Senate Republicans Want You To Lose Your House

Senate Republicans blocked a measure that would have allowed Judges to fix mortgages in bankruptcy.

The Senate handed a victory to the banking industry on Thursday, defeating a Democratic proposal that would have given homeowners in financial trouble greater flexibility to renegotiate the terms of their mortgages. [...]

The mortgage provision garnered only 45 votes in the Senate, falling well short of the 60 votes necessary to break a threatened filibuster to a measure sponsored by Senator Richard Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, that would give bankruptcy judges greater flexibility to modify mortgages. In recent weeks, major banks and bank trade associations worked closely with Senate Republicans to stop the measure. Twelve Democrats joined all the Republicans in voting against it.

The defeat clears the way for a final vote as early as Friday for the legislation, which has several features that the banking industry has sought. One provision would have the effect of reducing a proposed special premium the banks would owe the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation later that year by more than 50 percent — a $7.7 billion saving. A second provision would make permanent the temporary increase in deposits guaranteed by the F.D.I.C., to $250,000, from $100,000.

Democrats control Congress and the White House, yet Republicans STILL manage to run the show! WTF is up with that??

UPDATE:

Here are the Dems who voted nay on the Durbin amendment:

Baucus (D-MT)
Bennet (D-CO)
Byrd (D-WV)
Carper (D-DE)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Johnson (D-SD)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Specter (D-PA)
Tester (D-MT)

Last stop before Cape May

I'm leaving this evening for Cape May, for my long camping weekend with Gretchen. I thought I should once again check the weather--oy vey:

It's changed almost every day I've looked at it, but this is the worst by far. Rain all three days!? Really?

Well, I guess whatever happens happens. I've birded in the rain out there before, with the Flock two years ago (our first migration).

Just hope the tent doesn't leak.

I got a real bargain last night at Target: an inflatable mattress, twin-sized, with onboard pump (4 D batteries) for... get this!... $7.54! It was on clearance! SWEET!

I'll try to get some good pics!

It's a good day

We have a state doing the right thing:

N.H. Senate Passes Gay Marriage Bill

The New Hampshire Senate voted narrowly on Wednesday to legalize same-sex marriage, paving the way for the state to potentially become the fifth in the nation — and the third this month — to allow gay couples to wed.

A Congress that puts people first:

House bill would provide gays new protections

Gay victims of violence would gain new federal protections under a revived and expanded hate crimes bill passed by the House on Wednesday over conservatives' objections.

Hate crimes _ as defined by the bill _ are those motivated by prejudice and based someone's race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

And a president who can talk in complete sentences:

President Obama’s 100th-Day Press Briefing

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Before we begin to tonight, I just want to provide everyone with a few brief updates on some of the challenges we're dealing with right now.

It's a good day.

Blog for Fair Pay Day 2009

Year after year I post the same message -- that women earn less than men. We are up to 78 cents on the dollar ... wow. We earn less when we do jobs that are traditionally male, and MEN earn MORE when they do jobs that have traditionally been thought of as female jobs. Are my readers as tired of reading this as I am of writing it?

Men. It's time for you to WAKE UP!! Pay equity isn't about taking anything away from you. Quite the contrary, it's about bring more money into YOUR HOUSEHOLD. When your wife or parnter earns less than she should, YOU SUFFER.

When are the men in this country going to figure this out?

It's time to DEMAND change. Take a moment and contact your Senators to DEMAND they pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.


Previous posts:

What Women Want
Aug. 15, 2008

Equal Pay Act at 45
June 10, 2008

It doesn't pay to be a woman
Aug 1, 2007

Stumped

Here's a stump in my father's backyard in PA. It was a huge tree that loomed over us as we played basketball as kids, or provided a hiding place if you hunkered behind it. Once it was chopped down, I wonder how many books were printed from it?

As a writer, you dream of seeing your name in print on the cover of a book. Even better, your book is featured in the window of the local bookstore. Kudo reviews are written. Fans flock to your book signings. Dreams.

To make a dream a reality is hard work. First you actually have to write the book. Then you have to re-write your original drivel. Then you edit, edit, receive critiques, and re-write some more. Then perhaps you peek out from behind a tree and query agents on your book. Basically, you write a letter (the query) that projects a hint of your genius and hope that a professional chooses to then read a page or two of your book...and then ask to read more.

Another outlet is to pitch an agent at a writing conference. I shall be attending the DFW Writer's Conference this coming weekend in Grapevine, TX. I have ten minutes to tap dance, toss flaming batons, and condense my memoir into coherent sentences that project a winning publication. Nope, no vampires, no zombies, no drug abuse, no economic downfall (yet - yikes!), no medical emergencies (thank goodness), and no political rants.

Humor, animals, and me. Is that a winning combination? I hope when she asks, "And what do you write?" that I'm not stumped.

Wish me luck

Joanne

The Great License Plate Debate

The last time the Supremes debated license plates it was to decide if New Hampshire could force George Maynard to drive around with plates containing the state's "Live Free or Die" motto.

Usually when we think of courts and license plates it's about the Court deciding whether someone will have to MAKE license plates, so I guess this was a good thing ... or was it?

Proponents of "Choose Life" license plates, often accused of making everything a 'federal case', are taking their case to the Supreme Court.

No one is forced to use the plates, which are available in 19 states and seem intended to appeal to those who oppose abortion rights. They are so-called specialty plates, which are available for an extra fee to people who want to express themselves through their license plates.

Florida started the trend in 1987, when it sold a specialty plate to honor the astronauts who had died in the Challenger space shuttle disaster the year before. It raised millions of dollars for a memorial, and these days the Web site of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles offers many other options, including license plates celebrating Nascar, various sports (“Play Tennis!”) and parents who “make a difference.”

It also sells, for $20 extra, a bright yellow plate with the cartoonish faces of two smiling children and the words “Choose Life.” The state says it raised more than $33 million from specialty plates in the 2007 fiscal year and turned most of the money over to private groups.

The “Choose Life” plate generated about $800,000 that year. A state law requires that the money raised from those plates, after administrative expenses are deducted, be given to adoption agencies. The law forbids sharing the money with groups offering “counseling for or referrals to abortion clinics.”

Now this is where I have a problem with these plates. If a state wants to offer speciality plates as a way to increase revenue, then so be it. I'm not crazy about it, but I could maybe live with it if the money were being used to pay for school books or computers, feed or shelter the homeless, or for the general well being of a community -- you know, for things like roads and stuff.

But I draw the line at making a state agency -- in this case the Department of Motor Vehicles -- merely a funding stream for causes I don't necessarily agree with. I think domestic terrorist groups like the "right to life" organizations proposing these plates need to find some other way to fund their fake agencies/clinics -- or close their doors.

It has been a long trip from “Live Free or Die” to “Choose Life.” The old case involved the question of what the government may force people to say. The new one asks what it must allow people to say.

I think it's more than just about what people are allowed to say. I think it's also about using the government as a funding vehicle (all puns intended) for organizations that would like nothing more than to drive some women over a cliff.

Birdies all around me, but no time to see them!

oh no! rain, rain, go away!

This morning I opened up my email to find 171 emails from the PA birding listserv. I know--crazy! Still, apparently every warbler and bird that hangs out in PA just arrived this weekend, and everyone in PA saw them EXCEPT ME. I was busy toodling around doing things like having brunch and going to the lake with my new gal! I saw a few birds here and there, but nothing like the warbler fest that everyone else saw. It seems that while I was goofing off, having fun, the birds were arriving and unpacking their little bags. I've really got to get in on this action!

I'm wondering if I could possibly make myself wake up super early and do some birding before work. Hmm... I HATE waking up early--not a good trait for a birder. Wait! Come to think of it, I could take a couple hours of authorized absence time some day this week, go birding in the morning, and just come in at like 10 or 11 instead of 8:30! Now THAT'S an idea! My little gears are turning!

This coming weekend, Gretchen and I will be in Cape May, and I'm really hoping to get a lot of lifers. I may have mentioned this before, but I checked the Cape May list and found that 40 of the "common" and "fairly common" birds seen there in the spring would be lifers for me -- can you imagine? When I went to Cape May's Fall Weekend the first time (when I first met some of the Flock), I got 31 lifers. That's the most I've ever tallied, having gotten 23 lifers in Oil Creek in 2007 when I birded with Julie Zickefoose at the first Oil Creek Birding Festival. Ah, the memories of both of those weekends will be burned into my brain's hard drive forever!

So the thought of potentially getting up to 40 lifers in one weekend is quite exciting--what a challenge! That would put me well over 200--FINALLY. I think Baby G (that's Gretchen's street name! Mine is, quite fittingly I think, D-Thug) and I will pretty much exhaust every minute of every day birding.

OH NO! I just checked the weather for the weekend this morning at weather.com and was really disappointed to see that they have rain down for every day except Saturday. DANGIT! I'm hoping that changes as the week drags on. Keep your fingers crossed for us in Cape May, and for the Flock down at New River in West Virginia! Come on, weather gods!

Sunday Funnies

In Memoriam - Bea Arthur

One of our first feminist characters on television has died. As Maude, Bea Arthur made us laugh and cry -- and we continued our love affair with her on The Golden Girls.

Beatrice Arthur, the tall, deep-voiced actress whose razor-sharp delivery of comedy lines made her a TV star in the hit shows "Maude" and "The Golden Girls" and who won a Tony Award for the musical "Mame," died Saturday. She was 86.

Arthur died peacefully at her Los Angeles home with her family at her side, family spokesman Dan Watt said. She had cancer, Watt said, declining to give further details.

"She was a brilliant and witty woman," said Watt, who was Arthur's personal assistant for six years. "Bea will always have a special place in my heart."

Arthur first appeared in the landmark comedy series "All in the Family" as Edith Bunker's loudly outspoken, liberal cousin, Maude Finley. She proved a perfect foil for blue-collar bigot Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), and their blistering exchanges were so entertaining that producer Norman Lear fashioned Arthur's own series.

In a 2008 interview with The Associated Press, Arthur said she was lucky to be discovered by TV after a long stage career, recalling with bemusement CBS executives asking about the new "girl."

"I was already 50 years old. I had done so much off-Broadway, on Broadway, but they said, `Who is that girl? Let's give her her own series,'" Arthur said.

"Maude" scored with television viewers immediately on its CBS debut in September 1972, and Arthur won an Emmy Award for the role in 1977.

The comedy flowed from Maude's efforts to cast off the traditional restraints that women faced, but the series often had a serious base. Her husband Walter (Bill Macy) became an alcoholic, and she underwent an abortion, which drew a torrent of viewer protests. Maude became a standard bearer for the growing feminist movement in America.

The ratings of "Maude" in the early years approached those of its parent, "All in the Family," but by 1977 the audience started to dwindle. A major format change was planned, but in early 1978 Arthur announced she was quitting the show.

"It's been absolutely glorious; I've loved every minute of it," she said. "But it's been six years, and I think it's time to leave."

"Golden Girls" (1985-1992) was another groundbreaking comedy, finding surprising success in a television market increasingly skewed toward a younger, product-buying audience. [...]

As Dorothy Zbornak, Arthur seemed as caustic and domineering as Maude. She was unconcerned about the similarity of the two roles. ''Look -- I'm 5-feet-9, I have a deep voice and I have a way with a line,'' she told an interviewer. ''What can I do about it? I can't stay home waiting for something different. I think it's a total waste of energy worrying about typecasting.''

The interplay among the four women and their relations with men fueled the comedy, and the show amassed a big audience and 10 Emmys, including two as best comedy series and individual awards for each of the stars.

Rest in peace Bea.

No Justice, No Peace

This happened more than a year ago ... so why am I so angry?

Could it be because there has been no true resolution, and therefore no justice? You bet.


Here are a few other links that will make you want to yell at someone.

Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami says they don’t have to allow their patients visitors

Lesbian mom fights for justice in partner's death. Mother and kids denied visitation with dying partner in Florida hospital

And finally, a link that provides some hope.

Lambda Legal Sues Florida Hospital for Mistreatment of Deceased Lesbian’s Family

12-year-old Girl Throws Perfect Game Against Boys

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

You go grrl! Let's start the weekend with some good news!

Mackenzie Brown is the first girl in Bayonne Little League history to throw a perfect game. She retired all 18 boys she faced on Tuesday.

There are no official records of how many perfect games are thrown per season. Little League Baseball in Williamsport, Pa., estimates only 50 to 60 occur each year. No one knows how many have been thrown by girls.

Brown says she knew she had something special going in the fourth inning and just tried not to mess up.

She'll get to throw out the first pitch at Citi Field on Saturday when the New York Mets host the Washington Nationals.

Frenetic Friday

These rose pictures are courtesy of my neighbors across the street. Pat and Barbara do all the hard gardening work and I get to enjoy the lovely colors from afar. I savor the view as I leave for work - a moment of calm.

Today was a frenetic Friday. People drove manaically, weaving in and out, disrupting the normal ebb and flow pattern. The roiling clouds in the sky spit a few half-hearted raindrops. Not worthy of wipers, but annoying. Humidity smothered us all and the wind exceeded blustery.

A frazzled forty-five minutes later, I pulled into work. We are not usually crazy with phone calls, but today every customer decided to check on their samples, or call repeatedly with questions, or frankly be rather disorganized and annoying in their requests. I had the feeling that the whole United States awoke to a frantic Friday, and frustration built throughout the day. The drive home took an hour. Enough said.

This was not a day for haiku. I was unable to achieve serenity. No, this was a day to come home and veg out with a trashy magazine. Some days are not writing days.

Best to stop and smell the roses and perhaps just think.

Joanne

Reid Still Doesn't Get It

Americans by and large know that if they break, or even bend, the law there is a price to pay. Well, unless you are a corporate CEO or part of the Executive Branch of government. THAT is the message being sent by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid -- who should know better. Unlike our president, Reid has been around awhile.

It's understandable that President Obama wants to remain focused on fixing the mess left behind by the Bush administration, but Reid should support Speaker Pelosi's call for an investigation on torture.

Senate Democratic leaders, joining forces with the Obama White House, said they would resist efforts by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other prominent Democrats to create a special commission to investigate the harsh interrogation methods that the Bush administration approved for terrorism suspects.

At a meeting of top Democrats at the White House Wednesday night, President Obama told Congressional leaders that he did not want a special inquiry, which he said would potentially steal time and energy from his ambitious policy priorities, and could mushroom into a wider distraction by looking back at other aspects of the Bush years.

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, and other top Senate Democrats endorsed Mr. Obama’s view on Thursday, telling reporters that they preferred to wait for the results of an investigation by the Senate intelligence committee expected sometime “late this year.” But Ms. Pelosi renewed her call for an independent panel.

Mr. Reid, who repeatedly denounced the use of harsh interrogation techniques when Mr. Bush was president, suggested that naming a special panel would signal an intent to exact “retribution” and he sought to paper over the disagreement with members of his own caucus, like Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, who want a commission.

Hummm ... let's think about this.

ret·ri·bu·tion (rět'rə-byōō'shən) n.
Something justly deserved; recompense.
Something given or demanded in repayment, especially punishment.

Seems appropriate for the actions of the previous administration.

And what about our Constitution? Is it just a piece of paper, or is there meaning behind the words written? George Bush & Co. didn't seem to think it meant much -- but many of us do.

So come on Reid, it's time to get on board with what the American people want.


MUST READS:

Is Cheney Winning the Torture Debate?
By Eric Etheridge

Abu Zubaydah’s FBI Interrogator Removes the Legal Cornerstone of the Torture Regime
By emptywheel

Flashback: Bush’s FBI Director Said Torture Didn’t Foil Any Terror Plots
By Greg Sargent

Happy Earth Day

Violence: Connecting the Dots

Francie Billotti-Wood and her three children are dead. So is her husband, Christopher Wood. This is a tragedy that never should have happened.

Despondent over excessive debts, Christopher Wood shot and then nearly decapitated his family before turning a gun on himself.

The man who killed his wife and three young children and then himself in a tiny town in northwest Maryland last week was at least $460,000 in debt and owned a Florida house that was in foreclosure, according to property records and police.

In one of six notes he left scattered about the rented house in Middletown, Christopher Wood, 34, described his financial hardships and his struggle with depression and anxiety -- factors that investigators believe contributed to the killings. [...]

At a news conference, authorities released a raft of details about the killings, describing a scene more ghastly than what had been known since the bodies were discovered Saturday morning.

According to investigators, Francie Billotti-Wood, 33, and the couple's 5-year-old son, Chandler, were each shot twice in the head with a .25-caliber handgun. Chandler's younger brother, 4-year-old Gavin, was shot three times; daughter Fiona, 2, was shot once.

After they were shot, their throats were slashed almost to the point of decapitation, officials said. Wood killed himself with a shotgun. [...]

Several experts said slayings of entire families by fathers and husbands are often associated with economic hardship. Some men get to the point where it becomes impossible to tell family members that they're going to lose the house or that the kids can't go to college, said Richard J. Gelles, dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice and an expert on family violence.

"If you have built your identity around that you're the breadwinner, you're the backbone, and that becomes unglued, it undermines your sense of self," Gelles said.

Regular readers know that when tragedies like this happen I often suggest the man simply kill himself and leave his family alone. If a man is so unhappy (for whatever reason) and he sees no way out, why does his family have to pay such a high price?

The particulars of this case point to the need for change in at least three areas:

1) We MUST have affordable and readily available mental health care in this country. People under this much stress need help.

2) We MUST change our culture to embrace feminism. Rigidly defined roles contributed to why Christopher Wood must have felt he could not admit to his family his "failure" to provide for them.

3) We MUST change the culture of greed that fueled our current economic meltdown. Greed on the part of CEO's, bankers, and Wall Street investors whose actions have this country on the brink of another great depression.

This may seem oversimplified, but we must start somewhere to end violence against women and children.

A little weekend birding, and a work thing

On Sunday, my new gal and I went walking in the Toftrees state gamelands from about 4:30 to 6pm. We didn't see a whole lot, but it was a nice walk. Here's the list:
Eastern Towhee
Cedar Waxwing
Dark-eyed Junco (shouldn't they be in the hills and/or flying north now?)
Northern Flicker
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Song Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Northern Cardinal
American Crow
Common Grackle
Blue Jay
Eastern Bluebird
Canada Goose
Black-capped Chickadee
Mourning Dove
Mallard
Red-winged Blackbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker (heard)
The next day, someone reported seeing some Savannah Sparrows there, and I honestly think I saw one--but I just can't be sure that it wasn't a Song Sparrow. I didn't take enough time to really stare at him to make sure, so I'm not counting him. Also, the light was so crappy (overcast) that I didn't get any photos. I'm hoping to do some birding this weekend, when we're expecting some sun, so maybe I'll have some good pics next week.

- - - - -
Every year, my workplace has a Kids to Work day, and they always focus on environmental themes, which is pretty cool. This year, though I'm unsure of the theme, I found out that they'll all get a bluebird box kit and will be putting them together! I kinda wish I could snag one of those myself, but I'm sure they're all counted out. Still, it's nice to work for a company that cares about the environment.

Spell check at the Auto Lube

Nestled amidst a row of green shrubs, this little azalea surprises us each spring with a burst of color. Often in literature, we read and are delighted by a treat - a turn of phrase, a clear image, or even something that makes us laugh out loud. On other occasions, we are stopped in our tracks by bad grammar, horrible phrasing, or the need for spell check.

I stood in the office of the local auto lube while my Pontiac received its oil change. The guys do a great job and are very helpful and knowledgeable. However, they had a sign up - No customers allowed on shop floor when inspection is preformed. Oops, I couldn't keep my mouth shut. Please print a new sign with perform.

While in PA over Easter, I perused the local paper The Reporter, notorious for gaffes and mis-spellings. Sure enough. I opened the paper, admired a lovely flower/park picture and shook my head at the headline "Sping Arrives". Arrrgghhh. This was in bold print on the second page.

We word nerds must remain vigilant and ask that the world demand correct spelling. And we can have fun with it too. I put a note in my husband's lunchbag last week - Please bing home sping flowers.

Joanne

Great (or Unrealistic) Expectations

My goodness ... Barack Obama has been president for nearly 100 days and he has not managed to solve all the problems left behind by the Bush administration. There must be something wrong with him, or with "liberal" policies -- at least that's what Jackson Diehl at the Washington Post seems to think.

New American presidents typically begin by behaving as if most of the world's problems are the fault of their predecessors -- and Barack Obama has been no exception. In his first three months he has quickly taken steps to correct the errors in George W. Bush's foreign policy, as seen by Democrats. He has collected easy dividends from his base, U.S. allies in Europe and a global following for not being "unilateralist" or war-mongering or scornful of dialogue with enemies.

Now comes the interesting part: when it starts to become evident that Bush did not create rogue states, terrorist movements, Middle Eastern blood feuds or Russian belligerence -- and that shake-ups in U.S. diplomacy, however enlightened, might not have much impact on them. [...]

Obama is not the first president to discover that facile changes in U.S. policy don't crack long-standing problems. Some of his new strategies may produce results with time. Yet the real test of an administration is what it does once it realizes that the quick fixes aren't working -- that, say, North Korea and Iran have no intention of giving up their nuclear programs, with or without dialogue, while Russia remains determined to restore its dominion over Georgia. In other words, what happens when it's no longer George W. Bush's fault? That's what the next 100 days will tell.

Come on Diehl, we didn't get into this mess overnight. And until the economy is fixed, and our troops are out of Iraq, it IS the fault of George W. Bush. He took a great economy, and a world pretty much at peace, and turned it all upside down.

Is it reasonable to expect President Obama to "fix" the Bush mess in less than 100 days? No.

For Your Morning Commute

Sunday Funnies

'Pro-Choice' Palin Would Deny Choice to Others

Gov. Sarah Palin, speaking to an antiabortion group in Evansville, IN, revealed that for a moment she considered having an abortion.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told an antiabortion audience in Indiana on Thursday night that, "for a fleeting moment," she considered having an abortion after learning that her son Trig would have Down syndrome.

The experience, she added, "now lets me understand a woman's, a girl's temptation to maybe try to make it all go away."

Ultimately, Palin said, she decided she had to "walk the walk" concerning her long-standing antiabortion views. She avoided using the word "abortion" in her speech, preferring the phrase "change the circumstances." [...]

Palin revealed more Thursday night, saying she was traveling when she got the result of the amniocentesis that revealed the chromosomal abnormality.

"There, just for a fleeting moment, I thought, I knew, 'Nobody knows me here. Nobody would ever know.' "

Palin has long been a staunch supporter of abortion restrictions, and she pointed to her own "moment of doubt" to illustrate her support for carrying pregnancies to term, regardless of the circumstances.

In other words, Sarah Palin wants the right to decide whether or not to continue a pregnancy, but she doesn't think other women should be allowed that same consideration.

And the PUMA's wonder why NOW and other women's rights groups didn't support Sarah Palin. Good grief.

Friday Night Fun

Health Question & Answer Session
by Capn Dyke at Lesbian Pirate Queen & Rogue Blogger
Don't let my sister read this one! Yikes!

Please!
by Zoey and Me

If At First You Don't Secede
by Zoey and Me
Zoey had me at the headline on this one!

Goat Button

by Miss Cellania
"I can't stop pushing it!"
Anytime you need a good laugh, Miss Cellania is the place to go

Susan Boyle: You Go Grrl

~ click image to play video ~
Overnight sensation Susan Boyle. You Tube videos of her performance have been watched by millions. Oprah has come calling. How exciting for a 47 year-old who says she's "never been kissed."

Talent and the kiss of luck belong to Susan Boyle ... you go grrl!

Must See Slams of Anti-Gay NOM Ad

No time for blogging today ...

I'm too busy celebrating my birthday! The fire marshall has advised that we should not light all the candles ... so let's just cut the cake!! Two pieces for me, please ... and for my good friends, too!

Splotchy's Eye Meme

So my pal Splotchy said I could do his new Eye Meme, in which one should

1. Post a picture of your eyes.

2. Tag a few people.

Now... Look into my eyes.... you are getting sleepy... very sleepy...

Happy Birthday Dr. Zaius

Please help me wish my favorite Dr. Zaius
a very Happy Birthday!

(please leave your messages here)

Home - a writer's dilemma

They say you can't go home again, but that's far from the truth for me. I'm lucky - I don't have angst from my childhood. Perhaps my writing suffers, but while I live in Texas, this is still "home". I grew up here. My Dad putters (sadly my mother is gone) and while he's modernized his decor, the place is a step back in time. There's still a rotary phone hanging on the kitchen wall. We sit at the kitchen table for hours, laugh, do the NY Times crossword puzzle, and move from meal to meal. It's awesome! (Yes, I'm using an exclamation mark)

Huge oak trees guard the neighborhood. They tower over the two story homes, reign down acorns, and are squirrel paradise. No leaves yet. It's been a late spring and a darn cold Easter - awoke to 37 degrees. Brr. However, once the leaves arrive, there's plenty to rake in the fall.

Crazy rhododendron forest. When these bloom, it's fabulous. I've got a friend here in Texas (Linda T.) who's berserk for this flower. She's researched it and it just won't happen in this climate. Be content with your azaleas in Flower Mound, TX, Linda.

No fences. Merely a forsythia bower separates property. Truly glorious. How can you not smile at the splash of yellow?

Finally, this picture does not do justice to history. Old stone bridge. Old historic mill. I grew up amidst Revolutionary era buildings - we're talking late 1700s here. There's a Quaker meeting house nearby. No doubt George Washington slept somewhere in the vicinity. Look up the William Penn Inn, folks. Anyway, I've lived more than half my life in Texas (how can that be?), but I've got Philly (suburb) soul. (Cue an old Hall & Oates album - yes, I love them. Oates graduated from my high school.) No wonder my writing is skewed.

Joanne

Easter break (corrected 4/8 version)

Easter break -rejuvenation. I grew up in a Catholic neighborhood and Easter Weekend seeped into my soul. Oh, I loved the Easter bunny, Easter egg hunts, and the whole commercial aspect of the "holiday". But I understood the underlying spirit and while I don't formally attend church - the religious Easter registers an amen.
I am not an animal person but bunnies love to live under our shed. If they venture too far, the hawks in the field nab them. Ray tried to plant strawberries one year...that didn't work. The bunnies beat him to the berries.
Here's the Easter spirit. Eight month old Makyla with father Kevin seeks chocolate. The heck with toys. Her bow is bigger than she is - now that's Easter fashion. I remember wearing the Mary Janes, the white gloves, the hat, a pretty dress - and then having to slap the hideous winter coat over the whole outfit. Yikes! Oops - Easter haiku is breaking out (after all this is a writing blog)

snow covered Easter eggs
encrusted they shine
dyed colored surprise
When in doubt, just start chewing. The big egg contains M&Ms for Kevin and Maria. Makyla was happy to stuff the whole thing in her mouth. What the heck! I hope she gets to nibble the ears of the chocolate bunny in her basket. Happy Easter to all. I'm headed to Philly to be with family. (Yo - Pudge's cheesesteak and I learn to talk again).

Joanne

In Memoriam - Carl Walker-Hoover

This just breaks my heart. How many more children must die before school authorities take bullying seriously?

Friends of mine in Florida have worked for YEARS trying to get the state to pass anti-bullying legislation, but it continues to be blocked by religious right legislators. I'm sure LGBT advocates in other states have similar stories to tell.

Anderson Cooper did an excellent job reporting on this tragedy. Now it's time for all adults who care about children to speak up!

Lindsay Lohan: You Go Grrl

It's got to be exhausting being Lindsay Lohan, but she seems to be keeping her sense of humor about it all. Dorothy Snarker writes:

They say looking good is the best revenge. I'd like to amend that to say being hilarious while looking good is the best revenge. Newly single and re-redheaded Lindsay Lohan made light of her recent split from celebrity DJ Samantha Ronson with a parody eHarmony commercial for funnyordie.com.

Instead of hiding from the rumors or slinking away brokenhearted, La Lohan is using laughter as her breakup medicine. And after watching her fake eHarmony video, I would say this course of treatment is just what the doctor ordered.

Cute, self-deprecating and — best of all — funny, her mock personal ad is a refreshing reminder that there's still a talented person behind all those screaming headlines. Lindsay pokes fun at her hard-partying past, brushes with the law, supposed money problems and recent breakup woes.

I thought the paparazzi treatment Brittney Spears endured was pretty disgusting. Let's hope an "out for blood" media doesn't get the best of Lindsay. You go grrl!

Bird couples--it's not all paradise!

Did you hear this story on NPR? It was on a few days ago, and when AB (that's the woman I'm dating; I'm trying to be discreet and only use her initials for now) heard it, she thought of me and my love of birds.

It seems some birds, though mated, will commit adultery (to use human terms) and that some bird couples try their best to thwart their partners' roving eyes!

Birds seem like models of monogamy — building their nests, hatching their eggs and raising their young together. But it turns out, in the avian world, adultery is not uncommon. And both males and females may have a wandering eye.

Ornithologists Nathalie Seddon and Joe Tobias of the University of Oxford have been studying the songs of the Peruvian warbling antbird. In their latest research, published in Current Biology, they report that an antbird couple will sing a harmonious duet when confronted by an intruding rival pair.

But if an unattached female enters the scene, the antbird "wife" starts jamming her mate's song. She interrupts her spouse with her own music, to his great frustration.

Dr. Seddon believes these findings could provide insight into the development of human music.

WOW! Imagine--these birds are just like those sad couples you see sometimes, where the guy is always checking out other women and the woman lets him know she's not happy about it!

Now I don't know if I agree with the idea that human music development might've been affected by these little displays of jealousy. That seems to imply --what?--that perhaps humans started doing this same kind of singing (?) when they experienced similar events in their own relationships? I don't know about all that. I'd have to hear more about this theoretized link.

Still--I find it fascinating that love relationships in the bird world can be so similar to human ones, even if the motives behind the actions might be different. I try not to anthropomorphize animal behavior; I'm guessing the female is only working to keep her partner in line to ensure that he's around to help with the brooding and care of their young, hence better chances of survival. I'm sure the female bird isn't thinking, "My GOD, he's looking at that Phyllis Antbird AGAIN! Doesn't he still love me? Is he gonna break my heart?" (hee hee) But the partner still sees something she doesn't like, and she sure lets him know about it. Pretty neat.

There is a big indicator that the writer of this story doesn't know a lot about birds; the lede of the story is kinda silly. We birders know that not all male birds stick around to help out the female after the necessary deed is done. Northern cardinals may mate for life, but I'd guess such devoted couplehood isn't that common in the animal world.

Still--this is some pretty amazing research, don't you think? Birds are so cool.

Is the Culture War Over?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Rev. Barry W. Lynn appearing on The ED Show, on MSNBC last night. Lynn says the cultural war is "not over."

Previews of coming attractions

It feels weird, knowing who reads this blog, to write about my plans for Cape May at the end of the month; after all, many of you will be taking your own adventure to West Virginia -- which I was supposed to do as well, until finances got in the way. So -- I'll write about the plans, but just know that my little birdy heart is still wanting to be in WV with the Flock at the same it wants to be in Cape May with Gretchen. I feel a little torn in two.

I love you guys!

That said, things are going well in preparation for the Cape May trip. We have our deposit down for a campsite at Beachcomber Camping Resort, 4 miles from Cape May. We're thinking that we shouldn't take Domino, because we probably wouldn't be able to bring her birding with us. Not that she isn't a great dog to bird with, because she is -- she stays right by Gretchen's side and is very quiet; she's a very mellow old girl. But I'm sure we probably couldn't take her on the boardwalk at CM Point, or to the Meadows, etc. So I'm kinda bummed, because I was looking forward to getting a picture of her on the beach--she would love that--but it's probably best that she stays home with friends.

So that's handled, and the campsite is handled, and we've outlined several birding trips we'll be going on to make sure we see as many birds as possible. We'll also ride the ferry to Lewes DE and spend some time on the shore there, as Laura said that's the best place to see shorebirds. It's gonna be truckloads of good birding, and I can't wait.

And by the way... remember how I said I wanted to meet someone who was actually interested in birds? Well, I did (update: and it's not Gretchen! She's my bff; this is another woman I'm referring to)--she's terrific! Things are kinda weird because I'm moving away in a few months, but in the meantime--we're just going to enjoy our time together. So if my posts get all gushy and happy, now you know why!