Hither & Yon

Thin and Thinner

abqlady2 — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 19:26:24 GMT

I'm tired and out of energy today. Depressed. My dear Jim's health is not good. He started a sometime back - we thought it was his dental health and finally got the denture thing solved. But even with decently fitted dentures, he has been unable to eat and get all the nutrients he needs from what he is eating. Since February this year it has just been worse.

He's seeing a doctor now. We know his bloodwork is good and his liver is in good shape. He has had two different CTs and was even checked for tapeworms. He has no antigens for different cancers - especially since he's an ex-smoker. We know what he doesn't have. We don't know what he does have.

He is hoping to join a COPD study through a local research group and started the process last week. I guess we will find out what stage of COPD he does have at least.

He will be getting some test kit from the doctors from an out of state lab that will test what his body is or isn't metabolizing.

In the last 8 weeks, I've radically changed our diets, cutting down on processed foods, getting rid of anything not made with whole grains, switching to gluten free cereal. We've been eating less meat over the last several years, so that's not a big deal. I cook almost exclusively with olive oil and have, since this began, started using coconut oil to cook with as well. I can add the coconut oil to his breakfast oatmeal and other dishes generously. I like it for sauteeing veggies and fish too.

His doctor says we're doing the right thing with that.

But still... I look at my beloved and see the loss of vitality and his need to rest growing and feel... like he is slipping off.

The economy's fall hurt us badly. We have no more debts, but still we have not recovered any ground. The reality is we can't even afford to be sick and I can't contemplate what happens if we can't turn his health around.

I hate this feeling of fear and helplessness and being alone with it.

Pop Icons

abqlady2 — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 23:54:52 GMT

There is an interesting weirdness when you realize one of your very best friends hubby has created a whole new set of pop culture icons. I see stories about them everywhere now. Sometimes I'll forward a story link to her as a "Have you seen this? Happy for y'all and that success!" but most of the time I don't. But I'm always tickled, delighted and pleased for them because I know how hard they worked over the years before.

“We’re Scared of Mikey Weinstein” Amendment Passes in House » This Week in Christian Nationalism

abqlady2 — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:41:11 GMT

“We’re Scared of Mikey Weinstein” Amendment Passes in House » This Week in Christian Nationalism

Fringe Following - By J.M. Berger | Foreign Policy

abqlady2 — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 21:10:37 GMT

Fringe Following - By J.M. Berger | Foreign Policy

abqlady2 — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 04:35:08 GMT

Please Resign, Susana!

abqlady2 — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 18:07:09 GMT

Dear Governor Susana Martinez,

Please resign now. Already our State Supreme Court has ruled against you trying to shield polluters by violating the State Constitution. I loved the articles I found about this. Tells me scads about your character and, honey, it isn't very complimentary. Impeaching you would be costly and we can't afford that in this time where deep education cuts are being made, so you can resign today. You're subject to the law, just like the rest of us, mi hita and all the big Texas oil and NM gas energy money that was poured into your campaign coffers won't change that one iota. Your job as Governor is to help enforce the laws of the state. Not to break them for moneyed interests in favor of the state's citizens interests.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/27/idUS221648207620110127

http://www.sfreporter.com/santafe/blog-2637-breaking-nm-supreme-court-overturns-martinez-exec-order-demands-publication-of-greenhouse-gas-cap-rules.html

http://newmexicoindependent.com/68707/supreme-court-orders-martinez-to-publish-rules

Sincerely,
Morgan Sheridan... a NM born, life long resident of Albuquerque.

State of the Union: Why Do We Act Against Our Own Self-Interest? | CommonDreams.org

abqlady2 — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:52:20 GMT

State of the Union: Why Do We Act Against Our Own Self-Interest? | CommonDreams.org

I read this article this morning and thought it was worth sharing. We really need some changes.

Oh, Gov. Susanna!

abqlady2 — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 17:57:12 GMT

New Mexico's new, historic woman, Texas born and bred, governor shows she is just another Republican tool.

Now, we're faced with huge budget cuts that are needed because we've been hit with the same stuff as the rest of the country. You'd think the Gov would share our pain by taking a cut in her $110,000 year salary. But she won't. Her reason? It's "mandated" by the legislature.

Somehow, I think if she did the right thing and went the the legislature and said, "Let's reduce my salary by $30,000 a year," that they would be happy to oblige her. That would be leadership by example. But our new governor will NOT do the right thing, she will not lead as a matter of principle. Rather, she will do the 'legal" thing in keeping with her past record as Las Cruces, NM's District Attorney.

Thus, begins our historic Susanna Martinez's gubernatorial career. I'm sure her Texan campaign finance contributors are already making their money back on their investment.

Ambassador Joseph Wilson Hits Air Force Academy | Dark Politricks

abqlady2 — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 04:55:14 GMT

Ambassador Joseph Wilson Hits Air Force Academy | Dark Politricks

In other places, I've been talking about the infiltration of the military by the religious right. This is not an isolated thing. It is dangerous to our democracy.

I'm back

abqlady2 — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 19:51:27 GMT

Didn't realize how long it has been since I posted here. Life has been a bit nuts. I've been dealing with a lot of political stuff, spending my time writing reps in Congress and the Senate.

I'm still working on doing whatever I can to support affordable health care. I'm so dismayed by the hypocrisy of the new Republican & Tea Party backed Congressmen who won't forgo their taxpayer funded, generous, health care package for them and their families, while voting against health care reform that would benefit the 50+million of us who can't afford it at all. Either you have principles enough to to do without taxpayer funded health care or you're a tool of the insurance industry.

Here's a radio ad that is going out and I hope those of you in the US who hear it, will consider making a contribution so that it can be broadcast as soon as possible:

Coffee Party: Rejecting Tea Party Incivility

abqlady2 — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:56:15 GMT

I am SO for this kind of movement! I choose civility in discourse over angry shouting down.

Happy Valentines Day

abqlady2 — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:32:06 GMT

Happy V Day everyone. Hugs and kisses all around!

Hear You Have A Birthday Soon

abqlady2 — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:44:15 GMT

I hope you have a Happy Birthday! :)

Distracted

abqlady2 — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:28:05 GMT

Haven't written much. When I started my post it said I haven't updated in 5 weeks. Bad me. Not really.

I just go through phases when other things distract me. Like Farmville on Facebook. It's an insidious little game. Like knitting 3 different pair of fingerless mittens, two sets of 4 dish cloths, a beret and shawl for Xmas and Boxing Day gifties and then deciding that I just absolutely need to knit just one more pair fingerless mittens because I found this outstanding ruby red yarn at Village Wools.

Then there are the distractions that come from various media - books I'm reading, the political news that makes me wonder about America's future as it become more and more unrecognizable from the country I grew up in. Alas there is the other news that captures my attention - that of people's violence and inhumanity toward one another in so many different ways that I find myself thinking that a plague that causes such a die-off that maybe half a million people are left on the entire planet might not be a bad thing. Seriously dyspeptic thinking, that. I've written about all of that to some degree or another and find I have no answers, no solutions to bring to the table. Just reactions. Just regrets.

Yanno?

Happy Boxing Day

abqlady2 — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 19:08:22 GMT

We had a lovely Solstice celebrating our 24th anniversary on the 21st and then yesterday celebrated Christmas with a few friends. Santa was good: I was gifted with a pair of nice comfy sheepskin slippers that should last me the rest of my natural life and some lace-weight yarn, the pattern for knitting it up into a triangle shawl, and a shawl pin for once it's knitted up. The really great thing is those few gifts made me feel loved and special beyond words.

I started knitting gifts for my sisters in July and they were received in time for Christmas and they liked them a lot! Yes! Simple, handmade gifts are still the best.

So, did you receive a gift that made you feel loved and special too? I sure hope you did!

Well, It Has Been A While

abqlady2 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:54:35 GMT

Haven't been here since October.

I'm hanging on and hanging in there. So is Jim. We'll have our 24th anniversary in a few days. Amazing to spend that much time with one person in this day and age. A privilege too, if ya ask me.

The economy is still killing us so hanging in there is the best we can do. I'm working part time and am also doing a few local helper gigs - mostly yardwork - when the weather is good. I wish my physical stamina was better though. I can handle 3-4 hours of yard work at a time and then have to rest. On the other hand, I can do a *lot* of work in that time because I work smart. Have half of one gal's back yard to finish soon. I do not know how many petitions I've signed and letters I've written in the last several months regarding health care reform. On a related front, I've also been writing/petitioning about financial industry reform as well. Unf*** G.W. Bush. I hope he and his cronies spend the rest of their lives enduring involuntary celibacy... and that's the clean cut part of what I hope for them and the greedy bastards who decimated America's middle class.

I've been relearning how to knit and have produced a few pair of fingerless gloves, a beret, a shawl, a cowl/hood that I felted and a few dishcloths. Current project is an 'i don't know what it wants to be yet' warm fuzzy thing.

Finished reading Laura Lippman's What The Dead Know last night. It was a good mystery with a tidy little twist to it. I liked it a lot, but had a few moments when I thought plodded along when it should have moved a bit faster.

Frustrated On The Ditch

abqlady2 — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:17:46 GMT

I walk my dog regularly along one of the local ditches. It's a nature area and quite nice, but I'm really feeling frustrated. My dog is a happy, well socialized dog who is also blind as a result of diabetes. She's a happy greeter type of dog, so it boggles my mind when people bring their unsocialized, unfriendly dogs to walk and who then get upset when my dog wants to greet and sniff tails with their dogs. If their dog is unfriendly, then 1.) why bring it out in public where it is very likely to encounter other dogs? and 2.) when they see other people coming with a dog on a leash, then why dont THEY take one of the access roads or bridges and move their dogs to the other side of the ditch? I3.) Lastly, why do they act like it's MY fault that they've had to warn and announce "My dog isn't friendly with other dogs!"

Obama Wins Peace Prize

abqlady2 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:03:30 GMT

I'm so proud! Our President won the Nobel Peace Prize!

S'Wonderful

abqlady2 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:02:46 GMT

The Giants beat the Cowboys in the Cowboy's fancy new stadium. :D

Giants 33, Cowboys 31.

As I'm an ABC fan anyway (Anyone But Cowboys), it was neat the Giants won and handed the cowboys their hats on their own home turf. Eli Manning did well as did Mario Manningham. Manningham helped make the game tonight. Sweet victory!

Writer's Block: Finders keepers?

abqlady2 — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:56:32 GMT

I'd hand it back. Too much bad karma in keeping it.

A Scary Back To School Speech. Not!

abqlady2 — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:52:47 GMT

This is the speech that reactionaries on the Republican right were so afraid of??? Ya gotta be kidding me! The horror! Asking kids to take a little responsibility for themselves! ROTFLMAO!

" Arlington, Virginia
September 8, 2009

The President: Hello everyone - how's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I'm glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could've stayed in bed just a little longer this morning. I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday - at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."
So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked a lot about responsibility.

I've talked about your teachers' responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working where students aren't getting the opportunities they deserve.
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world - and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.
Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer - maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper - but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor - maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine - but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life - I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can't drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that - if you quit on school - you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.
Now I know it's not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that's like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn't fit in.

So I wasn't always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I'm not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life - what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home - that's no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That's no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

That's what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.
Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who's fought brain cancer since he was three. He's endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer - hundreds of extra hours - to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he's headed to college this fall.

And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.
Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That's why today, I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education - and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you'll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you're not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject you study. You won't click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That's OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. JK Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can't let your failures define you - you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.
No one's born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. It's the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust - a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor - and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you - don't ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don't let us down - don't let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America"

There's some choice words for the nay-saying pundits who fanned the flames of discord about this speech without having read the text first: cowardly, untruthful, venal, corrupt fools.

Writer's Block: Home Remedies

abqlady2 — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:14:54 GMT

I have to have green chile stew from Frontier Restaurant. Made with fresh chile, roasted on site, it is rich with plenty of vitamin C and the 'heat' from the chile's capsaicin will clear stuffy sinuses with ease.

My Nephew's Las Cruces Wedding

abqlady2 — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:27:48 GMT

My sister Margo and I went down to Las Cruces for our nephew Dustin's wedding. It was a sweet formal, small-town family wedding at Trinity Lutheran Church with the reception held in the church's activities hall. I got teary-eyed at the wedding, proud for my nephew who's worked so hard to get his young life in order & on track. Parts of the reception tugged sentimentally, but the best part of the reception, one that made me grin was when the 3 & 4 year old kids got out on the dance floor!

So I Sent A Letter ...

abqlady2 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:11:06 GMT

So I sent a letter today out to the people in my mailing list... bcc'ed the thing to make sure people didn't get their addresses spread around and harvested by bots.

The content was:

"Ok, I'm at it again in support of Health Care Reform. I thought this article from Guernica was worth reading and passing along. In it, a former Cigna executive discusses his change of heart toward the current health insurance industry and why. I copy and pasted before sending this off to keep your address off external mailing lists.

Health care reform is necessary for all of us. Ensuring that it takes place is, in my opinion, a moral matter -- that we take care of each other and the least of us. When hospitals dump sick, poor people on the streets because they don't have insurance as has happened in cities around the country, it is an obscenity. Our history lessons used to teach that a country is judged by how well it takes care of it's poor and infirm. We're not doing so good in that department.

I was born in an era when America's infant mortality rate was among the lowest in the world. In my lifetime, our infant mortality rate has become as bad as many third world countries. According to the CDC ( http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db09.htm

) we rank 29th. We used to rank 12th. That kind of drop is an obscenity!

After 30 years of watching the quality of life decline as people have become increasingly unable to afford decent health care, I have become willing to do whatever it takes to help health care reform -- including paying higher taxes and taking my anger to the streets.

Just more of my .02

Hugs to you all!
Morgan

From http://www.guernicamag.com/spotlight/1207/the_last_temptation_of_wendell/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_content=357400770&utm_campaign=Guernica%20Magazine:%20August:%20Health%20Insurance%20Blues,%20White%20Canvas%20House%20_%20ktduut&utm_term=The%20__%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20Last%20Temptation%20of%20Wendell%20Potter

Sicko

abqlady2 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:16:14 GMT

After seeing Michael Moore's "Sicko" last night, I felt sick and betrayed by our government and insurance industry all over again and any moral person would feel the same. I found myself wishing I had enough money to send a copy of "Sicko" to every American household for people to watch. So, in lieu of that and after a little googling:

If you get TMC (The Movie Channel) I just found out "Sicko" is airing soon with repeat airings

"On The Movie Channel: 09/02/09 at 3:05 AM
On The Movie Channel: 09/10/09 at 7:15 AM
On The Movie Channel: 09/10/09 at 4:00 PM"

Invite your friends and neighbors to join you! Oh, and this interview oughta be read as a follow up.