I've Had It!

Happy Halloween

Hope you all have a terrifyingly bootiful day!  The imps will be out in force.

 

Little Brooklyn's All Excited

I can't wait for Halloween!

Not a lot of teeth that can rot out.  I'm going to enjoy this holiday while I can!

"Where Have You Gone Joe DiMaggio..."

For those of you who are unaware I am a native New Yorker.  Not a New York City New Yorker but a New Yorker nonetheless.  We New Yorkers take our professional sports rather seriously.  I, for one, am a die hard New York Yankees FANatic.  Win (I  prefer the win part), lose or draw I stand behind my Yankees.  Save your "best team money can buy comments" for another day.  Baseball is a business and if a team can provide their fans with a good show I'm there. 

When I transplanted myself to Washington I was delighted that sports was a major part of the community.  Boy howdy I fell in love with those Seattle Mariners.  Who wouldn't love Junior, Edgar, Tino and Jay?  Heart stopping action that kept me on the edge of my seat each and every game.  Win or lose the Mariners had more heart and soul then all the teams combined in Major League Baseball.  Yes, that includes the Yankees.

Just as I was beginning to feel at home and an official Seattle sports fan the Mariners broke my heart.  Not because they let Junior's, Tino, Lou and all the other darlings go but because they wanted a new stadium.  They wanted a new stadium so bad that they were going to leave the Emerald City and set up camp elsewhere if they didn't get one.  The stadium issue was up for the voters to decide.  Much to my dismay the voters decided Seattle did not need a new baseball stadium.  I cried.  Then through some slight of hand that I still don't have a grasp of we ended up leveling the Kingdome and the house that Griffey built was born.  We kept our Mariners but for me something had changed.

Our sweethearts of the grid iron Seattle Seahawks decided they needed a new stadium.  We were still digesting the millions of dollars the Mariners were chewing up but our Seahawks had gone so far as to pack their bags and load the trucks for their big move.  We had to stop them.  We built them a new stadium.  I haven't watched the Seahawks since.

I had completely forgotten how much I love professional basketball.  Last season I sat and watched a Sonics game and remembered why.  As I watched the Sonics drag themselves across the court it dawned on me that something was missing.  No energy.  No excitement.  No enthusiasm.  It wasn't the lack of "key" players that caught my attention it was the lack of the aforementioned three "E's".  These guys looked like they were simply out there to collect a paycheck with as little effort as possible.  Where was their love for the game?  Now the Sonics want a new stadium.  If they don't get one their owner is taking them to Oklahoma when their lease is over.  As hard as this is for me to write, let them go.

Sports should be a rallying point for a community.  Something we can grab onto and support come hell or high water.  The only heart break should be about losses, player injuries, trades, yadda, yadda.  Instead Seattle gets blackmail.  How can I embrace teams that constantly threaten to take their ball and leave if they don't get what they want?

As a sports fan I do prefer a winning team and having a few star players are bonus points but it isn't the end all be all for me.  It's more about being a part of something that can elicit a realm of emotions and makes us all a part of a community.  Thank you Seattle professional sports for once again reminding me that it's all about the money.  Seattle may not have the best teams money can buy but we sure do have the stadiums to prove it.

Instant Gratification

I’m knitting a sweater.  Not just any sweater but a beautiful cardigan made from a worsted blend of alpaca and wool. It’s going to be a red sweater.  It will be soft and warm and if I have the gauge correct and follow the pattern as written it should fit me perfectly.  This is my first adult size sweater.

There are times while I am knitting that I thoroughly enjoy the process.  The feel of the soft wool running through my fingers as I keep time to the click clack of my needles.  A slow rhythm that maintains my inner workings at a calm, steady tempo.  An excellent diversion from the noise that continuously infiltrates my weary brain.

Suddenly the brain ignites and I think what the heck am I doing?  This whole knitting a sweater business is for the birds.  A complete waste of time.  At the rate I’m going I might have this finished sometime next year.  Further more we all know about the hideous handmade sweater deal.  What if this thing is grotesquely shaped?   I will have wasted all this time and money creating a monster that will end up hidden in the back of the closet.  I should just go out and purchase a red sweater.

Then the brain takes a step back and thinks hold up a minute.  If you buy a red sweater you will miss out on the sense of satisfaction you receive when you finish something you started.  You, Miss Jo are forgetting about the virtue of patience and are giving in to instant gratification.  The same Instant Gratification that is robbing our society of a sense of accomplishment, work ethic and self worth. We have forgotten about non monetary rewards and doing something simply for the sake of doing something.  ACK!

Back to row 92 on the right front panel.  I’m going to finish this sweater even if it takes me well into next year.  I have to.  I have to finish what I started.  I’m going for that ultimate high and regardless of the out come I will wear this sweater with pride.  I did it all by myself.

Good News

Dino Rossi has decided to once again run for Governor.  I won't reiterate the details of the 2004 election because quite frankly it puts me in an ugly frame of mind.  However, I am sure that by using the search tern of Washington state Governor's race 2004 you can find the seemly details yourself.

Suffice to say that Mr. Rossi has the full weight of my support and I highly encourage others to educate themselves and make informed decisions this time around.  For those of you interested in learning more about Mr. Rossi please visit his website at:  http://www.dinorossi.com/

For the record, my support of Dino Rossi by no means is a declaration of any political affiliation with a specific party.

I Don't Get It

Apparently I missed a meeting somewhere along my life journey.  The one where they discussed consequences for one's behavior.  The last meeting I attended they stated that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  Everything you do has consequences in one form or another.  For example, if you don't complete your homework on time the teacher is going to give you a big fat zero.  It doesn't matter why you didn't complete the work.  A deadline is a deadline and thats that!  (Kids don't recognize it at the time but it truly is a good life lesson).

It works for me.  Keeps me focused, helps me prioritize and I end up with a good sense of accomplishment.  All resulting in a positive shot to my self esteem.  A wonderful life lesson.

However, I've been noticing some of that common senseaphobia has infiltrated into previous teachings of life lessons and am wondering how come?  King county Councilwoman Jane Hague, a Republican up for re-election was arrested on June 2nd on a drunken driving charge.  A quote from the Seattle PI states, "Hague twice took a breath test, registering 0.135 and 0.141 exceeding the legal blood-alcohol limit of 0.08 percent..."  Quite naturally (I guess), Ms. Hague is fighting the charges and continues to sit on the city council while running for re-election.

Seattle City Councilman Richard McIver was arrested this month for domestic violence after a drunken episode with his wife.  Some patrons at a local barber shop are quoted in The Seattle PI as saying " Domestic violence is a "two-way street" and McIver's wife shoulders are to blame too.  Because no physical marks were left on McIver's wife, they surmised he will face a light punishment and finish his term".

Just yesterday KOMO 4 news reported  that the Garfield High School students accused of robbery and assault will be allowed to play football in the school's final game on Thursday.  These students have been charged with second-degree robbery.  They were not suspended from school as their crime did not take place on school property.

Believe me I get the whole innocent until proved guilty concept.  What I'm not getting is what are we as a society trying to say?  Are we trying to say that anything goes unless you are convicted in a court of law? 

The attitude of the younger generation doesn't surprise me in the least.  We are leading them by proverbial example.  It all comes down to how far we are willing to move that imaginary consequence line and when are we going to force people to accept responsibility for their behavior.  Maybe when we start placing a higher value on integrity it will become less acceptable to accept that the dog ate my homework. 

A Grand Adventure

Mom and Dad said we were going to the pumpkin patch.  I'm a big girl now.  I can catch a pumpkin.

Uh oh!  I seem to be out numbered and surrounded.  DADDY!

Much better odds.

Can we go home now?

Warning: Reading this May Be Hazardous to Your Health

There is a new disease sweeping across this nation at alarming figures.  I dare say it has reached pandemic proportions.  It is subtle and if you don't pay close attention you would hardly notice it at all.  Some experts are referring to it as Common Senseaphobia while others call it Stupidity.  I think somehow it's all tied up in unresolved parenting issues with a smack of laziness but then again I'm no expert.

If you pay careful attention you will see signs of this disease all around you.  How about that cup of coffee with the warning label that the contents are hot.  What about the government stepping in and telling us we have to wear safety belts?  They even slap our hands with a fine if we are not buckled up for safety.

Then there's the recent removal of pediatric cold medicines from the shelf.  Last I heard there wasn't a cure for the common cold.  Bed rest, drink plenty of fluids and wash, wash, wash your hands and you will feel better within a few days.  It never occurred to me to pump my kids full of drugs to mask their symptoms.  Let the bloody thing run it's course.  Yes, it's miserable but who ever said dealing with a sick kids was going to be fun?

Last winter there was a big to do about having Christmas trees at Sea Tac Airport.  A local was heard saying on TV and I quote, "What does Christmas have to do with religion?"  Indeed.  The trees were promptly removed from the airport and this year we are having a $30,000 winter lighting display to simulate snow.  You gotta love the way the human mind works.

Just in case there are any doubts about the veracity of this disease I have it on good authority that there are several areas within Washington state that are banning cellular phone use while driving.  Thank the Lord someone is looking out for our best interests.  I can't even imagine what it would be like to run into one of those infected persons behind the wheel of the care juggling that hot cup of coffee, without a safety belt, doped up on cold medicine, talking on the cell phone while singing Oh Christmas Tree......

You are You, I am Me, We're a Happy Family

I was an inquisitive child.  Always wanting to know how something worked, why something was done a certain way, how someone knew what they knew, and the proverbial who said that?  I questioned everything.

After years of ugly scowls, comments regarding being seen and not heard and the ever popular “yours is not to question…” I clammed up.  My family, the Catholic Church and the public school system was successful is turning me into a quiet conformist.  I became the perfect child.  I did as I was told and never once did I think to question authority.

Life was good.  I didn’t know my creativity had been stifled.  I didn’t know I had been trained to go along to get along.  I didn’t know that the very core of my being had been altered.  But I felt it.

I felt it every time I went to the Dr. and walked out of his office with a prescription knowing full well he had not listened to a word I had said.  The prescription never got filled.  I felt it every time I listened to the news and the governmental decisions being made didn’t make sense.  I would think I must be the one who doesn’t think right.  I felt it every time I was sure of myself yet allowed someone else to convince me I was wrong. What did I know?  I felt it every time my art didn’t look like the class example.  I felt it every time I tried to squeeze myself into that mold called the norm.

The up shot was that I learned to not trust my own judgment and blindly follow others whom I believed had all the answers simply because they were in positions of authority.

I have to say that philosophy did not serve me well.  As a matter of fact it has definitely scarred me on more than once occasion.  The self doubt alone has led to frequent episodes of depression that cannot be resolved via a prescription pad.

You don’t just wake up one morning and decide to rebel.  There isn’t a voice in your head that says, “Hey look, you have been trained to think like the masses.  Your mind doesn’t always choose to think like everyone else.  You do have your own thoughts and opinions and they are valid for you.  That’s okay.  Go forth and be you.”    It took years to understand why I didn’t feel like I fit in anywhere.  Life got in the way of my self actualization.

We tell our children that they are the master’s of their own destiny.  We do everything in our power to foster their self esteem and teach them what they need to survive in the world.  Let’s not forget to show them the wonder of who they are and the unique gifts that they can bring to the table even if it’s a Mohawk.

More Introductions

My grandfather immigrated to America from Italy in the early 1900's.  He was 16 years old.  He didn't speak English.  He was alone.  His parent's wanted him to have a chance for a better life.  America was the land of opportunity.

The culture shock he experienced was probably ten times greater than what I felt arriving in San Diego from New York.  Even so, he settled in a small town in upstate New York, got married and raised 5 children.  Five children who survived the depression, had 2 sons serve their country in World War II and11 grand children.  A farm was purchased where he raised goats and grapes for wine making.  A home was purchased that still remains within the family.  And Grandpa completed the process to become a United States citizen.

Grandpa never accepted a government hand out.  They didn't have any.  Grandpa learned to speak English (broken English but understandable nonetheless).  Grandpa worked hard his entire life and instilled a strong work ethic within his family.  There were no free rides nor were there issues of entitlement.  He believed this country was the land of opportunity but it was up to each individual to grab that opportunity and make something of it.

That belief has been passed down to me.  I have no expectations that when I get into trouble financially, or when I want to send my children to school or need medical care that someone is going to miraculously swoop down and rescue me.  It's all up to me.  If there is help out there I am pleasantly surprised and grateful.

Which brings me to the question of how come?  How come people come to this country looking for more than an opportunity?  More importantly why do we offer it?  How come illegal immigrants protest openly for their rights without any ramifications?  What rights? 

I am all for folks coming to America for an opportunity for a better quality of life.  I am not for handing it to them.  I can't even figure out where they got the idea that it would be handed  to them.  I know, we gave them that idea and the word spread like wild fire.  In our bleeding heart liberalism and concern for other's perceptions of us we have created a giant mess that has once again bred the common sense out of the common folk.  In place of common sense we have created expectations that are being fulfilled off the backs of the American working class.  How come?

My grandfather's idea of the American dream has become the American nightmare.  If he were alive today I'm fairly sure he would not understand anymore than I do.  From my point of view we have succeeded  in eviscerating American ingenuity and replaced it with American entitlement.  We have done a great injustice that has handicapped our diverse population.  Lady Liberty's outstretched hands are not saying I'll do it for you.