The Passing of my Favorite Catwoman

I just heard the news. Eartha Kitt has passed away from colon cancer at the age of 81 and the world has become a little less warm.

Some may disagree, but I have always felt Miss Kitt was the perfect Catwoman, you could hear a purr in her voice whenever she talked, and I think she was much better than Julie Newmar, Michelle Pfieffer, or that other one that no one can ever seem to remember the name of.

She was best know as a singer though, and rose from humble beginings in the cotton fields of South Carolina to an entertainment career that spanned more than 50 years, and while she had many other songs to her credit, my favorite was, is, and shall always be "Cha Cha Heels". I hope you all enjoy it, but I must admit I've been wondering something about this song ever since I became involved with the imperial court system. Why has no drag queen that I've seen EVER performed this song???

You Won't Believe This

This is one of those things you hear about happening to other people, but it actually happened to me last night.

I had just gotten back to Stockton from the Sacramento Imperial Court's Christmas fundraiser, and was quite hungry. I didn't have time, or feel like, cooking anything, and I wanted more than just a PBJ, so I stopped at the drive-up at the McDonald's down the street from my apartment. I won't go into what I ordered, because it's not important to the story, but when I paid, and got back my change, I discovered, after I got home, that one of the coins the cashier gave me was a 1963, all silver, Benjamin Franklin head, half-dollar, which, according to what I've seen on E-Bay is actually worth about $10.00.

I'm in a quandary now. Should I keep the coin, or should I take it back and give it to the cashier who gave it to me. Actually, I know what I'm going to do, but I would like your opinions on the matter, so I hope you'll take my survey.

This is related by something I mentioned once before in that "God and the devil is in the details". For some reason, people don't pay attention, and/or they let their own petty concerns cloud their minds. The cashier who gave me the silver half-dollar in my change probably just didn't want to be bothered with it when it came time to close out the drawer, and the person who gave it to her in the first place didn't want to deal with it since (most likely) vending machines don't take half-dollars. A whole string of people trying to palm off something they saw as being to annoying to deal with, not realizing how valuable that which they saw as valueless really was.

That reminds me of a story I read in one of my Taoist books, but I'll save that post for another day.

I am so Frightend

The economy sucks (Well Duh!) but I always took some comfort in having a steady job with the State of California. Yesterday I found out, my job is not that secure anymore.

The Three Great Political Parties of California, The Democrats, The Republicans, and The Governator are all playing a game of chicken over the state budget. The dems don't want to cut spending, the reps don't want to raise taxes, and Herr Schwarzenegger won't sign anything that doesn't include his very own economic stimulus plan. All this means the state will be out of the money to cover it's obligations by March. For me personally it means, at best, two unpaid days off per month, or at worst no job at all.

So, I've been going through my expenses seeing where I can economize. Some of my austerity measures aren't going to be so bad, and I'm looking forward to implementing them, others won't make some people very happy (they don't make me happy), but if I'm going to get through these tough economic times sacrifices must be made (a direct quote from the mass e-mail I received from Herr Arnold).

Some of the money saving measures I will be taking are;

• Get a room mate to share the cost of the apartment, utilities, and food. Sort of like having a boyfriend but without the "Fringe Benefits".
• Discontinue using Nutrisystem. It's been great, and I've lost some good weight, but it's $277.00/month I may not be able to afford.
• Not drive my car any more than absolutely necessary and do more walking. Gas may have come down a lot, but it's still expensive, and the walking will help with my weight loss anyway.
• When I do drive, I need to remember 55 MPH equals 33 MPG.
• When I go to the grocery store, ALWAYS take my reusable cloth bag, that saves $0.05 each time I go to the store.
• Clip coupons whenever possible not only for the products I use, but to trade with others at an old fashioned, 1970s style "Coupon Party".

These are all that I can think of for now, but I'll be sure to post others when they occur to me.

As always, I'll do my best to keep you informed.

Banker's Golden Rule

Every now and then I have flashes of revelation. Epiphanies or insights to aspects of human nature, and I had one such experience today.

Now, I'm not going to go to deeply into religion, and I don't know the chapter and verse of the Bible this comes from, but Jesus once said, at the Sermon on the Mount;

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

This is an ethic of reciprocity known most commonly as "The Golden Rule".

How does this connect to and relate to my great insight?

Ever since The Credit Crunch began, one of the things I keep hearing on news stories about it is how banks are afraid to lend each other money, but are instead hoarding their cash because they don't trust the balance sheets or asset valuations of other banks.

This says a lot about the state of mind of all banks, and reveals a "Banker's Golden Rule" which is;

"Suspect others of trying to do unto you what you would like to be doing unto them if you could."

The more you are suspicious of being cheated by others, the more likely you are to try and cheat others yourself.

In other words, the banks paid caviar prices for baked beans, and hope they can convince other banks that their beans are really caviar.

So, since trust has departed the world for now, and doesn't look like it will be coming back any time soon, everyone in the banking and credit industries have seized up and become so tight, if they swallowed a lump of coal, they'd shit a diamond.

This also puts me in mind of a line in the Bette Midler song The Rose about the one who won't be taken. Bette says it better in the song though, so follow the link.

In A Melancholy Funk

I haven't written about this in a long time, but I'm feeling lonely again.

Part of me needs to work through the funk I've fallen into, and the best way to do that that I know of is to talk about it. To get it out of my system by getting it out there in the world.

Another part of me is afraid to talk about it. Afraid that any potential boyfriend that might be reading this will either think I'm to "high maintenance and needy" or will take advantage of my perceived desperation.

Either way, I'd be screwed, and not in a good way.

Party Almonds

Well, my readers have spoke, and the winning recipe for December's "Recipe of the Month" is an appetizing appetizer.

With Christmas/Hanuka/Ramadan/Tet/etc., etc., coming up, I thought a simple dish that goes over well at parties would be the best choice. So I present to you my Grandma's recipe for "Party Almonds".

PARTY ALMONDS

• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon red or green pepper sauce
• 2 cups whole almonds
• 1 to 2 teaspoons kosher (coarse) salt

1. Heat oven to 325*F. In a 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over low heat; stir in oil, chili powder, curry powder, Worcestershire sauce and pepper sauce. Simmer gently 2 to 3 minutes to blend the flavors.
2. Add almonds; toss to coat and spread in single layer in 15x10x1-inch pan.
3. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, stirring once halfway through the bake time.
4. Pour nuts into large bowl, toss with salt to coat. Spread in single layer in same pan and cool to room temperature.
5. Store in airtight container.

This makes 8 servings of 1/4 cup each.

You can also make this with walnuts or pecans, which my Grandma often did. It was the easiest way to use up the walnuts from the tree in the front yard, the almonds from the tree in the back yard, and the pecans we could find growing wild all over the neighborhood where they used to live.

Oh, what fond memories.

With Thanks to the Owl Empire

This last Thursday, December 4th, 2008, I hosted the monthly bingo game for the Imperial San Joaquin Delta Empire at the Paradise Club here in Stockton, California. We raised $100.00, which is a respectable amount of money, and I would like to thank the Imperial Court of Modesto, California for not only coming out but letting us use their bingo set.

I'm still disappointed though.

When I first began getting involved with the imperial court system a bingo game would fill the entire bar. Bingo games would raise a great deal more that $100, and anything under $400 or $500 would be considered a failure. What happened???

Slowly, gradually, fewer and fewer people came out for the "First Thursday Bingo" games, and the money raised became smaller and smaller, and the majority of people who were at the bar but not playing bingo began mocking the players to show their friends how cool they were.

That happened a lot at this last bingo. Some idiot in the far corner opposite from where I was sitting kept calling out "Bingo!". He didn't even have a bingo card, and kept himself hidden from my view by sitting behind a beam. The first time he called it, I let it slide. The second time, I asked "Do you really have bingo this time or are you just being a dick?" This comment seemed to upset a visiting bingo player from Modesto (To whom I would like to apologize for my language only). The third time the idiot called out "Bingo!" I was fed up with it and said "That wasn't funny the first time you did it and now it's just pathetic." Hey, at least I didn't use profanity this time.

Our bingo games are to raise money for people less fortunate than we (including the idiot in the corner) are. People who are sick or maybe even dying and are lacking in common necessities let alone common comforts.

I guess I'm just getting frustrated, fighting what seems to be a losing battle against apathy. The community we serve no longer seems to care.

And the people who did care and would come out to support their local imperial court chapter, the people who would do the work necessary to raise the money? They don't seem to care much anymore either. They will say "Oh, it's not about the crowns and gowns. It's about the work we do." but with their very next breath they say "Don't you dare take my picture till I'm perfectly posed!" More and more people only want to see and be seen. Fewer and fewer people want to do the work required to get something done, but seem content to lay back and rest on their laurels.

I keep trying, but I don't think I can keep tyring for very much longer.