Gladys

I've written here about Martha, the woman I think of as "Mom".  That is not to diminish in any way Gladys, the woman who is/was my biological mother, the one who helped bring me on to this interesting place we call United States, planet Earth.

Gladys with her first snowball?

Gladys was born in 1911, to her family who lived in Mazon, Illinois.  She had a brother, Everett,  and a sister, Dorothy. At some point in her life, she decided to pick up and move to Los Angeles, California. She worked as a secretary, and wound up working for Louis B. Mayer (the "Mayer" in Metro-Goldwin-Mayer, a.k.a "MGM"). I understand that she was responsible for taking deposits to the bank. (That bank was at the other end of the block from the one I worked at.) She also helped run his stables.  I'm pretty sure that was Mayer's horse stables, and not his stable of ladies who entertained visiting firemen (IYKWIMAIKYD).  On the other hand, it's an interesting speculation.

Somewhere in Los Angeles

I remember being told that she and Dad were introduced at a U.S.O. club, so I imagine Dad was on one of his postings in California. I also have in mind that she picked him up. Again, an interesting speculation. (By today's standards, both Gladys and Martha might be considered "cougars", Dad being seven years younger than Gladys, and six younger than Martha. Or maybe he just liked older women.)

They were married at Cathedral Chapel, a block north of Olympic on La Brea in L.A., in 1948.  I've always assumed that she moved in with him, at his place on Crenshaw Bl. Gladys became pregnant in '49, and Martha introduced them to the OB/GYN who delivered Lane and me.  Gladys fell prey to the perfect storm for pre-eclampsia: it was her first pregnancy, she was near 40, and it was a multiple birth. She could no longer clot blood, and so bled to death despite all efforts to save her.  Neither Lane nor I could clot, and I believe that was a major cause of his death.

George and Gladys

The wedding party. L to R, Jack Travers (Best Man), George, Gladys, unknown gentleman, Bessie Tidey (Maid/Matron of Honor), and two more unknown gentlemen.

I don't know at all if Bessie was married at the time or not. If she were, I have a hunch that the gentleman standing between her and Gladys is her husband, Cliff.  But I don't remember him as well as I do her.  Dad asked Jack and Bessie to be my Godparents when I was baptized.

The traditional cake smushing.

 

Post-nuptial beverage.

                                       

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the neighborhood...

The lovely young woman on the right, Betty, would soon become Jack's wife. One of the reasons was that she loved Cathedral Chapel, and the priest who given Gladys her pre-nuptual "Catholic lessons" was a nice guy, so she took her's there, and that's where they we married.

When I was about 40, Gladys' sister Dorothy passed away.  After she did, her daughter sent me a package of documents she found in Dorothy's desk that was addressed to me. In it was a hand-written account of what had happened. I may post that another time, as the spirit moves. (A little about that here.)

She and Lane are buried in Inglewood, at the Inglewood Park Cemetery, across the street from the old Inglewood Forum.

And, with all of that, I do have a connection to her.  She made sure that both Lane's and my first initials were "L. A.", because she loved Los Angeles. So that is my link to both her, and the city of my birth.

Thank you, Gladys.

Fiddling...

If you look at the location bar across the top of the blog, you might notice that I've added a 2016 Politics page.  For now, it is a simple collection of  links belonging to the announced candidates.  I'll update it as candidates announce and drop out.  I'll make sure to keep a list of the ones that bail, just for completeness.

There are way more candidates who have announced or who are "exploring" as you might know from the news.  I'm just keeping tract of ones I have heard about during the perusals of the sites I have listed in the right-hand column.

On the bottom of the new page are two links I found useful in this task.  They are sites that seem to do a reasonably sane job of listing the candidates and giving a description of each. The two sites list all declared and exploring candidates, plus a list of other parties running candidates:

They seem to be a one-stop shop for your basic candidate info.

I'll update this as events unfold, and as I feel moved to do so.  If this gets like 2012, this, along with Twitter, may absorb me into the collective.

Oh boy!

Shattered Illusions

First Lance Armstrong, now Tom Brady.

What next, politicians??

News Du Jour...

...pretty much all you really need to know:

At Hot Air, where else??

Pop Quiz

Ellison has a friend who's son is teaching a class on Introduction to Comparative Politics.  He was asked to add a bonus question to his final, which he did.  Here is the question:

Bonus Essay

Part I: Take one item from Column A and one item from Column B and do a comparative political analysis of the two, using an argument/theory/set of arguments that we have touched on this semester (midterm material is fair game here).

Part II: Choose one item from Column C and add it to your analysis from Part I. Would the argument change at all? How would item A and B deal with item C?

Be creative. If you can source from memory, do, but it will not hurt you not to source. Feel free to bring in culture, religion, economy, violence—anything; the world is your oyster on this one.

I'm, not going to spoil the surprise for you by listing columns A, B and C.

Click over to Lost In The Cheese Aisle and see for yourself!

Giggle Du Jour...

...and more!


Found at Gerard's

Meanwhile, in Sunny Old Mexico...

Ripley got that right.

(Judicial Watch, via Kate)

Which Witch?

I'll go with the witch on the right.

Mother, Boston Bomber

Your Average Witch

Am I the only one who sees a striking resemblance between these two women?

Thanks to Weasel Zippers

No Cake For Hitler!

(And remember, Nazis aren't Right Wingers.  They're frikkin' Socialists!!)



And if he does get his way:

Me, I'd just find another bakery.

(Both from the ever-vigilant Gerard!)

P.T. Barnum Rules:

Found at Gerards

Happy Easter!

Christ has re-booted.

Re-Arranging the Furniture

Upon further reflection, I decided to re-group the right sidebar Reading List.  I've moved links into three sections: Daily News, Editorials and Essays and Favorite Columnists.  What does that mean?

Daily News comprises the sites that I judge to present news with a minimum of editorializing.  As Det. Friday used to say, "Just the facts... ."  I realize that is pretty much an impossibly high bar to reach, but the sites listed do a credible job IMHO.  It's the old front page section.

Editorials and Essays is what I remember as the old "Metro" section of the L.A. Times.  Here, there's no 'local news, just the editorials and some columnists.

• Gerard's American Digest tops the list, not just because it's in alphabetical order, but because he's one of my most favorite writes in this category.  
• Steven Green at Vodkapundit is another.  On any given day, I would be hard-pressed to say who is better.  
• In a three-way tie is W. Lewis Amselem's The DiploMad 2.0.  (He took a break from blogging, but felt he had to return for obvious reasons - the Charlie Foxtrot in D.C.) 
• Finally, I put Breitbart in this list, because just about all the stories there have an infusion of 'point of view'.  Which is OK, but I don't feel it qualifies as "news".

Favorite Columns is a mixed bag of writers. 

• NASA's  Astronomy Picture of the Day (Han-Tzong Su's mirror site.) Full of beautiful images on the infinite variety of astronomical topics, from galaxies to eclipses, to Mars and Earth. NASA pissed me off when they took it off-line during the last government "shutdown".  Die-hard followers were directed to this mirror, and I have been it using ever since.  I've removed the original NASA link.  Let 'em drink Drano if they can't take a joke.  
• Rodgers Boned Jello is a collection of political rants, entertainment reviews, cooking tips and other life hacks.  He also runs the "Barn Army", which claims its very own B-52.  He has taken many requests for specific bombing runs, D.C. and the big cities on the Left Coast topping the list. The language is sometimes a bit funky.
• Who could not love Greg's Sippican Cottage? Flash fiction, tales of Unorganized Hancock, and and slightly "kinked" (not "kinky") observations on life, the universe, and everything.  He still owes us the "how-to" of jacking a house using a teen age boy.(Ahem.)

 Comics and the Sunday Paper haven't changed.  All of the links are there because I enjoy the writing, the message (for the most part), and the humor and insights.

Cheers!

The Thought Occurs...

...that, at some point, Obama will declare himself the Grand Imam of the U.S. (or West, for that matter) Caliphate.  He'll be able to rule his people by decree, as he obviously loves to do.

Plus, no messy elections, and interfering congress or courts.

Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong.



(H/T Breitbart for the clip)

This Will Not End Well

It's the last paragraph in the clip that I find  disturbing.  The "...we can target our interventions..." part.  Will O care remove antibiotics from its formulary?

Here's the deal. Yes, they are over-prescribed.  I understand that doctors like to prescribe them even though the illness is viral - "just in case".  The biggest problem, as I understand it, is patients not completing the full course of medication.  This can leave some bacteria alive, which are more immune to the med. This is natural selection at work, selecting for the dreaded "super bugs".

We really don't need these government geniuses messing around any more with health care, do we??

Full article here: apnews.myway.com

Found at Drudge.

Reading List Addition

I usually add sites to my "Reading List" without a comment. Same with removing them. The list is fluid, changing with sites I find, and my outlook on the world.

However, I want point out my addition of One America New Network, a cable channel based in San Diego, California. It aims to be the "next Fox", in a complimentary way. They are striving to be a real news channel, claiming 21 out of 24 hours are devoted to news.  And the talk shows are supposed to be talk, not yelling, and have viewpoints from all over the political spectrum,  I'ce skimmed their website, and it looks pretty good.  The channel is available on ATT and Verizon fiber TV services.  I'm going to poke around a bit and see if they stream anywhere on line.

Go, check them out!

(h/t Weasel Zippers, also a good source for news)

Starbucks' Quiz

OK, this has been making the Twitterverse crazy today - the race questionnaire being handed out at Starbucks:

And here are my answers:

1. All her friends were human.  If by "race" you mean different cultures, Hispanic/Cuban, mostly.

2. Well, they're all human, so I guess "None".

3. I don't know. Why don't you ask her?

4. Zero. (All humans.)

5. Again, if you mean "skin color" or "culture", it was at work. I taught the cream of the Baltimore City School system (and the Maryland Penal System) when I worked in Maryland.  Connect your own dots.

6. I don't do Facebook.

7. I haven't been to anyone else's home in the past year.

8. All visitors have been humans, AFAIK.

9. See above.

10. I eat with humans, and the occasional dog or cat.

Q1 - Not far.  They taught me to be respectful of all people. Skin color never really entered into that perspective. My grandfather corrected me one day when I used the word "Jap", and at 10, I remember flinching when a relative referred to "Nigger town".

Q2 - No.  I've managed to lose contact with pretty much all of them, regardless of race, creed or color.

Q3 - Getting off this stupid fixation with skin color, and learning to judge each person on their individual character, strengths and weaknesses.  Learn to be respectful of others, but not at the expense of our own dignity and worth..

Hillary Fun Camp??

I doubt it. 

But this is a great idea:

I could certainly use it!!

(An old Wiley Nonsequitur)

Obama Fan

Exactly... pic.twitter.com/H25Ppzg0xH
— Young Conservatives (@YoungCons) March 18, 2015

Los Feliz Day Care

A kind of local Los Angeles version of the Onion. 

"Don't cry over spilled eggs. Cry because they were not cage-free." Ottilie, 3, followed by a standing ovation. pic.twitter.com/22uCh9w04S
— Los Feliz Day Care (@LosFelizDayCare) February 24, 2015

I bet there are actually a few people like this.

Go.  Follow!!  @LosFelizDayCare

 (Via Kate!)

Brooke...

...is on a roll.  

First, apologies:

Second,
 

Something to apologize for, I guess??

Not "The Onion"

@darleenclick @proteinwisdom @BobBelvedere @ak4mc When did the whole world become the Onion? pic.twitter.com/9bGidEAeuX

— Corduroyalist (@Corduroyalist) February 18, 2015

Syria News Agency lauds Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un for contribution in naval fight against US-backed ISIS terrorists. pic.twitter.com/WWp44Vm1Ft

— DPRK News Service (@DPRK_News) February 18, 2015

Day By Day Redux

UPDATE: Mr. Muir is on a roll.

We are all gaijin.

That is all.

(Via Day By Day Cartoon)

I Am Now Officially Old!

As of about 4AM West Coast time today, I have been on planet for 65 orbits around the Sun.

Lt to Rt: me, Martha, Lane

Martha and me, on a social call

Out in the yard ca. 1954

Andi and me, junior prom, 1967

Sunset, San Simeon beach, 1970 (taken by Jen's mom, Carole)

Jen's Grad Nite, before us parents got locked out.

Luncheon, post Jen's swearing in to the California Bar

Koda and me, doing what we do best

Pacuare River, Costa Rica, 2003

My internet 'persona', 2004

So far, it's been a hoot!

Feminist Funeral

After brutal rape, murder of Ozgecan Aslan, women "defy the imam" to carry the coffin. #Turkey http://t.co/UDOVtbbJoF pic.twitter.com/x8l3hSQAgU

— Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) February 14, 2015

Obamacare Endgame...

Wait for it...

(Via Gerard)

Do You Blame Her?

I'd do the same if I had to be there.

Bet she wasn't the only one.

(Via Drudge)

Der Furher Says It All

Das ist alles.

(H/T Small Dead Animals)

The Game in Four Panels

From Ishida-san.

The Feast of St. Football

The more I think about it, the more it seems that Super Bowl Sunday is like a Catholic "Holy Day of Obligation".  On feast days like the Feast of the Assumption, Catholics are required (under pain of mortal sin) to attend Mass.

Similarly, true followers of St. Football are required to observe the Solemn High Secular Ceremony of Super Bowl. (NTTAWWT.) 

The parallels are striking: dressing up in Sunday best (team regalia), more candles on the altar (team /game decorations at the house/bar), hymns (cheering), moral debates (disputed calls), and Communion (wings & beer).
OK, so, generally no one is screaming "Go! Go! Go!" during the Consecration, and there is no analog that I can think of for the half-time show.

(This, of course, from a sports agnostic, and fallen-away Catholic.)

Wiley du Jour...

...speaks for itself.

That is all.

Advancing Decrepitude

As of today, I am Officially Enrolled in Medicare!

I clearly remember this!

That is all.

(BD in two weeks...)

Important Safety Tip!

From the French.  Who should know.

Signs someone is flipping to the Dark Side (tm).

My French is *way* worse than my Spanish.  That said, it looks like (to me), from top left:

Rejecting parents.

Rejecting family members

Changes in eating habits

Dropping out of school

No longer listening to music

No TV or movies

Quitting sports

Changes in style of clothing

Interest in extreme social websites

Absent the rejection of media, it sort of sounds like adolescence.

From the ever-on-top-of-things Weasel Zippers!

Hello, Benny of PA!!

The pack has grown by one new member - Benny:

This is Benny on his way to his new foster home a couple of months ago.

He has fit right in. Suzu and Griffin did the obligatory olfactory check (as did Benny), and that was about it for the first encounter.

He's hopped up to join me on the couch a couple of times - he is a serious snuggle-bug.  Seems pretty bomb-proof, not easily startled. Barked as I walked along the side of the house, so I now have the guard dog/alert dog function covered.

He does like to bark when he's excited. He stops if I clap my hand or stamp my foot in front of him, so the should be an easy correction.  He does not like the stairs here, but then who does?  They have narrow streads, and are pitched at a 45 degree angle, so they are a challenge.

But!  He's here, he fits in, and seems to be quite happy!

Benny at home in the office.

Three Things...

...from the reading list.  

First, A Demon's Nest of Sentiments:

Next, Pastor Phil:

Finally, Chris Muir has the poster du jour:

See the whole thing at Day By Day Cartoon

But wait, there's more...

Lest I forget:

Public Secrets reports: 

Once there was this neat thing called “Western Civilization,” which gave the world such wonderful ideas as human liberty, the worth of the individual, and the freedom to speak, write, and publish without the fear of being punished for what we say.
That was then, this is now:

And this, from Kate:

Vodkapundit:

I clicked the link from RCP, because I couldn't believe the text was an accurate description of the headline. I screencapped the headline because I couldn't believe it was an accurate description of the piece. But when Sally Kohn is the author, all bets on sanity are off — so, yes, the headline and link both accurately reflect today’s pravda from her perch at CNN

I love a good juxtaposition (from Weasel Zippers):

Islamodespicio me... (Updated)

Update  You gotta read this:

Book Review: Introduction to the Qur’an (1953) by Richard Bell

Some thoughts on Islam from around the web. Some are serious, some are what I consider humorous speculation.

Enjoy.

Velociman breaks a seven month silence:  No, the wretched fact is, and remains, that the West has been at war with militant Islam, off and on, for 1,400 years  Also found at Gerards:

Pretty much says it all, don'tcha think??

DougM at Sondrakistan: A phobia is an unreasonable fear (perverted in Progspeak to mean opposition to Prog Canon).So, who is it that fears Islam … unreasonably?

Roger Simon at PJ Media:

But a “sleeper cell” in the White House?  It would certainly explain Obama’s not going to France, which was a decision that hurt the USA, hurt the effort against Islamic terror and hurt the president’s already tarnished reputation into the bargain.

From The Diplomad:

We, however, have no President; and Obama, the man who pretends to be President, watched TV, instead.

Christmas Prayer, 2014

Sitting in Darkness

The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. -- Matthew 4:16

Dear Lord,

On this Sunday before Christmas in the year 2014 I find my mind and heart consumed with rage and despair at the evil across the face of the Earth and in my nation. Gazing upon and knowing of the world of men and the vileness of many men's deeds has plunged my soul into darkness. I grow short with those I love. I am spiteful towards those who have offended me. My soul feels blighted and shrunken. It can no longer find true north and I have wandered from the way.

In this darkness, on this longest and darkest night of the year, this dark night of the soul, I know I am not prepared or worthy to welcome the advent of your Son and the return of light and the miracle of Your creation. Dear Lord, in these final days of advent, take this darkness from my heart. Lead me, Lord, out of shadow. Show me, again, my Lord, Your great light. O come, O come, Emmanuel.

Amen.

Gratefully lifted from Gerard

Hello, Griffin!

We have a new member of the pack/clowder, Griffin!

Checking out the living area

At home in the kitchen,

On Dakota's old chair.

He's thirteen, seems to be in very good health.  He has a bald patch on his lower back, where he scraped the hair off crawling under the fence to get out.

I 'rescued' him from a woman who has to move, and her new home won't allow dogs.  He's a bit homesick, I think, for his buddy, Charley.  He and Suzu sort of pass each other in the night.  No aggression, no visible bonding.

He ignores Baxter, and I haven't seen any attempts at interaction w/ Nadia.

He's on the floor by my feet as I type this.

I need to get him to the vet, and find an obedience class to join, so he and I can get some structured time together.

Trek vs Wars...

...another shot fired.

Q. E. D.

Via the boys at Powerline.