"I vant to suck your blood...."

“Listen to them, the children of the night. What sweet music they make.”
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) (Dracula).....Velcome to my humble Halloween blog....bahhhaaaaa!!!!!! Ok...enough cheesy Vampire humor for right this moment, but I'm not promising that there won't be more!!! So when you least expect it....EXPECT IT!!! Scared yet...nah, me neither. Let me first acknowledge the person whoes subject suggestion for this little trip into the Twilight Zone that is my mind was picked as part of a raffle I was having for my Tastefully Simple endeavor . That person is .....drum rolll......Denise Csokuly. I know Denise from one of the scariest places in the ENTIRE WORLD...COPERATE AMERICA, bahhhhaaa! Ok, i'm over using the bahhhaaa. So, as Rod Sterling would say "You are traveling through another dimension, a demension of not only sight and sound,but of mind. Journey through a wondrous land of imagination....next stop....THE TWILIGHT ZONE!!!". So, children of the night, we are going to visit with some of Pammy's favorite people (?) in the whold world. The Vampire. Next to a good visit to a cemetary I love to spend me some time with me homies, the Vamps! So many to chose from, where do I begin (wait, that's the start to a song that is totally unrelated and way too sunny for this subject!) I will start with the what a Vampire is "supposed to be". Vampire is a corspe supposed to leave it's grave at night and drink the blood of the living. They prey ruthlessly on others (ruthless...did someone call my younger sister???.) Haha...ok, i'm the only one who laughed. Let's start with my FAVORITE of all times Vampire....Come on down BARNABAS COLLINS!!!! Barnabas, aka Canadian actor Johnathan Frid is 200 year old vampire from my favorite soap opera of all times, Dark Shadows. Dark Shadows ran from 1966-1971. Barnabas was 200 years old 30 years ago, so time to update his resume. His turn on's are stalking pretty young girls, drinking blood and an occasional game of billiards. He is a gentlement after all! Turn off's....stakes and sunlight. He was my first vampire love at the age of 10. He had a bad Julius Ceasar hair cut and was oft featured in my favorite magazine, 16. He was romantic and tortured and yes, heroic and every time he bit one of his lovelies you cheered as Barnabas would live to see another sunset....sighhh! I understand Johnny Depp is going to bring my beloved Barnabas back to life on the big screen. Let's hope Johnny can keep his fangs in his mouth better than Johnathan Frid did (lord that sounded dirty, it's just sometimes in the 60's special effects were not that good and Barnabas's fangs would slip). Here's to hoping Mr. Depp does my Barnabas proud. Fun fact....Freud even wrote articles of the subject of Dracula and believe it or not he decided there were sexual connontations of it. Well durrr Dr. Freud!

Our next Vamp to visit would be that rascal Vlad III Prince of Wallochia 1431-
1476. Vlad's love name was Vlad the Impailer due to the fact that his idea of a good time was to impale his victims on a stake and leave them out for all to see. I imagine it cut down on bothersome calls from door to door sales people. His victims were estimated in the 10's of thousands. He was the inspiration for the modern day Dracula and he was not at all warm and fuzzy like I like my Vamps.

Enter the ever popular Count Dracula who was portrayed on Broadway and the silver screen by the late great Bela Lugosi. He was a Hungarian born actor and was enterally type cast as ole Drac. Poor Bela was even buried in his Dracula costume. The word Dracula actually mean's Son of the Dragon. I would be remiss in not mentioning Nosferatu who was the "star" of of a 1921 German Expressionist film. He had long pointy fingers, bad teeth and a bald head, not my idea of the Vamp of my dreams, but he was a key to get to where we are today with Vampires, so deserves a "participation" trophy.

In the 60's we had a diverse Vampire community. Not only did we have Barnabas Collins batting around. We had Count Chocula and Count Count. Count Chocula hit hard times as had to resort to selling breakfast cereal to pesky human children during Saturday morning cartoons. Count Count on the other hand hit the big time with a little show we like to call Sesame Street. His job was to teach the youngsters to count. Someone asked Count Count in an interview how old he was and he replied that he was 1,832,652 years old. Now that would make him predate man, so we actually think The Count started counting years and forgot to stop! Even the kiddies have their own Vampire hero's. Now I do us the word hero, because that is often how the modern day Vampire is portrayed.

This leads us to a few more contemporary Vampires. First off there is Spike. Spike was created from the strange little mind of Joss Wheadon for the program Buffy the Vampire Slayer (she best leave my Barnabas alone!) Spike was a Billy Idol wanna be who rocked white blonde spikey hair and a long black leather coat (rock the cradle of love, rock the cradle of love) oh wait, Billy Idol, that's another blog. He had a lovely English accent and I would have given him my neck anytime!!! His Vampire name was William the Bloody and aquired the name Spike for his method of killing slayers. Ultimately he fell in love with the Slayer, Buffy, talk about a mixed marriage. Then Spike in the most noble of jestures gave his life to save the world and his beloved Buffy,who was a step up from the crazy as bat shit (haha, get it?? bat shit, Oh well I liked it!) Drucilla he had been hanging out with! So romantic and it only took an occasional offering of blood.

Jumping now to more modern Vampires we have Bill from True Blood who spends most of his time buck neked and saving poor Sookie Stackhouse from other evil no good nicks. Sometimes he's naked for that activity or other times he does have some very nice clothes, but they really are optional in Bill the Vampire's world. Either way he could fang me anytime. Whoops, I think that was dirty, oh well...it's the truth!. Bill leads us into our last stop in Vampire land and that would to be visit Edward Cullen. Beautiful, tortured (are we seeing a pattern here yet children of the night?) Edward. He can go out in daylight and all he does is SPARKLE! Sparkle...WTF. I like my Vampires to burn in the sun like all good vampires should. I don't want them to look like they just visited Liberace's make up man. Edward is in love with poor lost, no one understands me, Bella. I think she's a pain in the ass personally. For the first time in my vampire history my heart is screaming "pick the werewolf"! Don't get me wrong, I am a major Twihard and can't wait for the next movie, I just root for team Jacob.

The whole point of this little essay was to promote "Vampire Awarness". Hug a Vamp, he might be having a bad day/night? Just.....WATCH YOUR NECK!!

I want to thank everyone who entered my blog contest namely, Shannon Cress, Mary Macko, Denise Csokuly, Margie Russo, Josh Stewart (and Josh, I will be using your idea for another blog!), Nancy, Ball, Nicole Garofolo, Suzanne Whitney, Sherry Springer Mitchell, Teresa Lantz-Thomas, Kyra Robinson, Shannon Burge, Danny Shore, Colleen Kudis, David Stiffler, Uncle Danny (Sammy) in England, who told me a truly chilling ghost story and last but not least Stacy Bell.

So, inconclusion, wait, I hear a noise...I'll go out and check to see what it is....as spoken by every first dead guy in every horror movie. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! xoxxoxo Pam...Mrs. Barnabas Collins.

"Let's Roll"......Todd Beamer Flight 93

Hello Friends.

Boy, has the direction of my blog changed over the time I worked on it. It was one of those rare blogs that I needed to research for facts, names and figures. By the time I did that I had a very cold and clinical view of what was a day that changed America for the generation we live in. Did I want it to be just facts? Was it going to be cold? yes. I decided that the facts and figures are for the history books to teach our children, grandchildren and generations to come. My blog is about people, it's about people we lost, people who survived and perhaps a small view of how I felt that day and feel now. I wanted to put faces to this event so it just isn't about planes that crashed, buildings that fell and a "numbers" of people who died. Those people were not just numbers. They were living, breathing human beings that loved, lived and unfortunately in many cases didn't walk away from this cowardly act of murder.

Our journey starts on a beautiful September morning. The date September 11, 2001. It was a truly beautiful day and I remember going into work early, around 6 a.m.because I had an appointment with a doctor and needed to leave the office around 8:45 to make the appointment at 9:30. As I walked out of the building I got a call from my friend Sherry Springer and she was telling me that a plane hit the World Trade Center. We kept talking as I walked over to my car parked in Pittsburgh at Kaufmann's parking garage. During a drive that should have taken 20 minutes that time of day but took over an hour Sherry and the radio kept me in the loop of what was happening. I couldn't believe my ears. Sherry kept telling me the building was swaying and I remember responding, well those tall building are made to do that, just like our US Steel building here in Pittsburgh does. I know I just kept driving, but I was seeing car's pulling over and people sitting on the side of the Parkway and you could see their faces just sitting there blank, crying or looks of disbelief. I was scared I just wanted to drive. I was actually afraid to stop. We then heard the 2nd plane had hit. We knew this was no accident. I had to go through the Squirrel Hill tunnels and my thought was this could be happening all over the country and I wanted out of the tunnel. I was getting closer to my appointment and I have no idea why I felt I had to go but I did (of all places it was the gynecologist!). I started calling my family, I couldn't get Mom and Dad, I spoke to my sisters, Ruth and Donna. In the mean time talking to Sherry on and off. More and more news coming in. I called my friend Jim Glenn to make sure he was OK, I was worried about everyone being as scared as I was. I called my friend Geoff in Syracuse NY and got his machine and left a message saying I hope he was OK. I also called Danny in England to tell him to turn on the TV as he worked all night and I didn't think he wanted to sleep through this. It would be another 14 hours until we spoke again. I got to the doctor,we watched on TV what was happening. Then, as I was leaving the doctors office phone rang and the receptionist said, it's for you! Well...I was surprised. It was my supervisor Karen calling to tell me not to come back into Pittsburgh as they were evacuating, they found the doctors number in my Rolodex cause they couldn't get through to my cell phone.. I told her I wasn't planning on it and headed home as I wanted to get to my Mum and Dad. So, as every American did that day, we sat, watched and prayed as the four planes hit, two in New York City, one at the Pentagon in Washington DC and one in all places a field in Shanksville Pa, which is about 2 1/2 hours from Pittsburgh. That plane had been in our airspace! The President had ordered all planes down but still everyone wasn't accounted for. Mum, Dad and I watched in horror as buildings fell, as things came fluttering out of window, which I asked my Dad, what is that Daddy, is it paper flying. He gently explained to me no honey, those were people falling from the building. I think I screamed then. and turned to my Dad as said are we going to be OK and Daddy said to me "Pammy I don't know". This my story, which is not dramatic it's just the point of view of an average American Citizen.

Here is what we slowly learned in the next few days
19 militants associated with Islamic extremist group Al Qaeda hijacked 4 airliners an carried out suicide targets against target's in the U.S.A. 3000 people were murdered that day including more than 400 police officer, firefighters and EMTS. These are just the cold hard facts. I could go into time lines, but again that is for the history books. I now want to talk about several people that were either murdered that day and some who survived. Let's meet some of these people.

In the World Trade Center Tower 1, was a man named Shannon Lewis Adams, age 25. He came from a small town called Star Lake NY, population 860. He was so proud of working in the World Trade Center that on his business care he gave his address as Tower 1,101st Floor, World Trade Center. He was a fixed-income accountant for Cantor Fitzgerald. Not bad for a kid from a high school class of 34 kids! His father described him as "going 100 miles and hour all the time". He was so loved that at his memorial service, his friends gathered for an Irish Wake. They all filled up the motels in 15 mile radius! This was a man who had great things ahead of him for sure.

One of the 92 people on American Airlines Flight 11that crashed into the North tower was a lady named Lisa Fenn Gordenstein. She was a merchandise manage of TJX, She was 41 years old (my age at the time). The CEO of her company, Ted English said about Lisa "Lisa had a heart as big as the ocean. She was the person to whom other associates went for help and she was always available for her co-workers. She was a great businesswoman and a wonderfully creative merchant. Most of all, Lisa loved being a Mom" She left behind her husband David, two daughters, Samantha and Carly, her Mom, Stepfather,grandmother and Sister. Lisa was not just a number to her family, she was theirs and now she was gone.

On United Flight 175 was a family, perhaps not a traditional family but a family none the less who all died together. They were Ronald & Daniel Branthorst-Gamboa and their 3 year old son David. They were visiting friends in Boston and returning to Los Angeles. Daniel ,41, was an accountant for PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Los Angeles and Ronald, 33 was the manager of a a Gap store in Santa Monica. David,3, was named for Daniel's brother, was adopted in 1998. David was described "as the spirit of Ron and the intellectual curiosity of Daniel". Ronald and Daniel were a couple for 13 years.They were proud adoptive family and planned to adopt another child. Again,not just a number but a loving, thriving family.

Flight 77 American Airlines slammed into the west side of the Pentagon killing 125 military and civilians. One gentleman was Charles E. Sabin age 54. He served in Viet Nam, leaving with the rank of Captain. He worked at the Pentagon for years as a civilian. His family could not reveal what his job was. His brother stated "It's still hard to realize he's really gone. He was a good neighbor, a great leader and most of all he loved his country." Also taken that day with Mr. Sabin was a lady by the name of Angelene C. Carter. She was a civilian accountant who worked in the Pentagon. She was described as a devoted wife and mother and active member of her church. She is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Angelene is special to me. I didn't know her, but I wear a memory bracelet with her name on it. Every year for the past 9 years Dan and I have honored her memory in several different ways. One is that we give a patriot pin to at least 50 of our friends and family with a picture of her and her story. Mr. Sabin and Mrs. Carter just went to work that day as they did any other day, but did not have the choice to go home..

Now flight United Flight 93 California bound was a story that we all know well. There was Captain Jason Dahl at the controls. he began his flight training at the age of 13! We know many of the other names of people by heart as they were able to communicate with family, officials and loved ones because they were aware of what was happening through out the country. The plane crashed into a field in Shanksville PA killing 45 people, but not before people like Todd Beamer, Mark Bingham and Jeremy Glick took matters into their own hands and tried to regain control of the plane. They revolted using weapons such a boiling water and their own hands. It is believed that his plane was headed for The White House and these brave people gave their lives in an effort to stop what was happening. Also on that flight was a young man by the name of Bernard Curtis Brown II. He was 11 years old and was on a trip to California sponsored by the National Geographic Society. His Mom described him as someone who woke with unusual energy. One of his hero's was Michael Jordan. Such different people all placed together for whatever reason on the same flight.

We must also remember all the Firefighters, Police and EMTS that were ;lost that day. As we would be running away from the carnage these brave people would be running towards it not knowing if they were coming out. That takes an amazingly brave person to do this.

Now we do have two stories of survival. One from shear will and the other who was lucky enough to be on floor 55 of 1 World Trade Center, which was below where the plane hit. It still didn't mean she had any guarantee of coming out alive. The lady on the 55th floor is from a company in Murrysville PA called Mine Safety Appliances. Her name is Judy Colfer and she is from Greensburg PA. She is a devoted mother and was a devoted wife to her husband Gene who passed away in 2004 of Cancer. She recalls on the 35th floor a New York City lieutenant came running up the stairs, he grabbed her and asked what floor she'd come from, trying to determine how far the fire has spread. he told her "You'll make it out" Mrs. Colfer said he had piercing blue eyes and she didn't think he made it out. The fireman told them when they got out to run , run for your life. The building collapsed an a female voice said "reach out your hand" and wrapped it around hers. The smoke was so thick the woman could just her her screaming but couldn't see her. A cab driver picked them up and they fled but not before they picked up a young man named Mark. Mrs. Colfer spend two days at Mark's apartment in New Jersey until some MSA colleges came for in a car and drove her home. She still hears from Mark sometimes, but he's moved South as he couldn't bear staying in the City. Mrs. Colfer has never been back to New York City. Dan and I had the honor of hearing her speak on the 1 year anniversary at Hillcrest United Presbyterian Church. There we all sat for 2 1/2 hours listening to this tiny little woman's story of survival. It was one of the most moving experience's of my life.

Our last story of survival is one of a lady by the name of Lauren Manning. Now she maybe a name familiar to some of you as her husband wrote a book that consisted of the email he sent to friends and family keeping them posted on her condition entitled Love, Greg and Lauren and was published in 2002. Mrs. Manning at the time was a Sr. Vice President and partner at Cantor Fitzgerald. This investment bank took up several floors of the World Trade Center and lost 658 employees. Mrs. Manning had just entered the building when the plane hit the north tower. A wave of burning jet fuel exploded from one of the elevator shafts engulfing her in flames.. She ran onto the street and a bystander extinguished her. She was loaded into one of the first Ambulances to arrive and taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital burn unit. She was burned over 82.5% of her body and they didn't expect her to make it through the first 24 hours. She was one of the 17 victims treated there. She was there for 3 months followed by 3 months at a rehab center. She says it was the thought of her son that kept her going. As she was burning he was her thought that she had to live for him! She has had many surgeries and through shear will lived. What she experienced is unimaginable, but then, most of what happened that day is.

I've now introduced you to some of the brave souls from that horrible day. God took some home, others he left here as they have a job to do and I feel that job is to be a physical reminder of what happened that day. As Todd Beamer said on flight 93 "let's roll" that is what the survivors did...they rolled on with life. His message was advise as well as a command. For those who did not go home that day perhaps this little missive will help put them in someones memory and on September 11th you might say a prayer for them. They are with God, but they have left family, friends and many loved ones that need those prayers.I am so thankful I got to go home that day to my family. Now I look back 10 years later and at times it seems like a bad dream, but it's not. The images we all saw can never be unseen or undone so let us never forget and teach our future generations about the American people from that day and their bravery in the face of death.


With respect, sadness and American pride I write this. God Bless America.


Pam

Some of my sources were: Wikipedia, The Boston Globe, The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.

"Singing in the bathtub...." As sung by Tweety Bird

Hiya Doc, as Bugs Bunny would say! What's new in your world. The same old same old in mine except my dangerous little mind has been working overtime and that means's it's typing time!!!! Today's subject is Cartoon's and Children's shows. First off I must say that I learned one of my favorite songs from watching Cartoons, as sung by Tweety Bird "singing in the bathtub, Happy once again, watchin all my troubles go swimming down the drain (or dwain!). ahhh life should be that easy...but then it was a simpler time when we washed that man right outa our hair! The social reference to clean and getting rid of problems I love! Also, I used to sing that song to my niece, Dana when she took a bath. I often wonder if she remembers that?? Pam you may ask (or may not) what brought us to this crazy train of thoughts. Well what got me there was watching TV on Saturday and Sunday morning. I found it to be how you say...as Pepe Le Pew would ask....doo doo! I used to live for cartoon's and children's programing on Saturdays. The TV belonged to the children on that morning. Now you of the younger generation may argue and say well you watched crap in your day. Yes, there was crap and will always be crap but I think personally we had far better programming. It wasnt' going to change the world but it sure entertained and has held up the test of time as we are still all watching Tweety Bird (my personal favorite) Bugs Bunny, Wylie Coyote and Fred Flintstone. Did you know....Tweety Bird is a boy??? There is often great debate about that because of the eyelashes and coy attitude but according to Warner Brothers, he is a boy. Originally Tweety Bird aka Tweety Pie was created in 1942 he was pink not yellow. It seems the censors had an issue with that because people might thing he was naked! Well WTF....he's a bird....he was naked and Donald Duck didn't wear pants. The censors did have a bit too much time on their hands as it seems they still do because Bert and Ernie have been deemed Gay. Again, like the no pants and naked thing...do ya think we go around wondering if Bert is sleeping with Ernie...I think not!!! Looney Toones covered social issues as well. Now here's your fun fact...did ya know that The Flintstones were a homage to The Honeymooners? But I must continue. These cartoons were written for children and adults. I remember seeing Bugs running around doing impressions of Hitler and Winston Churchill. Often times the movie stars of the day were featured in a Warner Brothers cartoon, stars like Clark Gable. We also had programming that featured live actors like The Bugaloo's created by Sid and Marty Kroft the genius's behind H.R. Puffinstuff (anybody know what the H.R. stands for??) in 1970.they were teenagers with British accents dressed up like bugs who sang and thwarted evil in the Tranquility Forest. Phil Collins even auditioned for it. They were supposed to be the British answer to The Monkey''s who were the prefab group molded after The Beatles! Whew....confused yet? Then there was The Kids from C.A.P.E.R. that only ran for a small time in 1976 but I found it to be exhilarating TV, OK, that goes a bit far, but it was fun. It was produced by the one and only Don Kirschner (music mogul) and was about Teen Crime Fighters who sang. Everybody sang, we learned that from Tweety Bird! England had and still has Blue Peter, which has been on since 1958, The presenter (as the English call it) or host welcomes everyone a the bottom of the gang plank aboard The Royal Iris. You could earn Blue Peter Badges, such as Silver for people already with the Blue Peter Badge, Green for conservation and Gold for exceptional achievement, which I understand is VERY hard to get! Now day's we have Sponge-Bob Square Pants, Phineas and Ferb and Auqa Teen, Hunger Force. Ok, Phineas and Ferb might be amusing sometimes, but Sponge-bob just pisses me off. He's aggrivating! I bet even children think so! Now don't get me wrong, I'm not dissin all present day children's TV, I love using words like dissin, I feel so street and with it!!!! A Disney production of Handy Manny is teaching us all Spanish, including me who dropped the course in the 7th grade. Wilmer Valderrama, Fez of That's 70's show does Manny's voice and is teaching me to say hello, hola, which is more than Mrs.Cunningham did in 7th grade Spanish. Also the program is cool because Los Lobos does the theme song. I like Dora the Explorer for some of the same reasons. We travel around and learn Spanish. I swear between Manny and Dora I'm gonna learn to say more than hello! I miss Saturday and Sunday morning TV. We haven't even touched the afternoon movies on Saturday, I learned to love Tarzan and Hercules! Well, I appreciate you reading my little rant from my scary little mind that should have more on it than cartoons, but doesn't! I do have one thing that may or may not make you go hmmmmmm. Does anyone remember Kimba The White Lion. It was a Japanese cartoon from the 60's and was a very early example of anime, which I dispise now. Well, when I first saw The Lion King from Disney I coulda swore they stole the idea from the creators of Kimba. Ahh well, maybe it's just me and I know you shouldn't mess with The Mouse! So for now friends in the infamous words of Porky Pig...that's all folks (I can't even type his wonderful stutter)! Have a great Sunday and hope that maybe there is an old Tarzan movie on this afternoon...that or Charlie Chan! xoxox Pammy

"Be Thankful for What you've got" Written by William DeVaughn

Shalama Lillah (Aramaic for hello) my dear 6 1/2. Hope you have all surived the heat well. I think when we were children we never noticed the heat or the cold, as you get older in my opinion it's all we think about! So my subject today will be "cool", well at least I think so! So first I want to say I don't mean for my ramblings to sound preachy, cause that's not the spirit they are written in, it's just my cluttered little mind trying to make sense of life and whatnot, but as Molly Ringwald said in Sixteen Candles "Life is not whatnot!". Sometimes I have to write it down cause all those thoughts make my head hurt, I try not to think too much cause it does make my head hurt sorta like when my hair get's too long. Ok, secondly let me explain my blog title. As you know I like to use a song title as my blog name. Todays offering is a 1972 soul song written by William DeVaughn. Let me give you the first paragraph of that song: " Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac
Gangsta whitewalls, TV antennas in the back
You may not have a car at all
But remember brothers and sisters
You can still stand tall
Just be thankful for what you got.
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin' the scene with a gangsta lean".
Jeez, I like thoes lyric, I feel so "street"! The point that I'm trying to make is everyday I am trying to be thankful for what I've got. Compared to some people I am a rich rich woman, emotionally and in material things. Just like everyone these days life has not been easy the last few years and it's taken a toll on me and in my opinion my Sainted Danny. Everynight we have a roof over our heads, a fridge full of food and we have the love and support of so many people. Yes, we have our road blocks, but that is how I'm trying to look at them. They are just little blocks in the road. I think I pray more than I ever did in my life. God and I have a few talks every day, even though I think I do alot of the talking. In God's own way he answers me. It might be through a kiss from my doggies, a smile from my Danny or a thank you for something small I might have done. I'm not always a terribly religious person, but I do belive in God, Heaven and Hell. I'm trying to stay out of the later, Hell that is! I try not to dwell on it, but I try to live a good,clean life. I don't always succed but at least I try. Here is our fun fact for the day did ya know that the Bible is still the best selling book in the world??? I know James Patterson probably thought he was, but God's got him beat! Now belive me when I say my blog in no way is trying to be sarcastic or sacrilegious. Just the opposite. I mean it with the utmost respect for relgion. God all and all is good to me. He's gotten me through some rough spots. Maybe I can see that more now because some of the confusion that has been my life is clearing a bit. I often feel bad for Danny and apologize to him because I am not the woman that he married 9 years ago. Some of the changes are for the good, some probably not so good. I had to finally grow up. Now doesn't that sound crazy from a woman who is 52 years old! I never realized how much my Father protected me from so many things. Danny has had the thankless job of helping me finish grow up. I like to think I'm a better person for it even if I'm neurotic,depressed at times and just a general pain in the ass. I thank him for that and I'm a work in progress so it can only get better, God willing! Often I'm sick of myself. Life has been a drama and I hate drama! I swear the next 9 years are going to be Zen, at least that's my goal! They say God only gives you as much as you can deal with, well I'm not that sure about that because I didn't and still don't have alot of the tools I need to cope, but I'm learning! When you stop learning you've given up or died in my opinion. I'm not ready to do either. I have too many books I want to still read, I need to find out how "Supernatural" ends and if Stephanie Plum ever marries Joe Morelli or Ranger. Keeps me going and and of course my sainted Danny who right now will not agree with my characterzion of him in that light. Lord knows I've tested that man's patience. Married couples it seems test each others patience constantly. As much as we have in common there are still differences that glare and make life a challenge to be a sound happy unit. I guess that's why the vow's are "for better and for worse" cause you get to see it all. I'm a pisces some traits of are: a pisces are on the surface it may appear that Pisceans are too slow and too dreamy but in fact, they are distinguished for their great perceptivity and ability to accommodate themselves to various situations and people. We are also not natural leaders. I find this all to be true of myself and at times if makes life hard. Danny on the other hand is a Sagittarius, Sagittarius are
People born between November 22 - December 21 are born within the sun sign. Some of the traits of a Sagitarian are: Optimistic and freedom-loving
Jovial and good-humored
Honest and straight forward. Well this is pretty spot on for Danny and I. I'm a glass half empty girl and he's a glass half full guy. I'm trying to learn the glass half full philosophy and I will get it. In the mean time say a prayer for Danny having to deal with me and at times me him. Now here is something to make you go hmmmmm. Jesus was not born in December. Jesus was more than likely born between Feb. 16 and March 11th. That would make him an quarius, The Water Bearer, which works for me because of the whole water into wine thing. More than likely Jesus spoke Aramaic, but knew Hebrew and possibly Greek. I only speak English, pig latin and Pittsburghese. Now in my thinking about God and Jesus I have come up with a great title for a country song. The title is "Jesus was an Aquarius". I'm not being rude about Jesus. I want the song to be sung by either Loretta Lynn or Garth Brooks. Now I would prefer Elivs, but that's not gonna so much work. No one belts out a relgious song like a country music star. So I think the whole point of my ramblings today is to respect each others difference personality,religous and any other way. Avrio (Adio) Greek for goodbye...xoxox Pammy

"Our house in the middle of the street" Maddness 1982

Hola me amigo's and amigas!Hope you all had a safe and happy 4th of July. Mine was very quiet, which was great. Dan and I cooked ribs and chicken wings on the grill and that was the extend of our excitement which works for me. For some reason right after the 4th I got a bug up my butt about cleanng. Now not that I don't clean, I do the regular stuff like scrub floors,dust,run the sweeper all that kind of stuff. My bug instructed me to throw things away, throw things away I did! Now you have to remember I live in the house that my parents lived in and my grandparents lived in and on top of it all I have stuff from my other grandparents. So out came my shredder, which by the way Gracie and Lacie hate! I found that I had every canceled check my mother ever got back from the bank. I had every bank statment for myself going 15 years back. Shred, Shred,Shred! I felt like Oliver North and Fawn Hall and kept looking over my shoulder to make sure the government was not going to come and take me. While I was at it I removed several tags from pillows and comforters. I don't know how many agencies might come after me now! I found many wonderful memories as well, my Mother"s baby book with a lock of her hair and in my Grandma Bessie's handwriting of every gift recieved when Lois was new and who gave it. I found my Great Grandpa George's Autograph book from the 1800's. I found in it where my Gread Grandma Lizzie had put a lovely like note to him. It was so touching. I think my mother was a hoarder.Here is your fun fact, the deffintion of a "Hoarder" is : Pathological or compulsive hoarding is a specific type of behavior characterized by: •acquiring and failing to throw out a large number of items that would appear to have little or no value to others (e.g., papers, notes, flyers, newspapers, clothes). Yup, that was Lo!
It's been three years since she passed on, but sometimes it's hard to go through somethings because it's so personal. My Mom's stuff was personal, and crazy at the same time. The woman saved every death notice of everyone she ever knew! Maybe that's where my unnatural like of cemetarys comes from. She had pictures of people who I will never know who they are. I think she took other people's pictures in to give them a good home. I also have some amazing old pictures of family members from th 1800's, I'm one to speak, once I had a friend give me a box of books cause she knew I would give them a good home! Yup, I one of those crazies that things objects have feeling's! I found some amazing things I've kept. I have a Time magazine from 9/11, a People magazine from when George Harrison died (I'm still looking for my John Lennon People magazine from when he died and I know I have it, I know I just put it someplace for safe keeping!) I also have a Newspaper from the day the last Harry Potter came out! I found beautiful things like a envelope with dried rose petals from the first bouquet of roses that Dan gave me. I have every card we ever sent to each other and every email we ever sent to one and other. I have the last card my Mom ever sent me and one that I found that she had bought for me but didn't have a chance to send. I have post cards from all over the place. I have pictures from Germany from my Dad when he was stationed there and pictures of General Patton as my Uncle Tate marched with him. Don't know why we have them, but we do. Really, I think people just drop stuff off at our house so they don't have to throw stuff away. Anyone who knew my Mom knew of her love of yard sales. I have stuff no one else in their right mind would want. Sandy, if you are reading this, I think we lost in the flood the lovely piece of pottery from Slippery Rock that used to sit next to the door that we lovingly refered to as "the urnial" that I think Mom bought at a yard sale for a quarter, correct me if i'm wrong. When my 90 year old neighbor Mrs. Tepke, god rest her soul, was downsizing she used to bring stuff to Mum to look through. It was like a traveling yard sale! I'm throwing away dead neighbors trash! The last straw came one Saturday afternoon Mrs. Tepke stopped with a box for Mum to go through. Now, mostly Dan and I would have to haul this stuff to the Goodwill. Well, my Father and I snapped. There was a coffee pot that Mom decided to keep. We have three coffee pots at home and several in Slippery Rock. Daddy and I freaked and Dan just looked on like Damn, I gotta haul another box to Goodwill. Jim said this is it and so did I. I told Lois I totally expected one day to come home from work and find Ted, Mrs. Tepke's 90 some year old husband sitting on my couch because Mrs. Tepke put him in a box by accident. We suggested that she donate the damn coffee pot to Goodwill and she was very offended. I said I knew it was going to go to someone woman in Appalachia was going to need the coffee pot and then corrected myself and said, no she probably has a husband and daughter sitting on their couch and saying "why did you bring home a coffee pot, we don't have electricty"! Needless to say I have greatly downsized. I have so much trash and shredding that I know Dan's going to be embarresed on trash day to put it all out in front of our house. I know sometimes he sneak"s around the neighborhood and leaves a bag here and there from our house so people don't think we are hoarders. Suprisingly we have a very neat house, Lois just stuffed things into nooks and cranny's that people never looked!I kept wonderful things and memories aa I'm not heartless, but some of those death notices had to go! So, I know i'm not a Hoarder, but no way will I ever part with my email's, cards and dried rose petals. So my little thing to make you go mmmmmm is, throw some of this shit away before you die. Women, makes sure those old vibrators go into a dumpster unless you want to scar someone for life (not that I found anything like that) and men, throw away the bottle of Viagra. Otherwise some poor soul is going to end up in therapy for a very long time! So I just felt the need to share my purging (as that's what it feels like) with all of you. Take care and throw some trash away. xoxoxxo Pammy

It's a Grand Old Flag and an amazing Ole Nell (I'm allowed to call her that!).

Happy Fourth of July all! Oh I have so many thoughts rattling around my croweded head and I'm just dying to share them with you (even if you don't want to hear them!!). So as usual I ask for your patience as my thoughts maybe all over the place! My blog today is one of those one's that hopefully makes you go hmmmm and is full of some fun and interesting facts. First off,let's take a moment to thank all of our servicemen and women,past,present and future. Protecting our freedom and often giving their lives to help our country retain ours and others win theirs. Just like Fireman and Policeman as we are running out of the burning building they are running in not knowing if they are come out. What an amazing and selfless calling and where would we be without them? I wanted to talk a bit about our American Flag, the ultimate symbol of our freedom and unity. What a beautiful flag it is. On my first trip to the Smithsonian I felt the need every hour on the hour no matter where I was or what I was doing to make my way to Old Glory and put my hand over my heart and sing the Star Spangled Banner, which by the way makes me cry, but of course dear readers we know allot of things make me cry. I cry at sporting events when we all sing together the Star Spangled Banner. I look crazy at night time baseball games with my sunglasses on so no one can see, which I know they all can anyway. I cry from pride and for all the people who gave their lives for our flag and the American way of life. Every day in my dining room I look at the folded flag that is in a display box that covered my Daddy's casket and was presented to my Mom when he died. That day their were two female representatives from the Army to conduct the flag ceremony and something amazed me. The one female military officer cried when she gave the flag to my Mom. That touched me so much I felt as if she was not only crying for our loss but out of respect for another soldier.I don't cry when I look at that one, I just feel pride that my Dad helped our country. So, with that said, let me give you a few facts about our flag. Did you know...that is is acceptable to wash and dry clean a flag when it becomes soiled? One misconception is that if the flag touches the ground it must be destroyed, that is not correct. It may then also washed and dry cleaned. The Flag should be when flow over a street should be flown suspened vertically and should be flown North on East and West streets and to the East on North and South streets. When displayed from a building or widow sill it should be flown at the peak of the staff unless it's being flow at half staff. Only the President and State Governors can order a flag to be flown at half staff. When a flag has been damaged or no longer serviceable it must be disposed of in a respectful manor, which according to google and other sources is burning. I personally would take it to my local VFW and ask them to dispose of it. Now you may wonder what besides celebrating our independence prompted this little flag lesson..well let me tell you about someone very special to me. I want to tell you about a wonderful lady I have the pleasure of knowing. Her name is Nell. Now Nell, I'm going to tell your age even though it's not polite to give or ask a ladies age. I am giving yours because it helps with the frame of reference of all the history and changes you have seen in your lifetime. I must say first off I know of Nell's love for the American Flag. If I do my math correctly, Nell was born about 1919, (God hope's I can add and subtract as I was a banker! Isn't that Ironic Allanis?? Bad musical reference from the 90's.). When my Mom passed away, and this must sound like a really stupid little thing I gave Nell's daughter Judy the collection Mom had of American Flag and Patriot pins for Nell to have. I gave them to her because I knew she would treat them with respect and they would have a good home. Yes dear reader, I'm one of those weirdo's who think that objects have feelings. Anywhoo, back to Nell, I am in awe of all the things Nell has experienced. In 1919 life expectancy for a male was 48.4 years. In 2011 life expectancy is 78.7. An average yearly salary in 1900's around 1910-1010 was $750.00. In 2011 salaries vary from job to job. The top median salary for 35% of the population is $65,000. In the 1900's The National Debt was 1.15 Billion dollars. In 2011 it is 14 Trillion!!! Imagine seeing that change!! In the 1900's they still lynched people and in 1919 there was 76 lynchings. This statistic was not available for 2011 and I pray it doesn't still happen but I'm sure in some obscure corner of the US it does happen. Divorce statistic were 1/1000. In 2011 divorce happend to 10.3 per 1000 people (the .3 always confuses me, are they only .3 divorced??) Woodrow Wilson was President from 1919-1921. Today, in 2011 we have our first black President, Barrack Obama. Nell has lived through 28 Presidents and one assination. Prohabition started in 1919 and in 2011 we all have the right to drink ourselves silly. Nell has lived through 7 wars, well some people may argue 7 and say it was 6 because Korea was a "police action"...isn't that how Viet Nam started as well? There were 48 states in 1919 with Arizona being the 48th. We did not add two other states, Alaska and Hawaii until 1959. Now I did not write this to point out how old dear Nell. She just has seen so much history and experienced so much life under the saftey of our American Flag. Nell is a wonderful and amazing woman. Nell and her husband raised 5 children. Jim, Jack, Jerry, Judy and Jane I hope I remembered you all. She was a working woman not only at home but out in the world. My husband and I had the pleasure of having Nell at our wedding in 2002. We were honored that Nell had a special toast for us and a little song to share. It of course was a bawdy song about Cocaine Sue (I think that was her name). I would not have wanted her to sing anything else! So Nell, I wrote this for you even though these are all probably things you know, but I wanted to share your life and experiences with everyone else. I know I didn't even touch the surface I hope you don't mind. I have have written this with love and respect and to talk about, on this our independence holiday weekend about someone who truly loves our flag and what it stands for. When I look at a flag I honestly do think of you. I may not say it or see you often enough but I always think of you as my "Grandma" of my heart. So this weekend, put your hand over your heart, recite The Pledge of Allegiance and think about our service peope, our forefathers and one special lady who loves and respects the American Flag. I'd like to leave you with this little quote.."Some people call me an idealist, well that's the way I know I am an American" Unknow. Have a safe, happy 4th of July. Respectfully Pammy xoxoxxo

"Love is a many splendored thing..." song lyrics by Sammy Fain & Paul Francis Webster

Waz up mah bitches (i'm feeling a little "street" today and always wanted to say that anyway!!!!! LOVE...what a strong and powerful word. My muddled,complex and strange mind has been thinking about love allot, but then who doesn't whether or not we want to admit it. It really is the cornerstone of what keeps us and the universe going in my humble opinion. Now as we know, I don't really think in terms that are cohesive, but I had an experience the other morning that really stopped me and made me think about all different kinds of love and even hate for that matter. Do you know they say you can't truly hate someone unless you have loved them. It show's the power of this emotion. So..what happened was...Danny and I often sleep to TV or our IPOD in a docking station. It helps me sleep. Well, the other night my little IPOD shuffle was not charged enough so we used Danny's big fancy schmancy IPOD to listen to. Now my play list is a scary place to be because one moment you might be listening to Duran Duran and next moment here comes Perry Como and Sarah Vaughan. I pick and chose what tracks I want to listen to! Dan's IPOD is a bit more complex. He has complete albums (see how old I am...I call them albums!) Anyway, we both listen to all kinds of things. I have some rap on mine, Dan has more of it than I do. Dan loves song lyrics and the depth and emotion they show as do I. Anyhoo, I woke up about 5:30 am as Danny got out of bed. I found myself waking up to a song by Eminem aka Marshall Mathers. It is called "So Long" and it depicts the violent death of his now ex-wife, Kim at his hands (and ya wonder why they are divorced???). Now Kim actually sued Marshall over this song and I understand why. I found the lyrics so disturbing I was afraid to get out of bed or move let alone even give you a sample of them here.I figure if you want you can google them for those who don't know it. I believe in the eyes of the law the words would be considered "making terroristic threats" which covers many types of things, it doesn't just mean you are going to blow up a building or set a bomb off in a public place. I did look it up and she sued him for defimation of character. This is not a new song it was released in 2000 and I was more than aware of it's existance. I have always chosen not to listen to it. I feel you are the one who has the ultimate censorship control, not the goverment. Belive me, Tipper Gore really pissed me off in the 80's when she tried to get the government to put warning labels on albums. I felt she was stepping on peoples first amendment rights. So did Dee Snider from Twisted Sister and even white bread country boy John Denver, both who testifed before congress on behalf of freedom of speech and expression as did many other artist. In the late 90's I went as far as to defend Marilyn Manson with his violent and misogynistic images and lyrics. I called him "Alice Cooper light" He was still trying on his sister's training bra's when Alice was helping to invent the genre! Now why in my old soul could I not relate this type of expression to Eminem's violent and disturbing lyrics? I don't know, I do just know I felt violated by listening to them. I felt like I needed a shower! Now when my sainted Danny came back to bed we had a discussion about this song. Daniel in no way shape or form supports violence or the abuse of anyone, but I must say, just as I might have done sometime ago defended Marshall's right and motivation for writing this song. It really does relate back to the thin line between love and hate. I understand what he was saying and his point but here I am thinking hmmmm (this is our hmmm moment my dear 6 1/2) why do I suddenly understand Tipper Gore's feelings. It doesn't mean I support her or her actions which I still find confusing as an American. I believe in the First Amendment and the power and freedom it gives us, a freedom that not everyone in this crazy world is allowed to have. Lord know's I listened to every kind of music there was as a child. David Bowie, Kiss, Alice Cooper. They never left me feeling violated. Yes, they said dirty dirty things and had nasty imagaery, but damn it they said it so pretty sometimes. Not that it made it right, it was just sugar coated. Kiss sang songs like Plaster Caster, and Meet Meet ya in the Ladies Room. Now they were not making plaster casts of their hands and they didn't have to pee really bad so they used the ladies room! Alice was busy cutting his head off and Ozzy was biting bat's (which was actually a bird). Yup, twisted, perhaps wrong but their right to depict. I gues what i'm saying is I want my ugly stuff sugar coated!!! I also like my history clean, no one smelled or wore rags! I know that all these things exsists, but I need it put in a context that won't freak me out! I also know because of the First Amendment (and thank God for it) this will not happen. It just show's me the ultimate control I personally have over censorship. You censor yourself in my opinion. You can't take it, turn it off. So Marshall, I hated your song, not that you give a rat's ass and I will never listen to it again. I do listen to your other stuff and enjoy it. This was just such a powerful experience for me that I felt the need to share it, perhaps to much to some peoples dismay, but then again...click off it if you don't like it. Enforce your right to censor. This blog started off in a very different direction. I intended to write about the media and how they depict all types of love. Love of family, of country. Love between a child and parent and a man and a woman but here I ended up talking about Eminem, Alice Cooper, John Denver (who probably never thought he'd be mention in the same sentence as some of these artist) and freedom of speech. I still feel it comes back to love...it's complex and powerful and often takes us to places we never thought or intended to go. We do things for love that are amazing and sometimes scary. I guess that was what I learned from Eminem's song. I can't relate to that kind of anger, but he had to say what he said for himself, and his ex had to do what she did. As the Beatles put it "All you need is love". Yes, you do, but it encompasses so many things. I also heard something that made me laugh but actually is really twisted and it came from all things the program "Hot in Cleveland" the one character said if you love something let it go, but she prefered to lock them up in a basement and feed him through a slot until he saw things her way!!! Now that's some scary shit given through what would be considers a fairly benign medium...and just as bad as Eminem's little ditty!. Let me leave you with this fun little fact did ya know tha Men who kiss their wives in the morning live five years longer than those who don't. So guys take heed, even if you are not in the mood smooch her up!! So, bud's Peace out...keep and open mind and excersice your control. Only you can prevent forest fires (woods of wisdom from Smokey the Bear)! xoxxo Pammy