Motley Moose – Archive

(Republished from the sane Street Prophets area of the orange fainting couch.)

Welcome to Thursday Coffee Hour this is an open topic thread so help yourself to the goodies and sit a spell and let us know what is going on in your life. I just finished an art piece the other night and I have to say it really resonates with what is going on in my life at the moment.

I am still trying to get all of my brothers finances cleared up. Still trying to get the house sold. Still trying to get through to Social Security to get Medicare drug help. Sometimes it feels like I am battling huge dragons with a nothing but a feather. Bureaucracy is just horrendous. Rarely do you get the help you need. Once in a while though someone actually believes that Customer Service means just that. Last Friday I got a letter from Social Security saying they were denying my application for help with the Medicare Drug Costs because they didn’t get back everything they asked for. The first time I got a letter saying they needed something back that I had already sent I called and was assured that our letters got crossed in the mail. I got a man named Jeffrey this time who actually went the extra mile. He looked up my record, said I was qualified for the help, and filed the appeal. He gave me the phone number to call for the appeals people. I left a message yesterday, got a call back today from someone whom I could barely understand, and then got a second call back from a lady telling me the appeal was in process and they didn’t need anything else from me. Yeah Jeffrey!

Yesterday I was trying to get through the confusing telephone prompt menu of the Department of Defense to get some answers on what paperwork they needed to get any unpaid Army pay to my brother Mike’s daughter. I got the wrong department and the man who answered took the time to find out what I needed. He asked to put me on hold for a few minutes saying he understood the phone system and would get the information for me. He came back a few minutes later with the exact information I needed.

So thanks to my two dragon fighters for taking the time to help me out. It is nice to know that their are people in this world who care and will help.

On this day in history an earth-shattering event occurred. Jack Lloyd Wilson was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. What do you mean it wasn’t an earth shattering event? He was my Dad and that makes it a pretty momentous occasion.

Dad never had it easy in his life. His mother died when he was a very small child. His stepmother was out of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales (think Snow White and Cinderella). He put himself through school. He worked in the CCC camps to support himself. He made it on his own. He made it through with a sense of humor that bordered on the bizarre. He was always generous, especially to his children and only grandchild. You can read his life story in his own words here.

I became my most politically active when I went away to college. Through phone calls and long letters Dad listened to me, gave me advice, and most of all never, ever told me to stop. I know there were times when he was terrified at his head strong daughter out canvassing the street trying to get signatures on a sensible gun control legislation. I know he was worried that my very vocal support of equal right for the LGBT society would put me into the kind of dangerous hatred that we see constantly about Gay rights.

One of the most important things my Dad taught me was to have an open mind. He encouraged me to read and we happily traded books throughout our life together. Dad and I had the same fascination about the paranormal. After poring through numerous books we decided to go with Hamlet when he said “there is more in heaven and earth Horatio then is dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Dad was a true middle-of-the-roader when it came to politics. He was amused by my liberal politics and would debate me about my ideas not to try and talk me out of them but to make sure that I thought carefully about them and was certain that this was my philosophy.

He was very proud of me and the science fiction conventions I ran because I donated all profits to charity. He was proud to realize that he had instilled in his only daughter a desire to help the peoples of this planet as well as the planet itself.

He was my best critic when it came to my art and writing. He was my biggest fan when it came to my cooking. I was visiting for a week and as always I cooked that week. He took me to the grocery store and introduced me to some of his friends who he ran into. He said, “This is my daughter Michele. She is the finest cook I have ever known.”

My Dad was a World War Two veteran. I wish they had finished the WWII memorial in his lifetime. I would have loved to take him to see it.

It is the little things I am remembering today especially his sense of humor. I remember taking him to the first Star Wars movie. His first comment on leaving the movie was “target practice at 0800 hours.” I remember having an extra ticket to see John Denver and asking him along. I thought he was just being kind since my car was on the fritz and he was driving but on the way home he started talking about how much he loved John Denver’s music and how happy he was to have seen him live. I remember his asking if I wanted to throw a football or play softball with him. He was never sure what do with an only daughter and was thrilled when I turned out to athletic. Only one of the four boys turned out that way so Dad taught me all the sports he loved. I remember the “uncola” glass at my Aunt’s place one Easter. 7-Up had come out with an upside down coke glass as a promotional. Dad called out to me “Michele quick put you hand under the glass the bottom just broke.” I did and he laughed so hard he almost dropped the glass.

So happy birthday Dad. Keep beating Mom’s relatives at cards up there like you did down here. I love you and miss you so much.

I have a massive headache so I’m just messing around with art programs. The weather is going wonky and that always inflames my sinuses. Looking at some art I’ve been working on recently I thought I’d go ahead and share.

Call of the Wild

Caregiver’s Rainbow (That is Pixie and I.)

Churchyard

Daydreaming

Golden Dragon (In Chinese mythology dragons are good creatures and protectors.)

Io (Why you may not want to vacation on this moon of Jupiter.)

Moon Petal Musk (Inspired by one of my favorite bath product fragrances.)

Peace (Something we all need in our lives. Picture inspired by my late Dad.)

River of Dreams

Stormy Weather

I have been a member of The Daily Kos for many years. I have made a lot of on-line friends there. They came together and made a community quilt for me. The helped me through the death of my Mom, the loss of my job, the sudden death of my brother, and all the stress that Mike’s death brought. Lately I have been involved in numerous conversations as one of the Admins for Courtesy Kos. I am beginning to wonder if it is all worth it.

The latest in fighting regarding gun control has gotten totally out of control. The influx of neo-Nazi trolls and the invasion of IGTNT is horrendous. The following of people around and Hring them and sending threatening Kosmails to them doesn’t seem to bother TPTB over there. Kos publishes a “I’m going to ban people who write TTFN diaries” without bothering to read the diaries and find out what the problem is.

The dilemma I have is that I have committed to writing diaries over there. I regularly publish the Street Prophets Thursday Coffee Hour and Sunday All Day Brunch. Since we lost our own little corner of the world the only place we have in over at Daily Kos. I don’t want to let the people down that I have promised to write for but this constant in fighting is really getting me down.

Any one have any suggestions? I have diaries ready to go for Kosability on February 3rd, The Grieving Rooms for February 4th, Books That Changed My Life on February 8th, and What Are You Working On for February 10th. Those I’ve committed to. Do I just do Street Prophets after that? Should I ask someone else to take over Thursday and Sunday from me? I’m just torn. I don’t want to let people who are counting on me down.

I am really excited about the Super Bowl since I’m from the San Francisco Bay Area. A lot of people will be hosting Super Bowl parties. Here are some recipes for party type food. Oh and go 49ers! 😉

“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. ”

Carl Sagan

Welcome to Sunday All Day Brunch. This is an open topic thread so help yourself to the goodies and sit a spell and let us know what is going on in your life. I’ve been thinking about my Dad today. Dad always said that he was a dreamer. My Mom was very practical and she told me more then once I was a dreamer like my Dad.

Sometimes as a graphic artist things come out even better then you possibly imagined they could. Like this one for example that I just finished called “The Night Sky.”

Reposted from Street Prophets: Faith and Politics

Welcome to Thursday Coffee Hour. This is an open topic thread so help yourself to the goodies and sit a spell and let us know what is going on in your life. Lately I have had to try and incorporate elements from my parent’s home into my own. My place is a small two-bedroom apartment with a definite lack of closet space so I had to try and work around the lack of places to store things. I wanted to honor both of my parents who are deceased and my older brother who recently passed away. I also needed to be mindful of my own tastes and things I like. One of the things I have been interested in is using feng shui, yin-yang, and the Tao Te Ching to try and reach a balance. For someone who was brought up Irish Catholic that is quite a new experience. Follow me below the orange squiggly-de-do for one women’s quirky attempt at balance.

(I wrote this dairy over at GOS as part of the care giving series.)

Sometimes as a caregiver you have to learn things. Sometimes you have to be the teacher. My Mom was a dog person. She was use to her old dog Ruffles who did the doggy things like coming when called. She had never really had the experience of being a cat owner or to be more accurate being owned by a cat. Then the unexpected happened and she let a little black cat into the house and Pixie took over her life. As a person who owned cats all her adult life I had the task of trying to teach Mom the fine points of cat behavior. One of the most frequently heard sentences during that time was “Mom she’s a cat.”

I write quite frequently over at the GOS. Rarely however are the diaries political. I have been active in Street Prophets and do their Thursday Coffee Hour and Sunday All Day Brunch. I also write for caregivers regarding my experience of being caregiver for my Mom. I have written in the Grieving Room about coming to grips with my brother’s sudden death. I write a food diary called Breaking Bread with my recipes. I also write occasionally book diaries. I also do some craft diaries. Would the people here be interested in my posting some, all, or none of the above over here?