5/14/2020: I Cry Easily. You? (Plus links)

May 14, 2020: I Cry Easily. You? (Plus Links) TO READ PREVIOUS BLOGS: TERRYBAUM.BLOGSPOT.COM PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED. Click Here to Subscribe to the Blog. ONE: I Cry Easily TWO: Practical Links THREE: Activism Link I'm trying writing in the garden this morning. My view is above. It's a bit chilly, so I'm wearing a very thick sweater that my sister Nancy brought me as a present from Ireland. Nancy always gave me very practical gifts, often something to keep me warm. I always gave her frivolous gifts -- little paintings, beautiful carvings. You could say we had a balanced sisterly relationship. ONE: I Cry Easily I'm crying a lot, and yes, it's about The Pandemic. But mostly it's about what's going on in my country during the Pandemic. COVID-19 has ripped the mask off our image that we are somehow a rational, caring democracy. And the response of the federal government has been incompetence, rapacity and greed. "Hey guys, those wacko libs can't publicly protest right now! Let's get everything we can before the Pandemic ends. Let's see, first we'll destroy the Post Office, then we'll go after Social Security..." Or, as Charles Blow wrote, "This crisis is exposing the class savagery of American democracy and the economic carnage that it has always countenanced." Please read his columns. He is far more articulate than I am. And what is the response of the "opposition," the Democrats? Is it wimpy spinelessness or spineless wimpiness? I can't decide. I only know that it is NOT ENOUGH to make a big difference! Five years before AOC can run for President, folks. Five long years. Where's my coffee? Where's my coffee? That damn monkey gives me so much trouble.... Oh. She put it behind the computer. One of her favorite hiding places. I should remember to look there first, before I run up and down the stairs and all over the garden. I cry when I read the title of Kristof's column, McDonald's Workers in Denmark Pity Us. Although I must admit I did laugh when I read that the Greedy Insane Right is waving the banner of Denmark as a THREAT to all our freedoms! "Watch out, folks, we might end up in the socialist nightmare of DENMARK!" Wow! I bet if I lived in Denmark, I could actually make a living as an ARTIST! Now THAT is messed up, considering all artists are lazy bums. MacDonald's workers' wage starts at $22/hour. The higher taxes they pay go for free health care and free QUALITY education through college, among other things. Please, Goddess, spare my dear country from such a minimum wage! I cry when I read that the Irish people are sending money to Native Americans struggling with high levels of COVID-19. Why the Irish and the Indians?? The Choctaw tribe, having suffered in 1831 through starvation and death on the Trail of Tears, gathered together $170 to send to the Irish in 1847 during their Potato Famine. That's the equivalent of more than $5,000 today. The Irish never forgot their generosity, and are now returning it, since our own government turns its back on their suffering.

The Kindred Spirits Choctaw Monument in Midleton, Ireland, commemorating the Choctaw donation during the potato famine. I cry just looking at this beautiful work of art. Sometimes I boo-hoo and sometimes tears just well up and drip down. Now, this 20-minute documentary on VICE TV, about a lesbian who is an Emergency Medical Technician, made me cry for so many reasons, good and bad. It is very powerful -- awesome and humbling -- to see what it means to be an EMT in Detroit during the Pandemic. Talk about First Responders -- they really ARE the FIRST. They go into someone's house and have to deal with getting the sick person on the stretcher and to the hospital. That is, assuming the sick person is still alive. Just one of the incidents in this short documentary would blow me out of the water for a week at least. But the EMTs deal with crises again and again in a single day. It is truly an impossible job to do even 40 hours a week, let alone all the extra hours they're working. I was also moved to tears by the very matter-of-factness of the EMT's lesbianism. Actually the L-word is never mentioned. The narrator simply asks, "How is your wife dealing with this?" Later, the wife is interviewed. As if it was perfectly normal for a woman to have a wife! As if it was perfectly normal for a very out and married dyke to be on the frontlines of the battle against the virus! I was moved and proud and I cried. I'm grateful to VICE TV for this documentary. TWO: Practical Links A. Hand-washing: You might think you know everything you need to know about hand-washing. But this video from WHO (World Health Organization) describes something different from other videos, and more thorough than I've seen before. I had to watch it twice to get it down. B. Social Distancing: Again, a subject we've had way too much of. But this article by a Professor of Biology and researcher in infectious diseases, was very educational. I felt that I understood much more clearly how the virus spreads in enclosed spaces. And I was able to reassure my friend in New York that the danger was negligible from a jogger passing her in Central Park. THREE: Activist Link This is the link I was looking for that asks you to MAIL LETTERS to demand the continued existence of the Post Office. It gives you letters to print out and send yourself. The point is, just by buying the stamps and mailing the letters, you are supporting the Post Office. Very easy to do. Best to support the P.O. by USING the P.O. Thanks to Dory Adams, Michele Carondelet, Marie Kochavar and Gail Lynch for the links. Well, Bloggelinis, I worry that this whole crying business is too heavy to write about. I mean, we all have our limits of what we can handle from the BlogMistress. Okay one last little FUN LINK , very short, of a socially distanced haircut. And then this:

This was sent to me by Godelieve, my close ex, who lives in Friesland, the northernmost province of the Netherlands. GOODBYE! Terry

May 11, 2020: WORKING for Biden & MeToo & Walk

May 11, 2020: I'm WORKING for Biden! or Me Too/Moral Complexity & A Walk TO READ PREVIOUS BLOGS: TERRYBAUM.BLOGSPOT.COM PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED. Click Here to Subscribe to the Blog. One of my greatest pleasures is my garden and one of my greatest sorrows is that I can't invite anyone to share it with me. Maybe soon! Okay. Time for your friendly neighborhood BlogMistress to face this difficult subject. Here are two of the thoughtful pieces I've read on the subject of Tara Reade's allegation that Joe Biden raped her (whew! I first wrote "rapped her") 27 years ago. Please read these before or after you read my thoughts. Or don't! But they're both worth reading: The New Yorker: A Fair Examination of the Allegations Against Joe Biden Can Strengthen the #MeToo Movement The New York Times: I Believe Tara Reade But I'm Voting for Joe Biden First a warm and kindly message to those who are considering NOT voting for the Democratic candidate in the Presidential election: ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!? Democracy is not a game for the fastidious. It's about being a grown-up and making the best choice when faced with a reality that might not be altogether thrilling. Yes, I would have preferred ANY of the top ten Democratic candidates to Biden -- except Bloomberg. I gave what was for me a significant amount of money to Bernie Sanders. I volunteered for his campaign in California. I have been planning for quite a while to spend October in Pennsylvania campaigning for whoever is the Democratic candidate. I briefly reconsidered that commitment, even before Tara Reade spoke up, because of Biden's very mixed record and because he's so supremely "Meh." BUT THE EVIDENCE IS IN MY FACE (AND YOURS) EVERY DAY THAT THE OCCUPANT OF THE WHITE HOUSE IS VERY DANGEROUS AND APPEARS TO BE GETTING MORE UNHINGED EVERY DAY. It's not just about our obligation to the country. We have an obligation to the WORLD to defeat Trump. This is someone who believes he is the only person in the universe. And this total narcissist has, easily accessible at every moment, a button he can push to obliterate any part of the globe he wishes. WHAT IF HE BECOMES SUICIDAL? DOES THIS NOT KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT? NO? WHY NOT? HAS IT NOT OCCURRED TO YOU THAT THE LESSER EVIL IS, IN FACT, LESS EVIL? (which, by the way, is the reason it's called "the LESSER evil!") (You see, this is why I need to blog. If I was actually talking to you, I would be jumping up and down yelling loudly. I think big red letters are much more pleasant, don't you?) I am not talking about throwing Tara Reade under the bus. Her allegation deserves the full investigation that the New Yorker article calls for. It is outrageous that the Senate refuses to make public the complaint she submitted at the time of the alleged assault. Reade herself says she did not describe being raped in that complaint. But if we could see the complaint, then we would know more. I don't turn my back on Reade when I say that I am choosing to support Joe Biden for President by campaigning for him in Pennsylvania in October. (Okay, I admit, it was a little hard to type that last bit about October in Pennsylvania.) What I am talking about is: MORAL COMPEXITY People who do good things also do bad things. And when we are talking about this very human phenomenon in politics, it is difficult to know how to deal with it. How can we demand justice and accountability without throwing out the baby with the bathwater? And in Biden's case, we're talking about moral complexity burdened with IRONY, since his proudest political achievement is legislation to strengthen protections for women who have been sexually assaulted. Moral complexity is just very very hard to get our brains around. Carolyn and I are working on a play about the pioneers of the womens' suffrage movement, who were incredible charismatic visionaries ... and also made racist statements. It would be so much nicer for us if they hadn't done that. The play probably would be much further along now. You want to get away from moral complexity? OK! Let's turn from 19th Century suffragettes and Joe Biden to our current President! What a relief! Not a smidgen of moral complexity here! We're talking about ABSOLUTE EVIL. 'Nuf said? I am not asking you to just vote for Biden. Voting is the teeny tiny tip of the pyramid that is all the work that goes into electing someone. Many will ask you to give money. I am asking you to volunteer on the campaign. I know that very few can or want to travel to a purple state in order to affect the outcome of the election. But quite a few people did that when Obama ran the first time in 2008. And I submit that it is at least as important to elect the Democrat this time as it was then. Perhaps not QUITE as joyful, but more important. Do something. Do a lot. Do as much as you can. You can start now by writing letters for VOTE FORWARD. This is a wonderful project where you write letters to registered Democrats who are infrequent voters, encouraging them to vote. You don't talk about issues or candidates, just the importance of voting. Vote Forward sends you a template and you fill in your own reasons for voting, in your own hand. You can start writing letters at any time. They'll be mailed closer to the election. I've already written some letters. It made me feel good to do it. AND NOW, LET'S WALK! On Saturday, I walked through the Haight to Golden Gate Park I just love deep blue and yellow. Got to Golden Gate Park. It was FREEZING. The wind was howling. I tried to convince myself I was enjoying it, but I had not dressed for such cold. We experienced what I thought was a serious case of Ball Evaporation. I threw the ball straight in a flat meadow with short grass, I saw Nikki start to run after it, I looked away for a second... and when I looked back, he was searching for the ball. This is not uncommon, as his eyesight is really bad. So I went to get it and it was simply GONE! There were no holes, no slope, no bushes... another strange and fearful evaporation of a NEW orange-and-blue rubber ball. Very troubling. Nikki and I both looked and looked. Loulou doesn't care that much about the ball. She was doing her own thing. I finally gave up, got ready to leave, turned around .... and there was Nikki standing behind me with the ball in his mouth! Where did he find it? Truly, I do not get it. Time to head home past the gorgeous Victorians of the Haight Okay, here's a command. I stopped and did it. Now you do it. I'd never seen anything like this... this TOMBSTONE in the sidewalk. A lovely memorial I found this Bernie sign, half obscured by a medieval image of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, rather disturbing. Was the resident implying that, with Bernie out of the race, we would plunge toward the Apocalypse? Was it a threat or just an observation? And on the other hand..."Laundry is the only thing that should be separated by color." I love this. It was attached to a giant wooden dog bone. When I look at the photo below, I see a naked woman with her legs spread wide apart giving birth to the beautiful succulents coming out of her vagina. Maybe I've been alone too long. I think these are such steep stairs to live at the bottom of. I marvel at them every time I pass. And so to home. Bloggelinis, waddya think of this fabulous photo of me, with niece Rose and Lawrence up in the corner? We were FaceTiming (only my 2nd FaceTime time) and I started fooling with the effects, and Lawrence took a screenshot. I think I really LIKE myself as a cartoon!

Mother's Day for Peace

MOTHERS' DAY for PEACE, 2020 TO READ PREVIOUS BLOGS: TERRYBAUM.BLOGSPOT.COM PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED. Click Here to Subscribe to the Blog. It's important to recall, at this moment, that Mother's Day was called into existence by Julia Ward Howe, as Mothers' Day for Peace in 1872. Perhaps many of you know this, but Carolyn and I discovered it when we were putting together a show for Mother's Day in 2013, and Carolyn asked, "Where does the apostrophe go? Is it before or after the "S"?" This is a very important question, and the answer is that now, the apostrophe goes BEFORE the "S", since the holiday centers around each child honoring her individual mother. But when the holiday was called into being in 1872, the apostrophe went AFTER the "s." Julia Ward Howe was calling ALL women, but especially mothers, to join together in an international organization to work for peace. Thus: MOTHERS' DAY FOR PEACE This is Julia Ward Howe's original proclamation: Arise, all women who have hearts, Whether your baptism be that of water or of tears! Say firmly: We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country, to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: Disarm, disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence vindicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of council. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them then solemnly take council with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, man as the brother of man, each bearing after his own kind the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God. In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women, without limit of nationality, may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient, and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace. — Julia Ward Howe

May 8, 2020: Oy Vey & Sidewalk Butterflies

MAY 8, 2020: OY VEY & Sidewalk Butterflies & Stuff TO READ PREVIOUS BLOGS: TERRYBAUM.BLOGSPOT.COM PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED. Click Here to Subscribe to the Blog. LEFT: WORLD'S CUTEST LITTLE CACTUS IS BLOOMING! OY VEY Our Country! Activism Kvetches about Animal Housemates Sidewalk Butterflies ONE: OY VEY Our Country! I don't know about you, but I found the current deluge of headlines ... how shall I say?.... stupifying? Terrifying? Unimaginable? SBA slashes disaster-loan limit from $2 million to $150,000, shuts out nearly all new applicants. Trump vows complete end of Obamacare law despite pandemic. As Iowa reopens, workers are being forced to choose between a paycheck and their health. As hunger grows, GOP pushes back over Food Stamps. And these are just the headlines on the front page! I understand that Trump is so narcissistic as to be insane. But all the Republicans in Congress? What planet do they expect to live on? Do they really want to end up inhabiting mansions behind barbed wire-topped walls while the War of All Against All goes on around them? Why would anyone want that? Do they want the return of slavery? I mean, I'm just asking. Where do the Republicans think all this is leading? Pushing back over food stamps -- that I really don't get. Food stamps don't just benefit hungry people. They benefit FARMERS -- who are mostly Republican. So the GOP is willing to sabotage its own base in order to afflict poor people? I remember in 2016 when Trump came to California's Central Valley to speak to a big organization of farmers. One of them asked him, "What about the drought? What are you going to do about that?" Trump's response: "Forget about the drought! The drought's over! It's taken care of! You'll never have to worry about it again!" I thought, well, he's certainly not going to get THEIR endorsement! Farmers have to deal with reality head-on, in terms of weather and a lot of other things that they can't control. Trump just proved to them that he had absolutely no idea how to help them during the drought and wasn't interested in trying. And then the next day the farmers voted to endorse Donald Trump for President. Let us always remind ourselves that the majority of citizens did NOT vote for Trump for President. That's important to remember. The Electoral College, that relic of slavery, made him President. Not the people. TWO: ACTIVISM I believe, all things considered, it is far better to do SOMETHING than nothing. As you know, I've been trying to figure out the best SOMETHING to do. And I think that lobbying to support the Post Office is an urgent place to start. It's a crucial institution, and it will be REALLY crucial for mailing in ballots in November. I know that many rarely use the mail anymore. But I am particularly fond of sending postcards. In fact, I started a political project, "Postcards 4 Democracy," right after Trump was elected. It was a quixotic endeavor to get Republican electors to change their vote. We knew it had no chance of succeeding, but we came together in groups and alleviated our despair with camaraderie. It was very nice, and I don't think anyone regretted the time spent. Since then, there have been a LOT of political postcard projects. I don't know if I was the sole originator of the idea or if others thought of it at the same time. We did have P4D groups all over the country. Anyhow, at this point, we need the U.S. Post Office for political purposes. We MUST have the ability to mail in our votes. SO HERE'S SOMETHING TO DO, AS PART OF INDIVISIBLE: For San Franciscans: Go to this link for phone numbers of your Senators and Representative, along with a call script to demand the U.S. Post Office be fully funded and that there be funding in the next relief bill for an all-mail November election. For Others: Go to this link to find contact info for all members of Congress. Here's a link to a Call Script from Indivisible. I URGE YOU TO TAKE SOME ACTION! JUST ONE PHONE CALL IS BETTER THAN NO PHONE CALLS. I'VE MADE TWO OF MY THREE PHONE CALLS. I'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM EVERY BLOGGELINI WHO'S DOING SOMETHING, WHATEVER IT IS. I'D LOVE SOME MORE IDEAS. THREE: KVETCHES About Animal Housemates A. PESTS: I have ants AND mice. That seems a bit unfair. The mice can get in where the ants can’t and vice versa. So it’s impossible to figure out how to store a very large bag of dog food.  People have told me to just talk to the ants. And I DO. I say, “When you decided to come on my kitchen counter, you made a BIG mistake. And now you’re gonna DIE!!” And then I spray them with my special ant spray, a mix of vinegar and dishwashing soap. It doesn't kill them as fast as Windex, but it does the trick. I’m a total wimp when it comes to traps and poison. B. PUPS: I have no idea how I’m going to groom my two LARGE Standard Poodles. I would never have adopted Loulou, my second one, if I had ever dreamed a pandemic would necessitate me washing, brushing and clipping both of them all by myself. Look at these poor puffy poodles. They can't even see, they're so puffy! Have you ever tried to brush a poodle? It's not easy. And I’ve got a lot of poodle acreage. Not to mention that I can’t find anywhere to buy the clippers, since all the other poodle guardians are in the same boat. Clippers, clippers, my kingdom for a pair of poodle clippers! FOUR: SIDEWALK BUTTERFLIES & SOMETHING PRECIOUS I was walking home, and there she was, Molly Monster, the creator of the Seven Dwarves of the Pandemic, creating .... butterflies on the sidewalk! ‌ And just one more photo, of something we all value highly: Oh! I almost forgot: CORRECTION: In the previous blog about my shameful paint job on my house, I said my next door neighbor commented, "You've reduced everyone's property values by $10,000." My neighbor, a Bloggelini, said, "That doesn't sound like me. Are you sure I said that?" And then I remembered that it wasn't him. It was someone who lived across the street. All for now, Bloggelinis! But I'm not going to send this right away because I have my writers' group in a few minutes. I've never consulted anyone before I sent it out. But I'm going to try it. I love criticism. I'm very strange that way. Terry (Later: Made a small change as a result of the writer's group)