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Sun, 09 Nov 2008 14:05:26 -0800

11.9.2008 - Part 1 of 3:

Hello to you people, such kind folks to me! I haven't been stumbling around here for about 9 months! I was (sometimes these days, still am) in the doldrums, in a funk, in a depression, inside of deep sorrow.

Is the sorrow gone? It simply can never vanish unless a very important aspect of my life changes, but that's too deep to talk about right here and now.

However, my change in attitude is that I am not going to let it drag me down into the muck and mire of tears--but more so, I refuse to let it stop me from being who I am and doing what I do! I WRITE. Finally, after too many years not loving what I do, I am loving what I do best: I WRITE!!!

And so, know I read your letters to me and that I appreciate them so much. I feel for you, I am so darned sensitive that it is impossible for me not to feel for you as I read your letters to me. Oh, you are so generous to write to me!

Our world really is getting tough, yes? It's got to be harder for those of you that are younger than I am. Why do I say that? I say it because you were born around the time, or after the time that the power movements evolved, specifically, the Women's Liberation movement.

I remember all too well how women used to "rap" at the WL meetings that my friend, Lise, brought me to in the early '70s. They were in Hyde Park, that bastion of liberalism that is actually a neighborhood of the south side of Chicago called "Hyde Park - Kenwood," which is where Barack Obama has a house.

As a side to this little discussion: I sold real estate for so many years, lived for many years in Hyde Park - Kenwood, and I have absolutely loved architecture from as far back as my memory goes, so how could it be that I would not share with you what living in Hyde Park is? It has the most splendid architecture! But UC run it, as the local gang members used to spray paint on the cement walls that are located underneath the IC tracks (UC = University of Chicago; IC = Illinois Central Railroad that runs to its final stop to downtown Chicago, Michigan and Randolph, just under the eastern end of the now Chicago Cultural Center) that used to be the main library of the Chicago Public Libraries, which, if you ever get here, is one of the finest places to visit in all of this city. It is stunning. I used to go to study there in my afternoons to finish off my independent study classes at the alternate HS I attended with other artistic misfits in downtown Chicago--not associated with the Chicago Public Schools that were not my style. Everywhere in this building (which always has new and interesting displays, as well as tours well worth the $$$) you will find so many of the works that the artisans of the studios of Louis Comfort Tiffany made for it. I studied in the great hall, the domed room, underneath ceilings made of tiny mosaic pieces, and I would walk the building almost every day after I did my work for the day, looking at the windows and lighting inside of that gorgeous place. And the curvature of the stonework! Oh, my, you had better go to the Chicago Cultural Center, if you go to no other building in my city, if you ever visit!

But, I hope that you read up on Louis Comfort Tiffany before you visit this wonderful building, because you will learn that in 1893, at the Manufacturer's Building (the only building that is left from that time is the Museum of Science and Industry, which had to be reinforced and was NOT the Manufacturer's Building--but when you look at pictures from the Exposition, how you WISH they kept all of it), at the Columbian Exposition that was held in Hyde Park, probably the most beautiful world's fair that ever was, Thomas Edison was displaying electric lighting in a room exactly next to the room that Tiffany had for his glass works. I wonder if they had not met if we would ever have seen the wonder of Tiffany's gems for the public, not only for the rich, which is the reason that Louis Comfort was the black sheep of

http://kdh9910.stumbleupon.com/review/27310323/

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 14:01:55 -0800

11.9.08, continued... Part 3 of 3

So, as I was telling you, Louie Comfort Tiffany was the black sheep of his haughty New York family.� Yes, the ones that make all the drop-dead-die-for jewelry.� Of course, little Louis was expected to carry on wearing the jeweler's loupe in the shop, but he had said that he wanted to bring the magic of gems to the working class.� And that is how he started to work with stained glass and mosaics.� (I live virtually across the street from a cemetery that is so old that even Civil War vets are buried there.� The mausoleum has vaults that are so old you wouldn't believe it.� You walk through dim hallways and look into the private vaults, and there, at the end, you'll see a Tiffany window that's just beautiful, what with the soft light filtering through it, bringing calm and undisturbed sleep to the residents lying inside of that lonely room).� So, once electric lighting was at his fingertips, he was on his way to becoming one of the world's best known artisans.� (Do you wonder what might have happened to his art if Tesla exhibited next to him at the Columbian Exposition???� Hehehe!).�

And so, Hyde Park - Kenwood was quite a charged place to live in during the tail end of the '60s and the early '70s:� the profs that worked at my alternate HS hung out at the Point (a piece of land that juts out into our splendid lake, which is why our skyline is the best in the world, shimmering always from the lake on the east), where we'd go on about what Eldridge Cleaver wrote, or Studs Terkel, or Mike Royco (in reference to our windy city politics and all the dark dealings that never stop going on here).� The talks were really interesting.�

Anyway, in the early 1970s, I was the only mother of any of the young ladies that I knew.� I stayed at home with my baby and husband.� But these power movements were a-movin' along, so, my friends would drag me to their rap groups.� Having been a real flower-power hippie and love lady, I didn't like the power movements--they made life tougher and more dangerous for us.� In fact, after the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention fiasco between the Yippies and the Daley crowd over across the street in Grant Park, across the street from the old Conrad Hilton Hotel (it's still there, under sort of a different name), you would have thought that people would be afraid to congregate to discuss their brand of power movement, but that wasn't true at all, not in Hyde Park at least.� No way.� Of COURSE everyone discussed individual rights and the power movements!� (Would that happen again today?� I don't know, what with all the work our folks must do, just to "make it," not to buy extravagant things for themselves, besides, what with all the new spy machines being set up all over the city...).� So, I got taken to the rap groups of the Hyde Park women's lib movement.�

Everyone other than me would bemoan their fate, their boring state of affairs that their world turned on each day, Mr. Husbando getting up early to don a necktie and wingtips, to bolt down a cuppa java brew and a couple of pieces of toast before going into the office that had to look like they do in the cable TV show called "Madmen."� And the wives, sitting there in the rap group, would say how it wasn't right that their work wasn't paid labor and that they wanted to leave their kids with babysitters to get a job outside of the home.� There silly me would sit, saying how satisfied I was to be at home all day long, playing with my baby and cooking meals.� I didn't care whether it was paid labor or it wasn't:� I simply was happy in that situation, and so, the other women questioned me voraciously as to why it made me feel happy.� Yes, it did, and now it's so simple to see why it did.� Oh yeah, I ended up in divorce court taking custody of our boy, and then I had to get an outside job, along with the others.� Did it make me happy?� Nah, it did not.� Did it make my son happy?� Well, if you call a little boy running to his mom and jumping up into her waiting hugs, crying out "Mommy!� Mommy!," being happy, I guess I will allow you that.� So, I too became a part of the vast numbers of women entering the workforce.�

And this is the one thing that I want to point out about WL:� in my opinion, women's lib only enslaved both men and women in the long run.� I have asked men, many, many times to be frank and upfront when they answered this question, "If you could call the shots, would you want your wife to stay home keeping house for you and with your children, or is it a fact that you enjoy the extra money she brings home to the extent that you really, in your heart, would rather that she works outsideWHERE DID THE REST OF THIS GO???

http://kdh9910.stumbleupon.com/review/22185976/

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 07:25:18 -0700

"Change..." RON PAUL IS�THE PRESIDENT THAT�WE NEED!
If you haven't yet read Ron Paul's No. 1 best seller both at amazon.com (in both fiction and non fiction) as well as the New York Times (in non fiction), The Revolution, A Manifesto,�read it! It's an easy read, but everything makes perfect sense. We've needed to turn our attention to OURSELVES for all the time he's been a representative in the House. Even Ike wasn't as smart as he is. Nor was there ever a candidate in my entire life, that is as sincere and genuine as Ron Paul is, as an American, a true patriot. He will never (and has never in 10 terms as a rep in the House of Representatives) let us down by backing any bill or law that would be unconstitutional. He's the only one that is not a "Candidate Global"--he is always, consistently, a staunch member of the The People of the United States of America. He's proved over and over again that we must regain our liberty--which is that gold that the immigrants say "paves the streets" in our country, for freedom is truly golden, isn't it?

Before you shun the first candidate that has proved for so long that We, The People, come first in our country, THE USA, learn everything you can about Ron Paul. Go to YouTube and listen up to his interviews and debates. Ask yourself before you cast that almighty vote, why are the two TV-Star candidates worthy of the seat in the oval office? Ask yourself if you are really pissed off over what has happened to We, The People of this wonderful country, and ask yourselves if you sense the seething anger inside of The People of this land, an anger, if not alleviated now, may turn into a revolt, and even into civil war here in our own country.

Whom do you back? Do you back yourselves? Do you want to watch as our country crumbles into the dust that the politicians are spewing at us so rapidly now, via technology, via the change of eras, via casting their eye on the prize of Nation Building while they dig an unconstitutional dirt pile for us by making ever more sneaky moves against us while We, the People, need bandaids all over our bodies--yesterday--so that we can return to some normalcy?

Are you a true patriot? Can you see that we must say this: "WE come first, we owe ourselves our jobs, we owe ourselves industry, we owe ourselves a meaningful dollar rather than the fiat greenbacks that the Federal Reserve Board, a group of ultra-wealthy, secretive non-patriots so easily print out so that that the vast hole, known as The Deficit(s), is covered up by an illusion of having more, increasingly worthless dollars floating around in order to inflate our economy right out of our own pockets, as Big Brother moves against us?"

Do we owe ourselves internal protection from those that would fly commercial jets into high rises before we go marching all over the world making Nation Building a reality while We, The People, suffer because we cannot even feed our families?

http://kdh9910.stumbleupon.com/review/16587222/

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 07:17:42 -0800

Artwork: (c) Patrick Woodruff, "Piral Island," from: http://www.patrickwoodroffe-world.com/spiral3.htm

Received in my inbox, gratefully, via a little note when a friend of mine here, Ensomniac, just dropped in on me... Isn't it true that when you're down and out, you need your friends the most? How very kind my friends are to me, loving me from afar, bringing me inspiration to get out of this dumpy slump of depression, and to begin to fly again and to dance that dance of life that will cease sometime, so, to grab the dance NOW. Thank you, my friend, Ensomniac. Everyone needs TLC...

Text (c) Karen Dallas (Hartig), USA. All rights reserved.

I cast my eye towards truth. Here is my iris, the place where you can enter into the truth, of me. I have built myself a castle inside of my truth. My castle was built from the blocks that I made by myself, from the material given to me in my life. I took what I could, because I had to--I had to build walls of stone around who is me.

I put my castle into my sea of truth and of the lies from which my truths arose--with vision and almost a photographic memory--a blessing that I was so lucky to have been born with.

And then I took the beautiful, malleable clay of my infancy and childhood, so delightful, to build for myself a moat that is lined with greenery and cliffs made of sands that laid so hot, under my feet, each time I ran across it towards the cooling lake that lived close by me and provided me freedom.

There, inspired by the swaying treetops and grasses that my kind mama took me each warm day to see--she, with the tresses of strawberry blond hair and her mysterious, beautiful freckles that laid atop her skin, those which she, so lovingly, let me point at and gurgle in my babyish wonder of them--I gathered up soft mosses to line the cliffs of my lake of truth.

Because, my truths contain a gentleness, a loving so deep as to be inexplainable, for I am so good at building the walls which are silent. They have protected me well, and yet at the same time they have driven the parts of people that are ugly far away from my soul, from that deep lake of truth, for that part which is hurtful, therefore evil, toxic and polluting will harm me. Therefore, they dare not climb onto my moat or enter my heart. I cannot allow my lake to become a poison to me--how then would I drink of it?

If you search for me at my castle, know that you shall have to visit me with purity and only with your truth. You shall have to be yourself, not fearing that I shall take away a part of you. Instead, I will invite you into my castle and I will give you the light and shimmering beauty of my own truth, to intermingle it into that which is your own. You will shun me or you will join me, but know that what I am determined to keep is your loving friendship and only that. So come hither, open--you, yes you--come into my iris. The journey will not be arduous for you or exhausting, if only you come of who you really are, with no illusions or trickery. For that I will throw far outside of the walls of my moat--outwards, into the world of lies and of covetry of that purity that I own.

I thank you dearly, my good friends, for having traveled to see me. I will light candles in your honor, and I will recall our conversations, for you have brought enlightenment to me because you are you. These memories of you will always inspire me. I need to dance upon my tranquil waters, to dance my joy that I have friends. It is all coming back to me, it is ready to be set free.

http://kdh9910.stumbleupon.com/review/16531670/

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:12:19 -0800

(c) Photo, AND actual artwork--the "insect" itself (!), Graham Owen: http://www.solarexpert.com/fishing/more-fly-tying.html

Is it hard to believe that a man MADE this? I scratched my head when I saw his art! He makes fishing flies and all sorts of insects and other tiny fauna that is collected, used on movie sets, and given as gifts. I would LOVE to get this gift! When I was a kid, we lived almost on the beach, just a few steps away from it. Back then, we'd see Mayflies mating as routine course. They are no longer there. It is like how the 17-year Cicada didn't emerge in the city this year, but it (masses of them, actually) DID 17 years ago, and 17 years before that, too.

Here is the link to Graham Owen's fantastic works of art and his guestbook:
http://www.solarexpert.com/fishing/more-fly-tying.html

http://kdh9910.stumbleupon.com/review/16330576/

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 07:51:49 -0800

On July 4, 1986, a celebration was held in New York City to honor the completion of work done on our beautiful Statue of Liberty, on her 100th year guarding the entrance to the United States of America and for the freedom and liberty for which she, and I, stand.

I stand for YOU too, for your liberty, for your rights to be who you are, to think what you think, to state what you believe. How boring and dark our lives would be without freedom and with control of us, of our actions, of our deeds, by a Big Brother, by The State. This is our land. Remember that.

The entire 4-day celebration was peaceful, with no crime, not even one purse snatching, reported. People from all the United States of America--and those that love liberty from all over the world--rode the trains in the New York subway without fear, in jubilation over the ceremonies that honor what the United States is all about.

Gee, it was the ultimate, very best, fireworks celebration in the entire world, ever. Everything during those 4 days shone forth as does this great nation, with justice for all.

May we retain our liberties forever more. I wish you had been there to celebrate with us!

http://kdh9910.stumbleupon.com/review/16001518/

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:28:31 -0800

what eyes rule your behavior? shall it be the eyes of your ancestors? those eyes that made you what you are today? or shall it be the eyes of your mind, solely intellectual? or perhaps your behavior will be ruled by the eyes that see, and do not see, the eyes of your heart? do you dare open the eyes of your heart?

painting by dino valls

http://kdh9910.stumbleupon.com/review/15742256/

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 23:19:15 -0800

Here is the way to protect the planet! As Rod42 so carefully points out, there is a way, and he is called, "Bat-Cat!" Do not fool with the Bat-Cat! He is here to save the day. Never fear, Bat-Cat is here!

If you need a shoulder to cry on, enter his Bat-Cat-Mobile as it sits at the curb. Take a cigar out of your pocket and wait. Just be patient. He has things to do and women to see. Then, when he flies on down, offer him the cigar. Make sure it is colored baby blue--he likes baby blue. Be humble. He will listen and he will save your 2008 day!

And now, presenting, viz a viz Rod42: BAT-CAT!

http://kdh9910.stumbleupon.com/review/15741198/

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 22:05:07 -0800

http://kdh9910.stumbleupon.com/review/15570877/

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 21:17:58 -0800

Have a real fun, healthy, and happy year! Merry Christmas! "The Dallas," LOL!

Free Comments & Graphics

They grabbed me and had me dancing along with them on the piano the whole evening! Whew! I hope you all had a very happy, fun, and delightful Christmas!