The vioce from beyond the walls and razorwire

Those who know me, know that one of my best friend's lives on death row. My very first post was about a New Years visit I had with him last year entitled New Years in prison and the food was real good... Anyone who is interested, I have one other blog post about him called: Jailhouse Blog

I thought it was a great idea to start him his own blog, and as far as I knew there were no rules against it. (Finally-- an advantage to the slow wheels of bureaucracy!) I wanted people to see him as I did. To raise awareness of what we are doing in our "justice system". We began his blog earlier this year, it's called Life in Xanadu, http://lifeinxanadu.blogspot.com/. On his blog, he calls himself BD. for security reasons he is not able to communicate with complete abandon about who he his, his life and how he got where he is. Some things will have to remain mysterious.

BD is one of the most incredible people I have ever met. EVER. He has had the most insane and intense life imaginable. Still, he is kind patient, and loving and strives every day to learn and make a difference in any way he can. He has more self control than anyone I've ever met. His instincts are keen and he can discern instantly what is ok and what is not and adjust his behavior accordingly. A skill I've been working on most of my life with little success. (I am over emotional and therefore reactionary) BD is strong inside and out. He is in great physical and spiritual shape. He has unbelievable insight into the universal soul. He is my best friend, my counselor and my chosen brother. I pray that he gets released... someday. Nobody deserves it more.

I can go on and on like this, but I won't. What I really came here to say today is that he is going to send me a new post for his blog next week. I was hoping his blog would show more of HIM as his letters and writing do.... I would like the world to relate to him, to see him as HUMAN. To understand that these are not monsters we are housing and mistreating, they are actual people. He has chosen to focus more on Capital Punishment issues, and that makes perfect sense. I support that in every way I can. As time goes on, I hope his readers will get more glimpses into his true core. His beautiful mind and spirit. He shows me everyday, just by being who he is how sacred life is, and I find myself more human and grateful because of it. You will too.
Keep your eye on: http://lifeinxanadu.blogspot.com/

C'est ci bon!

After discovering that we drank the last beer sometime over the weekend, it became increasingly apparent that someone was going to have to make a run.

"Oh, I know... let's all walk to Joiners"! (the little store down the street). It'll be fun!" Says I.

"YES! Good idea" Says he.

"Damn! Sounds like rain. Why don't you step out and see if we can beat the storm..." Says I.

"Well, let's just drive." Says he.

"If any one's driving, it's going to be you, and we will stay here... what's the fun in driving?" Says I."

"Right" Says he.

He pops out and back in. "Yea, we can make it if we don't dawdle."

"HEHEHEH!" I chortle, as he immediately begins dawdling on his computer, barefoot.

10 minutes after getting Harley dressed and shod, because he "likes to be nakey", We are off.

It's cooler now, and very gray. It is crystal clear we are not going to "make it", but we are starved for adventure, and armed with an umbrella. So, on we go, dodging fire ant piles, SUVs who's 5 O'clock drivers are probably texting, and eventually, raindrops.

"What road is this"? Asks Harley?

Well son, we are heading due north on (the narrow shoulder of) highway 59.

"Whoa!" comes the response.

We are playing 1-2-3333333333! With the fire ant piles, till I feel something unpleasantly familiar. Hmmmmm.... maybe it's just stray nettle, I think.

"Put him on shoulders, I can't do this anymore... my arm is sore and.... OH NO!!! I'm hit! I'm hit!"

"You guys go on! We're running out of time"!
The clouds are looking more and more ominous every second.

"I'll be ok. I'll catch up. GO-GO-GO-GO-GOOOO"!

Desperately I jam my fingers between my toes in a failed attempt to annihilate the little stinging, biting bastard that is feasting between my second and third digits. Damn him! He's too far under my strap! (Of course, nothing is easy... certainly not anticide) Sighing audibly, I resigned to the undoing of my Teva strap, and made ant glue out of that red and bitter firey-assed devil!

I caught up easily even though they were jogging.... Yes, those first few drops were delightful, but it was picking up... and fast. And I still had the umbrella.

By the time we got to the store, we were laughing and wet, but not soaked.

"Who's idea was this"? Asks he.

I pretended not to hear till I thought of something worth saying.... "Isn't this fun"?

The look. Then the smile.

"Check this out. Only 3$ more than Publix for a case of Corona".

"WooooooWEEEE! That's what I'm TALKIN' about"!

Outside in the breeze way we wait. Harley is stepping out from the shelter of the rooftop. "Look, I'm having a little rain shower"! His body is framed by the head lights of a monster pick up parked outside low beams blaring, wipers on, stereo wailing a country tune. The owner is inside and leaves it to make purchases. Not unusual in our neck of the woods. By the time we are leaving, there are 3 abandoned vehicles. Engines running, lights on, wipers flapping. Only in Lloyd, I think.

"Um, are you going to carry the beer"? He asks, joining us again.

"No. We need a plan".

We walk next door to the Subway sandwich shop. If this were a hotel, the Subway and the Joiners mart would be adjoining suites.

We decide that he should go home with the umbrella, and get the car while we wait and have a snack.

"I think I'll run home". Says he.

"Dear God, NO! That's a totally bad idea"!

"Why"?

"Let's see...I'm seeing feet sliding in mud, ankles twisting, Dr. bills... and all that goes with that".

I love him. He is clumsy. And a non regular exerciser. This has tragedy written all over it.

It was taking a long while I thought. I was just starting to worry.... (Not only about where he was, but that I might strangle one of the two elderly women that were ordering in front of us... or one of the two employees. ) Sweet Jesus, if ever there were people that were too slow, too picky and way too meticulous in their ordering, these ladies would be they. And let's not even get started on the 'too much conversation having about non ordering issues' going on... please let's do not.... AND.....If EVER there were two slower than molasses in January employees, these two, would be they. I mean we are talking an employee PER customer and it took them like 14 minutes! I have to admit it though, they were very sweet. The employees I mean.

Then, I see the car. Hallelujah!

He flashes lights. I motion for him to come in. He does.

I explain that the box of raisins we were going to get sort of turned into a bag of cut Granny smiths, since they don't have raisins anymore. (Too healthy for we of Jefferson County!) So, figuring apples are good, I open the fridge to grab a bag. Only one bag left, and two of the slices were brown. I don't know the price, but whatever it was, was too much. So.... we got the raspberry yogurt. Not something you want to bring in the car.

He confesses that he started off walking, but jogged from the corner of our street. "And it was the right thing to do"! He showed me, yessiree bob!

Me? I'm just thanking the Great Spirit for watching over the crazy.

We sat and watched the rain out of the huge plate glass window. The lightning was spectacular though a little close for my taste. And I really dig storms.

Harley found a lucky penny, and stuck his hand in an oscillating fan. And got scolded by one of the aforementioned "women" in line... who also shot me a "What the hell kind of mother are YOU" look. If she only knew.

We finally finished the yogurt. Harley rode home illegally belted in my lap, while oohing and squealing with delight. Our car splashing through the deep puddles of our ill designed village roads.

We've added a new nugget to the collection of memories which will sustain us in our old age.

This was our happy hump day family adventure.

And now, Harley sleeps.

And we drink
Aaaaaaaaaaaaah.

what the hell's happening on Sesame Street?

Alright, I know things change, but if something works, why fix it? I watch a lot of Sesame Street these days, and I am more than annoyed with the dropping of certain characters. Where's Kermie? Miss Piggy? Fozzy Bear? the Pink Monster with the black eyebrows? The Count?

These characters are fun and did not have screechy voices. (ok, Miss Piggy did get a tad irritating sometimes...) In my memory they did not dummy things down for kids. They were just funny and oddly a lot like personalities you would meet in real life... Miss Piggy, the narcissist, Kermie, her more serious counterpart/pursuer, Fozzy Bear, the funny guy/class clown... The Count, the bean counter. I mean, this cast was dripping in metaphor fun for the adult as well as entertaining for both adults and children. Hell, we don't even see much of Bert and Ernie anymore.

Now we have Abbie, the ding a ling fairy... I mean, yea, she's cute, but she's annoyingly dense. Don't EVEN get me started on ELMO. I hate that little red bastard! His voice is annoying, he screeches too much, his character is fake-ish (that's saying a lot when you are talking about a damn puppet) and that Mr. Noodle, while he is slap sticky funny for kids... he is just stupid. I can't believe this guy gets paid! Then there is Elmo's computer. UGH. I can't even go there. What would Jim Henson think of all this?

Now I realize this sounds completely whacked and harsh. I know the "KIDS LOVE ELMO!" But they also love ice cream, candy, video games, and staying up all night.... doesn't mean it's good for them. Doesn't mean they are learning good things or nourishing themselves from these things. Now, I know, ice cream is FUN, Elmo is FUN, staying up is FUN! Yea, but if it's done in moderation, not to excess. And fun doesn't have to be annoying and stupid. As far as I'm concerned these characters being regulars on the show is like feeding kids sugar coated sugar pills for their developing brains. I'll stay away from what it's like for adults... woops! too late~

What happened to the number of the day song, remember 3 3 3 3 let's sing a song of 3. How many is 3? Then they would count several objects and at the end there would be guy carrying like 3 chocolate mousse piiiiiies! Then he'd start to wobble, loose his balance, then crash and burn with all the pie goo smooshing all over him! So fun without being stupid! How about one of these things is not like the others? Why does a kid need to know how to make a sushi roll? THAT is what is being shown now. WTF????!!!

When asked to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow at one of her concerts, Liza respectfully replied. "I'm sorry, that song has been sung." Some things should just NOT be messed with, and for ME, Sesame Street Muppet's characters is one of them! Jesus, Elmo's on, I have to run in the other room before I puke on my screen!

Nevermind Hank... I REMEMBERED!!!!!

If you have not heard these chicas rock, you really really must. They are HOT! That's all I got. Ah PS. You have to read yesterday's post to sort of get this one. Sorry!

Funtabulouso!

This post is dedicated to all my bloggy friends who love to wear black. And you know who you are dahlings!

I googled "pretty pictures" and so many oddball things came up. This is one of them. It's obviously an album cover, but it's done in the syle of a movie poster. Clever, no? And so glaaaaaamorous~ I came across it and just thought it was marvelous. I really like the old style of it, and the kitschy thing too. Are those two the same? I mean many kitschy things are old, but I don't think it's a requirement. Yes, I'm going with old is a subset of kitschy. Anyway, I like it. A lot. Oh, and I'm pretty sure they are foreign. They are cutting and a new album in Copenhagen.

Even their name is hip and groovy, The RAVEONETTES! And yet it also reminds me of eating Raisonettes at the movies, which I love~ but is not necessarily hip and groovy.... For all these reasons, I suspected that I would also like their music And I do~ I really do! It's sort of beachy, 50's rock and sort of Hillbilly Frankenstein/Roxy Music sound mixed in with another band that I like (an all chick band), but I can't remember the name of it. This is what getting old looks like ya'll. When you can't remember the name of one of your favorite chick bands, you've arrived. DOH! It's a super cool name too by the way. (Hank, knower of many many things, can you help me out here?)

So, there you go and there you have it. I was restless and uninspired, so I played around in GOOGLE, looking for pretty pictures. This led to numerous hilarious and strange viewings and now I have a new band to check out. Besides the striking pink cover, the words "Pretty in Black" stood out. It made me think of all my bloggy friends who like me, like to wear black. Although I'm not goth and I suspect they aren't either. But I'm digressing. What I mean to say, is that you, my cyber-bloggy friends, help color my world. And today it was black and pink... and musical. Thanks ya'll!

I got it, I got it, Now I GOT to REPORT IT!!

The title of this post originates from one of those crazy 70s/80s comedies, and I think it's "What's Happening!!" Although it could just as easily have come from "Good Times" or "That's My Momma"... My senility knows no bounds. All I know is we said it ALL the time back in the day when we had something really important to announce, like gossip. But that is entirely off point, and this is NOT gossip, it's very important info! Very important indeed.

Ok, so here is what i have to report. As some of you know I have had a SERIOUS problem commenting on blogs which use the "Embedded Below Post" format. (If you are new to my world, you can catch up by scrolling down to older posts and referring to: "If a picture paints a thousand words") Well, all you people who said it was a browser problem... YOU were RIGHT! I wish I had a small prize to give you, but all I have is my gratitude and esteem.

I could NOT understand how that could be?? Because logically, it HAD to be a personal setting... either on my machine, or my blogger account or my permissions/privacy settings~ whatever, because the Great Spirit knows I've got a ton of filters on every dang thing. I hear Safari kicks butt in this regard, although I have not tried it yet. I just used my old Internet Explorer to test the theory. (I know, I know, "yech!") Anyway, problem solved. I still don't like playing musical browsers, but hell, at least I can manipulate the situation as needed. AND I do plan to download the Safari. It's free and I believe, a Mac product, so how bad can it be, right?

LESSON LEARNED:

Being locked in your own brain - 0

Listening to others, even if you cannot make head's or tails of it - 1

Ah, and while we're on the subject, could somebody PLEASE explain to me how to copy a link from another one of my blogger posts into a new post. (For instance, I could have just created a link to the post I mentioned above- "If a picture paints a thousand words", instead of the inefficient way that I had to do it because I just cannot figure out how to do this in blogger. I think I was successful once, but that may be a delusion. Anyway, if anyone has a clue, I promise promise promise I will listen. Even if you say it is my browser.

EXPERIMENT POST POST:

If a picture paints a thousand words...

Ok, ya'll so this is weird... I have to copy the date ahead of the title, then I can grab it. Then once I paste it in place, then I delete the date. This is progress!! Thanks for your suggestions Steph and IDD. I did have the show links on "yes" and I tried your copy method Steph, but no luck. However, due to your suggestions I began playing around again, and I did find something that works, rudimentarily, but hey! I am not going to be choosy.

Ok, here goes a shot at text only hyperlink copying:

Ok, yall... Petit Fleur is having a meltdown over all the blogs I love AND I cannot comment on!!!

Oh geez, ya'll are NOT going to believe THIS one! In order to copy plain old text to hyperlink, I have to copy the sentence/word I want and then right click and then choose the option to "Search Google for"... then Google pops up with the ole "Did you mean..." and then the sentence follows in hyperlink. I copy and paste it, and voila! I am sure there is an easier way, but this is STILL progress!! Thanks ya'll! See, old dogs CAN learn. They really can!

AND just to prove it some more, I'm going to mess around doing it Steph's way because I know I've seen that dang chain icon!

I know I can't expect the world to change for me, but I can damn sure be frustrated about it!!
And... I am.

Whoa!! It took about 3 tries, but I got it!!! Woo hoo~ You made my whole day, ya'll. Crazy, huh? Something that small can cause all this relief! Whew. Thanks. Many, many thanks.

This has nothing to do with riding actual trains...

Thursday I was all set to go to a monthly meeting that is my routine... in fact, I did go to the meeting, but I was the only one to show. Turns out, I had the wrong date. So I called a good friend who was visiting from out of town to see if she could meet me for a glass of wine. YES! She could and she did! One glass of wine turned into 6. Well, three each. They were generous pours as the owner is an old friend. If you get the chance and your are a Tally person, it's a great place. It's called Lee's Wine Bar. If you click the link, you'll be able to read aaaaaall about it ~ A Visit To Lee's Wine Bar

Anyway, so we went there and got nice and toasty. The odd thing is that it's been for EVER since I've been "out", but I don't remember ever feeling just really good and relaxed without feeling the other feelings of "Oh God, I'm tanked... I didn't mean to do that!" I guess that's what pacing yourself and drinking GOOD wine will do. So grown up! My friend and I had a great time, we caught up on each other's lives, and had some really good laughs~ That sounded wrong... We were laughing with each other not at each other.. :-) I did remember why I all but stopped drinking. It wasn't the shinannigans I tend to get into at the time... it's the next morning. Ugh. Being hungover, no matter how slightly, with a child that wakes at the ass crack of dawn is just indescribable.

Earlier in the week, the hub told me that Friday (the morning after serious shinanniganery) we were taking a short road trip to Thomasville GA, to visit a special toy store, a music store and ride a train. Oh goodie! A train ride. Just what a slightly hung over mommy needs. Gallons of caffeine, a Chickfile sandwich, a salad, and a train ride! Perfect. It wasn't till we were almost there that I discovered that there was no train in Thomasville. We were not going to ride the train. We were going to the special toy store to PLAY with said store's 3 elaborate Thomas Tank Engine set ups and look around at all the wooden toys. I was very disappointed about that. I was looking forward to that train ride. Dammit!

I did rediscover Thomasville though, and that was sweet. It is really an oversized version of monticello and a wee bit more upscale. The streets and buildings looked very familiar. We got a couple of really fine Cafe Americanas. (Espresso for wimps) and biscotti. I meandered around while Harley and his dad played and played and played with trains et al. The only way it could have been better is if I acually had money to spend. I blew my wad the night before though, so I was under serious "purchase restriction"... only caffeine and fatty foods to snap me out of my hangover were accaptable under the restriction, clause a, paragraph2- item 3.5c. And so it was, a funny sunny Friday, with no train ride, but still lots of fun and discovery.