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Saturday, March 26, 2005
Tomorrow many many thousands of people will celebrate "Easter", me being a christian, I don't even like the word easter. While attending bible studies, I learned that the word easter was a different spelling of the name of a pagan goddess, "Ishtar", who I believed had something to do with fertility rites. As does the rabbit, which I don't even remember how a rabbit came into the picture!!! and him all into delivering hard boiled eggs, and candy? How is this a commemoration of the death of Christ? I had learned that back when Israelites were denigrating the person, JESUS, and had no faith in HIM being resurrected, they mocked, by saying HE had as much chance of coming back to life, as a chicken had of being hatched out of a "hard boiled egg", so the only way that easter eggs would be appropriate, is if it alludes to christians saying "nah na na nah nah", to non-believers! Which shouldn't be a christian way to act, in any case! So of course, eat eggs whenever you want, but the dyeing, and the hiding, and the finding, being christian activities for Resurrection Day, I don't really think they are. Even small children have the right to the real meaning behind the celebration. How JESUS died for the sins of all humanity, and NO rabbits went around giving out baskets of candy, nor did they spend all night hiding brightly colored hard boiled eggs, for the children to find, what?, in hopes of helping them get over the horror of seeing the SAVIOR, whipped beyond recognition, and then nailed upon a cross in order that he might suffocate to death? Yeah right! Even then, we read in the bible, that this torture didn't kill HIM!! When it was time, HE gave up HIS SPIRIT, willingly. HE is so wonderful, and so glorious. I love HIM with all my heart. Just like everything else, though. I don't show HIM, or others how dearly I do love HIM!!! I am so human, I want things my way, and want to have things done for me, instead of doing them for others.
When anyone says that they don't "Believe", I feel so sorry for them. They just don't know that HE gave up HIS life for them also. All you have to do is accept that fact. Tell GOD that you know that you need a SAVIOR, and accept JESUS' sacrifice as your own, declare it, out loud, (no secret closet christianity, for us), and there you have it. Eternal life ! To me, the alternative is too horrible to even imagine!!! When all is said and done, it is the only logical solution to this ever degrading condition on earth! Everlasting life with the TRINITY! FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT.
Personally, I don't think that there will be all that "harp playing, sitting on clouds" going on either. You gotta read the story for yourself, don't just listen to what others tell you, okay? It is for each and everyone to read and decide on their own, of course, the bible does tell us to tell others, but not to beat it into their skulls, like you are getting a cash commission or something!! Still, it is the act of LOVE, not annoyance! We are supposed to love people into the kingdom of GOD, not make them feel guitly, or that they had BETTER do it, or else. Of course, that is their choice. Separation from GOD, is going to be their hell. That will be their choice.
There is alot of controversy as to whether people will just totally cease to exist, or be in pain for eternity. Just for the record, this is my take on it. The Bible tells us that GOD burned up Sodom and Gamorrah, and said that the cities would burn "for ever and ever", yet, I haven't heard of an area in the Middle East that is still burning, and has been forever and ever, well at least for as long as anyone can remember, have you?
This makes me believe that the spirits of evil men will be erased, even though our spirits were conceived to live forever and ever, our souls were not, it says in the scriptures, "the soul that sins shall die", but that the spirit of man returns to GOD, WHO has made it. So, if one were to be eternally separated from HIM, there must be a way to erradicate it. Now, that will be "hell", not the lake of fire, which was created for satan and his angels, not for man. I don't consider myself to be more intelligent that all those biblical scholars that have a different opinion, but as I have read the bible repeatedly, and have asked the HOLY SPIRIT to help me in understanding these texts, it is the conclusion I have come to. So there.
Read, and see for yourself. By the way, JESUS is still alive, and many scholars say HE is the only human being in Heaven, I would like to ask, where is Enoch, or for that matter Elijah? They haven't seen death as of yet, and it also says in the bible, "it is appointed unto every man once to die, and after that the judgement", so they have to be some where, and still have to die (if they haven't already). I don't know if they are in Heaven, on still here on earth. If these names are new to you, look them up on www.biblegateway.com that is where I go, to search out chapters, or people, or events. It's alot of fun. Read all of the new testament, to find out about JESUS. HE is of more importance than any other human on earth, second in importance that is, but only to GOD,!! Don't be afraid of reading the bible. It isn't all fire and brimstone!!!! Quite the opposite, in fact. And, yes, HE is, was, and will forever be, Jewish, Hebrew, Israeli, SON of GOD, MESSIAH, KING of KINGS, and LORD of LORDS!!! HALLELUJAH, amen. Get on it!!!!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~Pamela~~~~~~~~~~~
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Wednesday, March 23, 2005
This is an excerpt that I found on the www.bragg.com website. These people (Paul and his daughter, Patricia Bragg), have developed a theory on the management of good health, and help many people that are sick and old before their time. I have decided to give this method a chance, and replace prescription medication with whole foods and organic substances, like apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, organic honey, and organic liquid aminos (which is unfermented soy sauce), I am sick and tired, of being sick and tired!!! I've read that we (Americans especially), do not eat enough fruits and vegetables, and too much fat-laden foods. Still there is help, and I for one, think we need all the help we can get, in order to stay healthy, and to quit being tired and listless day in and day out!
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You must have vital force in order to stay alive. When your vital force is exhausted, then there is death.Every day of your life you meet people with a huge vital force. On the other hand, every day you see tired, exhausted, nervous, frustrated people full of aches, pains, disease, stresses, strains and tensions. Most of these people are prematurely old.
Every three months you get an entirely new bloodstream, so it is not the blood that gets old.
Every eleven months every cell in your body has renewed itself, so you have a practically new body every eleven months.
Every two years you get an entirely new bone structure, so in three years you are really born again.
People with a low quota of vital force have a low resistance to infectious diseases ... they are the people with frequent colds, flu, strep throat and many, many other infectious diseases.They are the people who are chronically fatigued. They are the people with poor memories. They are the people who are full of aches and pains. They are the unhappy people. They are the irritable people.With the vital force at a low ebb, then enervation takes over. When enervation takes over, physical troubles multiply! The tongue should be called "The Magic Mirror" because it reveals the great amount of toxic poison stored in the body. One way a doctor diagnoses a person is to say, "Let me see your tongue." If the tongue is white-coated, she knows that person is in a highly toxic condition. This is one of the oldest methods of diagnosing a person's health that doctors follow.Remember, the tongue is one end of a thirty foot tube extending from the mouth to the anus. When your tongue is coated, nature is trying to extract and eliminate the toxins buried deep inside your body. Help by brushing and cleaning your tongue daily.You can now see by your tongue how much toxic poison is stored in your body. Your tongue's surface reveals to you the great amount of encumbrance that has been clogging up your entire body through wrong, toxic-forming foods and liquids. That is the reason I am not interested in the name of your physical trouble. All physical problems are due to a local clogging of the circulation, the tissues and the entire pipe and tube system.You often hear people say, "A new virus is attacking people. It seems that everyone is picking it up." That is exactly right, there are thousands of germs floating around everywhere, and remember they are here for a purpose. Infections, germs, bugs, viruses and bacteria are scavengers. They clean up decaying filth. If that decaying filth happens to be in your body, they are going to start eating the toxic slime.Just remember it is impossible for any kind of germ or virus to attack clean healthy tissue. They only eat decaying matter. Dirty blood picks up infections. Clean blood is your protection against infection. If by wrong eating you create decaying matter in your body, it's only part of nature's plan that germs will come and eat this dead substance. Germs never attack clean, toxic-free tissue or clean, toxic-free blood.
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There's alot more to this message, I just want you to go and read it for yourself! So many of us have gotten to the place that we rely on doctors to tell us what we need and what we should do for any malady, and I have found that it is not always wise to count on them (doctors that is), to help us with our problems. The prescriptions the doctor was giving me were causing me to want to take my own life!! I was totally depressed, even though I was taking Paxil to help relieve those feelings. I now believe that the combination of medications that I was taking exacerbated the feelings of depression instead of alleviating them. Some of the descriptive terminology in the passage above, almost puts me off food altogether, but I am old enough to know that every thing has to decay, so it isn't that bad. I enjoy some food too much to actually give them up, decay or no decay! I hope that this helps someone! Until next time.
~~~~~~~~~~Pamela~~~~~~~~~~~
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Sunday, March 13, 2005
I haven't been here in awhile. That's obvious, right? I don't know why, I have been on this computer every day since I last posted, but I just didn't have anything to say. I have been surfing the blogger site. Sometimes I surf over to Blogclicker.com, or to Blogexplosion.com, and look at those. Like I said awhile back, there are too many political blogs on all the sites. I guess I shouldn't say that, 'cause we do still have freedom of speech, don't we? I don't want anyone telling me what to say, and what not to say, so why should I care what other people say on their blog? Last friday, my two nieces, Michelle and Charlene, my daughter Cherokee and I went grocery shopping. I swear, things that I used to take for granted, are like "pulling hen's teeth" for me now. By the time we got back to our apartment, and had taken out our groceries, I felt as if I had played a game of professional football, or maybe some hard and fast soccer! Whichever is the most physical. I couldn't even stand up straight, and this is embarrassing to me, to look like one of those old Babushkas, who has the big hump on their backs from all the years of working in the fields. It hurt to walk, it hurt to sit down, it hurt to lay down, it just hurt everywhere.
I don't usually tell about what kind of pain I have, because I have been praying for healing. Yes, I believe that JESUS still heals! I am just vasilating between believing that HE wants to heal me, and knowing that I don't deserve it as much as someone else might. I read this blog and the person that writes it has a disease that is attacking his spine. It made me cry to think that there is really nothing that his doctors can do for him, except try to keep him comfortable, and they are doing a bad job of that. He is in constant pain. I know how he feels. I think on a scale of 1 to 10, my pain gets to be about an 8. Some days I am taking 4 to 6 extra strength pain relievers, (500 miligrams each) every two hours, and I just end up groggy in pain.
I don't exactly understand neuropathy, or nerve damage, but I thought that if your nerves were damaged, you wouldn't feel anything. Like other people I have heard of with diabetes, who don't feel anything and end up having to have limbs amputated because of gangreen? All over my body every nerve ending seems hyper sensitive. I cannot wear shoes, because they hurt my feet, I wear old worn sandals that have molded to my foot, and still they are uncomfortable.
When I go without shoes, indoors, (which the doctor has advised me not to do), I feel every nap on the carpet, and the slightest dust mote feel like a huge pebble! When I lay down on my bed, it feels as if the sheet under my back is heated. I start sweating and get pain pricks all over my back as if I am laying on needles.
Oh well, talking about it hasn't helped, I thought I might get a bit of release just watching myself type out the words. How silly is that? I think I am going to just try to forget all about it. Oh, I mean, I will continue to take the pain relievers, and my insulin. It is just that I am going to behave like a zombie about everything else, just do whatever has to be done, and ignore the consequences. Sometimes I wonder if it is worth it, going on and on like this, but then my son will send me some pictures of the family (us all together enjoying themselves, like we did at Garth's going away party a week or so ago). All the beautiful smiles of my kids, and of my grandchildren!! Even though the kids knew that their daddy would be gone from them for four months, in training for his new job, and the whole family was going to miss him so much. My brave daughter, even though he wasn't going to Iraq, or anything like that, it will be a challange for her, by herself with five kids! Plus, she baby-sits his two little nieces during the week.
I admire her so much. She is so strong! It was always his dream, and she is so supportive of him. I just think that to be a guard in any type of prison is so scary! I would have "pitched a natural fit", if I were her. Yet, she takes all of this in stride.
When my husband drove a tour bus for awhile, I remember being so afraid that something would happen, and he would be hurt, or have a wreck and not make it back home to us. I just let another personality take over, and all the while the real me would be balled up in a corner of my mind snivelling, and totally unfit, while that stronger personality would still go to work, and do whatever had to be done, laugh and smile at the appropriate times, and seem so "devil may care", to the outside world. Maybe that is how she is also? I never asked her, and she has never said.
Well, here it is midnight, the "bewitching hour". I think I will go to bed and watch TV until these Equate PMs put me to sleep. So I bid you all, "Adeiu". Vaya con Dios. Y'all.
~~~~~~~~~~Pamela~~~~~~~~~~~
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Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Check out the cool reviews of Geno and Ann's cafe. Plush Design Lab/Cafe in Fullerton, California.
Plush Design Lab/Cafe
An Eames-inspired cafe offers sensory overload.
Plush Design Lab/Cafe 207 N. Harbor Blvd.Fullerton, CA 92832 714-738-5100
The design of nearly every mom-and-pop shop, restaurant and bar in downtown Fullerton resembles a Norman Rockwell painting. Monochrome grays abound. But things changed when the Plush Design Lab/Cafe opened its doors on the city's main drag, mid 2003. Like a bright beacon on Harbor Boulevard, this Internet cafe fuses color and energy into the antiquated town. Its menu offers solid cafe fare: The sandwiches are light yet filling and the pastries go well with the bar's wide array of coffees, teas and energy drinks. The ambience and clientele make Plush stand out from other establishments. Furnished with tables, chairs and couches designed by Charles and Ray Eames and Herman Miller, the dining area looks like a scene from the Kordova Milk Bar in 'A Clockwork Orange.' Couple this futuristic aesthetic with the bank of high-powered Macs by the magazine rack, and the inviting orange glow of the walls, and you can understand why fashionably dressed hipsters-in-the-know frequent this cafe. Plan to pay 10 cents per minute for online access, whether you hook up your own lap top or not. -- Michael AlarconRestaurantAmerican, Bagels, Cafe, Coffeehouse, Cyber Cafe, Juice bar, SandwichMore Info About Plush Design Lab/Cafe:
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Overview
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Other details (hours, payment, etc.)
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User reviews and ratings
~~~~~~~~~~Pamela~~~~~~~~~~~
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Mary Hunt is the creator of The Cheapskate Monthly newsletter, which can be ordered online at www.cheapskatemonthly.com/um. You can e-mail questions or tips at cheapskate@unitedmedia.com or Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135 Paramount, CA 90723. All correspondence becomes the property of Cheapskate Monthly.
A tax refund? Get serious
We need to talk about tax refunds -- seriously. If you love your tax refund because it means a big check in the mail, you're not seeing things clearly. If you think of your tax refund as a beneficial forced savings plan, I need to help you adjust your thinking. If you view this as a little gift from Uncle Sam, you and I need to talk.
The only reason you're getting a refund is because you overpaid your tax bill. You wouldn't do that with your other bills, would you?
Consider this response to a bill: "Dear Sirs, I know my mobile phone bill this month is $39.95 but I thought I'd surprise you and send in $300. Just do whatever you want with it and we'll settle up later."
Pretty dumb, huh? Such a proposition is even dumber if the phone company makes you fill out a complicated form and then wait for months to get the overage returned to you. But that's exactly what you are doing every payday. If you're getting a tax refund that means you have been overpaying your "bill," telling the government to keep what they need and send you the difference when it's convenient.
You may argue that if you didn't over-pay your taxes, the difference would be so negligible in your paycheck you'd simply spend the extra cash. You justify the overpayment as a painless way to save. I understand your reasoning, but have you considered at what cost you are allowing this to happen?
Do you ever run out of money before payday and feel you have no choice but to use your credit card to get by? Your revolving credit card balance is what you have to show for your generosity. How much sense does it make to pay 18-percent interest on a credit card account so you can make interest-free loans to the government?
Here's an easy solution: Divide your refund by your number of pay periods in a year (12 if you're paid monthly, 26 if bi-weekly, 52 if weekly). The result is about how much you're overpaying each pay period. Or go to www.irs.gov and type "withholding calculator" in the search box to get help with the details. You'll need your most recent pay stubs and most recent tax return to fill in the information that applies to your situation. Use this information to fill out a new W-4 Form with your employer. Increasing the number of exemptions you claim by even one will result in fewer dollars withheld from your paycheck.
But wait, you're not done yet. If you don't have a separate savings account, open one. Arrange for the difference you'll see in your paycheck to be automatically deposited into your new savings account each payday. There. Your net take-home amount remains the same. You won't miss your new savings deduction because you aren't used to getting it on a regular basis anyway. Now you're in charge of managing your money and that's the best feeling in the world.
~~~~~~~~~~Pamela~~~~~~~~~~~
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Monday, March 07, 2005
Today is sunday, you know what that means? Old Mickey Mouse Club song memory. Oh, how I used to race home after school to watch that show. Annette, Bobby, Cubby and Karen, Sharon, and whoever the heck else!!! Just one of many happy childhood memories. MaryJo, (who is my son-in-law's mother) and I were at the going away party for him, and we sat there together, lost on memory lane, talking about the shows we loved as kids, and I had to admit, I loved the Lawrence Welk show! Well, I was only a child, and there were no "Jefferson's", on back then. Smile. MaryJo mentioned that she had taken a report of a break-in of a motor home from, Norma Zimmer, the original, "Champagne Lady", from that show. MaryJo is a dispatcher for the Sheriff's department, here in Southern CA., so that way she hears alot of stuff other people wouldn't be privy to. By the way, no, she doesn't usually tell me much about the people they service, but just this once, it was of interest to the both of us. One of the younger people, a friend of Garth's, mentioned how funny he thought Jerry Stiller was on "The King of Queens", which I have seen on a couple of occasions, and think yes, he is funny. Someone else said, "I think that he was really funny as Mr. Costanza on, "Seinfeld". Then both MaryJo and I said, "I remember when he and Anne Meara used to do everything together". When they were a comedy team. None of them, but Cherokee, (and well, all three of my children), even knew who Jerry's wife was! I remember my own Mother saying, "yeah, it's just like, Abie's Irish Rose". This statement went over my head, but it stuck in my mind, 'cause she said it every time they came on the Ed Sullivan show! Mamma said, "well, maybe Anne is a relative, Sullivan sounds Irish to me".
She wasn't a bigot, but my Mamma always noticed people's nationality, and didn't mind commenting on it. As MaryJo and I continued this journey down memory lane, we started mentioning how much we liked this actor or that actor. (Male and Female). I grew up fascinated by cowboys, and John Wayne, much to my Mother's consternation because, besides being NEGRO, (this was way back in the late 50s, and the early 60s you must understand), we had a large percentage of Native American blood in our ancestral heritage, which back then was just plain ol' Indian! She would tell us, "if a White person comes to the door, don't speak to them, just come and get me". No questions asked, none answered. Mamma didn't like to mention that many of her relatives could "pass", having been from "somewhere", (it was actually Cartersville), in Georgia, where the whites (male), mixed freely with the negros (women), and their offspring were the mulattos, who were eventually "run out", of their home town, and settled here to become my great-grandparents. We heard the story enough, that it didn't mean a thing to us.
I wondered, though, several timesover the years, at the weddings (of the majority) of our married children, my brother's and sister's and my own children's weddings, when they picked white, mexican, and even asian, spouses, what would she have said? I imagine I can hear her now, "oh well, it happens in the best regulated families". She was fond of that saying. Smile. Now, that I am over all of that, "I'm Black and I'm proud" stuff of the early 60s, I could care less who marries whom. I love my grandkids as much with their melting pot of heritages, as I would if they had of been only of one heritage, which with our situation, would have been impossible, anyway. We're Americans, so we are full-blooded that! It is interesting to note, though, that MaryJo besides having these bi-racial grandchildren in common with me, she has another grandson, who happens to be a "Quadroon", since his mother is only considered half- black, due to the fact that her own Mother is white, and her Father, black. Whatever she, and her husband's nationality, is, her four kids, all multi-racial mind you, are beautiful!!!
I find these classifications of race so interesting. Since, each and everyone of us, that are actually born right here on these American soils are so unique, and diverse. I read years and years ago, in Ebony magazine, as a matter of fact, that nearly 86% of the white population in the United States have at least one black ancestors, I don't know where they got their statistics, but I am confident enough that I do remember reading that at one point in time, that I will post it here on an open blog! Smile. Boy, I am BOLD. What? Heck, now in the 2000s, the percentage may be a lot higher. I think, Ethiopia has "stretched forth her hand", and some of her other body parts, "to rule the world". Hehehehe. Whatcha' think?
I veer off topic, to say. I am so amused when I read that certain celebrities heritages are in question. Some so seemingly obvious as, Vin Diesel, Mariah Carey, Paula Abdul, Jennifer Beals, Nicole Ritchie, and even quasi-celebrity, Justin Guarini? (who uses his step-father's last name, and HEY, I like the way he sings). I can remember in the old days people swearing, that old time celebrities, like Dinah Shore, and Carol Channing, ( maybe even Elvis' Mother, Gladys), were in fact, "passing" for white. I don't know about Dinah Shore, or Elvis' Mother, Gladys, but later Carol Channing did admit, (or rather, simply state), that yes, her father was a very fair complexioned black man. In that day and age, I guess it was to their advantage to hide what nationality they were, considering the climate of the day, especially towards the whole black race in general, but now? Is it still that much of a stigmatisim, to be part black?
This does make one pause, and wonder. Why would Tiger Woods say anything resembling him not wanting to be "identified as black", as if it made some huge difference? All you had to do is look at him, and I can't imagine a soul even wondering about "what to identify" him as? Why did, or does Vin Diesel go to the point of saying he is "multi-cultural", as if there is something wrong with being categorised as a "black actor".? It hasn't seemed to hurt the careers of Denzel Washington, or Jamie Fox, or Morgan Freeman. Who, is any cuter than, "The Rock"? In my opinion, harldy no one!!! He is one fine Black/Samoan man, and a very entertaining actor, as well. I don't know. I think that maybe alot of Black people still wish that they could "get lighter" in their complexion. Sort of like Michael Jackson did. His condition, however was due to a condition, called "vertiligo", or sometimes known as, "leukoderma", where the pigmentation, or coloring of the skin, fades away. I've seen a couple of other Black people with this condition, and one of them had huge spots similar to "portwine stains", as they call those large purplish birthmarks some are born with, only these spots are absolutely devoid of any color, it looks something like how I would expect leprosy to look. I bet that Michael Jackson does have to wear some cosmetic cover, because I doubt that the vertiligo would leave your skin perfectly white. I've read that this condition is relatively rare however, so I guess "they" who wish this "losing pigmentation condition", on themselves will just have to stay black!! I think being black is GREAT! Since being Black is what GOD allowed me to be born as. I don't know any other way of life. Smile.
I don't think M.J. had enough money to "bleach" himself out to that degree, even if he would have wanted to, and tried, as some (ignorant, and just plain silly), people have suggested. Is that even possible? !!! Like what, you lay in milk for a really long time, out in the hot sun, or something? Naaaah.....,
Now, whether those are his very own biological "white looking" children? That is for him, GOD, and DNA, to know, and for us to speculate on if we so desire. I personally don't care. Let the gossipmongers have their fun talking about that, only they will have to answer for being so damned nosy in the judgement to come.
Man, you should be here and see how long it takes me to make these idiotic...., I mean interesting and thought provoking posts. I get distracted by whatever show is on the TV, I get up and go to the bathroom, I might get up and grab a snack, or a cup of coffee/green tea, maybe even a cold drink (of water), or a soda. I can start writing a post at midnight and not finish working on it until two or three o'clock in the morning!!! You may say, "NO WAY", I know, I know. They don't read as if they are that well thought out, do they? Yet, this is typical of me. I am just soooo slow like that, at stuff. Talk to you later. Ummm?
~~~~~~~~~~Pamela~~~~~~~~~~~
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Thursday, March 03, 2005
Cherokee is laying in the floor in our living room listening to "South Park", and they are treating Wal*Mart, as if it were a living thing! It is hilarious! (By the way, I never watch "South Park", but if I happen to be on the computer, I can't help it). I LOVE Wal*Mart!!!!!!!!!!!! Whenever I get a chance, I go. Oh, maybe a few times, I have felt sick enough not to go, but generally, if the girls are going, I just take some extra pain pills (Equate, extra-strength), and go on over. After all, Wal*Mart is only a block, or so away from our apartment complex. K-Mart is just on the next corner!!! I am surrounded by stores as a matter of fact!!! Mexican Markets, not those little Mom and Pop sized stores, no, huge supermarkets are right across the street! How Cherokee and I got so blessed? I just don't know! Nah, I do, GOD watches over HIS kids. amen. We live in walking distance, (for her, she pushes me all around in the ole wheelchair), of any kind of store you could want. Rite-aid, Bakery, clothing stores, liquor stores, restaurants. Even a 99 cent store! What more could we ask for? Nothing. Oh, well maybe a Bank?
Also, almost any type of fast food place you can think of, too. Burgers, mexican food, chicken, Thai, Chinese, Pizza, Weiners, (Der'), Italian, and even Subs. (but) Do we go to them? Not often, because, even though they are all right here in the neighborhood, so very very close. We just don't have the money to utilize them, very often. It's all right though, dicipline with money, is a lesson well learned by us both. When Cherokee first came up to Redding, CA., to help take care of me, (at this point, I was deteriorating from the diabetic condition I found myself in, neuropathy, and I wasn't employable, or able to take care of myself). So, we were living off of only one salary, soat that time her dad was frugal to the nth degree!! We shopped mostly at little discount stores, the 99cents stores, and at our one real joy, and treat, Wal*Mart!!!
We both soon got jobs baby-sitting though, thanks to my, and Rich's, granddaughter, Kiara, (Cherokee's niece, not her child. Who stayed to visit with us, that same summer Cherokee moved up), told a young lady (swimming in our apartment complex's swimming pool, and who), was looking for a baby sitter, that I, her not "too sick" grandmother, was licensed in child care! VERY GOOD GIRL!!! So later, we did take care of her baby boy, and a month after getting that job, I started watching yet another baby boy. Happily, we took care of these two cute little boys, together, and shared the pitious income. I was even recuperating, a bit by this time.
The other baby, (by the way), was the child of a young man that Rich and I had taken care of in one of the three, group homes we had worked for. This guy liked us both so much, that even after he left, (by graduating the program), the group home, and was out on his own, he kept in contact with us, and came over often. (Too often, really)*. Sadly, he was still so young, and unprepared for life in the real world. Still, later when he became, (unfortunately), an unwed father, he insisted on having me watch the baby, while he and "his girl", worked at different fast food outlets. *(It was funny, Cherokee couldn't stand this guy, I just don't know why, maybe cause he called her "sis"? but, he had always been VERY respectful of me, calling me, "My Queen" (!!!), yep, even while we were still at the group home. RiverOaks Ranch, much to the administrator's displeasure, I might add)! I insert here. "A funny story".
**The administrator (and she was my immediately boss) told me to "discourage" him, from calling me "My Queen", and I did ask him to "please stop"!, repeatedly, but he just wouldn't, even when the other boys laughed at him about it. He told them that I WAS a "QUEEN", and should be treated like one, damn it!!!! Whew!! He was serious about this with the other guys, and he was a "big boy", so he didn't get much back talk, to his face that is, from them either.
He never once gave Rich or me, the slightest bit of trouble though, so eventually, our boss just stopped talking to me about it, (and to him also). ** Anyway, with that small income, (the baby sitting money), we still went to the cheapest little "out of the way" stores, to buy food, and other necessary items. Wal*Mart was one of the best places to get exactly what we needed, every time! We even got extras for Kiara, coloring books, crayons, that sort of thing, for pennies!! I know that Wal*Mart doesn't have a union, and that the other bigger stores don't like their policies. Yet, it was getting to a place where the other stores were just too expensive to shop in.
We on limited incomes would no doubt "starve" without the Wal*Marts, the Big Lots, and the 99 cents stores, (or even the Dollar Stores)! They are a GOD send. Amen? Hahahahahahaha!
I laugh, but it is still true, if there had been some of these inexpensive stores around while my three children were growing up, I mean, besides second hand and thrift stores? (Which I had to use, often, for play clothes for my kids). I could have saved tons of money for such a time as this. !!! Too late to even think about that, (but oh, just if only). Smile.
~~~~~~~~~~Pamela~~~~~~~~~~~
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Tuesday, March 01, 2005
HAPPY NEW MONTH!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, don't they just keep coming and coming, at the speed of light? Darn, I hadn't even noticed for hours, and I mean at least two, since it is 2:47 am right now. I did get off of the computer for an hour or so, to watch, "Medium". That new show starring, Patricia Arquett? That is such a good show to me, and my daughter Cherokee likes it alot too. There are only a few tv shows that I will even think about getting off of the computer to watch! Other ones are just shows that I like, but won't stop surfing, for. I will stop for Alias, for sure. I will stop for Lost!!! I definitely stop for Carnivale, (Whew)!!! Some times I stop for Medical Investigations, but once in awhile, I am playing games on Neopets, and I can't stop in the middle of the game, so I'll just listen, and glance back at the tv, if I hear a new voice I don't recognise. Most of the CSI shows, I get off of any site I am on to watch. Now, though, we're down to LasVegas, and New York. Miami comes on at the same time as something else, we like or rather Cherokee likes more, my tv is in my bedroom, and I don't like to watch it alone. I used to totally get off the computer for Gilmore Girls, but now!!!, the story line that has, Lorelei and Luke broken up, and Rory lusting after that "creepy guy" named, Logan, are making me gag!!! If something on that show makes me nostalgic about my own situation, I won't watch that episode either. Emily and Richard are two of the most evil people on TV, to boot!!!
Most of the other light weight sit-coms, like Eve, or Girlfriends, or One on One, or Everybody loves Raymond, et'c, (which by the way, neither Cherokee, nor I watch anyway)!!! are not interesting enough for me to quit the computer for. I will listen and think, "Oh my dear LORD, who in the world wrote this garbage"? We are more to be pitied than censored, I guess, if this is what most of us people, watch evening after evening. Then don't even get me started on awards shows! GOD bless America!!! Amen. No, I won't even say a word. Doing their jobs as actors is one thing, and I applaude them when they are good at doing that, and that is all I will say.
If I ever watch The View, or Dr. Phil, or ANY of those reality shows, please!!!, someone come and shoot me in the head, 'cause I would have to be brain dead. That is the only reason I would ever sit in front of a TV with any of that dung on it. (Oh, or I am visiting someone who likes that type of stuff, and I can't go home, then I keep my mouth shut, and my opinions to myself)!! I truly believe in, "to each his/her own". Long as it's legal, and doesn't hurt any body. What do I care? Just P L E A S E, don't ASK me my opinion? Some of the things I like, like SciFi channel, and the SeventhDayAdventist TV shows, are an acquired taste.
I like different types of movies too, when I am alone in my room, you couldn't get me to watch a comedy!!! Yet, I will watch Mickey Rourke, over and over in any movie he is in. Stephen Baldwin? Over and over. Eric Roberts? I just like to stare at him! I keep thinking, "Julia MUST be his half-sister, with him being so gorgeous, and her being so odd looking". I just saw Mickey in "The Last Outlaw" again for the umpteenth time, great as always! Then Eric was in "No Alibi", with Dean Cain and Lexa Doig, (from Andromedia fame), and once again I watched it from beginning to strange ending! When ever "Absence of the Good", is on I HAVE to watch it. I think it and "Dead Awake" are two of my favorite movies. I only have about 100 all time favorites, including, "Shadow Men"! So, that isn't a very long list. Like I said earlier, when they do good on their jobs, actors are great!!! Oh well, it's 3:34 am, time to go turn on my TV! Cherokee is still awake this morning, which is unusual, listening to her Court TV shows, and writing her novel. She is a great novelist!!! I just wish she would look into getting both of them published! I loved her first one, and I am sure that I will love the next.
~~~~~~~~~~Pamela~~~~~~~~~~~
Tomorrow many many thousands of people will celebrate "Easter", me being a christian, I don't even like the word easter. While attending bible studies, I learned that the word easter was a different spelling of the name of a pagan goddess, "Ishtar", who I believed had something to do with fertility rites. As does the rabbit, which I don't even remember how a rabbit came into the picture!!! and him all into delivering hard boiled eggs, and candy? How is this a commemoration of the death of Christ? I had learned that back when Israelites were denigrating the person, JESUS, and had no faith in HIM being resurrected, they mocked, by saying HE had as much chance of coming back to life, as a chicken had of being hatched out of a "hard boiled egg", so the only way that easter eggs would be appropriate, is if it alludes to christians saying "nah na na nah nah", to non-believers! Which shouldn't be a christian way to act, in any case! So of course, eat eggs whenever you want, but the dyeing, and the hiding, and the finding, being christian activities for Resurrection Day, I don't really think they are. Even small children have the right to the real meaning behind the celebration. How JESUS died for the sins of all humanity, and NO rabbits went around giving out baskets of candy, nor did they spend all night hiding brightly colored hard boiled eggs, for the children to find, what?, in hopes of helping them get over the horror of seeing the SAVIOR, whipped beyond recognition, and then nailed upon a cross in order that he might suffocate to death? Yeah right! Even then, we read in the bible, that this torture didn't kill HIM!! When it was time, HE gave up HIS SPIRIT, willingly. HE is so wonderful, and so glorious. I love HIM with all my heart. Just like everything else, though. I don't show HIM, or others how dearly I do love HIM!!! I am so human, I want things my way, and want to have things done for me, instead of doing them for others.
When anyone says that they don't "Believe", I feel so sorry for them. They just don't know that HE gave up HIS life for them also. All you have to do is accept that fact. Tell GOD that you know that you need a SAVIOR, and accept JESUS' sacrifice as your own, declare it, out loud, (no secret closet christianity, for us), and there you have it. Eternal life ! To me, the alternative is too horrible to even imagine!!! When all is said and done, it is the only logical solution to this ever degrading condition on earth! Everlasting life with the TRINITY! FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT.
Personally, I don't think that there will be all that "harp playing, sitting on clouds" going on either. You gotta read the story for yourself, don't just listen to what others tell you, okay? It is for each and everyone to read and decide on their own, of course, the bible does tell us to tell others, but not to beat it into their skulls, like you are getting a cash commission or something!! Still, it is the act of LOVE, not annoyance! We are supposed to love people into the kingdom of GOD, not make them feel guitly, or that they had BETTER do it, or else. Of course, that is their choice. Separation from GOD, is going to be their hell. That will be their choice.
There is alot of controversy as to whether people will just totally cease to exist, or be in pain for eternity. Just for the record, this is my take on it. The Bible tells us that GOD burned up Sodom and Gamorrah, and said that the cities would burn "for ever and ever", yet, I haven't heard of an area in the Middle East that is still burning, and has been forever and ever, well at least for as long as anyone can remember, have you?
This makes me believe that the spirits of evil men will be erased, even though our spirits were conceived to live forever and ever, our souls were not, it says in the scriptures, "the soul that sins shall die", but that the spirit of man returns to GOD, WHO has made it. So, if one were to be eternally separated from HIM, there must be a way to erradicate it. Now, that will be "hell", not the lake of fire, which was created for satan and his angels, not for man. I don't consider myself to be more intelligent that all those biblical scholars that have a different opinion, but as I have read the bible repeatedly, and have asked the HOLY SPIRIT to help me in understanding these texts, it is the conclusion I have come to. So there.
Read, and see for yourself. By the way, JESUS is still alive, and many scholars say HE is the only human being in Heaven, I would like to ask, where is Enoch, or for that matter Elijah? They haven't seen death as of yet, and it also says in the bible, "it is appointed unto every man once to die, and after that the judgement", so they have to be some where, and still have to die (if they haven't already). I don't know if they are in Heaven, on still here on earth. If these names are new to you, look them up on www.biblegateway.com that is where I go, to search out chapters, or people, or events. It's alot of fun. Read all of the new testament, to find out about JESUS. HE is of more importance than any other human on earth, second in importance that is, but only to GOD,!! Don't be afraid of reading the bible. It isn't all fire and brimstone!!!! Quite the opposite, in fact. And, yes, HE is, was, and will forever be, Jewish, Hebrew, Israeli, SON of GOD, MESSIAH, KING of KINGS, and LORD of LORDS!!! HALLELUJAH, amen. Get on it!!!!!!!
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This is an excerpt that I found on the www.bragg.com website. These people (Paul and his daughter, Patricia Bragg), have developed a theory on the management of good health, and help many people that are sick and old before their time. I have decided to give this method a chance, and replace prescription medication with whole foods and organic substances, like apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, organic honey, and organic liquid aminos (which is unfermented soy sauce), I am sick and tired, of being sick and tired!!! I've read that we (Americans especially), do not eat enough fruits and vegetables, and too much fat-laden foods. Still there is help, and I for one, think we need all the help we can get, in order to stay healthy, and to quit being tired and listless day in and day out!
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You must have vital force in order to stay alive. When your vital force is exhausted, then there is death.Every day of your life you meet people with a huge vital force. On the other hand, every day you see tired, exhausted, nervous, frustrated people full of aches, pains, disease, stresses, strains and tensions. Most of these people are prematurely old.
Every three months you get an entirely new bloodstream, so it is not the blood that gets old.
Every eleven months every cell in your body has renewed itself, so you have a practically new body every eleven months.
Every two years you get an entirely new bone structure, so in three years you are really born again.
People with a low quota of vital force have a low resistance to infectious diseases ... they are the people with frequent colds, flu, strep throat and many, many other infectious diseases.They are the people who are chronically fatigued. They are the people with poor memories. They are the people who are full of aches and pains. They are the unhappy people. They are the irritable people.With the vital force at a low ebb, then enervation takes over. When enervation takes over, physical troubles multiply! The tongue should be called "The Magic Mirror" because it reveals the great amount of toxic poison stored in the body. One way a doctor diagnoses a person is to say, "Let me see your tongue." If the tongue is white-coated, she knows that person is in a highly toxic condition. This is one of the oldest methods of diagnosing a person's health that doctors follow.Remember, the tongue is one end of a thirty foot tube extending from the mouth to the anus. When your tongue is coated, nature is trying to extract and eliminate the toxins buried deep inside your body. Help by brushing and cleaning your tongue daily.You can now see by your tongue how much toxic poison is stored in your body. Your tongue's surface reveals to you the great amount of encumbrance that has been clogging up your entire body through wrong, toxic-forming foods and liquids. That is the reason I am not interested in the name of your physical trouble. All physical problems are due to a local clogging of the circulation, the tissues and the entire pipe and tube system.You often hear people say, "A new virus is attacking people. It seems that everyone is picking it up." That is exactly right, there are thousands of germs floating around everywhere, and remember they are here for a purpose. Infections, germs, bugs, viruses and bacteria are scavengers. They clean up decaying filth. If that decaying filth happens to be in your body, they are going to start eating the toxic slime.Just remember it is impossible for any kind of germ or virus to attack clean healthy tissue. They only eat decaying matter. Dirty blood picks up infections. Clean blood is your protection against infection. If by wrong eating you create decaying matter in your body, it's only part of nature's plan that germs will come and eat this dead substance. Germs never attack clean, toxic-free tissue or clean, toxic-free blood.
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There's alot more to this message, I just want you to go and read it for yourself! So many of us have gotten to the place that we rely on doctors to tell us what we need and what we should do for any malady, and I have found that it is not always wise to count on them (doctors that is), to help us with our problems. The prescriptions the doctor was giving me were causing me to want to take my own life!! I was totally depressed, even though I was taking Paxil to help relieve those feelings. I now believe that the combination of medications that I was taking exacerbated the feelings of depression instead of alleviating them. Some of the descriptive terminology in the passage above, almost puts me off food altogether, but I am old enough to know that every thing has to decay, so it isn't that bad. I enjoy some food too much to actually give them up, decay or no decay! I hope that this helps someone! Until next time.
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I haven't been here in awhile. That's obvious, right? I don't know why, I have been on this computer every day since I last posted, but I just didn't have anything to say. I have been surfing the blogger site. Sometimes I surf over to Blogclicker.com, or to Blogexplosion.com, and look at those. Like I said awhile back, there are too many political blogs on all the sites. I guess I shouldn't say that, 'cause we do still have freedom of speech, don't we? I don't want anyone telling me what to say, and what not to say, so why should I care what other people say on their blog? Last friday, my two nieces, Michelle and Charlene, my daughter Cherokee and I went grocery shopping. I swear, things that I used to take for granted, are like "pulling hen's teeth" for me now. By the time we got back to our apartment, and had taken out our groceries, I felt as if I had played a game of professional football, or maybe some hard and fast soccer! Whichever is the most physical. I couldn't even stand up straight, and this is embarrassing to me, to look like one of those old Babushkas, who has the big hump on their backs from all the years of working in the fields. It hurt to walk, it hurt to sit down, it hurt to lay down, it just hurt everywhere.
I don't usually tell about what kind of pain I have, because I have been praying for healing. Yes, I believe that JESUS still heals! I am just vasilating between believing that HE wants to heal me, and knowing that I don't deserve it as much as someone else might. I read this blog and the person that writes it has a disease that is attacking his spine. It made me cry to think that there is really nothing that his doctors can do for him, except try to keep him comfortable, and they are doing a bad job of that. He is in constant pain. I know how he feels. I think on a scale of 1 to 10, my pain gets to be about an 8. Some days I am taking 4 to 6 extra strength pain relievers, (500 miligrams each) every two hours, and I just end up groggy in pain.
I don't exactly understand neuropathy, or nerve damage, but I thought that if your nerves were damaged, you wouldn't feel anything. Like other people I have heard of with diabetes, who don't feel anything and end up having to have limbs amputated because of gangreen? All over my body every nerve ending seems hyper sensitive. I cannot wear shoes, because they hurt my feet, I wear old worn sandals that have molded to my foot, and still they are uncomfortable.
When I go without shoes, indoors, (which the doctor has advised me not to do), I feel every nap on the carpet, and the slightest dust mote feel like a huge pebble! When I lay down on my bed, it feels as if the sheet under my back is heated. I start sweating and get pain pricks all over my back as if I am laying on needles.
Oh well, talking about it hasn't helped, I thought I might get a bit of release just watching myself type out the words. How silly is that? I think I am going to just try to forget all about it. Oh, I mean, I will continue to take the pain relievers, and my insulin. It is just that I am going to behave like a zombie about everything else, just do whatever has to be done, and ignore the consequences. Sometimes I wonder if it is worth it, going on and on like this, but then my son will send me some pictures of the family (us all together enjoying themselves, like we did at Garth's going away party a week or so ago). All the beautiful smiles of my kids, and of my grandchildren!! Even though the kids knew that their daddy would be gone from them for four months, in training for his new job, and the whole family was going to miss him so much. My brave daughter, even though he wasn't going to Iraq, or anything like that, it will be a challange for her, by herself with five kids! Plus, she baby-sits his two little nieces during the week.
I admire her so much. She is so strong! It was always his dream, and she is so supportive of him. I just think that to be a guard in any type of prison is so scary! I would have "pitched a natural fit", if I were her. Yet, she takes all of this in stride.
When my husband drove a tour bus for awhile, I remember being so afraid that something would happen, and he would be hurt, or have a wreck and not make it back home to us. I just let another personality take over, and all the while the real me would be balled up in a corner of my mind snivelling, and totally unfit, while that stronger personality would still go to work, and do whatever had to be done, laugh and smile at the appropriate times, and seem so "devil may care", to the outside world. Maybe that is how she is also? I never asked her, and she has never said.
Well, here it is midnight, the "bewitching hour". I think I will go to bed and watch TV until these Equate PMs put me to sleep. So I bid you all, "Adeiu". Vaya con Dios. Y'all.
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Check out the cool reviews of Geno and Ann's cafe. Plush Design Lab/Cafe in Fullerton, California.
Plush Design Lab/Cafe
An Eames-inspired cafe offers sensory overload.
Plush Design Lab/Cafe 207 N. Harbor Blvd.Fullerton, CA 92832 714-738-5100
The design of nearly every mom-and-pop shop, restaurant and bar in downtown Fullerton resembles a Norman Rockwell painting. Monochrome grays abound. But things changed when the Plush Design Lab/Cafe opened its doors on the city's main drag, mid 2003. Like a bright beacon on Harbor Boulevard, this Internet cafe fuses color and energy into the antiquated town. Its menu offers solid cafe fare: The sandwiches are light yet filling and the pastries go well with the bar's wide array of coffees, teas and energy drinks. The ambience and clientele make Plush stand out from other establishments. Furnished with tables, chairs and couches designed by Charles and Ray Eames and Herman Miller, the dining area looks like a scene from the Kordova Milk Bar in 'A Clockwork Orange.' Couple this futuristic aesthetic with the bank of high-powered Macs by the magazine rack, and the inviting orange glow of the walls, and you can understand why fashionably dressed hipsters-in-the-know frequent this cafe. Plan to pay 10 cents per minute for online access, whether you hook up your own lap top or not. -- Michael AlarconRestaurantAmerican, Bagels, Cafe, Coffeehouse, Cyber Cafe, Juice bar, SandwichMore Info About Plush Design Lab/Cafe:
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Mary Hunt is the creator of The Cheapskate Monthly newsletter, which can be ordered online at www.cheapskatemonthly.com/um. You can e-mail questions or tips at cheapskate@unitedmedia.com or Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135 Paramount, CA 90723. All correspondence becomes the property of Cheapskate Monthly.
A tax refund? Get serious
We need to talk about tax refunds -- seriously. If you love your tax refund because it means a big check in the mail, you're not seeing things clearly. If you think of your tax refund as a beneficial forced savings plan, I need to help you adjust your thinking. If you view this as a little gift from Uncle Sam, you and I need to talk.
The only reason you're getting a refund is because you overpaid your tax bill. You wouldn't do that with your other bills, would you?
Consider this response to a bill: "Dear Sirs, I know my mobile phone bill this month is $39.95 but I thought I'd surprise you and send in $300. Just do whatever you want with it and we'll settle up later."
Pretty dumb, huh? Such a proposition is even dumber if the phone company makes you fill out a complicated form and then wait for months to get the overage returned to you. But that's exactly what you are doing every payday. If you're getting a tax refund that means you have been overpaying your "bill," telling the government to keep what they need and send you the difference when it's convenient.
You may argue that if you didn't over-pay your taxes, the difference would be so negligible in your paycheck you'd simply spend the extra cash. You justify the overpayment as a painless way to save. I understand your reasoning, but have you considered at what cost you are allowing this to happen?
Do you ever run out of money before payday and feel you have no choice but to use your credit card to get by? Your revolving credit card balance is what you have to show for your generosity. How much sense does it make to pay 18-percent interest on a credit card account so you can make interest-free loans to the government?
Here's an easy solution: Divide your refund by your number of pay periods in a year (12 if you're paid monthly, 26 if bi-weekly, 52 if weekly). The result is about how much you're overpaying each pay period. Or go to www.irs.gov and type "withholding calculator" in the search box to get help with the details. You'll need your most recent pay stubs and most recent tax return to fill in the information that applies to your situation. Use this information to fill out a new W-4 Form with your employer. Increasing the number of exemptions you claim by even one will result in fewer dollars withheld from your paycheck.
But wait, you're not done yet. If you don't have a separate savings account, open one. Arrange for the difference you'll see in your paycheck to be automatically deposited into your new savings account each payday. There. Your net take-home amount remains the same. You won't miss your new savings deduction because you aren't used to getting it on a regular basis anyway. Now you're in charge of managing your money and that's the best feeling in the world.
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Today is sunday, you know what that means? Old Mickey Mouse Club song memory. Oh, how I used to race home after school to watch that show. Annette, Bobby, Cubby and Karen, Sharon, and whoever the heck else!!! Just one of many happy childhood memories. MaryJo, (who is my son-in-law's mother) and I were at the going away party for him, and we sat there together, lost on memory lane, talking about the shows we loved as kids, and I had to admit, I loved the Lawrence Welk show! Well, I was only a child, and there were no "Jefferson's", on back then. Smile. MaryJo mentioned that she had taken a report of a break-in of a motor home from, Norma Zimmer, the original, "Champagne Lady", from that show. MaryJo is a dispatcher for the Sheriff's department, here in Southern CA., so that way she hears alot of stuff other people wouldn't be privy to. By the way, no, she doesn't usually tell me much about the people they service, but just this once, it was of interest to the both of us. One of the younger people, a friend of Garth's, mentioned how funny he thought Jerry Stiller was on "The King of Queens", which I have seen on a couple of occasions, and think yes, he is funny. Someone else said, "I think that he was really funny as Mr. Costanza on, "Seinfeld". Then both MaryJo and I said, "I remember when he and Anne Meara used to do everything together". When they were a comedy team. None of them, but Cherokee, (and well, all three of my children), even knew who Jerry's wife was! I remember my own Mother saying, "yeah, it's just like, Abie's Irish Rose". This statement went over my head, but it stuck in my mind, 'cause she said it every time they came on the Ed Sullivan show! Mamma said, "well, maybe Anne is a relative, Sullivan sounds Irish to me".
She wasn't a bigot, but my Mamma always noticed people's nationality, and didn't mind commenting on it. As MaryJo and I continued this journey down memory lane, we started mentioning how much we liked this actor or that actor. (Male and Female). I grew up fascinated by cowboys, and John Wayne, much to my Mother's consternation because, besides being NEGRO, (this was way back in the late 50s, and the early 60s you must understand), we had a large percentage of Native American blood in our ancestral heritage, which back then was just plain ol' Indian! She would tell us, "if a White person comes to the door, don't speak to them, just come and get me". No questions asked, none answered. Mamma didn't like to mention that many of her relatives could "pass", having been from "somewhere", (it was actually Cartersville), in Georgia, where the whites (male), mixed freely with the negros (women), and their offspring were the mulattos, who were eventually "run out", of their home town, and settled here to become my great-grandparents. We heard the story enough, that it didn't mean a thing to us.
I wondered, though, several timesover the years, at the weddings (of the majority) of our married children, my brother's and sister's and my own children's weddings, when they picked white, mexican, and even asian, spouses, what would she have said? I imagine I can hear her now, "oh well, it happens in the best regulated families". She was fond of that saying. Smile. Now, that I am over all of that, "I'm Black and I'm proud" stuff of the early 60s, I could care less who marries whom. I love my grandkids as much with their melting pot of heritages, as I would if they had of been only of one heritage, which with our situation, would have been impossible, anyway. We're Americans, so we are full-blooded that! It is interesting to note, though, that MaryJo besides having these bi-racial grandchildren in common with me, she has another grandson, who happens to be a "Quadroon", since his mother is only considered half- black, due to the fact that her own Mother is white, and her Father, black. Whatever she, and her husband's nationality, is, her four kids, all multi-racial mind you, are beautiful!!!
I find these classifications of race so interesting. Since, each and everyone of us, that are actually born right here on these American soils are so unique, and diverse. I read years and years ago, in Ebony magazine, as a matter of fact, that nearly 86% of the white population in the United States have at least one black ancestors, I don't know where they got their statistics, but I am confident enough that I do remember reading that at one point in time, that I will post it here on an open blog! Smile. Boy, I am BOLD. What? Heck, now in the 2000s, the percentage may be a lot higher. I think, Ethiopia has "stretched forth her hand", and some of her other body parts, "to rule the world". Hehehehe. Whatcha' think?
I veer off topic, to say. I am so amused when I read that certain celebrities heritages are in question. Some so seemingly obvious as, Vin Diesel, Mariah Carey, Paula Abdul, Jennifer Beals, Nicole Ritchie, and even quasi-celebrity, Justin Guarini? (who uses his step-father's last name, and HEY, I like the way he sings). I can remember in the old days people swearing, that old time celebrities, like Dinah Shore, and Carol Channing, ( maybe even Elvis' Mother, Gladys), were in fact, "passing" for white. I don't know about Dinah Shore, or Elvis' Mother, Gladys, but later Carol Channing did admit, (or rather, simply state), that yes, her father was a very fair complexioned black man. In that day and age, I guess it was to their advantage to hide what nationality they were, considering the climate of the day, especially towards the whole black race in general, but now? Is it still that much of a stigmatisim, to be part black?
This does make one pause, and wonder. Why would Tiger Woods say anything resembling him not wanting to be "identified as black", as if it made some huge difference? All you had to do is look at him, and I can't imagine a soul even wondering about "what to identify" him as? Why did, or does Vin Diesel go to the point of saying he is "multi-cultural", as if there is something wrong with being categorised as a "black actor".? It hasn't seemed to hurt the careers of Denzel Washington, or Jamie Fox, or Morgan Freeman. Who, is any cuter than, "The Rock"? In my opinion, harldy no one!!! He is one fine Black/Samoan man, and a very entertaining actor, as well. I don't know. I think that maybe alot of Black people still wish that they could "get lighter" in their complexion. Sort of like Michael Jackson did. His condition, however was due to a condition, called "vertiligo", or sometimes known as, "leukoderma", where the pigmentation, or coloring of the skin, fades away. I've seen a couple of other Black people with this condition, and one of them had huge spots similar to "portwine stains", as they call those large purplish birthmarks some are born with, only these spots are absolutely devoid of any color, it looks something like how I would expect leprosy to look. I bet that Michael Jackson does have to wear some cosmetic cover, because I doubt that the vertiligo would leave your skin perfectly white. I've read that this condition is relatively rare however, so I guess "they" who wish this "losing pigmentation condition", on themselves will just have to stay black!! I think being black is GREAT! Since being Black is what GOD allowed me to be born as. I don't know any other way of life. Smile.
I don't think M.J. had enough money to "bleach" himself out to that degree, even if he would have wanted to, and tried, as some (ignorant, and just plain silly), people have suggested. Is that even possible? !!! Like what, you lay in milk for a really long time, out in the hot sun, or something? Naaaah.....,
Now, whether those are his very own biological "white looking" children? That is for him, GOD, and DNA, to know, and for us to speculate on if we so desire. I personally don't care. Let the gossipmongers have their fun talking about that, only they will have to answer for being so damned nosy in the judgement to come.
Man, you should be here and see how long it takes me to make these idiotic...., I mean interesting and thought provoking posts. I get distracted by whatever show is on the TV, I get up and go to the bathroom, I might get up and grab a snack, or a cup of coffee/green tea, maybe even a cold drink (of water), or a soda. I can start writing a post at midnight and not finish working on it until two or three o'clock in the morning!!! You may say, "NO WAY", I know, I know. They don't read as if they are that well thought out, do they? Yet, this is typical of me. I am just soooo slow like that, at stuff. Talk to you later. Ummm?
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Cherokee is laying in the floor in our living room listening to "South Park", and they are treating Wal*Mart, as if it were a living thing! It is hilarious! (By the way, I never watch "South Park", but if I happen to be on the computer, I can't help it). I LOVE Wal*Mart!!!!!!!!!!!! Whenever I get a chance, I go. Oh, maybe a few times, I have felt sick enough not to go, but generally, if the girls are going, I just take some extra pain pills (Equate, extra-strength), and go on over. After all, Wal*Mart is only a block, or so away from our apartment complex. K-Mart is just on the next corner!!! I am surrounded by stores as a matter of fact!!! Mexican Markets, not those little Mom and Pop sized stores, no, huge supermarkets are right across the street! How Cherokee and I got so blessed? I just don't know! Nah, I do, GOD watches over HIS kids. amen. We live in walking distance, (for her, she pushes me all around in the ole wheelchair), of any kind of store you could want. Rite-aid, Bakery, clothing stores, liquor stores, restaurants. Even a 99 cent store! What more could we ask for? Nothing. Oh, well maybe a Bank?
Also, almost any type of fast food place you can think of, too. Burgers, mexican food, chicken, Thai, Chinese, Pizza, Weiners, (Der'), Italian, and even Subs. (but) Do we go to them? Not often, because, even though they are all right here in the neighborhood, so very very close. We just don't have the money to utilize them, very often. It's all right though, dicipline with money, is a lesson well learned by us both. When Cherokee first came up to Redding, CA., to help take care of me, (at this point, I was deteriorating from the diabetic condition I found myself in, neuropathy, and I wasn't employable, or able to take care of myself). So, we were living off of only one salary, so
We both soon got jobs baby-sitting though, thanks to my, and Rich's, granddaughter, Kiara, (Cherokee's niece, not her child. Who stayed to visit with us, that same summer Cherokee moved up), told a young lady (swimming in our apartment complex's swimming pool, and who), was looking for a baby sitter, that I, her not "too sick" grandmother, was licensed in child care! VERY GOOD GIRL!!! So later, we did take care of her baby boy, and a month after getting that job, I started watching yet another baby boy. Happily, we took care of these two cute little boys, together, and shared the pitious income. I was even recuperating, a bit by this time.
The other baby, (by the way), was the child of a young man that Rich and I had taken care of in one of the three, group homes we had worked for. This guy liked us both so much, that even after he left, (by graduating the program), the group home, and was out on his own, he kept in contact with us, and came over often. (Too often, really)*. Sadly, he was still so young, and unprepared for life in the real world. Still, later when he became, (unfortunately), an unwed father, he insisted on having me watch the baby, while he and "his girl", worked at different fast food outlets. *(It was funny, Cherokee couldn't stand this guy, I just don't know why, maybe cause he called her "sis"? but, he had always been VERY respectful of me, calling me, "My Queen" (!!!), yep, even while we were still at the group home. RiverOaks Ranch, much to the administrator's displeasure, I might add)! I insert here. "A funny story".
**The administrator (and she was my immediately boss) told me to "discourage" him, from calling me "My Queen", and I did ask him to "please stop"!, repeatedly, but he just wouldn't, even when the other boys laughed at him about it. He told them that I WAS a "QUEEN", and should be treated like one, damn it!!!! Whew!! He was serious about this with the other guys, and he was a "big boy", so he didn't get much back talk, to his face that is, from them either.
He never once gave Rich or me, the slightest bit of trouble though, so eventually, our boss just stopped talking to me about it, (and to him also). ** Anyway, with that small income, (the baby sitting money), we still went to the cheapest little "out of the way" stores, to buy food, and other necessary items. Wal*Mart was one of the best places to get exactly what we needed, every time! We even got extras for Kiara, coloring books, crayons, that sort of thing, for pennies!! I know that Wal*Mart doesn't have a union, and that the other bigger stores don't like their policies. Yet, it was getting to a place where the other stores were just too expensive to shop in.
We on limited incomes would no doubt "starve" without the Wal*Marts, the Big Lots, and the 99 cents stores, (or even the Dollar Stores)! They are a GOD send. Amen? Hahahahahahaha!
I laugh, but it is still true, if there had been some of these inexpensive stores around while my three children were growing up, I mean, besides second hand and thrift stores? (Which I had to use, often, for play clothes for my kids). I could have saved tons of money for such a time as this. !!! Too late to even think about that, (but oh, just if only). Smile.
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HAPPY NEW MONTH!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, don't they just keep coming and coming, at the speed of light? Darn, I hadn't even noticed for hours, and I mean at least two, since it is 2:47 am right now. I did get off of the computer for an hour or so, to watch, "Medium". That new show starring, Patricia Arquett? That is such a good show to me, and my daughter Cherokee likes it alot too. There are only a few tv shows that I will even think about getting off of the computer to watch! Other ones are just shows that I like, but won't stop surfing, for. I will stop for Alias, for sure. I will stop for Lost!!! I definitely stop for Carnivale, (Whew)!!! Some times I stop for Medical Investigations, but once in awhile, I am playing games on Neopets, and I can't stop in the middle of the game, so I'll just listen, and glance back at the tv, if I hear a new voice I don't recognise. Most of the CSI shows, I get off of any site I am on to watch. Now, though, we're down to LasVegas, and New York. Miami comes on at the same time as something else, we like or rather Cherokee likes more, my tv is in my bedroom, and I don't like to watch it alone. I used to totally get off the computer for Gilmore Girls, but now!!!, the story line that has, Lorelei and Luke broken up, and Rory lusting after that "creepy guy" named, Logan, are making me gag!!! If something on that show makes me nostalgic about my own situation, I won't watch that episode either. Emily and Richard are two of the most evil people on TV, to boot!!!
Most of the other light weight sit-coms, like Eve, or Girlfriends, or One on One, or Everybody loves Raymond, et'c, (which by the way, neither Cherokee, nor I watch anyway)!!! are not interesting enough for me to quit the computer for. I will listen and think, "Oh my dear LORD, who in the world wrote this garbage"? We are more to be pitied than censored, I guess, if this is what most of us people, watch evening after evening. Then don't even get me started on awards shows! GOD bless America!!! Amen. No, I won't even say a word. Doing their jobs as actors is one thing, and I applaude them when they are good at doing that, and that is all I will say.
If I ever watch The View, or Dr. Phil, or ANY of those reality shows, please!!!, someone come and shoot me in the head, 'cause I would have to be brain dead. That is the only reason I would ever sit in front of a TV with any of that dung on it. (Oh, or I am visiting someone who likes that type of stuff, and I can't go home, then I keep my mouth shut, and my opinions to myself)!! I truly believe in, "to each his/her own". Long as it's legal, and doesn't hurt any body. What do I care? Just P L E A S E, don't ASK me my opinion? Some of the things I like, like SciFi channel, and the SeventhDayAdventist TV shows, are an acquired taste.
I like different types of movies too, when I am alone in my room, you couldn't get me to watch a comedy!!! Yet, I will watch Mickey Rourke, over and over in any movie he is in. Stephen Baldwin? Over and over. Eric Roberts? I just like to stare at him! I keep thinking, "Julia MUST be his half-sister, with him being so gorgeous, and her being so odd looking". I just saw Mickey in "The Last Outlaw" again for the umpteenth time, great as always! Then Eric was in "No Alibi", with Dean Cain and Lexa Doig, (from Andromedia fame), and once again I watched it from beginning to strange ending! When ever "Absence of the Good", is on I HAVE to watch it. I think it and "Dead Awake" are two of my favorite movies. I only have about 100 all time favorites, including, "Shadow Men"! So, that isn't a very long list. Like I said earlier, when they do good on their jobs, actors are great!!! Oh well, it's 3:34 am, time to go turn on my TV! Cherokee is still awake this morning, which is unusual, listening to her Court TV shows, and writing her novel. She is a great novelist!!! I just wish she would look into getting both of them published! I loved her first one, and I am sure that I will love the next.
