Zombie Babies in Seattle and Calling Dead Aunts!

Top photo, a yard in Seattle--freaks me out. A friend carved that gourd...this is why I will stay home and do something normal, like wait for my dead aunt's spirit to talk to me.

HAPPY HOLLOWEENIES ALL!!!!!!!!

Her Angle: IMMIGRANTS BAD, SHOCK AWE GOOD

A confident-sounding Angle, locked in a tight race with Majority Leader Harry Reid, predicted "there is going to be shock and awe in Washington" on Nov. 3, the day after the election.
"We need to take back our economy," she said. "It's our government and it's our money."

I would ask Ms. Angle to define "our." The Nevada ugliness is beyond insane. When a child asks, "What are immigrants?" Do you think Ms. Angle will speak of her ancestors? Or does she claim to be a Native American?

What is this flood of entitlement so many anti-freedoms, anti-choicers, believe they are due? They have defined "We" in We the people, to mean "Us."

Ms. Angle, *I* am a part of "our" economy, "our" government, and I find your ideas sickening. You must have just loved the shock and awe of GW Bush's senseless attack on Iraq---that alone is enough for me to say that YOU have NOTHING to do with me and show NO DESIRE to know me or what I what. Good Luck, Nevada.

Fraud in Seattle. Woman with MS a Victim.

Yes, I was summoned to jury duty. I had to get a letter from my neurologist, explaining why I can't serve. I really wanted to say: "I have been to your minimally compliant restrooms and I am too disabled to use them."

Yes, I was one of many in Seattle who had their charge cards, "compromised." I had to call my financial institution who gave me an 800 number to call for "fraud." The man there was very confused about what he should do and after 30 minutes he transferred me (and politely gave me the number, "in case I disconnect you,") then , yes, I was disconnected. FYI: I worked in a call center for 18 years and ",,,in case I disconnect you," is short for, "bye, sucker."

After dialing the 800 number from the man who told me, in his heavy Indian accent, that he was in the Philippines (yes, I asked. Yes, I always ask.) the phone was answered by, yes, my financial institution that I had initially dialed. And yes, I spoke again to the same woman.

After being given no choice but to close my account, I was informed I could not get a new card for 7-10 business days. YIKES I advised the nice girl (Yes, I am that old--all feminist and calling younger than me women "girls.") that I am disabled and basically home bound and use my card for groceries, El Nina, Pinta and Santa Claus is coming--big storm---I am out of TP and Kleenex. "I need it faster than that." "Sorry, ma'me, (Karma is a bitch) no exceptions."

Yes, I played the ADA, person with a disability, 25 year customer, give me your supervisor--card; yes, the credit card went out in the mail that day.

Along the line, some 20-something had the nerve to say, "Do you order much over the Internet?" (Sloppy attempt to blame the victim.) I have a sense of humor. I see humor in almost everything and I like sharing my worldview. But, I am a hard read when not in person. I get that, not that it stops me, and yes, it does get me in hot tea sometimes, so I really do check myself A LOT. Yes, I simply replied..."yes."

Obama Care: He Cares to Get the Job DONE

We thwarted a terrorist attack today. Now I ask those of you ready to push out the Democrats and fill up on Republicans, so that every step Obama makes will be contested, taking his time away from the important job the majority of us hired him to do----REALLY? You REALLY want to do that NOW? Our stock market is hitting highs, our retirement plans are becoming solid again, small businesses are getting financial assistance up the wazoo, health care for everyone is on the verge of being a reality, a GIVEN, gay Americans are about to sit down at the table and EAT, our ally countries LIKE us again---REALLY? You want to stop the flow of success NOW?

Well, I hope you can sleep soundly at night if you throw a wrench in now.

Trees in Transition, Why Not People Too?

Trees on the University of Washington campus, "changing color." The weather experts are predicting a horribly harsh winter, snow and all, for Seattle. Every snowy winter I have lived here, it is always a political issue as our trains. planes, cars, buses, slide and crash to a halt. Power goes out. Citizens call for the head of the mayor. Repeat and rinse. Each year the mayor will vow: "Never again," and "Lessons learned!" HA! Watch it in a month: rinse and REPEAT.

Coming from the Midwest, I find it humorous. If *I* were mayor, I'd bring in a Midwesterner consultant every October to get things in order. I mean just look at those trees. Seattle has no clue what real COLOR is! And snow confuses Seattle, where umbrellas are sold out for SNOW! Fun to watch each year. Sometimes I wonder how all the states stay so united, well, maybe not this year.

My great grandfather who struggled over from the Ireland famine, to buy land, farm, raise children who did the same and raised THEIR children, sent them off to college to wars and college to become business owners, pharmacists, teachers, executives, writers, ambassadors, must be rolling over in his grave---what with all the fights over those darn immigrants trying to take our jobs and have the children here, put then through college, HOW DARE THEY?

Leaves will change their color as they age and die.
Why is it so difficult for people to change?
Must we age and die to become anew?
The South shall rise again, many dream.
Can't they accept that season's scheme
To show us how gracefully we all can change?
Too bad the lesson is learned by so few.

Cemetery Time in a Prairie Grove and Crystal Ball

Halloween fast approaches, above is photo of cemetery in Ft. Wayne, IN, "Prairie Grove" (the name says it all) where many of my ancestors are buried, including my Great Aunt Violet. Her death date has now been completed and I found a cousin, who used to hang out with me at the cemetery, confirm that indeed her death date once had the "19" engraved. FINALLY! I knew I had to find SOMEONE who remembered. Now the remaining mystery is who changed it and how could an "expert" swear no such engraving/removal was "possible?"

The top photo is my cousin standing at a grave. I will post one of me too. We felt a oneness with the dead there. Before I connected (FOUND) this cousin, I had Aunt Vi's crystal ball, now it is his and I know it is exactly where it is supposed to be. He also has the ESP gift, and we once called spirits into a table that moved across a room! My joy was great at having found him again, as naysayers were making me doubt myself. (I MUST get over that!)

How did we find each other? Through Aunt Vi---he signed her obit online registry and I left my email address for him, the rest is history and we pledge to never be separated again. Aunt Vi loved him dearly and worried about his whereabouts over the years. While she suffered through lonely days at the nursing home and the struggles of daily living activities in her apt. with my mom, HE lived MINUTES from both places. HE would have been there for her. How strange life is.

Now all is as it should be. At least in this regard.



Aunt Vi has paid him a visit, though none to me. Maybe Seattle is too far. Maybe my MS prevents it. Regardless, she is with me in other ways, always.

Copaxone Tools of the MS Trade

This was my daily moment of multiple sclerosis, every day for 7 years. Wipe the area with alcohol, fill the syringe to appropriate line, tap out any bubbles, pinch skin, poke needle in, slowly press Copaxone into body, pull out needle, cover with cotton ball, press down for a minute, sigh, wrap up all but syring, throw away used stuff and place syring in empty laundry detergent plastic container. Over and over, 2,555 times. (Not counting skipped days and re-do's)

Much like being a cop: mostly boring mixed with an ounce of sheer terror. Yes, I am the 10% who get the "immediate post injection reaction," lucky me. Never had a heart attack, but until I do, I'll say it feels like one. Your body screams "DOOM" while you can't move a muscle or speak. Others have described it differently, but that was my experience. My ENTIRE body was Bozo nose RED and HOT as fire. 9-1-1 was called, movie star-good looking medics (male and female) arrived, I started to cool down as they were still freaking out, my neurologist was paged in his car and he calmed them down so they agreed to not take me to ER. I had the thought that it could all be that "reaction" mentioned on the "side effects" and discusssed by my doc. He was a researcher in the first Copaxone (then called COP I, followed by COP II), and to this day no one knows WHY that reaction happens or even WHAT the body is experiencing. (FYI--just now while writing about it I had an idea what it might be! Will post it out after more thought.)

In the first years I used to place a cold pack over the area to reduce swelling, but after a few years I didn't notice swelling anymore. The skin indentions I was told would go away never did, and in the last couple of years they have advised that those are permanent. The more fat you have the more indention you will get---WHICH I loved under my arms! Took that flab left over from childhood obesity right away! But on my leg, not too cool looking--oh, well, another "life scar." Big deal.

Nice thing about Secondary Progressive MS (SPMS)--no drug drama, no drugs out there for us. No needle bubble worries, no spouse anxiety, no trying to find a body spot that had enough skin left to pinch.

Notice there are two needles/bottles in photo, Copaxone tried a cheaper, larger needle, it actually hurt and was harder to push in; oh, they denied it, until enough MSers complained or enough pharmacists and doctors got tired of shilling for them, and they went back to the thin ones. Yeah, Teva--the good guys, right.

Did it help me? Who knows? NOBODY. My gut tells me I am at the exact same place I would have been had I never taken it and just stuck with Solu-medrol for relapses. (They didn't used to hyphenate that drug...riddle me that.)

The invisible tool here is faith, and I had it, but did it have me?

Smokey the Bear Attacked by Dog 1963 Indiana

Canadians, and maybe others, call those creatures around me, "plushies." There were no kids my age in my 'hood; my brothers were 7 & 8 years older than me, so I had a lot of plushies with names and they talked quite a bit.
Here Aunt Vi is with me. I am 6 and she is 56. The dog on the chair top is hers. The big rabbit had wires in its ears that poked out, so he had a short life. The smaller bunny cost about a dime and had a pea brain. On my hand was the coolest hand puppet EVER! I don't think I had another. It was so easily manipulated into human expressions, so it died of over-use. The Smokey the Bear had a badge and hat and lived into his 40s, maybe still lives today.

My dog got him and chewed him like a licorice stick, then Aunt Vi washed him, not a handsome ranger by then. He was so huggable though that I wrapped him up, boxed him up. took him with me through life in several states and when his story became known at my job, well, they wanted to see him.

Of course my co-workers fell in love with him and I decided to dump him, bit one woman said she knew a guy who knew a guy and Smokey could be fixed up. I relinquished custody. She and I then had a fight. I again relinquished custody of that friendship. Smokey may be around somewhere.

Notice my girlish posture and attire, and don't miss Aunt Violet's violet slippers. As usual, Ivah her longtime companion, took and noted names/dates on the photo.

Talking Dog in Radio Special Red Wagon 1943

This is a photo of Aunt Violet's beloved dog, Zippy. She told many stories about Zippy and all her family members confirmed them. The most intriguing to me, as a child on her lap, was that Zippy talked. In the many photos she sent to me after she reached her mid-nineties, there was Zippy.
I thought about him when my own ( my family unit's--Mom, two brothers) German Shepherd, Wolf, one day said in English, "Hurry up, Mother." Mom was getting a basket of laundry together to take outside and Wolf was anxious to go out. He had heard me say, "Hurry up, Mother," many times.

So when I hear of other dogs "speaking," I think little of it.

Check out that red wagon!

Help Police Help Themselves--Native American Dies for NO Good Reason in Seattle

Remember the Seattle Native American man who was shot IN THE BACK by police after he stood to walk away with his knife used for whittling totem poles? He was a well-known Seattle artist who sold his works on the Seattle waterfront and around town.

Well, finally justice is served and the police internal investigation (aided by eyewitness reports that the man was doing nothing but sitting on the sidewalk of an empty street whittling, then we he walked away an officer shot him in the back, killing him.) and a review of the shooting determined that officer Ian Birk was not justified in his actions in its preliminary findings.

Little consolation to all those who loved him and cherished his art work, but yesterday there was a large protest held by citizens concerned about police brutality. Yes, we need police. Yes, they have a difficult job, but ask a cop and he/she will tell you they love their job. We citizens have a duty to help them by stopping the bad cops. Yes, the police dept. should be weeding them out, but when they fail, them we must make a citizen's arrest.

Attack of Two Muslim Women in Religious Garb

Two Muslim women, wearing (using Juan Wiliams, the new reporter for FOX News, words,) their religious garb, were attacked at a Tukwila, Washington gas station yesterday. The female attacker was shouting that the women were terrorists and, "Go back to your own home!" Read the story here.

The youngest woman was crying hysterically and "scared to death," her aunt's leg was slammed in her car door by the attacker. "I was BORN here! This IS my home."

When police arrested the suspect, she had a record including "indecent exposure."

The average American still seems to connect Muslims with the terrorists from 9-11.

Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal, Fareed Zakaria, Iman, and Rima Fakih (Miss U.S.A 2010) are among just a few Muslim Americans who many idolize. Should we fear them now? Or are they okay in basketball uniforms and suits only?

Can't you see the terrorist will continue to terrorize us as long as we allow it? Many people who lived through WWII still do not trust Germans and they pass that hatred on to their children. The fear of gay people makes attacks just another day -in-the-life. It allows jokes. Fear spreads like a cold. It is long overdue that we start washing our hands.

Fear and hate also prey on the mentally unstable and attacks for all the wrong reasons easily begin. In a bad economy, when we all should band together, instead we are seeking out someone to blame who we can hurt. Don't look to Obama or Fox News to ease your fears--look into your heart and remember we ARE WE THE PEOPLE. Let us act as one and root out the true terrorists among us. Let us root out TERROR.

PS--all I saw on TV were two women with head scarfs. Look out grannies everywhere!

NPR Fires Juan Williams Take Survey

Take Survey on side bar and tell what you think in this posts comment section.

FROM TIME ON LINE:
Ex-Guvs excoriate radio outlet over political analyst’s ouster.
Palin Twitter:
"NPR defends 1st Amendment Right, but will fire u if u exercise it. Juan Williams: u got taste of Left's hypocrisy,they screwed up firing you"
Huckabee Statement:
"NPR has fired Juan Williams as a result of comments he recently made on The Bill O'Reilly show. The comments were his personal admission that while he is certainly not a bigot, he said he was nervous when someone in Muslim garb and spouting Muslim doctrine got on an airplane on which he was a passenger. I know Juan and am proud to be a colleague of his as a fellow Fox News contributor. There isn't a more honest and fair-minded person in journalism. He is refreshingly honest and candid and unusually objective when it comes to analyzing the events in the news.
"NPR has discredited itself as a forum for free speech and a protection of the First Amendment rights of all and has solidified itself as the purveyor of politically correct pabulum and protector of views that lean left.
"While I have often enjoyed appearing on NPR programs and have been treated fairly and objectively, I will no longer accept interview requests from NPR as long as they are going to practice a form of censorship, and since NPR is funded with public funds, it IS a form of censorship. It is time for the taxpayers to start making cuts to federal spending, and I encourage the new Congress to start with NPR."

Instant Polaroid, Instant Lives, Antiques Galore

This is why I stay on Facebook. It is how the newer generation communicates. I still remember when an "Instant Polaroid" was the latest, greatest thing. Aunt Vi just had to have one. She taught me to stay involved with younger generations, don't be afraid to try new things; I'm sure at 50 she would have had an iPad and a Facebook account. My photo albums are antiques.

Mother's Alzheimer's Descartes Moment with Kid

Spoke to my mom today. She has never sounded better since she was moved into the Alzheimer's Unit. There is a TV there and she was sitting in the social room when I called.

Mom: Hello?

Diane: MOTHER! (She laughs. I'm in!)

M: Hello.

D: How are you?

M: Fine, how are YOU?

D: I'm okay. What's new?

M: Oh, nothing, what's new with you?

D: Nothing. (pause and then we both laugh) We're both pretty boring, aren't we?

M: I suppose so. (her answers, her phases, same as far back as I can remember)

D: Do they have a TV there?

M: Do they have fish?

D: T V ?

M: Oh. Yes. It's on most of the time. I was just dozing in the TV room when they told me I had a PHONE call. (she laughs)

D: Do you get Gunsmoke out there? We get it here now.

M: I always liked that. But, I think it's all reruns.

D: Oh, yes. Pretty sure all the actors are dead by now. (We laugh)

M: Yes, I suppose so.

D: Do you know who this is?

M: What?

D: Who am I?

M: Who ARE you?! (She acts like I'm crazy to ask.)

D: Yes.

M: Diane! Who do YOU think you are? (She just cracked herself up. AND totally deadpan. Descartes lives!)

D: Ok, ok, just checking. Well you sure sound great.

M: So do you.

D: Isn't it funny we are both in wheel chairs?

M: (she turns serious and pensive) Yes, it sure is.

D: Well, you always said we were just alike! You used to hold me up to a mirror when I was a toddler and say, "You look just like your mother!"

M: (laughs) Do you still?

D: Yes, everyone says that when they see me.

M: Brown hair?

D: With gray, yes.

M: Brown eyes?

D: Yes, and big bushy eyebrows. But I'm a little taller than you.
M: yes. Well it sure was nice to talk to you.

D: Ok, talk to you later.

M: Okay, bye.

D: Bye.

CLICK

Bad Seeds in Every Family

My beloved Aunt Violet died a month ago at age 103. Much has happened with my family and me since then. Her force of matriarchy is strong among the living. In the photo above, Aunt Vi is sitting next to the woman speaking, intently watching. Her light is shining on the good and bad in her family.

Aunt Vi worked hard to get family members on the path of "doing good." When they strayed, she spoke harshly about them and to them, but she often started with the person's parent, if they were alive. She believed she should not parent the ne'er-do-wells, but she certainly wanted their parents to step up. And she would not let go of a bad deed (like beating a child). Like an angry pit pull, she would latch on and nag, nag, nag, until SOMETHING usually happened.

I don't remember her ever nagging me. I usually agreed with what she was worked up about. Why SHOULD she have to pray at every meal, if she didn't believe it was necessary? Why SHOULD she have to eat burnt toast? My mother WAS driving very dangerously near the end of their time together. A mother who beats her child SHOULD be punished and not allowed to take in foster kids. While I argued with her on several issues, mostly we saw eye to eye.

But what to do with a relative who destroys their family with lies, adultery, and plain old nastiness?

We all have one, you know, that seed that grew and branched off into rot, and those who gather around the bad seed turn rotten themselves. Now, I love my family. Though I only know the maternal side, it is a side I am very proud to be a branch of. We are a family of hard working, family loving, fair and open-minded people. There are owners of large companies, diplomats, well educated and just nice to be around people who would extend a hand to a stranger in need. We are factory workers, civil servants, quarry and restaurant owners, active church members, animal lovers. And then there is the bad seed. Most of the family I mention above, simply stays away from the bad seed and any leaves that hang around their branch. I feel sorry though for all those leaves. Like a bad apple, the apples that stay around will soon be devoured by worms too and rot out.

I did what my mother did: I distanced myself from that family member as much as possible. But what about those she hurt? How do you comfort them without inciting more abuse? I tried to take them away from the bully. Go to a movie, get a pizza, have fun. The time always came though when I had to drop them back at their house.

Teachers must go through the same emotions with children in their classes who are abused at home. No matter how much kindness you offer, you know they go back each day's end, to Hell.
Aunt Vi believed that if she stayed in their life as much as possible, then at least they had somewhere to run to.

Children grow up to love the parents that beat them...sometimes. More often they pretend to love as a survival technique learned long ago. Others refuse to pretend and may one day confront the abuser, the liar, the denier. Adults think they have that power over children; they think no one will believe a child over an adult. That is why Priests do such damage. Who will believe a child? I will answer that question.

Other children who witnessed the abuse not only believe, they witnessed. They told adults who didn't stop it. I hope times have changed. I hope adults today find a way to stop childhood physical abuse. If we do not validate, believe when a child "tells," then we are a part of the abuse cycle. We become another spoke in the wheel.

Aunt Vi did all she could to keep her family whole and happy, but some members were lost souls.
I give her credit for believing all her nieces and nephews, even when she didn't want to.
And don't think at least one didn't take advantage of her unwavering devotion, almost driving Aunt Vi to bankruptcy. But what of the witnesses? Do we, four decades later, continue to just keep our distance? We now are the adult. When the bad seed continues to spread rot, do we continue to distance ourselves? Why did I have to get that "memory" gene from Aunt Vi? Every letter I have picked at random from the bags of her letters, mentions the bad seed. Yes, my peeps, my blog followers, you know this weighs on me.

Yes, there are bad seeds in every family. I keep my distance. What do YOU do?

Political Fear Tactics Work on Mr. Potato Head

Finally got to vote today! Even if you are disabled you have no excuse not to vote: absentee ballot, baby!

The attack ads have been horrible here in Washington State. I hate that my Senator Patty Murray had to sink to her Republican opponents level. Her ads were still more truthful and less mean-spirited, but they all had to follow the drug company (and MOST dangerous ads) technique of following the law as little as possible, without breaking it.

You know what I mean, tiny-weenie, print, that is located at bottom of ad or speeds past, anything that prevents us from actually READING it. They love putting big quotes up (out of ANY context, of course) and in tiny print at bottom is date of quote--some a decade old.

And they choose the most unflattering photo they can--just mean. Supposedly Independents have a lot of clout this election. Good. They tend to weigh the facts more.

Wouldn't it be fun to see an ad that simply states the candidate's opinion on hot issues, and ends with "Thank you for researching the candidates. I will support your decision. I hope you support me." Something like that. Yeah, that is what I would do.

We also have a few initiatives to vote on. One puts a tax on candy and bottled water. The taxes would help keep out ragged recession struggling social services afloat. I don't know why anyone would be against this tax. A few pennies to save services for children and the poor among us. Have we become so greedy and selfish? Our state, like many others, is hurting and cuts are broad. The opposition ads scream, "Tax on food!" Really? I think we can live without candy and bottled water. Food is meat, bread, vegetables. GIMME A BREAK. Then they use the anti-gay tactic: If we let them tax THIS next it will be BABY FOOD! (Havent heard of gay goat sex in those states that allow gay marriage, have you? Yet, this logic makes some convoluted sense to many people.) Fear. Fear has made many a decent man turn into a non-thinking potato. And fear goes goose-stepping with politics. So very sad.

Tofu for Senior Citizens and People with Disabilities

See, if you just try, you never know what you might accomplish. My retirement home now has a VEGETARIAN MENU!!!!! Note the plate of lightly cooked tofu with rice, green beans, and I had a banana for desert! Now TELL me that is not more appetizing than the McDoanld's fare.

To Conquer MS Don't Waver

Three hours for the dust to settle, said the last miner rescued yesterday. He also said the hardest part was that moment and they looked around to see nothing but solid rock.

Maybe the next time we go through hard times, we will remember the experience of those miners. They survived by holding tight to faith and hope. Now, we can debate where faith and hope live within humankind, but its existence is not questionable. Will having faith and hope ensure your grace, your success? No, many of deep faith are dealt a deadly blow every day. But, was their life made more valuable? Those miners could easily have died. Yet, their spirits would have been singing Elvis songs and believing in miracles to their last breath.

My challenge right now, my personal little caved-in mine, is multiple sclerosis. Some days all I see is rock. Those days pass quickly, because I believe in those "out there" who work every day to find a cure and new therapies. And I am planning my trip up. Calculating all the possibilities, rooting out the snake oil sellers, seeking help, making progress one toe at a time.

If this blog serves any purpose, I hope it is showing those of you with MS that you must believe in yourself. You must not let MS define you. Keep living, keep being involved in politics, your family, laugh, love; stay active in a hobby or cause. Don't blame every stumble on MS. Educate yourself about your disease. Plan your finances. MS is usually progressive, so don't be so shocked when you need a cane, a walker, a wheel chair, a power chair. Don't hide from the truth. Face it bravely with resolve and faith that you will survive.

Today great advances were announced in stem cell therapy on spinal chord injuries. Who didn't think of Christopher Reeve when you heard? He was right. His time just ran out. But his belief that he would walk again never wavered. His time just ran out. I thought he was crazy to keep saying how he would walk one day. But now I realize he was teaching us a lesson in the power of faith. If he had felt hopeless, would he have fought so hard for what is now so near?

MS has trapped me for over 20 years, and my time may also "run out," but I am determined that my belief that I will walk again---never will.

Congratulations Chileans! I hope miners in the USA will have as much support from NASA and fellow countrymen as you did. I hope many lessons were learned.

Bing, Face Book, After My Contacts and SOUL

So now Microsoft's Bing search engine is joining with FaceBook to gather user data. It was only a matter of time. If you are okay with that and Google will likely follow soon, then no problem.



I am NOT happy with that. You know the expression "why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" Well, companies PAY for marketing data from people. Pay ME, Face Book and Microsoft for my information and I will consider it. (No thanks, there--considered.)

My family and friends are now also exposed thanks to me. YUCK.

Will wait for MY bill and then decide how far to bury you. Young men turned into moguls. Your welcome.

Miners Rescue. Heroes All

33 A L L S A F E !!!!!!!!!!!

Trapped Miners in MRI Like Tube. EXHALE

When was the last time you watched TV news for hours and cried tears of joy? Felt so strange, people from different countries forming a force for good not destruction. Okay, one guy requested his mistress AND wife greet him after he was pulled up from the rock hole, but, the best drama here was of people pulling together and showing our deep desire to value all and any human life.

I didn't understand the whole fear of the miners feeling anxiety in the tube. They are MINERS. Many of us with MS have been in MRIs much longer. I also don't understand bring up the strongest first. They want to know the strong can withstand any glitches, but the more the equipment is used---don't glitches become more possible? Well, I trust the experts on scene. And hats off to all involved in this amazing rescue.

My partner has a family history of Pennsylvania miners, all who died from black lung. The hardest job I can imagine and they do it for love--they love their families and want to provide for them, even if it means risking death every day in a dark, dirty, underground rock office. Family drives these men. How heroic is that?!

Chile rocks! The miners held strong to their faith, shaved, washed, really dressed up for the event! What American, trapped in a mine, would request soap and shaving products? (Yeah, I can think of jokes too, but just doesn't feel right.)

I stayed up past midnight, watching. At first I thought all the cameras were horribly intrusive, until I saw the success and desire of the people of that small mining town to show the world what a proud people they are. It is not over and no one can relax until number 33 is out, but watching these people work together, men and women, each one concentrating with all they have on one trapped man at a time---what a nice break from political ad lies and lost jobs, car bomb attacks, just for a day I can focus with all *I* have on rescuing one human life at a time.

Exhaling is good.

Can't Redecorate Multiple Sclerosis. Cut Backs

In process of redecorating. Ugh. Looking for new, smaller couch, have sold beloved orange leather couch, well, saddle orange, and new smaller rug delivered yesterday. It has no backing. DRAT. We swear it said "non-skid," oh well. Now must wait on rug pad. Hate not being able to hop in car, shop, return in an hour. MS makes EVERYTHING slower. Have to wait weeks for postage stamps. I hate the MS-pace. My caregivers feel I rush them--too bad.

Can't get into BINGO. I feel the need for speed! May buy iPAD or Blueberry.
Yeah, I said it.

My brain races. But the horses can't get out of the gate. DRAT
Stood really good today. This rebuilding is so slow, but I accept that because the positive outcome will be worth the wait. A couch is, well, just a couch.

Just heard my Social Security won't be raised again AGAIN next year. Swell. Rent will go up. Food, loo paper, cable rates, all will rise in cost. Am ending my daily Starbucks. Sigh and DRAT. Probably end NY Times subscription. Each year I cut back, where does it end? I need new glasses and have for TWO years. $$$ I have 5 shirts. 2 pairs of shoes. 10 baseball hats. (One is 20+ years old, don't judge.) Where did my middle class life go? I would give it ALL up to walk again, feel again, stand alone again, type with both hands...DRAT.

Does MS Effect ESP? Big Toe Drama in Seattle

So Aunt Vi has been dead a few weeks now. I have had no visit from her and I'm a little pissed off. Could it be my MS brain? I felt sure I lost some ESP during the first years...

Apparently she has connected with another cousin. Fair enough.

This just can't be the end though. Family tradition and all. Right? Right? Hmmm

I haven't tried to "reach her" and maybe she is giving me my space. Yeah, that's it.

Feels like another death though. Something MS has taken from me. OH! On that note:
Yesterday my left big toe MOVED! Not just a spastic flick either---I actually CONTROLLED it! Awesome. I am showing everyone who comes in, "Look at my big toe!" (yes, they think I'm crazy, but my partner cried.)

A new exercise is paying off too. I have taken the squeezing beach ball between legs to doing that while standing! It keeps my knees from bearing too much weight and strengthens my thighs at same time. I am standing longer---FINALLY! See, I told you this would take time.

But, just think if I had given up or like my many physical therapists, just decided there was no possibility of improvement, only hopes of keeping me from dwindling? INSANE. Our brains can change, learn, grow, rebuild--plasticity, baby! Nerves can reroute, maybe signals can push past or over scarred areas. Who knows!? No "expert" knows. I am as much an expert in MS as they are. At least in MY MS.

Okay, I have to stop, the Seattle sun (yes, you heard me right) is so bright I can't see my computer screen. (I have placed a pair of plaid boxers over half my head, so one eye can see the keys. Good luck reading this, but I haven't posted in so long...)

Sequence Game Brings Friends with MS and HD Together

This is Mary and me in the bistro, getting ready to play the board game, Sequence. Mary is a few years older than me. We are in a group of about five, who are in our fifties at the retirement community here. Mary has Huntington's Disease, HD. Her father died from HD and Mary watched. We talk a lot lately about our fears for the future. Mary is progressing more rapidly lately, and is going to move into a more advanced assisted living facility. She is scared. Money worries plague us both. I am scared for her and although I tell her how nice most of the facilities in the area are, I also know how lonely and scary they can be. Even though I knew when I met her that our friendship could not last long, it has been extremely rich and inspiring.

Mary has always had a great attitude about her disease. There is no cure and as she once told me: She can be kept alive a few years longer by a feeding tube, but those are not quality years.

Mary always had a smile for me, laughed heartily during our games, and enjoyed talking about art, NPR, nutrition, and documentaries---we had much in common. She asked about MS. I asked about HD. Like I say, we had much in common. These chronic, progressive diseases that hit us in our younger years, they are a bond that few can understand, unless they too carry the fears of a loss of quality of life.

We go on. We make friends, play games, share feelings, and laugh as much as we can. Mary and I are both cancer survivors too. We will miss each other.



***SEQUENCE: You are dealt 6 cards and lay one down that matches a square on the board, place a chip on that square, draw a new card and play continues until you have a sequence of 5 in a row. You must play offense and defense and with four people you play with a partner. I like games where you can talk as you play.

Board Games and Friends

Here are two of the Viewpointe staff. They have been married 42 years. Two of my favorite people here and a great couple. We get together about once a week to play a board game. They have a boat docked at our nearby lake, where they spend the weekends. Both of their kids live in Seattle and they hail from Wisconsin. I love just spending time chatting with them. Good people.

Seems board games have played a big part in my life, starting with Candy Land. Then Yahtzee for hours with my cousin who was 40 some years older than me. Monopoly was my favorite, followed by Clue. Good times.

Did you have a favorite board game?

Mother and Daughter Dreams

My mom, at top, dreamed of having a daughter (me at bottom, same age as Mom in photo) she could dress up in pink, curl her hair, but she got me. She dreamed of being a happily married woman, but she married an adulterer and they divorced. She dreamed of a cute, little house of her own, but she had one for just a year.

I have never been much of a dreamer. I plan. I set goals. I attempt to reach my goals. But I have never been my mother who always had a distant look in her eye---chasing some dream. Now she just stares and I wonder if she dreams.

She didn't get the daughter she dreamed of, but I kept her laughing during dark days and I keep her laughing still. Mom, that was the best I could do.

Speech at Funerals Against Gays and Fathers

A friend called me the other day, very upset about recent reports of attacks on gays. I thought I could not be shocked by anti-gay attacks. Gay bashing used to be a daily party event among teens and drunken young men. But, all this protesting at funerals, grave sites, "I feel sorry that he was a soldier but God has to send gays to Hell. He shouldn't have been a homosexual."

Now the debate moves to, do they have the right to speak (I heard shouting, but whatever) out like this? Freedom of speech and all. Well, of course they do have freedom of speech. I would find their message more powerful if they, oh, like the girl who walked up to police with rifles pointed at her in the '60s (we knew how to protest) and placed a flower in the barrel; but THAT took real courage. (uh-hem)

Oh, I am mad about it all, sure, just like I get made when the KKK parade around and both are backed by the ACLU. But I back the ACLU, and here is what my friend is missing--these displays of ignorance and heartlessness (it IS a word NOW!) prove a point for gay people everywhere. The LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender--we have GOT to get one single word, Larry King was tripping over it and I find myself fighting to remember the letter's order) community is under attack. They suffer from discrimination, intimidation, and certain religions are forcing their beliefs down their throats.

So, now society moves from thinking about gay attacks to freedoms VS freedoms. What happens when they are contradicting? We try to placate everybody, and you know how THAT turns out! Finally anger and screaming is replaced by calm discourse. Minds prevail over emotions and we all move out of the media range, to be forgotten until the next blow-up.

Yes, I have a blog that deals with many health issues, so I lean toward spending all that energy in searching for cures, ways to make us live longer, healthier and happier lives, regardless of our beliefs. But, I guess this is the price we pay for living in a free country with selfish people next door to compassionate people, those who embrace next to those who play jury and judge.

Funerals seem religious to me, at least all the ones I have been to. I'm not saying one freedom trumps another, but I go with YOUR freedom stops at MY nose. You strike out at me and hit me, then you just lost your freedom. Freedoms carry responsibility with them or they are meaningless. You may be free to carry a gun, but if you are drunk at a child's birthday party? When you hide behind our freedoms just to hurt others, then you are not allowing freedom to others.

These recent event against gays just highlights the cruelty that is out there, usually hidden behind doors. Many will now see why kids still bully kids thought to be gay and why marriage between all couples is not legal. Many will see why a store refused service to a gay couple. Many will hopefully understand why gay people keep saying they are oppressed. (Too many people think things have changed for us and all is well--NOT.) The media attention of these continued and expanding displays of open hatred will help us. I think most people don't want to live in a country that only gives freedom to certain people. And I don't think we want to see attackers being attacked, eyes for eyes, they did that so we will do this. (Just look at all the negative political ads out there right now--UGH.)

When I was a kid, my cousin's husband died. At the funeral the minister stands up next to coffin, speaks the usual things they have been given by the grieving family members, and then he says, "It is too bad that he never asked for God's forgiveness for all the cruel things he did in his life and will spend eternity in Hell." WELL, the crying widow in the first row comes unglued and the rest of us sit in shock! Yes, a bitter daughter had the minister day that. She sat with a grin on her face. I looked at her. I knew it had to be her. Hard to know who to feel sorrier for--the widow or the mentally ill daughter.

Freedom of speech. Very enlightening. Very powerful . Can hurt or heal.

MS Word of the Day: BEDRIDDEN

Bedridden means confined to bed due to illness, injury, or disability. It means you can not stand on your own and are unable to get out of bed on your own. It can have deadly complications like bed sores that become infected, a lowering of metabolic rate, a weak heart, osteoporosis, muscles atrophy, and depression, to name a few. That is why it is so important to keep moving whatever body part you can when you have multiple sclerosis. Even if you become bedridden, and that would be rare under a good doctor's supervision, a caregiver or relative/friend can move your limbs for you (called ROMs Range Of Motion) and sit you up, roll you hourly, and keep you moving as best they can. Depression and boredom are always considerations. The bedridden MS person who lives at my assisted living retirement place, has a cat. That cat is her lifeline.

Media Strikes Out at Gay Teen Suicides. Lance Bass, Ellen, Larry King,

Boy, the media really is all over the gay teen suicides. Maybe because so many in a short period of time. Hmmm. I have now watched many of the PSAs and YouTubeies, Larry King Live, and I think back to my own teen years.

There was a boy who lived a few blocks from me and went to my school, though I don't see him in any school photos...he was most certainly gay, played with dolls, liked dresses, whole nine yards. As I recall, the other kids just accepted him. He has several siblings. He was a really nice boy and I don't think I ever saw his parents.

Girls got to be Tom Boys and everyone just knew they would grow out of it at 13. I knew there was a gay girl in my elementary class, but she was cute and cute goes a long way. "Just needs to find the right man." I was fat and fat trumped gay, besides I crushed on a boy, so who knew? (I mean *I* knew I was "not like the others," but I really never had an issue, like I say, I got teased more for being fat.

In high school there were rumors about another girl and me. Once three cheer leaders types cornered me, alone in a locker hallway and started saying, she's a lezzie, blah blah blah, I just slammed my locker door and stared at them menacingly---they moved on. By then I was in Drama class though and the Drama kids were expected to be eccentric anyway. Plus I was in the uber smart kids classes, so it was only the lower IQ players that might have wanted to say things and I'm guessing they were intimidated a bit. My point is, I never was bullied. But I did consider suicide.

Unless you live in a big city or have super cool parents, you probably considered suicide at least once if you were gay. You didn't need to be bullied to feel the "This is it. It can't get better, because I can't change." I never had all the TV personalities, sports figures, that are "out" today. I thought it was cool for gay kids, today. Kick me NOW. Impossible as long as the fundamentalists roam our lives, the religions rule our thoughts, and gay people are prevented from having the same legal rights as everyone else.

Every time a conservative votes against gay rights, it is another pull at the noose around a gay teens neck. And let's not forget all the suicides by ADULT gay people. Every time, EVERY time, I hear of someone killing themselves, I think, "Gay." Where are the figures on THAT? And nobody has to be bullied. It is enough to feel unwanted and unloved for all your days. That is why gay actors come out slowly if at all, gay soldiers hide like hell, gay politicians marry and pretend until their secret is captured by police or gossip or cameras.

My point is, and I do have one, as my hero, Ellen Degeneres has said, these PSAs can only do so much. If a teen lives in a conservative, fundamentalist, right wing home---seriously? You think they can believe "things are going to get better?" The Rutgers student was a bright guy, he watched Ellen, saw how she regained her career, married, is loved by millions, but that is not HIS life. HIS life, whatever it was, with whoever was in his sphere, would hate him, and he didn't want to live with that. Hey, it can take just one person, a father or mother, a brother or best friend, to say, "YOU ARE GAY? SICK! Get out of here!" to make you just want to die. If the person you cared about most in the world told you that---well, hearing some TV actor say, "It gets better," becomes meaningless.

When Ellen came out, she received many letters from gay kids and adults, thanking her and saying, "You saved my life." I think what made her story meaningful to so many was how her mother reacted. Her mother spoke out of her love for Ellen and total acceptance. Now gay people in the Bible belt see only the appeals of gay rights, the marriages allowed only in SOME states, the unending fights just to BE. Has anyone noticed that some of the loudest mouths about how wrong being gay is, are later exposed as being gay themselves? Lance Bass the pop singer told Larry King that he used to bully kids too diffuse any ideas that HE was gay. (He was/is.) And so it goes.

Will there be more gay suicides? Yes. Will the attention now on gay teens help? Some. Can we come together as one family, loving and accepting our sexual differences? ______

Word Clouds--Why?

I don't really get the whole "word cloud" thing. But people have been telling me I should do it for YEARS now. There it is, yeah, right down there. What's the big deal? I made mine at http://www.wordle.net/gallery

Wordle Word Cloud. Dedicated to Palm Springs

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Giant Pumpkin Man's Passion, Size Matters

We have a fella here who raises Giant Pumpkins. Apparently it is a big event across the states--who knew? He decided for reasons known only to him, to name his entry this year, Diane. I could have told him that would be a big mistake. Somebody already has one pushing 1,000 lbs. (if I heard him right at lunch; his pumpkin is his big topic of interest, after I hear "My pumpkin..." I start to hear "blah blah blah blah and then it blah blah blah and the wet blah blah blah"-- I try I really do. But I did get that Diane got too soggy at her bottom (again, could have warned him) and she rotted out.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE pumpkins. I love the way they look, smell, taste, everything. I love cutting the top off and squishing into those seed and guts. How could we describe that feeling to an alien? (OK, stupid question; we couldn't describe much to aliens.) Just the whole contest and quest for the heaviest pumpkin goes over my head. But I DO love to see people who are passionate about such things that I never gave a thought to.

Visit his blog at http://giantpumpkinssunsoil.blogspot.com/ maybe you will get hooked.

Loving Couple in Retirement. Arthur and Lilia

Loving couples in a retirement community, is there anything sweeter than true love?

Arthur and Lilia Schwartz met in 1994 and married, Arthur says with a boyish grin, "After a respectable time," but he knew she was the one after he saw her dancing at a Seattle mixer. Their next date was at The Pike Place Market, where Arthur surprised with fresh sweet peas. In Seattle we know that flower well, the vending stalls overflow with their sweet aroma at the open market in the heart of Seattle.

But Lilia was from the Philippines where they do not grow sweet peas and she thought Arthur was offering her a vegetable, peas, as a romantic gesture. She thought that was odd, but by then she was also in love, and even when she quickly learned that her gift was beautiful flowers, it didn't matter. They became a couple and married Feb. 18, 1995.

Arthur, a Korean war vet with a degree in Engineering from U.C.L.A who worked in mines, and Lilia, a former live-in nanny and elementary school teacher, moved into a condo where they lived close to a decade before Arthur's health became more than Lilia could handle, along with caring for a home. Both have lived at The Viewpointe on Queen Anne for five years, along with their dog, Chloe, and the recent adoption of Max. It was love at first sight for Max and Chloe too.

They smile together, tease each other, worry about and care for the other when health issues arise, and the love twinkling in their eyes is unmistakable. "We were married by a Unitarian minister at a Chinese restaurant, " says Lilia as Arthur nods. "We had our reception there afterwards."

Their song? "I Just Called to Say I Love You," by Stevie Wonder, because that is what they would sing/say when Arthur called her at work and she him. A perfect example that it is never too late for lasting love.

"No Libra sun. No Halloween. No giving thanks to all the Christmas joy you bring.But what it is, though old, so new. To fill your heart like no three words could ever do.

I just called to say I love you. I just called to say how much I care, I do. I just called to say I love you. And I mean it from the bottom of my heart."

Liberals and Progressive Citizens FIGHT BACK

Washington (CNN) -- A coalition of liberal and progressive groups, including unions and civil rights activists, rallied in Washington Saturday to press for good jobs, immigration and education reform and to make a show of strength one month out from midterm elections.
The "One Nation Working Together" rally was held at the Lincoln Memorial, just five weeks after Tea Party enthusiasts met in Washington.
NAACP President Ben Jealous told CNN the "One Nation" movement is not "the alternative to the Tea Party, we're the antidote to the Tea Party."
Jealous said he welcomes Tea Party members, but takes issue with extremists in the movement who critics say harbor racist views. Still, Jealous says he invited a well-known conservative to speak at Saturday's rally. He refused to name the person, who did not address the group. It was not immediately clear why.
Jealous said the coalition of liberal organizations came together to offer a positive alternative to negative rhetoric, and to demand better education and more economic opportunities. The "One Nation" movement, he said, would rather see jobs for 99 percent of Americans instead of tax cuts for one percent of Americans.
"We want America to be something that represents every kind of diversity in this country," said Sergio Sanchez, with the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, who attended the rally. "We're here because we want to show that we have a presence and that we want America to head in the right direction."
The rally began with an Interfaith service at 11 a.m. ET. As the service started, crowds were already beginning to thicken at the National Mall near the Lincoln Memorial, where the rally took place.
Rally signs range from benign to fiery. They include: "The Left is What's Right," "Stop Racism Now," We March for Hope Not Hate," "Proud to be a Democrat," "Stand with Obama," "Silence GOP Lies,""No Cuts to Social Security" and "Axis of Ignorance - Tea Party, Republicans, Fox News."
Organizers claim a wide range of supporters, some of whom are already associated with liberal causes -- like union workers, environmentalists, gay activists and student leaders. But "One Nation" also claims backing from less obvious quarters -- like senior citizens, veterans and faith leaders.
The group's website sets out a list of basic principles and priorities. These include direct assistance for unemployed workers and assistance for small businesses and local governments trying to hire new workers; a minimum wage increase; health care reform; immigration policy changes; increased bankruptcy and foreclosure protection; and more money for education, from kindergarten through college.
The rally comes on the heels of another rally by conservatives in August.
Commentator Glenn Beck drew Tea Party activists to the Lincoln Memorial for his revival-style rally August 28. The timing and site of the rally provoked controversy among civil rights activists because it was on the 47th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and in the same place.
Around noon Saturday, a variety of speakers and performers began to take the stage. The program mixed speeches by activists and orators with music, historical readings, and even video clips.
Among those who spoke was the Rev. Al Sharpton, who used the opportunity to urge people to get involved and vote in the next election.
"We've got to get ready for the midterm exam. We can't stop in '08!" he said to roaring applause.

Hot Air Balloons and Blaming Your Rescuer

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."
The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.
She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be an Obama Democrat." "I am," replied the man. "How did you know?"
"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."
The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Republican."
"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?" "Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are -- or where you are going. You've risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault."
COMMENT:You are hearing from political pundits that the party of President Obama, the Democratic Party, will not do well during the upcoming election. It's an easy call based on historical fact (the party in power always loses seats). Let's change that!
It's clear that the Republican Party has no interest in helping the President fix the economy or anything else and if they regain power the country will be in far worse shape. We all know that the withering attacks that this President faces daily are often racially motivated. In spite of how the media couches their words we know that white (tea party) America does not believe he should be President under any circumstances.
The President has done some good things and he deserves our support. This could be the most important midterm of our generation. Encourage your family and friends to participate; the party that got us into this mess is trying to compound what they did. Do not allow this to happen. If the Democrats lose control of the Congress, the Republicans will not help Obama to govern, thus he becomes a lame duck and the country will be headed over the cliff.
REMEMBER POLLS DO NOT VOTE, PEOPLE DO.
PLEASE VOTE DEMOCRATIC IN THIS ELECTION!!

Thanks Georgia Mountains and Beyond http://georgiamountainsandbeyond.blogspot.com/ for a great warning and reminder!

Gay Suicides, Freedom For the Genetically Correct?

We go after gay bashers and those who bully gay kids. We scream , "Stronger laws needed!" We made a Hate Crime law. We have diversity classes in schools and at our jobs. Ellen has a TV show!

CBS news just reported that 9 out of 10 gay students are bullied in school, those would be, of course, the ones who are "out," or captured on video. Add to those figures the many kids who are bullied and harassed for "being gay," but are actually heterosexual.

Four students across America committed suicide in Sept. after being accused of being gay. Our suicide rate is high and has been so for decades. (I want to say forever.) If you added those who considered it---off the charts.

I had a cousin who was gay, her parents staunch Christians, she tried to be what they wanted, what she was taught GOD wanted; on her wedding day in her wedding dress, she was found hanging from a rafter if the family garage. As far as I know she had never been with a girl.

These stories are common to gay Americans. GOD wants this? Really? Land of the free? Really?

Children will continue harassing and murdering (that's right, I said it) other children as long as our society allows adults to claim their children as property and inject "gays are bad" into young brains. It will continue until gay Americans are treated with full equality under the law. It will continue until ever state in the union allows legal marriage for gay Americans. You can't go half way. You can't say don't tell and we won't ask., while allowing heterosexuals feature length love stories at the cinemas and $50,000 weddings, diamond rings, talk about jump starting the economy---let gay people marry!

Until gay Americans can walk down ANY street in this country while holding hands, until gay Americans can attend proms with each other, until gay Americans wake up, look in the mirror and don't think a thing about being gay---you are not free. No heterosexual is free. That is not how freedom works. There is a price for freedom. (Ask our soldiers in Afghanistan...as long as they aren't gay.) Your freedom depends on mine. If I can't worship at the church *I* want, then you can't either. See, freedom is not one man walking out of prison gates, that is called "released." We are not free until all are free.

You rape and you lose your freedom. That price society places on freedom. Until society takes the high price off of gay Americans, no one will be free. We feel like we are in prison, no jury of our peers, no lawyer, no judge, just hear the locking of the door around the age of three.

How do you feel when you hear of another gay child killing themselves? Can you feel nothing? Are you glad another sinner is before your God? Do you quickly turn the page or channel? "Not my problem." Plenty of people are against gay marriage in this land of the free. Why does someone else's freedom threaten you? What makes you so special? How dare you tarnish freedom in this great nation? Who ARE you?

I know one thing about you--you will never know freedom until all your fellow citizens are free. And, sadly, you will probably never understand that fact.