I Miss This Guy

No, that's not my grandpa (although there is a very faint resemblance to my Pop-Pop). In fact, I only met this man once in my entire life.

His name is Tony Hillerman, and I had the privilege of meeting him in 1991, at the Mystery Writers of America Awards Dinner in New York City. I attended with my grandfather, (not the one who kind of looks like Mr. Hillerman, but a side-by-side comparison might have been interesting...). I even had the opportunity to get my favorite of his novels - A Thief of Time, if you're wondering - personally autographed.

Mr. Hillerman was funny, humble, and very down-to earth. He's been one of my favorite authors for decades, and it was an honor to meet him. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2008.

It's been over a year since my dad has presented me with a new Hillerman novel for my birthday, Christmas, or "just because." It hit me recently that, not only is this wonderful author no longer with us, but his characters are gone as well. Sure, I can revisit Detective Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee any time I wish by cracking my copies of the Hillerman novels that sit on my bookshelf, but it's not the same. Tony Hillerman made his characters so believable, they start to feel like acquaintances once you read a few of his books. I suppose this is what makes the loss if this writer even more sad...those old friends are gone too. I'll never know what happens to the characters.

When a true artist - a gifted painter, writer, musician, engineer, architect, etc. - passes away, we not only lose the individual, we lose the potential their gift held as well. The private person (someone's mom, dad, child, sister, husband, friend) is mourned by his or her family and community. The "artist" - the aspect of that person that created amazing, beautiful, valuable, or significant things - leaves behind a gap of talent that the whole world mourns. We miss the unmade, the unfinished, the unrealized.

Can't Wait

So excited to have the opportunity to see these amazing musicians live this weekend. The documentary about their beginnings in the refugee camps of Guinea during the conflict in their native Sierra Leone is awesome. I'm looking forward to a fabulous show. If you have the chance, go see them in person. So inspiring!

http://refugeeallstars-audience.fm/

Happy Thoughts - I'm On Top!

...top of the Google list, that is. Seriously.

My humble little blog that nobody reads is at the very top of the list in Google. Don't believe me? Go to Google and search for "dead cow road".

Voila! There's this post, right at the top of the search results.

Okay, so it's a search for Dead Cow Road, not deep-thinking political analysis or thoughtful posts on my charming kids (wink, wink) but in a tiny, twisted way, my blog is number one.

It cracks me up to see that about 80% of the new traffic to my blog is generated by Google searches for Dead Cow Road.

It's random, but it's something to smile about.

Happy Thoughts - Day One

My husband is on his way home from a whirlwind three days in D.C., meeting with members of Congress and VIPs (various important politicos).

My kids seem to be kicking their colds.

I'm almost finished with a big, potentially lucrative work project.

My car still runs.

My German Shepherd has not slaughtered the pair of ducks who've taken up residence in our backyard pond.

Sandra Bullock's new baby is adorable.

Today was a good day.

The Sunshine Experiment

I've hit a wall, and there are three things you can do when you hit a wall.

You can break through it.

You can go over or around it.

You can pack your shit and go home.

Choice number three is not an option for me, so I've decided to find a way to go through, over or around this personal wall.

I'll admit, I've always been a glass-half-empty kind of girl (...and while we're at it, what is that spot on the glass and who's responsible for failing to make sure the glass was clean in the first place?). My pessimistic attitude has a lot to do with many of the challenges I regularly face.

I need to do something about it.

So, for laughs, I'm going to try an experiment. I'm committing to one week of positivity.

Nothing but sunshine and rainbows.

No watching sad news stories.
No reading internet articles or websites that are anything but uplifting and cheerful.
No tolerating negative thoughts. They will be swiftly evicted and replaced with affirmations.
Daily blogging about things for which I am grateful or that have made me happy.

To be honest, the thought of this undertaking is a bit overwhelming. It's just not my nature to be...chipper. Jeez, I mean, dod you even notice how negative my to-do list is? Almost all nos.

I'm going to take it one day at a time. One hour at a time. One thought at a time. We'll see how it goes. Feel free to send your positive energy my way.

:-)

The Cove

I watched this Academy Award winner on Sunday and it rocked my world. I can honestly say I don't think I will be able to ever set foot in Sea World again. Nor will I buy any Japanese products until this changes.

"You're either an activist or an inactivist."

In the Aftermath

I wrote the post below in the weeks leading up to the 2008 Presidential election. In light of what has occurred in Haiti over the past several weeks, I thought it was worth revisiting. Agree or disagree, I hope it makes you think a little bit.

Friday, October 17, 2008 (Original post date)

Call me a Liberal, I Guess

Have you ever spent time in a Third World country? I'm not counting shopping excursions or runs for cheap prescription meds to Mexican border towns. I'm talking THIRD WORLD, as in unstable government, collapsing infrastructure, disease-riddled, population-exploding THIRD WORLD. Have you?

(And no, the Inland Empire doesn't count either.)

I ask this question because it seems that, in this politically-charged pre-election period, the concept of social programs has become a dirty word. Callers on radio talk shows dial up and rage at the thought of their hard-earned tax dollars going toward social services in this country. As a nation, we sneer at the thought of our citizens taking handouts.

I'll be honest...the stereotypical welfare recipient pisses me off too. I don't believe that anyone benefits when you get something for nothing. I believe in the value of hard work and self-sufficiency.

I also know that, when I found myself unexpectedly expecting (how's that for an oxymoron?) in my final semester of grad school and my husband was working construction with no benefits, there's no way we could have afforded that pregnancy without state aid.

I paid into "the system" every paycheck since I started flipping burgers at Carl's Jr. in the Westminster Mall at sixteen. And for a little over a year, while I carried my firstborn child, finished my Master's degree, and secured a full-time teaching job with medical benefits, I took from "the system." It's what I had to do, and I am grateful for it every day.

Now, back to my initial question regarding Third World countries...

I reflected tonight, as I sat at the dinner table with my family, on the fact that we are so blessed to live in a stable, democratic country. We live in a nation where, no matter our political differences, we still have the peaceful transfer of power every 4 or 8 years. There are so many places in this world that do not get to experience that.

I also realized that, like it or not, those very same social programs that so many Americans rail against ("I don't want to pay my hard-earned money to support some Welfare Mother!") enable us to live according to the principles we hold dear.

It's a lot easier to be "Pro-Life" when the government provides help if you're trying to finish school.

It's also a lot easier to have a peaceful, stable democracy when you don't have the kind of poverty found in Third World countries.

Don't believe me? Catch a flight from Miami to Haiti on American Airlines or Spirit Air. Seriously, it'll only take you a couple hours to plunk yourself right, smack-dab in the middle of the most dire poverty in the hemisphere. Spend fifteen minutes walking around downtown Port-au-Prince and then ask youself if you think some good, old-fashioned American-style social services might actually help that place turn the corner in the direction of stability and democracy. I bet you'd agree they might.

A population that is rioting at the cost of basic food staples poses a challenge for a democracy. A country with large numbers of unfed, unemployed, uneducated, unhoused, un-provided-for individuals is a country with large numbers of potential agitators, terrorists, and easily incited people. In Haiti, one can see how easily a bowl of beans and rice can buy the loyalty of a starving street kid. To whom would you rather that hungry teen be loyal? The government, or an exiled paramilitary leader trying to illegally overthrow the government?

The contrast between the haves and the have-nots in Haiti is extreme. The haves get education, medical care, homes, and food while the have-nots often get none of those things. Trust me...many of those haves did not get their advantages through hard work and perseverance. They were just lucky to be born to the "right" father or mother. They are as guilty of not lifting a finger as any welfare recipient in the U.S.

I guess this post is just my long-winded (and heavily hyphenated) way of saying this:

I believe the money we pay for social services in the United States is the price we pay for a stable democracy...that's a price I'm glad to pay.