Goldman Sachs, SEC and Arizona – such exciting news. But best of all is GLEE!!!

Every day there’s more news about Goldman and the SEC, so I thought I’d add to my recent blog about them. It’s now known that Goldman Sachs traded e-mail messages in which they stated they would make serious money when they bet against the housing markets. In 2007 the firm lost money at first but later recovered it and more by making negative bets to profit when housing prices fell. Goldman had denied doing that, but now that these e-mails were released Saturday, they have really been exposed. And it shows how much money they made at the public’s expense. For the first quarter this year, they made about $3.5 billion which was 91% more than last year. They seem to be doing quite well no matter what negative publicity comes their way.

In my last blog I asked what the SEC was doing when all this was happening. Why weren’t they on the ball? Well, now we know. They were downloading porn!! Some spent as many as 8 hours a day on their work computers downloading porn from all over. Is there anyone back there who cares anything about us, the taxpayers, whom they are screwing over every day?

And then I hear that Republican Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona signed a bill into law that would allow police to question people about their immigration status, even asking for identification, if they think someone is in the country illegally. The governor has said she would not allow any racial profiling or discriminatory practices to take place. Let’s see . . . say the police saw a Mexican man in dirty clothes, smoking a cigarette and waiting on a street corner, possibly hoping to be picked up for a job . . . and across the street a well-dressed young man, briefcase in hand waiting for a bus. Which one do you think the police would want to question? Do you think racial profiling would not take place about that time?

To end on a happier note, don’t forget to watch GLEE, Tuesday night at 9pm on Fox. I think it’s the best one this year. Kurt sang a song that brought me to tears and goose bumps at the same time! And Kristen Chenowith,who has a guest appearance, did the same thing when she sang. Each time I see the show I don’t think it can get better, but it does, time after time. So take that Goldman Sachs and the SEC and stick it you know where. Maybe you should try watching GLEE rather than looking for porn. Do you think you could do that?

Can anyone explain the Goldman Sachs mess coherently so I can understand?

I’ve been reading about it in “The Oregonian” newspaper every day and I still don’t understand those kinds of investments. That may be because I get excited if I can put $100 into my savings account! That’s my type of investment! I’ve read information about it over and over again, so I thought that maybe if I read it aloud as if I were talking to someone and explaining it, maybe it would eventually sink in. So I found this old picture of Teri and Cindy, sitting still for a change, and looking quite happy. So I started reading and pretended they were happily responding to what I was saying. Last Friday, April 17, 2010, our government accused Wall Street’s Goldman Sachs of selling mortgage investments without telling the buyers that the securities were made up of input from a client who was betting on them to fail. They did fail which cost investors close to $1 billion. This helped Goldman client Paulson & Co, a hedge fund, capitalize on the housing bust.

The SEC says Paulson & Co. paid Goldman about $15 million in 2007 to invent an investment tied to mortgage-related securities that the hedge fund thought would decline in value. At the same time, Paulson took out a form of insurance that allowed it to make a huge profit when the value of those securities went down the toilet. Paulson & Co. was among the first on Wall Street to bet against subprime mortgages with the firm making over $15 billion in 2007. Even now Paulson is making billions more, mainly by betting against bank stocks and then buying them back after their shares plunge.

By this time, I was totally confused, disgusted and dismayed at the inefficiency of the SEC. Why didn’t they do something earlier? Why were they dragging their feet? And what does all of the above mean? I still don’t know what derivatives are or just what a hedge fund is. A hedge fund seems to me to be a few men with millions who play with other peoples’ money to make more for themselves. They don’t have the regulations other firms have so can do pretty much what they want. They are a bunch of stuck-up bastards as far as I’m concerned. I visited Teri and her family in New York a couple of years ago, and we ate at a very nice restaurant directly across from the NY Stock Exchange. A group of young men came in, dressed in expensive suits and sat at a nearby table. They were having a great time with their drinks and food and more drinks. I figured they were from across the street and had a lot to be happy about considering their salaries, bonuses and other perks. I wonder if they’re that happy today. Probably so as I don’t think much has changed yet.

Teri and Cindy still look happy in the picture which is more than I can say for myself. I am more confused than before!

Out to lunch

The other day Diane and I went shopping at Wal Mart. I don’t usually dress up on those occasions, but I felt like celebrating as I hadn’t been out for quite a while, so I went all out. I wore my GLEE t-shirt with a picture of Jane Lynch on the front – she’s shouting into a megaphone like she does. I also wore my HUMAN TARGET black, hoody sweatshirt with a big target printed on the back. Fortunately, no one shot me while we were out. I think HUMAN TARGET is over for the year, but I hope Fox gets on the stick and renews it. GLEE is back which makes me extraordinarily happy. I had my camera but took no pictures of “Wall Mart” people because there was never an appropriate time to do it. I did see a few, but they were facing me and I like taking them from behind, and the ones I saw weren’t that interesting from behind. As we went into the store, there were two police cars parked in front, so I got excited over that! I thought maybe I could get a shot of someone being dragged out in handcuffs – sort of like “Law&Order” - but the store seemed very subdued. I did buy two cans of soup that were much cheaper than where I shop. I think that was the most exciting event on our shopping trip.

So then we needed to find a place to have lunch and a glass of wine. We came back through Sellwood and I noticed a little place I hadn’t seen before. It’s called the Jade Teahouse and the cuisine is southeastern Asian – Thai, Vietnamese and whatever else is in Southeast Asia. Diane had chicken Satay with peanut sauce and coconut someplace on the plate. I don’t like coconut at all. It’s very creepy! But Diane said it was good. I had a Vietnamese meat ball sandwich that was out of this world! As we got up to leave, I noticed an interesting man at the counter with his buddy, and they left at the same time we did. So out on the sidewalk, I asked him if I could take his picture. Now if someone asked to take my picture, I would run screaming into traffic! But he was very obliging and said I could. I had to have him get in different positions and places because of the sun, and he seemed to understand the fact that I was not a professional photographer! He remained pleasant throughout the entire ordeal. His buddy told Diane they had done the plumbing for the restaurant which has been open about 8 months. After I took the picture, I asked the man if I could use it on my blog and he said I could. He wanted to know how to get on the blog because his granddaughter could do it and show him the picture. I think plumbers aren’t allowed to own computers. So I gave him a card for his granddaughter. He was so nice that I felt like he was a good example of most of the people that make up our community here in Portland – friendly, courteous and accommodating. As for the others who can’t be friendly, courteous and accommodating? Screw ‘em!

Everyone’s having a Tea Party these days!!

I may have started the Tea Party craze. Way back when I was very little, I had a tea party on my sixth birthday. There was no admission fee and Sarah Palin wasn’t invited so she couldn’t give a speech. I don’t believe any checks were written, but everyone had a good time even though it was a big flop as a fundraiser. I don’t know why we would have been raising funds unless it was so my dad would have more gas money to drive to Portland to find drunks on the street that were willing to come to Hood River to pick our apples. Of course, they always got drunk after they were paid, so you could never get enough funds to cover that. Those were interesting times. At this tea party, my dad dressed up as a clown and did crazy things and we all had a blast. This went on for several years until we all got too old – or maybe my dad got tired. Being a clown is not all it’s cracked up to be.

In the pictures, the top one has us all sitting at the tea party table. I’m the one wearing the glasses. I’m the ONLY one wearing glasses – I came out of my mother’s womb wearing glasses.You can see the reflection on my glasses. The bottom picture is of me sitting on the clown’s lap. I really loved those parties.

I can’t figure out what the Tea Party movement is all about. According to Google, my Bible, “The Tea Party protests are a series of nationally-coordinated protests across the United States beginning in early 2009. The protests are part of a nascent (I had to look that one up), larger anti-tax political movement called the Tea Party movement.” Just what is it these people want? If you ask me – and no one has, but I’ll say it anyway – they’re a bunch of crazies who have split from the more moderate republicans and are so far right they’ve hit the wall. I think the republicans are scared of them as they’re screwing everything up. What gets me is that any time Obama makes a statement or suggestion, the republicans and Tea Party crazies veto it or say it’s bad. But some of those ideas began with the republicans during the previous administration, so why are they bad now but good when they were in power? You know what I think the Tea Party needs? A good clown! They could have a clown at all their meetings and he could run through the crowd throwing all sorts of things like balloons, candy, dog poop and other oddities. That would certainly liven things up. But what I really think is the Tea Party movement should go quietly into the sunset, never to return and quit embarrassing themselves and our country. I just saw Sarah Palin on TV at the Tea Party get-together in Boston today. She was screeching in her high, squeaky, abrasive voice that just about knocked me off my couch! Can’t anyone shut that woman up?

Wal Mart Girl

The other weekend I was feeling sort of lonely. I get that way sometimes and wish I could call my daughters to come over and go to a movie with me. But since they are many miles away, I just get through those times. But the other weekend, I decided to go to a movie by myself which I hadn’t done for a long time. I like to go early and sometimes am the only one there which I love! I went to a theater that is close to Wal Mart as I decided I would take a walk before the movie and go shopping. I took my camera as there are usually interesting-looking people shopping in Wal Mart. As I entered I noticed a big, fat man sitting down facing me. I couldn’t very well go up and take his picture, and he already looked mad to me, so I just let that one pass. Pretty soon I saw a girl walk by me with bright purple hair! I started fumbling around with my camera, hoping to get a shot of her from behind, but a Wal Mart employee came up to me and asked if I needed help. He probably thought I looked suspicious. Do I look suspicious? How rude of him. So I told him I wanted to take a picture of the girl, so he went right up to her and asked her! She turned around and said “Sure,” so I snapped it and told her I wanted to use it on my blog. She said fine and was off. I don’t think she knew what I was talking about, but that’s the picture here. She looks so happy – it made me feel good. So I decided to buy some hair dye and come home and dye my hair purple. I couldn’t find the dye, but I did find some cream to put under my eyes to take away any wrinkles and darkness. I’m using it now but still look the same to me . . . sort of suspicious.

After my Wal Mart experience, I walked over to the theater which is right by the high school where Teri’s and Cindy’s dad coached football. They named the stadium after him, but had a fire several years later so his name is no longer in view. And since schools have no money anymore, I doubt that it will be put up again. No one has any money anymore, but that’s a whole different story. The movie I saw was “Ghost Writer,” directed by Roman Polanski. I knew it would be good as his movies are always excellent. It was filmed in Germany since he’s in house arrest in Switzerland and can’t come to the US, but that’s a whole other story also. The movie was very fast moving and moved from scene to scene so quickly. It really was excellent.

So after that, I came home and applied my eye cream. I’m still waiting for results. But it was a pretty good day all in all.

“GLEE” is back!!

The premiere episode, “Hell-o” airs on Tuesday, April 13 at 9:28 – 10:30PM on Fox. Jane Lynch has been reinstated and is back and even more of a bitch than before. The glee club won at Sectionals and is looking forward to Regionals. Rachel (Lea Michele) sang Barbra Streisand’s “Don’t Rain on my Parade” at sectionals and brought me to tears along with probably many other people watching. She was fantastic. So now they are trying to prepare for Regionals but there are a few problems. Rachel finds a new guy she likes who belongs to a rival glee club. Mr. Schuester (Matthew Morrison) doesn’t know about the whole dating business with Emma (Jayma Mays) now that he’s left his crazy wife, and there is singing and dancing that is outstanding. Rachel and Finn (Cory Monteith) sing some great songs. And the new guy that Rachel likes, Jesse (Jonathan Groff) has a beautiful voice. However, he comes from a rival glee club, so there is a question there about that relationship. Jonathan Groff has been on the stage and has quite a resume. The writing in this episode is sharp and crisp and very funny. Their writing team is the best. I don’t know how this show ever came about or why there hasn’t been anything like it before, but this is a winner. I don’t mean this one episode, I mean the entire series. I worry what will happen when they all graduate from high school . . . or will they?

The second episode, “The Power of Madonna” airs Tuesday, April 20 at 9:00 – 10:00PM on Fox. Sue Sylvester tells the principal she wants Madonna songs blasted on the loudspeaker all day as they empower women. Mr. Schuester hears them and decides it would be a good idea to have his glee club choose Madonna songs as its next assignment as they might make the girls realize their strength and independence and the guys would see the error of their misogynistic ways. The guys don’t know the meaning of misogynistic, but they go along with the whole idea anyway. Mr. Schuester thinks the boys have been bullying the girls, and the Madonna music might help straighten things out. There is a scene done in black and white with Madonna music and Sue in her Madonna hair style and makeover that Mercedes (Amber Riley) and Kurt (Chris Colfer) have given her. That scene is fantastic! So much goes on in this episode and the dialogue is sharp, very funny and clever, but I’ve said that before. I really can’t say enough about this series. Ryan Murphy really struck a chord with viewers with this series.

The third episode, “Home” airs Tuesday, April 27 at 9:00 – 10:00PM on Fox. This is a very touching episode and so well done. Kurt sings, “A House is not a Home,” by Burt Bacharach. I had tears all the way through it. Kurt has a high, beautiful voice and always sings beautifully. In this episode, Kurt sets his single dad up on a date that creates problems throughout the show. Sue tells the Cheerios to go on a weird diet – her own concoction – because they are getting ready for a big interview by “Splits” magazine. And an exciting part of the show is Kristin Chenoweth who returns and saves Will and the glee club. Her voice is so good that it’s always thrilling to hear her sing. I think Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan have created something that is unlike anything else on TV. It’s funny, snarky, touching, clever and never mean-spirited. It’s not like the other sitcoms that seem to be all the same. Their humor is perfect, and of course, the music is wonderful. I don’t know why there wasn’t something like this before . . . maybe because Ryan was busy making “Nip/Tuck” which I watched and liked but certainly wasn’t about glee clubs! I don’t remember ever having tears in my eyes watching it either. So keep on doing exactly what you have been, and don’t let those kids ever graduate!

Have I joined a cult??

I took this picture of myself – first time I’ve ever taken a picture of me – wearing a t-shirt I bought from Cindy’s store. She was contacted by the Zendik cult about t-shirts, so she sent for some as they were pretty cheap. I don’t think she should ever deal with them again. I looked them up on Google and they definitely are a cult, all 25 of them. I mean there are 25 people, not 25 cults. They didn’t have many members when the article was written, and I doubt that they have many more now. They are located in the hills of West Virginia . . . that’s no surprise. They say they’re dedicated to creative survival and social change through the arts by their blueprint which will be spread through an “Infinite Psychic Field.” I have no idea what they’re talking about, but they sound scary. I think all they do is go out on the road and sell crappy merchandise. Kids are home schooled, but not really. Kids are cared for by others, rather than their mothers. Sex is not allowed unless Arol, the head mother of the cult, gives the woman a pelvic and then maybe her approval. Arol isn’t a doctor. She just plays one like on TV. There was a lot of information on Google written by a woman who lived with them for about 4 years, and it all adds up to Zendik being some kind of crazy cult. I sure hope I’m not a member now because I’ve worn the t-shirt about 3 times. I like the color, so what the hell?

After I took my picture which was quite a process for me, I had to go to the bathroom so I went in and sat down on my toilet. Much to my surprise, I saw many, many tiny little black ants running around the floor in front of me and in the corner. I had put one of those plastic things with poisonous water that tastes good to ants in the corner, and they were all over that. I guess they’re supposed to drink it and then take it home to their loved ones who will get it from them and then they’ll all die. I’ve done it before and it seems to draw the ants from wherever, but it also makes the ants that were running like crazy before now act like ordinary drunks, staggering around. But I couldn’t stand them running around in front of me, so I got some toilet paper and leaned off the toilet as far as I could without falling. You see I wasn’t through with my business so I couldn’t leave. I managed to get quite a few ants without falling off and knocking myself out. So when I was all through, I picked up all the ants and then sprayed with bad stuff to stop them from coming in. It’s been okay so far, but I know they are never far away. There’s dry rot in my building, so there will always be ants. But just so long as the Zendiks don’t come after me, I can deal with ants. I forgot to mention the meaning of Zendik: “Outlaw; one who thinks outside the current established order.” Are they talking about me?

Cindy’s having a birthday!!!

I love this picture. Cindy looks so happy as she stands there holding up her pants so they won’t get wet. She loved going to the coast and playing on the beach with Teri. I was probably standing there with a coat on and a scarf over my ears. When I used to go to the coast with my folks when I was a little girl, I’d go out in a bathing suit and have a wonderful time while my mother would hover around all bundled up! And then when I had kids I turned into my mother. But I guess we all do. Now when Cindy has something wrong, she can always trace it back to me. She says in a very accusatory tone, “I’m turning into you,” as if that were a bad thing. I don’t think I’m responsible for everything, but we always like to go through the same routine.

Cindy was such a crazy, kookie child, and she grew up to be the same crazy, kook she always had been. She was so much fun and did the goofiest things which made life interesting for the whole family. She idolized Teri, her big sister, and Teri was very good with her. I consider myself very fortunate to have had the daughters I had. I like to say everything good about them is because of me. I just like to say that . . . it doesn’t make it true, but I think it is. Really.

Cindy is not a little girl anymore which makes me sad in a way. But she is still so much fun and just as weird and goofy as she was as a child. She has her own shop called Brownie Morrison in Tacoma and sells some really crazy stuff. I couldn’t believe how quickly she learned to do everything when she set up the business. My baby is now a business woman!!! Just today she told me about a young woman who came in and said she was thinking of being a nun. She became so enamored with Cindy, talking a blue streak that Cindy couldn’t deal with anyone else. Cindy told her she had a lot to do, and the woman said “Tomorrow you’ll have better energy.” Cindy had to leave to get her driver’s license renewed and the woman asked when she’d be back! Pat, Cindy’s son, came in to fill in for Cindy and the woman left, came back and spent about an hour with Pat who was dying by the time Cindy returned. She stayed the rest of the day and told all the customers that it was Cindy’s birthday Friday and there would be big things happening! Sounds scary. Cindy told me she wouldn’t let the woman in today. Another woman came in and announced that she was a crack whore. Cindy didn’t care who she was as long as she bought something. She was excited and wanted a bunch of stuff but couldn’t pay for all of it. She asked about bartering and Cindy gave in and took some of the clothes she said she had made. I was screaming into the phone when she told me that, but she said it turned out pretty well because people came in the next day and bought the stuff! One of the halter tops had two plastic lids with material covering them over the boobs. All the clothes had ammo – bullet casings – on them! Cindy said she was going to call it her “Spring Militia” line. I hope the woman doesn’t tell her crack whore friends to go to Cindy’s place. I almost forgot another item about the “almost” nun who came in and stayed forever – almost like Jehovah’s Witnesses do. She found a book on dating and started reading it. She read and read and said she absolutely loved it as it had so many good tips. By this time, Cindy was ready to explode and told her to just take it. So the woman left without paying. I don’t think the kind of books Cindy carries was exactly the type that would be good for an “almost nun,” but at least she left . . . without paying, of course. I wonder if Cindy will ever make a living!

When I look at this picture of Cindy, I wish she could be as happy and carefree as she was then. But she’s all grown up now and turning into her mother! But don’t ever forget that your mom loves you lots and lots. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CINDY!!