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The Con

April 24, 2012 by mountainmornings

While we are all getting unzipped today on Google http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/24/gideon-sundback-celebrated-google-doodle?newsfeed=true I thought I’d opine at the intersection of art and reality. Bob was caught watching his favorite movie on TV the other day, The Sting. Truth be told, a movie that includes Newman AND Redford would have to count as one of my favorites too. Like certain baseball movies, The Sting appeals mostly to men, and was produced in the 70s amidst a whirlwind of social change. Set in Depression era Chicago, it’s a buddy film, a comedy/crime caper with a thieving banker as the villain. Hmmm. Is revenge ever enough?

For some strange reason, seeing John Edwards getting hauled into court this week is reminiscent of that classic movie. Two pretty boys colluding to con the American people. Or was it his wife, Elizabeth, he was trying to shield from his mistress. Edward’s closest aide, Andrew Young, is now a witness for the prosecution. And now we learn that Young has sold the movie rights to “The Politician,” a scandalous page-turner he wrote about his former boss. After all, this is the guy who claimed he was the father of the mistress’ baby. He was the one who helped funnel almost a million dollars of ‘political donations’ to help cover up the affair as Edwards ran for the Presidential nomination.

Who will play Edwards and Young in this modern day Sting? Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling? And the villain, I’d say Reese Witherspoon would make a great mistress, or wait, maybe Young is the villain for snitching to the Feds? I have to think that Europe is laughing at us again, for the puritanical interest our press seems to have with our presidents. And just for more comic relief, we have the secret service demanding a discount for its secret menage a trois services. Sex and power, it just doesn’t get any better than that! If convicted of 6 criminal counts of attempting to grift the campaign finance rules and regs, the former senator from NC may have to face up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines. And that would be a crime.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/24/john-edwards-trial-andrew-young_n_1448314.html

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Sustainable Earth

April 21, 2012 by mountainmornings

Happy Earth Day! What are you doing to celebrate our planet this weekend? A group of Dems in town get together to do a road clean-up project, and with rain projected it may be a wee bit muddy. My Irish is coming out because I just watched this video about eco-villages:

The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) has been around for awhile, in fact you might call it the modern evolution of hippie communes; without all the free sex and drugs. Its purpose is “…to support and encourage the evolution of sustainable settlements across the world, through:
Facilitating the flow and exchange of knowledge about ecovillages and demonstration sites thru:
Website Information sharing & networking forums and webinars;
Promoting partner programs and social actions that reflect GEN’s core values; and
Fostering Global Cooperation/Partnerships (UN Best Practices, EU Phare, EYFA, Ecosoc).” http://gen.ecovillage.org/

When we were building our mountain home, I took a class on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building practices. It was essentially one of the first courses offered about building a sustainable house in the area and I felt out of my depth with architects and builders. Some people had built houses of straw (think thatch) and some had geo-thermal heat. Many sported solar panels and rain barrels. http://www.usgbc.org/

As you know, we grow many of our vegetables in the summer and we live in a town that has grass growing on the roof of the County Office Building. I try and remember my totes for grocery shopping, and pledge to always remember them for Earth Day. I will also spread Michael Mann’s teachings about Climate Change around as much as possible (see blogroll). Knowing where exactly my food comes from was not always on my radar, but I pledge also to be better at this. Rather than doing one thing today or tomorrow, maybe we could commit to one small change for the rest of our lives to help mother earth. Remember Kaizen? We all benefit from a sustainable planet.

Here is the front of our “Not so Big” semi-sustainable house, facing east, away from the mountains. Bob has just mowed on his tractor and Ms Bean is wondering if I have a ball. Thank you to all the bluebirds and woodpeckers for letting us share your home.

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Light a Candle

April 19, 2012 by mountainmornings

I was listening to a story on NPR the other day about Violins of Hope. It was about how a professor in NC was looking for musical instruments that were played in the concentration camps of WWII. Nazis would pluck Jews with violin cases in their hands off the cattle cars and direct them away from the ovens and into an orchestra. Many had not been played since, but were stored like a scar that can never be erased; “So I opened the violin, and there inside there [were] ashes.” After awhile, it became difficult to drive. http://www.npr.org/2012/04/15/150645417/violins-of-hope-instruments-from-the-holocaust

A week after the seventh day of Passover, Jews around the world mark the Day of Remembrance, or Yom Hashoah, differently. In Israel a siren is heard at sundown and again at sunset for 2 minutes of silence when everything, including traffic, stops. Families in America may light a a yahrzeit (memorial) candle on this day and recite Kadish (the prayer for the dead that never mentions death) in order to bear witness to the unthinkable.
http://www.ushmm.org/remembrance/dor/video/?content=whyweremember

Bob’s Grandparents came to this country before the war. Still, many relatives were lost. The only woman I ever met with a number on her arm, passed away on the second day of Passover this year. She was the Mother of a cousin in NY, and was married to another survivor. They both died with their families around them in great old age. They met as youngsters after the war in a refugee camp in Italy. That love can survive that period of time, the Shoah, is miracle enough.

Silence and indifference to suffering, silence and indifference to injustice, fear and hate speech are part of what lead Europe off the brink of sanity in the 1930s. Today, more than 30 death camp violins have been restored and music from the camps has been recreated. Today the Auschwitz violinist can play his instrument again.

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The Caterpillar and the Peahen

April 17, 2012 by mountainmornings

Hazily coming up out of a semi-good night’s sleep, I heard what I thought was a duck being strangled. Then Ms Bean’s bark was added to a chorus of early morning, pre-dawn sounds. Bob was heading into the hospital, and I was stumbling toward the door to see if our small brown shelter dog thought she was a large golden retriever. There, sitting regally in the top of a tree near our driveway, was a very real, very mad peahen!

Once upon a time I had purchased 2 peacocks, who are always male, for my brother Mike’s birthday. His home in MS has a beautiful 14 acre park for a backyard and I thought this would be the best lawn decoration ever. As soon as they were delivered to the manse, one flew into a tree and proceeded to squawk to his buddy, “Hey let’s split this place, no peahens!” Here is a picture of the family at my niece’s wedding in a beautiful, but peacock-less Japanese garden.

And while I am writing this, I’ve been informed by my daughter via text that she is indeed having a girl! She and her husband are in the doctor’s office and she has managed to text me a picture of the ultrasound. I am beyond jubilant and think my peahen was announcing this like a trumpeter to the Queen of Little Sleep this morning, “Wake up, wake up, it’s going to be a girl!” And honey, I’m ordering this onsie for you right now. Cause you know it’s not a war on caterpillars we’ve been fighting ever since your Great Great Grandmother Anna Robinson, my Nana, got the vote, as one Republican has opined. http://www.mediaite.com/tv/rnc-chair-reince-priebus-compares-war-on-women-to-war-on-caterpillars-its-a-fiction/


We’re going to dream big for you baby girl. It’s going to be cups and ice all the way, in a land where peacocks and peahens play.

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Happy Bday Mr President

April 14, 2012 by mountainmornings

A music festival was happening right in my own backyard and I didn’t even know about it until now! This weekend kicks off the 1st Annual Tom Tom Founders Festival http://www.tomtomfest.com/ in honor of, you guessed it, Mr Thomas Jefferson’s birthday. Lucky for us, it’s a month long celebration! There was a 10 band block party last night on the steps of the old McGuffey Arts Center, that spilled into the park where the Groom first saw his Bride!

This sounds like an ambitious and highly creative project that maybe needs a better PR team, but hey, this is the run-up to next year. It’s like MOMA meets SXSW and a modern day southern Woodstock is born!

Bob is flying to Williamburg today for a lunch date with his Woodstock buddy, Al and his son Brian. Brian is many hours into pilot training and did a tour in Cville at the JAG Law School. I’m glad the Army chose to keep him in the area. Part of the second generation of Big Chillers, I’m also thankful one of that group became a lawyer. Along with doctors, rock stars, engineers, and travel executives, you never know when you might need a good lawyer…

Which leads me to my very BFF in MA, Lee. She was an assistant DA for many years while having her children; later, she opened her own law practice. My favorite Mother’s Day memory was playing with our babies while the dads grilled dinner in our backyard. For the GOP to start up with the whole “Working Mothers” divide is semantics at its worst. Ann Romney is right when she said we all have that choice to make; we women, our bodies, our babies, our choices. The naughty little twist in that equation is that money can make the choices much, much easier. Single moms, and moms who must work outside the home to make ends meet, they know the true story. Some moms can afford nannies, and some can barely pay for day care (that’s another problem), some have husbands who are parenting at home, while some choose to stay at home working… Let’s not divert the war that is being waged on reproductive rights with a false dialogue on working women.

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“Music is Normal Life”

April 12, 2012 by mountainmornings

In 1966, when Bob and I were going to our Senior Prom in NJ, a suburban Jersey housewife, mother of two daughters, was busy writing songs and trying to keep her husband, Gerry Goffin, away from LSD. Carole King is one of the most prolific, phenomenal pop divas of our generation. And her song, the one Aretha Franklin performed to No 1 stellar star status, is the title of her new memoir, “A Natural Woman.”
This will absolutely be on my must-read list!

And natural she is, with her halo of grey hair and make-up-free face, King was always true to her music, and herself. Over the years she’s had four husbands, four kids, and won four Grammys in 1972. You have to love a woman who is unapologetic, who still comes across like the Jewish Mama from Brooklyn (originally), who only wants to take care of her family and make everybody feel good. “I kept pushing music away because I thought it was keeping me from having a normal life. At this moment, I understand that for me, music is normal life,” King says.

Let’s think about what a natural, and normal life is like for a woman in the spotlight. Becoming famous is almost like putting a magnifying glass between the star and the light – it can only burn. Look at Ashley Judd. A brilliant woman, who happens to be from a musical family but chose acting instead, is speaking publicly about the objectification of women. You’all know my feelings about this. Thank you Ashley for not just explaining your “puffy face,” but for calling our culture and the media to task. “You have to suffer to be beautiful,” that’s what the Flapper would tell me as she combed and pulled my hair out of my head to make perfect braids. It’s time we gave our daughters a different message. “Normal” life is whatever you make it, and a natural woman is beautiful. Beauty is illusory.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/09/ashley-judd-slaps-media-in-the-face-for-speculation-over-her-puffy-appearance.html

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Clouds in my Coffee

April 10, 2012 by mountainmornings


Good Morning Everyone! Who knew that “Red Flag” warnings meant absolutely glorious weather. Not a cloud in sight! I didn’t even know what it meant; blue skies, 70’s, a good breeze and no rain? Seems perfect to me, but the weather folk want us to watch out for fires. So instead of red, let’s call this a Fuchsia Flag day! Miss Bean spotted 4 deer grazing down the hill and started her day with a romp and a good barking session. Her work is done.

And speaking of work, are you a procrastinator? I’ve noticed lately that due to my never-ending need to stay on trend, or with-it, I get to my actual writing later and later. First it was the Bride talking me into joining Facebook, and I must admit I was more up-to-date on the Egyptian revolution via Facebook than any other news outlet. Then, the Rocker told me that Facebook is over and Instagram is next. So snap, he took our picture with my iPhone and now I’m thinking visually all the time. Guess Facebook got that message cause they bought it for a Billion yesterday! http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57411451-93/instagram-how-to-go-from-zero-to-$1b-in-under-two-years/?tag=fd2010TopHeadlines.0
And you know about the tornado and Pinterest.

The promise was that I would check all these things in the same way I check my emails in the morning. Coffee, 20 emails, coffee, cousin gathering Easter eggs, coffee, cool pic of niece’s baby in pink forest, coffee, who just pinned my Celtic Barbie? Great! Only if you tend to be just a tiny bit ADD, one thing leads to another and you’re starting to write around lunchtime. Well hold on to your hats, cause I’m streamlining my tech-life, yesterday I took a bite out of the forbidden Apple! Goodbye ancient, ten year old desktop Dell PC, hello Mac Pro. You look marh-ve-lous!! No more rebooting every time I upload pictures from my camera… or every other day for no reason. Now wish me luck in learning how to speak this wonderful new language and can anyone explain the whole “in the cloud” thing to me? “There’s no need to dock or sync to your computer. With iCloud, it just works.” Exactly!

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Mockingbird

April 8, 2012 by mountainmornings

The annual pilgrimage to Grandma’s house was capped off last night by a special tribute to the great American film classic, To Kill a Mockingbird. We were transported back to the deep South of the Depression with one of my favorite heroines, Scout, and her heroic Father, Atticus Finch. President Obama introduced the film on its 50th anniversary to an exceptionally large TV audience, by distilling the story – it’s about doing the right thing, even when it’s difficult.

And talking about the future with healthy, active octogenarians was one part of the weekend festivities. Change is always hard. Living in the same house for 45 years means that more than memories reside in every corner. And for some, like Atticus’ neighbor, Maudie, knitting on her porch in front of her beautiful garden, aging well, in their own home is the answer.

Here is a picture of the Rocker in a highchair and the Bride in the middle, happily enjoying a Seder years ago. This year the newlyweds were in Italy, but the Rocker was home from his tour and paying attention. He said he’s watching what we do with his Grandparents. Like Scout and her brother Jem were watching Atticus from the Colored balcony as he spoke about injustice and all men being equal, we parents model more than we’ll ever know.

20120408-100624.jpg

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Over the River

April 5, 2012 by mountainmornings

Today is a day of travel. It’s time to wipe the yellow pollen off the car windows and set our GPS north, to Grandmother’s house we go! Once you marry a Jewish doctor man there are 2 things that will reoccur every year: 1) the Passover pilgrimage to his Mother’s house for a seder; ie ritual, ancient foods (like chicken soup and matzoh) that you must smell for hours before you can actually eat since everyone has to wait for the sun to go down. Oh, and you all have to read this book about being slaves in Egypt, while sitting at the table, waiting for the food…and the sun….What do we learn besides our Jewish history? Patience, and how to make a great chicken soup, which will cure anything btw. 2) He will always be working on Christmas.

So goodbye Bean:

Goodbye flowers blooming:

Goodbye mountains

I’m packing my knitting and wishing you all a peaceful and serene Passover and Easter holiday filled with chocolate bunnies, happy colored eggs, and coconutty macaroons. Let’s dream about SCOTUS upholding the Affordable Care Act for all Americans. I know I am.

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Neil Simon I’m Not

April 3, 2012 by mountainmornings


Feeling Spring in the air and a bounce in my step, I decided to April Fool myself and sign up for Script Frenzy. What is Script Frenzy? Well it’s kind of like a national stop smoking day, only instead of being one day to make a pledge, it’s a whole month of frenzied writing – 100 pages in fact – of a screenplay or a stage play that you may have had dancing around in your head for years. At the Book Festival I met a few other Cville writers from Writer House (a cooperative of literary types) and that combined with this script challenge led me to writing stage directions and downloading Celtx!

If you break it down, it’s only about 4 pages a day. You know the plot already:
1) An ADD Blogger bemoans her empty nest
2) Tornado appears
3) Mishaps ensue

Meanwhile back in the blogosphere. Yesterday I got around 300 hits on my “Parenting Old School” post. I can only guess I was “pinging” around because I created a link to the original author’s blog my friend Polli posted to her newsfeed. Normally I might get 20-50 new hits, so I was excited and terrified all at once. Who are all these people?? To which Bob said, “Well are you only writing for your friends?” Smart man. I kept thinking about what my Great Aunt Bert asked me years ago – “Where does your blog go?” And according to Word Press, it’s been around the world a few times. Thanks for visiting everyone!

Here’s to all us “bad” parents out there – sending our kids to Paris alone and letting them find their way home via the NY subway system. And here’s to this febrile feeble attempt at play writing! They didn’t write “Broadway Bound” under my yearbook picture for nothing!!
Go Go 1966 dancer

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