Elise Sereni Patkotak

Wow. The political season has just begun and we’ve already seen our governor come out swinging with a blow that should hit every needy kid and low-income pregnant woman in the state somewhere between their waists and knees.

I’m not surprised at this level of sucking up in any political campaign. I am surprised that we managed to go so low so quickly. Most campaigns at least start off pretending to be above special interest pandering.

Of course, to hear old Sean explain it, he vetoed the increase in Denali Kid Care funding when he found out to his absolute

I had a choice to read about Sarah Palin’s candidate endorsements, oiled and dead critters in the gulf region or a dog removed from his owners via a court order in England for being overweight that was sent to a fat farm and will be given to new owners when he reaches his goal weight. Guess which one I read.

During beautiful weather days in Anchorage, I like to take Abdul, my African Grey parrot, out on the back deck to enjoy the sunshine and breeze and sounds of nature around us. Abdul has no wings to fly thanks to the fact that he got into the habit of chewing them up in some previous life so this is safe. And there are trees overlooking the deck which helps to deter predators from the sky.

So there we were, enjoying the sun when Blondie woke up from her nap under the deck and realized from the sounds above her that

I sent an old Barrow friend who now lives on the East Coast Don Young’s latest quote about how the spill in the Gulf is not an environmental disaster. This is her response:

“That SOB, he should be tied to a bunch of seawood and floated out there until he swallows at least 50 gallons and then see if he thinks its a natural occurrence.”

I think we should take up a collection to do this.

And yes, that’s why she is still so dear to me. She has always called a spade a spade and that’s the kind of

The way it works in the mom column is that you are mom, grandmom and then great-grandmom. But in the other column, the aunt column, you go straight from aunt to great-aunt. For some of us, that brings up images not far removed from Miss Havisham (Great Expectations… try to remember your high school English class).

So I would like to propose that we re-invent the order for aunties. It should now go: aunt, grand-aunt, and then great-aunt.  I would love to be a grand-aunt. It just sounds like so much more fun.

A quote from Don Young, Alaska’s sole representative to the US House, on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

“This is not an environmental disaster, and I will say that again and again because it is a natural phenomenon. Oil has seeped into this ocean for centuries, will continue to do it. During World War II there was over 10 million barrels of oil spilt from ships, and no natural catastrophe. … We will lose some birds, we will lose some fixed sealife, but overall it will recover.”

Oh sweet lord! He’s finally lost his mind.

Every time I cut into a nice, ripe avocado I thank god that I am alive in a time where there is such a thing as good fat.

I waited. I waited and waited. Then I waited some more. What was I waiting for? I was waiting for Barack Obama to express the outrage I felt at the destruction of our wetlands and sea caused by a company that, it is becoming more and more obvious, put profits ahead of safety.

Eleven people are dead, an entire ecosystem is in the process of being destroyed, thousands of livelihoods have been wiped out and our president is just now, over a month later, starting to sound angry.  Had George Bush been president during this disaster and acted this way,

A friend dropped by recently to say hi. She mentioned that her summer was already booked until end of July with visitors. I realized as she said it that mine was too. I may even have a few dates in August already taken.

No, we don’t run B and B’s. We’re just typical Alaskans having a typical Alaskan summer.

In Alaska, summer means saying goodbye to your friends in May and finding them again in September when the cold arrives and the visitors leave.

Am I the only one who sees Lindsay Lohan and thinks that calling her the epitome of trailer park trash is an insult to trailer park trash?