You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ category.
If anyone actually still checks this site, let me explain… “No, there is too much. Let me sum up. Buttercup is marrying Humperdink in little more than half an hour…”
This has been a long four years. Hell, 2020 alone has been about 120 years long. December’s been its own decade. I hope anyone who reads this is well. Thus far me and mine have avoided this plague and I hope to get vaccinated at the first opportunity. But let all the seniors and healthcare workers and essential workers go first. I’m not greedy and my mask (along with copious prayer) have been working thus far.
In my own life things are going well. I have a grandbaby now and it is just the best thing. Recommended. Five stars. Two highly enthusiastic thumbs up! (and some jazz hands too for good measure).
We are about to get rid of the stain on our country and after January 20th, I feel like I can finally exhale. Finally breathe again. Biden is not an agent of chaos and it feels so good.
In other news, and really why I am writing this post is… I wrote a children’s book. Self-published it TODAY on Amazon. I am very proud of it. I didn’t attempt to get this traditionally published, but I think I could have. I did it this way because I had total control. I wrote the book. Illustrated it. Designed the cover. I was the Art director. The editor. And I finished it on December 13th, uploaded it yesterday, and it is for sale, now, as we speak on Amazon. Where else can you get that kind of turn around? (Also, if it sucks, where else can you take that kind of blame? Just so you know, it does not suck).
I wrote this book years ago, but it took me five months (5 MONTHS) to illustrate it. I didn’t think I’d actually ever get around to doing it because I knew it would be a lot of work. (I underestimated the work, actually). It’s been a New Year’s resolution of mine for at least the last four years to get this done, so when we went into quarantine for two months in the spring, I settled down and illustrated it. And it was even more work than I thought it would be. I almost quit. Then, I wandered over to another project (I always have at least 42 projects going at the same time) and got distracted with that. In early September I started again on this book and it has taken up ALL MY FREE TIME for the last three months. But it was worth it.
I give to you my very first, but not my last, Children’s book. There is still time to buy it and have it arrive in time for Christmas. It is a counting book for your littles or your grand littles. Kay Mon Rey is me. I considered publishing this anonymously too, but I have made the decision to do things that are outside of my comfort zone. Self promotion is so NOT ME. But I need to learn to do it. If you liked CBW, just know that this book is much sweeter, by far, than that strip ever was. I am a mellower person than I was back when my babies were small and I was so exhausted, and its for a different audience too. It’s not saccharine though. Can’t change your basic personality, right?
If you buy this book I thank you. And I hope you like it. If you don’t buy it, that is fine too. Just take care of yourselves. Stay safe.
Peace
(Let’s not wait another four years to catch up). …I know, this is TOTES my fault…
Just a short post because tomorrow is election day and it is super important that everyone who reads this takes the time to vote. Stand in long lines if you have to. Drive people who need rides. If you think Trump is bad now, just think how much worse he will be if he thinks he has been handed an agenda. These could be our last free elections. They are already not fair, as the Republicans are cheating left and right, but these could be our last free ones. Think about that.
Please, please, please go vote tomorrow, if you haven’t already. Vote straight Democrat. Vote like your life depends on it because many people of color’s do. As do the disabled, the sick, Muslims and Jews, LBGTQ and women and many other marginalized groups. Our lives do depend on it. We are all in danger under this administration.
If your name has been dropped off the rolls, or you have any problems at all, demand a provisional ballot, as they are required to give you by law and vote on that. Then get on it immediately and fix the problem, whatever it is, so your vote counts!
My son told me something yesterday that absolutely freaked me out, so of course, I am sharing it. I guess I knew this in some way, but having it pointed out to me in this way… it showed me how bad things are. His voice below, is in quotes. Mine is not.
In his words, “You only need 275 people to rule the world. You need a president, fifty senators and a Vice President to break ties, 218 Representatives (218/ 435 is a simple majority), and five Supreme Court justices. Cabinet secretaries don’t need to be counted because they work at the behest of the president and are an extension of his own authority; they do what he says or he replaces them with someone that will.”
“275 like-minded individuals and they can make any policy they want with zero repercussions. They vote to suspend the first amendment? Well, the Supreme Court justices can just say that it’s okay, and it will be. But that’s unconstitutional, we can just get rid of the justices, right? Nope. They can only be impeached by congress! The same congress that put them in power!” Trump hasn’t gone this far yet, but it is coming. Oh yes, it is coming.
“So both bodies are expected to police the other.” But they don’t have to. When they refuse to do this, it just consolidates power and makes a dictator. “The current population of the United States is 325 million. Each individual in the 275 cabal represents 1.2 million citizens.” Or not. Mostly not, it seems.
And right now, Republicans have those numbers, and better. Democrats do not have power. Over half this country is being dragged to hell, fingernails gone, kicking and screaming with no way to fix anything. We have no power, and no one on the other side is listening or willing to compromise. In fact, the other side is cheating and lying and scaring their base right now so they can keep the power the Russians handed them, so that they can really hurt us soon.
If the Democrats don’t take back the House, and hopefully the Senate, those 275 people, who really only care about rich, white, straight, Christian, healthy men, get to decide everything about the millions of us who don’t fit into that tiny little box. We are on the cusp of fascism taking over our country. Of white supremacy taking over. They already have concentration camps (tent cities)—do you really think death camps are that far behind? It really does cost so much to house all those brown …animals, right?
Democrats don’t have the power to stop the Republicans right now, but we do have something powerful in our pocket. We have our vote. Tomorrow, November 6, 2018. So go vote. Please. My family/ our country needs you.
Here is my cartoon I drew for the day before President Obama took office. I don’t think there really were any spontaneous marches of joy, but there should have been. Contrast this to the glorious protests going on around the country. I am marching in spirit and both of my sisters are there. So proud of these nasty women (and men too)!
And here is from the day after his inauguration that I thought was apt. Last night at six my daughter said, jokingly, “Well, Trump can’t be that bad of a president– the country is still standing.” To which I replied, “It’s only been six hours, give him time.” While my son mumbled at the same moment,”Talk about setting the bar low!”
After the lows of yesterday, seeing everyone out there today has given me a glimmer of hope. Too bad, really, that so many were apathetic about Hillary. She really would have changed the world.
God Bless you President Obama.
I will miss having a sane, thoughtful, smart and dignified President. I will miss eight scandal free years. I will miss soaring, inspirational speeches and our beloved FLOTUS, Michelle. I will miss your compassion and your judgment and your innate goodness. In other words, I will miss you.
You did the things you set out to do, and you did them despite having no help from the Republicans. You are a decent, honorable man, and I have been proud to have you as our President. I wanted to meet you while you were in the white house, and I still hope to, someday. I would love to tell you this stuff in person.
I have prayed for you, many times, these last few years. I have prayed for the safety of you and your family. I have prayed for God to give you wisdom and discernment and he obviously answered all of my prayers. Our country is only better off for your service.
I have not agreed with everything you did, but I trusted you enough to concede that you, perhaps, knew more about any given situation than me, and were doing, always, what you thought was right. You earned that trust. You earned that benefit of the doubt. The incoming administration… whew. Not so much.
Go rest now. Your legacy will stand no matter what bull they have temporarily voted into the White House china shop.
Thanks again. For everything.
A Fellow American
I have always liked Hillary Clinton. She is strong and honest and loyal. She is a hard worker. She fights for woman’s and children’s rights. It sickened me when, during the election, the media chose to mostly post negative stories about her. To talk about how much people disliked her and distrusted her. To act like she was on the same level as Trump, when really, she was so far above him it was ludicrous. All these polls showed how much people despised her, when I really think that was a false story. A story fed, daily, by the media. I love her and no one, ever, asked me my thoughts on her. Who were these people they were polling? It sure wasn’t me.
I liked her so much that I changed from being a Green Party member (I joined in college) to Democrat, just so I could vote in the primaries for her. I was so excited and proud to vote for her that I voted early, in Florida. Too bad, because of the Electoral college, my vote did not count at all, but I cast it, proudly, for our first woman candidate. I would have voted for her a hundred times if I could have, but I will leave the voting fraud to the Republicans. Yep, I went there. Mmmmm hmmmm.
Firsts, of anything, are important. George Washington was a good first president. Barack Obama was a terrific first black President. And Hillary Clinton would have made a fantastic first woman President. I wanted and I continue to long for a woman President. I think we need that feminine perspective in the top job in the land, and Hillary was uniquely qualified for the job. If our strongest woman candidate was beaten, for whatever nefarious reason, it might be hard to get the party to nominate another one anytime soon. And that would be unfortunate.
I am putting the party on notice. You have woken me up and I won’t go back to sleep. I expect another woman to be nominated next time, and the time after that, and at least forty-two more times after that (in other words, as many times as it takes until we finally get our Madame President). This gender inequality thing has got to stop. I can already hear the whining starting. But, but, we need a Hispanic President next or another black one… well, she can be either, I am not picky! I don’t care if she is black, white, Indian, Muslim, lesbian, Hispanic, Asian (or anything else), as long as she is qualified (this won’t be a problem. There are many, many qualified female Democrats out there). Hit two birds with one stone while you are at it, but get to doin’ it. We will be watching.
And to the Republicans, I want a woman President, but I will not vote for just any woman. As Hillary said, “Woman’s rights are human rights, and human rights are women’s rights.” If your female nominee (this might be a moot point because I cannot see this ever happening here) votes against woman’s rights, she will lose. I won’t vote for her and I am so primed to lift women up that it would take a, a… a female Trump for me not to vote for her.
In other, related news, why the heck is Hillary Clinton going to the inauguration tonight? I understand, really, I do, that it is customary for ex-Presidents and their wives to go to inaugurations. But this situation is not customary. Hillary, as a former first lady who just ran for and lost the Presidency in a highly contested election, should maybe be given a bye from this duty. If she goes she will be scrutinized for the tiniest weakness, and if she stays home she will be called a sore loser. She is damned if she goes and damned if she misses, so she might as well skip it. She could join the large Democratic boycott and call it good. Honestly, if anyone was ever entitled to boycott an inauguration, she would be the person and this would be the one. She’s given enough skin to this game—let her wounds heal in private, huh?
I do not want to see her there, grimace-smiling through gritted teeth, (I’m fine, no really, I’m FINE), laughing too loud and boisterously (See how fine I am?) as the whole world watches and waits for the cracks to start appearing. The Republicans will smirk evilly as Bill, obliviously, glad-hands the crowds because this is his element! And you know Trump will mock Hillary in person to his cheering crowd that he has bought and paid for. He cannot help himself. He is incapable of being the bigger man. Of showing grace to a defeated foe. This is the stuff of nightmares! I know I have a good imagination and it could end up being fine, but why chance it? Better to be home, curled up with a good book, or better even than that—be in Hawaii, or hey, come to the Keys! with your family, soaking up the sun and paying this fuckery no mind.
President Clinton, Hillary suffered enough humiliation when you were in the white house. Take care of your wife. If she won’t make this call, do it for her. She is not a robot and she shouldn’t have to pretend that she is one. Emotions are not weakness. Why does she always have to be the strong woman? This should have been her moment, it was stolen from her, and that kind of thing takes time to get over. So please, for her mental health, take a sick day. She deserves it!
Hillary has earned her rest. Whatever happens in Washington from now on is not on her. The weight of the world will never be on her shoulders. Unfortunately, Trump is far too self-absorbed to feel it when that weight settles in on his.
Donald Trump is not my president. I say that with a heavy heart and a heavier spirit, feeling hopeless about the future of the United States, and traumatized by the brutality of the past year. Donald Trump is not my president because I refuse to normalize his abhorrent behavior with my acceptance. I did not vote for him and I am baffled by the people who did. I know they voted for him with confidence and pride– What do they see in him that I don’t? Is there good in him that I am missing? Is there truth there and competence and compassion that I have somehow overlooked? If there is, someone please point it out to me, please, so that I can get over this thing and move on. All I know is, right now, every time I think of Trump as our President, I feel a swooping dread settle into the pit of my stomach right before a furious resentment sets in; My family and my friends and I will be forced to go through the upcoming Apocalypse alongside his supporters, when, if life were fair, we would be exempt from the trouble to come, being that we knew better than to vote him in.
These next few years (who knows how many, really, as impeachment looms large in the background already) will drag by filled with turmoil and lies and loss of rights, unless, of course, we all just go up in a fireball or slowly expire in a nuclear winter. If we have to go, I vote for the fireball, by the way. Less pain. Less muss and fuss. Whether Trump’s time in office is a trudge toward impeachment or the quick flash and burn of a nuclear war, is, in my mind, a toss-up between two scary options. Whether we live or die could come down to a Twitter fight, or whichever way the wind is blowing that day. No, really.
It feels like a bad dream. It cannot be true. Trump cannot be about to take the oath of office. I am in mourning. Hillary Clinton trounced him in all three debates. Doesn’t matter. She was the adult to his toddler. Who cares? She had experience galore. Gobs of experience. He had none. Fun Fact: Did you know that Donald Trump will be the first President in history that has never served in public office, OR been a General? How is this man competent to be our Commander-in-Chief? Would you choose a brain surgeon who had never operated before and held no medical degree? No? Not even if he were super-de-duper extra confident in his abilities? Still no? Then why did anyone choose a person to run this country, to run the world, basically, who has no relevant experience under his belt? It just makes no sense to me. It’s one thing to shake things up, it’s another to reward cocksure incompetence.
Trump is not a politician, he’s a businessman– and not even a particularly good one! He got his start with a generous loan from his rich Daddy, and then went bankrupt, like, six or seven times. Worshipping money, cheating your vendors, stiffing your creditors and taking credit where none is due are not good qualities to have in a President. Hell, they are not good qualities to have, period. Not to mention that he refuses to release his taxes so we have no idea who he is beholden to, and I heard he had mob ties…. Still, it would be one thing if he realized he was in over his head and spent all of his time studying and trying to get up to speed before the inauguration—but that is not what is happening. Trump doesn’t know what he is doing and he doesn’t care to learn. He prefers to wing it because he thinks (and I know this because he has said it on the record) he and his big brain are the only things that can fix this country. …God help us all.
I will never get with the program and support Trump for the good of the country, because he is not, in fact, good for our country. He has not bothered to hide any of his egregious flaws. In fact, he celebrates them all, proudly bragging about them and reveling in his own wickedness. Anyone with any kind of a heart should be able to see what kind of a man he really is. (I am lookin’ at YOU Evangelicals. God opposes the proud—or did you forget that? I am convinced that God allowed Trump to win to teach this country a hard lesson).
As for me, I refuse to wait and see what kind of havoc Trump can wreck on our country. I will not grace him with a period of unopposed time, while hoping for the best and giving him the benefit of the doubt. That would be ridiculous and misguided. Trump has not earned my trust nor my respect. I will not stand by and watch Muslims (or anyone) being forced to register with the government (will they have to wear emblems stitched to their clothing next so we can all pick them out)? I will not stand by and allow anyone to be forced into internment camps. I will not overlook Trump’s attacks on Hispanic people and disabled people and women. I will not help him implement his horrid agenda of taking money and health care and birth control from the poor to further enrich Mr. and Mrs. Fabulously Wealthy. I can’t. I won’t. I am going to stand up. I am going to resist. I am going to fight.
Sour grapes you say? “ Those Dems just need to get over it– Trump won fair and square”. …Except that he didn’t. Not really, and that is kind of the point. Thank you Rep. John Lewis for standing up and saying what a lot of people have been thinking privately. Trump is illegitimate. (Apparently, only Trump can call a President illegitimate. How dare anyone else even think such a thing about him)! An election where Russians hack in and try to swing the election for their preferred candidate by harming one candidate’s credibility and spreading misinformation about them is not a fair election. When one candidate (with possible ties to Russia) publicly tells Russia to hack the other candidate’s emails and they do! That is not a fair election. Not to mention James Comey and his partisan, misogynist idiocy, where he had dirt on both candidates for President but only went public with the stuff he had on the one with the vagina. (That man should be fired for what he did. He should be brought up on charges, because he and his agenda helped swing this election to Trump). Need I go on? Wikileaks, and the press lapping it up, gleefully printing new emails every day (would ANYONE like to have their private emails blasted to the entire world? Could anyone come out smelling like roses with that kind of humiliating, daily scrutiny?). Despite all of that, Clinton still won the popular vote by almost three million votes. She lost the Presidency due to the Electoral college—by a total of less than 100,000 votes, I believe, and Trump has the temerity to go on and on about his landslide win… Man, this election was the poster child for election fraud, and yet we are all pretending not to notice that man behind the curtain. Not me. Not anymore. I prefer to whip the curtain back and see what we are dealing with—and it ain’t pretty (I wish he’d keep his shirt on).
You don’t need to actually go in and hack voting machines to swing a close election in your favor, though I wouldn’t be surprised if we someday find out that the Russians did that too. If you look at it logically, if the Russians were willing to interfere with our election, why would they then grow a conscience and stop short of hacking the actual voting machines? (No, that’s just too far. We will go this far and no farther)! We might not want it to be true, and there might be no real way to prove it—nor might it be in the country’s best interest if it were proven, but ignoring it doesn’t make the possibility go away. I wish we could have this discussion in this country, without being seen as conspiracy theorists. If the tables were turned and the exact same thing had happened to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton was now the President elect, cozying up to and defending the President of the very country who had cheated and helped her win, would that be ok? Would anyone consider that to have been a fair election? No. And neither was this.
One last analogy. Suppose you and a bunch of other millionaires were playing Monopoly with real money, and real stakes, and the banker gave himself twice as much money as everyone else to begin. Is that fair play? Would you be ok with it when he proceeded to win all your money and property? Now, suppose the banker gave another player twice the bank, unbeknownst to that player, and he won big. Would that be fair? Let’s say that afterwards, the banker fessed up to what he had done, but instead of having a rematch, the winning player called you all losers, patted himself on the back, did a victory lap and went to buy himself an island. Maybe you’d be a little bitter. I know how that feels.
Election day was, for me, a dark and devastating one. As a woman. As a human being, I have not yet come to terms with the results. I feel like we were robbed of our rightful Madame President and there is nothing I can do about it. Even if Trump should someday be impeached for election fraud, for cheating, for helping the Russians, for something completely different, Hillary Clinton will not, then, become the President. That ship has sailed. Mike Pence would win the prize, and he is almost as bad (if not worse when it comes to LGBTQ and woman’s rights) than Trump is. That, in a nutshell, is why I am still so pissed off about the results, and if you need to call it sour grapes, well, so be it. But don’t try to gaslight me into thinking that none of this happened or matters.
I despise Trump’s racism and his misogyny. I am thoroughly creeped out and frightened by Trump’s sexually predatory attacks on women. I am disturbed by his inability to tell the truth—about, literally, anything. He praises violent dictators and seems to identify with them. He has sketchy ties to Russia. He is a demagogue. This crooked, boastful, authoritarian, vengeful, bigoted, mentally ill carnival barker, who daily, no, hourly, makes up his own reality to suit his ego, and who seems to be overflowing with a plethora of really scary personality disorders, is about to become the President of the United States of America. If that doesn’t send a shiver down your spine you are made of stone.
The press needs to do a better job of holding Trump accountable for his words and his actions. They need to take back their power before they have none left to wield. They should have many chances to do that because Trump is constantly in the news about something. Who wants to think about your President every single day? I don’t. I want my President to fade into the background. I want to go to sleep at night confident that there is a sober adult flying the plane. I do not want to see him erupt in embarrassing Twitter fights at the slightest provocation. I do not want to hear about new scandals and lies and incompetence every day. Trump, stop freaking me out and go out and govern! Quietly. Rationally. I beg of you. If you do this, people like me might eventually come around. If you don’t, you will end up impeached. A laughingstock. A buffoon. You are well on your way already. Stop. The time has come.
As I said. I did not vote for Donald Trump. As such, I take no responsibility for any of the horrible things that are about to go very wrong with our country. I will close with something my sister texted me the other day that felt very true. In four years Trump and Putin are going to exchange a dollar bill, like at the end of the movie “Trading Places” with Eddie Murphy. “I bet you one dollar that I can ruin the United States in four years.”
Bet’cha he can do it in two.
Just wanted to mention that on Monday, July 21, 2014,Clear Blue Water’s going to be up on uclick again. Not new stuff, just the reruns that ran in newspapers from 2004-2008. If you’ve got a hankerin’ to read it again from the beginning, well, here’s your chance.
I love these characters and I’m glad to see them return, but I’m thrilled that I don’t actually have to do anything or make any deadlines, because I happily broke up with deadlines and I don’t plan on getting back together. I am especially looking forward to rereading my old political cartoons and seeing their topicality and relevance to current events… NOT! 😉
I may occasionally make a blog post or I may not. I can’t imagine that I will ever again attempt to write a regularly updated blog. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Enjoy!
Today, I thought I’d bring you three of my favorite videos on the internet. The first one I think is hilarious. Now, nobody else I have shown this to thinks it is funny. They all think it is disturbing (which it is–undeniably) and they think I am disturbed for liking it. I do not deny this. BUT I also think it’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. How much do I wish that this was MY grandma? SO MUCH!!!
This next one is also terribly hilarious in a completely different way. And again, no one I have shown this to thinks it is half as funny as I do. I am sensing a theme here… Now I don’t think it’s funny because of what it shows (babies should not be allowed to drink), but because of what it represents (figure that out, ha!)
And now for something good. Not horrible or weird, just something by one of my favorite people on the net, Beth Moore. It is hilarious and then it always makes me cry in the end. Wonderful.
Have a good Sunday. Enjoy!
I recently hurt my back doing Zumba. Yes, those dancing workout tapes you might have seen on a late night infomercial or two. They are really fun tapes, really great workouts, and I feel like an absolute ass that I hurt myself so badly doing it. In fact, it’s been thoroughly embarrassing thing to admit to people when they ask how I hurt myself. First of all, they are always incredulous.
ZUMBA?!!!!! said in a near scream. This is followed by an evil grin and I can see them imagining me doing it. YOU do Zumba? The Brazilian dance craze sweeping the nation?
This I find irritating. For, you see, I am fairly dancy, but I do like to keep this part of my personality on the down low so as to not cause jealousy in the masses. I will have you know that I own Hip Hop abs, and I have done them a few times so I am perfectly ready to throw down some moves on the dance floor. If, you know, I had that sort of life.
Secondly, then they ask all about Zumba and forget to give me sympathy for my back pain. How do you like it? Is it a fun workout? Is it easy? Yeah, but what about ME and my BACK????
So I went to the Dr. and she said I had a pinched nerve. I told her I’d need at least a morphine pump or maybe some of those drugs that Elvis was on, or maybe even a wee bit of the crack, but she told me Tylenol and a heating pad would be fine and that I should feel loads better very soon. And she was right. Today I woke up back to normal. Oh, and she also told me I could continue to do Zumba, but to be careful as I’m over forty now.
Weeps.
In other news, today was the last Oprah Winfrey show. I meant to watch but I missed it. I will try to catch it on youtube sometime. It led the news. “Today, Oprah Winfrey wrapped up her beloved show…” and my husband says, before I can say a word “Did they roll her out on a cross? Because that’s the only fitting end.”
And I lost it.
What a great cartoon that would have made, if, of course, I hadn’t just shared it here on my blog. My husband is the funniest person I know. He has exactly my sense of humor (except mine’s not as vulgar) and this is rare.
‘S why I married him. Why we’ve been together so long. For the road to happiness is paved with Oprah jokes.
About Clear Blue Water (my comic strip) and me and mine 