Hi all.
Yes, I was away from my computer for several days which was excruciating, as I’ve come to love blogging so much. Had a personal matter that needed to be taken care of. Nothing serious at all. But so touched by the concerned comments and emails. I really feel disconnected when I am unable to blog each day. Also, I’m going to try to get somebody to program the blog so that regular commenters can post comments without me approving them. That way you can chat amongst yourselves when I’m not around.
Not much to report here, but I’ve been so moved by what is taking place in Iran, I wanted to post a video that I found on Huffington Post. Very moving. Also, a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
A Nation’s Strength
by Ralph Waldo Emerson
What makes a nation’s pillars high
And it’s foundations strong?
What makes it mighty to defy
The foes that round it throng?
It is not gold. Its kingdoms grand
Go down in battle shock;
Its shafts are laid on sinking sand,
Not on abiding rock.
Is it the sword? Ask the red dust
Of empires passed away;
The blood has turned their stones to rust,
Their glory to decay.
And is it pride? Ah, that bright crown
Has seemed to nations sweet;
But God has struck its luster down
In ashes at his feet.
Not gold but only men can make
A people great and strong;
Men who for truth and honor’s sake
Stand fast and suffer long.
Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly…
They build a nation’s pillars deep
And lift them to the sky.
Thank God Ann! You don’t know the tizzy you set off yesterday! Lupe emailed me, & while I thought it was a very strange for you to disappear like that, Lupe got me in ‘Full Worrier’ mode(a specialty of mine). She asked if any of the people I emailed w/ might know anything. So I emailed Lisa & Courtney, & they replied no, & then they were both worried, both saying how strange it was because you are so reliable! So we had ripples of worries going out after a couple of days, plus I was just plain missing everyone!!!!! I too felt very disconnected.
I’m just so glad you’re back & are alright. Lupe had my head filled with all kinds of thoughts! Bad Lupe!
Will watch the video & read the poem later, just wanted to rejoice in the fact that you are back!
Welcome welcome back again, Ann
and I ~via emails~ came up with about Ann’s whereabouts and goings on. And I could not find a single one I liked. I told T and A, that it had to be something that happened to the kids or Denis, as if something going on with Ann, Denis would have been a guest blogger. That is what I thought. While pondering on that, I re-read the stories about bats, and wonder where is the #3 story, the one where Denis Leary performs… That was good!.
I was looking for poems on dentists.. as that was what Tracy and Annie
I downloaded more ebooks to my Mobipocket Reader (you can now do that from Gutenberg) and I got 8 paperbacks for .25/ea at this one library yesterday, the kind of books that put your mind elsewhere. This one I could not put down is written by this attorney turned author about this one mom and two kids world, the kids smoking in the fields behind their trailer home and witnessing a suicide… and the story was beautifully told. So much so, that I read it in two sittings!. Now I am into this “Trinity” by Leon Uris I believe. It is a thick book, and there seems to be a lot of History of Ireland in there. Just trying to understand more about Europe. And thank you to Ann for bringing forth the joy of reading books, which I somehow had set aside.
welcome back, i missed you. Hope all is well.
Missed you, Ann! Glad everything is ok.
I try to not make a practice of going off-topic here, but has everyone watched this week’s RM? Holy crap, that sequence with Garrity toward the end might be my favorite two minutes of television in YEARS. What a hunk, and what a voice!
Ok, sorry. I just liked it so much I had to share.
The video is heartbreaking. It made me cry. This girl & hundreds of thousands of people in her country are begging for basic rights that every person in this world deserve. Millions of people around the world fight for the same thing. These are things that we, as Americans, take for granted everyday. These poor people in Iran are in fear for their lives to demonstrate, to take the demonstrators in when the police try to break them up, even when they are demonstrating peacefully. The fact that Iran won’t let journalists report on any of it is disgraceful, and I fear that many more people are being imprisoned and killed than we are seeing from the few videos, twitters(which the government has tried to turn off), & facebook reports.
We don’t know how lucky we are to live in a Democracy, that we can disagree with our government, blog about it, write letters to the editor, have protests, etc, without fear of being killed or imprisoned for life.
As I felt when Laura Ling & Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in N Korea for ‘hostile acts’, I am so thankful that I was born in America.
Phew! You’re back!! I kept checking in & (like everyone else) started to worry a bit (okay, kind of a lot) when the page remained the same. I stopped short of e-mailing, lest I appear stalker-ish, LOL! Hope everything is good now!!
Isn’t it nice to know how much we all miss you when you’re away? : )
Whew! You’re back! I’d been checking and refreshing thinking that perhaps there was something wrong on my end! Sometimes it’s hard to remember that yes you have a life that does not involve us. I hope everything’s ok though.
Thanks for missing me, guys. I know, Tracy, the video is so haunting and poetic. I love the electronic age in which we find ourselves – where this kind of message can get out with a human voice, a very beautiful and emotional and desperate voice that we would otherwise not hear. I don’t even know how to Twitter or tweet but I thank God for Twitter right now.
Hi Tracy, ‘we’ found Ann!
About the reporters being imprisoned in Korea, it is a bad thing. Yet, where is the common sense of the youngsters thinking that they can do whatever they can do at home, when they are in somebody else’s land/frame of mind/laws and whatever else?. Just like we do not like their thinking, they have the right not to like ours. (Being righteous, as one person told me once I was…, but owning up to it).
And Garrity last episode. For some reason, he seems out of his role. His voice is wonderful, not the kind you would expect (I would expect) in a firefighter, exposed to all’m fumes and pollution. I read somewhere he has a theater play in NYC and that he is pretty darn good. I suppose, without RM it would have taken longer to learn about his gift. As for Tommy, he has a knack for being found with his trousers down!. I love the program because it mixes in human silliness with lots of serious stuff. Like I do not ‘buy’ the ex-hooker, thief plight. She is full of it. Again, I do recognize that it is a role and it is a script.
Hi Everyone,
Glad the blog is up and running again. Reading is my passion, I have always taken comfort in literature as my place of comfort and refuge. This has been true since childhood. At age 16 I came across Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy.” I was stunned. It is possible the rawness and anger of it scared me away from poetry for the next 20 years. However this blog has awakened in me an interest for it once again. I would like to share one that I came across recently. It is by a poet named Delmore Schwartz. It is dark, and not nearly as sentimental as Ann’s “True Love” from the previous post. Here it is:
I am a book I neither wrote nor read,
A comic, tragic play in which new masquerades
Astonishing as guns crackle like raids
Newly each time, whatever one is prepared
To come upon, suddenly dismayed and afraid,
As in the dreams which make the fear of sleep
The terror of love, the depth one cannot leap.
How the false truths of the years of youth have passed!
Have passed at full speed like trains which never stopped
There where I stood and waited, hardly aware,
How little I knew, or which of them was the one
To mount and ride to hope or where true hope arrives.
I no more wrote than read that book which is
The self I am, half-hidden as it is
From one and all who see within a kiss
The lounging formless blackness of an abyss
How could I think the brief years were enough
To prove the reality of endless love?
Annie M.
I wish both poets were self destructive, troubled, and died young. I wish they managed to avoid that unnecessary, avoidable fate.
What an incredibly powerful video…my heart is breaking. Truly, for all our complaining and bickering betwixt parties and mindsets, thank God we CAN complain and bicker without such potentially dire results.
Glad you are well…and welcome home! (to the US and to blogdom!)
BTW Ann….you are destined to Twitter/Tweet!
The one-liners that you come up with are Twitter-perfect!
I’ve often thought you should have a Twitter account.
Ann, I was crying before the girl started crying. It really is heartbreaking.
I don’t twitter either, but in this case it’s one of the only things getting this story out to the world. You’re right, the computer age, youtube, etc is an amazing tool. This is a beautiful plea we would never hear otherwise.
This reminded me of the documentary ‘Afghan Star’ that opens in select theaters next week. I saw the director on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last week. ‘Afghan Pop Star’ is a show just like our Idol, but it’s the first time it’s ever been done there, & the contestants, especially the 1 woman they follow, literally are risking their lives by singing, & especially dancing. Here’s a link to the film’s website, you can see a trailer there: http://www.afghanstardocumentary.com/
I really want to see it, but the theater listing & dates is very limited. Anyway, another example of a country where the people have no rights or freedoms. We are so very lucky.
“Blalker”: That’s good, Angela! I felt the same way. After two days without any word from you, Ann, I was beginning to become rather concerned about your welfare, but didn’t want to appear obsessed or that I believe you owe us a blog each and every day….As Adriana wrote, you do have a life which doesn’t involve us. (But I even mentioned your absence to my husband, who I fear often frets I have gone completely around the bend when I repeat all the things you have informed us about or the stories you have regaled us with. I can see in his eyes that he wants to say to me, “You are aware that you don’t really know Ann Leary, Betsy, and she doesn’t know you from Adam.”)
Anywhooo, I’m relieved that all is well with you, Denis, Jack, and Devin. I hope you had a good time in NYC. Were you with your family?
Jennifer: “Rescue Me” was terrific again this past Tuesday. This season is witty, emotional, intelligent, and thoughtful. Just as it always has been. Maybe it’s the long wait we had for new episodes (minisodes, notwithstanding) which makes the series that much more special to us.
Speaking of last summer’s minisodes, does anyone know if they will be included on the DVD of Season Five? I had to delete them from my DVR (after rewatching them all, of course), but I do hope to be able to own them along with this season’s DVD. Ann, do you know anything about this possibility? Huh, huh, huh??? Do ya, do ya, do ya??? (I’m pretending to beg like your beloved dogs in the hope that you will take pity on me. Clambering into the car, facing forward and ignoring you won’t work in this instance, though, so I’m resorting to the irritating chatter they probably often employ.)
Has anyone else been busy with spring cleaning chores? Since last Sunday my husband and I have washed the outside of our house, and I have spent the entire week washing the many, many large windows and doors. Plus, we received our property tax bill in the mail today, and its horribly high total will completely wipe out our savings account. Being lower-middle class is truly an everyday struggle in this economy. Jokes, irreverent comments, funny stories, interesting daily highlights are needed, my dear AL blog friends….This is a rather fearful time for me financially, a situation to which many others here can relate, I’m certain.
re: Also, I’m going to try to get somebody to program the blog so that regular commenters can post comments without me approving them. That way you can chat amongst yourselves when I’m not around.
Hi Ann,
I can show you how to do that, or do it for you if you like. (I’m a web developer.) I notice you’re using Movable Type for your blog, which I haven’t seen in years. Ever considered switching WordPress? It’s what I install for my clients, and they seem to love it. Much, much simpler to use.
Stunning video from the Post. Amazing how the web has changed the world, and we are able to actually view something like that.
What is it they say… if women ruled the world, there would be no war. That’s because we would never make a single decision that put our children in harm’s way; hence: no war. (Plenty of mood swings, but no war.
-Lynn
lol chat amongst yourselves class
funny
Ann you have influenced me against my will
I actually wrote a poem on my blog today for fathers day…who would have thought
me the poetry hater
so fun
That video was hard to watch. I am glad it was only 2 1/2 minutes. I can’t even imagine what life must be like there.
Elizabeth – you go by Betsy? I love it! I never realized that was short for Elizabeth.
I have been cleaning like crazy here, too. Finally took down the mini-blinds in the kitchen and scrubbed them (yes, they needed actual “scrubbing.” They were disgusting), among other fun disgusting projects. Now I am just trying to bail water out of the car. We had taken the kids and went out to dinner Friday night and got caught in a thunderstorm on the way home. Our subdivision flooded, but we had to drive through some of it to get home. Then we parked uphill five doors down and took the kids out and ran home! What fun! Fortunately my husband knows enough about cars that we didn’t flood the engine, but we have a small lake on the passenger side floor now. The water was clear up the headlights on some trucks. I’m not kidding! Thank goodness for the Sham-wow! (I say “wow” every time…)
Ann, you are right about your blog blocking users who post “too often”. I am glad to see that is a function of the web development and not something you asked to have installed – I once posted two days in a row, and was advised that I had posted too frequently, which gave me the impression I was being thought of as a pest and that comments from me weren’t welcome. (I may BE a pest from time to time, this is true – but hopefully not to you.) So, if blocking frequent posters wasn’t your idea, I am relieved to know it – I don”t post that often, and that “too frequent’ message sort of startled me because of that.
This poem is so perfect for us this week. Having just spent the week in NY, with an emotional day at the Statue of Liberty/Ellis island, makes what is happening in Iran so much more poignant. I sent my son off to Boy’s State today for a week of Democracy and Capitalism in action. Whew. Last week was a good week for you to be away from the blog as I only had the opportunity to read it once. Speaking of NY, Tracy and Barb are such nice people. In the picture, I am in the green shirt with silver hair. Tracy’s enthusiasm was contagious. Barb, hope you had a great time in Florida. Best tip; a laminated map. Especially when we were wet up to out knees in downpours. You name it, we did it. Ground zero, Financial center, Governors Island art show, museums, wall street, shopping , soho, boho, west& east village, churches. I love old churches. Central Park. Dakota/Imagine. Walked the Highline, ate at the Park. Ate at Les Halles. Yes, I love Anthony Bourdain. I love pork tenderloin. This Robert Patterson (twilight) person was filming in Lindsay’s building at NYU. Soooo many girls that they had to put up barriers and crowd control. We did times Square during the day and it so blew me away we went back after the Yankees game at 11 PM. Major cool. My son had a wonderful time. A bit of a sad note though. My hubby let the cat out on Wed. and she never came back. Coyotes we think. He really loved that cat and looked all over the neighborhood and bluff for three days. We knew this was a possibility, she was semi feral and wouldn’t stay in. But it is still sad. Poor guy had to keep it all too himself until we got home.
Elizabeth:
I am familiar with property bills.. seems like an appraisor does not think it is worth much, it is the whole world to the home owner (or home owners would not be doing spring cleaning)(that is a great feeling, isn’t it? to see it all spanking sparkling clean), the lender may have the ability to increase the rate, and the assessors office thinks they need to tax some more.
That would be an idea, to put a moratorium in property taxes for a while…
It is a mess out there. But we must remain calm and clean stuff out and figure things.
At my end, I am happy that I chopped off all the hair gone slimy. And now I have to let it grow. Like Samson, I have a thing about hair.
(and shoes!). But, it looks a mess, and I wear it a la Aunt Jamima style, the only way I do not have to ‘see’ it, until it grows out more.
Scared to use any hair products, because that is what got me in trouble. So? I have white hair around the forehead AND sides and there is no way I can make believe I am a platinum blond.
Happy Fathers Day to all the dads here.
My efforts to continue classes Fall 2009 here in this City went bad. Apparently, somehow, my application was not on their database… Spring and Fall 2010 are FULL. So, after a fit of anger I realized that I may have to go somewhere else to continue and I will not go back to San Francisco either. Sent out four applications and two of the institutions have shown some interest. So? I am going to be moving again. I want to get that degree even if I need to move to Timbuktu, California!. I mean. May have to change the Major, as there are many Degrees ‘impacted’. So, I will become a teacher then!.
There is a huge split (that I can see) in the economic status of people here in this area. It is either they are wealthy or they are poor. There is no middle, really. I still do not understand how the banks went broke while they held everybody’s money. Maybe I will study that next.
And, I think I am going to learn how to Tweet, even though it seems redundant if you read the news and have a cell phone plus email accounts. Seems like there is more need to communicate for some reason. Maybe as I wait this one out..
Hopefully things will return to normal for all of us and real soon, no?
Elizabeth;
I just hired my sorry ass a cleaning person to come in every other week. Someone I know well and loves dogs. Way too much for me to want to handle anymore. I think I can weave each of you a lovely sweater with the amount of tumbleweed dog hair at the end of the week. Geez – enough.
The Iran video got to me. Darfur destroys me even more. Genocide. Nothing is done because there is no interest there. Can you imagine what we “do not” know about. I know its a bit harsh but I often think with the world events and how barbaric people can be against each other and life in general…….I would trade my lifetime for another. I’m just not so sure the grass would be greener or brutality better hidden.
Dearest Gail and anyone else who has been blocked from posting. I too have tried to comment, ON MY OWN BLOG, and was told that my comment couldn’t be posted because I had posted too many comments. You can never post too many comments, in my mind, so I’m going to get this sorted out. It’s a safeguard by Moveable Type (and Lynn, I might pick your brain about this) so strangers don’t post mean things and also to block spam. I get a lot of spam for dirty websites. Some of the names are so funny, i’ve considered posting but am afraid of opening floodgates of spammage.
Kristin, loved hearing about your time in the big city….it is exciting, isn’t it? Haven’t been there in many years but do remember being rather overwhelmed. Oh, the noise!
Sorry about your cat, coyotes got our cat too.
Love your silver hair!
: )
Ann, you re-emerged in just the nick of time. After not seeing any fresh postings or new comments on here for nearly three days, I was beginning to experience ABWS (Ann’s Blog Withdrawal Syndrome). Not a pretty sight. But all is well now.
Kristin -
It was so much fun reading about all you did in NY….. and then I read about your cat. I’m so sorry for you and your husband. Can’t imagine how sad he was, especially with you gone.
Oh, the video from the young Iranian woman choked me up, especially she spoke about (with a breaking voice) the young shedding blood & then going off to pray.
Kristin, I’m so glad you had such a great time in NYC. It was wonderful meeting you & Lindsay. She fit right in, & better start reading the blog! I’m still working on my write up of the day, just haven’t had a chance to finish it, hopefully tomorrow. Glad the laminated map helped. I’m glad I saw Barbara’s- it’s much better than the one I had. Did you ever get a compass? hehehe I was thinking of you when we had rain all week, sorry the weather was so bad for you.
I am so sorry about your cat! You were just talking about her & the coyote problem in our emails before you left. How awful for your husband to have to sit on the info while you were away & then have to break it to you. I’m so sorry.
You’ll have to email me & tell me all you did & what you liked most. Let me know if you got to do anything I suggested, & you may give me some things to add to my list!
Ann I am so glad your back, I have been off for a few days too, not sure when I will be back.. On thursday i got bitten by a spider and it got infected, It is spreading at a tremendous rate and I am having IV treatments and lot of different meds and nothing is working.. so they will give me today to try another drug and if that does not work they will operate. I am supposed to move into the farmhouse this sat and my family come from the UK in 3 weeks.. so really bad timing. I will be back!
Beverly, how AWFUL! This sounds so serious. Are you in the hospital now? It sounds extremely painful and frightening. PLease keep us informed. xo
Bev, I’m so sorry! How awful that a spider bite could be that bad! My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Bev, forgot to say, please keep us posted as you can, you know we have a bunch of worriers here!
Oh geez Beverly – what a little prick to have caused you all this trouble. Yes, let us know how you are doing. What were the symptoms?
Bev:
How are you feeling today? Your condition sounds frightening, and I hope that your doctors have finally prescribed the proper medicine to help you recover without surgery. Please keep us as up-to-date on your condition as is possible. Tracy is correct: Most of us here are worriers, and we are very concerned about you. After all, Ann was busy for three days last week and we begin to imagine all kinds of catastrophic events.
I finally got up the emotional fortitude to watch the video from the Iranian girl. Horrible and heartbreaking. I feel stupid for whining about something so trivial as having to empty our savings account to pay property taxes. At least my husband and I are alive and living comfortably in a democracy.
And then I saw the traumatic video this morning of the young girl dying in the streets in Iran. Sometimes I fear the world will implode from the consequences of ignorance, violence, and hatred.
Dark stuff in my head today. Sorry.
Angela:
Yes, I have been called Betsy my entire life. Why I almost always use Elizabeth when posting on blogs, I can’t say. Maybe because it’s my legal name and is on all documents, credit cards, etc. Or because it sounds more sophisticated and elegant. But knowing that Denis has a sister named Betsy now gives it more appeal. (Kinda pathetic, eh?) Often I wish my parents had given me just one name. And I was sorry to read about your experience with all the water in your car. That must have been rather nerve-wracking, to say the least! Thankfully, you and your family made it home safely.
Kristin:
My heart breaks for your loss of your cat. My husband and I have over a dozen barn cats, and I worry about them all every day because of raccoons, coyotes, and cars. My sympathy to you and your family. Maybe she’ll reappear at your door soon??? Hope springs eternal.
Lupe:
Your critique of property taxes is spot-on. Lenders and appraisers never think our real estate is worth even close to what tax assessors think it is worth, right? I know that a democracy is probably the best type of government, but ours desperately needs a few tweaks.
Kim:
Hiring a cleaning person would be marvelous. But I carry around a huge weight of guilt about paying someone to do a job I am capable of performing myself. (Even if I had the disposable income for such an expense, which I don’t.) Actually, my fantasy is having enough money to hire a cook. My skills in the kitchen worsen every day.
(Wonder if I’ll receive a “too many postings” comment now!!)
re: so I’m going to get this sorted out. It’s a safeguard by Moveable Type (and Lynn, I might pick your brain about this)
Ann, email me and I’ll be happy to help.
-Lynn
i do not want to live exactly on a trailer home but i think it is interesting to live on it though ~
i do not like trailer homes because it is not sturdy enough specially when the weather goes bad :’~