Who Knew?

Sleeping like a normal person is not my best talent.  I tend to wake up in what most would consider the middle of the night.  I actually don't mind this unless, of course, I have to stay up later than 8 PM.  Anyway  -- when one tends to go online in what I consider to be the lovely, peaceful wee hours of the morning, it is easy to run across unusual tidbits of information that even though you could live without knowing -- may start off the day in an interesting way.  Further  -- in my opinion --  interesting tidbits of information are, perhaps, underrated or all too often -- ignored.

Now ...  before I reveal my latest find, I must qualify that I did not verify the accuracy of any of these relationships.  I just accept the validity because I choose to believe. I figure this willing suspension of disbelief is okay in this situation, and just plain fun.  The source is a genealogist named Christopher Child, who is highly respected in his field from what I can find out.

So... here we go.  The following pairs of celebrities are cousins -- some close and some distant. 

• Katy Perry and Taylor Swift
• Lady Gaga and Madonna
• Glenn Close and Brooke Shields 

And ... my personal fave for no logical reason:

• RuPaul and Cory Booker (I think I even see a family resemblance here. Apparently, I am not alone in this.)

So... I know this isn't as inspirational as a thought for the day, but ... I'm hoping you might also find it to be fun. Fun is a good thing, methinks.

Can I Get There From Here?

Ah... the good olde days. I miss them - some times more than others.  They were the days of being able to walk at night or across a parking lot without feeling like you have a target painted on your back ... or the days of leaving home without locking doors or not thinking twice before falling asleep with the windows open. Those were the days when no one canceled you for a political opinion with which they disagreed or uninvited you from a gathering because of a personal belief. A list of these easier times could go on and on. Times have changed for sure. I think it is sad ... on more than one level. 

I notice this phenomenon as well in the topics of this blog.  I miss writing about the simple things -- a mouse in the house, being a klutz, or things like a spring-cleaning faux pas, or the "fun" that Grandkids bring to one's life.  It seems that, more and more, serious topics pop up that I feel I need to write about -- things like patriotism,  supporting the American way of life,  preserving values.  Thinking and writing about such topics is tiring and not nearly as fun. Yet the feeling that something needs to be said overrides other, lighter topics. Sometimes I simply cannot keep silent and live with my conscience.   The phrase "sitting idly by" comes to mind (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

I do search for lighter, more fun topics, and then something pops up like the DSA list of must-dos.  Sometimes it is just plain hard to escape.  It's exhausting. In the past, one reader told me that she liked my blog better when it was less serious.  I responded honestly that I did too.  That she disagreed with me on every political topic I touched may have had something to do with her disappointment in my writing and may also have been a part of her complaint.  Nevertheless, I agree -- lighter, funnier topics are preferred.  

Sometimes it is just hard to get there. I love that expression that may or may not have originated in Maine -- "You can't get there from here".   I hope that someday soon I will be able to turn back to the lighter, more fun topics -- at least once in a while.  Can I get there from here?  I know that there are a lot of fun and positive things going on in the world.  Maybe I just need to shift gears somehow or look out of a different window.  Or -- perhaps I need a break.  We will see.

I don't thank you often enough for reading this blog.  Thank you ... most sincerely.

Protect The American Dream

The Democrat Socialists of America are in the news big time. They are not what they claim to be- -- not what they would want you to think.  Watch them very carefully.  What it comes down to is that they are the killers of the American Dream. You work; they take.

Don't know about you, but I, for one, am not going to sit silently by and watch the extreme left as they attempt to take over our country and gain control over hard-working people who strive every day to make a better life for those they love.  These are the people who have earned everything they have.  Now the far left wants to take what these productive Americans have earned because, for some reason, they feel they deserve to have what they have not worked for themselves.  Up close, at least to me, the "leaders" of this "movement" appear to be a bunch of leftist spoiled brat elites who are used to having things given to them - things that they obviously have not earned themselves.  They are takers in the worst sense of the word. They will make your world dangerous.

This "taking" is socialism verging perhaps on outright communism.  It is taking from those who have worked primarily to enhance the lives of a few elite. (They don't say this, of course.  They say the opposite. They will blatantly lie to your face.)  They will say they are working to help you ...  until they get into positions of power.  Then watch out.  You end up with rich leadership driving everyone else into poverty and ... taking away most of what those not in power have built in a lifetime and ...  their freedoms as well.  Look at history, please.  Socialism has never worked -- has never turned out to be what it professes to be. 

Today's Democrat Socialists do not have your best interests at heart -- only their own.  They love the power and the wealth.  Not only will they take what you have earned, but they will also take away any ways that you have to protect yourself and those you love... including your guns. At the same time that they are taxing you into oblivion and taking away the only protection you might have, they will open the prison doors and defund or seriously weaken police departments. Some of these Democratic Socialists come right out and say this is what they will do.  They even go so far as to explain their plans to dismantle the entire government. Others sort of hem and haw about it.  Also, please note that, all the while, they travel with their own private "security details" -- you know... because they are special. They are drooling, power-hungry, sneaky, lying individuals.  Need proof? Just look at what is happening in NYC, LA, and across the country, where socialists have come to power. It's not good.  It's not what they said it would be. Look behind their smiles.

Please do your research. Spread the word. It matters even if you only get one person to see what is happening. If they share with one other person and that person shares....  You understand the process.   Awareness is key.  Then get out and vote against the Democrat Socialists. Don't allow them to ruin the greatest nation in the world, for along with that go your own personal freedoms ... not to mention everything you have worked for. One vote at a time can save America.  Please let it be yours. 

Vote while you still have that option. Let the American Dream continue.  Seeing others work hard and succeed is the path to more dreams coming true. If you see that working hard pays off, you know that your hard work will also pay off. You see the possibilities of the American Dream.

Mixed Bag

In my experience, people tend not to talk about the advantages of being "older".  I love to have this conversation. It doesn't happen nearly enough, even though it sure beats talking about aches and pains; that's for sure.  There are definitely some nice things that come with being a senior citizen.  You sort of learn to take the good with the not-so-good. I like to emphasize the good stuff. At some point, I will write about that specifically.  But ... for now ....

If you are about my age, you will understand the following. By the time one becomes a septuagenarian, one has learned a bit about how fragile life is, about how fast it can change, about coincidences, and about how the small things may turn out to be the most wonderful or terrible bits of one's life. One single moment can last a lifetime. Some are beyond wonderful. Others -- cloud and hang on.

Was reading a Fredrik Backman book recently entitled My Friends.  I have read several of his books -- always find them thought-provoking. There is a lot to think about in this one. Think I may have even written about this particular book before. Anyway ... in this one, Backman writes at one point about Heaven.  One of the characters speculates that an eternity of one moment in life when a person felt really good is what your Heaven will be.  Got me to thinking -- is it possible to pick that one moment in an entire lifetime that felt the best... a moment of a feeling of joy that you would want to last an eternity?  I just don't know. I have many wonderful moments to consider.  Hope you do as well.

Sometimes, though, I wonder if the bad memories do come in stronger than the good ones.  Those are the moments when you fought back tears because you knew if you let them start, they would never stop.  (Backman wrote about that as well.) We have all been there.  Thinking back on those dark times, I think that, if possible, it is most important to remember those other moments -- the ones of unbounded joy. Hopefully the light can drive out the dark.

This contrasting mix of light and dark - of happiness and sadness - is a part of living that is hard for me to describe.  I am no Fredrik Backman. No doubt about it.  Life is not dull ... a mixed bag for certain.