Oh, Bleep!

One more "MUST READ" email at the top of my inbox today.  yes, I agree that we Progressives should do all we can to bollix the Republican juggernaut that's about to roll over our health care--eliminate it, I mean--and so I sign the petition, agree that the Abominable Orangeman & Henchpersons in the Congress are the pits, but then I get the stern warning that I "have not contributed" to this noble cause.  Contributed money, that is.  Well.  How bout that?  Having contributed $5s and $3s and other amounts for the past year or so to Democrats and their causes, I am busted.  I did see earlier today that Bernie Sanders did share some of his loot so somebody else could win his campaign, but I haven't seen any other sharing going on, have I?  Maybe I've missed it. 

I have done my duty by buying their T-shirts and buttons and wearing them in public here, and believe me, it hasn't been easy.  The only people who seem to be heartened by this are not the glowering Red State tourists crowing the metros and sidewalks here.  I got on the metro one day wearing my "Still she persisted" shirt and realized I was in a car with a whole bunch of Boy Scout leaders from a Red State.  I felt lucky not to be challenged, so I smiled at them. 

Heaven help us all.  God bless America.

favorite stuff at Trader Joe's

Chili Lime Chicken burgers (four patties per package)--yummy chicken,  with garlic, lime zest, cilantro (yes!!), and red pepper flakes. 

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups ( 9 or 10 per packet) 99c!!!

Asiago Cheese with Rosemary (in the cheese department)  great on crackers!!

big baking potatoes for 49c each!!

free little cups of coffee in the back of the store

The nice big restrooms near the entrance.

what's not to like? 

Citizen.....

about the only thing that seems to be available here is being a CITIZEN--a good one, working with local officials on improving our lives.  We have no representation in Congress, and depending
on the madman in the white house seems futeless, as Pogo would say.  So....we can gather together
anyway.  Onward!!

Gevalt!!

I was in a local convenience store this past week, and a young black man turned to me and asked, "Are you Jewish?"  "No," I said.  "You look Jewish," he said.  I said, "Well, my great-grandmother in Germany was Jewish."  And he nodded and said, "You've got Jewish blood in you."  I was about to ask him what exactly made him think I looked Jewish, but he had already turned and walked away. 

Now usually I would just describe that person as a "young man", nfs.  But upon reflection, perhaps this encounter was more significant than just odd banter.  In reading about the swastikas painted on venerable synagogues and temples, it seems most of the perpetrators are young and white--"Aryan Nation" types.  Guess in this case, anyway, it's more widespread than that.  Heaven help us.

Resolutions?

Trying to organize my New Year's Resolutions.  I've never made any in my 80+ years on the planet. But I've been inspired by Emilie Johnson's blog.  Her parents sat her and her 7 siblings down every year and helped them consider their lives in 5 areas:

1. spiritual
2. physical
3. academic
4. music/art
5. emotional

In her most recent post from France, she talks about what she'd like to do this year, and
I've adapted some of her suggestions to my own life:

1. spend time outside every day.
2. listen to music.
3. read actual magazines and newspapers in addition to print books (because of our wonderful library here, I can do this without having to buy these things).
4. work on my Spanish (She said her French, as she is already fluent in French.  I know a tiny bit, but I want to get more into Spanish, since there are so many people here who speak it--and there are
free Spanish newspapers at the metro stop).
5. eat less, but more really good food
6. formalize my creative projects (hoo boy)
7. call friends more often. (oy)
8. travel
9. be mindful and never let the local beauty go unremarked/unappreciated.

It's now 10 a.m. or so, and I started this just after 7 a.m.  so...there's work to do.....

Poem??

I've been reading Edna O'Brien's new book, The Little Red Chairs.   And there's this on page 13 (author, if not O'Brien, unknown), though the italic formatting is mine:

"Santa didn't come

His brother took his place

Santa's dead.

Santa's dead?

That's what he said.

Annihilated on his sled?

 That's what he said.

Well, this is it, son,

This is it.

Dark, dark shit....

Good question!!

Finally I have my hands on Robert Henri's book, The Art Spirit.  On page 82, he asks,

Why do we love the sea?  It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think.

 So....What are these things we like to think??