It's a Walk Back into a Day in the Life Thing

Dear America,

not even sure what to say right now.

good morning?

happy Monday?

top of the morning to you?

.....So would you believe I turned into a 'walk-er' for the last three weeks? 

Oh, do you happen to be one of those not entirely sure what that means? 
Am I talking in tongues, or something? 
Don't suppose you caught up with the weekend's AMC marathon, preparing for the arrival of a brand new episode of "The Walking Dead," which we all got to witness just last night?

Let me just say -- I feel like I was living the night of the living dead for days, weeks, nearly a month.  I have nearly no recollection of anything but a night that began in a life-threatening panic -- the dearest one in the family (aka the Angel In Chief) was struck with pneumonia --  and was on life support in ICU for nearly a week.

It all happened so fast, too.

He's the angel-in-chief because he was born an angel; and he's the only one in the family to be so lucky.  Some people might think being born with Down's Syndrome is a life resigned to hardship, unable to live life fully, if of the belief it's a disability.  But surely, anyone who has come across 'kissy face' would emphatically disagree.  He created a life magnificent not only for himself, but for all of us who have had the good grace to know him, to live with him, to enjoy his spirit of perpetual, childlike innocence and wonder (with a good dose of loving brutal honesty coming just when we least expect it, to be in close second).  Deep down -- he's brilliant, I tell you.

But let me not hold you in suspense even a moment longer -- the lad is still with us, thank our lucky stars.

It was then -- once he was in the clear -- I fell miserably ill with the flu.   I guess I let my guard down, for I never get sick.  And now, looking back, I realize I have never been that sick, ever.  And then -- my girl got sick! 

It was as if I was being surrounded all at once; the world was closing in on me -- threatening my very existence and life as we know it, having easily slipped into a twilight zone of sorts.  The safe harbor of the day to day humming right along, having clearly learned to take my health for granted, brings my life to a screeching halt.  I never really saw it coming.

But here I am.

I missed the opportunity to vent about women in combat -- think that's where things were left off...

Of course, we also missed having a deep discussion on the Super Bowl, or was it the Har-bowl?  Kind of funny how the NFL wanted to claim ownership of that tag line, no?  As if the league doesn't have enough to deal with pending the ongoing controversy of liability over brain injuries and personal accountability.   Even my Hall's cough drops lays it out pretty straightforward -- giving a pep talk in every drop -- saying things like "Go for it!"  "Get back in there champ!"  "Put your game face on!"  "Seize the day!"  Can we talk mixed messages?

Well, one thing is for sure -- we awoke to the world turning upside down all over again.  Can you even  believe the Pope would up and quit in the middle of Lent?  Lent!  Arrivederci my little flock.

I mean, seriously?  He is leaving his post on February 28th?

The Pope is going to throw in the towel?  Now?

Goodness gracious -- this is like The Season of all Seasons written into the ecumenical church year, for St. Pete's sake...Lent is all about renewal, reuniting in the spirit of being alive and being a child of God!  And the Pope wants to call it quits, right in the middle of it?  Has he been bitten? (That's just an inappropriate connection to the     walking       dead...father forgive me, I know not what I say).

When I was smack dab in the middle of mourning the condition of my brother, I happened to have caught Joel Osteen one Sunday morning.   As expected, we always hear what we most need to hear, and this morning was no different.  If my recollection serves me, Osteen told us the story of Moses being at a complete loss -- in spirit, as well as in provisions.  He couldn't feed his people.  Long story short, all of a sudden, the winds shifted and the skies opened up and falling at the feet of Moses were enough Quail to feed everyone, and probably for days.

Osteen's message was one of hope and renewal, but his point was simply this:  when we are open to receive...God breathes in our direction.  And the truth is --- we may very well have done nothing to deserve it.  It just happens.

This vision of God breathing in our direction carried me -- through the anguish of waiting things out while the angel-in-chief's wings were being poked and tweaked,  and even while I was down but not quite out.    This Life Force, this Breath, this abundant and everlasting Source for renewal and grace, unexpectedly gave me everything I needed.  I just had to remain open to receiving it.

I don't know how the Pope comes to a decision to stop.  All I can imagine is God has something, someone, better for the world waiting in the wings.  This Pope seems to have lost the fight inside himself.

And now, switching gears altogether -- is it just me, or is the president speaking on behalf of the State of the Union on Fat Tuesday chockfull of hidden messages and double entendre?  I worry that I may fall ill all over again with the event, but have promised myself to prepare myself for anything.  I will be popping Airborne, drinking my eight glasses of water, getting plenty of rest tonight, just to guard against any kind of crazy talk he plans on dishing out.    He's a walk-er, and a bite-er, in my mind...armed and dangerous; but given the vulnerability and susceptibility of at least half of the American people these days, all he needs to do is speak and people bite.  It's strange really -- people just accept whatever he says as the truth, as if he's the leader of the pack without questioning anything.   [For the non-walking dead, that's just another storyline]

We just had some sort of boat show run through town.  In their advertising they said something like, "come see how affordable owning  a boat can be!"  And I just had to laugh.   They could probably sell a few sail boats without any sails, too. [Can hardly wait til tomorrow night.]

Oh the winds, they are a changing...

I keep wondering why do I care?  Why is it important for me to come back and spill it day in and day out -- or three weeks in and three weeks out, as the case may be?  [Bite me]  Why even show up at all -- it's not like anybody would really miss me, right? 

Well, I would miss me.

I am going to keep coming back whenever I can, saying whatever it is I need to say, for as long as I live.   It's MY diary of a day in the life of an American girl and I promise not to take any of it for granted.  I suggest you all do the same.

At the risk of being uber cheesy --   Be awake!  Don't be a walk-er.  Accept today as maybe your last and commit to the renewal of making your life better than the day before...for the sake of all of mankind, if nothing else.

Make it a Good Day, G

 

It's What Does Jimmy Carter and Two Dogs Got to Do with It Thing...(barf bag not included)

Dear America,

We are just so road weary of being taken for a ride.

right?

Did I take the words right out of your mouth?
...it's like... if we hear one more lie... taste one more nugget of truth out of a bucket of deep fried, over-processed rhetoric  ... witness one more 'but he hit me first'... we just might veer off the side of the road, spin into the ditch, if not, fly over edge of the cliff and plummet to our death all by our self.

something about last night's debate just plum exhausted me --

the only sign of life was the intermittent joke, washed over the crowd in fits and spurts, but hardly often enough to keep the eyes open and the interest piqued.


Beginning with Gingrich who dropped a few ha-ha moments [and accidentally slipping into a remake of Wednesday's blog:  It's Socialism Stupid -- Among Other Things].  Here's Newt, retelling a Reagan era campaign zinger:

"when your neighbor is unemployed, 

we call it a recession. 

when you are unemployed, 

we call it a depression.  

when Jimmy Carter is unemployed, 

we call it a recovery."

good stuff.

..and just as I was beginning to give up on the whole thing (seen it, heard it, tell me something I don't know already...)...we were introduced to another funny guy.

The biggest belly laugh of the night came from a candidate on the fringe, the outskirts, Gary Johnson.  With perfect pitch and inflection... simply letting the dry wit wind float over the crowd.... boom!

"my neighbor's two dogs 

have created more shovel ready jobs 

then this administration." 

badump buh.

good one. although, too bad it wasn't his own work...and you're gonna have to look it up yourself...as I digress...

But poor Gary [fighting the urge to picture SpongeBob's pet snail...], much of his ideas may be falling on deaf ears; but every chance he got, Johnson said the first thing he would do as president would involve immediately balancing the budget -- cutting 43% of everything, pretty much across the board.  [yes, it's bold AND too bad this kind of agenda doesn't stand a chance of survival].

spinning off into something totally unrelated [sort of] -- yesterday, I ventured down the road of contacting someone within the AARP.  Yes, I am approaching the big  Five-Oh, but that doesn't even come close to the real reason for making contact.

I called them to tell them their new ad is deplorable, misguided, disingenuous, and stupid.  yeah, good luck with that G, right?   

Yes, it is bad enough that the first voice you hear (when calling the toll-free number) is Betty White's; that all you hear is Betty's voice -- yes...all the way through it... over the river and through the woods... at each and every prompt that redirects you to the department needed. It's just Betty.  Over and over and over again.  There is that.


But now, with their new ad, AARP is using seniors to preach the living fear into old people, asking everyone to call Washington, to tell them to back off their Medicare and Social Security.  really?  seriously? where was the AARP when Obamacare -- now legally binding -- commits the crime of taking 500 Billion dollars from Medicare to help pay for it?

Where were you then, AAAAAAAAAA R Pathetic?

[rhetorical question...we know who profits greatly with that little stunt] 

But back to living in the now,  NOBODY in their right mind is going to cut benefits to current seniors. Nobody.

[and risking being off message again -- 

did you catch the nods to Fed Ex and Lowe's?

...oh what ever]

The AARP is just peddling yet another lie to serve themselves.

It's like all the pointing of fingers back and forth last night, of the flipping and the flopping on positions -- is this the new AARP not to be confused with the old AARP?   Are you really for Medicare after you were against it?  Will the real AARP please stand up?

I am just sick of it.

The campaign has only just begun and my head is spinning... my stomach is nauseated... I'm feeling dizzy...and I think I'm gonna.............

I am just sick of it; I am beside myself in disappointment, sensing an overwhelming feeling of deja vu, thinking we must be going in circles.

The only thing that is saving me right now -- looking at the field of contenders preparing to go up against The Chosen One --  is this:   The Chosen One sucks more.

and speaking of fits and spurts of nausea, another rumor is being circulated about The First Lady being pregnant (again).  Now this gossip's been dropped on the street before -- nearly on an annual basis -- but who knows, right.  It could be true this time around...whatever ya gotta do to win...whatever you gotta say...whatever you gotta imply...whatever.   It's all just a part of the game.

So where are we?  Is the law of diminishing returns ringing in the next president of the United States?  By all appearances thus far, instead of appreciating in value we seem to be depreciating.

Just where is the classic, made in America, untarnished man (or woman) of steel?
Guess I'm just searchin' for a some kind of real Iaccoca (I mean, miracle) right about now...

Have politics and society reached such a level of corruption, that the one who wins is the one showing the least amount of dings and scratches?  Is that how we decide our fate?

Before I leave today, I want to do a couple of shout-out's for some really good advertising (or is it the sentiment, or is it both??)  Cuz you know... what kind of an American girl would I be if I didn't counter-punch the AARPee BS:

First one:


good,  right.

and given that I mentioned Iacocca, I would be really missing the gotcha-moment if I didn't go to Ford for the next example:



and just in case you ever wondered if the ad is "real" -- watch this:




The thing is, we are -- as citizens -- in keeping of the greatest duty and responsibility in all the land: electing the President of the United States of America.  We have seen what overzealous appeals to the heart of a social justice agenda can do; we have seen what the reality of inexperience mixed with arrogance and narcissism can make; we have seen what the masterful work of false advertising meeting up with a dynamic, young, complicated, community organizer and free radical can create;

NOW, all we want is the truth.

We are finished with all the songs and games and billboards and pokes in the side -- of course, accompanying alongside the ever so annoying and persistent bickering back and forth.

We are done; nauseated and spent in every possible way -- a.k.a. umpteen ways from Sunday -- all we want to do is get there already.

And yet, we still have such a long, long road ahead.

SO happy friday, everyone; I don't know about you, but I'm headed out to stock up on Dramamine, more Advil, and just maybe a little Maker's Mark (G fineprint: the three never to be used at the same time or when venturing behind the wheel). 

Make it a Good Day, G

Dear America,

so apparently, when we are being led by lawlessness, moral compromise, and complacency, we just follow now.

Like sheep, are we?   Is this just the new way of American governing, circa somewhere around the early nineteen hundred's when it all began, leading us into today, into the reckless spirit of living in denial, rebellion, sugar-coating and spin, feeding off of sex, lies and videotape -- and you think we're okay with that?


HOW -- tell me HOW -- in the world --  did we get to a place -- this place -- when introducing a 3.7 Trillion dollar budget, with revenues of merely 2.6 Trillion coming in, sounded pretty good? Oh, and with an incredible 14 Trillion dollar national debt on our back -- a.k.a. an insurmountable debt -- that even, with all the tea in China, can never be repaid.  C'mon!

Please, tell me this is all a bad dream; where's the pale of water, c'mon, quick, somebody slap me.

Only in America.

Did you hear that Billy Ray Cyrus would take it all back...all five years of Hannah Montana, being on the show, having his daughter make gazillions of dollars, making her a star -- he tells us now, he would trade it all in -- because the work of the devil basically, has ruined his life, family and everything that was ever important to him.(you can click to The Scoop if you need to read more)

In the Bible, we are reminded often of our free will; and with that, our inherent duty, to honor that free will with every essential element necessary to be of sound mind, firm understanding, purposeful knowledge, in keeping with a constant checks and balances of who we are, and all the ways available to us to be ever so mindful of things that stir around us, that may do us harm; to be our very best, in order to truly expand and grow our good, we must be vigilant in our commitment to be clear, watchful, careful as we go about our way in the real world.

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.  But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed for past sins."

2 Peter 1:5-9

We are watching our representatives in government -- almost all of them -- make these horrific crimes against our natural inheritance and birthright...as we sit idly by...saying, oh that's nice, that's real nice, look at them working together, compromising and all.

Living high on the hog, living beyond our means -- being too proud, or selfishly and politically motivated, not to take the appropriate measures to change our course, even in the midst of total disaster -- is just humanity's way of answering to a deeper, broader, all the more encompassing problem, just plum ignoring our good conscience altogether; but clearly now, after all these years, just throwing more money at our issues doesn't seem to be cutting it, is it?  And kicking the can down the road, is remarkably hardly of conscionable thinking.

IF we are of the nature to face our worst fears...

A people's morality is so much more than what we choose to do when no one is watching -- it is what we do collectively, out in the wide open spaces; it is how we choose to govern; it is seen in the eyes of our children and how they treat their elders, let alone their friends.  It comes chock-full of loaded questions, divining the grace and peace and understanding upon whether we value life, or not; to live honestly and truthfully, or not; to recognize the value of our blessings, our family, our livelihood, our country, our faith -- or not.

Our moral compass guides us when making hard decisions, and when making easy slips of good judgment; our morality forces us to stop to ask ourselves, when faced with a moment of simple indecision or complicated indiscretion, is this the right thing to do?  We are never no further away from contemplating our own morality, than we are of taking our very next breath -- and that's not self-righteous, superiority complex, judgment speak at all;  it's just how we are made, as human beings; we are all given this gift, each and every one of us, and that makes it a beautiful thing.

A people's morality is there, ingrained into our being, even when in the midst of making the nation's 2012 budget -- a commitment of great price; and tagging along with it, let's just say a wide variety of unintended consequences of a certain pecuniary offense... amid other quite precarious dealings, behind closed doors of course, highly inappropriate to mention here...

If only, our leaders paid more attention to the little devils and angels sitting on their shoulders, no?

My god, could not all of this have been prevented if we asked a few simple questions, like,

-- "hmmmm, what do you think is gonna happen next year, when we have to pay this unfunded liability?
-- or hmmm, wonder what will happen when we push that button?
-- or hmmm, do you think this is what the people's mandate last November had in mind?
-- or hmmm, a hundred billion a year sounds like a lot of money to the little people, let's run with that and see how far we can go before they laugh us all the way to a rubber room?

This may come as a surprise, but our government DOES NOT MAKE MONEY!
The only way they make money is by TAKING our money -- borrowing money that they have no business printing in the first place, in the dead of night, only to cover up the immorality that has preceded them, or worse, was perpetrated by them -- and controlling the very assets that belong to US!  that's it.  that's all they have to play with -- and apparently, we let them now. bah baaah (that is sheep speak)

Turning a blind eye to the lack of sound judgment in our midst; paying no attention to the wizard behind the curtain; just letting them take us down in debauchery, mayhem, financial ruin, just piling up one lie up and over another.  Are we that stupid, or are they simply misguided in every way?

But here they are, our keepers, the morally corrupt, solvency sloven, lost within their own world reminding us of Bacchanalian times  -- go ahead, oh chosen ones, eat, drink and be merry -- celebrate a 1.1 Trillion dollar deficit for 2012, while ringing in the  current 1.6 trillion dollar days  -- go right ahead. we can wait.  we'll just sit back and watch things just play out for a bit.

We are watching, indeed; while some of us, will speak up and say enough is enough.

The thing is, we raised better children when the Department of Education was a crazy 12 Billion/year (around 1968).  Fact.  yup, as far as the eye can see, we've reached about the last of 'em.

And yet...

Here we are, watching the right and the left quibble this morning over a 3 Billion dollar fighter jet program, all while some are turning around on a dime proposing a 53 Billion dollar high speed rail going to nowhere.

Here we are, adding over 200,000 federal employee jobs over the last two years, when the private sector is experiencing 16% unemployment (adding a discretionary number to account for the UNDERemployed); oh, and just today, tying our national security to the unions -- no longer will airport management be allowed to bring in a private service -- gone, bye bye -- the TSA's will be unionized, supplying 18 million dollars in new  union dues, supporting the already community organizing,  labor loving, liberal, left wing agenda lobby -- having just accomplished, without so much as a hiccup, a surge of more troops to the front line leading into the 2012 elections.  Who's crazy now?

Here we are, with our very own New York Stock Exchange now completely taken over and owned by the Germans -- say what?

Here's a thought, how about we get Marco Rubio and Allen West to run together for top dogs in 2012?

Crazy, I know; what kind of experience do they really have -- none!  But these days, that is spreading the good news!  Desperate times call for desperate measures.

This country needs a shake up, to the core, with leaders who appear to have a spine, a moral code of honor, integrity, standing firm on the principles that made this country great; where are these people, and more important, how do we get them into the big house before we go down in ruin -- that's what I want to know today!

We don't have time for quibbling over millions of billions; those days are long gone.  We're of the age now, when we only wish we could say we would "take it all back" -- as in the candid interview, when everyone around you is thinking, you can't be serious dude.... with none other than Billy Ray "a day late and not a dollah' short" Cyrus -- but how stupid would that sound, right?

We can't take our wrongs back; we can't go back to the way things were and change our mind; it is done.

This is a time to move forward with everything we've got left -- which hopefully, is filled to the brim with a moral code to do something about it, to repent, to beg for forgiveness and understanding and grace; AND THEN, to build upon the principles we truly know will work, to win our future back, dismissing the pie in the sky rhetoric giving us only what the people want to hear; because don't look now, all you down on the funny farm, the sky is in fact falling.

This budget -- the one being adamantly and fundamentally and defiantly defended by our president since Monday -- is morally corrupt in every way; how can anyone, left, right and center, feel secure knowing that this president is okay with sending us further down the road in H - E - double toothpicks, projecting in his very own words, according to his no uncertain terms, a trajectory of trillion dollar deficits for each year over the next ten (oh while saving perhaps a hundred billion a year) -- oh, and reaching a national debt level beyond our most wretched imagination. are ya kidding me?
 
This isn't even as tasty as pig slop, how can anyone defend this as the answer to our fiscal mess?

Granted, the world and perhaps a few power elites, would love to take America down; but this isn't who we are, this isn't what we are about, and it certainly isn't anywhere close to the reality our founders intended  -- and I would bet my life, other people are feeling, if not reeling, the very same thing.

This may be another morning to play the Motor City commercial over and over and over again until we actually get it through our thick skulls; from the days of Iacocca to EMINEM, invoking that very same spirit of revival, its time to take Detroit back... Route 66 back... time to take back Boston, Kingman, and everything in between them, back!

The District of Columbia belongs solely to the people; we own it;  we sign their paychecks; we decide what we spend and when.

It only took about 90 days, but already, they are back in business featuring business as usual, and we've got no time for it whatsoever.

If I were president, I would fire myself!
and go ahead, call me crazy, make my day...

Why G?  Why are you so upset?  He's just trying to do the best he can --- Why would you say that about our president? He inherited the debt...

For the audacity to try to pull the wool over the eyes of a people who, apparently, by all countenances upon him, misguidedly thinks we are sheep; but little does he know, even sheep born in the USA know what's up, cuz it's wigging time.

And that goes for the whole lot of you, too....how this man, this administration, this congress, can get away with just taking everything we know and love in good, clean conscience, hidden behind moral compromises that shake our very foundation to the core, jeopardizing everything, and keep doing it!   is purely beyond my comprehension.

I am livid.

but hey, happy happy,
make it a good day, G!  

Dear America,

Where do we begin and how do we begin again, I ask myself.

Where I live, it is the Day After OPENING Day of the Races, in Del Mar. It is one of those local traditions that brings the seasonal influx of big hats and high balls, arriving as Bing Crosby sings by train or by car-- limo or beemer-- and away they go with a day of heavy drinking, gambling and the like. I really don't wanna sound cynical during these trying times, but it is a wonder when pondering the state of America and all of it's ills, worries and confusion how merriment still reigns a very high priority.

Of course, it is also the Day After the Presidential primetime address regarding the state of our healthcare system and his valiant push by our President Obama to "make it so", even if it rushes to harm us in the end. While just the idea of the Day After brings a sense of melancholy, as if to say that the party is over, time to heal the hangover, pop a pill and sleep it all off.

It is the day after something big, something planned, and that something is now over...it merely remains the Day After.

I find such irony in realizing that here we are in the country who created the very idea of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" that we have grown into such a wayward, mental state as a people. We are lost individually and collectively living in one serious hangover; and the only way to transcend this downward trend is to go back to the time before.

A time when our founding fathers and philosphers and renaissance men and society were all speaking the same language. A language that united us in thought and in word to do our personal best. It was a time that called for individual responsibility to rise up and create a life of happiness on our own. A time when you had no choice but to create that life because big daddy nanny state wasn't going to do it for you, and moreover, we didn't want them to!

How can it be okay to let the government simply takeover our lives; and to be sure, it would seem by the prevailing attitude a hostile takeover at that. Are we giving birth to people so weak and blind to the trappings of big government, or are we just spellbound by the very idea that maybe this time big government will be different. Perhaps we are no longer the greatest generation; perhaps handouts and subsidies and taxes are the answer to our prayers.

Wake Up you people! Socialism has many ills, wrecks societies and has never been a system of government that allows for the full freedoms and liberty of it's people. It never has worked and it never will and heaven forbid, do not let a really cool President tell you otherwise!

Our power to choose everything, good or bad, not only dictates our individual life each and every day, but as a whole in our present day has the ill-fated power to create a society of puppets!

I say today, NO thank you.

We have the power to create responsible, accountable citizens who revel in the very thought of our freedoms to raise a family, grow a business, acquire wealth and prosper in every possible way. Government is not needed for that! Stop, think, grow rich and look at how we are just turning over, as if playing dead, to the powers that be through taxation, through excess, through mismanagement, through loss of control, through waste, through affairs on the taxpayer dime, through corruption, through lobby, through not in my back yard, through just sleeping it off like the Day After hoping we will just wake up and have it all better tomorrow.

The only pill for this Day After is a hard pill to swallow. That's it. Mary Poppins is not here to put a little sugar on it. It will take each of us, individually and collectively to wake up and place our goverment back in the hands of the people.

We must recognize that this power and strength is within ourselves all along; our outer world will only change when we align ourself to the qualities that will sustain the individual to rise up and be strong all by one's self. Then collectively, we will live all of our days in the land of the free and the brave and even look forward to the Day After, and the day after that, and the day after that, and ...

Make it a good day, G