Not that there's anything wrong with that....

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This morning's Boston Herald carried a front page photo of Boston's own Tom Brady signing autographs for a a crowd of kids at Gilette Stadium where he performs the quarterback duties when not injured; as he's been this season.

Now that's a handsome man eh? I'd do him. Heck I'd convert for him. At a local sports pub recently a straight male friend proudly and loudly announced that he'd happily have Tom's baby. Several heads bobbed down the bar. One hand went up. It would be hard to think there's anything Tom Brady could do to lose his place on the pedestal built for him by his faithful New England fans.

It's in that spirit hat I tell you that today talk radio was alive with one question... "Don't you think Tom looks gay in that sweater?" The white collar and cuffs peeking out of the sleeves of his sweater where discussed. The Vanity Fair photo of Tom cradling a baby goat was mentioned as a clue to Tommy's real sexual preference. http://ladiesdotdotdot.wordpress.com/2007/11/28/hump-day-hottie-tom-brady The thing that was missing from the discussion was rancor and sarcasm. I may be a bit thick skinned. In the past I have been accused of seeing the world thru rose colored glasses but I do know how people can be. This simply was not a gay hating converstion I would have expected!

IMHO the legalization of gay marriage has changed the way GLBT people are regarded here in the Bay State. It's been 5 years since the SJC ruled that when it comes to marriage separate is not equal. Massachusetts has not become "the Las Vegas of gay marriage" as former Gov Mitt Romney predicted. The total number of gay marriages has leveled off at 1,500 per year or 4% of all marriages in the state. The sky has not fallen and Massachusetts still ranks first for having the lowest divorce rate in the nation. Here in my working class neighborhood most families have had a gay wedding in the last 5 years. People have become much more tolerant. I think it's important for gays and lesbians to realise that when your state finally legalizes marriage-for-all a river of human respect begins to flow. It's not just about saying I do. It's about society saying welcome to the table. Have a seat.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

Halcyon Days

Franklin had his way with me today. As it should be. That's what Grammies are for. The pic above shows him exploring the world of the dog woman. He has decided he loves crates and would be very happy climbing in, shutting the door, opening the door and crawling out over and over all day. Eventually the dogs needed their sleeping quarters. He was very gracious and found he could do the same trick with the kitchen cabinets.

My house is happily trashed. I'm exhausted. My plan for the night is call for some Chinese food and take my pillow and blankie to the sofa and crash. The rubble will wait till tomorrow.

I never expected having a grandchild would be so satisfying. I had his father at age 22 after a short and singular bout of baby fever. My young husband went along... or as I remember he was bowled over by my baby Nazi energy and 10 months later James joined us here on the planet. I am not the type of woman who fawns over every baby I see. Babies are nice but frankly I am fine watching from here ... across the room. I was a good Mom though totally out of my element when James was an infant. As he grew I got my sea legs and we where off and running. Little James and I made a good team. I never talked baby talk to him. I remember complaining to my months old child when Ford pardoned Nixon. I swear he understood my rage. In no time he was speaking in full sentences. A verbal child. I had a yellow bike with a baby seat and we rode all over the idyllic little Cape Cod town we lived in at the time. We where beachcombers, beach bums and regulars at Ron's Coffee Shop, the yellow bike propped against the railing outside. He was my sweet pal and I never wanted or expected another thing from the baby goddess.

My son and his wife had been married for 5 years when they announced their pregnancy to a surprised and happy family gathered round the Thanksgiving table. I was speechless! They had never expressed a desire for a child nor do they lead a life that naturally lends itself to raising a family. They have big jobs, a big group of unmarried friends and a hobby that eats up all their spare time. I was very happy but could not for the life of me figure what all this meant or how it would change my life and view of the world.

The upshot is that now I feel truly rooted in the family of humankind. I can see my grandmother and my father in his movement and essence. He looks just like my handsome young husband did at this age. He smells like his own Dad did. At times I am transported back to those halcyon days in Chatham when I was young, beautiful, strong and when life seemed endless and tasted of salt air. I understan the continuum and how one life leads to the next and so on and so on. I know when I'm gone there will be a man who will see me in the face of his own child. Better yet he will remember me and this day when he trashed my house and crawled in and out of the dog crates. If he doesn't actually remember he'll have the photos to prove this day happened when Grammy Jane was still on the planet with him. I know he'll say we were good pals.

I cleaned up the pups and set up two comfy sleeping crates for tonight. I took up the old tarp and put down a new one and only covered half the pen with papers. It's time for these little critters to learn that there's a right place and a wrong place to do their business. I've cut down on the size of the meals they get. It seems to have cured the loose stool problem. Tomorrow I'll give them all their first shots and second wormings.

I will never get tired of this. If I could do this till I was 90 yrs old I would. I'll have to find a handsome dyke handler to show my dogs tho. I could live with that!

My son James just dropped off Franklin to stay for the night. A big New England ice and wind storm last nite knocked out electricity to millions of homes. He and Andrea are going to stay at the house with a kerosene heater borrowed from Andrea's Dad. This is their first week in their new house and they are worried about the pipes bursting. Temps are forecasted to drop to the teens tonight. I am just south of the ice snow line so Franklin will be warm and safe here with Grammy Jane till things right themselves. Wow! I have 8 babies under this roof tonight!

Wicked Full Moon!

Here we go. Or here I go rather. This is the plan. If I can bog 5 days a week for a month then I will move forward with my plans to do my own podcast! I was a guest on ArcherRadio gang Bang last night and it was so fun and everyone was so encouraging.

The photo is of my niece Maddy finishing her IKEA Cinnamon Roll today. This is a tradition for us. We have been going to IKEA together for years. When she was a tiny tyke she would play with the other kids at Smaland. Often I would take her just because she wanted to go... I'd browse around till the pager called me back to pick her up. These days we mostly go if I need/want something but the Cinnamon Roll is a must no matter how busy we are.

I have a full litter of 6 week old Pembroke Welsh Corgi pups on the ground. I am interviewing families. I hope to have all but two of them in loving homes by January 12th... my Dad's birthday. This may take some creative marketing. This is the first time in 20 years that I haven't already interviewed and chosen parents for the whole litter at this point. More on that as the month progresses. I was telling the "gang bangers" last night that I started showing dogs as part of 4H Junior AKC Handling Club when I was 13 ys old. My Dad chose the breed for me and he found a well bred litter (double Jed Jacket grandchildren!!!) AKC CH Willette's Red Jacket was the top winning Pembroke Welsh Corgi in 1965. He held that record till 1987 at least! So my entre to the dog world was with a dog I was very proud...... the way only a dog crazy 13 yr old girl can be. I carved Jane loves Schuyler in the maple tree in our back yard. Oh Lord! My older sister couldn't wait to drag the whole neighborhood into our shady yard to see it. The only reasonable course of action was to hold my head up high wrap my freckled arms around Sky's beautiful red and white neck. I was hard to shake when it came to my dog.

It's going to be a bitter cold night here in the Greater Boston Area. They are predicting a low of 19 degrees. The sky is clear and the full moon is unbelievably bright!! My son told me it's the brightest full moon we'll have all year. He called me tonight to ask if he, his wife and baby could come here for the night as they have no electricity. A dangerous ice storm blanketed northern MA and the rest of New England last night. Then high winds blew in from the north (we call that the Montreal Express here in Boston) and down came all the tree limbs. What a mess.

Well that's all the news that's fit to print! Remember you can follow me on Twitter! See the link to my profile in LINK LITTER here on this page.

Peace,

Jane

Dream interpretation

I dreamt of an old lover last night. We had one of those relationships where you know all along the you love more than your beloved. It was a very physical relationship. In a good way. Big sigh. We had the same view of life, the same taste in entertainment, food and books. There was so much going right. We'd been together four years when she broke up with me...kinda out of the blue. She did not give me a reason. I was flummoxed, heartbroken. Ten days later I went out and hooked up with someone else. I refused to pine away which had been a life long pattern of mine. As much as I loved her I refused to suffer ad infinitum.... or for a month.
A month ago I received a letter from her. The 4 yrs with the hook-up ended in March 08. She wanted back into my life.... I'm not sure for what exactly. We began to exchange emails, catching one another up on what'd been going on in each other's lives. We where volleying twice a day or more. I was hoping, just maybe she was wanting to get back together. I would have been very happy to simply get back to bed with her. That always worked for us. Then out of the blue, without explanation the emails stopped. It's been two weeks. While I'm not heartbroken.. I am bruised. After a week of silence I let her know that although it was nice catching up I was ending the fledgling friendship. As I go about my day my mind wanders to why? and what's wrong with me ? I slap myself and think about something else. In an unguarded moments those questions return. That oh so human urge to beat ourselves up is very persistent.
Last night I dreamt that Donna was in my bedroom putting her things away in my drawers and hanging her clothes in my closet... making herself at home. I tried to talk to her but it was as if she was behind a glass wall. As I tried to get her attention I was interrupted by a knock at the door. There on my back steps where several good friends. It was so good to see their dear faces but I needed to get back to Donna. They tumbled into my kitchen, chatting happily as they sat around my table and started dealing out cards... dealing me a hand as I reluctantly sat down. I was drawn back to my bedroom like a moth to flame. There she was busy carving out a place in my life but having no need to communicate with me. It was as if she couldn't see me. As I opened my mouth to speak the door bell rang. Now my front doorsteps where crowded with friends and family. They hugged me and kissed me. They told me how they'd missed me as they flowed into my house. Then the alarm clock sounded.
Well you don't have to be a shrink to figure out that dream eh? I woke all warm and squishy. I have so much love in my life. I need to continue to move toward the love and not look back lest I be transformed into a pillar of salt. It's a great feeling to get clarification from a dream... it shows me that I do know what's best for me. I just need to speak to me when my guard is down... then I really listen.
The photo is of the pups at 4 weeks with Mom.
Peace and love,
Jane

Old goodies MoveOn under their own power

Two days ago I finally RSVP to one of the many invitations sent to me on behalf of O-BAM-MA! (sorry can't stop) since Hillary conceded and I threw my full support behind our president-elect BO. The invitation read....

"Obama supporters in Canton are gathering to kick off a huge new campaign to help Barack pass a bold, progressive agenda. And we'll celebrate our win with good food and fun people! Try to be there!"

I am so happy that this PAC (political action committee) is taking advantage of all the momentum generated by the Obama machine to help our new pres make his political agendas a reality. Since I'm no longer bottle feeding a litter of 7 puppies I was happy to email that I would be there! Good food ? and fun people ? and the building of a new world. Who could resist? I didn't recognise the address in a near by town but I'm a good Girl Scout... I Googled the address and headed out at 6pm. It gets so dark so early in Greater Boston this time of year! It was hard to read the street signs while negotiating the traffic clogging drive thru lines at the Dunkin Donuts plopped down at every intersection between my home and The Orchard Cove Senior Assisted Living Condos in Canton. I did make it, albeit 15 minutes late, sans my double shot latte.

So? Older people I thought. Should I just stay in my car and go back home? I DON"T THINK SO! I'd put on my good and girly clothes not to mention make up and a manicure. I persevered. The young woman at the reception desk pointed towards a meeting room right off the main lobby. There was just one seat available and I took my place with the 30 assembled seniors. No food. No coffee. This group didn't look like much fun to me. I reminded my self that this was to help Obama implement his progressive policies!!! and I settled back and listened to the youngest person in the room (MoveOn.org volunteer) describe the things we could all do to make a difference.

It was quite a surprise to note that most of these people where very current on political issues. Most had already worked in a presidential campaign.... even if it was for George McGovern or Adelaide Stevenson. Most have PCs and email accounts. They're questions where intelligent and well thought out. All in all they where an astute bunch of commies. Ya gotta love that. At the end of the meeting a group photo was taken of all attendees standing or sitting in wheel chairs or leaning on their walkers 'round a white dry erase board on which was written in big red white and blue letters... WE STAND BEHIND PRESIDENT OBAMA FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE, GAY CIVIL RIGHTS and SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY. What a trip.

The campaign we agreed to participate in is called Fired UP! We where asked to go out into our communities with a dry erase board of our own and write our own reasons for standing with Obama and take pictures of our family members, friends and neighbors standing with the board as we had done as the meeting was ending. Then we where asked to email the photos to MoveOn.org in Washington DC. On Inaugural Day montages of these photos will be displayed all over the capital city on billboards and in subway stations and shopping centers.... everywhere. A million Americans standing with President Obama. Goosebumps!!!

To find a house party near you go to http://MoveOn.org/event/firedup. It's good to feel part of real change n America. I haven't felt this way since the 60s.

We won't get fooled AGAIN!

Peace Love,

Jane

Gotta have it!!

OK. So now that I'm Tweeting I need a blog to post photos and I need a place to EXPAND on all of my idea's and experiences. so here goes. Give me a day or so to get rolling. I've blogged at blogspot in the past but I need to brush up on new features et al.
tatafanow,
jane