My Exploding Head

Filed Under All Posts, Carine Fabius, Health, Politics, Rants | 17 Comments

Carine Fabius is experiencing strange symptoms—her blood is boiling and her poor head…

Last month a photo in the Los Angeles Times showed a bunch of North Carolina protesters lying in wait for Obama as he headed to a town hall meeting on healthcare. Their handwritten signs shouted the following inanities:

“Free Market not Free Loaders”
“Obama-Care is Not For Us”
“No to Socialism”
“Government is Not the Solution to our Problems”

No wonder my head wants to explode. Read more

The World According to Prudence

Filed Under All Posts, Prudence Baird, Rants | 20 Comments

NASCAR is not a sport, Ann Coulter is not a woman, 98 percent of people who drink diet sodas are fat and there is no such thing as a healthy tan.

People who say, “To tell the truth…” are about to lie. Ditto for people who begin with “Truthfully,…” and “To be honest,….”

When an armed, confrontational policeman can enter your home without a search warrant, handcuff and arrest you for freaking out that he’s even there to begin with, our nation is already suffering from a more insidious form of government than the threat of a government willing to offer each and every American universal healthcare. Read more

Nice Girls Finish Last

Filed Under All Posts, Cathy Fischer, Courage, Rants | 13 Comments

Top Chef finalists Stephan, Carla and Hosea

When will women stop being such people pleasers?

Case in point: “Goody Two Shoes” is an expression reserved for females. It conjures up images of a child, a dimpled Shirley Temple-type, in a starched white dress, bobby socks and Mary Janes. “No more Mister Nice Guy,” on the other hand, is reserved for men. Picture a driven, successful executive. Mad Men’s Don Draper comes to mind.

After watching the finale of Top Chef, I was peeved. The three remaining finalists, two men and one woman, were asked to cook a $100k-winning meal. I was enthusiastic about Carla Hall, a 44-year-old woman with her own catering business, a great sense of humor and a big heart; an underdog who eventually found her stride and became a real contender.

Carla has personality as big as her hair. She cooks with love, and is proud to say so, plus she has classic French training and southern roots to boot. But Carla did not win. Why? Because, like so many women, Carla is just too nice!  Read more

Change? Yes, Please.

Filed Under All Posts, Carine Fabius, Group Posts, Rants | 9 Comments

Yes, thank you.  I would like some change.

I’d like to get some change back for all over payments to banks—aka credit card companies—that have for decades used the flimsiest excuses to raise seductive introductory interest rates to loan shark levels that can never be repaid if you’re an average Jane.  Something tells me they’re about to get their comeuppance in much grander terms than mere coins…

I would also like some change from overpriced restaurants that do offer the pleasure of a night out without having to wash dishes, but can in no way justify charging $15.00 for a hamburger plus $6.50 for valet parking.  Trust me, I don’t often patronize these joints, but when you live in Los Angeles, it’s a safe bet you’ll end up in one without realizing how you got there.  And while I’m on the subject, Read more

Quit Saying That!!!

Filed Under All Posts, Connie Stetson, Rants | 11 Comments

Why, oh why, do we throw the word “pussy” around like that’s an undesirable thing? Most of the men I know chased pussy before they even knew what they were going to do with it, even if they caught up to it.

I just saw the very good, Gran Torino, another great American film directed by Clint Eastwood, that tells a story of the awakening of the human heart, of friendship and sacrifice. Why, I cried like a little girl. The next time I see it, I’m gonna man up, blow my nose, and count the number of times Walter (Eastwood) calls Toa a “pussy.” Could we please just quit saying that!!!?

I just read a story in our local paper, The Fresno Bee, about Emily Cox, the current Miss Kentucky winning the Evelyn Ay Sempier Quality of Life Award for promoting a workshop called “Uniquely Me—Promoting Self-Esteem in Adolescent Girls.” Good on her. A much needed platform to be sure, and how ironic that the message comes out of a beauty contest, one of the most backward, silly, irrelevant, girl-fights embraced by our culture. Yeah, yeah, I know—it’s all about the scholarships.   Read more

The Kindness of Random Acts

Filed Under All Posts, Group Posts, Prudence Baird, Rants | 5 Comments

Someone once warned me, “Don’t be grateful for what you don’t have. Be grateful for what you do have.”

Here’s my response based on 50+ years of living:  “Nonsense.”

I’m very grateful for what I don’t have and I don’t think for a second that this attitude devalues my overwhelming appreciation for what I do have.

Clearly, I’m thankful for the good stuff in my life—health, family, friends, Obama’s election, yada, yada, yada.

But not to acknowledge and be grateful for the near-misses would shortchange what I know to be true: that life is more like the board game Chutes and Ladders than it is like Monopoly.  You have far less control than you think.  All the strategizing, all the investing—whether in Park Place and Boardwalk, or in vitamins and mutual funds—don’t amount to a hill of beans if you roll snake’s eyes. Read more

Breast Cancer: My Big Pink Protest

Filed Under All Posts, Cathy Fischer, Health, Rants | 15 Comments

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past couple of weeks, you probably are well aware that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Every three minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. With one out of every eight women in America diagnosed with the disease, either you or at least one friend or relative you know has had it.  I became “aware” of my breast cancer on May 23, this year. It was the day my life changed.

Most of my friends and family know, but I haven’t wanted to blog about it. I really don’t want to be the poster child. When my friend Ilana sent an email with the subject line that said, “Free Yoga Classes for Cancer Survivors,” I thought, why is she sending that to me? Oh yeah, right.  Read more

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