Why I'm Pissed with N.O.W.

The New York State chapter of N.O.W. released this statement yesterday. I’m not all that happy with them. In fact, I’m pretty much pissed off with them. Read on….


Senator Kennedy Betrays Women by Not Standing For Hillary Clinton for President
January 28, 2008


Women have just experienced the ultimate betrayal. Senator Kennedy’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton’s opponent in the Democratic presidential primary campaign has really hit women hard. Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him, hushed the fact that he was late in his support of Title IX, the ERA, and the Family and Medical Leave Act to name a few. Women have buried their anger that his support for the compromises in No Child Left Behind and the Medicare bogus drug benefit brought us the passage of these flawed bills. We have thanked him for his ardent support of many civil rights bills, BUT women are always waiting in the wings.

And now the greatest betrayal! We are repaid with his abandonment! He’s picked the new guy over us. He’s joined the list of progressive white men who can’t or won’t handle the prospect of a woman president who is Hillary Clinton (they will of course say they support a woman president, just not “this” one). “They” are Howard Dean and Jim Dean (Yup! That’s Howard’s brother) who run DFA (that’s the group and list from the Dean campaign that we women helped start and grow). "They" are Alternet, Progressive Democrats of America, democrats.com, Kucinich lovers and all the other groups that take women's money, say they’ll do feminist and women’s rights issues one of these days, and conveniently forget to mention women and children when they talk about poverty or human needs or America’s future.

This latest move by Kennedy, is so telling about the status of and respect for women’s rights, women’s voices, women’s equality, women’s authority and our ability – indeed, our obligation- to promote and earn and deserve and elect, unabashedly, a President that is the first woman after centuries of men who “know what’s best for us”.

Well, being that I’m not one to keep quiet when I have an opinion, I sent this response to them…

I just read your press release on the Kennedy endorsement and I have to say, I’m very disappointed in NOW. I’m a liberal Democrat, a female, and would love to see our country elect a woman president. But I’m part of the “they” that you talk about...not Hillary, not this woman who is nothing more than a Republican masquerading as a Democrat. Not this woman who began her adult life as a Goldwater Girl. Not this woman who is in favor of the war and continuing funding of it and is willing to send more men AND women to battle.

Statements like the one you released yesterday are what make so many people upset with your organization. We don’t vote for a person because of what’s between their legs, we vote for what’s between their ears. I would like to see you back down on this latest stance and help elect an individual, regardless of their gender, who will stand up for our rights as a woman and do what’s best for us.

Thank you, I’m sure you aren’t going to like what I said but I appreciate you taking the time to listen to my view.

A Day Made in Heaven

My definition of a great day...sleep in, get a call from someone who wants to pay me to get his listings on the market, play around on Goodreads, brew a pot of tea, light some incense, listen to music. And to top it off, it's an overcast, rainy, cold day in Portland. My perfect day will only get better once I settle into reading my book.

My son gave me some TeaPosy for Christmas. It's tea that is woven into flowers so that when you brew it, it blossoms into something beautiful. I was saving them until I either had company or was going to a friends home. But then I asked myself this afternoon, "why wait, Karen, you're worth it". Here's a photo of the one I brewed today, it blossomed into a carnation. Not the best photo, I'm not the photographer that my brother is. I'll blame it on poor lighting.

And the other photo is from just a few days ago when the sun was bright and I could see Mt. Hood in all of it's glory. It's so beautiful, completely covered with snow. On that day you could see the snow blowing around the top, it was breathtaking. And to think I get to look at this from my window every day.

Joe Cocker is currently singing his cover of the Beatles "Come Together". Life is good.

How to Blow an Interview

Ok, as you know, I've been on that fun trek of job hunting. I saw this video today and it cracks me up. All I want to do in an interview anymore is say exactly what the guy being interviewed said in his last line.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2F1l1eE7ug

It's more than a day off work or school....

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968

Christmas 2007

Christmas with us isn’t always traditional. Tyler and Erika were both here and we had an incredible time together. I am so blessed to not only have two of the most wonderful kids in the world, but that we have a lot of fun together.

One tradition held up again this year…Erika had trouble getting here on her normal flight. Once again the airlines cheated us out of time together. As with last year, she ended up flying into Seattle and driving the three hours down here. At least this year we didn’t need to drive to get her, she met someone at the airport in Chicago and they rented a car together.

To celebrate Erika’s birthday, Tyler took the three of us out on the town. We started out at CC Slaughter’s for the drag show. So much better than Darcelle’s! Erika was taken onto the dance floor by Bolivia Carmichaels and Honey Bea Hard for a little birthday celebration. Tyler was also a hit with the ladies. Not a big surprise there, that’s pretty normal in his world.

After CC Slaughter’s we walked down the street to VooDoo Doughnuts. VooDoo Doughnuts is a late night doughnut shop that has the most unusual array of doughnuts you could ever imagine. It’s hard to explain the place…kind of goth, very small, very popular, and busy all through the night. Oh, and, you can hold a wedding there. A legal wedding! Check out their website to see some of the crazy doughnuts they have: www.voodoodoughnut.com

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were pretty traditional…cooking, eating, presents, lounging around the house.

The rest of the time was spent just hanging out around town and eating endless leftovers. It was a wonderful week.







Pioneer Courthouse Square














Sibling love.















They spent a lot of time like this...sharing music, photos, fixing Erika's computer, looking at myspace and facebook.














Tyler showing Erika the fine art of mascara application before going out for the night.


















Bolivia Carmichaels
(CC Slaughter's)












Tyler and Beyonce
(CC Slaughter's)
















Honey Bea Hard going for the goods. Yes, that's Tyler getting the "attention"! I think Erika enjoyed it as much as Tyler.
(CC Slaughter's)














VooDoo Doughnuts