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Here’s an idea

Let’s set aside one day a year when no one is allowed to carry a cell phone and see whether civilization as we know it collapses or not.  That will be the day I’ll be willing to meet friends for lunch because I know that they won’t be answering their cell phones in what I can only assume is their hope that the person on the other end is more interesting than me. It’s the day I know it will be safe to drive because drivers will have at least one free hand – the other, of course, will be

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Up the river

I went up Twenty Mile River with some friends this week for a boat ride. I’d forgotten how privileged I was to live in this amazing state.  It was just so gorgeous to go up that river surrounded by mountains and glaciers; to get off the boat and examine bear tracks in the mud; to breathe in air that just smelled good.  Alaskans are really the most lucky people in the world. This whole other universe of wilderness is just outside our front door.

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Impeach Bush problem

The problem with impeaching Bush is that we end up with President Volde…I’m sorry, I meant President Cheney.  Actually, President Voldemort would be less scary.

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Columns 2007

What happened to our privacy?

My mother raised me to believe that some things were private and should always stay that way.  Maybe this is why the current trend in America to make everything public, or at least accessible to the government, troubles me so much. Or maybe it’s because I’ve just lived in Alaska way too long and that ornery streak of independence I was born with has hardened into armor on my soul.

It seems that each day another piece of our lives becomes either government or public property. If we object, we’re told it’s to fight terrorism or for our own good. 

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Let me make sure I have this straight

Just so there’s no mistake. That mealy mouthed little twerp who looks like kids took turns beating him up in grade school, by the name of Alberto Gonzales, is supposed to embody the rule of law in our country today? Yep, in view of this administration’s total disdain for the law and the constitution, that would be about right.  I don’t know about you, but if I were Hispanic, I’d be way pissed that this is what became the first Hispanic United States Attorney General. It’s not unlike John Gotti becoming the first Italian president…except, of course, no one beat

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Questions that need to be seriously asked

If Alaska’s entire congressional delegation ends up indicted, will we be represented by the guy who represents DC?  You know, the one with no voting power or muscle? And if that happens, will Bush be able to nationalize our Permanent Fund for the fight against terror without any opposition?  Inquiring minds want to know.

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pictures

Bragging rights

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I know. I know. I’m only the godmother so I really had little to do with this beautiful mom and her son. But damn it, I changed her diapers too so I helped a little. And I’ve changed his diapers, even though it is now exponentially harder for me to get down on the floor for the task. So I should have some bragging rights. And if this isn’t one of the most beautiful mother/child combinations ever in the history of this whole, wide world, then you don’t know squat…because it is.

Emily and Rhodes Vann Pruett.  What a gorgeous

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Good neighbors make a good neighborhood

So I’m wandering around my flower bed pulling out handfuls of what may or may not be stuff that shouldn’t be there when my neighbor from across the circle stops by to ask me if I want some Kenai River reds.  Anyone in Alaska immediately knows he’s talking about fresh salmon. I eagerly accept and have two fresh, never frozen fillets waiting for me and my company tonight. And that’s how to be a good neighbor.

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