What’s going on???

PREJUDICE & BIGOTRY AREN’T OK…..

Prejudice and bigotry fester just under the skin until — things get tough. Then overnight they grow like deadly weeds.

Strangers are attached for no reason….

The former U.S. president made it perfectly acceptable to cheat, lie, steal and hate others, so why not? Recently, he lied to his own followers, telling them he would be arrested. He wasn’t, but guileless people will send him money they probably could use better themselves.

Here in my city, beating up long-time Chinese-Canadian citizens is considered okay and strangers are attacked for no reason whatever.

ITS NEVER OKAY TO HIT CHILDREN

Women and children suffer from the frustration experienced due to inflation by the hands of the men in their lives. (Better take a run or a walk and okay, go ahead and slam the door if it feels better.) Crisis centres are overloaded with calls from the bruised and battered.

ITS NEVER OKAY TO HIT A WOMAN

The Anti-Defamation League reports more anti-Semitic and other hateful racial incidents than ever. What IS going on folks?

Never selected, always prederermined..…

Any indignity imposed on another because of race, religion, colour, country of origin, age, sex, or sexual inclination (never selected, always predetermined) is an indignity imposed upon us all.

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ABSOLUTE POWER…

I’M HOLDING A PLANT GIVEN ME BY A BRILLIANT, WONDERFUL GIRL WHO WANTED TO BE A SOCIAL WORKER AND DO GOOD. UNFORTUNATELY, SHE PASSED AWAY FROM A BRAIN TUMOUR AT AGE 27. SHE WAS SPECIAL TO ME AND I MISS HER.

‘ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY..’

I WAS GOING TO SHOW NAMES AND PHOTOS OF THOSE I KNOW WHO DO HAVE ABSOLUTE POWER AT THIS TIME.

HOWEVER, I DECIDED THEY DON’T DESERVE THAT KIND OF EXPOSURE ON MY POST. THUS….

INSTEAD, I ASSIGNED THEIR PHOTOS AND INFORMATION TO THE TRASH.

YOU ALREADY KNOW WHO THEY ARE.

Times do change…

POET EMMA LAZARUS, 1798-1865

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Quote from sonnet written in 1883 by Emma Lazarus, a New Yorker,

which is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty in the New York Harbour.

BOB DYLAN, HOW RIGHT HE WAS ABOUT THIS SONG…..

The Times They Are A-Changing…

STATUE OF LIBERTY, A GIFT FROM FRANCE TO THE U.S.

Song by Bob Dylan released in 1964.

Today, there are over 89 million refugees in the world. The most since World War II.

It’s raining. I’m reading…

‘Small Great Things’ by Jodi Picoult
I’d read Picoult’s ‘My Sister’s Keeper’ which fascinated me. ‘Small Great Things’ is Picoult’s attempt to deal with racism in our society. One would like to think the good things as written can happen, but I found it unlikely. That didn’t keep me from finishing it — it IS well-written.

In brief: Ruth has worked as a nurse for 20 years in the delivery ward of a hospital. She’s never been promoted while white colleagues with less experience and knowledge have. When an infant dies, the hospital throws her under the bus. She is tried for murder.

AUTHOR BERNARD CORNWELL

‘Sharpe’s Devil’ by Bernard Cornwell
This isn’t a book I’d have read in my youth. It was an easy size to carry to the local cafe where I enjoy reading. Eons ago, when I was young, we’d have called it a ‘guy’ book.

Heroes Sharpe and his Scottish mate get involved in numerous sea battles with nary a scratch. Those around them die left and right.

They battle with swords, cutlasses and cannons. They slice their enemies with glee and we are treated to extensive descriptions of these gory events. I guess some people like to read these details.
Did I? Well, I was curious, so I finished it.

MARCUS ZUSAK

‘I am the Messenger’ by Markus Zusak
I read all the time and have read hundreds of books, but remember Zusak’s novel ‘The Book Thief’ very well, so when I saw this book, picked it up. This novel is very different and highly unlikely, but absolutely fascinating. I’m on page 265 and can hardly put it down.

Where do authors find the great ideas they write about? This is an unusual idea and I am definitely hooked on it. I’m hoping the main character ends up with something wonderful happening to him.
Yes, I recommend it.

Battle of the freezers…

SON RAFI’S NEAT, ORGANIZED FREEZER

RAFI’S CONTAINERS OF LEFTOVERS TO FREEZE

My son Rafi sent me this photo (see left) of his garage freezer. In it he neatly stacks leftovers to be taken to work for his lunch. Beautifully organized. Impressive, no? I agree…

What a showoff! Does Rafi think his neat and oh-so wonderful-looking freezer is more exciting than mine? In his freezer, you can probably tell what’s in each and every neat container in each neat stack. No mystery! No excitement!!! No surprises! No nothin….

Take a peek into MY freezer. What do you see? Ah, you can’t make out anything? I know. Each package is double-wrapped in used plastic bags to keep better. Some of the used plastic bags are coloured so you can’t tell what’s in it. However, I am saving the world by reusing them, right? True, what is inside is always — a surprise!

MOM MURIEL’S FREEZER

I enjoy the mystery! Excitement, intrigue, surprise! Holy smokes! Look what I found!!! I didn’t know I had that! Wonder how old it is.

MOM MURIEL’S FREEZER TODAY. INTERESTING…

In my freezer you can reach for a package. What is it? Fish? Fowl? Meat? Tofu? Chicken livers? (High in iron according to my doctor.) Veggies? Fruit? Nobody knows — least of all me! It is always an adventure…

Did I buy it last week? Last month? Last year? Will it kill me? Am I ready for that? Heck, if I wake up tomorrow, I know I’ve survived another day of daring to eat food from MY freezer!!! Yeah!

CATHERINE AND LILY

It takes courage!!!

I need to acknowledge that this post would not have happened if not for my dear friend Catherine, shown here with her beloved Lily. Catherine somehow succeeded in teaching me how to take a photo with my I-Phone and transferring it to my computer. Believe me, I’m not good at this stuff and it wasn’t easy for her. Thank you Catherine!!!

Purple, purple, purple…

Why polished fingernails???

Because I met and had the pleasure of having dinner with Kendell, who has beautiful long fingernails which I admired. I promised Kendell and myself I’d let my own neglected nails grow.

When I told Thao Do, who has trimmed my toe nails for sometime, that I wanted a manicure and then walked into the shop with purple hair, she ran to the 100 or so bottles of colours on the shelves, grabbed the purple and declared that was the one I HAD to have that day.

Thao is especially considerate, and fun and I adore her. (So if you live nearby I certainly recommend her. Pure Nail Bar, Kitsilano, 604-738-8990.)

Why purple???

Because for years I’ve loved this poem by Jenny Joseph written in 1961.

Warning

By Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple

With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.

And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves

And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired

And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

And run my stick along the public railings

And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain

And pick flowers in other people’s gardens

And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat

And eat three pounds of sausages at a go

Or only bread and pickle for a week

And hoard pens and pencils and beer mats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry

And pay our rent and not swear in the street

And set a good example for the children.

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practise a little now?

So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised

When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Crazy Grandma’s purple hair…

A couple of my favourite kids came over to visit and decided it was time to colour my grey hair purple. I’d wanted to do that for some time but somehow the time never seemed right before.

I love it!!! I’m really enjoying it and hope you get a kick out of it too.

You can still see some of my original very black hair — the colour it was to begin with. I think the purple looks great on the grey.

My grandson Remy calls me his ‘Crazy Grandma’. I LOVE him. And, I wear that title with pride. We laugh a lot together.

P.S. Note the red shoe phone, which really works, in the background of my office.

One kind word…

by: Muriel

ONE KIND WORD

CAN WARM A HEART

FOR A LIFETIME.

Good Morning World…

GOT MYSELF OUT OF BED….

GOOD MORNING WORLD……….

It was a wonderful day. First of all, I woke up. At my age, that in itself is a gift. I’d been given another day. Terrific….

Then, I knew my dear friend Chris was coming home from Hawaii at last. She’d been diverted to Calgary because we had such a huge snow storm planes couldn’t land here.

The two of us often have coffee together in the morning and I’d missed her.

WE OFTEN HAVE COFFEE TOGETHER

The heavy snow storm had been difficult for me. My walker’s wheels seized up and declared a strike. They would NOT, NOT let me go another step in the deep snow.

MY WALKER DECLARED A STRIKE…….

There I was, stuck in the middle of an uncleared road (Our city doesn’t clear side streets.) with a kind driver waiting for me to get to the other side. Darn it. I was unable to move an inch.

SHE GOT OUT AND HELPED ME CROSS…

She got out of her car and came over to help me cross. I’m always amazed at the kindness of strangers.

It may have been difficult at times, but it was indeed a good day.

New Year’s Resolution???

Look down the barrel of a gun
What stares back at you
Way down lies death, steely, insinuated
In between life’s nothingness
Quickly diminished.

Look into your future
Threatening deep depression
Your own death at its end
The dreaded nothing in-between
Grossly accentuated.

written by a very young Hans Muller

Hans was a teenaged, non-practicing very assimilated Jew living in Austria when he penned this poem. It was written in German and he said it rhymes better that way.

YOUNG HANS IN THE U.S. ARMY

A Nazi officer had pointed a gun in Hans’ face and ordered him to go to a nearby headquarters to scrub and clean an office. Did Hans have a choice? Being precise, the officer gave him a paper stating he HAD given that ‘service’. Hans showed it to me. Obviously, we haven’t learned much since WWII. Hatred continues in many ways.

Hans did survive and escaped to the USA, where he served in army Intelligence. His language skills, German — French — Italian — Spanish — English and goodness knows what else, served his adopted country well. He witnessed starving prisoners being released from German Death Camps, but managed to put it behind him.

Recently patrons at the only gay bar in beautiful (and very conservative) Colorado Springs found a gun pointed at themselves. Five were killed, seventeen wounded. Their crime? Either being born as part of the LGBTQ community or straight friends and relatives of same.

A new year begins. An opportunity to all of us to be better. How about loving each other just because. We need not be so insecure that we pretend others aren’t as good as we are because of whatever colour, religion, or being born just who they are.

IF I KNEW HOW TO APPLY MAKEUP AS WELL AS DRAG QUEENS DO, I’D LOOK A LOT BETTER

EVERY COLOUR IS BEAUTIFUL………..

BEAUTIFUL CHINESE WOMEN………………..

Let our New Year’s resolution be to celebrate the wonderful differences that make life so much more interesting.

And while we’re at it, pray for an end to all those many guns getting into the wrong hands.