Ahhh, How We Evolve, Eh?

 Closing in fast on 3 Million Blog Views to the Ole Blog, just WOW, who knew our little slices of the Blogasphere could even be found at all!?  *LOL*  Honestly, when I began Blogging, I was thinking, Cyberspace is so vast, nobody will ever find or read this, I'm still amazed they do!  I never thought anyone would be the least bit interested in my Photography or the stream of consciousness and Life stuff Blogged about.  But, I liked to Write and I Love Photography, so it was something I always enjoyed doing since Day One.  The Grandson set it up for me when he was Nine and explained what a Blog even was, as I didn't know this Community even existed!  The Kids know everything there is to know about Technology and Social Media.

I'm forever Grateful he introduced me to this Wonderful Community that has been a part of Life now since 2009 for me.  It's heyday has eclipsed now, but, enuf Bloggers remain to make it relevant.  Every so often I even find a New Blog to Connect to.  Tho' much has changed within the Blogging Community and the Industry Blogs barely exist anymore that I predominantly followed in the early days of Blogging.   When Junquing and the Flea Markets across the Country were a bigger Deal and my Industry Friends all had Biz Blogs, as did most of my Blog Friends in those days too.  I never was a Biz Blog, I didn't pigeonhole my Blog Topics to any one thing, any one genre, so it's always been more eclectic and varied of Topics, on purpose.

I remember in the early Years wanting to improve my Blog, so I'd read Published Bloggers Tips.  But then I'd visit their Blogs and think, these Blogs Suck, there's nothing I can Learn from this, I don't even Like their Blogs!  *Bwahahaha*   So, instead, the Blogs I liked the Visuals of, I Studied to improve how I Posted my Photos.   And the Blogs I Loved to Read, I Studied how they presented their Stories and which I felt were good Writers or Storytellers.   It was much more Helpful and informative in improving how I decided to eventually do my own Blog and my own thing out here in the Community.   I experimented a lot, since it's a Creative Space, so, why not?   Let's have Fun with it.  *Smiles*

I guess I found that my Blogging Style was "Go Big Or Go Home".  So I enlarged Pixs and I go Long on the Storytelling.   Yeah, it's Muchness, but, so am I, so it's Authentic to Self and no pretenses here, I'm keeping it 100 with my Peeps.  *Winks*   And I still get Inspired by many of my Favorite Bloggers here in The Land.   This Community really does Rock and there's no Right or Wrong way to Blog IMO, there are no Blog "Rules", and even if there was, who makes the Rules anyway and by what Authority?  *LOL*  I am Surprised Moderators haven't Censored me, they have some Blog Friends, and I find Censoring on Social Media rather a Joke really... and very Subjective... and discriminating in so many ways I can't even take it Seriously!   I did have The Book Of Faces Police once Suspend me as a temporary Punishment once tho'!  *LOL and faux Gasp*

I had Posted a Pix of a Vignette in my Home on my Closed Page, so it is only Open to Invited Guests to View anyway, no Strangers access.  Well, it had a Nude 1800's Cabinet Card displayed in the Vignette.  She's a Full Monty but very tasteful and a very Beautiful Bohemian Free Spirited Woman of her Era, it's not obscene.   I've seen some real obscene shit on The Book of Faces and it's actual Porn they should probably Censor!  So imagine my Surprise when the FB Police Censored that Image, insisted I take it down or they would, and Suspended me for like Three Days as a "Warning" of "Inappropriate" Content!  OMG it was fucking hilarious and Tame compared to what I've put out here over the Years on the Ole Blog.  I'm not the most Inhibited Human you'll ever meet, let us just say.  And, I'm very Opinionated and Uncensored about my Point of View being a Strong one I'll freely express.   If you have Delicate Sensibilities and easily Take Offenses, we probably can't be Friends.  *Winks*

My Dear Lifelong Friend that Died this Week, of Cancer, Mike, had once told me he got Censored by the FB Police once too, for a Breast Cancer Awareness Post he did picturing some Brave Women baring their Mastectomies!  I saw the Post before FB made him take it down and Suspended him.   He couldn't Believe it either and we Laughed and Laughed about our FB Suspensions.  Especially considering what we'd seen a lot of mostly Men Post on FB, but some Gals who are feeling Sexy all the time and Posting of themselves too, that is nothing but soft Porn of Females with Tits, Ass and everything else on full Display and vulgar.   But, a Cancer Survivor Female cannot show her Scars or Breasts and perhaps the removal of One or Both?  For Breast Cancer Awareness to Save other Lives?  Really?   Shame, Shame Facebook!!!  Be consistent and not so biased and discriminatory or hypocritical, if you're gonna Clutch your damned Pearls and get the Vapors.  Pleeeease, Spare us the Staged Theatrics of it all!  *Eye Roll*

I get a kick out of those who so easily get the Vapors, Pearl Clutch and make a pretense of being so Self-Righteous or uber Religious and so easily Offended.  What a lot of them do when nobody is looking or knows is often quite revealing, salacious or scandalous actually.  *Winks*   Oh some of the Files I've seen at the DA's Office, in Sex Crimes and Family Violence Crimes particularly, of the Convicted of that Ilk, well, are some of the worst Spilled Tea you'd ever have revealed!  Of what really goes on with and in that particular Crowd when they slip up and get exposed for what and who they really are and do.  Those who Protest the loudest about the rest of us, well, as Shakespeare once said, "Thou Protest too much, methinks...", about says it all.   When someone denies or Protests something so strongly that their over-the-top reaction is suspect, it suggests to me that they may actually be Guilty or trying to Hide something about themselves?   Red Flagging themselves immediately.  *Winks*

People are only as Sick as their Secrets really.   Better to Come Clean and be Authentic, I can at least Respect that Honesty and lack of Hypocrisy.  Hypocrisy is unfortunately rampant these days and I never Trust a Liar or a Thief, you can't, ever.  If anyone does, it's at their own Risk.   I recently found some Old Pixs of Rooms at The Villa McManse that I do really miss, like my Meditation Room, pictured Above.  That sprawling ridiculous sized Home did have several Empty Rooms that even a Maximalist like me couldn't fill, so, Yeah, it was too much House.  In a horrible Community of pretentious fucks, with a Devil of an HOA, but I did LOVE that Palatial Home, I ain't gonna Lie.   I'd never lived in, let alone Own, a Million Dollar Listing before, so, for a Minute it was like Living The Dream, which turned into a Nightmare.  As usually happens when you think you've "Arrived" and it ain't all that and a Bag of Chips.  But the Pictures are Pretty and can still be Nostalgic in a Good way.  *Bwahahaha*

It had so many Bedrooms and Bathrooms that we didn't even Use them all, let alone Decorate them all, some remained Empty even 5+ Years later.   And to whom much is Given, much is Required, and, I was pretty much Over what was Required within about the 1st Year I think.  *Smiles*  But damn, it Showcased my Beautiful Hoard of excess Cargo Beautifully and it could never even be or seem cluttered, coz it was too damned oversized.  The Ceilings were ridiculous Height, I couldn't even Change my own Light Bulbs or AC Filters!  *Winks*   The biggest Rooms here are smaller than the smallest Rooms there, so we had to get rid of just about all our Furniture when we left.   I do miss some of those fabulous oversized Antiques that came out of Old Mansions that just wouldn't fit here and so I had to Sell Off.  *Sob*   And Yes, I Miss having a Red & Black Room like I've had at every Home except this one!  We have a Black Wall in the Guest Bedroom and Princess T's Bedroom, but, no Blood Red!  *Bwaaaaaaa*

The only Space I miss more than this Meditation Room at the Villa McManse would have to be the Art Studio Cottage at the Historic Home, which, Yup, was Black & Blood Red too in the Main Area.  It had been a Carriage House and Stables at the Turn of the Century and turned into a Cottage on the Historic Homestead.  And I LOVED and SOOOOO Miss that Space... and well... the whole Historic Home and Property actually.  I do Miss the Walk Score too since it was in Historic Olde Town in a very Old Barrio that had so many Quaint Shops, Restaurants and Bodegas that were the Lifeblood of the Community and still are.   Yeah, we still go back coz many Friends still Live there, but, here is a better Location for us at this Season of Life, and I ain't complaining, we've Owned some Fabulous Homes and in many ways miss each and every one of the Homes and Properties, for different reasons that were different Seasons of Life's Journey.   I never owned a Property I didn't fall in Love with, and parting with what is Loved is always Emotional.  Or mebbe that's just me?

Yeah, I do still have some of the Stuff, mostly the Smalls that could easily be Cargo that is Stored and Moved from place to place.   So, there is some continuity, but I get so damned Attached to my Stuff and my Properties, and Detaching is always difficult for me once I've formed those damned Attachments.  *LOL*   I'm like Steve Martin in "The Jerk" {1979} when he's leaving and saying, "All I Need is this...", and then before he knows it he's got an Armload of Shit he thinks he Needs!  *LMAO*   I was a Minimalist and still a Global Nomad back in 1979 and could move everything I Owned in less than an Hour back then, and Lived Small and Unattached, to People, Places or Things, very little Cargo.   So I thought Steve's Character was hilarious and I'd never Be that Person... with even an Armload of Shit I'd be schlepping around... and now, here we are.   Ahhh, how we Evolve, eh?   *Bwahahaha*

Sweet Baby Jesus, Joseph, Mother Mary and all the Saints, I Evolved into quite a complicated Version of my previous Self apparently.   Time does have a way of Doing that, of Becoming, doesn't it?  *Winks*   I don't even think I Envisioned Attaining Old Age, so I didn't quite know how to do it when I arrived at it I guess?   Still don't.  *Bwahahaha*  Somehow I never Feel like an Old Person on the Inside, or in my Spirit and Essence at all, even as the Outside is clearly showing, Yeah, you're There, Dawn.  *Winks*   I don't mind it at all, Old Age being a Privilege not afforded to everyone, I've enjoyed Growing Old and Feel Blessed to have been given the Privilege of it, Living to see so many Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren now.   And Lord knows I've Outlived damned near all of my Peers now, which is still Strange, still unsettling and hard, coz out of all of  us, I might have seemed the most At Risk, you know?   Had anyone taken a Survey and Bets on who would Last.  Chances are, nobody would have picked me!!!  *Bwahahaha*

My Mom always said that too, she was a Premie Baby back when they didn't even have Incubators and she was Born at Home and not expected to Survive.  Every Day after that for the next 84 Years she said was Bonus Time with many projected Expiration Dates she defied.  *Smiles*  She was Sickly her entire Life too and said our Dad had only been Off Work a Single Day in his whole Adult Life when he broke some Ribs... and he preceded her in Death by a whole Decade.  Tho' at 74 he was the Oldest of all his Relatives to get that far, so, that was really something he didn't expect either and often said so.   None of us has an Expiration Date stamped on our Asses so you just aren't Dead really 'til God says so and that's how I Live Life and with that Outlook.   Death being more certain than even Taxes, we all gotta eventually do it.   I wouldn't even Plan on or wanna be an Immortal actually.   Have you ever even seen someone whose 100, ewwww... Yeah, No... not an aspiration of mine to achieve.

And tho' you'd get a Letter from the President, the only thing I'd be Happy about and Celebrating then is that it wouldn't be THIS President!  *Bwahaha and Winks*   Listen, I'm Losing too many Fine folks to the Grim Reaper lately to Care when that Criminally Dangerous Insane Inhumane Psychopath Fucker finally drops Dead.  I've wanted to find one of those T-Shirts in my Size that simply says, "Is He Dead Yet?"  Everyone who sees that Shirt knows Who, it needs no Name or Explanation even... which speaks Volumes.    And as America continues to devolve I realize he isn't the only Issue this Nation is reckoning with at all in how lacking in Humanity we've now become and that the entire World is now Witnessing.   I see it as the Fall and Failure of what once was a Great Nation, and why so many with Means, who can leave, now are.   The Exit Strategy if and when things Circle the Drain completely for most Americans is non-existent and that will definitely be a Day of Reckoning then.

When I heard of a Geriatric long time Green Card Holder {they're actually Pink now BTW}, here Legally, Married to an American and with American Grown Children, was recently rounded up by ICE and Deported to a Country not even her own, while she was just out Shopping, I was So FUCKING Glad my Dear Mom wasn't still Alive!  *Whew*  I'd be Worried Sick about her every day otherwise!!!   And this Regime has toyed with the Notion to make all Indigenous Tribal Registered Native Americans NOT U.S. Citizens too!  Can you even Wrap your Minds around how ludicrous that Notion is?   The Original First Nations Peeps, whose Land was Stolen and was Americas first attempted Genocide of an entire Race of People, being considered NOT United States Citizens, becoz this Cabal of Vulgarians deems them still "Undesirables".   Where pray tell would they send the Indigenous all off to, since, this is their Original Home and has been for Thousands of Years, they're not Immigrants.  And actually Nobody is Illegal on Stolen Land IMO!!!

And Yes, it disturbs my Calm when I hear those Reports coming from our White House, which should be Representing ALL Americans, not just their Cult of MAGA Devoted Peeps.   And deeming the rest of us of unworthy of Representation or even wanting to allow any of the rest of us Rights, basic Humanity extended, trying to Purge us from our Country, WTF?!   It just all makes me Angry and Militant as Hell!!!   And anyone whose not Angry about it, I have to ask, Why?  Why is it all Acceptable to you?  What's Wrong with you?!   Coz that's being Seriously Twisted when you Delight in and Sanction the Suffering or Cruelty of any Sentient Being, be it Human or Animal!   People like that are the ones we all should be Cautious of and keep ourselves Safe from, coz they're dangerous and literally capable of Supporting anything, no matter how vile, abhorrent or heinous.

I don't know when Compassion fell out of Fashion in America?  When exactly was that?   And Explain it to me, coz I personally don't know how it could or should have fallen out of Favor!!!   Or now seen as something Negative and too "Woke" to have in your arsenal of the Fruits of the Spirit of Godliness expressed towards all Sentient Beings here on this Earthly Realm!   And to those who actually Think themselves to be Godly and have or show no Compassion, you need some Conviction before you heap Condemnation on anybody else, feeling Superior to them, for Reals.  You're not at all bearing Good Witness to anyone, or being any representation of God.   I can't even Imagine what The Lord must think or feel about your pretense of Representing Him at all???!   A Cruel Christian is an Oxymoron, for example... you've slapped a Description upon yourself that isn't at all accurate, authentic or Believable.  You may be fooling yourself, but you're not fooling almost anyone else.

 

Anyway, enuf of the awfulness I see playing out Daily here on our Soil, it's disgusting, inhumane and inexcusable.  I'm tired of the Political Theater and Polarization of what should be a UNITED States of America! Where Americans Value one another instead of having these Partisan Obsessed Party over Country Cultish leanings.  I'm a Proud American, I Love my Country, our Family has made many Sacrifices for Country and shown intense Patriotism to protect and preserve our Democracy for Generations.  I do find it "Interesting" that in spite of all the Atrocities committed by this Administration in 1.0 and worse in 2.0, that the MAGA Base Tipping Point is the Epstein Drama.   Fascinating that it was their "Bridge Too Far", given all the Bridges that weren't, huh?  *Eye Roll*

 And, tho' they tend to Worship at the Altar of all their Conspiracy Theories... should a "List" exist and is being covered up, which I'm not discounting actually, I personally never Believed the Perv Convicted Child Sex Trafficker Offed himself either.  It was a very suspicious series of Events that led up to that Conclusion and it's Ending of him.  And, he had a long standing Bromance with Donnie Two Dolls, they were Tight for Decades, up to his Death actually.  But, he knew who his Clients were, that's for sure.  Who knows if he put their Names in Writing or not as Leverage or as Blackmail and Extortion?   And a lot of Donnie's Closest, are adjudicated Sex Offenders, just like he is.  So, Birds of a Feather and all that.  Pervs and Pedos be doing Perv and Pedo stuff.  I wouldn't Trust any of them around any of our Kiddos, Male or Female.  Once a Sex Offender, Always a Sex Offender.  The DA's Office kept their Files indefinitely becoz of that.  Not a matter of IF they'll Reoffend, just WHEN?

 

This is a Blast From The Past I dredged up of The Nieces when they were posing as "Charlie's Angels".  The Niece who visits us all the time is the one on the Far Right in a Football Jersey and she's the Oldest of the Sisters.   The Sister, whose the Youngest, is on the Far Left and lives in Arizona too but I've only seen her a couple times.   The Middle Sister lives in Texas and I haven't seen her in many Years, she only came back to Arizona for a Memorial for their Mom, who was one of my BFF's and a Lifelong Friend.  No Biological Connection but our Families Adopted each other way back in the early 1980's and nobody ever suspected we weren't actually Related.  *LOL*   Barb was the Sister I never had... and I've been so Blessed to have a few of those Sisters from Other Mothers, as we call ourselves.  *Smiles*   The Oldest and I couldn't be closer and she says she's closer to The Man and I than she is with any of her Biological Aunts and Uncles.   And The Daughter was Besties with all Three Sisters growing up, they grew up together... and The Son is like the Brother they never had.

And speaking of Lifetime Besties of my Adult Kiddos, these Two Gals have been too, growing up together and remaining very close.  Lots of Shared History with their Two Families as well.   Sadly, both Gals now have Moms with Stage 4 Cancer being Battled.   Right now we have so many Close Friends with an advanced Cancer Diagnosis, it weighs so heavy upon our Hearts.  I do Wish there were more advances on a Cure and higher Survival Rate of all forms of it.   I've had some Friends and Family who Thankfully are Survivors of Cancer.  Each of my Parents had Cancer and beat it, neither of them Died from that Disease, tho', they both had to have major Surgeries and Dad lost an Eye to it.   But, my Paternal Grandmother Died from it, so did a Paternal Aunt... and numerous Friends and Co-Workers. 

The Man and I did some Environmental Cleanup so I'd put a Crockpot of Meat and Veggie Chili on this Morning and it turned out really, really good.  Both The Daughter and The Granddaughter had their Boyfriends over, so we were feeding a Crowd and they all came back for seconds, as did I.  I put stuff in it that I hadn't before, like some Del Monte canned Seasoned Zucchini with Italian Tomato Sauce, which, was a very nice addition.  I often put Mixed Vegetables as well as Spiced Tomatoes and a wide variety of Beans in our Chili to get some of that into the Bellies of the Family who normally are resistant to eating Healthier Foods, but will if it's in a Chili that is very tasty.   I use various Proteins too, this Chili had Spicy Italian Sausage plus some Ground Lean Hamburger... about Eight kinds of Beans and a plethora of Mixed Veggies.  *Winks*  I've never made a Chili that nobody liked, and I try lots of ways to make Chili, it's a Family and Friends Favorite when I make some.

Neither of the Boyfriends has Home Cooked Meals so they always enjoy being invited to join us.   And, Rusty takes The Granddaughter out to eat a lot, she's the fussiest eater in the Family and has a lot of Food Allergies and Gut Issues, but she's always fine with the Chilis.   And any time she goes back for Seconds you know you done good.  *Winks*   I had to take The Son halfway to Work and pick him up after Work halfway from Home, due to the ongoing Car Issues.  He accidentally spilled a whole Soda in the back Seat of my Truck when I hit a bump in the Road.  *Le Sigh*   So, hadda clean that mess up and wasn't happy about it, but, when you have Family, your Vehicle is gonna get spills, it's a Given, so, you know it's inevitable at some point.   That Used Car Salesman never got back to me yet, but, we can't go down until the Weekend {Saturday} anyway, so... it is what it just is.   If that Truck we were interested in is gone by then they did have other Vehicles in that Price Range.

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