I am off, driving up the coast on my trip to the Monterey Bay, California area, this weekend. I heard the reports that there are many whales and other marine animals in abundance there. Taking a whale watching boat to see for myself. There are a few species of whales I hope to see, Humpbacks, Blue, Orcas, and maybe some Grays. Will report when I get back. Due to the weekend of whale watching and possibly Monarch Butterfly watching I may not be posting my usual writing. Get back to you next week….
Stream of Consciousness Saturday hosted by the lovely LindaGHill
I am writing a sequel because I thought the story about Zenarra ended too soon.
“You will fulfill your duty and marry Tomar with the next moon rising,” Jolar’s words echoed in her brain. She must not allow herself to be defeated so easily.
” Yes I am of royal blood and an ancient line, much older than Tomar’s. You expect me to mate with that diseased pervert who spends his nights in brothels defiling children?” Zenarra’s eyes flashed in defiance as she held Jolar’s cold gaze. Her hand reached to her pendant as she gently depressed the center stone.
Minat heard the shrill sound coming from the monitor. She searched the screen display to locate her mistress.
Later that night the flashing lights of the police cars lit up the scene on the bridge. The patrolman remarked to his partner, ” That was some lightning strike. All that’s left of the poor bugger is those melted boots.”
“You said this sensor device was implanted at birth?” the surgeon asked.
Road trips are the best. When gas was cheap, people were able to travel all over by car. It still one of the best ways to see California. Get lost in your day dreams while looking out the window at the beautiful scenery passing by. Maybe some good music playing.
California Dreaming
All the leaves are brown
And the sky is grey
I’ve been for a walk on a winter’s day
I’d be safe and warm if I was in L.A.
California dreamin’ on such a winter’s day.
(Gilliam, Michelle/Phillips, John Edmund Andrew)
Get your kicks on Route 66.
“Well if you ever plan to motor west
Just take my way
it’s the highway that’s the best
Get your kicks on Route 66
Well it winds from Chicago to L.A.
More than 2000 miles all the way
Get your kicks on Route 66..”( Bobby Troop)
Route 66 song via accebernosam on You Tube:
Ahoy Mateys and shiver me timbers! Dave Barry reminded me that Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. So…
“Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil.”
Times of desolation. This describes so much of what is going on in the Middle East right now. The extremists may think their cause justifies what they do but it does not and never will. There can never be a justification for all their atrocities. Kayla Mueller was working with aid organizations to help Syrian refugees in Turkey when she was captured by ISIS.
President Assad has dropped bombs and poison gas on his own people. Now there is talk to let him remain in power in order to “stabilize” Syria. Russia is sending in troops and weapons to try to prop him up as well.
It seems the forces of evil are very strong. I hope the forces of good can prevail in the end.
I could not write about something all light and airy. I did not feel like writing at all. The world has been too heavy and dark this week. I hope there can be light after seeing the images of the continuing humanitarian crisis from the Middle East into Europe. People desperate to escape, with their families, from all the war and terrible oppression. The terrible image of a dead child washed up on a beach in Turkey. Scenes of people trapped in a Hungarian train station blocked from traveling on into Europe. The hope is that maybe now the world will start to work on better solutions. A glimmer of light is that Germany and Austria have opened their boarders. Hungary has allowed the refugees to take the bus out of their country. I don’t get the distinction from taking a train but it is better than the refugees being held in some camp or prison. I noticed that Huffington Post Canada has a list of organizations that people can donate to for the refugees. I looked for a similar list for the US and found one on Today.com . Hillary Clinton, during a recent interview, called this a global crisis and “the entire world now sees doesn’t just affect the Syrian people; it affects all of us.”
It does affect all of us and we can not close our eyes. The Washington Post has several articles on this topic. One is a story about a Syrian family making their way to Austria with the help of smugglers, called The Black Route.
Sometimes I don’t think things can’t get any worse.
I am not so pessimistic or cynical as this title, or the song it is based on, suggests. But reading the news lately about Ashley Madison ( and I hate that name and it does sound like it should be the name of a porn site), almost made me feel that way. Even more disillusioned with the state of humanity. Now I read that most of the women on the site either never used it or were faked. Then I thought some more about it and realized that the men who signed up for it could have done it because of…well I am not sure why they signed up for it…loneliness, sex addiction, pornography? I don’t want to make assumptions. Are they living evidence that confirms that “love is just a four letter word ?”
The angel voice of Joan Baez via CARLSFOLKCLUB:
But I do know that love means more than just a four letter word to many men. The men in my family and the husbands and partners of my friends for a start. So I want to put the other stuff out of my mind. I think I like the lyrics of this song better via countvonferson:
I love Star Trek and all the alien species who populate the series. Some of the aliens are the Klingons, the Vulcans and the Ferengi. I suspect some of our corporations and Wall Street may be run by Ferengi. The Ferengi think profit is supreme and they have several rules they live by called The Rules of Acquisition. One of these rules is never put family before business. Even though the Ferengi are pretty funny they are not my favorite characters.
One of my favorite characters is the Vulcan Mr. Spock. I was sad when the original actor,Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock recently passed. He was so great in the role I was skeptical, when the new Star Trek movies were coming out, that a new actor could fill the part as well. I think Zachary Quinto has done it. Something Spock was known for was “the Vulcan Mind Meld.” He employed it when other forms of communication failed or when he wanted to have a meeting of the minds with humans or other species.
Here are a few Mild Meld scenes via Russ Hany on You Tube entitled Don’t Forget Mind Meld:
Spock and another character Dr. McCoy were often at odds with each other. Dr. McCoy did not like that Spock was so unemotional and stubbornly logical. In the new Star Trek films the relationship continues the same.
Most older women are not visible in modern media. Women who are aging naturally that is. We don’t see many older actresses and models. Women drop off the radar and start to disappear as they get older. Wouldn’t you like to know more about them? Wouldn’t you like to hear their stories? Who are they? According to Beauty Redefined , in their great post, they have been shunned by main stream media. They have been “symbolically annihilated.”
That sounds like science fiction. Something The Borg would say. “We are The Borg. You have been symbolically annihilated. Resistance is futile!” But looks like it is not science fiction. If you are an older woman you will not see yourself in popular magazine ads, in Hollywood films or on TV. Unless you have had a lot of “work done” to make you look much younger. There may be a few token older women on display but they are in the minority. Kind of like endangered species in the zoo.
Then there are all the negative messages for women about letting yourself look your natural age. Messages bombarding us about anti-wrinkle creams, botox, hair color, diets, and plastic surgery.
“What would happen if confident, happy, beautiful women decided to forego painful and expensive anti-aging procedures, breast lifts and enhancements, liposuction, all-over hair removal or tanning regimens? How could that change the way their daughters, students, friends, nieces and coworkers perceived themselves and their own “flawed,” lined, real faces? How could simply owning (and treating kindly and speaking nicely about) our so-called “imperfect” bodies affect not only our own lives, but those over whom we have influence? Is it possible to slowly but deliberately change the perception of these “flaws” as something to shame, hide and fix at any cost to something acceptable and embraceable in all their human, womanly real-ness?” (Beauty Redefined)
Yes what would happen? The “beauty” industry would self-destruct. I do like to be optimistic, enthusiastic, and hopeful about change. I think I can imagine the change beginning. I think I hear it. Robotic voice in background, “The self-destruct sequence is initiated….”
Are you ready for this? I am ready as I’ll ever be. I answer this way when I am thinking of doing something pretty far outside of my comfort zone. It means I am ready to throw myself into something however not ready I may be. Things aren’t going to get any better so I may as well forge ahead. Face the fear and uncertainty and step out onto the stage.
One thing I am never ready for is being in a high place. Things like bungee jumping, sky diving or hiking along the edge of a high cliff. I know I could work on overcoming these fears but I am not ready yet.
A recurrent bad dream I have (thankfully not too often) is that I am walking along or toward the edge of a very, very high cliff and suddenly I am pulled to the edge and over it. I have this horrible feeling in my stomach and, oh no! , here I go over the edge and have the sensation of falling a long way down until….I end up in the ocean below.
I know I would not like going to the Grand Canyon and looking over the edge or riding one of those little donkeys down those narrow little, slippery paths to the floor of the canyon either. There is this Sky Walk platform that loops out from the edge of the canyon. It is clear plastic so you can see through your feet to all the way down below. Hey if we were meant to “sky walk” we would have wings right?
I think the trouble is I have a good imagination and I can imagine the donkey coming across a rattlesnake on the path ….or my donkey being kicked by another donkey ….or losing it’s footing and….if I ever rode one down I would have to look at that skinny little path and see how high up I was. You know how they tell you when you are climbing up a high mountain, “Don’t look down.” I could imagine that Sky Walk coming loose from its cantilevers or whatever is bolting it to the cliff and…or the walkway starts to crack under the weight of so many people…or someone bumps me over the rail and ….you get the idea.