AZ State Fair 2018

I won a couple of free tickets for entrance into The Arizona State Fair... and tho' budget didn't permit bringing the entire Family, since that can get outrageously expensive when you have Kids that don't want to just walk around for the atmosphere and exercise, I went alone this year.  Since atmosphere and exercise with free entrance was about all I could really afford at the time.  *Smiles*  You cannot do a State Fair on a tight Budget with Kids, Trust me!

I actually walked all the way to the Fairgrounds from Beautiful Encanto Park behind this Guy with the most luxurious Dreads.  I clarified this so you wouldn't think this was me from behind and my Locs had already gotten this long!  *Bwahahaha!*   I Love the walk thru the Historic Neighborhoods from the Beautiful Park to the Fairgrounds, plus is saves me ten bucks that it would cost for parking closer and provides more exercise and scenery... and I don't mean just the Handsome Young Guy with Dreads that was easy on the Eyes!  *Winks*

When you're parking for free near scenery this Magnificent, rather than paying ten bucks or more to park in an overcrowded Fairgrounds parking lot, it's just a no-brainer for me so we've done it for years and just walked a few blocks in.  Wild Geese are migrating this time of year so the Park Canals were filled with flocks of them.

Younger Children can fish in the Canals, they keep them stocked with several varieties of Game Fish and you can rent Canoes and Paddle Boats too.   I remember years ago at a Church Picnic some Friends rented a Canoe and none of us had ever used one so we almost capsized the damned thing!  Needless to say it was my first and last Canoe experience since the City Canal water isn't something I want to get dunked in ever!  *LOL*

But I have done the Paddle Boat thing, which is one helluva Workout, especially if you're doing it with Kids and they fade out leaving you to paddle your ass off alone to get everyone back to Shore!  *Smiles*   This ALWAYS happens with Kids, I've done it with two Generations of mine, our Kids and the G-Kid Force as well and I notice the distinct Pattern.  Kids are notorious wimps once the Fun gets hard and tiring so that nobody is having Fun anymore!  *LOL*

But two Generations of Kids always Loved the Walk thru the Historic Neighborhoods to get to the Fairgrounds from the Free Parking at the Park.  We used to fantasize about which Historic Homes we would want to own, picking our Favorites.   This particular one was always a front runner and still is to this day!  If this Home ever came up for Sale I'd be hard pressed not to want to buy it even after all these years of admiring it!

The particular Historic designated Neighborhoods around Encanto Park are my Idyllic Location in the City to want to live one day in a best case scenario.  When we were seeking a New Home I tried to convince The Man to buy in this area but he wasn't Down at the time for anymore Inner City Urban Living dammit!  Now after a few Years in Rural Subdivision Hell he's seriously considering it as a Future option and is more On Board!  It may never actually happen in this Lifetime, but I like to Imagine it will and still Dream the Dream I've had for Decades about living in this Location! 

So as I Daydreamed for another Year about Historic Home Living in the City once again, as I passed thru the Idyllic Historic Neighborhoods I Love and Admire, I made the annual Pilgrimage to the Fairgrounds.   But going to the Fair isn't about the Rides for me anymore at this Season of Life... tho' for The Force it would be EVERYTHING and thus would cost me a Kidney to afford nowadays!  *LOL*

Nor is it about the Midway and Winning some enormous stuffed animal we don't Need and I'd have to schlep for the Kiddos around the Fairgrounds all damned day!  Or Winning a Goldfish that would live so long we'd have to give it an actual burial years later rather than a flush down the commode into it's Aquatic Afterlife!  *Winks*   Yes, I've done all that for two Generations too, but as Kids and Grandkids grow up into Young Adults, the Midway loses it's Appeal unless they have a Date in tow that they're showing off for!  *Whew!*

Sure, I do still like to see what is On Trend for the desperate Parents and Star Struck Lovers to try to Win this year for their Loved Ones, or the savvy Kids who figure out how to win on the Games when they get Obsessed with a Toy they gotta have!  Every year it's a selection of unique characters that are popular and apparently coveted.    This year seemed mostly to be Pokemon Characters and Minions.   In previous years, when The Son was very young, he Won this enormous Red Bulldog that was some Popular Beer Mascot I think.  *LOL, yeah they were less Politically Correct about Kid's Toys in the 80's and 90's*   And for the Grandson's Era it was an enormous Rasta Banana resplendent with Jamaican Tam and Dreads.  *LMAO, well Okay, mebbe they stayed somewhat Politically Incorrect into the early 2000's*

Now, and particularly at this Season of Life, it is ALL about the Fair Food for moi!  *Winks*  Especially my penchant for Indian Fry Bread, which I have every single year and thus is my Tradition and Ritual at the Fair!  I head straight for my Favorite Fry Bread Stand run by the Navajo Nation, and hands down makes the best Fry Bread at the Fair.   Which has offered it since the 1970's at the same location in the Fairgrounds... or mebbe before I ever got to Arizona!?   This year I went with a Navajo Taco Style sans the Meat... it was Divine!

For those of you who will be going to this year's Arizona State Fair, this is the Stand and it is indeed the Original for Fry Bread with those from the Navajo Nation preparing them.   Sure, you can go to any one of numerous other Stands and Food Trucks offering Fry Bread made by Carnies, often a little cheaper, but personally I rate that they aren't as well made, so I stand by my abiding critique that the First People's make the best and most Divine tasting Fry Bread.  They didn't name them Navajo Tacos for nothing my Friends! 

And since I walked around for a full two hours, I Needed a lil somethin-somethin else that we used to Enjoy getting from the Mexican Food Cart Vendors that used to walk the Old Neighborhood, Fire Roasted Corn on a Stick!   I really wasn't interested in getting mine plain, still husked and just buttered tho', so I trawled several Food Booths before deciding upon which to buy.

I decided upon this one that was offering up some uniquely pimped out Roasted Corn on a Stick this year, including being smothered in The Force's new Fav Snack of Hot Takis!  *LOL*   I wimped out and just went with The Traditional, which is spread with Mayo then rolled in Cotija Cheese and sprinkled with Spicy Seasoning and Lime Juice.   But the Old Man kinda screwed up my Order and rather than being sprinkled with the Traditional Spices I'm used to I got served this:

Which I swear looked and tasted more like Hot Cheetos but still had my Cotija Cheese and actually was quite good so whatever... I ate it!  *LOL*   Now, Word Up, you will pay way more at the Fair for one of these than you will from the Mexican Food Cart Vendors that roam Da Hood, so it will be a spendy Ear of Corn!  But when you're ravenously hungry after traipsing around the Fairgrounds for over two hours, you'll compromise your usual reservations about overpaying for any sustenance and just Pony Up!   This is also why you don't bring the whole Family unless you Won the Lottery or something!  *LOL*

Because even if you fed and watered them Kids to maximum capacity just prior to arriving at the Fairgrounds, they WILL instantly have hollow legs or something to find room within them for a huge assortment of Fair Foods and Beverages they will HAVE to have, or they will allegedly just Die of starvation and thirst!  *Smiles*   And a Child that overly stuffs themselves and then wants to go on every hairy Ride will then feel Sick and often get Sick... just sayin'!

But can you blame them with the selection of Fair Foods being offered and the highly addictive Aromas wafting thru the air heavily?!   Even tho' I'm not eating Meat anymore, the Aromas of every variety of Meat being Bar-B-Qued everywhere was intoxicating!  No, I didn't cave in and eat any, but damn... my Memory Banks did recall which ones were my previous Favorites, I ain't gonna lie!

The Carnivorous Feasting Options were endless... and not a lot of Fair Food is Vegan or Vegetarian Friendly yet, so that meant a lot of shit was off the table for my Nutritarian eating Plan that I'm adhering to.  *Le Sigh*   I very well could have gone down in Flames but honestly, I haven't had Meat Cravings even tho' I still thoroughly Enjoy the Aromas of Bar-B-Qued Meats.   So it was quite easy for me to resist all of this and just Photograph it to make you Crave it instead my Friends!  You can Thank me later!  *Bwahahahaha!*

There was Giant Smoked and Roasted EVERYTHING!  Now, I used to like Turkey just as much as the next person, especially during Thanksgiving, but for some odd reason I've never had a Craving for a Giant Smoked Turkey Leg, not even at the Renaissance Festival!  *Gasp!*   Nope, not even when I was a Carnivorous Creature happily eating Meats before the dreaded Diabetes made me have to alter Lifestyle choices considerably... just never been a Giant Turkey Leg kinda Gal I guess... but if you are, well, they had you covered!   And I have been asked by Family and Friends just what I'm going to eat this Thanksgiving for my first No Turkey No Ham Holidays?!  Humnnn, hafta see what fake Meat options they have for that?!?

Of coarse I'll be preparing the usual Feast for The Family, since I always cook two completely different Meals now, the usual for them and my new options for me... so I'm now getting used to that and haven't been unduly tempted to cheat at all yet.   So I don't know if The Holidays will Trigger anything that might prompt me to fall off the Meatless Wagon, I'm Hoping not!?!   Still too early to tell if the Diabetic Numbers will go down if I continue along this dietary change? But I do seem to be losing some inches and that can't hurt to help control the Diabetic situation and stabilize things... so I Soldier on...

And even tho', had I not been following a Meatless dietary regimen, I would have been interested and intrigued enough to try a few New Fair Food options I saw, like the Thai Chicken Fry Bread, I resisted and just Wondered what it might have tasted like?!?!??   I arrived just when the Fair opened, since I wanted to leave by the time it got madly crowded and while the Weather was still holding. Since Monsoon Storms lately and inclement Weather have been brutal and that Morning had begun quite overcast and ominous looking, so I almost didn't go at all.  So there were no long lines yet while I perused the Food Truck and Booth options.

My free pass was only good for Fair Fridays tho' and I Needed to use it that day while Princess T was still in School, since this whole Week she's on Fall Break and I wouldn't have been able to ditch her to save my Life for School Break Fridays!  *LOL*   The Young Prince is easier to ditch nowadays since he's got a busy Social Life and usually doesn't even know I'm gone and isn't likely to stalk nor shadow me everywhere anymore anyway like she still does.   Well, unless he's totally bored out of his Mind and then perhaps he'll ask where I might be going or blow up my phone when he notices the Truck is gone!  *LOL*

I know you all might be thinking or saying, but you'll Miss them NOT wanting to tag along with you everywhere and be conjoined to you at the hip once they're grown enough they won't want to anymore!?   No... NO I WON'T... and ya wanna know Why?   Because I've been consecutively Parenting Children now for two full Generations already without a Break!  Which by the time I get Princess T raised will have amounted to well over 45 years of Parenting Younger Children and that will have been more than Enough nonstop Child Time for me I'm Sure!  *LOL*

The average Empty Nester is WAYYYYYY Younger than The Man and I, so perhaps they get all teary Eyed and Nostalgic about always having Kids in tow, I dunno?  Because the typical Senior Experience with Children and average Grandparenting Gig might mean you have the Grands perhaps an Hour or so every once in a while... or for a brief Sleepover... and then complain you're completely exhausted... because I hear THAT exaggerated lamenting all the time lemme tell ya!   To which I say SHUT THE HELL UP, you don't know what completely exhausted by Grandkids really is 'til you're Raising them 24-7 and 365... I can do almost any damn thing for a mere Hour or occasional Over-Nighter without a complete Fade now!  *LMAO*

We never had the Luxury of getting all our own Kids raised to Adulthood before we became Custodial Grandparents, so we even had one of our Offspring AND Grandkids being raised simultaneously and that was quite The Experience lemme tell ya!  *LMAO*   If you think your Older Kids resented and complained about your Younger Kids being a pain in their Asses, try having your Older Kid having to Share a room and any Living Space with Nieces and Nephews who live there full time!  It's full on Generational Conflict, posturing for Position in the household and Jealousies of Sharing you of Epic proportions!  *Smiles*

I remember by his late Teens that The Son, very exasperated, once loudly complained out loud that there were too many Kids in our house, to which The Young Prince responded to his Uncle, Well you're almost Grown now SO LEAVE!  *Bwahahahahahahaha!!!*  Yeah, they behaved more like Brothers, with being raised together, than Uncle and Nephew.  And since The Son has been an Uncle since age 7, he just really didn't initially take to Uncling very well, nor us being called Gramma and Grandpa while he was still quite so Young!  *LOL*  I recall when he was 7 and already an Uncle, that he said we shouldn't even BE Grandparents until we had White Hair!  *LMAO*

And Yes, I DO have many fond Memories and Nostalgia about Fairs of the Past where I took our Kids, then our Kids and Grandkids simultaneously, then just the Grandkids... and an assortment of all their Friends over the Years too... and we did always have a big time.  I also recall when the Fair was relatively affordable... which now it's totally NOT and if you're bringing The Family it's going to cost you several hundred dollars no matter how frugally you try to budget!  You're not getting in there nor out of there Cheap anymore lemme tell ya... unless you're Old and have a free Pass to enter that is and go Alone!  *Winks*

I also recall Fairs of the Past before I was ever a Parent and going with my Young Adult Friends here in the Valley.  Cramming into those Black N White Photo Booth Kiosks they have at the Fairs and getting that pix taken that we all did at Fairs with either our Friends, Dates or even as a Family.   Some of my all time Fav Pixs are in fact those Cheesy, Cheap Black N White Fair Pixs like this one with my High School Friend Debbie G.!  For some reason they always turned out so Good, so Candid... and a Good Black N White pix just cannot be beat actually IMO!

Every Generation took 'em... this is The G-Kid Force's Mama, our Daughter, and The Young Prince's Dad when they were Teens at the State Fair.   Her 37th Birthday was Today, my how Time flies... I think they were about 18 in this pix, same Age as their Son is now... like I said my how Time Flies!  She continued the Tradition of having the Fair Black N White pix taken during every visit with various Friends or Boyfriend... or even a Family Group shot... which was rarer, since more than two people is a tight squeeze in a Kiosk!  *LOL*

And Yeah you go to the Fair for other Attractions too, like the Contests of biggest, best, Blue Ribbon Winning things that People just do!  Like growing mutant sized Food, like this almost 700 lb. Pumpkin that Won this Year!  I was going to try to load a Video that accidentally got taken, by the Old Guy guarding the Giant Pumpkins, of me posing with it that was supposed to be a pix taken with my Camera but he didn't know how to work my device and the accidental Video was freakin' hilarious of it!  

I Lose It every time I watch it, especially when the Image goes Sideways... two Old People cluelessly trying to find out how to get a device to work properly again once it's clearly not in Photo Mode anymore!  Too bad the Video won't load to Blogger... dammit!  Or mebbe I'm just too Tech Challenged to get it to... which was the whole Point of Why I even had a hilarious Video in the first place!  *LMAO*  Oh wait... mebbe it DID load after all, I'm giving it a try anyway, lemme know if it cracks you up like it did me if you can get it to Play, which I couldn't?!?   It was while watching this that I found out I apparently Shake like freakin' Howdy Doody and EVERYONE knew this but ME!  OMG, The Man and Young Prince said, Yeah, you always have Shaked, you have for YEARS... didn'tcha know?!?  Hell NO I didn't know, WTF?!?  {Look at my Left Hand tremoring for no apparent reason!}

And the Demonstrations and Free Shows abound too... I didn't catch any Free Shows this day since I only stayed a couple hours before any took to the Stage... but I did thoroughly Enjoy the Fruit Carver Demonstration!  His Creations were quite Magnificent and I Photographed the Hell out of them so I will likely do a whole Post on all of it but a Sampling is here on this Post!   This Guy would be great at a Party and Buffet Presentation for your next Party, huh?  From the Smaller Centerpieces that were Adorable... to...

The enormous Sublime Centerpieces that absolutely took your breath away!   These were absolutely Magnificent edible Art of a wide variety of Fruits and Veggies!   I know my Dad could do this Art Form and often did as a Master Chef, but in recent Years it's been quite elevated as an Art Form.  So I can only Imagine what Dear Old Dad would have liked to try his Artistic Culinary Hand at nowadays, given the advancement of the Techniques and Tools of the Trade being elevated to this extreme level now!?!?!

I mean these aren't your carved Radishes into Roses garden variety types of garnishes anymore!   I think I spent half the time at the Fair admiring these various Displays that were Award Winning.

Every year we say we're going to try our Hand at Pumpkin Art to this elevated level at Home for our Displays.  I feel that with The Young Prince's adept Sculpting Skills and Natural Talent, he'd be a born Fruit and Veggie extreme Garnish Carver extraordinaire!   He once sat with the enormously Talented Ray Villafane to learn some of the Skill sets required, when Ray was giving a Local Presentation last Halloween.

In case you haven't seen some of Ray's Magnificent Work, or the equally Talented Nikolay Torkhov, this is some of what has been Created this Halloween Season for the Carefree Enchanted Pumpkin Garden!  This is one of Nikolay's Sculptures... Sublime, and in person you are just completely blown away by these edible Art Sculptures Created by various Artists for the Seasonal Show!  It runs October 19th thru the 28th in Carefree and is free, so well worth the Pilgrimage to the far East Side of the Valley.

But that's all later this Week so for now we'll just concentrate on what I saw at the Fair in the way of Magnificent Carving of edibles!   And then, like I said, I will probably devote an entire Post or two about just this Art Form since it is worthy of a Post of it's own!

Speaking of Art, I always J'Adore the Art Forms of the Fairs, Carnivals and Circus Art... nothing quite like it and it always adds to the Attraction and Atmosphere of these forms of Entertainment.   

Now one thing that has taken a real dive in recent years is the number of entrants in the Culinary Arts Contests like Cake Decorating and Gingerbread Architecture.  In previous years they would have so many entrants in the exhibits, sadly those numbers keep dwindling down to just a smattering nowadays.  I don't know if people just aren't that Into entering the Contests and trying to Win a Blue Ribbon anymore or what?   I miss the bigger turnouts of Talented Bakers Creating these Art Forms.   My Favorite this year was the Marilyn Monroe Cake blowing a Sugar Bubble of faux Gum... she wasn't holding up too well even under refrigeration, but it was a really Creative Cake.

And natch I always Enjoy the Jewelry Creations and Blue Ribbon Winners of that Art Form.   Tho' I must say this year there were some that didn't necessarily take Home the Blue Ribbons for their Home Arts Projects, but I would have bought their Creations any day!    These Belt Buckle Bling Creations for example were Fabulous...

Loved both that had been Created by the same Artisan...

And there was this Necklace... Stunning!

And let us not forget the Oil Paintings on Display and many Winning Ribbons... many of which were also For Sale!   Many were so Beautifully Painted in the Photo Realism Style that they actually looked like Photographs rather than Oils!   This was one of my Favs...

And this one...  the Eyes were just so Beautiful and captured the Essence of this Attractive Model...

This one...

And these two Ren Faire Inspired Oils by the same Artist, whose attention to Detail just blew me away!

And I do Hope you've Enjoyed coming along Virtually to this Year's Arizona State Fair with me my Friends?   I sure Enjoyed myself tremendously... there's nothing quite like a day at the Fair or a good Carnival is there?   So... until next Year...

*******

Blessings, Love and Light from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian

So Martha Stewart And I Finished Up Halloween Decorating

So Martha Stewart and I finished up the Halloween Decorating, not literally, but figuratively, since I got some of her Halloween Party Decor on Sale 65% Off at 'Michaels' and just hung them up Today.  The Moth trio is Cute but they don't stick well or stay up, so we're already fed up re-hanging them... was'sup with that Martha, those sticky dots are crap adhesives?!?!?!?

Good thing I got 'em at a deep discount or I'd be returning them Moths, still trying to find what would work out better, I'm thinking Jute String and Clothespins?!   I dunno, I don't want holes in the wall to hang shit that is temporary, but a Thumbtack or Upholstery Stud might not be too damaging to Moth or Wall either?

The Jute and Clothespin work out well for hanging Old Photos that have been Halloween Altered.   No, I don't mind this being done, after all, someone else had clearly not thought enough of their Dead or Living Relatives to even keep the Old Photos... so... just sayin'!  At least they're Adopted Relatives now and didn't get thrown away... plus, we Love them and Enjoy Displaying them as Welcome additions to our Holiday Traditions!  Who knows, in Life mebbe they didn't always get added to Holiday Celebrations... now they do every year!

The Dollar Store had enormous Bumpy Heirloom Pumpkins for Sale this Year, who knew?  Okay, so they were a Buck Ninety-Nine each, since now the Dollar Store has some slightly spendier merchandise also for Sale... but still!!!  I got one each for The Force to carve, tho' I'm Hopeful this Variety isn't the super thick skinned type that is impossible to carve into Jack O'Lanterns?  Plus, if they don't wanna carve anything this Year, these still look Cute just Displayed 'As Is'.

I've really had Fun this Year with the Interior Halloween Decor, I wasn't initially very Ambitious about it, but I got on a Roll, found my Rhythm for it, and Paced myself to not try to do it all at once.   Smaller increments of anything now and Moderation are Key for me getting anything actually Done anymore.  I realize that with Age I'm just slowing down some and have to fight the Urge not to even bother!  *Gasp!!!*

Oh Holy Hell it's Truth, and my Mother said it would happen as I reached a Certain Age... and I said Never... and Mom was Right again as usual!  Mom got to the Certain Age where she Enjoyed Celebrating Holidays, just not so much Decorating for them anymore very much as she Aged.  It was just a lot of Work and often she wasn't up to it, now I understand!

And I really Hate admitting that I could be reaching that Certain Age, as my Mom used to call it, because I never thought I would!  Not so much in REACHING that Age, but in losing Ambition, Stamina or Giving a Shit that seems to diminish WITH Reaching that Certain Age!   And there is no specific Timeline for when that Certain Age will be, guess it depends on the Individual and what they have on their Plate of Life as they Age.

My Proverbial Plate is pretty full and heaped up most of the time, has been for Decades, but as I'm growing Older, it's beginning to tell and take a certain toll.  I notice it in strange ways, like what I'm willing to scale way the fuck back on, just because I lack the Ambition... the Stamina... or the fucks I give are slimmer now so I don't give a Shit as much as I used to!  *Bwahahahahahaha!!!*  That goes with profanity too, which I used to temper, now I Need that form of expression sometimes to really flesh out the intensity of how I REALLY Feel!  *Winks*

The Man can really tell, we've been together a very long time now and so when he can see I'm giving less fucks about important things, things that he knows always used to be important to me anyway... he tries to chip in to Help.  Not that he's that Into It, I know he's SO NOT, Holiday Decorating and Intense Revelry in the Holidays not being one of his Things at all ever!  How much do you want me to Help you out with for the exterior Decor he says Today... since exterior Decorating for Halloween was the Mission Statement?

Whatever I can haul out of the Hoarded Garages in five Minutes or less I says with very little Enthusiasm.   That entailed two articulated Skeletons, their Skeleton Dog, a Trick-Or-Treat Sign and a handful of faux Pumpkins.   For me this is as Simplistic as it ever gets and I was completely Okay with that this Year for outside Decor for Halloween!  *Gasp!*   Yep, it's Bare Bones so to speak, literally... winks.   Some shit was even still out there from last Year, I swear... a Celtic faux Stone Cross, a couple Grey Pumpkins and a Votive Cat had never budged or been put away from LAST Halloween!  *Double Gasp!!!*

I put more sticky dots on Martha's freakin' Moths that refuse to stay on the Wall and they will literally be Flying for Reals if they fall off even one more time already!  *LOL*  Don't I just SOUND very much IN THE SPIRIT my Friends?!?  *LMAO*   The Man just came in and told me my Moths are still flying all over the place even after tripling the sticky dots... shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  *Le Sigh*  That's it, I'm hammering those Mo'Fo's up with Upholstery Studs!  And speaking of dropping the Mo'Fo Bomb, Kanye in the Oval Office dropping it and sounding like a complete Head Case while being exploited to lure the Black Vote and approval rating by 45 since Kanye professes to 'Love him'!  And someone acting bat shit crazy is always the best endorsement for this Administration, right?  *Le Sigh*

  All this Sideshow shit as parts of the Country have been utterly destroyed and devastated by Weather and should be focused upon instead, due to the catastrophic losses of property and lives... blatant evidence of fucked up Priorities by this Administration!  Pandering to Celebs and the Music Industry when we've got a Natural Disaster going on affecting so many American People is just proof that this Administration is oblivious to what should be a Presidential Priority!   Exploitation of anyone with Mental Health Issues is a pet peeve of mine anyway too, I'm a staunch Advocate for the Mentally Ill, it's tragic, disgraceful and cruel to put them on Display when they're clearly unraveling! 

Okay, so I can't even GO THERE in depth or I'd implode I swear and honestly I have no words, it was that unbelievable and shocking to me, more grim than The Reaper!  It was just very hard to watch... along with Jim Brown, a Legend, giving the Side Eye to Kanye, I can only Imagine what he was thinking being right there in that Media Circus for the whole World to Witness!?!  It just gets Creepier and Creepier... even more Creepy than the Old Halloween Costumes to watch World Leadership stoop to these depths of depravity! 

So here's one of the other paltry Halloween exterior Vignettes out in the Front Courtyard entry to the Villa.   I didn't even bother to toss Princess T's broken Hula Hoops away or remove The Man's Walker... they're just now part of the Holiday Decor I guess?   I should have probably stuck one of the Skeletons behind the Walker 'walking'... and if I had more of them I KNOW I'd of hung them off the damned Juliet Balcony Of Death out front just to piss some Uptight Asshole from the HOA off this Year!  *Bwahahahahaha!!!*  

Yeah, the New Neo-Nazi bunch that got Voted in on the HOA sent out Letters about Holiday Decorating and what is now 'forbidden'!   Give me a break, it's kinda like the six damned pages of 'forbidden' Plants and Trees they also came up with just after being installed as the New Regime of Subdivision Hell!  Don't these Fools have Lives... or anything better to actually do that Dream this shit up I Wonder?!?   Makes me want to light a few of them on Fire actually... so it's probably a good thing I Work on the Nights they hold their 'Community' Meetings so I can't Identify who they are, huh?!?  *Bwahahahahah!

So this Year, mostly becoz I'm all out of giving a fucks... I have kept my exterior Decor Private and just within our Front Courtyard where it cannot even be seen from the Street.  It can still be Enjoyed by Guests and Trick-Or-Treating Families when they come, which is the Point anyway... so I'm Good with just that and fuck the HOA and their myriad of ridiculously pretentious anal uptight Rules.   Is that enough adjectives to convey how I REALLY Feel about them and their Rules?! *Winks*

Last Halloween some of the older Trick-Or-Treaters actually TP'd some of the most Pretentious Community Member's Homes and Honestly, it tickled me to death!  Serves them right, they pick on the Young People all the time and are so rigid, clearly they forgot what it was like to be Young?!  Or mebbe they're just Envious and Bitter they're NOT anymore, and aren't really Relevant in spite of their Drama to draw Attention to Self, try to Control everyone and puff up their Egos, who knows?!  I know every Young Person I've talked to here in Subdivision Hell is Anti-Establishment of the ridiculousness and pretension of it all!  Thank God, mebbe their Generation will be the ones to finally do away with all the bullshit and smash the Patriarchy?!

Because Seriously, every little trivial thing seems to Annoy them and get under their Skin, they're so very effortless to Offend and yet can't see how very Offensive and behaving so repulsively Entitled they are.   Most are rabid 45 Supporters too, just sayin'...   They fit right in with the current Regime of this dis-united States of America right now.   Tragically there are so many coming out of the woodwork that it's like a plague of Biblical proportions!  Sorry, but the latest Supreme Court installment has me gakking at the Good Ole' Boy Network still in place and trying to resist being further agitated and unsettled about it all... you know, the Insanity of it!!!

It is very Interesting, to say the least, to Witness what some can align themselves with that is actually repulsive and quite shocking.  It makes me realize that you never really know what is in the Hearts of many until it is revealed in all it's ugliness, it's Hatred and general malaise, looking for handy Scapegoats to 'blame' for all they're disenchanted about in their own lives!  

A favorite fellow Blogger recently Shared this on her Blog Post and I felt it was worth Sharing again on mine, even tho' I abhor being Political, since I think the whole Political Shitshow on ALL sides and every 'Party' is just tediously ineffective in the modern day Unifying of any Country and it's Citizens... it just further polarizes everyone and therefore becomes an 'Us' against 'Them' mentality!  However, this resonated with me deeply when I read it and the Writer could be right:

Somewhere on the wide spectrum between adolescent teasing and the smiling white men in the lynching photographs are the Trump supporters whose community is built by rejoicing in the anguish of those they see as unlike them, who have found in their shared cruelty an answer to the loneliness and atomization of modern life. 

It's from this article, titled The Cruelty is the Point.

You don't have to be in Agreement with me, in fact, whether someone Agrees or Disagrees I really don't Care... Politics and Religion being very deeply Personal.  I can be perfectly Fine with Agreeing to Disagree... or be in Agreement without Drama ensuing on my part anyway.   To me any Society should be more about Love, Unity, Peace and Harmony as Mutual Goals.  Something that Unifies and is Positive Energy expended rather than Negative Energy expended.  Since how can you NOT be Agreement really with being Kind, Loving, Respectful, Harmonious with fellow Human Beings and generally Peaceful unless you have some serious inner turmoil and shit going on far beneath your own surface?

If it is not your personal preference and you prefer the antithesis to Kindness, Love, Harmony, Peace and Unity then I have to get a little bit ugly myself and say get the fuck away from me!  *LOL*   Seriously, I avoid Toxic People like the plague, they are contagious and will infect, contaminate, infest and pollute everything and everyone they are exposed to!   They just can't help it, it's the Nature of that Beast they carry within themselves as baggage.  Sometimes it's clearly evident what Toxins and Demons they harbor within themselves, other times it's much more insidious and benign appearing.

And still others can be so easily led astray by the likes of them too and align themselves with them... I think the majority end up in that Camp frankly.   I often Wonder if it crept up like that upon other Societies when atrocities happened and alignment just went so askew as to make it tolerable, acceptable even, to commit an atrocity against Humanity at all?   Mob mentality can be a Weird phenomenon like that.  As an Individual someone might not cross the line, but in a Mob, they feel Safer being the Anonymity of it all seems to protect their Identities and cloud the Moral Compass they might have ever had.

I personally think that the fake gore of Halloween pales in comparison to the very Real Evils that take place in the World for Reals... every day... on an epic scale actually.   Sometimes it's hard to look... but we mustn't look away and become desensitized to any of it and pretend we don't SEE!   Acknowledgement of what is Wrong and what is Right is crucial if we are to ever get straight as a Species.   We have that benefit over the Animal Kingdom actually... the knowing of Right and Wrong... it would be a shame to not USE it to better this World rather than be the destruction of it!

I had not Taken Care of some minor things for a whole Year... but in the Grand Scheme of Things it didn't really matter, the Neglect was evident but the damage control is minimal regarding my inattentiveness.   But to not Take Care of the major things would matter a whole lot my Friends.   Let us not Neglect those major things and marginalize them!  Let us not marginalize anyone, even if they are very different... it can be hard... some differences are quite profound and working it out to where we can be tolerant takes Work.   We must do the Work since we Share this Planet!

And I didn't initially intend to get Deep with Topics for this Post... nor try to solve the Problems of the Universe either... initially it was just Martha Stewart and I finishing up the Halloween Decorating with her Lovely yet terribly Annoying Moths that won't stick to my Walls very well!  *Smiles*  We're in Celebratory Mode and I won't let even the shitshow shenanigans of our Government totally interfere with that Joy, with the Traditions and Rituals we seek Comfort in and hold dear.

The G-Kid Force's Mama will be Celebrating her 37th Birthday in just a few days... on the 14th.   It's great to see her doing better and looking Well for a change, it is Answer to fervent Prayer on my part and hard Work on her part.  She has suffered much with Serious Mental Illness and over two decades of self medicating with dangerous drugs and self harm.  She has enjoyed Sobriety for the first time in a very long time and stabilized to the point of Enjoying more quality of Life in recent Months.  My Mother's Heart is bursting with Joy about that!   I can see the Confidence and Beauty again radiating outwards and the inner turmoil subsiding somewhat despite the ravages of Lifelong Illness and chronic Addiction.

All of her Children are so Happy to see their Mama doing better, looking Well and at more Peace within herself.   We've had much more contact, more Photos being Shared again... and it's been a very long time coming to this Place we're now at... a long difficult Journey we've all be on.   This Daughter has a Wicked sense of Humor and we always laugh when we talk, hysterically, almost manically because we find Humor in what isn't really Funny to most people and they probably would have no point of reference to how it could be Funny to us either?!?  *Smiles*  Happy Birthday my Love, we Miss You and always, always hold you up in Prayer and place you in our Lord's capable Loving and Merciful Hands.

We also had a Surprise Visit from one of our long time Good Friends who used to Work with The Man when they were both in the Military, now Retired.  He came out from Tennessee and spent the day with us and that made The Man very Happy, it had been too many Years and we had a lot of catching up to do!  I also attended a Bar-B-Que with The Son and some other Lifelong Friends who we hadn't seen in Years... I should have taken pixs, I had my camera, but entirely forgot as we just Enjoyed each other's company again.   So much History Shared cannot be replicated and it is indeed Priceless.   Make Memories this Holiday Season, Share some more Future History with those you want to do Life with right now!   That's all we'll take into the Afterlife you know... our Memories and our Spirit.

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Happy Halloween... from Me, Martha and the Villa Boheme' Posse... Dawn... The Bohemian