The Lion Sleeps Tonight...

I am not a woman who weeps gracefully. My nose runs, my eyelids swell near to closing and my face becomes red and blotchy. It took a cool, wet washcloth to get me going this morning and I know the stack of sodden tissues will grow during the day. But I will watch...I will keep vigil...another part of what was the best of America is gone...the last Kennedy brother is dead and the myth of Camelot is enshrined in history. The young, bright, articulate, idealist and clearly American brothers are no more.

I don't remember much about politics prior to John Fitzgerald Kennedy. My family was military and not inclined to be political. My stepfather served his country and every President was his Commander in Chief. JFK was the politician to realize the power of television and his image filled the tiny screen with charisma and promise. Young and searching for myself, I was drawn to the flame. As an early reader with a love of history, I greatly admired FDR and Winston Churchill, regarding Winnie as belonging partly to us, to America. What I felt in the politics of John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the echo of their sense of honor and belief in the common man. An echo of the military code that shaped my life: Duty, Country, Honor.

Growing up living on military bases, I never knew the evils of segregation until I lived in Virginia in the late '50s. My playmates had always been black, white, yellow, brown and every combination and shade of skin. We played, ran, shared toys, formed teams and squabbled among ourselves. We ate in each others home and had sleepovers in each others beds. I never had a sense of difference until we were stationed at Fort Eustis and for the first time in my life, my playmates and friends went to different schools, attendance based on their skin color. For the first time, I spent days surrounded by both teachers and students who did not accept the concept of equal rights; people who believed they were superior due to the color of their skin! Even then, I was outspoken about what I believed and my mother made many visits to the Newport News high school to defend my right to my opinion. It's probably no surprise that I quit school in my junior year.

In 1960, my family was living in the small dusty town of Brawley, California, in the heart of the Imperial Valley. My stepfather was based in Korea and my mother returned to her family. At an old fashioned drugstore fountain, I met a young teacher with grey eyes and curly hair who would become my husband and the father of my only child. Frank was of what was called in those days "mixed blood". His father was born in Mexico of German, Spanish, Indian and Italian blood. I only saw the man and not the label and we married. Two important events occurred in 1961; our son was born and I registered to vote for the first time... as a Democrat!

As a young wife and new mother, life revolved around my family but I followed the Kennedy saga. The Imperial Valley was a very conservative area; the economy was dominated by very large farms with very wealthy owners. Labor for these enterprises was supplied by "braceros", contracted farm labor from Mexico and transient farm workers who followed the crops, weeded, watered and harvested the food that fed America. Strong currents of civil rights led by Martin Luther King and workers rights as led by Ceasar Chavez swirled through our community and my big mouth frequently had me in hot water. At one point, Frank was called on the carpet by the Superintendent of the School system and asked why he couldn't "control" his wife. Frank replied that I was my own person and "control" wasn't a part of our relationship. However, he did change his registration from Republican to Democrat because I just couldn't stand the idea of sleeping with a Republican.

I try to explain to my grandson what it was like to experience those times. How people of conscience had to stand up and be counted. How our leaders had a vision of a different America with "liberty and justice for all", not to forget equality in terms of civil rights, labor rights and in time, equal rights. It was a time when people stood FOR something and not AGAINST everything. How it was to watch our leaders cut down by violence, one by one: Jack, Martin, Bobby. The Kennedy family was always there, suffering great public and private losses but continuing in public service, continuing to push forward the legal framework which enabled our nation to walk the walk of liberty and justice for all of us and not just talk the talk.

We knew than, as we know even better now, this family, these men, were not without flaw. They were deeply flawed. I have always believed that on every day of his life, Ted Kennedy did penitence for the death of Mary Jane Kopechne. Their private flaws were redeemed by the public good that they achieved in their lives. America is a better nation because the Kennedy brothers served her and served her well.

Let us not leave out the Kennedy women. Jackie standing in her blood soaked pink suit at the side of Lyndon Johnson while he is sworn in as President. Jackie striding down Pennsylvania Avenue in widow's weeds with her black veil floating in the breeze. The picture of Ethel, surrounded by her children, another young widow touched by violence. Eunice, champion of the disabled youth of America, mother of the Special Olympics program. Joan, a woman trying to survive her personal demons. Vickie: warm, loving, steadfast and loyal; another widow with grace sharing the private minutes of her grief and loss with all of us. Caroline, sheltering her children from the public glare while suffering such great personal loss of father, mother, uncles and brother in the public eye. These women have given so much to America.

We will always have unfinished business before us and now, each of us must become verbal in our support for the yet unrealized dreams of health care for every American, full and equal rights for each American, based on citizenship and not on sexual preference, the restoration of our economy and so much more. The "birthers", "deathers","nutters" and just plain "haters" are filling the air with their shrill and vile vomit. It's time for the rest of us to send the word to those whom we elected to represent us and let them know that we are watching and it's time to do the right thing. Not what is right for the wealthy, corporate and vested interests, who purchased the allegiance of many of the elected and paid for access and influence. Just do the right thing for America! For all Americans, not just some.

I wonder how many people are weeping today. How many of us find the dreams of our youth were inspired by the Kennedy vision of a better America? To borrow and paraphrase from one of my favorite songs: "when will we see their like again?"

And so the old Lion of the Senate has roared his last. His laughing Irish eyes are closed and his smile has faded away. Yes, the Lion sleeps tonight....reunited with the brothers, he and we, lost too soon. God Bless them all.

God Bless America
Land that we love
Stand beside Her
And guide Her
Thru the Night
With the Light
From Above...


Light & Love,

Granny B

How do you stay sane in an insane world?

This is my question of the day. It seems everywhere I look, the nutters are taking over. We have "birthers" and "deathers" and a whole lot of gun toting "patriots" just dying to water the tree of liberty. Has a portion of our country lost their common sense or did they just never have any? Before anyone starts to jump the gun and accuse me of being anti Second Amendment, you need to know that I have two blue cards, one for my Smith & Wesson and the other for my Beretta, plus I still have a shotgun. I freely admit to having carried openly in situations when working alone in some deserted valley in the wilds of Nevada. Twice in the more than 20 years that I have been a gun owner, I have displayed my weapon as precaution toward unwanted behaviour. On road trips, my beloved .38 is usually in its case under my seat if I have passengers or on the seat next to me if I am alone. I would never dream of taking a weapon to any type of town hall or political gathering where some nut might attempt to take it away and use it.

Then there are the posters accusing our leaders of being terrorists or Nazis. What happened to civilized discourse? Does anyone ever watch the "question period" of the British Parliament? The Prime Minister stands on the floor in front of God and the TV cameras and takes questions from the members. No one screams or holds up nasty signs, there might be some polite nays or laughter should the PM be witty in his response. Serious topics are discussed in a serious manner.

I realize that many people watch and believe Fox News to be a legitimate source of "news" and I agree that the commentators have First Amendment rights. I just have hard time telling the difference between "news" and personal opinion on that network. Yes, I am a Keith Olberman fan but I am fully aware that some of his discourse is his opinion. Rachel Maddow is another story. She backs up her statements with documentation frequently taken from public records and filings. That gal reads all the fine print and checks all the links! She invites the "other side" to appear on her show and present their views and she is polite while they do so, disagreeing in a civil fashion.

Maybe I am just grouchy today. I woke at 3am this morning with my left hand clenched in a ball under my chin. I have been having pain in this hand since last weekend when my "muse" visited and I designed and made four new pieces and restrung two others in two days. Too much for my poor arthritic hands. At some point I realized that I string with my left hand as much as I do with my right. That means holding the hand clamped around the wire for long periods while stringing pearls or stones with small holes. Sometimes my fingers will begin to spasm and I soak them in warm or cold water depending on the pain. Working with pearls, crystals or precious stone spacers (I have emerald, sapphire and ruby spacers from India) is the hardest on my hands. BUT when the work is finished and some wonderful new necklace is bagged, just waiting for my MWDL to put on the clasps, I am fulfilled and happy and maybe sane!

I found some beautiful lavender jade beads last week and combined them with deep purple fresh water pearls and 18kt vermeil beads. Simply stunning! As I was checking out the tables at our local Gem & Bead Mall, I saw a string of color enhanced hot pink jade ovals. The color rang my bell so I bought them and sure enough, they were a color match with a rainbow dichroic glass pendant that I got in Flagstaff three years ago when I just started making jewelry. Combined with small lime green fresh water pearls and ab crystals, the piece is a knockout!

Whenever I am not on the computer checking out jobs, which I do first thing every morning; I am doing prep work for the Art in the Park show in October. Each piece is being cleaned with microfiber cloth and a new facial make up brush, checked against our master inventory and bagged in a new Ziploc bag. To make our set up easier, I am sorting by primary material into boxes. This gets a little tricky since we love to work with pearls and so many of our pieces have pearls. So there are some items with pearls in the gemstone box, some in the glass box and others in the eclectic box. MWDL hopes to have 100 pairs of earrings for her revolving rack and we will probably have a mounted board of pendants. I will need to go back and count the items in each category but we are still pulling jewelry from our show totes and personal collections.

Sooo, whats new on the dating scene? In the past couple of red haired weeks, I have received an increased number of flirts and contacts. I have a better understanding of why people (men & women) get fed up with the sites and just quit. I attempted a conversation on line with a clinical psychologist the other day regarding his insights into the "process" of posting profiles. I presented some of my questions based on my observations: what is the basis/thought process that men use for posting their photos? No, I didn't discuss my observations regarding "fish" photos. I'm talking about just plain unflattering shots or semi naked photos. I still have the shot of the guy who said he is a cross dresser and posed with his back to the camera while wearing a white garter belt, white hose and spike heels. Yes, that's all! I will say that it did appear that he could give a baby a run for the money on smoothness. Also wondered who took the photo? Then there are photos where the guy has cut out a woman standing beside them, leaving her hand on his shoulder. Long distance shots where you can hardly see any details. OK, maybe that makes sense. Photos of him taken "years" ago, why does he thinks his high school or college photo is a turn on when he is now over 50? Photos with guns, maybe I should have MWDL take some photos of me as a pistol packing granny! Why do men pay for a profile and then don't post a photo or any personal information, just saying: send me a message? Whats with the inflation of their personal information; I have found a couple of those, who, when communicating with me seem to forget what they posted!

I asked the psychologist if he was familiar with any studies to which he could refer me? He acknowledged that my questions were interesting and referred me to an article he had written on Human Intelligence. Sorry but it didn't cover posting profiles and photos on Internet dating sites. Maybe he'll come back later with something else.

Let's see, still lots of interest from outside of Nevada and outside the US. I seem to be well received in England and Australia. Damn, there is a guy in Australia that rings my bell, how can I resist a fellow who posts photos of himself feeding baby roos and handling cockatoos. Alas, the distance is just too great.

Another "Hunka, Hunka" type sent me a message of interest. He claims to be 42 but his photo looks 24 or so. He said he was just looking for a new friend and listed a number of interests that I share, such as Native American art and music, dogs, music and so on. He also asked if the age difference bothered me. I thought about it and responded that in some ways the age difference did bother me but that I didn't discriminate in my friends based on age. So if he wanted to be a friend, then I suggested we communicate more to see what else we had in common. Two days later, I received a blast about having a closed mind and being against him because of his age. Wow! I just sent a nice civil reply that it was unfortunate he interpreted my response as a closed mind. I really had to laugh. Aha, another source for sanity: laughter!

The right guy for me may never appear on a dating site, but as I told my son the other day, there is nothing like the human comedy with everyone a player upon a stage or looking for their 15 minutes of Warhol fame. Which reminds me, there was an article on Huffington Post today about researchers who are going thru a zillion boxes of stuff that good ole Andy stored. Recently they found a personalized signed photo of Jackie O skinny dipping which she apparently sent to him. You can see the photo thru a link on the article. Now isn't that just what you have always wanted to see, Jackie O naked?

Anyway, I prefer to conduct my insanity prevention sessions on Tuesday nights so I can sit back with a glass of very nice single malt whiskey (Speyside preferred) and watch Warehouse 13 or perhaps Eureka on Fridays. The Sci Fi channel as therapy!

One last thing: Our good friend, Rochelle Williams of "I'm Not Spoiled" will be at the Harvest Festival the weekend after this. So if you go, please be sure and drop by her booth to say hello and see her wonderful things. Maybe we can do this show next year but just can't afford it right now. Also the Las Vegas Crafters Guild will have a Craft Boutique at the West Sahara Library on Friday, October 2 and Saturday, October 3rd. Check it out and if you don't find something, come and visit us at Art in the Park on Saturday and Sunday. In fact, just come by and say hello. Several members of the Crafters Guild will be showing in Boulder City.

Aha, I am getting a long wet nose down my leg. It must be getting close to treat time. Another way to keep sane; loving greythounds!

Light & Love,

Granny B

Do Redheads have more fun?

Do Redheads have more fun?

In my last post, I told you about my encounters in Sam's Club when I had bottles of wine in my cart. Monday, I was having lunch at Marie's and when I left, a gentleman hurried to hold the door for me. So I will keep a tally and let you all know. Meanwhile, there are new photos posted. Check out the Dog Days post for some pics with my beloved greythounds. You will find pics of the Bogiebx in the very first post. I have a new post floating around in my mind, plus a number of you have contacted me via e-mail and asked for more summer reading suggestions. Please post your comments on the blog and let people know what you are reading this summer and any other things that may be on your mind. Oh, I had an e-mail from the Netherlands from someone who is reading my blog there. Granny is getting around! Got to go... I am changing photos on the dating sites. You will notice the full body pics, what you see is what there is; as I believe I mentioned to someone recently, you need long arms to deal with Granny!

Light & Love

Granny B

Caniculares Dies

Caniculares Dies!

No, this is not really a disease, although it does seem to be a state of mind. Dog Days of Summer!
The Romans believed this was an evil time "when seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics and phrensies"
Here in Las Vegas, it means heat, heat and more heat. It's hot when I go out before the sunrise to water my plants, it's hot at 10am, noon, 3pm and into the night. Everyone seems to go into a funk and the predominant thought is to just survive until mid-September when the heat breaks.

Even the internet dating scene is affected by the dog days, in fact, I seem to be getting more mutts as matches. "Hunka, Hunka Burning Love" ( see "Buffet of Men" ) has been back flirting with me twice. "ButtLover" changed the name on his profile but is still sending messages although I have told him "Thanks, but no Thanks!" The amount of profiles with no photos has increased. One of the sites keeps sending me matches with 40 - 50 years old guys. In general, I am looking at the same profiles over and over. I am going to change my profile to state that I will not respond to any profile without a photo.

Sometime next week, I will make some changes to my profile on this blog. I finally did something I have been saying I wouldn't do again. I am no longer your favorite little ole silver haired lady. I am now your favorite ( I hope) little ole strawberry blond lady. As many of you know, I have been out of work for over a year. Interviewers look at me and began commenting on how qualified I am for the position they offer; how very qualified I am and then, how over qualified I am for their job. I really believe the comments are less about my qualifications as they are about my age. So I elected to make a change, maybe influenced by the fevers of the Dog Days.

I spent about 15 years as a redhead; right up to the morning when my head was shaved and my skull was drilled and crosscut. The crosscut appears to have healed but the drill holes will never close. My doctor, at the time, suggested that it might be best not to color my hair again to avoid any chemical contamination of my brain. That was then, this is now. I don't feel there is potential for the chemicals to penetrate the soft cover of my skull. Here I am, red again! Red hair may not be my natural color but it is my natural disposition!

Funny things have been happening this last week. I was in Sam's Club yesterday and had a couple of bottles of White Zin in my basket along with a box of fresh peaches and some strawberries. A fellow came up and offered to help me drink the wine! A little later, another guy approached and asked about the wine, then told me how he was entering chef's school in the fall. Hummmm, didn't happen with my silver hair. We will see what happens when new photos go up next week on the dating sites.

My days are spent looking for a job before my benefits run out but my nights are filled with summer reading. Many of my favorite authors have new books out. If I can't snuggle up with a great guy, I'll curl up with a good book. Yes, I would prefer the right guy but you go with what you have. Having started reading at age four, I have always been a reader. I devour from three to seven books a week. If you are also a reader, here are a few summer suggestions:

Right up at the top of my list is Daniel Silva's new political/spy thriller: "The Defector". Silva writes a series not so loosely based on the Mossad. His hero is Gabriel Allon, noted art restorer in public, Israeli assassin and spy in his secret life. To fully appreciate this author, you need to begin at the beginning of this series. In order the Allon books are: (1) "The Kill Artist". (2) "The English Assassin", (3) "The Confessor", (4) "A Death in Vienna", (5) "Prince of Fire", (6) "The Messenger", (7) The Secret Servant", (8) "Moscow Rules" and (9) "The Defector". Silva is a former CNN reporter and very informed regarding European and middle East politics which form the background for these novels. The latest two novels deal with the breakup of the Soviet Union complete with arms sales to the middle East and Africa. Silva is so spot on that situations he writes about as background, sometimes appear in the European press as current news.

I will read any novel by Jeffrey Deaver but the Lincoln Rhyme books are my favorites. If you saw the movie "The Bone Collector" erase it out of your mind. In my humble opinion, it sucked big time! The book is great and is the first of the Rhyme series. This series is best read in sequence so you can follow the development of the characters. But you can't go wrong with whatever Deaver book you read. He is a master plotter with more twists and turns than Lombard Street in San Francisco. "Roadside Crosses" is the new summer book. Don't miss it!

I don't know why it took me so long to read Harlan Coben but once I did, I had to go out and find all his books. Coben writes series and stand alone novels. His primary character is Myron Bolitar, a nice Jewish boy from New Jersey. Myron had a real shot at being a shinning star in the NBA until he was nearly crippled in an early game. He picked himself up, went to law school and became a sports agent in New York. Along with his unusual sidekicks, best friend "Win"aka Windsor Horne Lockwood III, a certified trustfund sociopath , partner Esperanza Diaz, aka "Little Pocahontas" a former professional wrestler and, of course, Big Cyndi the only six foot five, three hundred pounds receptionist in the world. Poor Myron, all he wants out of life is to find a beautiful woman who wants a family and children and would love to live the suburban life in New Jersey. Alas, in "Long Lost" his dream again fails to come true. Read Coben, his novels come at you like a freight train.

No summer would be complete without an offering from Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. These guys write separately as well as together. I really prefer them together, especially the Agent Pendergast series. Special Agent A. X. L. Pendergast has to be one of the strangest characters in fiction today. He first appears in "Relic" and the series continues with this summer's release of "Cemetery Dance". I don't know how to describe these books: Sci Fi, fantasy, thrillers and fun? Just go to the Preston/Child website for the sequence, then climb into bed, turn the lights up and don't look under the bed! Enjoy!

I have been reading Stephanie Plum novels for some 15 years. When Plum fans get together, they compare their favorite funny scenes. Remember when Stephanie and Lulu were moving the body wrapped in a rug on the top of Stephanie's car and the rug slid off the car and landed in the freeway median? Remember when Lulu threw her hot pink thong at an Elvis impersonator in Vegas? Remember Lulu in her "super model" outfit spilling her bucket of quarters in the Atlantic City casino? My favorite: remember when the bad guys dognapped Bob after he had eaten the box of prunes? I am laughing as I type! I simply love this series but I do wish the story line would move on. My suggestion to Janet Evanovich is for Stephanie to finally marry Joe and immediately become pregnant with twins. Lulu would take over her bounty hunter job and need help from a very pregnant Stephanie. Joe is loaned out to the Feds for a critical undercover job so he asks Ranger to keep an eye on Stephanie. Of course, Ranger has to rescue Steph and Lulu with Joe appearing in the nick of time. The twins are boys and Ranger becomes their Godfather.
If you have never read one of these novels, "One for the Money" is the first. START NOW! But try to keep it down and don't wake your partner.

Just a quick mention of two more favorites; try the Meg Langslow series, beginning with "Murder with Peacocks". Meg is a charming and solid character with the wildest family in fiction today. You will find the sequence for this series at the author's website: Donna Andrews.com.
My favorite to date is "We will always have Parrots!"

A small, three book series to date, that I enjoy, is the Annie Szabo series. A young and maybe foolish Annie married her gypsy husband til death do them part. When he dies in a tragic accident, leaving her expecting their third child, she does her best to divorce his gypsy family. Mother in Law, Mina is a tarot and mind reading Diva who doesn't believe in divorce. In the first book Annie and Mina are reunited but not happy while they solve the problems of family members. Meredith Blevins offers a look into the world of the modern gypsy with love and humor.

So hunker down, summer has maybe a month more to go. While I wait, I'll let you know if strawberry blonds have more fun! Check back about the middle of next week to view the "new" Granny.

Light & Love,

Granny B