Elise Sereni Patkotak

Don’t miss my column in the paper today or on this site tomorrow. It’s about the controversy associated with trying to mainstream special needs children into regular classrooms here in Anchorage.

Also forgot to announce when I moved to this new site that I am now able to take comments from readers. Couldn’t do it before because I had no way of controlling the spam. And really, how many viagra ads does one blog need? But now I can go in and dump the spam and just allow real comments to appear. So yea for progress. Let me know what Continue reading →

And then this most horrible of years will be over. I can’t wait!

Of course, next year brings Orangeman’s inauguration… sigh, what a crappy, crappy way to start the new year. Continue reading →

The three Sereni brothers. Until this past week, I only knew of two of them. My nonno, Primo Sereni is on the right. His brother Adelmo is in the middle. His other brother Silvio is on the left. I never knew about him. Weird the things we continue to find out about ourselves and our ancestors. And yes, this is as close as I get to a Happy Holidays post. Continue reading →

Turned on my iPad. Said it was 11 degrees out. Went to my weather app to see what the future holds and found out that it’s only going as low as 20 today. So I don’t know what the heck that 11 is doing there. Continue reading →

Got my morning coffee and walked back to my bedroom to finish my morning ablutions. I found Snowy sitting in front of my clothes closet. The door was open but it was dark inside. He sat there for at least five minutes without moving, simply staring into the darkness as though he was seeing something the rest of us couldn’t see.

I went into the closet and look for any signs of invasive activity. None to be found. Didn’t faze him at all. He continued to sit staring into the darkness. Maybe he’s decided to start each day with five Continue reading →

A crow crapped on my head yesterday while I was at Bird TLC. I don’t want to say he did it deliberately, but I do think it was suspicious that he took a dump just as I ducked under him to retrieve a meal worm he’d dropped.

As I washed poop out of my hair, I just kept hoping that this was a sign of good luck for the future. Because seriously, if it has no positive meaning, then I’m just some luckless schmuck with crow poop dripping down my back. Continue reading →

I’d like to start a new political party. It would have mostly platforms lifted from the Democratic Party but would actually have a backbone. Seriously, why are the Dems just rolling over and playing dead in the face of all that Orangeman is doing.

For instance, if Barack Obama refused security briefings after being elected, the Republicans would have screamed bloody murder that he was risking America’s security because he was a secret Muslim and wanted to leave America vulnerable. But Orangeman does it and what is the Dems response? Zero. Nada. Nothing.

Yep, I’d like to see a party Continue reading →

It’s snowing out. The day is gray. The view from my front door could double as a Currier and Ives print. I am warm and snug. Did my food shopping yesterday so today I just have to curl up, start a fire in the fireplace and enjoy a hot mug of tea with my book while my dogs vie for the nearest position to me.

Life doesn’t get much better. Continue reading →

So the question is whether or not I feel like going out on this gray, dull day. I am so warm and cozy in my little home. Dogs sleeping around me. Birds chirping to the classical music playing for them… ok, maybe parrots don’t exactly chirp but they do their best. And given my ability to carry a tune, their little screeches are equally as easy on the ears.

Assuming the thaw goes away or some snow falls soon, we will have a white Christmas here. Or, at least, a grayish snow Christmas depending on how much exhaust gets blown Continue reading →