One Lovely Blog Award

I would like to thank 3teensmom who was gracious enough to nominate sarahjane for the One Lovely Blog Award.  As of this morning, my soapbox has been on the virtual courtsquare corner for a little over 5 months and has amassed 100 followers.  I have absolutely no clue how that happened.  Sarahjane was started as a place to holler about the things I can’t discuss with (or even in front of) friends and family.  This is a place where I can be as ME as I choose to be, and as a result, those who read my posts know me far better than those who have known me my entire life.  Funny, that.  I expected to have an occasional visitor and perhaps a comment or two, with the occasional flaming over my opinions.  I did NOT expect to gather any significant number of regular followers or readers, so I wanted to thank you all very much.  Validation comes in many forms, and I am endlessly tickled, touched, and flattered that any of you find my contributions here of interest.

 One Lovely Blog Award nomination

The rules for this Award are as follows:

1.   Give credit to the awesome person who nominated you.

2.   Describe 7 things about yourself.

3.   Nominate 15 other bloggers.

Nominees (apologies if this is an unwelcome nomination):

1. brainsnorts inc
2. The Dixie Flatline
3. Coalescence
4. clotildajamcracker
5. polentical
6. A Clown On Fire
7. notthebestoftimes
8. The Self Taught Atheist
9. rubberchickensociety
10. Jots From A Small Apartment
11. A Frank Angle
12. Goodpulp.com
13. Prawn And Quartered
14. You’ve Been Hooked!
15. Susie Lindau’s Wild Ride

As for the 7 things about myself (that have not already been posted):

1. I used to own a White’s tree frog named Big Momma.
2. I prowl my house in the wee hours of the morning because it is the only time it is quiet, so that is my ‘me’ time.
3. For some reason, over half the people I meet for the first time call me Anne instead of Suzanne.
4. My husband & I met on E-Harmony.
5. I have a pet squirrel in my back yard named Fat Bastard, or F.B. for short.
6. I could eat Mexican every day and never get tired of it.  I also put avocados in all my salads.
7. When I was younger, I was sure that the people in the portraits on our walls could see me.  I have yet to obtain positive proof they do not.

Donation. It’s A Good Thing…….

I am nearing the end of my term of milk bank donation and wanted to give another shout out to the wonderful, caring, professional folks at The Austin Mother’s Milk Bank.  They have been an absolute delight to deal with, and it goes without saying that they are doing great work.  If you or anyone you know is breastfeeding and has a reserve store of milk you are not using, please check their out their website or contact them.  If you are not currently nursing but want to help out, they also take monetary donations.  The Austin Milk Bank is a non-profit organization.  They do not sell the milk they receive, and are not affiliated with any agencies that do.  They provide much needed milk to premature and ill newborn infants in area hospitals, including some in my own state (important to me since I was a N.I.C.U. nurse for 15 years.)

Who could ever say no to a face this sweet?

 

Well, Double Drat Damn…….

To slightly mis-quote Vudith Viorst “It’s been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month.”

It seems as if every time I read my newsfeed, there is another passing, and always of high magnitude and unique talent.

Bob Welch has left us.

Those who play for us weave light, sound, and color into a pattern for our heads, hearts, and ears.

He was an integral part of my favorite Fleetwood Mac work.  His solo career spawned songs I have listened to and loved all my life.  Almost every playlist I listen to has at least one Welch on it.  Tonight, my list is all Mac & Welch.  You added lilt and color to my life.  Thank you.  May you rest peacefully, sir.

(the above picture is taken from http://ultimateclassicrock.com/former-fleetwood-mac-guitarist-bob-welch-dead-at-65/ and credited to Fin Costello/Redferns, Getty Images)

Ray Has Gone Home………

 

One of my favorite lines from Men In Black came from Tommy Lee Jones, when he informed Will Smith that Elvis was not dead, he just went home.  I was saddened today to hear that Ray Bradbury passed away.  Over the course of his prolific career he bestowed 600 some-odd short stories and 27 novels & short story collections upon those of us who love science fiction.  He was one of the first authors to capture my imagination and send it soaring.  He made me think, and he made me laugh.  Now that he has ‘gone home’, he has made me cry.  He will be missed by many, and his work will remain admired for it’s texture, finely crafted details, and vision.

I like the idea of Ray somewhere out there tonight, back home again.

Favorite Graphic Of The Day So Far………

I salute you……

 

 

Happy Memorial Day.

I Love This

Moving, beautiful, and stated so much better than I can.  Just awesome.

Gay Marriage – Rev. Marlin Lavanhar

(Sermon delivered on Sunday, May 20, 2012, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, Senior Minister.)

Oh, Yay, Another Ramble On Tolerance………

A word on values, tolerance, and our ever vanishing civil liberties.

I do not care what personal belief system anyone subscribes to, except at the point that it begins to attack or infringe on what I consider to be personal liberties.  Any ideology that endorses and promotes intolerance or repression is unacceptable to me.  Prior to that line in the sand, I love the prerogative of the denizens of this country to pursue their faith and beliefs.  It is a great and beautiful thing.  Unfortunately I see far, far too many instances of personal faith and ideals becoming public faith and ideals.  If you really feel that you must forcibly shoehorn every person you meet by sanctions and legislation into whatever odd shaped cubbyhole your religion happens to reside in……..perhaps you should go home, sit down, and really, really think about your own value system.  I think you may have diagnosed the problem correctly, but completely missed the actual source.

I have friends who are gay.  I have family members who are gay.  I worked with folks who are gay.  I find, increasingly, as time goes on, that I am putting that out there in my discussions of tolerance.  Why is that, exactly?  How is it that a narrow minded and fearful section of our society can force us to make such statements as if they matter?  It shouldn’t matter.  No more so than the fact that I have family, friends, and acquaintances with brown hair, or blue eyes, or who like jazz.  The only reason it even has to be repetitively brought to the forefront is that nobody is trying to criminalize, marginalize, penalize, attack, or shame anyone based on their hair color, eye color, or musical taste.

It’s a damn shame that such basic personal freedoms have to be dragged out into the public forum, like laundry on the line.  I want to believe, and I really do believe, that someday down the road nobody will even think to ask if so-and-so is gay, because it won’t matter.

As it should be.

Then we can begin to focus on things that actually matter, such as sustainability of fuel and food, the economy, and so forth.

Yep, that’ll be awesome.

In the meantime, we must yell loud and proud in defense of ourselves and our loved ones.  In defense of those we don’t know.  In defense of those we don’t particularly like. In defense of everyone.  Change never happens because of apathy or inertia.  Someone, somewhere, has to get up and start kicking over the conservative dominoes.

I Am Without Words…..

That’s not true, of course.  I have plenty of words, but most of them consist of profanities.  This disgusts me.  I am embarrassed to be from the South when things like this occur here.  I will never, ever understand how anyone can state with a straight face that there is no war against women, children, & the home when things like this are happening all around us, often  backed by the party these folks belong to and support.  You know what?  I’m glad I don’t understand it.  If I did, perhaps I would be like them.  I think I am better off disgusted, repulsed, & appalled than wrapped in a cocoon of self-righteous smug cluelessness, intolerance, misogyny, and bigotry.

Mississippi Abortion Legislation

‘Coat-hanger abortions’ he says, offhandedly, in much the same tone as one might say “Pass the salt, please”.  The level of fear of and hatred for women that lurks behind an offhand remark like that terrifies me.  People like this need to be somewhere far, far from positions of influence or power in our government if things are ever to get better.  What was really accomplished here?  The loss of work of a section of medical personnel who would otherwise have been assuring the health and safety of these women, not to mention any other procedures they might have been doing there unrelated to abortions.  They are now out of work.  Meanwhile, you and those who think like you are doing their utmost to bar women from birth control through the insurance plans they pay for while simultaneously turning a blind eye to male sexual aid drugs like Viagra being covered.  Essentially, you have raised unemployment, decreased the standard of healthcare, pressured women with ever decreasing options into more births due to less availability of birth control, decreased assistance for those children once they are born, and your take on it is an offhand slap against those pitiful unfortunate ones who might become so desperate as to injure themselves, perhaps even fatally.    Wow.

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day.