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The Milk Man Cometh

We went to see Milk last night and Sean Penn was awesome. It was incredible to be watching this movie based on a true life story of a man who fought for gay rights in the late 70s – can this be true? That in 1978, politicians were trying to outlaw gays working in schools? It sounds so bizarre – almost like Civil Rights (1964) had to be fought for for a black person to…

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A spoonful of vinegar makes the virus go bye bye

I had a virus and then a relapse and then a relapse and then another relapse and thought I was just going to go insane or sink into depression until I went online and found a medical website that said a virus can turn into a fungus and that you have to make an inhospitable home to both by either inhaling hydrogen peroxide or taking a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar three times a day.…

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Fish swim, birds fly, parents age by and by

We’re in our usual end of the year downward spiral – the one that starts around Thanksgiving for mom and circles downward till well after the new year. There’s the black eye, the missing two teeth, and now the cold. There’s also the denial that her $10K dental work can be covered some by Medicare if she works it right but NO she doesn’t want that and she doesn’t have $10K. A perplexing dilemma. Much…

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When you are old and grey and nodding by the plant…

Arlene Star, Arlene the Bean, Arlenoush, Arlenushka, Beanmush has grown old, four months shy of her 14th birthday, we are witnessing the rapid decline. Her anxiety reached a high pitch as the pacing picked up, the incontinence hastened, the running into objects intensified a couple of nights ago. The vet prescribed anti anxiety pills. We tried one and she was almost comatose and punch-drunk twelve hours later. So we gave her half last night and…

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Friends forever

I was having dinner the other night with two girlfriends – catching up on lost time – one of them told me about this video, about two men who purchased a lion cub they saw in a cramped cage at Harrod’s and how they brought it home, but a year later, the cub became a lion and so they decided to bring it back to Africa to let it out into the wild. Then they…

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Eat your heart out

While the rest of the world is stymied from weather, we here in New Orleans are enjoying a warm tropical Christmas. I woke around 6:30 am hearing Arlene pacing and jumped up to take her out back to pee. It was just barely morning and from over the fence I saw my two neighbor kids flying in the air – Santa brought them a trampoline! Then T and I walked Loca through the park this…

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Muffalettas and mom

Mom broke two teeth and now is faced with having the rest extracted and getting a denture – anathema she believes. So she’s not leaving the house. Her 73rd birthday is this Sunday, the last of the eight days of Hanukkah, and despite all the cajoling and assuring, she refuses to budge from her reclusiveness. So we brought a muffaletta and some soup and went to visit her today. She also had a black eye…

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A little mercy now

Y’all have read about me wondering aloud most of the time why I’m so blessed. I just want to take a moment to tell those right now who don’t feel blessed this season, that there is light at the end of the tunnel. When I was taking the birthmother of our child home and driving along Earhart Expressway, she said, it is unbelievable Obama got elected, and I said, yeah, Bush was that bad, America…

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The reward is greater than the risk

I’ve been talking to a lot of my friends and family about our baby who is on the way in June. And a few of them, including my mom, have voiced their concern about private adoption. It’s risky, they say. And I said you’re right. This woman could change her mind at the last minute they warn, and I say you’re right. Anything could happen they tell me, and I say you’re right. You don’t…

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