Elise Sereni Patkotak

What is wrong with us? Our soldiers fight a war half a world away so that people in a country most of us have never even visited can have the privilege of voting for their leaders. But here in the good old US of A, it seems as though we could care less about the right to vote that so many patriots once died to ensure.

While talking heads and pundits ponder the meaning of our latest primary results and discuss the confluence of certain issues and the way one candidate ran a campaign versus another, the truth of the

A British newspaper incorrectly identified the picture of an Islamic woman they printed as the woman in Iran who has been sentenced to be stoned to death. Apparently she was flogged to the tune of 99 lashes because of the paper’s incorrect ID of the picture as her. The paper has subsequently apologized. I’m sure that makes her feel much better.

On Friday I signed papers and sent them on to my brother and sister that will essentially end over 60 years of my family owning a property we refer to as 6 North. My family moved there when I was six months old and we have had it ever since. And I know it sounds silly and sentimental – which usually means my sister will make fun of me for even feeling this way – but it felt odd when I signed the final copy and put it in an express mail envelope for the other signatures to be added.

A day we celebrate by not laboring. I have relatives in my family who find that very wrong. But then, they find any day in which they don’t work as wrong. Holidays and weekends just confuse the hell out of them. And it all started with my mother’s side of the family…. you all know who you are!

I cannot wash the smock I wear to Bird TLC every Tuesday in the same laundry load as the sheet I use to cover my couch to protect it from dog hair. Otherwise I spend half a day picking dog hair off the smock. Excuse me now, I have some picking to do.

Growing up Italian – and being Italian myself – I’m used to moles appearing at various parts of my body and the faces, arms, necks and other visible body parts of my relatives. So when both my dogs starting developing what seemed like moles, I figured it was no big problem. I can love them moles and all. This euphoric feeling lasted until I noticed that the mole on Blondie’s face seemed to be taking on a life of its own. Ditto when I finally took a close look at what was happening on Blue’s face. So next week we

It’s the sound of national Democrats salivating over our Senatorial race. Alaskan Democrats, meanwhile, stick their heads cautiously up from the foxholes and wonder if that light in the distance is truly the sun or a cruel trick being played on them.

There are jobs you do for money and there are jobs you do for love. It has been my luck in life to do more of the latter than the former.

There are times when I am working with kids in the state system that I wonder if I’ve stayed too long at the fair, if I should maybe consider retiring based on sheer fatigue caused by the realization that while I may win the occasional small battle or skirmish, the war will go on.

But whenever I’m feeling like I want to hang it all up, I think about

In the primaries that occurred last week, Alaska Republicans voted for a Senate nominee who thinks we should basically end all government spending and a House nominee who is one of the kings of pork. Am I the only one who thinks that’s a little schizophrenic?

For the Oscars, I wear a tiara while sipping a smart cocktail.

For the Emmys, I wear a clean babushka while sipping sugar free juice.

And that’s the way it will remain until NCIS or CSI gets the recognition it deserves.