Shaved Ice Cream Is a Mighty Good Thing

October 20, 2012, 9:10 am

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I wanted to walk. I got a chance at the October CicLaVia. I started in Chinatown, then past the courthouse and the new Grand Park across from City Hall.

 

At the Los Angeles Times building there were food trucks. I have learned to at least inspect them to see if it is the real deal or is somebody trying to push foo-foo food on me.

I wasn't supposed to go near those trucks in the first place. Trying to cut back on carbs and the lard of the land.

Over yonder was a truck that had something to do with shaved ice. Now I was raised a water ice girl, which is not the same thing. It is better. But I was far away from getting any rum raisin water ice anytime soon so you gotta go with the flow.

I was dehydrated. Which is why I ordered a stawberry, coconut and mango shaved ice concoction with a base of vanilla ice creme.

I ordered the small one but I got a huge ice cone of wonderment. I rested my body along side of the Times building and just slurped. It was hot, the bikes were bressing by and all was right with the world.

I walked around the corner I found a ledge I could sit on and continued to suck and slurp. I was indeed orally fixated.

There was a bike in the shape of a motorcycle. Then a  old rattly one just out of the garage. Expensive gear that must have cost a good $500 to start.

There were the sound of bikes. But it was also quiet. Peaceful.

You don't get that often in a big city. You have to work on it.

The above photo was when I was just about to break though to the ice creme level. I figured I should have something to show for my pleasure. It was small enough by that point that I could place it on the ledge to take the photo.

Shortly after the photo was taken there was nothing more to slurp. I walked and walked and walked.

It was a good day for it.

---

Politically Speaking, The Poor Are the Enemy

October 22, 2012, 4:50 pm

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I’m noticing a lot of talk about “The Poor.” It is an impersonal non-descriptive term. The prior incarnations were applied to “The Women”,” The Negro” and “The Asian (well, in the past this would have been referred to as The Chinese)” followed by the word “Problem.”

During most elections, “The Poor” would be invoked as a badge of concern or at least a focal point of attention. This time is different. “The Poor” have become the enemy.

In December 2011, Newt Gingrich made a statement about how poor children don’t have a clue as to understanding responsibility, ethics or the habit of working. This, by implication, means that their parents don’t have those qualities either.




Think about that statement. Every single poor person in America is engage in illegal activities. Sound idiotic. Yet many people agreed with the ignorance of that statement.

When Gingrich asked the potential donors in the room had they ever babysat or performed yard work as a comparison to an imaginary poor child, who hasn’t appeared to do anything but breathe and eat Skittles, I guess you could work up a bit of indignation.

Perhaps their understanding of “The Poor” is what they see and hear in the local and national media. It is a distorted vision.

But that was the beginning of the wave of “The Poor” being transformed into the enemy.

There are memes of taxation and certain Ayn Rand plug-ins presenting “The Poor” as picking individuals and corporate pockets in order to receive healthcare, education, and food. There are people ready to tell you that, in their perception, have done nothing to deserve it.

Never mind that you can’t live a day in this country without paying some form of local, state or federal taxes. And many people who should know better ignore the fact of millions of poor people do work and have taxes pulled from their checks each pay period.

No, don’t let the facts get in the way of the emotionally self-validating “live and let die; it is not my problem or concern.”

The main kicker in “The Poor” is the enemy campaign is when a presidential candidate Mitt Romney states that he is not concerned with the 47% and the reason why he is not concerned:

“…These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn't connect. And he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. I mean that's what they sell every four years. And so my job is not to worry about those people—I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. 

For the record, “The Poor” are hyper proactive about obtaining food, shelter and not walk around half naked.

Poor people take the jobs they can find. Many of those jobs are in the service industry or whatever employment is available. It bears repeating that many low wage jobs have been shipped to China, The Philippians and other countries.

We need to be really careful about defining who is worthy of concern or not. My understanding is that providing education was a non-negotiable part of the American experience. Have we decided that we now want a permanent class of illiterate citizens?

Are retired seniors unworthy of the money they invested in Social Security payments? Should disabled veterans have a time limit on re-entry support or medical care?  We do a terrible job of it now but we can do worse if we put our minds to it.

If you are not in the above groups and you do not make a lot of money what exactly makes you unworthy of being considered a full participant and recipient of the government’s resources?

There are real people behind the political rhetoric and quotes of the week. You wouldn’t know that from the political discourse of the past three years. I don’t expect that to change anytime soon after the election.

I do expect that if we as a people want to portray “The Poor” as the enemy there will be a price to pay.

From the thought, to the word, to the deed.

Is Videoblogging Passe for Women?

November 1, 2012, 6:48 pm

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There are days when I feel like a loon. A loon is a strange looking bird that looks like parts of other birds. But it is a loon. Today I started a Vlomo 2012 video gallery located at http://vlomo2012.tumblr.com

I've been up since 4 a.m. That is part of the reason I feel like a loon. Yep. That's me. I feel out of sync but trying to connect. I think I'm failing. But I am not. I am just tired.

I'm still a loon. Now this does have something to do with my question. Being a loon I got to waddle to get in the water.

I loathe to define videoblogging. It gets folks antsy. I don't want to get into a semantic fight with anybody. So here are a few statement and you can pick out the one that appeals to you:

• A blog that contains a video post on a regular basis.
• A video series that is posted by an internet distribution company that allows other people to watch or post the video on their blog.
• A talking head video using videos instead of the keyboard to express their feelings.
• A person using video to express a person, place or thing and then uploads the video for others to see.

So before you get to the question of "is videoblogging passe for women" you first got to ask is it passe?

For some folks yes. And that is okay. These are the folks that have moved on to professional careers in video or media.

Or it could be that because of the time sink it can be (but does not have to be) there just isn't time after work, school, family, bathing and sleeping to cram one more thing in your day.




Or you have said what you needed to say and are done.(PS - Margaret ain't done, she's made two more videos since this one.)

But there is another group that is hesitant to try. I feel that I haven't done a good job of encouraging women to step it up and truly use video to be visible and express themselves.

I'm not giving up Create Video Notebook but I gotta find a better way to engage women and men to take advantage of this time before the gates are closed and we can't communicate with each other.

Why? Because we have foolish old men who do not understand biology. We have women being defined by men into functional boxes of utility; formally known as the kitchen and the bedroom.

That is never a good thing. Not even for men.

The menopause story has got to be told to the Boomer women. The older women needs to tell the young ones how they survived.

Should reality television be our touch post as how women behave?

Nay I say nay! (See, squawking like a loon.)

So maybe the term videoblogging will eventually go away but I hope that folks tell their stories visually once in a while.

It can be slides to narration to video.
It can be you talking in front of a camera with a memory of your favorite dress.
It can be you sipping a cup of coffee as you talk about last night.

You got a smartphone that records audio and video? That is all you need to get started.

The Story Behind the Car In the Mall

November 5, 2012, 4:39 am

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I hate it when I see it. There is nothing I can do short of being the person trying to stop people from doing the wrong thing. I learned a long time ago, you cannot stop a person determined to do the wrong thing.


This is my short VloMo 2012 contribution to take a humorous way to explaining.

Basically, a company rents a shiny car from a local car dealer. Then they rent car space in your local mall. People fill out a detail contest sheet with a lot of personal information, much more than what is needed for a contest.

On the back, in teeny tiny type they will tell you that you must fill out the info completely or it will be rejected. Or if you are under 18 it will be rejected. Or if your income is too low you will be rejected.

In some states you cannot will $100,000. You might have a chance at $5,000. Or $199. Depends on where you live.

If you "qualify" then you get to the next level, a timeshare meeting. You have to attended. You will then be given the hard sell on purchasing a timeshare. If you survive then you might walk out with steak knives. Or a radio. Not sure what the mooks who survive get these days.

Oh, should you happen to win the $100,000 you do know that you have to pay taxes on it right?

It Is Time

November 6, 2012, 5:54 am

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I was inspired or commanded to try to make this video. I only had a few minutes. The dream version was much better with photos flying in and sound quotes from all over the place.



This is nothing like that. It is simple. Imperfect but close enough.

Open Letter to the Great Goddess of Cinema,

The next time you want to inspire me could you at least give me three days notice? I could have tighten this up a bit and made it the way you showed me in the dream.

I appreciated the heads up about the song but for Election Day I would have liked to made a kapow kind of video.

Yes, I know. Simple is underrated. Yes, I understand I am not capable of kapow at this time. Yes, I remember the grade I got in the 16mm film class.

Anyway, thanks for the idea. I appreciate you thinking of me after all of these years.

When This Frugalista Walks Away From A Sale

November 11, 2012, 11:11 am

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Yesterday I found out that I had a store credit at an office store. I guess buying toner and ink pens finally paid off for me. Walking around I realized that the store had removed the camera section. I couldn't buy a still camera and I really don't need another camcorder.

So I'm thinking. I could get a full size or 7 inch tablet to test tablet video options and applications. 

Now, being a loyal frugalista I wasn't going to pay for the high tone stuff. Not in the budget. But there were two tablets on sale that I could have worked with.

The Lenovo A1 has a front and rear facing camera. Has an SD card slot. Selling for $159 and with my store credit I could walk out paying $80. What stopped me was that it is running Gingerbread 2.3.1, it has a single core and the demo in the store was not getting juiced from the USB. I could chalk that up to demo damage or a future problem.

The other contender was the Google Nexus 7. Has only a front facing 1.2 megapixel camera. Runs on Android Jellybean 4.1. What stopped me was that I couldn't get it out of password mode. No expandability, no SD slot and not sure if it is anything more than a consumption device.

I looked around at the others. I have to say that the new Amazon HD tablet did a better job of teaching me how to use it. It was like it wanted me as a customer and as a relationship. Might give it more consideration.

The problem is, like Alton Brown, I don't want a uni-taskter device. I want to do things. Create stuff.

I manage to get out the store. I am glad I did. I looked at reviews for both devices. That Lenovo A1 has got issues. At $80 I could grit my teeth and say fine. Except that it isn't.

I also found out that the new Nexus will be 16GB for $199 so I should not buy the 8GB version.

It is okay not to spend. And feel good about it. It takes practice but waiting is good.

The Pain of Creating and Cleaning on Thanksgiving

November 22, 2012, 9:46 am

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Being a cubical bunny does not leave a lot of time for creativity. Nor does it leave a lot of time for advanced household maintenance. One of the reasons I like Thanksgiving is that I get serious me time.

I made a list. 20+ items that I want to complete by Sunday. I was digging for my Earthquake kit. Yes, I have one. You should too. Even if you don't currently find yourself in earthquake territory.

Like I said,  I was digging for my Earthquake kit and I found my electric screwdriver. I've been passively looking for that thing for months.

Then I notice the curtain that should be replaced. And the curtain by the window waiting for me to replace the icky one for the nicer one.

I stand on what I thought was a solid cabinet. It wasn't. I crash through to the bottom of the cabinet. My heart suspends. My brain goes to evaluation mode.

Leg broken? No.
Foot broken? No.
Toe broken? No.
Toe hurts like hell? Oh yes.

I truly take a moment to be grateful I haven't broken any body part on Thanksgiving. Because to have the paramedic ambulance come to your door is at least $995 to start.

Not that I could have gotten to the front door.

I am now sitting in a chair nursing and icing an angry toe. I am grateful.

But it hurts.

I don't do pain well. I avoid it as much as possible. Will now commence to dig for ibuprofen.

I will resume the search for the Earthquake kit. I might find the missing iPod Nano that I lost a year ago. See, the way this works is that I look for one thing and find five others items.

It is way better than Black Friday shopping because I already know that I want it.

I have to say I'm not as gung ho as I was about this cleaning thing. My back-up plan was to stay in bed watching DVDs.

Hmm. Nope, I'll brace up and finish what I started.

I have too. The bed is covered with the other stuff that I moved to find the screwdriver.

It is gonna be a long day.

Gabrielle Bouliane Poem To Help Kick Your Butt

November 27, 2012, 7:35 pm

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Almost finished with VloMo 2012. Trying to find a way to re-vitalize my other blog and make it more useful and enjoyable. I still struggle with it, trying to find the right voice.

I know I need to step up and find a new path. I know good things are waiting for me once I fight the fear and the often debilitating voices of doubt.




From up on high this is a recording of Gabrielle Bouliane, reading a poem from 2009. Her message is constant and clear.

The grim reaper snagged Gabrielle in 2010.

Get a move on and do what you gotta do.

---

Long Journey From Dreamland

December 16, 2012, 6:18 pm

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I've been away from my blog. I caught a wicked flu and that sucker wouldn't let me go. The concept of being sick is not easy for me. For some reason I want to do things and be productive.  This is incompatible with being sick.

This last flu had me in bed for two solid days. I had no choice but to rest and sleep. I was cooking chicken dinners for people, riding in fighter planes and my usual intergalactic adventures.

It was surreal.

I'd have these active dreams then I would wake up sneezing up a storm, coughing and what not only to fall back asleep to another adventure.

Two full days of it and it was exhausting in both realms. This is when you need a good movie to try to put the breaks the dreams but I kept falling into dreamland. There was this 1930ish movie about the future where the two lead actors were pining over wanting old fashion girls.

By the time my subconscious had wrapped itself around the movie I had taken over the planet and declared free love for all.

I'm better now. Except that once again this morning I woke up from a dream where I was serving broiled chicken on demand to friends and strangers.

I have no idea what to make of it.

This Is My 3rd Official End of the World

December 19, 2012, 8:14 pm

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I have been busting jokes about each and every End of the World (EOTW) event that I have been exposed to; mostly involuntarily. I remember the one by that radio pastor that had his sheeple sell off their worldly goods to help him give us sinners one more chance.

That was kind of cool. Not the faithful selling off their stuff and giving the money to the pastor. It was their choice but I feel bad for them.

If I remember correctly, I was at a poetry reading. I remember CalOkie getting a call from his son Mark.

The conversation went something like:

"Hello?"
"Yes, I'm still here. How about you?"
"Yeah, (laughter) ...ok, love you too. Bye."

That was a nice way to end a day. This is not to say that I take all End of the World days lightly.

On September 11, 2001 I was listening to a talk from Jack Kornfield. It was on Roy of Hollywood's show on KPFK. It was such a good relaxing talk I didn't want to hear anything else so I turned off the radio.

Around 8 a.m. I log onto the Internet and saw the Google search page with a line about a terrorist plane crash. I didn't believe it at first but I came around to it as I turned on the TV.

At that moment I thought I was in the end times. I didn't trust Bush or Chaney to do the right thing. I thought for sure bombs would be dropped and then it would be a free for all Doomsday.

I was scared. I was so scared that I didn't know it. I went to the supermarket and there was nobody there but me and one cashier. Who was pale with fright. We both were on automatic.

I've never seen a supermarket totally empty during prime shopping time. It took a long time for that fear to go away.

I've had earthquakes. Rainstorms that dang near washed cars down the street. There have been fires in the mountains. I've seen humans acting badly.

So...



Yeah. I want to celebrate the life I have with what I got left. If Spirit wants me he/she knows where to find me. I don't think I'm wanted anytime soon cuz Spirit knows I've got a lifetime of questions and clarifications I need to clear up to set my mind at ease.

Probably why I was plunked down here in the first place. Spirit needed a break from the chatter.

I want to go to an EOTW party but my co-worker reminded me that I am not as young as I seem to think I am. I can't get into a club.

"One look at that gray hair and they will see their granny, not a customer."

Dang it. She is right.  It is not that I want to go to a swinging club. I don't. Never did. But if I wanted to then my hair shouldn't keep me on the other side of the door.

It is my own fault. I keep forgetting to dye it. I'm sucking up Coconut Oil to help with the brain fuzz. I think it is working. I remember to take the spoonful but that might be cuz I like the taste of Coconuts.

There is the reality that I can't fit into micro Daisy Dukes anyway. I'd cut my hips on those sharp angles. And you can't wear panties with those skimpy skimps.

I'd have a chance at the wet t-shirt spray-off but I'm thinking I'm not supposed to have a dangling gut seeping out from under the t-shirt.

There is a spiritual dance party happening that would be more my speed but it is Santa Monica. Too far away for me.

Maybe I should forget about the community dancing and singing kind of thing.  Dancing before dying seems like a good idea but I'll hold off until I loose some weight or invest in Spanx.

Maybe next time.

It is a good thing that the so-called End of the Word is going to occur around 3:30 ish a.m. Pacific Time.

The electric blanket will be on #7. I'll wake up just long enough to check the clock and for bursts of light. Then I'm going back to sleep.

I still gotta go to work the next day.

Is It Over Yet?

December 30, 2012, 7:10 pm

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I mean the holidays. Which are no holidays for me when it is culturally jammed down my throat that you must be happy. You must be with loved ones. You must buy, buy and buy some more.

My peeve of the year? People who got royally pissed when someone said "Happy Holidays." Because Hanukkah or Ramadan or Winter Solstice don't count; this is a Christian time of year and we demand that you say it!"

Sez who? There is not a person living who knows for sure when the Christ Jesus was born.

Sigh, why bother.

I have no desire for fights of faith. It seemed like every dang day in 2012 was a fight of faith. One faith trying to have dominion over women's bodies. One faith trying to maintain guns over the safety of citizens with people still dying from legal and illegal use of weapons.

I did spy Valentine's stuff at two different stores. It is December 30th. What madness is this? We don't have time for President's Day anymore? No Martin Luther King acknowledgement?

Damn.



This is the opening scene of the 2001 version of Waiting for Godot.  I been intrigued by the various actors who perform this play and change the energy of the piece. Some actors go for the comedy while others hug the tragic elements. The best is when the company straddles the fence.

If you want to go on a head trip watch the full version of the play.

I am not straddling the fence. I wish it was always summer. That's right. I'd wipe December off the map with no hard feelings.

Which is why I am not in charge.Who am I to say when people should break out and celebrate whatever they want?

I strive for tolerance when it gets on my last dang nerve. I hold on most of the time and then I get to repeat the lesson again the next year.

No, I will not be celebrating on New Year Eve either. I will be shaking off the last remnants of "I have failed, I've wasted another year, I've got to do better..."

Sad. No, more like SAD as in Seasonal Affected Disorder. Not the clinical kind but the kind that makes me long passionately for summer.

A summer day that allows me to breathe the smell of orange blossoms and Jacaranda trees. Where there is no holiday and I love the day I am standing in because I am a part of the universal tie that binds. A day of nothing-ness that is glorious because it is and I am in it.

Anything else that happens is gravy.

So if you made it this far in the cycle I encourage you to hold on a bit more until we get to summer time again.

We need to survive the dark times in order to appreciate the light.

How Do You Explain Zardoz?

January 2, 2013, 5:56 pm

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I didn't see the movie Zardoz when it was first released in 1974. I was deep in to Funkology 101 and although this movie was trippy my concerns were elsewhere. It is a challenging movie to try to explain.

I've been watching reviews of the movie by under 40 years of age people. With one exception most are straight up baffled and perplexed that such a movie was made.



If you have never seen the movie this is a three minute trailer. This is about as coherent as the movie gets. Personally, I deeply enjoy a man wearing a red tie-on diaper and thigh-high boots. The chest hair is an added bonus.
 
I'm not kidding. For me, seeing Sir Sean in that outfit is like payback for all the years I was subjected to photos of Raquel Welch standing crooked in the sand and Sophia Loren coming out of the water soaking wet.

I...um..yeah.

The movie, must focus on the movie.

What is it about? Well it is set in the future when the shizz is on the other side of the fan. You got grown men worshiping a giant rock who spews out guns to kill people known as the infestation.

You have a group of elite folks that live good and have powers but do nothing to help the poor bastards getting shot because the rock tells the men folks to kill.

The rock goes into no details about the fellas not using their joysticks.

You got pillaging. You have penises forcing themselves on any stray woman that they encounter.

You have Charlotte Ramping trying to invoke a science experiment. She is trying to get Sir Sean eroticized by showing him a video of women wrestling in mud.

You got old people. You got Apothetics. You have Sean licking some dudes hand. Crystals. Naked folks. Death.

Okay. I'm not doing a good job.

You could say it is an allegory on the faith hypocrisy of human beings, saying one thing and doing another. That everything is a contradiction because there are no rules. There isn't anyone in charge. There are Apathetics in degrees of consciousness. 

You could say this was a movie designed for people in late 1974 to watch in an altered state of being. Meaning, that when people could smoke in a movie theater they would "smoke.' If you were in the balcony of certain theaters and seated with a community of like minded souls you saw a whole different movie than if you watched straight.

This is one of the few movies that viewers could benefit from a good glass of wine, hard cider or three shots of Southern Comfort. Don't waste time on the cheap stuff. You need fortification to make it to the end.

For those of you on abstinence or working a program I would say have some of you favorite foods or a good blanket to make youself comfortable. It is a mind trip but remember; this time it really is the movie.

This is not a great movie. This is not necessarily a good movie. It isn't an out and out howler of a bad movie.

It is on that precious border line just shy of an functional Edward G. Wood movie. Zardoz had money. The budget was good, the sets were believable.

The story? There had to be an original source but what was done to it I do not know. If this wasn't the author's intent then somebody got rooked.

The script?  Technically there had to be one.

I would say that if you get the opportunity to watch the movie on a cold rain soaked night in bed you should certainly do so.

I would ask that you lower your expectations. Being open to what you see but don't try to make sense of it. It is not possible. Many have tried and have wept in tears from the pain.

Me, I might see the whole thing again one day. But then again, seeing it once can last a good long while.

I Know What A Rutabaga Is Dang It!

January 14, 2013, 6:04 am

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I am encountering people perceiving me as less than competent when my grey hair is exposed.

That I am no spring chicken.
That I am nearing my expiration date in terms of my opinions and social relevance.
That I am out of shape and it is too late to do anything about it.
That I have instantly become daft.

I was in the supermarket. I bought rutabagas.  Not turnips.

At checkout, the young man is looking up the vegetable he can enter the right code. I tell him it is a rutabaga.

"No, it is a turnip."

"It is a rutabega," I repeat.

"No, it's a turnip."

Now I could have stood in a busy supermarket arguing the point but I have learned that there are certain things your should not fight to the end of the line.

I could have yanked his behind over to the vegetable section where someone had put a sign that said rutabegas. I could have pulled out my smartphone and spent five minutes searching for a mobile photo of a rutabega.

No, I let the boy child ring it up as he pleased.

Let the record show that I know my vegetables and I did indeed buy a yellow rutabega.

Yes, I know that in some parts of the country both items are called the same things.

Not the point.

He judged the vegetable by the purple banding.
They are not quite the same, rutabages have a very strong taste.

We judge people by the externals.

This is not right.

The Dickination About Gun Control

January 16, 2013, 5:49 pm

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Who are we trying to kid? This nation has no interest in gun control. This nation is made up of people. It is made up of people that are raised to see guns at almost every stage of our lives.

Toy guns, games, cartoons, westerns, and feature films.

I watched The Rifleman as a kid and thought the dude was a half step next to God.

The Rifleman was a good guy. Where he lived there was a steady stream of bad guys trying to take his land, a woman or his town. Every dang week that good peaceable man was killing about three to five people a week.

I took in the lesson. The world was bad but good people had guns to shoot up the bad folks.

I took it in and didn't question it. Every other show on television had a gun in proximity. When I was allowed to go to the movies it was a good time for all if it was on of the Sergio Leone Spaghetti westerns

I took in more lessons; don't ever live in an arm pit of a town and you are screwed unless someone who has a gun can shoot the bad guys for you.

I can't think of a day where I didn't see an image of a gun as a kid. And I was a city kid, not in the boonies.

So our relationship to guns goes a bit deeper that people propping up the Constitution as a right of co-existence with guns.

America worships the gun.

And yet we expect grown men and women to make rational choices that would respect the rights of honest gun owners with the equal rights of those that don't want to be blown to hell by other people.

You'd think that 20 school kids would be enough motivation to come to a center point for discussion.

You would be wrong. As wrong as the death of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. As wrong at the attempt on Ronald Reagan. As wrong as the thousands of children that have died before Sandy Hook in their homes or on the porch who were victims of drive-by shootings.

So yeah, I'm a little bitter that those children are being used by the political opportunists on the right and the left of the political spectrum.

I'm bone angry that we as a nation don't have a systemic way of dealing with guns.

We have no required gun training for those that want to legally purchase a gun. There isn't a skill level that is required before you are allowed to fire one. It is optional.

I can't drive a car without demonstrating proficiency. Gun owners can and do purchase guns without demonstrating skill levels.

We don't have a safe way to educate children about the dangers of guns; there is no counter balance to what they experience in fiction, games or television.

My god, we talk less about gun safety, usage and awareness than we do about sex education and we have proven just how damn ignorant we are as a country about that haven't we?

You'd have to talk about the "manhood" thing so folks would be clear that strong men do not necessarily have to blow your brains out after a disagreement. No, better to decimate the opposition and have it all your way until somebody blows your ass out of the water.

Think I'm kidding? Do a Twitter search on #guncontrol. That will lessen your faith in humanity.

We don't even begin to have a better enforcement to prevent illegal purchasing and distribution of guns to those hip deep in crime and other unsavory activities.

Don't get me started. 

I would like to see true gun control that would allow folks to protect themselves in their homes but would smack them hard if they shoot somebody in the mall.

I want balance. I want fairness that doesn't involve allegiance to a political party or rhetoric.

In reality this is about grown men slinging their metaphorical dicks back and forth trying to show who has the power or the power of revenge.

Because if we really meant what we say about protecting our children we'd get to work and bring our solutions to the table.

Peacefully.

Respectfully.

And like the mythical cry and wail about gun control,  that ain't gonna happen.

Yesterday I Met A Women With Blue Tip Hair

February 1, 2013, 5:56 am

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She had sparkle blue finger nails and blue crocs. The words came gushing out like a faucet about how she was homeless for a couple of years and now she is not.

How she picks the wrong men because they are exciting but regrets it afterwards cuz they are nuts, and have, in her much cleaned up words, small equipment. How 67 is not too old for Bestey Johnson attire.

There was a lot more but you get the drift. This is a woman with a life that is parked to the side.


I am reminded that all forms of crazy are not bad. Life is to be lived and not always suffered through.

There has got to be some fun and joy in it or damnation what is the point?

I met a Debbie Downer days earlier and there is toxicity in communicating with people like that; everything is lousy, everything is rigged, there is no hope only compliance.

Blah.

I was thinking about Madam Blue as I was going through my day at the Salt Mine. I was seeing my own constrictions of L7.

I grow tired of wearing the mask of conformity yet I'll never get tired of having a roof over my head. Not proud of myself but I understand why I am doing what I am doing.

I also keep reminding myself that I will be back in the wild, one way or another.

Transition or Jump?

It is my choice.

---

Not Saponaceous 2013 The Pre-Ramble

February 13, 2013, 12:00 am

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The day before Valentine’s Day. My understanding is that Saint Valentine was not supposed to be getting it on with the Sister down the road. Or Brother cuz I do want to be inclusive. He probably didn't. I couldn't really say, never met the man.

Spiritually or corporeally when you get it on, or get down or make with the bangity bang bang you sometimes need a bit of assistance. I have a lot of assistance.

About a year ago I noticed how much lubrication product I had in my possession. Lest you think I am having Roscoe Palmer over on Friday nights, the lube in question came from my attendance at BlogHer and other women attended conferences.

Swag can be good and good for you. Meaning it is water based and not the Silicone stuff. But I’m getting a head of the story Yes, women should stock up on non-petrochemical lube.

For the next few posts it is gonna be about lubrication. The personal type used by humans.

Which now leads me to explain the title of this post. Saponaceous means fat or greasy. Which is what most of us do not want in a personal product. Saponaceous has a wonderful mouth sound when you say it.
 

I know full well if I put lube or lubrication in the title I'm going to have visitors. And some of them are gonna be bummed out because there will be no nekkid people. Or really explicit talk.


Or I'll get invitations to certain sites with offers to hook up with certain kinds of services. Can I say no thank you in advance?

I want to tear down the information wall but I'm not a sex blogger. I write about sex sometimes because it interest me. I am still human.  I can prove it.

I smile when I think about that Zardoz photo. Hell, why deprive myself; it is my blog:

Seriously, it never gets old for me. Love those boots.

Ahem.

Real people do talk about sex and health issues. Personal lubrication is a sex AND health issue that needs to be talked about with like minded souls. Souls that experiencing the life change and are finding out that it can be uncomfortable to move or be moved.

I'm talking about walking but other movements as well.

There is a point to this, I swear. 

Peri-menopause changes your body. You are in freaking free fall and yet you are expected to carry on and pretend that everything is okie-dokie. It is not.

And when you land in Menopause then you have to learn how to deal with this new body that ain’t exactly like the old one you had before but looks like it.

There will be videos. There will be places I'll recommend to visit. There will be thoughts. Maybe a podcast recommendation or two to help inspire you to appreciate and apply auditory and tactile transmedia experiences.

Not sure about that one; I'm picky about what I put in my ears as well as my body.


I feel nervous so this must be a good thing to do.

Onward.

Not Saponaceous Just the Facts

February 14, 2013, 5:52 am

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So, I have been meaning to write lubrication posts for months. First, I was going to test them out. It would have been a one sided test but I was game until the blues put a damper on my desire enter the laboratory.

Which is a lousy thing to have happen. If you are deep in the blues lube cannot help you. Moisturizers can’t fix everything.

Lubrication, moisturizer, lube. The language fails me so I guess I’m gonna use all three terms. This is probably a good time to define the terms. I’m not big on euphemisms for body parts.

I can say lady bits but I’m not saying that va jay jay business. I will use grown up words like clitoris and vulva and maybe some other stuff too.




A personal lubricant can be used to restore moisture to the vagina. Yes, there are lubricants for the anus but this isn’t about the anus this is about the vagina.

Lubricants have a use beyond sex play or pleasure enhancement. It can help to relieve vaginal dryness. There is more than one kind of dryness; topical where you just need a a temporary replenishment or it could be vaginal dryness caused by a medical condition.

You’ll need to speak with a health care provider if it is a medical problem.

What Happened?

For age related vaginal dryness it is the loss of estrogen. The vaginal walls are becoming thinner. Not as much moisture is working its way down the chute.

It could be stress; and peri-menopause is indeed a stressful event. It could be depression, anxiety or a number of emotional condition.

It could also be the stuff you use; the soap you bath in, certain shower gels, or so-called hygiene products.

Or it could be a combination of things that you will have to figure out.

If your you are experiencing vagina dryness because of age because of age, peri-menopause or menopause then a topical treatment might do you just fine.

Not Saponaceous A Dip in the Water

February 15, 2013, 5:55 am

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This isn't about me showing off about what I know about lube. The point of these Saponaceous posts is to take this subject out of the medicine cabinet and into the realm of accessible information.




It seems that outside of the sex blog world there is no talk about a health product that also provides pleasure assistance. I don't want to diminish the sexual aspect of personal lubrication.

I'm not a sex educator but Shanna Katz is; in this video she talks about the use of water based lubrication products.

In the next post, I'll go into more detail about the types of lubes and best uses for each version of the product. I wanted to post this video to show that real women talk about sex products and resources.

Each one teach one.

Not Saponaceous Choices and Considerations

February 17, 2013, 10:27 am

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This is just an introduction type post about personal lubrication for women over a certain age. I’m not a medical professional, sex expert or a working girl.

I am a person that wants to bring attention to an important issue that is in a choke hold between those that only see lubrication as a sex tool and medical people that try to strip every sexual noun and verb out of female health and sexuality issues.

Okay, now that we are clear that there are multiple reasons to use personal lubrication, such as hormonal changes, stress, a medical issue or, as I was reminded in the drugstore, lubes designed to help with conception.

A reminder, you are adding a substance to your body. You need to be aware that just because it is on a shelf in a drugstore or supermarket it doesn’t necessarily make it a safe product for you.  

Image from 1918 Gray's Anatomy from Wikimedia

My Biases

We all have them but I want to be clear on what my filter system is about items that go into the body. I lean toward natural, non-toxic and will do no harm to the body.

I wanted to say that because some of the choices in the stores are not safe or desirable to use. I’d really rather you didn’t pay cash for chemical cooties but that is a choice you have to make.

Yeah, I know, get on with it.

What You Don’t Want In A Lube

• Parabens – Industrial preservative.


• Glycerin – is a form of sugar. The vagina has bacteria. Sugar + bacteria + a warm environment? For those that do not bake the short answer is yeast. If you are prone to vaginal infections you might want to use Glycerin-Free type products.


• Petrochemicals – If any form of the ingredient can be found in a car engine, gas tank or derived from an oil refinery I’d take a pass at putting it your body.

Oil Lubes

Talk about tradition. One of the oldest forms of lubrication. I’m talking bear fat, butter, Crisco, and, ew, Petroleum Jelly. It is so much better in the now times.

You can do either natural or synthetic oils.

Natural oils can be based on nut and fruit oils such as Avocado, Almond or Olive Oil. You can raid the kitchen but in many drugstores there are oils in the hair and skincare isle that are specific formulated for massage and dry skin control. The are extremely affordable, like under $3 and contain one or two ingredients, the oil and maybe a fragrance.

There are other natural oils that you don’t necessarily want to apply to your lady bits such as Menthol, Eucalyptus, Peppermint or oils that are infused with perfume or irritants if you have sensitive skin.

Synthetic oils will be your petrochemicals such as Baby Oil, Mineral Oil, Petroleum Jelly and an alphabet soup of unpronounceable variations. Synthetic oils will be absorbed by the body and I’m not sure that you really want to ingest petroleum into your system.

The downside? You cannot use oils with Latex condoms. Oils can be runny. They can be messy.

In my opinion, oils might be better for external use on the clitoris as opposed to vaginal use.

Silicone Lubes

Silicone lubes can be formulated to have the texture and consistency users want. You apply it and it stays put. The problem is that it stays put, meaning that it could be a possible way for bacteria and infectious type matter to gain a path to your inners.

It does not quickly dissolve in water. And you can’t use silicone based sex toys with Silicone lubes, it will dissolve your investment. You have to make sure that the lube is removed from the vagina because of the risk of providing an environment for bacteria growth.

Water Based Lubes

Water lubes have water as the prominent ingredient; there is other stuff to help it gel up. If you have sensitive skin and are cautious about the other ingredients use this might be the way to go. Water lubes can dry out; a spritz of water is all you need to re-hydrate.

They are the most affordable of the three commercial types of lube but you gotta be on the look-out for the chemicals you don’t want.

Resources

A Woman’s Touch Guide on How to Choose A Lube

Good Vibrations Article on How To Choose A Lubricant

Everyday Health How to Choose A Lubricant

Not Saponaceous But Read the Label

February 19, 2013, 5:27 am

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Almost to the end of this journey. Didn't come out exactly as planned but writing and putting together the scattered parts into a cohesive piece is like that.



This is about the most asexual video you will ever see on the topic of personal lubrication. It is more of a reminder that product label type is really small. You might want to visit the vendor's web site for the ingredient list. But should you happen to go be going to the store plop in a magnifying glass or glasses.

The video is my humble attempt to explain why you may need them.