WHAT I L - O - V - E ABOUT THE SOUTH

(sigh)

Life is so sweet in the south, and for those of you fortunate enough to have been raised there, the following will encourage you to "git along" and whip up some of these jewels in your kitchens.  Southern fried chicken (preferably with an egg and buttermilk batter then dipped in seasoned flour).

Chicken pie (in the south we do NOT call it chicken and dumplings!)

Country ham (you know, the kind that was smoked for ages in Smithfield, VA)

Ham biscuits

Tiny rounds of cucumber sandwiches

Red eye gravy

Fried catfish

Butterbeans

Corn field peas

Collard greens

Candied yams

Grits

Fried apples

Boiled peanuts (from Southampton County, VA)

Pork rinds

Hush puppies

Homemade macaroni and cheese (NOT the kind from a blue box!)

Potato salad (both hot and cold)

Banana pudding

Mile-high coconut cake

Ambrosia

Red velvet cake

Moon pies

Sweet tea (made with Luzianne tea bags)

Fresh-squeezed lemonade

(yum, yum)

THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE

(sigh)

Several things floating through the grapevine recently made me either shake my head or laugh out loud. Check it out:

A teenager in NYC fell into a manhole while text messaging, resulting in a five-foot fall into the city's sewer system. She suffered only minor scrapes, but of course her family is suing for the trauma of her landing in such a place. Granted, the city should have taken precautions to cordon off the open manhole, but come on. Should she possibly have used a little common sense? She probably applies mascara while driving, too.

Also:

Some stores in the USA have already begun Christmas promotions. With the economy in a slump, they're predicting sluggish sales and are starting early so folks can layaway now for the holidays. Pull out that plastic, America!

And:

In Serbia a woman with a potentially fatal heart arrhythmia was cured when she was hit by lightning. Amazing.

And not least:

Pepper the gay penguin has lost his partner, Harry, to a female! Seems the "widowed" female began flirting with Harry and alas, he bade bye-bye to Pepper, his partner of six years. The two male penguins had been residing quite contentedly together in the San Francisco Zoo! WHERE ELSE!!!!!!

(sigh)

MONOGAMY, SCHMAGAMY

(sigh)

I no longer believe in marriage in the traditional sense, even though I was in one for 40 years. At the time, I DID believe in it, was committed to it, was happy in it. I'm not saying there weren't ups and downs, but I had great love and respect for the man to whom I said, "I do."

The marriage ended when he re-connected with an old girlfriend five years ago at a class reunion. Last weekend that same class had another reunion at which I'm certain my ex and his woman "celebrated" their "finding" one another five years before. Am I still bitter? You bet. This was a man who was kind, honest (I THOUGHT!), a pillar of the community. He was a wonderful father and grandfather, and I believed he was a wonderful husband. We now know that this man had another side to him that he carefully kept hidden for decades.

I'm not saying this negates all his good qualities, because it doesn't. But it's taken me a lifetime to realize that NO man is cut out for monogamy. In a lifetime of friends I've made, I know 6 couples who do not have at least one divorce between them, and those 6 couples are my age or older. God forbid the younger generations should survive unscathed. I read about the Mark Sanfords and John Edwardses of the world, and they make me sick. Both are married to extraordinary women, and yet it's not enough. It's never enough. Sex is powerful, for sure. Maybe we need more salt peter and less Viagra in the world.

I am enjoying the relationship I've been in for three years; but my divorce taught me not to give everything I have emotionally to it either. It's unfortunate, but I will never be able to be as open with anyone else as I was when I was married. Well, I SAY it's unfortunate, but maybe it's the place I should have been all along.

(sigh)

BETWEEN NAPS

(sigh)

Almost every morning my eyes pop open between 5:10 and 5:20 a.m., no matter what time I've gone to bed the night before. I truly am a morning person. I wasn't always.

Now, though, morning's the best time of day. I drink coffee -- sometimes iced, sometimes hot --and try to get some thoughts together for a blog post or two. I scan my email, check over my finances, read the paper. Most days, unless it's nasty outside, I take my second coffee and sit outside and enjoy the solitude with only the birds chirping now and then. Simple pleasures.

The older we get, the less it takes to make us happy......our health, people to love and inspire us, serenity.

And a good cupa joe.

(sigh)

COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE

(sigh)

Dumb. Dumber. Dumbest.

The above remind you of anything or anyone? How about a majority of the American voting public? Surely not, you say. Well, yes, I DO say.

Consider this. Barack Obama campaigned for -- and was cheered on daily by millions of people -- for his promises to resurrect the economy, pass universal health care, curb global warming (he WOULD have promised to save the world, but Michael Jackson beat him to it.) He promised to do all of these wonderful things by not raising taxes on the middle class, etc., etc., etc. Having now taken office and having his kahones stuffed down his liberal throat by Miss Reality, he and his minions have had to - OMG - compromise on a few issues.

But the thing that amazes me the most is how all of a sudden THE AMERICAN PEOPLE are enraged at the DEFICIT!!!!!!! All the stimulus money that no one seems to know how or when will be spent and the $1.4 trillion price tag for a yet-to-be-determined health care plan seems to have begun to upset those folks who voted for Mr. Obama. It has ALWAYS upset those of us who were horrified at his promises since it's impossible to spend the country into oblivion without increasing revenue (repeat after me: TAXES, TAXES, TAXES!) It seems folks don't like the prospect of all this spending now that it's obvious (finally!) to them that EVERYONE is going to have to pay, and pay big, to finance what they THOUGHT they wanted.

I personally know people (a few) who voted for this administration and they are intelligent, thinking human beings who truly believe that what Obama promised is what's needed for the country. What astounds me though is that it didn't seem to occur to them that we'd have to PAY for it somehow, and that there aren't enough rich folks left who can be taxed enough to cover it all.

As I said, dumb, dumber, and in this case, DUMBEST!

(sigh)

THE DOWNSIDE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL

(sigh)

The new buzz phrase these days is social capital, what was "face time" or "networking" in the past. There're lots of things to which "capital" may refer, for example:

venture capital - private equity given to companies, usually in exchange for stock OR a "trail"blazing trip to Argentina to visit one's "soulmate."

human capital - those assets which cannot be separated from an individual, such as training and education OR that which is used as excuse for trips to Argentina, i.e., "He's only human."

physical capital - non-human assets made by humans and used in production of goods OR that which follows venture capital in one's trips to Argentina

personal capital - one's ability to make a difference in an undertaking OR that which is provided to Argentine mistresses

gender capital - men's and women's gender-related assets and talents OR those endearing qualities of soulmates not your wife

working capital - operating liquidity available OR that which is used for trips to Argentina, unbeknownst to taxpayers

natural capital - sustainable environmental goods and services OR those assets which allow for "back to nature" trips along the Appalachian trail

intellectual capital - intelligence and psychological qualities of an individual OR that which is deficient from individuals making trips to Argentina

investment capital - money paid to purchase a fixed asset OR that which is paid to mistresses to remain silent

social capital - connections within social networks OR infections contracted during visits to Argentina

I'm not in search of ANY of these.

(sigh)

MJ

(sigh)

You either love him or you hate him. You either believe that his own childlike persona and naivete perpetuated his questionable behavior around children not his own or you believe he was a truly sick puppy. Either way, Michael Jackson's legacy will forever be a cloudy one.

There's no doubt he was an entertainer with no equal. You couldn't help but be mesmerized by his incredible moves and his stick-in-your-head tunes. But his "eccentricities" raised eyebrows, and the "where there's smoke there's fire" questions surrounding his acquittal on child molestation charges forever dogged him.

I watched some of the memorial service for him yesterday, and I was moved by some of it and disgusted by some. Al Sharpton's five-minute rant about Jackson's civil rights contributions had to have offended Martin Luther King, Jr.'s children, since Sharpton pretty much credited Jackson with everything King had done in the sixties. It was ridiculous. Sharpton's such a pimp anyway. He was over-the-top and downright distasteful.

"BAD."

(sigh)

PALTRY PATRIOTISM

(sigh)

There doesn't appear to be much patriotism in America these days. The Fourth of July should represent more to us as a people than just a fireworks display, but I bet most kids don't have much of a clue as to what the day stands for. Parents have dropped the ball here.

There are subtle ways for adults to instill patriotism in their kids, but parents don't seem to have the time now. My generation was taught by our parents AND OUR SCHOOLS to respect others, help those in need, honor the flag by knowing how to display it, know the Pledge of Allegiance at an early age, understand the concept of voting. We were excited if we were lucky enough to take a family vacation to a different part of the country ("See America First"); if the family couldn't afford a vacation (and even if we could), we devoured the National Geographic magazine and learned the states by putting our U. S. map puzzle together hundreds of times. We were taught to "Keep America Beautiful" and not throw trash out the car window ("Don't Be a Litterbug!"). Simple things, really, but effective. Parents don't have time these days to talk to their kids about our history -- there's just too much going on every day to set aside time to even have a meal together -- let alone do something silly like have a conversation. As I've said before, it makes me sad.

Patriotism isn't a kick-ass tattoo of Old Glory on a forearm; it's not a flag pin on a lapel. It's a feeling of pride in living in this great (but flawed) country and doing our damnedest to instill that pride in our kids. Let's not wait for another 9/11 to pull us all together.

Do something PATRIOTIC with your kids and grandkids today.

Happy Independence Day!

(sigh)