Not again. Not now.

 Breeders! I'm surrounded by breeders!

One of my coworkers ended our weekly status meeting by announcing her pregnancy, and I'm not proud to admit that my first reaction was, "WHAT?" Nothing about the miracle of life or how happy I am for her. Just shock and dismay.

I apologized afterward and then ran over to Macy's to buy a little something. Since we know she's having a boy, I got her a "Mr. Handsome" onesie. She told me there was no need to apologize, that she was flattered by my response because she understood I'll miss her when she's out for 12 weeks.

She's not coming back. She hates her boss, the Chocolate Covered Spider. They're selling their house and looking for a bigger one, and once she qualifies that mortgage we'll never see her again. And then I'll be stuck working with Blondie McBlonderson, the pretty but pulled-way-too-tight coworker who is currently out on the final 5 weeks of HER maternity leave.

The Chocolate Covered Spider herself was out on her second maternity leave last summer.

I enjoyed it when Chocolate Covered Spider and now Blondie McBlonderson are out because they are stress carriers. Everything is more complicated when they're around.

But I'd be lying if I didn't confess that it's hard to not be at full staff. 

Photo by David Castillo Dominici at freedigitalphotos.net

WWW.WEDNESDAY

To play along, just answer the following three questions ...

• What are you currently reading? The Patriarch by David Nasaw. Much of what I've read about Joseph P. Kennedy depicts him as either saintly or satanic. I hope that this book, which was nominated for Pulitzer in 2013, at last offers a balanced portrait. He deserves one. As Ambassador to England during WWII and father to a President, Attorney General and Senator, he cast an enormous shadow over the 20th century.

• What did you recently finish reading? The Tuesday Club Murders by Agatha Christie. Up until now, my only exposure to Christie has been through Poirot. But I really enjoyed meeting the charming Miss Marple. This was a collection of short stories, completely unsolvable by anyone but this wise old bird. If my TBR pile wasn't so deep, I'd try a full length Marple novel next.

 

• What do you think you’ll read next? I've got Webb Hubbell's first novel, When Men Betray. It's a political mystery set in Little Rock. As a former aide to Bill Clinton and Mayor of Little Rock, he's well qualified to tackle this terrain.

To see how others responded, click here.

Their last hurrah

The amazing young men of Jackie Robinson West spent Labor Day at Wrigley Field, strengthening their hold on our hearts.

Before the game, the Little League National champions toured the clubhouse and sat in the dugout, wearing official Cub jerseys while the Cubs wore their shirts. (Here's Vabuena meeting with the kids.) Then they walked along the ivy, letting the Wrigley faithful cheer them. They sang the stretch, too.

That was yesterday. Today they take the Safe Passage back to school. That's a phrase I hope you never hear in your town. Safe Passage Routes are supervised by parents, volunteers and the police to help children get to and from school without being shot.

I'm not kidding. Here's the official site.

That's how bad gun violence is in the south and west side. And that's where these fine kids are from. This is how they live. No wonder they are our heroes.

Another reason

When mentally making my list of pros and cons for keeping Jeri/Jerry (below), I completely forgot a very serious reason --

Connie's eye trouble. She has an incurable infection. I dose her twice a day with L-lysine HCL, and it's made quite a difference. During her months at the shelter, and for her first few weeks here, her eyes were runny and sensitive to light. Thanks to extra amino acids and a reduction of stress, her eyes are clear. But while the infection may be dormant, it remains and it's contagious and it would have been so irresponsible to expose a 12 week old kitten to it. The virus was never a threat to Joe because he'd been vaccinated against it regularly over the last 15+ years. But the poor kitten would have no defenses.

On a happier note, Connie continues to become a bigger part of our lives. She's
very chatty, like Charlotte was, which helps me when I miss my heart-to-hearts with my major domo. There's a big difference in that Charlotte always seemed to try to convey something to me, whereas Connie's and my dialog consists of, "Look at me!" "OK!" But of course, Connie is her own girl, not a shadow Charlotte.

She's figured out that the kitty condo is more than a scratching post and perch for Reynaldo. She now knows she can curl up inside to sleep. She seems quite satisfied with her new discovery.

I did the right thing

… but it hurt nevertheless.

On Sunday I was walking over to the local pizzeria, just around the corner from my home, when I saw a tiny streak race across the busy street and settle under a car. The tail was too thin for a squirrel, too long for a woodchuck. As I passed the car, I saw this face peering out from next to the car's rear tire.

A kitten. A very young, very frightened, very lucky kitten.

I leaned into the car and asked the driver to please not move the car. They could have squished her without even knowing she was there. Then I dropped down to coax her out. Of course, she didn't want to be coaxed, so I had to reach in and pull her out from the wheel well. I didn't know it at the time, but I was covered -- face to waist -- in grime.

She cried a lot and clung to me. I thought Charlotte and now Connie were little. I had no idea how little felt in my arms until I picked this little girl up! I stuck my head into the pizza place and told the owner I'd be back in a few minutes to pick up my order. He seemed surprised and confused by my filthy appearance and the cat in my arms, but he said he'd hold it for me.

I got her home and rushed her into the den without my cats even knowing she was here. I pulled down Joey's big carrier and set her up with water and a makeshift litter box. She is sooooo small that I was able to use a tray from the Lean Cuisine as her box. When she calmed down a little and huddled in the corner, I was worried that she was overheated, maybe dehydrated. So I mixed a wee bit of canned cat food and human baby food together into a mush and gave it to her. Plenty of liquid there to sustain her until ... until ...

Until what? She might have worms or fleas. Joey is 18 and, while enormous, he's naturally not as strong as he was in his prime. I have to be careful what I expose him to. And Reynaldo had begun prowling outside the den door. He alone figured out what was going on and I'm not sure he was OK with it. After all, the vet attributes much of Rey's bad behavior to his "unusual bond" to me. What if having a tiny kitten, one who would demand much of time, would trigger Rey's destructive behavior again?

My adorable new kitten Jeri (that's how I was now thinking of her, as my kitten and I named her Jeri after the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon) was going to require a lot of work and a lot of money. It would mean four cats in a 2 BR apartment, and I wasn't sure that wasn't just nuts. These were the thoughts roiling around in my head as I washed my face and arms and changed my clothes and went for my pizza.

The owner of the pizza place told me that people had followed me in to ask about me and the kitten. I hadn't stopped to think of what a spectacle I'd made of myself on Main Street, dropping my purse on the sidewalk and virtually crawling under the car to retrieve Jeri. I was so embarrassed! But the proprietor very kindly gave me a "hero's discount" on my pizza.

I called the local animal shelter -- the no-kill organization where I adopted Charlotte and Joey -- and spoke to the manager. She was lovely. She explained that they were closed and would stay closed to the public until Tuesday morning. But she advised me to call the police and surrender Jeri to them. The shelter is never closed to the police, and if we did it this way I wouldn't be assessed any "surrender fees" because I wouldn't be the one turning her in. I think she could tell that if I kept Jeri until Tuesday, I'd be keeping her forever.

I hadn't given the shelter manager my name, so I was under no obligation to turn Jeri in. I lay on the floor in my den, gazing at my new charge. Damn, she's cute! And clearly not a stray. The street noises and trains terrified her, but she was good curled up in the carrier in the quiet of my den. I weighed the pros and cons of keeping her. So many cons to very few pros. Only the biggest pro was powerful -- I WANTED TO KEEP HER!

But that would be selfish and childish. Jeri is adorable and someone will adopt her and give her a forever home. Joey, especially, and Reynaldo are my responsibility. And little Connie had been "rescued" from a "hoarder" who had at least 6 cats. Would it be fair to give her a life in an apartment filled with four felines?

So I called the police and met an officer at the shelter. He couldn't have been nicer. He does this all the time with dogs, but Jeri was his first kitten "surrender." He told me about his cat when he was a kid -- he found her all bloody in their backyard after a fight with a raccoon or squirrel. His family tended to her and she lived to be 18, just like Joey.

The shelter employee was a bitch. When I asked her if I could say goodbye to Jeri, she told me to "make it quick." She also seemed pissed that I wasn't giving the shelter Joey's carrier. I was nearly at the end of my tether at this point but I resisted telling her to eat me. My friend Edgardo -- a much nicer person than I am -- always reminds me to have extra compassion for employees who have to work on holidays. It's a comfort to know that her boss, the woman I spoke to earlier, was kind and compassionate.

Jeri is where she should be. I know that. But I really wanted to keep her. Or him. It occurs to me that maybe I should have spelled it Jerry. I never did look under the tail.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 31

Today's happiness -- The other end of the phone. I was having a tough time with a big decision (more on that in a moment) and I called my oldest friend. I knew she'd be home, even as the rest of the country was enjoying a lovely Labor Day weekend, because she was battling a tenacious stomach bug. She said all the right things, as she reliably does. I am blessed with good friends.

Sunday Stealing

  Blogging Meme 

What kind of blog do you have? Just a snapshot of my life at any given moment.

How many posts do you have? 5600+

How many blogs do you follow? See the sidebar.

How many followers do you have? Oh, according to Blogger it's some crazy high number but I don't believe those most of those people actually read me any more.

How often do you change your theme? Seldom. Makes me grumpy.

How often do you change your icon? Never.

 Do you have any favorite blogs? Again, check out the sidebar.

Do you ever send anonymous messages to other people? No.

Do you ever get anon hate? Yes. Hence the comment moderation. You gotta sign your hate around here.

Have you made any friends through your blog? Oh, yes. You ladies know who you are! (And Bud, too.) Your support has meant a great deal to me in tough times.

What’s your favorite thing about blogging? It's a busman's holiday. I write for a living, but at work I never get to just write what I want.

What’s your least favorite thing about blogging? Sometimes it feels a little too much like work.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 30

Today's happiness -- "She tripping or what?" An elderly, infirm woman was spreading ugliness throughout CVS yesterday. She yelled at the customer she passed on the way in ("Speak good English, why don't you?"), berated the woman (her daughter?) who was helping her, even scolded me for ... I'm not sure what she scolded me for. She turned the corner and almost hit me with her cart. I saw she had a cane so I stood still to give her an opportunity to right herself and get around me. She kept yelling, "EXCUSE ME! EXCUSE ME!" at me. Even after I'd passed her. I finally turned back, bowed deeply and shouted, "YOU'RE EXCUSED!" To which she countered, "You're no lady!"

As she was being rung up, she continued verbally abusing the woman she was with, saying there was no way she could possibly walk that far to the car, "you idiot," and demanded the "idiot" go out and pull closer to the door. Then she yelled at the girl at the register for how high the prices were and how unfair it is that you need a CVS card to get coupons and sale prices.

She was so loud, I could hear her through my headphones. She was so unrelentingly hostile I was getting really upset.

Then two teenage girls came in. One girl hooked her thumb at the old lady and asked her friend, "She tripping or what?" THAT shut Mean Granny right up. And made me laugh.

I must learn to adopt that casual attitude when confronted with rudeness. "She tripping or what?"

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: All Night Long (All Night)

1) This music video was produced by Mike Nesmith of The Monkees. Can you name a Monkees song? "Here we come, walking down the street, we get the funniest looks from everyone we meet ... HEY, HEY, WE'RE THE MONKEES!"




2) The song includes the foreign sounding phrases, "Oh jambali Tom bo li d, say de moi ya," and "Oh, Jambo Jumbo!" Mr. Richie meant to include language indigenous to the Caribbean, but was writing the song under deadline and simply made those phrases up instead. Tell about the most recent time you cheated or "cut corners." After work on Friday I was going to get a little exercise by walking around town as I did my errands. But then the bus happened by and I rode home. Bad Gal! Lazy Gal!

3) Richie was a frat boy at college. Kappa Kappa Psi, to be exact. Were you a member of a fraternity or sorority? No.

4) When this song topped the charts (September 1983), Vanessa Williams became the first African American to be crowned as Miss America. Do you watch beauty pageants? No.

5) Since it's Labor Day weekend, that holiday established to celebrate the American worker, let's talk about the workplace. Tellers work in a bank, actors work on a stage or a set, auto workers work on an assembly line. How would you describe your workplace? A clown car. Four of us squeezed into an office space originally meant for two. It sucks.

6) An estimated 40% of us have dated a coworker. Have you ever had an office romance? Yes. Often. When I was younger I worked crazy long hours and it was the only chance I had to meet people.

7) Labor Day is a big weekend for travel. How did you book your last vacation? (Online, through a travel agent, over the phone ...) Expedia/Orbitz/Travelocity (I use them all and can't remember which one I used for my last trip)


8) Mother Winters won't wear white again now until next Memorial Day. Sam thinks that's just crazy. Where do you fall in this heated mother/daughter debate? I don't think it matters.

9) When you look at back on Summer 2014, what will you remember? Beginning my bathroom renovation. I'm glad I did it. Looking at my new medicine chest and lights make me happy.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 29

Today's happiness -- My last early Friday. Our office closes at 12:30 on Fridays in summer. I dearly love those extra free hours. The best part will be waking up on Saturday, knowing I don't have to go to the vet for Reynaldo's prescription food because I did it Friday afternoon.

36 is a dangerous age

My cousin Rose has a theory: Men are at their most attractive in their mid-thirties. When we were 15, we thought men in their mid-thirties were the most attractive. Now that we're AARP members, we still find ourselves looking at men in their mid-thirties.

Upon further reflection, I've narrowed it down to age 36. That's when men are hottest. Here are four attractive men who were sizzling at 36.

Redford 1973

Sir Paul 1978

Brosnan 1989

Clooney 1996

The research was grueling, but my readers deserve no less.

You're welcome.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 28

Today's happiness -- "Nothing to get hung about." I had a "Strawberry Fields" kinda day. Nothing caused me worry. The weather was fine, work was fine, everything was fine. We even had free food in the coffee room.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 27

Today's happiness -- Good Manners.  After I spent more than 30  minutes online and on the phone with a new cell phone provider, fruitlessly trying to change my service, I gave up and decided to go home. I could hear the tell tale "double ding" that meant the down elevator had arrived but I didn't think I could make it through the frosted doors in time. I heard a woman's voice call, "Is someone there? I'm holding it!"

I thanked her and told her if I'd missed the elevator I just might have started to cry in frustration. She asked me what happened ... I told her ... she complained about her cable service ... we walked to the el together. (I'm Green Line, she's Blue.)

Turns out her name is Gwen and we have worked on the same floor for more than a year but since we're on different accounts we've never spoken before. As we parted, she said, "I'll tell you what my mom always told me -- 'Don't have a good evening, make it a good evening.'"

She was very nice and polite and it made me happy.

These are the champions, my friends!

Tens of thousands of Chicagoans attended a parade and rally honoring Jackie Robinson West, the southside kids who brought the national little league championship to a city that desperately needs something to cheer. These boys handled their time in the spotlight -- on the playing field, on the road, with the press, on stage and along the parade route -- with grace and southside style. We're all just so proud of them.

Grown ups at today's Millenium Park rally

I know that the nation at large seems to believe that young African Americans on Chicago's south and west side are all gun toting thugs. Obviously it's not true. I'm so happy that these 13-year-old heroes are Chicago's ambassadors, letting the world know our young men have have class, dignity, dedication and drive.

The city was especially alive this lunch hour -- with buskers and street vendors and happy adults wearing gold JRW shirts and carrying signs that hailed the heroes.

This warm and lovely August afternoon reminded why this is where I live, and how very, very much I love baseball. America's city embraces America's game!

Would it kill me to be more compassionate?

I have an especially annoying coworker. He handles our printing, and you'd think that in a world where more and more advertising is going digital, he'd be grateful for the opportunity to do our massive quarterly direct mail projects. He's not. He always sighs heavily and is resistant and forever putting other jobs before ours because posters and more "fun." Unfortunately, we don't charge my Fortune 500 client the lower, "not fun" rate and therefore they deserve his highest level of service, as well.

I found out yesterday that he has cancer. The time off he took earlier this month wasn't a late-summer vacation, it was a biopsy. He has a few rounds of chemo in his future, and so we must be sure to copy his assistant, Rose, on every email. (I love working with Rose.)

I pride myself on being "one size fits all," and avoiding hypocrisy. Cancer does not make this producer less annoying. On the other hand, perhaps it does explain his lackadaisical attitude toward my projects. Maybe hasn't been feeling well these past 18 months. But then, I have seen him exhibit passion -- unfortunately it's been passion for other work.

See? I just can't simply be nice about this man.

I guess I just have to accept that the most I can muster is that I truly hope he's comfortable. I do not wish him, or anyone, pain, and I hope his treatments are successful. But I still don't like working with him and I still resent his attitude. I do.

I must work on this. I must learn to juggle clear-eyed honesty with compassion.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 26

Today's happiness -- Law & Order reruns.  It's established as one of my favorite shows -- after all, I named my cat Reynaldo after Benjamin Bratt's character, and there is no higher honor. WE-TV has marathons every Tuesday night and even though I've already seen each and every episode, I'm still riveted. Last night, it even distracted me from the Cub game ... and I'm not sorry!

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 25

Today's happiness -- Summer sandals.  I love it that the last thing I do before leaving the house is slip into my Birkenstocks. No socks to put on, no laces or buckles to contend with. Yes, I am that lazy.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 24

Today's happiness -- That I can.  I dropped off a bag for the local food pantry. Pasta, Spaghetti-Os, tuna, mustard, tomato soup, etc. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive. But every box, can and bottle will go to good use. There's something both humbling and satisfying about being able to help. Humbling because it's reminder that it could happen to me, I could be the one who needs a bag of food to get by. Satisfying because I know I just made a difference. And most of all, I'm grateful and happy that I can make a donation.

Sunday Stealing

Click here to play along

1. Favorite fictional couple?  After giving this some thought, I'll go with Bob and Emily Hartley from The Bob Newhart Show. Theirs seemed like a marriage of equals who genuinely enjoyed and supported one another.

2. Favorite fictional character? Jo March from Little Women

 3. Favorite fictional TV show? Mad Men, though I could argue that it isn't all that fictional

 4. Favorite fictional movie? The Way We Were

 5. Favorite fictional villain? Hans Gruber in Die Hard

 6. Favorite fictional hero? John McClane in Die Hard

 7. Favorite fictional pet? Thomasina was a wonderful cat

 8. Favorite fictional setting/universe? OK, ya got me. I have no answer.

 9. Least favorite fictional couple? The Nanny and Mr. Sheffield.

 10. Least favorite fictional character? Anyone played by Patricia Heaton. I can't stand that woman.

 11. Least favorite fictional TV show? Any one starring Patricia Heaton. I can't stand that woman.

 12. Least favorite fictional movie? Star Wars. I don't hate it, I just don't get it

 13. Least favorite fictional villain? I'm sorry. I got nothing.

 14. Least favorite fictional hero? The lead in The DaVinci Code.

 15. Least favorite fictional pet? The Brady Girls' cat. The poor thing disappeared once that group somehow formed a family and became The Brady Bunch.

 16. Least favorite fictional setting/universe? Middle Earth

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 23

Today's happiness -- Saving money.  Instead of spending $40+ in cab fare to the salon for my haircut, I spent $3.50 on the bus. I'm feeling not only happy but virtuous.

Reflections on my Saturday

•  Bromelain is the enzyme in pineapple that causes diarrhea. I ate a ton of it Friday afternoon because it tasted sooooo good and because it's so full of vitamin C and fiber. I didn't know about Bromelain. I do now.

•  Got some serious streaks in my hair today. A good haircut with some highlights is a tonic for anything that may ail me.

 •  Getting caught in the rain exhausts me. I don't know why. The storm cooled things off considerably and made the world more comfortable. Yet when I finally got home I slept away most of my Saturday night. I put on the Cub game -- it was on rain delay, of course -- dozed off and woke up hours later. Even after I finally awoke I was just lazy and rooted to the futon.

Image courtesy of Marin at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: I Got You, Babe

1) Popular music has produced almost countless groups, but not that many duos. Besides Sonny & Cher, can you name another? Hall and Oates. "She's Gone" has been running through my mind for a week now. That little earwig has really borne in!

2)  Hearing this recording from his clock radio is how Bill Murray woke up every morning in Groundhog Day. What woke you up this morning? My cat Rey decided at 4:30 that it was time to rise and shine. He can be a persistent little shit.

3) When she was growing up, Cher practiced her autograph for when she became a star. Is your signature legible? Or is it more of a scrawl? I have very nice handwriting. Which is worth very little in today's world.

4) In addition to show biz, Sonny & Cher had many careers: Sonny was a restauranteur and politician, Cher is an interior designer. Would you like to try your hand at any of those professions? Nope.

5) In 1965, when this song topped the charts, Sonny and Cher were as famous for their wardrobe as for their music. Sonny was fond of tall, heavy-heeled boots while Cher often paired granny dresses with bare feet. What's on your feet right now? I'm barefootin'.

6) By 1968, their career crashed. Cher's early attempts as a movie actress failed, their records stopped selling and the IRS came after them for back taxes. Have you ever been audited? Not an official audit, though twice I've received letters from the IRS explaining that they took a different view of my return than I did. That means twice they made me drink and cry and swear with worry. Fortunately both times my accountant cleared it up and I didn't have to pay any incremental tax.

7) In 1971 they were on top again with their TV show. But their marriage was coming apart. Sonny said, "For the last 5 years I worried about our career, not about us." Have you ever been guilty of putting career before relationship? No. I've been guilty of the opposite and shirking my professional duties because My Man needed me. Funny but in retrospect I do regret it. The men weren't worth it.

8) By 1972 they were living separate lives -- in the same house. For the sake of The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, they pretended to be happily married another year and a half. Tell us about a time when you pretended to be happy, but weren't. HA! Daily! I work in a clown car -- four of squeezed into an office space better suited to two. It's so exhausting to pretend, day in/day out, that I don't hate the proximity of my coworkers.

That's me in the trunk

9) While their separation and divorce were bitter, they resumed their friendship when Cher showed up at the opening of his restaurant in 1976. Have you ever made the first move in repairing a relationship? Yes. I can be stubborn in relationships, to be sure, but if you're my friend I'm quick to forgive.

I wanna hang with these guys

When I was housebound with a cold, I rediscovered Bonanza. My affection/appreciation grows with each episode I watch. Part of it is nostalgia -- when I was a kid, every adult in my life loved the show.* Part of it is quality -- it's well written. Part of it is novelty -- there aren't many westerns anymore.

Part of it is the Cartwright men. They were pretty neat. There's crazy successful patriarch Ben, who built the biggest ranch in Nevada, the Ponderosa. Fair and wise and sensitive. And wildly unlucky in love. His first wife died in childbirth. His second wife died in an Indian attack. His third wife was thrown from a horse. This accounts for two things: 1) since his three sons had different mothers, they can't be expected to look too much alike and 2) why no other woman ever got serious about this sterling man. On the one hand, he must have looked like a catch. On the other hand, I mean really! Marrying Ben Cartwright must be hazardous to your health.

Then there's Adam. Well read and almost always in black. He appreciated art, architecture, and messing with his kid brothers. I have a crush on Adam. Followed by Hoss, the gentle giant who is as strong as he is tender. And passionate Joe, who every now and again can be caught looking at the camera as if to say, "Can you believe how handsome I am?" And he has a point. My mother used to tell me that when I was a very little girl, maybe 4, I loved Little Joe and used to cry when he got punched or shot.

And the Ponderosa. It's a beautiful farmhouse. Living room, dining room and at least seven bedrooms. Of course there was no bathrooms in those days. But so many books! Adam and Ben loved their books and I love their built-in book cases.

Does your cable company carry the Me-Too channel? If so, you can watch Bonanza every day. You might want to give it a peek.

*It was in the Top 10 for 10 of its 14 seasons, and #1 for three years in a row. But my dad liked it because it was always in color. In 1959, it was the only network show in color, when few people had color sets. We were among the first in our neighborhood to have one, and so my dad insisted we watch Bonanza.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 22

Today's happiness -- Checking off the chores.  Here it is, Friday night, and my weekend grocery shopping and laundry are already done! If that doesn't inspire a twirl dance, I don't know what will.

It makes me sad

I want my President to act Presidential. I want the leader of my party, my country and the free world to lead. That's why I have, at times, been disappointed by Barack Obama. I'm no Obamabot. I believe he should have gone to the site of the BP Oil Spill. He should visit our porous border and stand up for the children entering our country.

One thing he shouldn't do ... can't do, really ... is go to Ferguson, MO.

For the benefit of anyone in 2020 who happens to come upon this post, Ferguson is ground zero for racial unrest since the shooting of Michael Brown. I don't know if the kid grabbed for the gun. I don't know if the cop had no cause to shoot. I do know that the city fathers have handled this abominably and that the sight of rioting and looting and police armed as though they were patrolling Gaza instead of Missouri makes me sick.

I wish our President could go there and say something that will bring us together and help us heal. But he can't. Because he's black.

Isn't that a kick? Our first African-American President can't talk about race.

I remember after he spoke candidly about the Trayvon Martin murder -- where the facts were, to my eyes, more obvious than in the case of Michael Brown -- some people were ridiculously up in arms. Two women that I've cybermet through Saturday 9 were especially hostile and, I feel, representative. One said that if there was rioting after the Martin verdict, it would be the President's fault. The other slagged the POTUS and then posted photos of Trayvon flashing his tattoos and exhaling smoke -- as though body art and pot were death penalty offenses, and that the punishment should be meted out by some cop wannabe on community watch. (You know, the man the 911 operator told to stay in his car.)

That second woman really roasts my chestnuts because she begins her blog with a psalm and is so unbearably sanctimonious about all the many hours she spends at church. I just hate it when people wrap themselves in faith so they can feel warm and cuddly with their racism. I realize that the people with the darkest hearts are the ones who can benefit most from church, but I doubt that she spends time looking at her own sins. If she does, she never posts about it. Instead she concentrates on her litany of complaints.

Consequently I no longer watch the news the way I used to -- which was rather compulsively, I admit. Between Ferguson and ISIS, I just can't. It makes too sad.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 21

Today's happiness -- Getting it done.  I completed my session with my personal trainer, having done everything he requested. I was sore, I was sweaty, I was tired. But I was accomplished!

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 20

Today's happiness -- Through a tourist's eyes.  The sidewalks are filled with tourists, both downtown where I work and in the neighboring suburban village where I live. On Wednesday I stumbled upon something that not only makes me more patient when I encounter them, it makes me happy.

When a tourist suddenly stops in the middle of the sidewalk to take a picture, I no longer roll my eyes and exhale loudly as I walk around them. Instead I stop a moment and look at what they're photographing through their eyes. It's a lovely reminder of the architectural marvels I'm lucky to see every day but have come to take for granted.

WWW.WEDNESDAY

To play along, just answer the following three questions ...

• What are you currently reading? The Tuesday Club Murders by Agatha Christie. This is my first Miss Marple book and I'm enjoying it. What a cagey, dear old girl! The book it itself is an easy read, a collection of short stories about mysteries and murders that appear unsolvable ... until Miss Marple looks up from her knitting.

 

• What did you recently finish reading? At Risk by Patricia Cornwell. A dreadful book. It's not often I say this, but I'm sorry I read it. A MUST TO AVOID! The plot is convoluted and every character is unlikeable, except our hero. He's poorly written. I'm a Cornwell fan, but as I read it I thought to myself, "I wonder what big thing Patricia just bought -- helicopter? summer house? -- that she cranked this crap out to pay for."

• What do you think you’ll read next? I don't know. I've got a Linda Fairstein sitting here, but I'm kinda jonesing for a biography.

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August Happiness Challenge -- Day 19

Today's happiness -- First-aid ointment.  I have long had Walgreen's antibiotic cream in my bathroom in case of cuts or burns. I discovered recently that it's good for so much more! Once a pimple is broken, it's no longer "acne," it's a sore just like any other. And when you're of "a certain age" like me, acne treatments like salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide can be very drying and don't seem to help healing. I began applying the ointment and the zit is clearing up much faster! I've begun applying it to the spot where I scratched open a bug bite, too.

So I have found a new way to reduce redness, and that makes me happy!