It's like, you know, like, can you believe it???

 OK... guilty pleasure.  My daughter and I watch The Bachelor on Monday nights.  I have never seen the series before as I don't watch TV.  My daughter told me that I need to watch something totally brainless to disengage and relax as my job has been demanding and stressful lately.  Just because I can work from either home or the office does not mean that my duties have lessened.  My job is more demanding now than it was before the pandemic.   The only thing that is saving my @ss is not having to travel as that time-suck has been put on hold - hopefully indefinitely.  

Back to The Bachelor.  

It's a television series that features a nice looking man who dates 20 women at once hoping to find "the one."  Of course, the cat drama and infighting all add to the suspense of who survives the rose ceremony. Surviving the rose ceremony means that the guy has not cut the woman loose and those who receive a rose are still in the running.  The whole thing is humiliating and demoralizing from the get-go, but I guess if the contestants have to go on national television on what is basically a game show to win "a prize" to be with, well, what can I add to that?

All of the contestants (women) are in their 20's and here is what I've noticed.  None of them can complete a sentence without inserting the word filler "like" several times.  They also end the sentence in a voice pitch that makes it sound like everything is a question but it's not a question.  The best way I can describe it is bimbo talk.  Here's an example, "You know, Sarah, like, I noticed she, like, kissed Joe on the group date?????  Her lipstick is, like, on his collar???????  My guess is, like, she's, like, a whore???????"

You get the picture.

One of the contestants is a corporate attorney, and another one is a copywriter.  I would never hire either in a million years.   Do you, like, get why, like, I would never, like, hire them???????

Karen and Dick

Karen = The official flagship name of the Bored Moms on Prozac.  You know the ones.  The busybody mom who has too much time on her hands and wants to nit-pick, dictate and judge everything from the color of your house, to running the PTA, to banning anything and everything she personally does not like nor believe in. 

Dick = The name of a guy who lacks social skills.  He has no clue to the consequences of his behavior or speech and he does not care.  In layman's terms, he's an @sshole.  It also refers to male anatomy.  

Now, what if Karen and Dick are married?  Avoid that couple like COVID.  

The Vaccine

 I don't think the vaccine is the be-all-end-all.  I'm no doctor, but how can we produce an effective vaccine when the virus keeps mutating?  My opinion here in California is that the vaccine rollout has halted because they're finding that there are severe allergic reactions to it that cause hospitalization and/or death.  It won't take long for the lawyers to figure that one out and it will add a whole new batch of litigation that's COVID related.  

Besides tech companies, it's lawyers who are raking it in with all of this COVID confusion. 

White Bird - It's a Beautiful Day

This song will forever remind me of one of my CA besties, KRR.  KRR grew up in Lompoc, which is a little town on California's central coast.  KRR and I have gone through MANY milestones together including our pregnancies.  We have gone though the good and bad, the ugly and the beautiful, the fun and the torture, and every emotion in between during our 30+ years of friendship.  You name it, we've experienced it.  Much of it is too personal to share and I would never want to betray her trust.  Let's just say that both of us have experienced less than desirable moments in our marriages, health, families, jobs, etc.  Our friendship has endured each of us being bee-atches with each other.  We know each other well enough to know that the sarcasm and anger will subside and that we each lost our cool, but underneath it all there is a strong friendship that has lasted and will continue to last.  It's going to take more than a disagreement with strong words to derail our bond.  

Here's to you, KRR.  It's been a rough year on you to say the least.   I look forward to being able to go to the county fairs again (Marin, Sonoma, SonaMarin) where we always manage to find "good trouble" with the bands playing.  In the meantime, until the virus is under control, we will continue to gather outside at my house around the fire pit with homemade pizza, music off Pandora, dancing, and of course WINE.  Never a dull moment with you, dear friend.  I know the below is one of your favorite songs and it will forever remind me of you.  It has beautiful lyrics.  I know you've seen the artist in person more than once and I know how happy it made you.  

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown: FIRE

 OK, here's the energy that I'm picking up from the universe.....FIRE.  My intuition tells me that we will be experiencing a lot more of it in the near future.   Here's a little flashback to the future.

The Festering Zit Is Popping

 I have been advised by those in "the know" to stay home on Wednesday.  Things are about to get ugly.  Yes, people are pissed off and I can't say I blame them.  All of this anger has been building for 50+ years as social frustrations have been festering under the surface.  I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about.  Festering.  Think like a super subterranean zit that is beginning to fester.  You feel it under there as it's sore and tender, but nothing shows on the surface yet.  It's slow to come to the surface, but you feel something under there.  You ignore it as there are no visible signs on your skin, yet.  After a while a red bump appears and you add a little cream to it thinking that should do the trick in making it go away.  Wrong.  The infection lies deep in the skin and adding a mild zit cream to the surface does nothing.  The zit continues to fester and it feels like a volcano on your face that's about to erupt.  Still, you don't pop it as they tell you not to do that as that would cause scarring.  Pretty soon the zit is unbearable and it explodes its oozie yuck causing a huge mess on the mirror.  

That's what is happening with our society right now.  Our zit is about to pop.  Politicians have been applying worthless, superficial social fixes for decades thinking that will make them disappear and placate the voters/public.  Blaming one man for our current ills is a complete cop out.  It's a lot harder to dig deep into what got us to where we are today.  Our problems are complex and we all need to own up (including politicians and their corporate masters) to why we are so divided.  

The hate brigade is not limited to republican pro-Trump rebels.  Every day I see posts from so-called liberals published in the media that are insulting, name calling, dismissing, and ostracizing anybody who disagrees with them.  I'm shocked that it's published in our local news papers because if it came from the other side it would be considered hate speech.  Same with social media.  Hate speech is OK as long as it has a so-called liberal bias.  Both sides have demonstrated bullying to severe degrees. 

Don't just blame one side for stirring the pot and being intolerant.  Hate is hate even if it is packaged up with a pretty bow. 

Impeach Trump?

 The media and the government created the monster they are now condemning named Trump.  The media enjoys fanning the flames as that gets viewers and with viewers comes advertising and with advertising comes money.  Hatred and violence sells.  The government has a love/hate relationship with Trump as he is the perfect distraction and scapegoat for everything that has gone wrong.  

The media whips up the hatred and makes a killing doing so, now they want to silence him.  There is talk about impeaching him (again).  Why?  He's out in a few short days.  I think the demoRATS are terrified that he will run again in 2024.  If impeachment happens it will only strengthen his base.  Impeachment tells me that the new administration really does not want to try to work with about half the country that voted for him.  

Please do not get me wrong.  The Orange Cheeto is far from perfect.  People are pissed and rightfully so.  I don't like people being censored nor silenced even if I don't agree with them.  Where will it stop?  Will it be that anybody who speaks out against the government will be silenced?   Will it be only one type of thought allowed?  We can't heal as a nation until we listen to each other.  It's hard to listen to a segment that has been silenced.  

The Frustration Is Real

 Anybody who thinks that our current government representatives in Washington, D.C. actually care and work for the people is completely delusional.  All Congress cares about is where their campaign money will come from, whose *ss they have to kiss for said contributions by returning favors, and how many voters they can convince to elect them by pandering to their base.    

Nothing else matters to them.

I understand why yesterday's chaos happened.  It really is not about the election results or lack thereof, it's about rebelling against a system that has corruption at its core - even if the leader of the rebellion is corrupt himself.  What other outlet do frustrated Americans have? 

Rip Currents and Sneaker Waves

 The Pacific Ocean around here is anything but passive, especially this time of the year.  Rough surf, cold temperatures, rip currents, and sneaker waves are a recipe for disaster.  Add to that the water is so murky and foaming from the violent churning of the waves that visibility is nil.  Oh, I also forgot to mention the sharks.  

Signs are posted everywhere warning people about the dangers of the ocean.  The news also warns people about not getting too close to the water.  Rip current and sneaker wave warnings have been blasted to the community at large.  

Still, despite the warnings, people go out to the coast and play along the shore and walk on the rocks.  Next thing you know a sneaker wave or a rip current comes out of nowhere and they are never seen again. 

We had two instances here back-to-back over the weekend.  One was a guy from Southern California (why was he even in the area and not obeying the stay-at-home orders) who got swept out because he fell off the rocks.  The other was a young family where the father also drowned trying to save his two kids who got swept out.  

All of the victims were new to the area.

 

Six Generations of Clan Whack-O

 How many of you out there know of six generations of a family?  I have the unique insight to my in-laws, a.k.a. Clan Whack-O, for six generations.  I knew the matriarch who was born in 1898.  I knew both of her daughters who were born in 1917 and 1919 respectively.  I know her daughter who was born in 1941 and is currently living.  I know her daughter who was born in 1967.  I know her daughter who was born 1993, and now her daughter who was born 2017.  

I've known six generations of women from the same family.

Watching the family dynamics flow from one generation to the next is both frightening, and yet also an honor.  I'm literally watching history repeat itself.  You all have inherited more than just genetics from your parents and grandparents.  You've inherited social customs, beliefs, and other patterns you are not even conscious of.  There really is ancestral karma and energy that gets passed down.  I'm witnessing the same parenting patterns play out to yet another generation who will then keep on passing it down to the next.  Is all of if good?  Of course not.  There is some really dysFUNctional stuff that has not been worked out yet.  The hope is that each generation gets it cleared out somewhat.  However, what gets cleared out gets replaced with some other karma.

There is no such thing as an easy life.  We will forever be working on some karma whether its of our own making or something inherited.

 

Happy New Year!

 I don't think anybody will be sad to see 2020 in the rear view mirror.  I hope you all have some fashion advice for me. I had a hard time last night deciding which pair of sweat pants and slippers to wear to the living room last night.  It was a very quiet New Year's Eve.  We were good and did not go out, nor did we have anybody over as to not violate any COVID etiquette.  Plus, I really don't want to get the virus nor inadvertently spread it to somebody else. 

Last night as 2020 came to an end, we did have an incredible sunset.  My pathetic iPhone did not capture it's beauty.  Well, truth be told I'm a horrible photographer.  I could only hope to someday be like my talented photographer friends in England who could take a picture of dog poo and make it look beautiful and worthy of framing.  

Until that day, you get my crumby photos.  What I find so interesting about our area of California is that it's the only place on earth where palm trees coexist with redwoods.  Please correct me if I'm wrong on that.  It's an observation I had.  

Usually on January first I make my predictions for the year.  I'm not in the mood today as my crystal ball is foggy.  I don't think COVID will be leaving us anytime soon and this will go on for several more months at the minimum.  The 2020 ride has not yet come to a complete stop.