WHO REALLY WON AND WHO LOST

The Republicans won the election but in actuality students from pre-school to college age lost.

Since Jeb Bush, likely the next Republican candidate for president decided he was Florida’s education Governor, every student in this state has lost a chance to excel.

From the second grade on, our state school system has failed to allow creativity or arts in our schools because teachers are expected to teach to the test. Students memorize answers and promptly forget what they supposedly learned.

Governor Scott actually bragged about giving the teachers raises. What he didn’t say, was he required teachers to contribute a like amount into their state retirement accounts, which they hadn’t been required to do in previous years, and this meant their take home income became even less after so many years of no raises. So his answer to the educators who spoke out was to give them a raise. Guess how much! It’s the same amount that they’re required to pay into their retirement fund, so their income is virtually the same as it was before. He calls it a raise, brags about it and receives applause from those parents, who are still being shortchanged in the education of their children.

What’s amazing to me is that educators in Pasco County are now trying to do away with much of this standardizing testing because so many students are failing in our local schools.

We residents do have lots of bragging rights about our colleges though, don’t we? We love to see a winning team on national television. Unfortunately many of our football and basketball players can barely read or write, but somehow make passing grades in college. (That’s the norm for colleges all over the USA, not just in Florida)

Speaking of colleges, we now have a new president of Florida State University that has no background in education, but a great resume in politics. He now has an even bigger bank account.

 

 

 

 

I’M A STORY TELLER

I tell stories. That’s what I am. I tell them when I write and I tell them when I’m acting. Being able to understand a playwright’s words and interpret them is what I’m good at, actually what I’m excellent at. I refuse to be labeled as an egotist; I’m honest about how I feel about my portrayal of a character, whether acting or writing.

One director said I totally became the person I was playing. A young woman, who went on to become a stage and television actor, told me of her mother, grandmother and sister with whom I spent time talking to in the green room. One or two of them would come to rehearsals or performances and sit back stage, but when it became time for me to go on stage they would go out into the theater to watch me. She said that they always asked her if that was me, because they can't believe it when I became someone else.

If someone says to me, you were wonderful in the role, I thank them, but it goes in one ear and out the other. Some people think that’s what an actor wants to hear. I’d rather hear it from other actors or directors who understand just what I accomplished.

So I wrote a book in the first person, telling a story directly to the reader. Then other characters tell their own stories directly to the reader. My book is one person to another telling a story of what is happening in their lives and my story telling evolves in that way.

I refuse to try to be what someone else says I should do or how I should write. This is my story and some people will be enthralled by it or not, but I will not change it to another person’s view as to what it should be. 

I love my story, I tell it only to you who are willing to listen to what I have to say.

VISIT FROM A FRIEND

Last week the young man who had done a lot of odd jobs for us stopped by just to say hello. He explained he’s been working nearby and felt guilty for not contacting us for a while.

We were surprised to see that he had lost a great deal of weight. He explained he’d broken his collarbone and had other issues as well. However, his worst news was that his wife was in the hospital and she had been there for three weeks, because of a blood disorder which the doctors couldn’t diagnose. Leukemia was not seen as the problem.

Then he gave us another surprise, being self-employed he’d had no health insurance, so he had signed up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act. (Obamacare, as Republicans like to call it) And luckily for him, it went into effect right before his accident and his wife’s hospitalization. He was totally thankful.

I really don’t have to tell you, do I, that when he worked for us, I asked and he said yes, he was a Republican.

HOW WE SPENT MEMORIAL DAY

As usual, we spent little over an hour in tribute to the Veteran’s in our small community, the ones who are still alive, as well as the ones we remember from past celebrations. There were veterans from each service, Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard each carrying their division flags and wearing hats to be placed in the solemn empty chair ceremony.

We arrived early and I was sitting on the couch in the lobby with a good friend, when another friend stopped to chat. He was wearing his flight suit, which fit snuggly. I asked about any medals he might have, he said he had some, but could only wear them on his dress uniform which no longer fit. Next year, he vows to have lost weight. I should mention that he is a retired USAF Lt. Colonel and was the pilot for Vice-President Al Gore on Air Force 2.

And I’ll also tell of the only veteran of WW ll to attend. He was a private during that war and tomorrow is flying to Washington DC to be part of a tribute there.

One of the other flag carriers has three purple hearts from Viet Nam.

Each of the flag carriers has his own story.

Our emcee is a retired Naval Commander.

The gentleman singing a capella is a retired Fire Department Captain and one the First Responders in New York City.

You will also be interested in a young man we met. My friend’s granddaughter also sang and her boyfriend came along and he looked rather young.  Well, looks aren’t everything, that young man is a thirty-five year old psychiatrist and based at our Veteran’s Hospital.

As part of the tribute, we remembered the wheel chaired vet who died several years ago. He was a former POW and headed a local group of POW’s from our county.

After we all were given a flower to drop in an army Helmut placed on a chair, with army boots on the blanket under it, we proceeded past about twenty or so of the lined up veterans who attended, shook their hands, and thanked them for their service.

IN CASE YOU’RE WONDERING

I’d not been writing on my blog recently, because I’d been busy elsewhere.

I really thought I’d informed my readers that I had decided to write a book. But when I went onto my blog, I discovered that I haven’t told you about my plans. Except for my family, I have not told any of the people I associate with either. Now I’m ready.

Last week, I finished it. This was a tremendous experience for me, I’d never thought about doing a book of fiction or any other book at all.

In writing a book, you must decide what type of book it’s to be. Then you need a plot and a main character.

That’s not what I did, I saw a somewhat unusual person on a sidewalk as I was driving   by on my way to the Dollar Store. I thought that would be a great title for a book. I was laughing as I continued on my way, but the title kept nagging me.

I could not stop thinking about her and decided I was going to write a comedy/mystery about her. I first told my plan to my husband of almost sixty-three years, and empathized that the woman I was writing about was not me and any man in it would not be him.

I know you should only write about what you know, so I planned that the lady would be in her eighties. I quickly changed that, thinking who wants to read about an old lady? So she’s in her late fifties.

I read the first two pages to my husband and we both thought them funny. However, what I had plotted in my head, did not translate to my keyboard. I started to realize that the story became very dark and in spite of the light beginning, it turned into something tragic. The story was writing itself, nothing of what I’d planned took hold.

My evil character, who would die and get his just reward, suddenly gave me a new prospective of himself. I have no idea why.

  

Then more characters popped up, and suddenly they all meshed in. Now I was writing every day and gained more insight into these people I had created and began to understand things about them, I’d not thought possible to explain.

Then my people started speaking in the first person about themselves and also carried the plot along. My own kids upon reading some of the book said not to create any more characters. They felt it would be difficult to keep them straight. I felt a little different, but I tried to keep it simple.

I became very excited about my first love scene, I cried when I finished it.  When I asked my daughter how she felt about it, she said “what love scene? It’s so subtle, she’d missed the point. I still kept it in.

In a later chapter, I started writing very brazenly about an affair.  Of all who have read it, no one has said “tone it down” so I got away with it. But will my young grandchildren be allowed to read it?

At this point, I discovered I was writing about very romantic people, whom I loved. I knew I’d have to kill someone and picked out that person and how his death would create more drama. When I wrote that scene, none of what I planned happened. It took a twist somehow, and the scene itself became very dramatic for every one of my cast.

Most of what I’d done could actually be a play reading, the thing I’m totally familiar with. 

When I was trying to get back to the prequel of the first section, everything I had planned went totally out the window and once again the novel became a comedy. That part became my favorite and the ending came with tears in my eyes again.

I feel that way because the people I created are my children and I love them all.

My book is about 70,000 words in case you wondered, just enough for a novel.

Does anyone know of an agent for me to contact, or know someone in publishing?

A WALGREEN INCIDENT

I’d just entered Walgreen’s when a man started to berate the cashier for not giving him an instant refund on some little things in his hands. To me it looked like some candy bars. She was trying to explain to him that the manager would have to handle it for some reason.

He started by calling her stupid for not being able to give him the refund and he had his wife waiting for him in the car and wanted his money this minute because he had no time for such nonsense from such an inept person. Just then a male employee approached him and asked him to please calm down. He started yelling at him, too, so the employee said either he was quiet or he would call the police, as he escorted him to a door near the rear of the store where a woman came out to talk to him. She must have been the store manager.

I was getting things from the cooler in the area right next to where the woman was still listening to him shouting. The male employee said he would get him the money as I headed for the checkout counter.

As I got there, I looked back and heard the man talking loudly to a woman standing in front of the photo department. Then he started to scream at her, too when she told him to pipe down and he walked quickly away from her and told her to go f---- herself. As he stomped out of the store, he yelled at the cashier whose line I was in, saying he was reporting her to headquarters for her stupidity and he would remember what she looked like. One of the other clerks went out and said he had left with the woman by the photo department, who was his wife.

The people standing in line all said that he was a terrible person to act like did. When it was my turn to pay, the clerk told me she was still shaking because she had never been so scared. That’s when it dawned on me that this is Florida where all kinds of crazy people are able to buy guns and have concealed weapon permits and for the first time I felt vulnerable and realized what might have happened if he came back into the store and I was standing by that clerk.

That’s when I really got scared.

THE ART OF USING TEA AS AN AGING PROCESS OR HOW I ALMOST BURNED DOWN THE HOUSE

Using brewed tea to age fabric is a very old process similar to using onion skins to dye eggs brown for Easter, in case you didn’t know about such things? It’s a very practical way to use common household ingredients.

First you boil a pot of water, then add tea bags depending on the amount of cloth you're aging. I put six in about two quarts of water and left it with the lid on until it cooled. If you have too much material, you may need to do it a second time with more tea bags, which is what I was doing the second time. I was really trying to change a white table cloth into an antique white one. (I did this in the bathroom sink)

But it was time to pick up a friend we had invited to lunch at a cafe nearby, so I put the second batch of bags in water and left it on the stove and intending to turn on the burner when we returned.

We had a delightful lunch. The waiters and waitresses, who are unpaid volunteers, were friends of all three of us. We chatted with them, some whom we haven’t seen for a while. Our guest, who is moving, was glad for the chance to say goodbye to old friends.

We finally returned home to a horrific smell in the kitchen. I did not intentionally turn on the burner, but it was truly my own fault. Black sooty stuff from the pan was all over the top of the stove and the pan itself was ashen colored and stuck to the glass top.  I thought I wouldn’t be able to pry the pan off the glass without breaking something, but I tugged, it come off and I was able to take it outside to cool. I went out later to put it in the trash and I saw there were big balls of charcoal inside which used to be teabags.

We had opened the windows and patio doors, turned on the fans and the smell went away. We cleaned the glass stove top and it’s working just fine. It wasn't possible get out some of the burnt on stain, but it works fine.

I think God was looking over us.

Turning back the tide of bigotry

(My letter to the editor of the Tampa Times)

The letter writer who praised Arizona governor Jan Brewer totally missed the point of her rejection of the bill which allowed businesses to discriminate on religious grounds. 

Brewer should not be praised for rejecting it. The State of Arizona was under attack from numerous large organizations and national businesses which threatened to boycott the state if the bill was signed by the governor. She saw the handwriting on the wall and vetoed the bill, but not because she was against it.

I personally think there is never a reason to praise Jan Brewer on anything after having read many times about her passion for trampling on the human rights of lawful citizens in her state, the same as the trampling’s rightly attributed to Sheriff Arpaio.

The above is my response to another letter to the editor of our newspaper. The writer praised the governor for the wrong thing. The rest of his letter showed his feelings about blatant trampling on civil rights. I especially like his quote from Sinclair Lewis "When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped a flag and waving a cross"

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?

How in the world can a jury not convict a man for killing an unarmed young black man? How in the world can an armed man with a history of violence toward two ex-wives get away with murder?

After George Zimmerman got away with the murder of Treyvon Martin which he justified by saying he was in fear for his life, although the teenager was only holding a bag of skittles, you would have thought another jury would see through the lies told by another defense attorney on behalf of his client. Another young black man had no gun, but it took them four days and they still couldn’t convict this murderer, either.

Soon, a seventy year old retired police officer will be on trial for killing an unarmed man, the loving father of a young child. He too felt threatened by a man who was only holding a cell phone and a bag of popcorn.

All three of these brave men had a concealed license permit because this is a cruel world and they have every right to shoot their gun on a whim and call it self-defense.

Wouldn’t it for once be nice to hear one, two or three of these men just for once say they made a grave mistake and beg for mercy from a judge after pleading “Guilty”?

Most responsible parents try to teach their children to own up to their mistakes! It would be a better world if all parents taught their children to respect others by setting a good example themselves.

FLORIDA ONCE AGAIN

You all know I live in Florida the home of “Stand Your Ground Laws” which means you can murder anyone you want and because of the NRA backed Republican Party, you can get away with it.

Today, we’re awaiting the verdict in the latest trial where a white man killed an unarmed black teenager because loud music disturbed him. After firing many bullets into the car, his fiancée came out of the convenience store where both cars were parked.

The two drove away from the scene of the bullet riddled car, which contained the body of the unarmed black boy and the unharmed ones still in the car. Did they call the police?

No, they did not.  They drove away and spent the night in a motel where they ordered pizza, drank wine and watched a movie.

And the jury is now in their third day of deliberations. That’s Florida for yah!

DON’T BOTHER ME I’M ON THE ICE

In the days of the Winter Olympics when everyone knew Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill and Scott Hamilton, I sat mesmerized watching every spin, jump and spiral they did. I would say to the children “don’t bother me I’m on the ice”.

No one could ever compare with the sensational skating team of Torvill and Dean as far as I’m concerned. I became disillusioned with what had happened to the beautiful, lyrical skating done by our past Olympic champions.

Skaters now had to compete with other countries who introduced triple and quadruple jumps which scored higher points. Now every skater had to work to get the new jumps into their repertoire and the true beauty of figure skating became lost. If you watched the last few years of competitions, you’d see skater’s spending all their time getting ready for the next jump and there was not much beauty involved.

Last month I discovered our own USA Ice dancers, Davis and White by accident. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Something of supreme beauty happened when they performed. I fell in love with figure skating again when I saw them skating in virtual unison to their chosen music and making continuous beautiful moves.

These two are considered favorites for the gold metal. Our other skaters are not far behind, so try to see them if you can and don’t bother me because I’ll be on the ice again.  

MY BIRTHDAY COMES AGAIN 

I think the last I spoke of my birthday was when I reached the landmark age of 80. My birthday present from the family was the memorable trip to the Steinhatchee Landing Resort. We saw pictures of that exciting time just a few weeks ago and I was filled warm feelings about how happy everyone seemed.

Now I’m 83. What can I say? I keep thinking about all the years of growing up and still dream of my Mother. A frequent one is that she is in a nursing home and I’ve not called or visited her and I feel so guilty forgetting about her. I don’t think I ever dream of my Dad.

I had a marvelous time with part of the family yesterday. We visited the Miniature Art show and saw five of our daughter’s pieces. Then we had dinner with Melissa, Chris, Jen and Steve as well as their two beautiful daughters. Chris brought brownies to the restaurant and lit two candles. I had always thought that anyone 80 years old was decrepit and living in a fog. I know I’m decrepit but I don’t live in a fog.

Today our only son, wife and grandson are arriving this evening with gifts of Greek Food. How lucky I am.

One thing that might surprise you is, I’m starting to write a book of fiction. Why not, I have a title and two characters kind of mapped out. At first I wanted it to be a mystery and filled with humor, now I’m not sure. I read the first page to my husband and we really laughed about some of the stuff. Now I think that what is funny could also be taken as serious. I had planned to ask the rest of the family to read it and suggest a mystery plot but now decided to go my own way. 

I’m telling you this because if I let you know about it, then I’ll have to continue and try to finish it. It might end up a short story, a novella or a book. Who knows, but my imagination continues on.

What would really be funny is if something happens to me, mentally or physically, everyone would get to write their own finished version.

Anyways, Happy Birthday to Me.

LOSING ONE’S POWER

You’ve read all about the retired policeman who killed a man for ostensibly throwing a bag of popcorn at him. His lawyer says for people not to judge him because he feared for his life in that dark theater and this is where the “stand your ground law” comes into effect. I don’t think even our local sheriff’s department is going to agree with that alibi.

In my estimation, the real reason is that the retired policeman had “lost his power” and couldn’t deal with it. It’s possible that proof comes in the form of a previous moviegoer who had the same experience with him, saying he really frightened her.

Consider how a highly regarded person used to commanding respect has to deal with the fact he’s lost his power at retirement and doesn’t get the respect he feels he deserves.

This particular person, a former police officer, has many friends who cannot believe this man could become so enraged that he would kill someone simply for texting. Those many friends, family and neighbors can’t understand this helpful person doing such a dreadful thing. But when he is outside of that circle of friends and can’t deal with the reality that “he’s lost his power” does he carry a gun to prove he still has it?

Unfortunately, in Florida we residents are surrounded by people who have no power except for guns, guns, guns.

 

HEADLINE NEWS

I so enjoy reading the headlines on magazines at the checkout lanes in grocery stores. When I read a small article in today’s newspaper, I started to imagine what would appear on next month’s supermarket editions. The article I’m speaking of comes from Honolulu and the headline states “Michele Obama extends her vacation”.

Can’t you just imagine the gasps of shoppers as they’re about to pay for their groceries and they see “OBAMA LEAVES MICHELLE” or “FIRST DAUGHTERS ARE SEEN LAUGHING AT THE LAST SIGHTOF THEIR MOTHER”? Or maybe “THE PRESIDENT STRANDS MICHELLE ON AN ISLAND”. Possibly “AT 50 IS MICHELLE NO LONGER INTERESTED IN AN AGING PRESIDENT?”