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In a perfect world a writer would not have to depend on strangers reviewing her book. 

However, in order for an author to be noticed reviews are necessary. 

If you read a book and you like it, an author would appreciate a simple review.

You don't have to summarize the book. 

You don't have to analyze the book.

All you have to do is rate it and say something nice.

Born to Bitch Revisited

A couple of years ago my friend Blanche Marriott wrote a book called Born to Bitch. 

http://www.amazon.com/Born-Bitch-Blanche-Marriott-ebook/dp/B006K7Y1H0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401772377&sr=8-1&keywords=born+to+bitch+blanche+marriott


(If you don't like people complaining about some hard truths now would be a good time to step away from this page.)

My Bitching revolves around driving.

The other day I had an appointment in the closest large city. I was driving a mommy van that I am not used to, on slick roads, on a two lane divided highway. 

I quickly discovered the brakes weren't as sharp as I like, so I increased my safety zone by an extra car length. 

A white Chevy joined us on the highway, quickly climbed up my butt. Me and my lead foot were in the passing lane because we were going fast enough to pass everyone in the slow lane.

The white Chevy then pulled into the slow lane, sped up, passed me on the inside (which is illegal in this state), and then cut back in front of me. On my nose! And hit the brakes to slow down. 

When white Chevy realized the butt riding wouldn't work on the pick-up in front, it then repeated the process. 

The second time they were stuck. No one would let them pass on the inside. For ten long miles I watched a very unhappy Chevy traveling one car ahead of me.

We exited the highway together. It was sweet Karma to know that all that tailgating had failed to get the Chevy anywhere fast.

When I was little the Shell Company had commercials on the air that said you should keep one car length between you and the car in front of you for every 10 MPH you are driving. 

Me and my lead foot have lived by that axiom for decades and it always pisses me off when some idiot cuts into my safety zone. Especially when I am driving a heavy vehicle with questionable brakes.

We were all lucky that day. My brakes worked well.

Bill of Rights

Yesterday I shared a petition to Sonic & Chile's asking them to create a non-weapons policy for their customers.

The reason for the petition is because groups of people armed with rifles and assault weapons are invading places such as Starbucks, Jack in the Box, Chipotle, Sonic, and Chile's and posting pictures.

They claim they are merely exercising their rights to bear arms.

Most people are not trying to take guns away from responsible gun owners; they merely want a few more controls placed on them. (Such as things like trigger locks, locked boxes, background checks.)

I am not going into the statistics of how many people die in America due to gun usage. (The gun people will tell you people die from hammers and cars too.)

I am not going to argue the Second Amendment here. 

To be quite honest, I like guns. I like target shooting. I like feisty heroines who can protect themselves. (Mara in The Misplaced Bride has a gun.)

What I take exception to is how abusive the commenters on the petition share became. 

One man told me to "pull up your little kids shorts" and get over it. He also told me I was paranoid and should never leave my house because I said I wouldn't take kids into Sonic for an ice cream if I saw all those men with guns.

In fact, over the course of over 90 comments (most of which I stopped reading) I, or my supporters, were called paranoid a number of times.

I cogitated on paranoia most of the night. 

The men who responded all said they carried to protect them and their families. Who sounds paranoid to you?

I do not need a gun to go food shopping or to take my kids for ice cream. I walk my dog at three in the morning. (Something I've done since I was a teen.) 

I am not afraid to travel nor am I afraid to go into cities, even the rougher parts of town. I do not fear strangers.

I am a rape survivor and I do not feel the need to arm myself to the teeth to be safe. 

It is my contention that someone who feels they must carry a gun to feel safe is the one who is paranoid.

What do you think?

If you would like to sign the petition or contact Chile's and Sonic yourself, the information is listed below.

http://act.everytown.org/sign/chilis-sonic-petition/?

Chili’s Grill and Bar: 
TWITTER: @Chilis #RibsNotRifles
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/Chilis
PHONE: Greg Artkop, Communications: (800) 775-7290 

Sonic Drive In: 
TWITTER: @sonicdrivein @plenow#ShakesNotShotguns
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/sonicdrivein
PHONE: Patrick Lenow; Media Relations: (405) 225-5600
EMAIL: patrick.lenow@sonicdrivein.com

Imagine . . .

Imagine yourself walking down this lane barefoot.

Don't worry, there are no sticks or sharp twigs lying in wait to ambush your feet. 

Smell the sweet fragrance, feel the soft spring of the petals between your toes. Just breathe and relax . . .

A Study of Dandelions

My mother lived in a suburb where the kids played in the street, even though everyone had a yard. There was more room on the street and it was neutral territory. If someone got mad they might go home with their ball, but you could still keep playing because they couldn't kick you off the street. 

But today's blog is not about playing in the street, it's about a man obsessed with having the perfect lawn.

The family were lovely people, but every kid in the neighborhood was afraid of his lawn. We played stickball and kickball in the street in front of his house and we knew that if he was home and the ball ended up in the front yard we were S.O.L.

They had a lovely veggie garden in the back, a single car garage where I tried to teach my friends how to dance and we put on shows, and a front lawn he was forever digging up.

To me the grass was lovely, but to him it was never right. Every year he would dig the entire thing up, search for rocks, pull up every root, and reseed. 

He set up little wooden stakes and ran strings (about two inches off the ground) from post to post with little flags that would blow and hopefully (from his point of view) scare the birds away. 

The children were never allowed on the grass. We really didn't mind because they had a lovely, roofed, front porch where we could play cards, board games, do homework, and read.

You are probably wondering why he tore up perfect lawns every year and spent hours hours flattening and leveling it.

Here is the reason:

This is not a picture of his actual lawn. His was a perfect deep green, with nary a dark spot. This is a picture I took today just because I love dandelions.

And I started thinking about how much Mr. B hated dandelions!

In my area dandelions are the true flower of spring. They are in bloom before the tulips, daffodils, and in some instances the crocuses. 

I took this picture on my walk today too. These beautiful flowers were not in bloom last week, but the dandelions were. 

This LittleGuy picked me a bouquet of them last week.

Dandelions are survivors. 

You may be able to dig them all out, but they will return. It just takes a few flying fairies and they replant themselves in your yard with no effort at all.

You don't have to water them, fertilize them, or even plant them.

Dandelions can grow anywhere:

Growing between the cement walkway and the cement slab of the building.

Growing on the sidewalk.

Growing  in the gutter between the street & the curb, surrounded by trash.

In the crevice of a stone wall.

Dandelion greens can be used in salads. They have a lemony flavor. You can cook them like spinach, or you can even make dandelion wine.

This recipe for dandelion soup looks delicious. I haven't made it yet, but I plan to tomorrow.

http://www.food.com/recipe/greenfield-village-dandelion-soup-396721

Here is a link for 5 recipes to make dandelion wine.

http://www.mnn.com/food/recipes/blogs/5-recipes-for-dandelion-wine

Here is a link to a wonderful blog where I found recipes for dandelion tea and coffee. 

http://omgirlsguide.com/2013/04/22/how-to-make-dandelion-tea-3-ways-dedicated-to-earth-day/

I even found a recipe for dandelion jelly!

http://www.prairielandherbs.com/dandelionjelly.htm

Dandelions are a good source of vitamins for your pet rodents.

The most important thing to look for in a dandelion is that it is pesticide and herbicide free. You may be coveting your neighbors dandelions, but before you raid his yard at midnight and pick them for your wine and jelly, make sure he hasn't used Round Up to kill the poor little things.

I must go now. I need to make a salad for dinner and I have to go raid my own yard for the greens. 

Sparky loves dandelions too.

Cherish the people who cherish you!

Wives and Lovers and other Propaganda

I was just sitting around working on my computer when this old song popped into my head.

It seemed bizarre, even to me, until I recalled a remark made in a news article I had been fuming about all day. The prosecutor told a mother he wasn't going to pursue the rapist of her five year old daughter because "boys will be boys." 

Hours later this song popped into my head and won't  go away . . . probably because of the line, "and men will always be men."

Then when I ran the entire song through my head I was incensed.

Jack Jones (the singer) was popular in the 60s, if you are old enough you may know his voice from doing the theme song for the Love Boat. Jack is a tall, good looking man (He was in the 60s and he still is today.) with a pleasant voice.

In 1963 Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote this sweet little ditty which Jack Jones made a hit record of. 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyNewwkfD2o


Let's talk a little about propaganda. Wives and Lovers stands right up there with Tammy Wynette's Stand By Your Man.

Can you imagine a world where a woman has to be perfectly coiffured each morning as she kisses her husband at the door and sends him off to work? Because heaven forbid, if she isn't perfect "she may never see him again."

When I was little I lived in a well to do city. We lived in one of two tenements that were across the street from the Catholic church and the well to do people lived in the beautiful old Victorians on Center Street, Commonwealth Avenue, and Beacon Street.

The Center of our Village housed a beautiful small brick library, which was next to the large brick building which was known as the "Women's Club". I could watch the women in their pointy toed shoes, dresses, hats, and gloves go in and come out. I always wondered what they did in there.

I never found out, because unlike those women, my mother ran around in slacks, popped out a baby a year, and worked at the Hood Rubber making P.F. Flyer sneakers.

Every mother I knew worked outside of the home. They didn't have the luxury of going to weekly hair dresser appointments, wearing white gloves anywhere except to church on Sundays, and it may have been a blessing to many of those women if their husbands didn't come home.

It could have stopped the baby a year and the black eyes so many of them wore on a weekly basis. Please remember, in those days the attitude was "men will always be men" and she must have done something to really piss him off.

The late 60s and the 70s brought us music that made us question the attitudes that were acceptable up to that time.

There were many causes, all of them good, but right now I am only concerned with one. Women's Rights.

Before the pill women popped out baby after baby.

Women earned 59 cents for every dollar earned by a man.

Women were kept out of key jobs.

A battered woman had no recourse. If the cops showed up at the door, one cop would take the batterer for a walk to "cool down" while the other cop would tell her to stop doing whatever had set him off.

A woman very rarely reported rape. They were too ashamed.

Can you imagine a victim of a violent crime being too ashamed to report it?

For the last several years I have watched in horror as certain politicians and media people have tried to tear down some of the advancement women have made in equal rights.

Don't let this happen. To quote a Virginia Slim commercial (Heaven help me, I quoting a cigarette ad!) You've come a long way, baby. Don't let anyone take it away from you.

Break the Silence, let Washington know that we are here and we are not going back to a time when we were afraid not to be perfect.