It’s my mother’s side of the family that is really strange. The men on that side, to be absolutely precise. Why? Well, on the day Obama was sworn in as president, my cousin Joe (god bless him and keep him well forever or else there will be nowhere for me to go to get my needed doses of laughter) was bewildered as to why Obama was going to parties after the swearing in ceremony as opposed to going straight to the office and getting started on cleaning up the mess. And the thing is, Joe was serious. Because the Zeccardi
Who will save the villages?
As I watched the inauguration yesterday, I couldn’t stop wondering if the villages in Bush Alaska that were probably listening to it on public radio had heat and food to go with the ceremony. I wondered if they wondered whether the promise of American would ever make it to where they live. It’s been a long time since the first non-Natives hit these shores and announced they would bring “civilization” to the people they found here. So far, our achievements are underwhelming.
It seems we did a pretty good job of disrupting a way of life that survived the cold,
The ugliest day ever
Because I don’t award these prizes easily, I had to spend almost a week wracking my brain to see if I could remember an uglier day than last Friday here in Anchorage. I can’t. It was raining, kinda slushy snowing, melting, icy, gray, windy, mud everywhere, cars driving through lakes, wind blowing the rain sideways into you, walking through puddles over your ankles that hid ice underneath….it just could not be uglier than that day. So I officially nominate it for the ugliest day this decade in Anchorage. Any other day that wants to compete is going to have to
I can stop crying now
President Obama….OH YES! Am I the only one who cried through most of the inauguration…mostly just out of sheer pride that our nation once again transferred power peacefully but also because Perlman and Yo Yo Ma playing together is more beautiful than anything that you will ever hear in your life again.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s over. A new day has dawned. The evil minions of the dark lord have been defeated and “No drama” Obama will now clean up their ungodly mess. Yea for America!
One more day…one more day….
…one more day and we can all truly say, we did it! We made it! We actually survived the biggest idiot to ever occupy the White House without committing communal suicide. Yea for us!
Rasmuson Artists Awards…apply now!
Got this e-mail recently for Alaskan artists who might qualify to apply for one of the Rasmuson Foundation grants. Since there is no category for “writer who publishes column in newspaper and otherwise amuses herself working as a GAL and doing free stuff for non-profits”, I figured I’d pass the information on to others. Since I can’t compete, you won’t be competing against me so I can afford to be generous and let you all in on this. Anyhow, here’s the info.
Hi Elise,
I’m working with Rasmuson Foundation to help spread the word about their upcoming Individual Artist Awards
Politics can make you really crazy
As hard as I find this to believe, there are people in America dreading the day that Obama takes the oath of office because they are sure he is a Muslim terrorist and not an American born citizen and so has no right to be president AND plans to destroy this country. First of all, if the Current Occupier and his minions from hell did not destroy America, I think we can count ourselves as pretty resilient and indestructible. Secondly…really? People really believe that this could be true and the Republican Party and almost all Republican Supreme Court would not
Here’s why listening to the weather report can be important
I put my trash cans and recycle bin out on Wednesday night for pick up Thursday morning. I did not bother listening to the reports of the wind that would come howling down on my little house. I awoke Thursday morning to find my driveway and the streets had become sheer ice and my trash cans and recycle bin were nowhere in sight. I put on my shoes fortified by yaktraxs and headed out in the car to find them. I found the two trash cans further away than I would have thought possible given the amount of stuff in
The last dirty secret
Rae Fancher spent a childhood in which physical, sexual and emotional abuses were rife. I read about this 23 year old being the first Alaska Native female ever accepted into the Naval Academy with joy at the thought that some kids can escape their abusive past without putting a bullet to their head or a noose around their neck.
But even as I read about Rae’s choice to survive, I found myself thinking of the recent statistics about suicide in Alaska. We have the highest rate in the nation, twice the national average. The rate for youths in Alaska between