Open Letter to Bob McDonnell, Governor of Virginia, from my best friend Emma Eiderdown

To:  Gov. Bob McDonnell
From:  Private Citizen
Subject: Lifting Gun Ban in State Parks
Date: January 31, 2011

Message:

I was appalled to learn that you have lifted the ban on carrying firearms openly in our state parks, just as I was when you signed the "Guns-in-Bars" bill last July. It is utterly incomprehensible to me that you fail to see the correlation between a country with weak gun laws and a country with one of the highest levels of gun violence in the world. Did you learn nothing from Tucson? Did you learn nothing from the Virginia Tech massacre? What will it take for our leaders to quit appeasing the gun nuts, and start looking out for the safety of its citizens?? There is a lot of anger in this country right now. The last thing we need is to be making it easier for the angry wing nuts to arm themselves. The only people who should carry hand guns are police and other law enforcement personnel...PERIOD. And yet the debate isn't whether we should eliminate semi-automatic weapons lately, but whether we should limit the number of rounds they can shoot without reloading. COME ON! Give me ONE reason why a private citizen needs a semi-automatic weapon? There IS only one -- to kill people!! How hard is this to understand??? Take a look at that mother in Tampa last week-end, who decided to shoot her two children because they were always back-talking her. Every day it's another horrific story, but you legislators keep burying your heads in the sand, clinging to the 2nd Amendment. The 2nd Amendment was written during a completely different era of history, and I find it insane that you as a leader don't see that. I beg of you -- quit listening to the gun lobbyists and try using your brain. Your state depends on your wise choices.

Sincerely,
Ms. Eiderdown
54 Teacup Lane
Richmond, VA

Gasparilla is retarded...

Arrg matey, you look gay.  Lady, I don't understand your costume.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/30/2041977/more-than-300-arrested-at-tampa.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasparilla_Pirate_Festival

Holy Shit!

All you 2nd amendment people... Read this and weep...

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/tampa-mother-accused-of-killing-two-kids-now-hospitalized-in-intensive/1148410

Those poor kids were dealt a very bad hand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dFFO2z6gXg

Looking for a Good Book?

Click on the link below to find books reviewed by yours truly:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/AZ9CVKRXPE0PN/ref=cm_cr_pr_auth_rev?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview

Kentucky Waterfall?

Or is it a "mullover?"  Why you should always have a camera on your person.... 

1.  Kentucky waterfall:  n.  Busisness in the front party in the back! Hockey hair. See Mullet
2.  Mullover:  n.  A hairstyle worn by aging men which combines a comb-over and a mullet. Longer hair is brushed back to hide a bald spot.
3.  Hybrid? 

Skipper's Smoke House 1/22/11.  The best Kentucky Waterfall/Mullover I've seen since the turn of the century!!

Sabado Gigante

Had a great one.  Dined at The Refinery, a quirky "haute couture" "locavore" small plate bistro.  Sampled for the first and not last time, alligator... alligator ceviche to be precise.  Absolutely delish!! Taste acquired.

Apres hipster dining, motored up the road to Skipper's for the Del Castillo Concert.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gyp8Us-ixkk&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=MLGxdCwVVULXd91U6-EfilQ4gIxqUcGi8j



What a fantastic band... Allman Bros. meets Eric Clapton meets Carlos Santana, shaken and stirred with a heavy dash of Gypsy Kings and Los Lobos.  Quaffed wassail (hot apple cider and rum), outdoors on a brisk night under a full Florida moon.  Totally digging the groove, when I became unsettled in a Jane Austen heroine kind of way.  Was it just my imagination, or was the dreamy lead singer of Del Castillo making eye contact with me?

Whilst waiting on line to buy a CD, like an apparition, I ran into said dreamboat. Clouds, halos, cherabim, seraphim, and dry ice seemed to surround this rock and roll god, whose seering eyes, smile, and "you can't escape me now" pysical presence rendered me speechless...maybe it was the wassail?

He flashed me a high wattage smile, wagged his finger and said, "Hi, you've got to start dancing." My heart went into a-fib, I re-watted his smile, and said "Hi." Then poof! prince charming sailed back to the stage...leaving me agog.  Whence, I fell off the "money diet" wagon big time, buying every Del Castillo gegaw, t shirt, and CD available.  It was as if the Monkees were back in town.

My beloved Monkees lunch box from 6th grade.

For the rest of the evening this guy literally "killed me softly with his song." Oh how sweet is the passion of a Spaniard with the good looks of a Harlequin Romance novel cover boy crooning mi corazon.  With every tousle of his mane of shiny black hair,  I succumbed...

Yes, I think it was just my imagination, about the eye contact, but I did start dancing (just in case). Once boy crazy always boy crazy.  And it was most certainly better than my typical Sabado spent watching Lawrence Welk, dusting my light bulbs, and painting my toenails "Kinky in Helsinki" red.

Oh, I forgot to tell you about the plantation---more about that later.

Cinderella awoke this morning to a day chock full o' errands, including Ikea, Publix, P.O., finally skedaddling back to the nest for some hobby farming on my miniature corn plantation.

How was your day?
xoxo
--Babs

Live Better, Work Union.

http://unionlibrarian.blogspot.com/

http://www.unitedfacultyofflorida.org/index.shtml

Does the 21st c. suck? Your opinion counts!

I can't decide.  It definitely takes a lot out of you.  Maybe it's just cuz I'm older. No I think it's technology, which daily extracts it's pound of flesh from all of us. 

The kids don't know how easy it was to get a college education back in the day when all you had to do was show up for class, and complete a mid-term and final blue book. 

I liked the 20th c. as I was a young, nubile, fertile thing, with a living Mom and Dad to pick up the tab. 

I like the 21st c. as I am a wiser, infertile thing, sans a guilt-inducing Mom and Dad, and I can pick up my own tab. 

So readers, it's been 10 years into this new century.  We've definitely gotten our bearings by now. kindly submit yourselves to my survey on the sidebar...

In the year 2000....



Welcome Aboard Lutheran Airlines*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61GTu14Gros

*Catholics and sinners sit in the back.

Cute Like Jesus, Part Deux

James Mc Murtry, son of Larry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWEJPqJtZsk&feature=related

Brandon Boyd, Incubus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWW3DzNpeMw

My "fasvorite" Beatle, George Harrison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7qpfGVUd8c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3RYvO2X0Oo&feature=related 
Paul McCartney looks retarded if not insipid.

Cute like Jesus*

John Durant, Harvard grad, Paleo-man

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/265602/february-22-2010/exclusive---backstage-with-john-durant

Bret, Flight of the Conchords

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wqfcwgT0Ds

Eddie Vedder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r01YiEgNa0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Aqr_D8c1Sk

*And I don't mean a Lutheran Jesus.

Checklist that you've had a good party...

Well, it's been a week since the International Garage Dance Party.  You know you've had a good party when....
  Peripheral vision is starting to return.
You finally washed that sticky substance out of your hair.
 You finally got that sticky substance off your garage floor.
 The bruises are starting to heal.
You bust a gut toting this week's recyclables to curb.

Good to Go

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QxkHguEp2_M

New Years Resolutions*

* Source:  The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene.

1.  Conceal your intentions.

Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelope them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.

2.  Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit. Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you.

3.  Infection.  Avoid the unhappy and unlucky.

You can die from someone else’s misery – emotional states are as infectious as disease. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.

4.  Make your accomplishments seem effortless.  Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the toil and practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more. Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you work – it only raises questions. Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you.

5.  Play to peoples fantasies.

The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes for disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert: Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses. 


6.  Disdain things you cannot have.

By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it. It is sometimes best to leave things alone. If there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem.


7.  Assume formlessness.

 By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything changes.