Future Serial Killer of the World

Have I bred one?? Seems that some stupid peeps in my circle of life believe I have. From this website I obtained the common characteristics of serial killers which I will list here and then whether my son fits such characteristics. 1. Over 90% of them are white. Yep. 2. They tend to be intelligent with IQs in the "bright normal" range. Yep. 3. In spite of their high IQs they do poorly in school.... Yep, but getting better. 4. They tend to come from markedly unstable families. Typically, they are abandoned as children by their fathers and raised by domineering mothers. Ummm... I wouldn't say we're unstable, unstructured perhaps. I'm not domineering, if anything, I'm too easy-going. Relationship with dad is still evolving. 5. Their families often have criminal, psychiatric and alcoholic histories. Afraid so, especially on his dad's side. 6. They hate their fathers. They hate their mothers. Nope, not at all. 7. They are commonly abused as children - psychologically, physically and sexually. His dad did abuse him physically and psychologically but that is a thing of the past and he's had counseling. 8. Many of them end up spending time in institutions as children and have records of early psychiatric problems. No institutions but does have marked anxiety, especially separation anxiety but has mainly resolved. 9. They have a high rate of suicide attempts. I hope this never happens. 10. They are intensely interested from an early age in voyeurism, fetishism, and sadomasochistic pornography. Yikes!! Hell no. In addition to the above list, there are also three more characteristics. 1. Enuresis (bed wetting) - more than 60 % of serial killers were still wetting their beds over the age of twelve. No, once the medication for his seizures kicked in, the bed-wetting stopped. Plus, he's only 8. 2. Fire starting - children like to play with matches because they are intrigued by the bright, colorful flickering light. But budding serial killers carry this interest to a frightening extreme. (In other words, they enjoy torching things to a smoldering pile of rubble.) Nate is fascinated with lighting matches, watching the grill burn and lighting candles. He has never set anything on fire though. 3. Sadistic activity - before they are big enough to inflict harm on other human beings, future serial killers get their kicks from tormenting small creatures (animal torture.) No way, no how. This is the kid who bawled for two days when his cat died and came home crying because TLC was mean to his cat. So, what does this all mean? And why in the hell would I post this? Do I really believe my son has the capabilities of being a serial killer? Um, NO! See, this "good Christian lady" who lives next door and has three girls, oh, and she's Nate's babysitter, thinks his fascination with fire is "unnatural." Ummm... look lady, I'm 33 and I'm still fascinated by fire. Yes, Nate, if given the opportunity, will sit and light matches and blow them out, one after the other, until the book is gone. He's not setting your house on fire so... shut up. Yes, on his art project he did make a beautiful flower vase with colorful blooms shooting out of the top of it. He just also happened to draw a picture on the inside of the vase of a good guy stabbing a bad guy and blood spurting everywhere. Is this really such a cause for concern? I mean, its not like he was stabbing a cat or another kid, it was good guy, bad guy. And yes, I did catch him and TLC trying to fashion a spear from an old broomstick, a rather large knife and duct tape, you know, just like the Indians had or, in this case, the Neanderthals on "Ice Age." I think it showed quite a bit of ingenuity, a potentially dangerous ingenuity, but ingenuity nonetheless. (Matter of fact, I've interrupted this particular exercise with various implements on more than one occasion) Is this any different than them removing the lines, hooks and reels from my old fishing poles and using them as swords? Is it any different from them raiding my bathroom and concocting their equivelant of Polyjuice Potion on the porch? What irritates me about my neighbor, this is not TLC's mom, is that one childish thing, one mistake, one wrong word and the devil has come to WV. Bullshit. If she's the one standing there telling me she's had to fight the school system to keep her 12 year-old daughter in school because she's threatened, on more than one occasion, to thump another girl then what the fuck is she yakking to me about? Other than her I-was-raised-in-hell-and-I'm-not-taking-any-shit- whether-I'm-a-Christian-or-not-Betty-Badass-the-buck-stops-here-suspicious-untrusting-hard-line-attitude, I'd really, really like her. For the most part, she is really good for Nate. She's strict and tough about doing homework immediately after coming home from school, which is one of the reasons why I asked her to watch him. I can't wait until her two younger daughters become teenagers. I feel as though she'll be changing her tune real quick about what is "good" and what is "bad" and what is "normal" in kids. Her oldest is a sweet but take-no-shit kid. The two younger are already showing signs of acute rebellion and smart mouths and one of them is only two. I think Nate is a normal average kid who is learning has he goes, who is bright, creative and prone to making poor judgement calls, but is learning. That is what life is.... learning. I don't dictate to him how to play or how to be creative, I just ask that he stay away from the dangerous stuff, like fire and knives. If the worst thing he ever does is paint a picture of the good guy stabbing the bad guy or watching a match burn, I will count myself lucky. And kids... just don't mix the dishwashing detergent with the vinegar and baking soda, m'kay?

Politically Incorrect Inanna

1. If you tell me you won't let your kids watch or read Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings and I ask you why, DO NOT begin your sentence with, "Well, our pastor said..." or "Our church..." I don't give a shit what your pastor or your church says or does. I expect you to make an informed decision instead of following along with their spoon-fed idealogies. If you can't watch the movies or read the books like an informed, intelligent adult you will be dismissed. 2. If you have to quantify someone's qualities by saying, "He's a good Christian man," then I probably don't want to meet him. I wonder if he didn't show up and sing in the choir every Sunday yet did the same good works as before if he would still be a "good" man? Going to church does not make you a Christian anymore than wearing wool makes you a sheep. And always beware of the wolf in sheep's clothing. I'm sure David Koresh thought he was a good Christian man too. 3. My son will not be in the Boy Scouts if I can help it. In my humble opinion, all den mothers should be lesbians, then there will be no one who can corrupt our delicate male youth. 4. A child molestor is never cured. The only thing the classes they take teach them is how to recognize their "abuse triggers" and "at-risk age group." They will do it again if given the right opportunity and set of circumstances. Good advice from.... a child molestor (not me!). If you can't believe the perp who can you believe? 5. I wanted to see "The Passion of the Christ" but changed my mind. I now have no desire to ever see it. 6. I'm disgusted by the apathy of the world to what is going on in Sudan. I mean, who cares right? They don't have anything we need. Who cares that millions of people are displaced, their homes burned, their men murdered, their women raped? I mean, why piss off more Muslims? 7. If the American Revolutionary War were to happen today, Minutemen would be considered terrorists. The signers of the Declaration of Independence would be on playing cards. George Washington would be hunted like Osama bin Laden. 8. What the hell is in Chechnya that Putin won't just give it up? I do not agree with the tactics of the Chechan rebels... but as my boss says, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. See #7. 9. If anyone has a right to be pissed off about Harry Potter its we Wiccans. Come on now, male witches are not called wizards, they're called... witches!!! And the spell to open a locked door is not alohamora its a key!!! :o) 10. Michael will be surprised with his original Inanna-fanna-beadana.

Pissy-Pissy-Boo-Boo

I have developed quite a loathing for my neighbors, nice as they are. I'm so sick of how they neglect their child. The Lonely Child comes to my home to take a shite because they don't have toilet paper. God knows what they use to wipe with, maybe their hand. I noticed through is ill-fitting jeans that he his underwear are threadbare and have a hole in the top of them. Also, when they were drying clothes at my house I noticed several of his pairs of underwear have split up the front seam and are as thin as tissue paper. Most of his shirts are too small are beginning to creep up his rather bulbous stomach. His jeans continually ride down in the back exposing whatever happens to be there. Not to mention, they're at least an inch too short. Although they expect him to walk or ride his bike to school, he normally catches a ride with me. They don't supply him with an umbrella or a raincoat. We've experienced quite a bit of rain from the backlash of hurricanes and yet he's expected to walk home without even a jacket on his back. I doubt he has one that fits. He borrowed my poster of Legolas and my Hobbit book for his literature fair. I put all of it in my car this morning to make sure it got to school. Never do I see either of his parents poke their head inside the school to see what is going on. Whether Nate's dad likes it or not, I call him and tell him he's going to be at the school if I can't for one of Nate's projects. Now, you say, they're obviously poor. Well, if The Lonely Child's mother can show off her brand new tennis shoes while her son's toes are cramped or poking through the end of his, then yeah, I guess they're poor. If The Lonely Child's dad can schlep in $900 worth of food for their fat guts a month, then yeah, I guess they're poor. If they can afford to buy a 24 pack of beer but not a raincoat or an umbrella, then, yeah, I guess they're poor. I'll admit that I spoil myself ocassionally, and I know I should, but my son does not go without clean, well fitting underwear and clothes, or shoes, or a jacket. Its quite clear to me that neither of The Lonely Child's parents should have ever been parents. They are far too selfish, self-absorbed and lazy to make any necessary sacrifices for the well-being and self-esteem of their offspring. If they didn't have the money, that would be one thing, but they do. How much time does it take to go to Wally World and buy a $6.99 bag of underwear?? Now, here's where it gets interesting... they bought him another bike for his birthday after his was stolen so he can ride to school... so they don't have to take him. He's TEN FREAKIN' YEARS OLD!! He spent the entire summer alone at his house. He spends every afternoon alone if his mom works over, which is normal the closer we get to Christmas. And you know why? Because his parents are too freakin' cheap to pay $30.00 a week for afterschool care. His parents also wait until one of her sister's sees "his need" and then let her go out and buy his clothes etc. for him. After all, her sister and her husband make more money, so why should they spend theirs??? Yeah, that's their attitude... WHAAA??? Even more interesting is the role I take in The Lonely Child's life. Last night he and Nate got into it and TLC ends up banging on my door because Nate locked him out. I come out of my cubbyhole. I hate it when someone bangs on my door. I hate slamming doors. I unlock the door and TLC begins to state his case to me about Nate having his game, which I know and I've already told Nate to get the game out of the PS2 to give it back. I told him in no uncertain terms he was never to bang on my door like that again. He tried to interrupt but I talked to him just like I talk to Nate. Do not piss off the Mommy. One time he slammed the door of my house and I followed him home and dressed him down in front of both of his parents, right in their living room. They just sat and looked at me. Running home doesn't do him any good either. I really think TLC's parents tell him he can do shite, knowing that I will tell Nate no, so then TLC will not go either, making me the bad guy. For example, there is a park at the end of my street... waaaay at the end of the street, like 3/4 of a mile. Its right outside the projects and on a busy throughway from the tunnel. A lot of older kids hang out there. I do not like that park. I will take the boys ocassionally but for the most part I want them to stick closer to home. So, Nate comes in asks if he can go to the park at the end of the street. Hell no, no way, no how and no I'm not taking you today. Well, naturally TLC's parents said he could go. I told Nate that if TLC wanted to go then he could but he was not going to that park without an adult. Its too far and too much riffraff hangs out there. Nate says, "Well, TLC's parents said for us just not to talk to anyone." Ah fuck that!!!! His dad's reasoning is that he ran around all the time when he was a kid and he didn't have to be home until the street lights came on. Yeah, so did I... in the late 70's. I'm so afraid we live in a different world now fucktard. Okay, shit, I'm done ranting about them. It does no good.

OY!!!

So, Cooter has sent me the specifications for her 2nd place finish in my scavenger hunt. She wants a turtle on a bracelet. Otay!!! Ohhhh... hmmmm... now what? So, I run to the lieberry across the street (I know its library just like lieberry better.. pfft!) I found the perfect pattern for the turtle. I won't describe it because then she would know and I do want some element of surprise. Talk about surprised, that will be Mike, since he's pretty much letting me decide what to do for him. Bad idea... anyway. So, I go home and mess around with this design and decide its just to tall or wide or whatever. Length is good width, yech!!! In all my wisdom I set out to modify it. Yech! That did not look good. Gave up with the modification and finally graphed it on bead paper. Hmmmm.. now that is one sweet looking design.... but its still to wide!!!! WHAT THE F**K AM I GOING TO DO??? I WANT TO USE THIS PATTERN!!! (Bang, bang, bang <---- head banging on desk). A-HA!! I'll just.... drum roll................ use smaller freakin' beads!!!! I'M A GENIUS!!! LMFAO!!! Ahem... so, now I'm getting ready to order the needed supplies which makes me happy cuz I love getting stuff in the mail. My car is inspected and didn't need $200 worth of work!!! YAY!! I'm thrilled!!! GO ME!!! OY!!! Now that I know I won't be spending every dime on my car I can.... gasp!!! ORDER BEADS!!!! ITS A HAPPY DAY!!!! I'm so excited about this because I'll be using black warp thread (warp thread is what goes on the loom) and black bead thread, I use NYMO thread, which I have never used before... I mean color wise. I'M SO EXCITED!!! OH.. and Celti just said she wants a black satin amulet bag... I found the perfect beads for that at Michael's the other day. Hmmmmm..... this will be my first encounter with making an amulet bag. I think I will do a "Making Off" series for my photoblog so yas peeps can see how I do what I do. SAWEEEETT!!! I'm just full of great ideas today!! This means also that I can use my black warp and NYMO thread for Celti's too!!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!!! Gotta go order beads now!! Maybe I'll try a embroidery/beads pattern... hmmm... the possibilities are endless. Have a good one!!

Its Me, Its Me

My bud PC was nice enough to allow me to use him computer to check e-mail and blog. He's finally started his own blog. Please check him out at http://do-you-want-to-know.blogspot.com. Nice guy. He knows me after all. Thanks for your kind comments. I went home and had a power nappage and felt better. I just really hate feeling that way. Michael, you won third place in my contest. You are the only one who hasn't told me what you want. Get with it. Evil bead person - Hi. I need to check out your blog. Monday for sure when I can effectively waste company time. This using up all my free time is for the birds. I got new tires today. New to me anyway. In other words, used but guaranteed to pass inspection. That's all I need. Gas is $1.99 a gallon here. Sux. I did muck out my stall, I mean car, today. I was inspired by you Cattiva!! I didn't find any petrified french fries but I did find 2 1/2 packs of cigarettes and my car insurance slip but somehow lost my registration. Eventually I will get my car inspected, at least before Tuesday so I don't have to pay that traffic ticket. I stink. Yuck. My hair is nasty and I've lost all sense of inspiration to carry the fast food toys, 14 pairs of shoes and clothing into the house. Whatever I really don't want, maybe someone will steal tonight if I leave it on the lawn. Perhaps I should put a sign out that says, "Steal for free. Crowbar on vacation." Hope everyone is doing well and having a super weekend. I know you Floridians are not, I'm so sorry. Screw up the next election why don't ya? See, even Mother Nature is saying, "Yo! Get it right this time!" Okay, smack me. There, feel better?

Who's Upset?

Tell me who is upset... Comply! NOW! All day I have become increasingly irritated and cranky. I have no reason to be. I almost went off on the office personnel at my psychologist's office when they reported, not only did they not have me on their list at 1:00 but also not on their list at 9:00 when I was really supposed to be there. This is sooo not me - most of the time. I'm so angry I want to hurt someone. I have no reason to be. I've "searched" everyone I know. AZ is cranky, irritated and depressed, but no more so than normal. Jeremiah is nervous about coming home but not angry about anything. I'm fairly certain that its T-Bird and her mom that are causing this. I hate when they think about me and want to talk to me about their problems. When I have established an emotional link with someone I do have the ability to "feel" their feelings, regardless of what distance it is. They have been fussing and feuding, more so than normal and KCZ is very emotional labile right now. I have tried blocking this out. I've been on the verge of tears all day for NO REASON!!! Just so you know what "searching" is... I send out vibrations... ummm... I guess emotional vibrations to pick up others feelings... testing, testing, 1,2,3... where are you? How are you? Knock, knock... anyone home? Okay, just got off the phone with AZ, I knew it wasn't him. It made me feel better though, just talking to him. Now I want a cigarette. Fudgeola. Anyway, my computer is still not fixed at home. I'll miss you guys over the weekend. If any of you are upset, I hope you feel better soon. Have a great one guys and gals!!

And The Winners Are.... (With Special Blogger Offer)

Celti - for getting 14 out of 15... T-Bird was the answer to #6. Don't kick yourself. Ang - for getting just as many but for remembering that I was born a month early. Mike - your answers were closer to reality not to mention, you cracked me up!! ;o) Thanks for playing. Please e-mail your requests to my inbox. If you would like a bracelet please specify wrist size in inches. I suggest you send me the exact size that would make you comfortable. As in, my wrist is 5 1/2 inches but I make my bracelets a little bigger. Amulet bags are a new thing so someone pick that so I can practice. They are big enough for a house key and a tube of lipstick, at least I think so, since I've never made one. I'm sure I can make them bigger. Specify if you would like one that hangs around your neck or has a wrist strap. Wall hangings take forever. Your wait will be long. Whatever you guys want I will be more than happy to try and reproduce. Oh, and for other bloggers, if you guys would like something personalized please e-mail me. I would only ask a nominal fee to help with beads and shipping. Five to ten dollars or so. But that's just a blogger fee. If I get much better at this I'm going to have to start selling them for real. I know I haven't posted any pics yet but bear with me. Right now I'm working on a wall-hanging for my boss for Christmas. It has the Star of David at the top and then their family name spelled down the length. I'll then take this and sew it to a piece of material and then embroidery the edges with scrollwork or other symbols. Haven't decided yet. I've worked on it for 15 hours and I have the star done and the first two letters of their name and about 1\3 of the next letter. Its 33 beads wide. That's about 3 1/2 to 4 inches. My boss, the one I actually work for, will get one too. His will have a basset hound at the top of it. Yeah, I found one yesterday at the library that I can use. The problem with beadwork, is the you are limited in your color ranges. DMC thread used for cross-stitch has about 10,000 colors, comparatively in beadwork you have 10. Okay, more than that, but you get the idea. I have to choose my patterns for simplicity but with the most amount of detail. I purchase beads from www.wanderingbull.com. In their "beads, beads, beads" section you can click on Czechoslovakian sead beads and see the colors I have to work with. I also use the reproduction beads and white center beads, also from Wandering Bull. I use whatever I can get my hands on. These beads are very high quality. Beads I've purchased from Michael's or Wal-Mart, I can only use about 2/3 of them because the holes are too small or the bead is warped. The beads from Wandering Bull are EXCELLENT!!! I maybe, maybe don't use one bead out of every four or five hundred. Twelve lines of beadwork is roughly four hundred beads so... last night I strung about 660 beads. And Celti, I found an excellent book at the library with tons of celtic knots and symbols in it yesterday. Naturally, I thought of you. Anyway, if anyone would like something, let me know. Love to all of yas!!! And Zelda, thanks for the idea. Props to you!!!

SCAVENGER HUNT!!!!!!

Welcome to Inanna's Scavenger Hunt!! I'm posting a list of questions about myself and my blog. All of the answers are located on my blog - somewhere. The first person to comment with the correct answers gets their choice of a hand-made beaded bracelet, wall-hanging or amulet pouch made to your specifications. Allow two weeks to six months for delivery. Ready? Set. Go! 1. My friend Beanie tipped off my real name in a comment - what is it? 2. Steve the Mildly Unwell Bastard suggested a website related to the supernatural/ghosts, what was the website? 3. My birthday folks, when is it? Hint - check my e-mail address. 4. What's the currest cost of a share of "Anything Goes" stock? 5. What was my favorite coaster at Cedar Point? 6. I have nick-named several recurring folks in my blog. Name the one nick-named after a car. 7. What did I use to call Nate before I revealed his real name? 8. On a trip to the Grocery Store, I imitated what movie character? Arrrr.... 9. I took a trip to visit a statue of a supernatural being. What was the being? 10. In a post dedicated to "the blogger who flooded my loins with passion" (Dastard), I quoted at length sexually explicit lyrics from a particular band. Which band? 11. As of Wednesday, July 21st, how many days had I been alive? 12. What did I name the spider that lived in my car? 13. What is the nickname I gave my neighbor who bellowed for a boob shot under my window at 4 a.m.? 14. How big around is my wrist? 15. How many beads are in Jeremiah's (Beanie's brother), bracelet that I made him with the American flag and the word "faith?" Even if you can't find all the answers at least comment or I will feel stupid.

ALERT! ALERT! Bennifer 2 Comes to Town!

A Jennifer Garner/Ben Affleck siting has rabidly made its way around town. Yes, the new Bennifer was right here on the street I work, less than a block from me and yes, I missed it!!!!!! However, it appears as though Jen had brought the Mr. Affleck home to meet the fam. The clerk at the coffee shop was so excited she short-changed him $10.00. She called the Garner residence and they said to just put it in an envelope and they would spend it the next time around. Big news for such a little place like us. So much for "no comment" from their reps. You heard it here first folks!! Its official now!!

Nate and Old Don

Nate Had the first PTO meeting last night and open house to meet Nate's teacher. No, she's not Old Don. Her name is Valerie. Its the first teacher at that school to actually act enthusiastic about her job. She was also the first one to tell me how much she enjoyed Nate, how smart he was and how much she could tell he wanted to do things and to please her. Unfortunately, he has a hard time with that. She readily accepted my suggestions, the same ones I made last year to his other teacher, to improve his focus etc. I will be giving him a topic every morning to write about in journal. She'll be using a blank piece of paper to cover up the page so he's not lamblasted by having all that space or X number of problems to stare at. Reminders everyday and a list that will be taped on his desk to help him out. I also point blank told him how I could tell he had improved with certain things and how much better he was doing. But, we still needed to work on it. His biggest problem is writing. He has trouble getting the thoughts in his head through his hand. Also, he can't slow his mind to light on one thing to write about so he wastes time trying to figure it all out. Then he falls behind, then he's pressed for time which makes him anxious and nothing gets done. Its a hell of a life for a kid. But, the things that we are putting into place will hopefully help with that. Not to mention, Mom said if he doesn't put forth a little more effort, NO PS2. I understand why he's the way he is. Duh, I know where he got it from. But, I will not tolerate not even putting the date on the fucking paper. THAT PISSED ME OFF!!! And he knew it too. I said, "that shows you're not even trying, that you've given up." He got that severely guilty look on his face. Yep. Mom says, "That will not be tolerated son. We don't give up." He's been caught. Ha! So... we'll see how this works out. Its just a shame that a kid in the 3rd grade who reads on a 6th grade level can't put the date on a piece of paper. Yes, that was a shameless brag on my child. Deal with it. Old Don This morning on the way in to work, I saw Old Don. Old Don used to ease a big yellow school bus up to the road in front of my house and take me to kindergarten. Over the years he took me to school rain, snow, sleet and shine. Yet, over the years, his nerves got the best of him and he was no longer able to deal with a busload of smart-mouthed teenagers and retired on disability. For numerous years I didn't see him or hear of him until one day, while out for lunch in the downtown, I saw a man shuffling along. He appeared to be homeless, grizzled white facial hair, a jacket in the heat of the day, a cane to help him walk. It was Don. He saw me too and a huge smile spread across his face. I went up to him and into his open arms and I was a little girl again. He laughed and pushed me away from him. "My goodness," he said, "what happened to that little girl I used to take to kindergarten?" So, we talked about where life had taken us. I told him about my son and he told me about his grandchildren. He had suffered a minor stroke, hence the shakiness of his hands and the cane. He lived in the big city now, probably at one of the local assisted living facilities. My, my he had certainly gone down hill from the last time I saw him. He also suffers from arthritis in one of his hips and he tries to walk as much as possible to keep things running smoother. He is a man with many physical problems and I know, disappointments in his life. But the light of God shines in his eyes. He's always smiling and happy to see me. For a long while I didn't see him at all and I was concerned. Found out later he had a serious bout with pneumonia and was laid up for quite a while. Just the other day, I saw him on the street again, smiling and bragging about the birth of his new grandson, asking about my folks and my brother. He tells me to let them know he asked after them and that he prays for them. Being around Don is like walking into a ray of sunshine even on the darkest days. He reminds me how much I have to be thankful for and how even through adversity, the spirit can triumph. I saw Don this morning, sitting on a bench close to my office. He raised his hand and waved and I waved and yelled, "Good morning!" It was indeed a good morning because I was touched by his sunshine.

What Do We Really Know?

*Morticia is home. The Lonely Child saw her creeping out from the crawl space under his house and as Nate and I came onto the porch to go retrieve her she was already coming home. I'm sure she's pregnant. It just can't be any other way. Kittens anyone?* Now, on with the show. I hate doing political posts. I sincerely do not have the time to do research of every point I would hope to make. However, I do have an opinion, which is mine fully, about how the American people are regularly mislead by the media. I'm ashamed that a news program would air material that has not be thoroughly fact checked. I'm ashamed that a major American newspaper would do the same thing. So, what do we really know? Who should we believe? The major news sources? The Onion? Michael Moore.com? Should be fly to Saudia Arabia and personally interview them to see what relationship they have with President Bush? Should we poll each and every person in the United States to see who they would vote for for President? How about we also ask how many of them actually plan to vote?? I've always heard, "consider the source." I don't give a crap about President Bush or Senator Kerry's war shit. I'm worried about issues NOW! I hear, "President Bush vetoed XY&Z while Govenor of Texas" or "Senator Kerry consistently voted against XY&Z in the Senate." Okay, but why? Anyone who has studied our legislative system knows that those wily Senators and Representatives will stick anything on the end of an important bill to get it to pass. Folks, wake up. Bills in the legislative arena that are being discussed and in committee are not just "Veterans' Bill 400" or "Clean Air Act 2000." Its "Veteran's Bill 400... oh and cut the quality air standards in Coal Mines and make it illegal for Veterans to sue for medical malpractice." The same for the Clean Air Act. I'm sure if bills were kept just bills for specific purposes they would pass. But NOOOO... some assmonkey has to stick a bunch of other shit on the end of it that could spell disaster. Imagine that the Clean Air Act 2004 would prohibit dumping, yada, yada, oil drilling in Alaska, blah, blah, but someone nicely tacked on the end of it that abortions would now be illegal and punishable by death of any living children you have or your parents. Would you sign that bill into law if you were Govenor or President??? Would you vote for that bill if you were a Senator? That's why some things don't pass in the legislative arena folks. That's why they're vetoed at the Executive level. That's why they go to the Supreme Court, or the judicial branch of our government. So much for your Political Science lesson today. I'm saying, its not enough to just listen to the rhetoric of who signed what bill and who didn't vote on something else. If you really want to know, look up the bill and see what was tacked on the end of it. Then see if you agree with what decisions were made by John Kerry to vote against it or for President Bush to veto it. Don't take our media's word for shit. We'll never have a straight story folks. Read the 9/11 Commissions report. Visit the websites of the candidates. Read differing news sources. Its the only way to get a true overview of what is going on in our country. I believe the White House memos are also available somewhere. I did read the budget for 2005 and then the projected cuts in the budget for 2006. Find them, read them. This is where your country is going. No, I'm not doing it for you. Get out there, do some research and form a real opinion. And as I commented on Jack's blog, I really want to know what the relationship between the Saudi's and the Bush family is. Speculation doesn't do much for me but it does make me suspicious that certain things seem to have been continually swept under the rug. I want to talk to the guys who served with John Kerry. Not only that, I want their opinion as to why there are so many differing opinions of what happened. Unfortunately, until I become a journalist and get that press badge, I'll not have that opportunity. Its not going to change my mind one way or the other, I just want to know. So folks, I'm not going to get into a good old fashioned argument about whether Bush or Kerry should be voted in for President. I'm just asking, "What do we really know?"

Trip Report

* This post will include descriptions of female full frontal nudity, flatulence and lust. If you believe you may find such content offensive, please check back tomorrow for PG rated material* Definitions: * Air time - the amount of time your butt stays off the seat during negative G. * ERT - (Exclusive Ride Time) when the park shuts down to regular customers and allows coaster groups to ride certain attractions. * Lift hill - when the coaster is pulled up the hill by a chain or other mechanism under the coaster. * Launch - when the coaster does not have a lift hill but is literally "launched" by a hydraulic or similar system. * Trim - the braking mechanism on a coaster on the track that slows the coaster and makes the ride smoother. * Trimming the trim - disengaging or decreasing the trim mechanism to make the coaster go faster for crazy coaster enthusiasts. * Woody - a wooden roller coaster. * MF - Millennium Force * Rollback - when the hydraulics on Dragster don’t boost enough and instead of the coaster topping over, it stops and rolls back. It is designed to do this in case of hydraulic failure. DAY ONE - LET’S KICK THE TIRES AND LIGHT THE FIRES After an extremely rainy trip where we saw flooding from Ivan, we finally turned west on I-80 outside of Cleveland and relished the clear skies. After stowing our luggage at the hotel we hit Cedar Point with one coaster in mind - Top Thrill Dragster. It was 7:15 as we made our way to the yellow penis of CP. Yep, that’s what it looks like. No wonder the women talk about Dragstergasms. Beanie and her coaster buddies were in contact via cellphone. My first trip on Dragster was sans glasses as I didn’t have a strap to go on them. It was probably a good thing. One coaster guy in line was riding for his 395th time!! And yes, as Bunsen mentioned, they have very strict ride requirements. As we stepped up to the gate, Dragster went down. Sigh. After a 20 minute delay it was ready. We strapped in, seat belt first then lap bar. We taxied up to the starting area that has the Christmas tree lights. We shifted and rolled back slightly as hydraulics hissed. From the rollback to start is five seconds. Yellow Yellow Yellow Green Within four seconds we are rocketing 120 mph down the track to a 90 degree lift hill with a 90 degree turn peaking at 420 feet. You barely have time to look around before you’re plunging 90 degrees down the other side, twisting through a 270 degree turn and you finish. WHOOOO HOOOO!!! Then we rode it again, which was better the second time since I knew what to expect. Yet this whole time it was dark and I was blind. Then it was on to Magnum XL-200. We start up the lift hill and as start down the 60 degree hill drop is feels as though we’re nose over ass as we drop 195 feet. We hit the first of three tunnels and at some point banked hard to the left and felt like not only me but the whole coaster was coming off of the track. Tunnel two saw flashbulbs as the online ride photos were taken. Bunny hops (small hills) and the final tunnel and bunny hop combined (aaaaahhh), massive air time on this ride! WOW!! This was by far my favorite coaster. I like long coasters. It is right up there with Son of Beast at PKI (Paramounts Kings Island) although SOB is a woody and rougher than Magnum. Finally its off to Millennium Force. MF has a fast lift hill due to an elevator cable system and a 300 foot drop at 80 degrees on the other side... OMG!!! A rush too, even compared to Dragster. 122 degree overbanked turns.... geeeeeeezzzzzzz!!!! HOLD ON!!! Wow, the G forces on those turns are incredible at 92 mph.!! It doesn’t last as long as Magnum but definitely worth doing again. It was close to 11:00 so we headed back to the hotel to meet up with our roomies, April from OH, a friend of Beanie’s who I had met once before and Jodi, who was flying in from CA and driving from Cleveland. It was the first time Jodi would meet any of the coaster enthusiasts in person. Girl talk would ensue for the next few hours and I finally gave up and crashed. ERT on Dragster and Raptor was to begin at 6:30 a.m. DAY TWO - TURN AND BURN BABY, TURN AND BURN!! Ugh! Great weariness and bleary eyes saw us traipsing through CP at the ripe hour of 6:45. We picked up our Coastermania buttons and took off for Dragster. This time I had a tight strap on my glasses and it was daylight. Let me tell ya, the first ride on Dragster after watching a rollback was intense. "Are we gonna make it?" We did, both times. After finally being able to see, I wondered if I was had seriously lost my mind. WOW!!!!! It was like the first time all over again. We headed over to Raptor, an inverted, outside looping roller coaster. The seats are similar to those at sky lift and use lap belts and shoulder harnesses or "butterflies." Wicked, wicked with your feet dangling and looping on the outside of the track as opposed to the inside through six upside down turns: one vertical loop, two inverted corkscrews, a zero gravity roll and a "cobra roll" which turned us upside down twice. (Yeah, I’m stealing descriptions from the CP site, sue me) We went to the Coastermania picnic where Jodi won a grab bag for writing a poem about MF filled with about $150 to $200 worth of merchandise. Afterwards we went back to the hotel for a little R&R before ERT on Magnum and MF. I died for 3 hours. We had meant to be back to the park by 6:00 to take pictures and pick up a few souvenirs but it was closer to 6:30 as we parked on the back lot and went inside. I took pics of Dragster, we found April and the three of us hit the Beach. We took pictures and I ran around scaring seagulls and wading in Lake Erie. The weather was INCREDIBLE!!! Beautiful. Just gorgeous. I stowed my stuff in a locker and we got in line for Magnum ERT at 8:30. OMG!!! After the first ride in which the hair on my scalp was almost pulled off, we found out they had trimmed the trim to 0%. NO BRAKES!!! That bitch BOOKED!!! HOLY SHIT!!! They also had the lights out so it was extra spooky trying to see in total darkness the next turn or bank, not to mention the tunnels and bunny hops. It ROCKED!!! It was a lot rougher due to the speed but coaster enthusiasts don’t care. We probably rode it 10-15 times in a row. I mean, WHAT A RUSH!!! One of the reasons I rode so much was because I was in total and complete lust with one of the ride ops... slurp!! A young stud muffin named Michael from Poland. I just wanted one hour of he and I in my hotel room alone. YUM!!! Finally we headed over to MF for ERT. We had to wait about half of an hour, which was the longest wait we had all weekend. Riding MF in the dark rocked as well, especially since I could see, well, sorta. At last, back to the hotel about 11:00 to freshen up, then to meet coaster peeps for a beer and food. That didn’t happen as the whole city of Sandusky shuts down their kitchens at 11:00, unless its Steak and Shake. We just wanted a beer so Mike from CA, Beanie and I went to a bar across from the hotel. Beanie barely made it through a beer and headed back across the street. Mike and I sat and chatted before I left. What a nice guy!!!! Not our Mike either, a different Mike from CA. LOL!!! So, its Beanie, Jodi and I sitting around talking, trying to wind down when April comes barreling being her normal self and suddenly lets one rip!! We laughed so hard we could barely breath. April said she had gas from the compression of the coasters and we’re trying to instruct her on how to move it around so it can be expelled. (And peeps thought only guys did that shit). We had her leaning on the back of a chair and she let another one rip!! LMAO!!! Then we were trying to get her to lay on the floor and pull her knees back to her shoulders but she wouldn’t do it. April starts changing clothes and loudly proclaims that she can suck her own tit. LMFAO!!! She said, "Do you wanna see?" I said, "Hold on, let me put my glasses on," which caused Beanie and Jodi to hit the floor. So she does it and I said, "Well, I can do that!" She said, "Let’s see!" So I did. Then we talked Jodi into it!!! We laughed so hard we couldn’t breath. Beanie isn’t as well endowed as we C and Der’s so she was spared. More girl talk ensues until once again, I pass out. I met tons of great peeps, ate great food and rode other coasters I didn’t get to here. It was an AWESOME TRIP!!! Well worth the time and money. Whew! Now, back to the grindstone. Welcome back bloggers! How was your trip?

Hiya!

Thanks to everyone who responded to my last post. Since my Net is down for the most part at home, I'm unable to respond in a reasonable amount of time. Just wanted to say... PC, I should have probably used that crowbar on Joy. Anyway, this will be short and sweet as I'm trying to appear to be working very hard prior to my noon departure for home to complete packing etc. for my trip. Hopefully, we will be leaving about 12:30-1:00. I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off and naturally became involved in my latest project as opposed to showering, changing litterboxes (5 of them), packing, washing and drying clothes and otherwise acting responsible. I bought a denim purse and have started sewing designs on it. That's what distracted me. I promise pics! Although I did get the clothes washed and dried last night I still had those 5 litterboxes this morning, filling up the food, cleaning and putting fresh water in the new water system and, oh, yeah, packing, not just for me, but for Nate to go to his dad's too. Nate is done, I'm almost there. I did find a roll of film for the trip while looking for an umbrella. The rain is not too bad here but 30 miles south it has been raining since 9:00 a.m. yesterday. Its surprisingly warm and there is no wind. I have to sneak this in. Yesterday as Sissy and I were having lunch on the second floor of a local eating establishment, a jet flew over so low it rattled the windows. It scared the crap out of me. I kept waiting for the crash. YIKES!!! Morticia, the little slut, has escaped the confines of my home, once again, and is no where to be found. Normally she roosts under the porch or a car and comes in when she gets hungry or scared or wet. Well... no Morticia. Its my guess she's off romancing every stud within a 1/2 mile radius and will come limping home smelling like the whore she is, pregnant with another passle of kittens. Yes, I know I should have her fixed already. This is why I keep her in the house. However, my fucktard neighbor who came over to borrow pepper last night... yeah, fucking pepper, is the one who let her out. It appears as though their son learned from them that even though I have said 1/2 a million times, SHUT THE FUCKING DOOR!!! They seem not to understand this concept. I mean, I'm sure that if I told you guys DO NOT LET MY CATS OUT!!!! that you would probably understand this concept. I'm sure if I yelled five to ten times a day at you to SHUT THE FUCKING DOOR that you would also understand this concept. So, now I'm getting ready to go back to Ohio, which is where I went when my dog escaped and has not been seen since. Sigh. Oh Morty, Morty, I hope you're okay. I won't see you guys until Monday!!!! Whaaa!! Miss me, I'll miss you!!!

Jealous?

Personally, I believe uncontrollable jealously is one of the most destructive human emotions. "Jealousy can be understood in two ways. (1) When someone is praised, a feeling of coldness and resentment are developed in our hearts. We compare ourselves in mind; we match ourselves in thought; we imagine ourselves to be superior. In other words, it is the thing that takes joy out of heart. (2) When someone is unfairly criticized, someone stumbles or falls, we feel glad; we keep silence; we don’t express either sympathy or empathy. In other words, it is the thing that takes compassion out of heart. Therefore, jealousy is poison that kills joy and compassion in our hearts. Alexander Whyte, the great Scottish preacher, said, “Jealousy can blacken the depths of our hearts,” and that means, it can invade the heart of the best." I bring this up for a few reason. One being the conversation I had with Beanie last night about her brother. We discussed my feelings for him and she told me that his girlfriend is very, very jealous. Ah ha! That's why he didn't say two words to me at Christmas last year. That's why he's so much more flirtatious in our letters. That's why I felt a tidal wave of jealousy and hate flow over me, from her, even though we had never met before. I learned from AZ, that its okay to be jealous but to not let that jealousy control you. I learned that also from my own family. My Ma-Ma, love her heart, was one of the most jealous women I have known. My Pa-Pa was completely devoted to her. I mean completely! Their's was a love beyond time and space, yet my Ma-Ma would freak out if he was gone for two minutes longer than he was supposed to be. She flew into a rage one time over it. I remember it well. My mother, likewise, either inherited this trait or simply picked it up along the way. It consumes her life. I believe it is at the root of her actions towards me in my life. I've listened to it for so long, it became difficult to discern from jealousy and everday conversation. Now though, I know the difference. There is no joy in her life for anyone else's accomplishments. She gloats at others misfortunes, especially if she feels as though they deserved it for being better than her or happier or prettier or smarter or anything. It just doesn't matter. I'm not sure when I moved from unhealthy jealousy to healthy jealousy. This website describes it as such "One drop of joy plus jealousy becomes obsession which is self-sustaining and self-invigorating energy. In other words, it is the ability to choose your conflicts wisely. If the conflict is draining, the lower aspects of jealousy and obsession are activated, then you could become petty and ineffective in the world. If the conflict is invigorating, your concerns are clear and you are able to take action. Joy is based in the heart center. Concern, courage and obsession are all matters of the heart and combine to make up your emotions and insight. Once your mind, body and spirit are filled with joyous acts, let the events fall away. The joy remains, so take that joy to every aspect of your life. * In a moment of fear, draw upon your joy and allow your concerns to be expressed. * In times of anger, draw upon your joy to become courageous and take effective action. * Choose conflicts that invigorate and are self-sustaining. * In a moment of jealousy, draw upon your joy and become possessed by your passions. Let yourself focus on your goal; dare to create what you want and deserve. Allow your joy to provide you with inspiration, information and insight into your own process. Let your emotions heal you." I think what I highlighted above is what I learned. When the emotion of jealousy starts, to draw upon the joy. Feeling as I have about AZ and feeling as I do about Jer, I don't feel any jealousy toward their girlfriends. I draw upon the joy of having them as my friends and realizing that I have a relationship with them that is special in its own right. Even when I was with Lex, who everyone upon everyone knows, just like AZ, and he was hugging girls left and right.... it didn't matter. Actually, I still get a little more jealous when AZ diverts his attention elsewhere. LOL!! But not because its the person, its simply because I would like a few moments of his time. That's what I get jealous over. If you give me a few moments of your time, great! If you constantly put me off for something else, yes, I'm going to get jealous. In other words, push me and I'll get there. In the last couple of years I have encountered the type of jealousy that is very unhealthy. One time was with my friend PC's wife, now ex-wife, thank goodness. I had never met her before when PC's mom called to let me know they were coming in for Christmas. Just some background, PC and I dated for three months back in 1992 or so. Then, we just became friends. Then we found out we were actually third cousins. Hahahahahahaha... yeah, well, I was like family anyway. PC's family treated me like family before they ever knew I was family. They treat Nate like their own grandchild. He calls them Nanny and Poppy. I was very happy for PC, that he had found someone and was getting married, until I met her, Joy. No, that's her name. Joy. Talk about an oxymoron!!! I'm not even sure she said hello when we met. I was ignored by her and PC the rest of the time I was there. I was shocked. Nanny was shocked and angry. As PC and Joy's wedding approached, Nanny and I talked about where it was etc. etc. Then, I wasn't invited to the wedding. OUCH! I mean, OUCH!! Nanny was PISSED!! She told me when they had the reception here that I was going to be there and I was going to look beautiful!! Yes, ma'am. Nanny is a not just a Christian but a Christian who lives the life and I had never seen her in such a tizzy. Long story short, PC and Joy divorced and PC and I have mended fences and I didn't smack him with a crowbar. He and I talked about her jealousy toward me, even though we had never met and I certainly was no threat to her and PC's relationship. She never even tried to get to know me. That's what pissed me off. Same with Jeremy's girlfriend. She had never met me. I've known the family for 20 years and yet she made me feel as though I was an interloper and not just Jeremy, but the entire family, belonged to her and I wasn't welcome. I didn't do anything but exist. That was obviously too much. The one thing that makes me sad about these types of situations is that the males in question, PC and Jeremy, feel some sort of compulsion to put up with this type of bullshit. I was ignored because they didn't want to deal with the repercussions of talking to me. So, everything with Jeremy makes a lot more sense than it did before. I'm not changing who I am for his girlfriend. I was run off once before and I won't be run off again. Not only that, but Beanie told me last night that she believes, as I do, that Jeremy has a crush on me too and has had one for about 20 years.... LOL!!! This doesn't mean things will work out for us, girlfriend or not, but it is nice to know and may be something we could build on if things don't work out with him and her. Here's hoping you experience the joy in your life today!!! And may the Spirits of Light be with the victims of Hurricane Ivan. Thank you Spirits for watching over my family. Ivan bobbled at the last minute and spared them.

Update On UPS Guy And Other Shite

UPS Guy and I went out a week ago yesterday for lunch, again. This time I pulled my balls out of my abdominal cavity and just blatantly asked him what he wanted out of what we had going on. I wasn't ruling anything in or anything out at that time. I may come across as having "big balls" but when it comes to a face-to-face confrontation that may turn ugly, ugly, I really need deep breaths to force words out of my mouth. Anyway, so he says he's not looking to get married or have more kids, not at all for any reason. Okay. I told him that I was not ready to rule out children in my future and I didn't feel that I was ready to engage in a relationship that would not include the possibilities of such. Additionally, I didn't believe in continuing to allow him to buy me lunch, take me out, so to speak, if it wasn't going anywhere. So, then he says that he would still really like to see me, liked me. I sorta liked him to at that point. Then we left the restaurant. I was smoking a cigarette and since I know that he doesn't smoke, I didn't want to get into his car with a lit cigarette. He says, "Oh, go ahead, I smoke pot in here." Hmmmmm... so we engaged in a conversation on the way back to my office about his pot smoking and cocaine use. Yeah, cocaine use. Now, its only when his son isn't around, which is approximately 24 days a month. Perhaps only every other weekend. To each their own, but not around me. Wanna smoke pot ocassionally, I don't care, just stay the fuck home and take your chances as to what might be mixed up in there. As I've said, I smoke pot about once a year, if that. Can't say much there. Wanna do cocaine? I really don't want you around. I'm not into people doing drugs around me, especially what I consider to be the harder stuff. I definitely don't want to waste my time on some peep who is out partying his ass off when I want to have a real relationship. I was still considering going out with him, even though we weren't in the same place as far as family etc., but after he told me that, I just decided, we're better off just dropping it here. He got the message and we haven't communicated since. I'm glad he told me because I would have been really pissed if I had found out two or three months from now. My personality is such that I know I have an addictive personality, that's why I've never done anything harder than pot. Those days are pretty much over. Having a co-dependent personality, I definitely do not need to be around anyone who uses drugs, whether they be addicted or a "recreational user." Its just bad for me. The "I'll fix you! I'll fix you! Syndrome" just sucks and is not for me anymore. I have to be very careful about that. Not that I don't want to help peeps but I'm not a savior. So, enough of that. Finally got my eyes checked yesterday. Let's see.... corneal abrasions, corneal hypoxia, conjuctivitis. Yeah, so no contacts for me for a week and then we'll see. They were able to make me a pair of glasses while I waited. I look like I'm ready to start lecturing on the theory of relativity. I like them. One of my contacts had a very, very small tear in it that was basically digging into my eye everytime I blinked. YIKES!!! and yuck! So, will have to suffer my trip to Cedar Point in my glasses but hey, who cares!!! Its Cedar Point! I have been making more bead bracelets. I forgot to take a pic of the one I sent to Jeremiah. I asked him when he got it, but didn't tell him what it was, to take a pic of it and send it to me so I can post it. Speaking of Jeremiah.... you know, its really freaky to have a mad crush on one of your best friend's brothers. I feel like I'm in high school again. Frankly speaking, I guess Beanie is my best friend. Beanie is one of the coolest people on the face of the Earth. She's smart, she's fun and funny!!! She doesn't judge, gives good advice and has put up with me for 20 years. She's just one of those people that is totally herself no matter what. Guys are drawn to her like flies to shit although she's all honey. I've realized a few things in my correspondences with Jeremy. One, I've had a crush on him for a long time. One of those crushes where you can't even look at the person for fear they will be able to see right through you. Part of me gets the feeling I wasn't entirely alone in that crush. Yes, he has a girlfriend, one I think he may spend the rest of his life with, which is a cool thing, not to mention, hard to find. If he didn't though, I think at this point in my life, I would just throw caution to the wind and go for it. It was hard for me to admit that he had actually grown up. One day he was just Beanie's little brother, shorter than me, a little on the heavy side, and now he's this 6'2" man. Real man, not a little boy. Every time I look at his pics I think he couldn't be more than 20 or 21, and shocked to realize that he is in fact, 27 or 28. ACK!!! I got to keep peeling this onion!!! It sucks to watch something so wonderful go to someone else because I was such a pussy about making a move. It sucks to know had my self-esteem not been so rock bottom, I might have made that move. Life's lessons are hard learned. Pull up, pull up by the boot straps!!!

Whatever You Do... Don't Flinch

I live on the western end of my county and as luck would have it, everything remotely interesting is to the East. Lucky for me because this means I get to drive through the 2 1/2 mile stretch of the teaming metropolis of The Badlands. Truly, the name it really has doesn't do it justice. The Badlands is 1/2 industrial and 1/2 porn industry. Where else can you buy brick and block and cock in the span of two feet? In this 2 1/2 mile stretch of roadway you will find two Baptist churches, one is beside a "showbar" and the other beside of a "bookstore." In between these two is a "video store," which is roughly the size of a Super Wal-Mart. Don't forget the three hotels!!! One is sweetly dubbed "The El-Raunch-o." One of the other smaller hotels made the news a few months back because they found a body wrapped up nice and neat in a trashcan behind it. One of the bars has been practically destroyed three times by errant vehicles crashing into it. Somehow, one even ended up inside the bar on fire. I watched them lift it out with a crane. Across the street from there is where one of my clients was murdered. A girl was hit by a car crossing the dangerous four-lane highway further down the road. She was trying to get from one bar to another. The car hit her and knocked her down. While she was trying to get up, she got hit again. She never got up again. On the backside of The Badlands are your pot growers and meth labs. That's just 2 1/2 miles. Those 2 1/2 miles are heavily patrolled by the County Sheriff, who have a detachment right in the city, State Police and the lovely Badlands cops themselves. Ocassionally they raid the strip clubs. That's always fun. Its also fun to have encounters with the Badlands cops. Now, not so many years ago, The Badlands was just that... The Badlands. Then some fucktard got the bright idea of incorporating said "city" for the purpose of collecting B&O taxes from the strip clubs, bookstore, video stores and the industrial businesses. This did nothing more than create something for people to threaten to kill each other over and lead to some indictments for money mishandling, vote buying etc. IN THIS 2 1/2 MILE CITY!! Geez, stuff like that normally only happens on a countywide level. The first wave of Badlands Cops were the Barney Fife's of life. The wannabe cops who couldn't get on at a "real" police department. With the internal shake-up, in which said, "Chief" of Police was outed, all of his Barney Fife buddies were fired and real cops were hired. I'm sorry, did I say cops? I meant CIA wannabes. One of these geniuses even wears his Ray-Bans at night. Yep. Now, they know my car. They know me, not by name, hopefully, but they know who I hang with. We've been pulled over so much I'm surprised they don't ask where I am if I'm not with them. See, Chay was dating this guy whose family is heavy into the coke/crack trade. So, any association to that family, however minor, is duly noted. On two occasions I have had the pleasure of being tailed through the city. I was not speeding, heaven forbid you go ONE MILE over the speed limit, nor was I changing lanes, weaving or otherwise doing anything out of the ordinary. And I don't mean they were just following me, they were thisclose to my bumper. I don't find this cool nor professional. I give them dirty looks in my mirrors and I keep going. I don't touch my brake unless I'm going to stop. I don't look left nor right, I don't speed up, I don't slow down. I know its a game of chicken. They want to see if they can make me flinch. I hate to tell them, but I spent five years in The Badlands before they even thought of coming along. If they want to follow me to the city limits, so be it. I'm getting tired though of being followed into my city and all the way to the turn off for my house. Sometimes I just want to stop the car and ask what their fucking problem is, but that would be flinching and I've learned, whatever you do, don't flinch.

GOOD MORNING MONDAY!!!

My computer at home is messed up. ARGH!! I spent Saturday without. By Sunday I was pulling my hair out and finally called Verizon and spent 20 minutes getting some semblence of Internet service back. Its running extremely, extremely sloooowwwwww. So, that's why I didn't blog nor hit very many sites. Catch up, catch up, catch up. Luckily for me, my wonderful cousin already has a Pentium III which was cast-off as part of an upgrade waiting for me. YAY!! I made another bracelet this weekend. Its a green bracelet with the black and white yin/yang symbols on it. I like it. I bought three new outfits for $12.00 a set. They're cute and not normally something I would wear but I decided I needed a change. I didn't go looking for them, I just happened to find them at the Dollar General. They'll go well with my trip to Cedar Point. Where is Ivan?? I think he's headed toward Cuba, no? Could hit the US anywhere between the Florida panhandle and Louisiana. I have family in Louisiana, right outside of New Orleans. Castro says he will not accept humanitarian aid from the US. Fidel, dude, put aside your damn differences and think about what a catastrophe you're going to have on your hands. You will not suffer, but your people will. Be a real leader and accept what is offered assmunch. T-Bird's mom called me last night asking how to get rid of a spirit. Chay can see spirits and she's found the spirit of her deceased aunt's son in the bedroom. He died about six months before his mom, Aunt Dree. See, when Aunt Dree was in a coma and KCZ (that's T-Bird's mom) and I would sit with her at the Hospice House, KCZ would ask me why she wouldn't just let go and cross over. I told her it was because she couldn't find Fred, her son. No small wonder, Fred was waiting for her at home. Aunt Dree always took care of Fred. He was an alcoholic and basically was sitting at the table one evening and fell out of it, dead. So, now Fred is still in the house. She asked me what they should do. I said, "ask what he wants." Duh! Just ask what the hell he wants. Then tell him that Aunt Dree has crossed over and he needs to also. If not, well, we'll just have to raise some mojo and boot him over to the other side. Fred was not the greatest person who ever lived, trust me. So, his spirit being there makes them a little uncomfortable. If what the mediums in my life have told me is true, then I'm glad I very rarely see spirits, otherwise I would be walking around all the time saying, "Oh, excuse me." Nate did not want to get up this morning. I wanted to bust his ass. I almost did. But what a crappy way to start a week, for both of us. I ended up falling flat on my ass at one point and I guess he figured that was good enough to take his medicine too. Imagine the two worst morning peeps trying to get going at the same time. It is not pretty nor fun, although it can be quite scary. I'm tired and I have a headache. It is because I've been wearing these glasses which are the wrong prescription. I'm getting my eyes checked tomorrow!!! HOORAY!! Thank you boss! wOOt!! I spent way too much money at PetSmart. I don't care. Got food, litter, a new litterbox, a new watering system and a witch hat. I'm sure the kitties will love getting their pictures made in that. WVU won again by a large margin. I'm not crazy about games like that. I think they're boring. I want to win, but could the other team at least make a showing?? I've been trying to get the house cleaned up because I'll be leaving for the weekend. If nothing else other than the kitchen, living room and bathroom. That seems to be what will be my main focus. I intend on having a very good time at Cedar Point. Mainly because my friend Beanie knows everybody and she has tons of guys flirting with her. Maybe some of it will rub off on me. My mind has been in Iraq with Beanie's brother, Jeremiah. Jer, Jeremy, whatever. LOL!! He signed his last letter Jeremiah. And yeah, that's who was flirting with me. What a sweetie! He's coming home in two weeks for a 15 day R&R leave. I don't expect to see him because I figure with that short amount of time he'll be spending it with his family and his girlfriend..... sighhhh... the girlfriend. Wish it were me. But I wouldn't mind a bit if Beanie or he got a wild hair up their ass and invited me over. :o) That's it from Inanna fo fan banana land.

Bright Blessings!

As we stand a day away from the anniversary of the September 11th attack, I wanted to remember the blessings in my life and how the spirits move in mysterious ways. I'm poor. There is no doubt about this. But, I'm richer than a lot of folks are. For one, I found blogger and I found all of you or you found me. It doesn't matter much who hit who's site first. If I need a laugh or a cry or to vent, I know where to go. You all have been a blessing in my life. I'm blessed in having a very, very interesting child who I wanted to kill this morning. My hands clenched and my teeth ground and I said, "I can't believe I want to kill my only child." Then I talked myself out of it and he's at school, alive and well. He actually did his homework yesterday, 20 pages. He did it and I didn't have stand over him with a sledgehammer. I was so proud and hopeful. I'm blessed. I'm blessed with a dysfunctional family who irritate me but still change my oil and help put brakes on the car when I need it. Life wouldn't be nearly as interesting or irritating without them but that's what families are for, so they're a blessing too. I still have my health, although I'm slowly trying to kill myself with too many cigarettes and gallons of coffee. For the most part, my doctor is mad that I'm not sicker. I may be a little crazy but I think the love I have in me balances that out. I have friends who actually don't use me for anything and who just like to spend time with me, whether it be in person or online chatting. They're a blessing. My boss and my co-workers are a blessing. My boss asked me this morning why I was wearing glasses, obviously outdated, a little yellowed with age, instead of my contacts. Well, my contacts are butt-fockin' old and have began irritating my eyes to the point I can't wear them. I had planned on getting new contacts and glasses this week but alas, I had to pay the phone bill or my blogging would have been done at work instead of home, and I wouldn't have had phone service either. I also am 5 months behind on my car inspection and I need new tires to pass inspection by the end of the month. Did I mention my 20th anniversary trip to Cedar Point next weekend with one of my bestest friends Beanie??? So, my boss decided to give me a $500 bonus. He said, "you're no good to me blind." I told him, "I always make do with what I have." But yeah, a $500 bonus minus taxes will come in handy. I guess that's what I get for telling him I had an offer to make $12,000.00 more dollars a year but turned it down because I knew they would never challange me like he does. I'm very, very blessed. I'm blessed to have the faith that I do in a higher being and the spirits which swirl around me. I have learned when in the darkest hours to simply - give it over to them. To realize that sometimes if you stop trying to control everything and start believing in something bigger, greater and a hell of lot more powerful than you will ever hope to be, life can be calmer and more fulfilling. Its a blessing to realize that I don't have to be strong all the time and I can hand my troubles over to my Lord and Lady and watch the magic that happens when I stop trying to do it all myself. I wish you all Bright Blessings!! ~Inanna

Prepare To Be Confused And Mystified....

As promised... my family tree. First the trees themselves, afterwards, a sorta explanation as best I can explain it. I don't know how I'm going to do this so... argh!! Why isn't blogger letting me cut and paste???? 1. Jane Ba. ~~ 2a. Lucinda Ba. m. Ali B. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ } sisters~~~} brothers ~~ 2b. Esther Ba. m. George B. ~~~~~4. Rebecca B. (2a) m. Jacob C. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~} double first cousins married brothers ~~~~~5. Julie B. (2b) m. George C. ~~~~~~~~6. Archie C. (4) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~} 1st cousins in BF and double 2nd cousins in BaF ~~~~~~~~7. John C. (5) ~~~~~~~~~~8. Madeline C. (7) wife of Archie C. (4) (My grandparents - 1st cousins once removed and double 2nd cousins once removed in these lines) 1. William M. (Elder) ~~ 2a. William M. m. Nancy J. S. I ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~} brother/sister married brother/sister ~~ 2b. Nancy M. m. William S. ~~ 2c. James Booker M. m. Nancy J. S. II (his niece through sister Nancy the 1st (2b)) ~~~~ 3. William Booker M. (2a) m. Judith S. (2b) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~} double first cousins married ~~~~ 4. Judith S. (2b) m. William Booker M. (2a) ~~~~ 5. Sherwood M. (2c) m. (Unknown) Roberts ~~~~~~ 6. William "Bandy Bill" M. (3/4) m. Betsy S. (perhaps related to other S. Family) ~~~~~~ 7a. Nancy M. (5) m. Hiram C. ~~~~~~ 7b. Booker M. (5) m. Nancy P. ~~~~~~~~ 8. Easter M. (6) m. Jeremiah Sa. ~~~~~~~~ 9. Jonathan E. C. (7a) m. Mary "Polly" M. (7b) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jonathan was the love child of Hiram C. and is not related to Mary M. / Well, they probably were but... not 1st cousins. ~~~~~~~~~~ 10a. Jacob C. (9) m. Rebecca B. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~} Double 1st cousins married brothers ~~~~~~~~~~ 10b. George C. (9) m. Julie B. ~~~~~~~~~~ 11. Ollie Sa. m. J. Lewis M. (Not same M. family as before but same name) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 12. Archie C. (10a) m. Madeline C. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 13. John C. (10b) m. Florina M. (11) (again not same M. family but same name) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 14. Madeline C. (13) m. Archie C. (12) As you can see, this one is a wee bit more complicated. Now, I'm sure you're wondering how my grandparents are related through this line. I have no idea. I know they are... does that help? Its a lot more complicated because of the double first cousins having a son who is his own double 2nd cousin, not to mention the whole uncle/niece/cousin fiasco. It may appear as though they are more related than what they actually were. The saving grace was the fact that Hiram C. had a love child which kept Jonathan and his wife from being 1st cousins in as far as the M. Family. Other than the obvious interactions between the M. and S. families, I don't think there are any other connections than the ones listed in the Ba. B. and C. families. The inter-marriage between the M. and S. families is several generations removed. The most interesting part is figuring out the lineage removed from the uncle/niece thing. It would mean that James Booker's own children are his great-nieces and nephews, not to mention Nancy J. II's own first cousins. James Booker is also the double uncle of William Booker and Judith S. and is also Judith S.'s brother-in-law but the hell if I know what that means for me. And I made a mistake yesterday. Ali B. is my 2nd great grandfather, not my third. Bartley B. is my 3rd and 4th great grandfather because his son's Ali and George are my 2nd and 3rd great grandfather's respectively. If you made it this far and your head didn't blow up, congratulations. Now, does anyone really give a crap? I'm burying this post!!

My Family (Maternal)

Below are old pictures from my family tree, which has, one or two branches and not much more. I'm not fond of the term inbred, let's just say, we are inter-related. My family tree is so confusing I have to draw a picture for my mom. As to preserve the dignity of many, I will simply refer to them as Family B (FB), Family C (FC), and Family M (FM). Family B were French or rather, they immigrated to the United States from France. We have yet to prove that they were in fact French, as opposed to another nationality which had immigrated to France from North Africa, the Balkans or were indentured servants or even slaves brought from Romania or other parts of Eastern Europe. FB married into a French family, the Ramey's, which have a long, long French history and have been traced back to Charlemagne. The Ramey's were Hugenots and immigrated like everyone else for religious freedom. Family C also immigrated from France but like FB, there is no way of knowing their actual origins. Family M, same thing. I do, indeed, have interesting ancestors. Dorothy Dorothy J. immigrated with her parents from Wales. She married into FC while living in Philadelphia. It is said that her husband helped build the first brick home in the city. She was a Quaker but married him anyway, even though he was a member of the Church of England. Tsk, tsk, "marrying out of meeting." She was arrested for impersonating a man at a masquerade ball in Wilmington, PA (now Delaware). The man who allowed her to come as a man was also arrested. The court documents state in part: ... and disturbance of peaceful minds and propagating ye Throne of wickedness amongst us. Hahahahahaha. Ali B. Ahhh.. Great-great-great grandpa Ali. His list of attributes: >Once shot a rooster for crowing. >Pushed his horse downhill in the mud because it wouldn't move. >Kicked over a cast iron cookstove because the fire went out. >Would only eat duck eggs, so his grandchildren took chicken eggs to the river and got them wet and he ate them anyway. >Confederate deserter, not that I mind. George B. (Ali B.'s Grandfather) >Almost froze to death with George Washington at Valley Forge. Julie B. >Was said to have been tipped $50 by Jesse James. I posted about this a while back. >Chewed tobacco and on an old stick all the time >Had a cow named Cherry which followed her around like a dog. Rebecca B. >Took the Bible to heart and "prayed without ceasing." Booker M. >Was murdered by a man named Hall over an orchard of trees. >His sons murdered the Hall man. >All the sons then moved north and became preachers. Bart B. >Had 21 children by three wives. Isaac C. >My 5th great grandfather was said to have 25 or 26 children by three wives. >His brother had at least 20 children although most of FC can trace their lineage to Isaac instead. >Was a minister in NC. Cornelius R. (Ancestor whose grand-daughter married into FM) >Was killed in an indian raid while picking ginseng. >Was in the VA militia which fought in Lord Dunmore's war. It is of note that he served under Capt. Looney, another ancestor of mine but on my dad's side of the family. Capt. Looney's son-in-law is my 6th or 7th great grandfather. Jonathan C. >Was a love-child. Had he been the son of his father's wife, I would be much more inter-related. Indian/Melungeon Ancestry >I have two confirmed great grandmothers who were American Indians. One was a Cherokee. >A Melungeon is loosely considered a person of Tri-Racial origins (Scotch-Irish and/or Mediterranean, Native American and African). >FB, FM and several others in my lineage are possibly Melungeon in origin. >Our family carries several genetic characteristics of the American Indian, although we don't look like it. >Most of us have what is called an "Anatolian Bump" on the back of our skull which indicates lineage from the Anatolian region of Turkey. >We all have Asian Shovel Teeth, meaning our teeth are not straight in the back, they curve, additionally, we have a small protrusion on the back of the teeth next to our front teeth. Most people with American Indian ancestry have this characteristic. Neighbors (No, not the ones next door) >My great great great grandfather Bartley B. lived a few hollers over from the Hatfields and McCoys. (Bartley B. is also my great-great grandfather... I know... inter-related) >Nate's dad's great uncle lived a few houses away from mom's family, according to the census. >Part of my dad's family is also from this area of WV although I have found no familial connection, yet. >My dad's family also has Melungeon and American Indian ancestry. >As stated, Nate's dad's family is also from this area of WV, I definitely have found NO FAMILIAL RELATION. And if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't admit to it. That's all for now. At some point, I will explain the familial connections... but it might take a while.

This is the earliest known photograph of my Ma-Ma Madeline. She is standing on the right. Her sister Jay (Helen) is on the left and her brother Bear (argh! Can't remember his real name) (circa 1923-1925) 

This is my great-grandmother Florina. She was my Ma-Ma's mother. My mom had this picture restored but I don't have a copy of it. (circa early 1940's) 

This is my great grandmother Rebecca and my great-grandfather Jacob, parents of my Pa-Pa. Jacob is the brother of George C. located further down. I said previously or below, that Grandma Bek wore a size 3 but I believe it may have been a 5, in children's shoes. (year unknown) 

On the left is my great-great grandmother Julie, the one who supposedly was tipped $50 by Jesse James. On the right is my great-grandmother Rebecca. Julie was married to George C. She and Bek were first cousins. Again... I know. I'm very inter-related. Grandma Bek wore a size 3 in children's shoes. She was 4'11". Grandma Julie chewed tobacco and had a cow named Cherry that followed her around. (year unknown) 

This is my great-great grandfather George C. Although he was my Ma-Ma's grandfather, he was also my Pa-Pa's uncle. Yeah... I know. My Pa-Pa described him as "mean as a snake." (year unknown) 

This my Ma-Ma Madeline at the age of 16. My Pa-Pa bought her the coat she is wearing. It was the first new coat she had ever owned. (circa 1936) 

This is a picture of my grandfather and his brothers. My Pa-Pa is on the right.  

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BLOGGER!!!!

Blogger is in time-out!!! Word Perfect 9 is in time out!!! MS Word is in TIME OUT!!! None are allowing me to do what I want!!!! I got all these comments to post and MS Word won't let me, WP is freezing and Blogger won't accept anything!!! So, geez, I had all these great things to say and looks like I'll be toggling again to post them here!!! *Mutters under breath... * Right click damnit!!! ARGH!!! Mike -- Love ya, mean it!!! Although it is no joke, my youngest boss hates Germans, period. I lived in Germany for a year with a host family who didn't have a great time during the war either, but, they are still personally responsible, in his eyes, for the Holocaust. I will blog about my family later. I think Judiasm is a wonderful religion and I enjoy discussing it with the senior partner and his wife. They are great peeps. Cattiva -- Yeah, toxic friendships... I think I need to do some housecleaning. Zelda -- Hee hee, now that I think about it, the thought of beating him with a solid brass menorah is pretty funny!! Trashman -- Ya think? Esther -- Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!!!!! That may be too good for them but its a great thought. Spatula?? Did I mention a spatula? I don't recall but I put it on the list. Celti -- Yes, Hooray for Gabriel!!! Death stick hammer, its on the list. Sister Moon -- Yeah!! BEATDOWN!!! I'm getting a T-shirt made. Outburst -- awwww.... *blush* You're so sweet!!! Although if I were the woman not to be #$%^ed with, I don't guess the nabes would be stealing TP now would they?? Leese -- Yep, I heard that!! And thank you sweetie!! Thank you all. Now... argh!! New post time!!

GABRIEL...

made his arrival on Monday, weighing 2 lbs. 1 oz. I had posted in my previous comments that he was 2 lbs. 6 oz. but, I had false information. He is doing very, very good and so is Angela. Thank you so much for thinking of my family, lighting candles and for your prayers. To my mother, beatdown with a lead-lined incubator for suggesting they abort him. I am disappointed in your callousness. Sometimes I wonder how we are even of the same blood.

Foul Attitude

*Disclaimer: I am not in the mood to be nice nor politically correct. I will use foul language and I will be talking about people with mental illness and of certain religious faiths. I will be issuing beatdowns. If you believe this will offend you, you may want to read elsewhere. If you do read and then believe that I am being unfair, biased or otherwise do not support my arguments, you were warned so I don't really care* I'm sick of one of my Jewish bosses spouting his hatred of the German population. In his mind, all Germans, then, now and forever more are responsible for the Holocaust. Genocide: The systematic annihilation of a group of people. A prerequiste for genocide is hatred, loathing, anger, fear or rage. So, he hate's all Germans. See above. He loathes Germans. See above. He is angry with the Germans. See above. Look ass monkey, the Holocaust was a terrible, terrible thing but to hold a group of individuals accountable for sins committed in the past, real or imagined, is what lead to THE HOLOCAUST!! If you want to talk about "collective guilt" then look to the Poles, the Italians, the Romanians, the French, the Americans etc. because they all stood by too. Not to mention, the Russians, since that is where your Jewish family hails from. Furthermore, I find it extremely irritating that you use your religion as a reason to hate others while others have used your religion to hate you... where is the sense in this? Also, if you would shut your mouth and attend services a little more frequently, perhaps minion, you may find that instead of using your faith to hate others you may actually have a little faith. Accordingly, I'm sick of hearing how everything that Israel does is "okay" since that land belongs to "The Jews." Excuse me, but I don't see how killing people is the "right" thing to do, for any reason. Once again, this is the same attitude that took us to the Holocaust and every other genocidal atrocity in history. Beatdown with a solid brass menorah. I'm sick of my friend T-Bird. Matter of fact, I'm loathe at this point to call her my friend. First, I' m sick of how she uses her mental illness to try and extort money, favors and sympathy for her own gain. She's also a thief. I know she took five dollars from my car when she borrowed it, I know she took her deceased aunt's TV and pawned it and I suspect she stole my son's medication, which I can far from afford to replace. If I ever, ever find out this to be the truth, there is a crowbar in my house with her name written all over it. I am sick of her not taking responsibility for her own feelings and making everyone else out to be the bad guy, once again, to illicit sympathy for herself and to use and abuse people around her. Mentally ill or not, I'm sick of dealing with it. T-Bird, you twist and distort every situation to your benefit and lie as easily as breathing, even with faced with overwhelming evidence that you are, in fact, lying through your fucking teeth. I'm sick of you turning every conversation we have to your needs, your desires, your family, your son and your feelings, or rather, the feelings that you accuse others of placing on you. Wake the fuck up and repeat after me, "I feel [fill in blank with appropriate emotion you may be experiencing] because [fill in appropriate reason]. This is called, taking responsibility for your own fucking feelings. Do not say, "You/He/She/It/They made me feel...." But, that would mean you would have to act halfway civil. This is obviously too much of stretch for you. Furthermore, I'm tired of having to question everything you say and having to get "both sides of the story" to make any coherent, useless judgement, on a subject which is none of my business to start with. You do not call me to vent nor to get a rational opinion, you call to bitch and blame others and expect me to agree. NEWS FLASH - You are seldom, if ever, right. This goes back to this irrational thought processes in which you believe everyone owes you something and anyone who has remotely wronged you in the past now has to continually "make up" for it. Instead of using your past to blackmail others, how about... ohhhhh... getting help for it and working through your problems. Now there's a concept. Beatdown with a crowbar!!! To AZ... my dear friend. For once, just ONCE!, could you tell the peep that beeps in on our conversation that you have another person on the line instead of always coming back and telling me that someone else, obviously more important, has called and you have to take their call? Who is it? The National Security Advisor calling to inform you of the latest threat to national security and she wants your opinion on how to handle it??? (T-Bird - take note) I feel very insignificant when you constantly take other's calls over mine. I don't call that often because I know you are busy and have a lot of demands on your time. I always call to see how you are but sometimes I call too because I just really need to hear your voice and because I'm having a bad day, like today. I don't feel the need to bitch and complain in your ear, I just sometimes need to hear your voice and talk to you about what's been going on in our respective lives. Beatdown with a cellphone and a real estate sign. John Ashcroft is the anti-Christ. Period. Beatdown with a speculum and I hope they use one for your next proctology exam. Warning: Bitching, moaning, complaining and feeling sorry for myself... dead ahead Yo, friends, do not rain on my fucking parade okay? Look, I do not always feel as though I am the most attractive, intelligent, hot, sexy, interesting, fun female out there. Matter of fact, I normally don't and I don't because I have low self-esteem. My self-esteem issues are not your fault but please do not feed them. When a young, hot, sexy man flirts with me, just be happy. Don't give me other reasons why he is doing so... like, "he's horny," or "he's just a flirt," or "he's just emotionally vulnerable right now." The last came from my own alter-ego, so you can see what I'm up against. Allow me to have my fantasy. I know he has a girlfriend and I know when he comes home its not going to be to me. But please, don't shove it in my face. I feel really ugly, asexual and worthless when you insinuate that I'm not good enough for him to just flirt with me, because I'm me. Yeah, you hurt my feelings. I know that you all probably didn't realize how happy his letter made me. How his letter made me smile. How it felt good that someone wrote to me and recognized me and flirted with me. It was very personal and I thought you would understand that I really needed that. I take responsibility for the fact that I waited too long to let you know that I just wanted to enjoy it. You're all in time out. You too Ms. Alter Ego.

Kerry Comes To Boone County

Whew! Wow! What a day!! Nate and I took off this morning for my old stomping grounds, Boone County, to the annual Labor Day Celebration. My mom called and told me John Kerry would be there. Not sure why, but she did, and after some discussion with Nate, we decided we would go. A couple of things almost kept me from going. One, it is just nasty ass hot out there. 85 degrees and 60% humidity and almost NO SHADE! Two, I was worried about the crowd. They had shuttles set up to bring folks from three satellite parking areas. Three, I'm broke. I finally said, forget it, we're going. I overdrew my account, put gas in the car, bought water and Gatorade and off we went!! Traffic was not bad and we parked at what was once my grade school and took the chartered bus to the park. Once we got there, we went through the metal detectors and were inside the grounds. We quickly found my parents, bought a few raffle tickets and walked around for a bit. The crowd started picking up so I began maneurvering for a good spot and found one right below the podium about two rows back or so. Nate was miserable, I wasn't much better. It was just hot, hot, hot. I could feel my skin burning. We shaded ourselves with hats and Kerry placards as best we could and chugged our water and Gatorade. Senator Kerry and Senator Rockefeller arrived by motorcade to the crowd chanting. They did the standard hand-shaking, autographing and baby kissing before taking the podium. Rich Trumka was introduced by the local union president. Rich is the AFL-CIO Secretary/Treasurer and has been a main stay of the Labor Day Celebration for many years. He introduced Cecil Roberts, President of the United Mine Workers of America. Cecil is a firey orator. Trust me. Not only that, he's funny. He's a sixth generation coal miner and he uses the microphone like a Baptist preacher during a tent revival. He and Rich stuck to the issues. Jobs, health care, and coal. They talked about where West Virginia was going and how Kerry was going to get us there. And yes, they dissed Bush. They dissed the Republicans. Yes, they did. They talked about the millions of jobs lost due to out-sourcing and the millions of Americans without healthcare. The funniest thing that Cecil said was that President Bush was simply misunderstood. He had promised to create jobs. We thought he meant jobs in America, Cecil said, but he really meant millions of jobs in other countries. The most impressive speech, though, came from Senator Jay Rockefeller. After Cecil introduced him, which was definitely most enthusiastic, Rockefeller took the microphone and thanked Cecil but hoped the next time he would be more enthusiastic. Bah da boom (cymbal crash) Senator Rockefeller recognized Trumka, Roberts and the Steelworker's president, Leo (Something). He also recognized Boone Countians Johnny Protan and the wife of a deceased miner who was standing in her husband's place that day. Senator Rockefeller took us back to his days as a VISTA volunteer when he lived in Boone County. He talked about the difficulties he had convincing the people of our coal mining county to actually trust a man from New York. He decided after his work in the community to move to West Virginia and ran for office. He has served West Virginia since 1966 in many capacities. He told us about his personal relationship with John Kerry and how the two of them entered the Senate in the same year, 1985. He spoke of how Senator Kerry and he had served on three committees together, how they both voted for the Coal Act of 1992 and how that Act, meant to protect miners by making it law that coal companies must provide healthcare, is now under attack in the neighboring state of Kentucky. He dissed Bush too on how Bush wouldn't have any idea what the inside of a coal mine looked like because he never took the time to find out. How John Kerry had spent time in the mines and speaking with miners. He reminded the crowd that Bush was about oil and about how Kerry was for the working men and women. He touched briefly on how Kerry supported making coal a more viable resource in the future by cleaning it up to protect the environment but still protecting jobs. I'm sorry, I didn't take my steno pad and I never took shorthand in high school, so I'm trying to remember everything off the top of my head. Senator Kerry, at times, looked downright uncomfortable on the stage. It appeared as though he was suffering from the same allergy the rest of us have had as he continued to cough until someone finally handed the poor guy a bottle of water. Plus, he was one of the tallest men on the stage. Senator Kerry is 6'4", Senator Rockefeller is 6'6" I believe. Johnny Protan is all of 5'4" if that so everytime he would speak to Senator Kerry he would have to hunch down to listen. The rest of the men onstage probably didn't top 5'8" or 5'9". Plus, of those men, a few were positively portly and John Kerry is a string bean. After Kerry took the microphone, I took photos and listened as he thanked everyone, especially Senator Rockefeller and the UMWA workers who presented him with a brand new Remington shotgun, union made. He said it was a wonderful gun but unfortunately he would not be able to take it to the debates. So, that was a nice laugh. Nate was miserable and begging to leave the crowd so we wormed our way out and found my parents in one of the few shady spots. My parents are staunch Republicans. My dad, at least, has the mental capabilities to see beyond the rhetoric and make an informed decision. My mother, on the other hand, is... well, does not have those same mental capabilities. As Kerry began talking about job outsourcing she began griping about how the Heinz Corporation, his wife's corporation, outsources their jobs. I told her that perhaps instead of believing biased e-mails that she should take it one step further and log onto the Heinz Corporation website to see how many jobs they provide in the United States. I then proceeded to try and explain the difference between outsourcing jobs as opposed to opening factories in other countries to serve those countries, not to turn the medium, whether it be ketchup or automobiles, around and sell in the United States. Naturally, she didn't want to hear this. So, I ended up missing most of Kerry's speech. I heard enough to know that it kept to the same lines as Rockefellers and the others and he received a warm, warm welcome. He used "W" to indicate how America was going the Wrong Way and how they needed leadership to turn it around. He touched on the privatization of Medicare and healthcare. This is where the fact that my parents are well-to-do Republicans come into play as my father asked, "Well, who's going to pay for this healthcare." I guess he forgets that his daughter, that is me, has experienced an increase in my health insurance premiums while they continue to cut the benefits I receive. OY! The best part came as we were leaving and standing in line to take the bus back to where we parked and we encountered a young man. This young man was dressed in the sloppy cords, long sleeve shirt rolled at the wrists, hat, hair in a short ponytail and Birkenstocks. We began chatting with him and I asked where he was from. He told us his family were from Morgantown and Greenbrier County, respectively, but he currently lived in Morgantown. He stated that he did not believe that one political party had all the answers and that is why he had made the 4-5 hour trip to see Kerry's speech. Along the line somewhere, I had informed him that we, my parents and I, were of the differing political parties. He asked where we were from and we told him that we had all grown up within 5 miles of the spot where we stood. My mom then told him that her father had driven a coal truck for a living and about how they had to wear respirators due to the coal, rock and road dust and about how my dad's father was an underground coal miner and had black lung and how my dad has silicosis and asbestosis. The young man listened and then asked, "Ma'am, with all due respect, why do you support candidates that put your families lives in danger by diverting funds from OSHA to support their own agenda's instead of that of the safety and health of the American worker?" My mom replied that it wasn't the political parties that caused the conditions in which my grandfathers and my dad worked. He replied that OSHA was considered a "non-essential" agency and if funds are diverted for other purposes then definitely the political parties have to answer for that in that reduced funding leads to corporations not being held accountable for poor working conditions. My mom... changed the subject without giving him an answer. She pointed the finger at Clinton for reducing the military. He responded with the explanation of the ending of the Cold War and how the first Bush Administration had been involved too but the major change took place after Clinton took office. By then, another bus had arrived and we were all diverted from the discussion. Simply, my mom does not want to hear about the issues and especially any opinion that might not match her. She doesn't inform herself and has no basis on which to form an argument other than... she saw it in an e-mail. I'm not saying that I agreed with everything the young man said. I was much more amused by the fact that my mother had come up against a well informed young man with opinions of his own who's father happens to work for... OSHA. The first question out of my mother's mouth when I returned from the Kerry crowd was, "Well, how ugly is he in person?" My mother believes that every Democrat is ugly and if they're not, then their wife is. She doesn't like Elizabeth Edwards because she had children after 40 and that's not acceptable. She doesn't like Teresa Heinz Kerry because she's rich and opinionated. If you point out that Bush has made promises that he hasn't kept, well, then every politician is crooked, just look at what so and so did and he's a Democrat. But then that would mean... that Bush is crooked? Or? I suppose she doesn't have the capabilities to see how flawed her argument is. So... that's not all of it but its all I can remember at this time. It was a good day, I just wish I had more time in the crowd to absorb Kerry's speech.