter in the last few years.  So if the businesses are profiting in extraordinary amounts, why are they not creating jobs?

Well, why should they, while they are profiting by doing nothing?  Creating jobs is an investment in your business, a plan to increase your product or service that you sell/provide.  An investment in the future.  But it normally takes away from your gross bottom line.

So then what is the incentive to make them do this?  Higher Taxes on Business.  I'm going to repeat this so you know you read it correctly:  HIGHER TAXES ON BUSINESS.

If I run a business and you raise my tax rates, I am going to look for ways to cut my taxable income because I just hate to pay taxes.  It's not even about avoiding a loss to my stockholders. 

It's about Idon'twannapaynodamntaxes. 

But it's also a truth that with higher taxes I won't profit as much unless I produce more.  So, what better way to produce more and avoid paying taxes and gain good profit, than to expand my business? In the expansion, I will need more employees at every level.  I WILL CREATE JOBS. 

Wowweee!  What a concept!  More people working means more spending, more money going into the coffers of all businesses including my own, and more money going into the government FROM THE WORKERS in the form of taxes.  A rejuvenated economy.

With record profits every quarter, and taxes at their lowest ever, our economy is tanking.  The country is losing its middle class, the backbone of the economy.  Plutocrats and oligarchs are making out, and the rest of us are being flushed into impoverished servitude.

It's backwards economics.  And I'm going fucking insane trying to figure out, why are we doing this ourselves?

What's Cookin' (7)

Zucchini Bread

• 3 eggs
• 1 c oil
• 2 c shredded raw zucchini
• 1 3/4 c sugar
• 1/4 t baking powder
• 2 t baking soda
• 2 t cinnamon
• 1 t salt
• 2 t vanilla
• 1 c chopped nuts
• 2 c flour

Put zucchini in strainer and press or squeeze with hands to get excess liquid out. Beat eggs, sugar, and oil together. Add flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, and nuts. Mix together by hand. Add zucchini. Beat mixture. Pour into 2 greased, floured, loaf pans.

Bake 1 hr. at 350 deg. F. Recipe may be doubled.

Ignorance is Less Painful

I'm up in arms about the debt ceiling deal.  Teahadists are up in arms about the deal.  We're vocal, everyone's yelling.  Except, I'm slowly realizing that not EVERYONE is yelling. 

I know far more voting-age people who don't know what a debt ceiling is, and furthermore they don't care, and their lives are just blissfully flowing along without all this angst over who got screwed and who won this particular battle.

Are their lives less meaningful because they don't live them in tune with the political struggles of the day?  I'm not seeing them be more unhappy than I am.  In fact, they have all the same qualities of any other living being...they have relationship ups and downs, employment ups and downs, and the same need to fill their days with important or pleasurable activities.  They're just the same as me, but with far fewer times they want to tear out their hair over the latest political faux pas of their favorite politician.

If they can live their lives this way, why am I not emulating this behavior and increasing my happiness quotient?  The fact that I care (and care deeply at times) brings me little joy, it mostly has me ranting in frustration.  Who would voluntarily do this to themselves?  Am I a masochist? 

I could argue that there is a need for grownups, a need for those who assume the responsibility of making sure our country is run well and that the citizens have opportunities for good lives.  Systems tend to devolve without constant monitoring and tweaking, and there is a need for people who are willing to take on that managerial role.  An involved electorate.  I am driven that way.

But today I'm envying the ignorant because sometimes, I'd like to feel a little more carefree.