A Memorial Day to Remember...

This is a story about a bush.


See the happy children playing in the said bush?




See the sad faces of the children, who mourn for their lost sanctuary.



Their oasis of wonder and enchantment now reduced to this:




For some ungodly reason, there were neighbors in my condo community who disapproved of my daughter and friends playing in "the bush" as the kids called it.

So, those of the "children- should- be- seen- and- not- heard" ilk slyly ordered that the lush, 30 year old bush be removed.
A neighbor whose house borders the communal property (the "grassy area") complained to my daughter's friend's mother (named Kristin) that "she had very sick people living with her." As if the sound of laughter would bother someone who is ill.

Rumors circulated that some neighbors worried that they would "break the bush," or "hurt themselves." If the anti-bush neighbors were so concerned, well, they never addressed their concerns to me or to Kristin. The neighbor caring for sick people even went so far as to show pictures she had taken of Kristin's son PLAYING [gasp] BALL! He was catching a baseball with his friend in the STREET! NO! Imagine...the nerve of them!!!

My daughter was quite upset by this sudden loss, to say the least, and so was I (and still am).

She wrote this letter and taped it on everyone's front door in our complex:


May 21,2007

Dear People of this Block,
I’m guessing many of you have noticed a big bush has been cut down. I’m also guessing some of you have noticed kids were always playing in that bush. I was one of those kids.
If you were a person who agreed that the bush should be cut down, you should have looked at it from my point of view. I went in the bush almost every day for five years. When it got torn down those five years of my life got torn out. So much happened in the bush. My friends and I found a nest. We saw the eggs hatch. Now the nest is gone and so is the bush, but we’ll always remember them.

From,
Anjoli (your neighbor who played in the bush).


One kind neighbor named Marian came by the next morning to voice her concern. She let me know that she was horrified that the bush had been removed. She complimented Anjoli on her letter.

For about a week we stewed in our anger. I was so upset, and I started to get very depressed.
I don't remember who had the idea, but one thing led to another and the kids and I decided that we would buy a small bush and build a Memorial Garden for The Bush.
Et voila:








In shiny pebbles, they spelled: "RIP BUSH" under a heart shaped garden.




"If we are to teach real peace in this world...we shall have to begin with children; and if they grow up in their own innocence, we won't have to struggle; we won't have to pass fruitless, idle resolutions, but we shall go from love to love and peace to peace, until at last all the corners of world are covered in peace and love for which, consciously or unconsciously, the world is hungering."~Mahatma Gandhi

In rememberance...

of fallen soldiers and veterans
who sacrificied their lives for freedom.

No one likes/wants war.
I wish it wasn't a necessary evil.

A Suesjoy original riddle for ya!

What did the alien say when it landed in Germany?



Take me to your lederhosen!




Ok, in the US we mispronounce lederhosen...so it only works for ignorant Americans (comme moi). ;)


Here is Rufus channeling the spirit of Judy Garland.He is performing "Release the Stars" on Letterman.


Release the Stars

Why do you keep all your stars in from your studio on Melrose Avenue?
You have locked all of your assets up in life-long contracts to you
Didn't you know that old Hollywood is over?

Oh, can't you see all the good that celebrity can do for those in the dark?
Yes of course, I am speaking in metaphors for something more in your heart
Didn't you know that old Hollywood is over?

So why not just release the gates and let them all come out?
Remember that without them there would be no Paramount
No paramount need to hold on to what isn't yours
Release the stars

The more that you fight, then the more they will scrutinize and realize just your size
And believe me, you are no match for the public that has seen the whites of your eyes
Didn't you know that old Hollywood is over?

Old Hollywood is over
So why not just release the gates and let them all come out?
Remember that without them there would be no Paramount
No paramount need to hold on to what isn't yours
Release the stars

Release the stars, release your love, release the stars
Release your love, 'cause Hollywood is over
Why do you keep all your stars in from your studio on Melrose Avenue?

My Fellow Americans: Let's See Action!!!

Let's see action
Let's see people
Let's see freedom
Let's see who cares
~Pete Townshend


Today the senate took an important step in bringing our troops back from Iraq.
They voted on the Feingold-Reid amendment to end the war. This bill would require re-deployment of troops within 120 days, with full re-deployment ending on March 21,2008.

Unfortunately, the bill did not pass.

I genuinely believe that this war/administration is the greatest catastrophe in American history.

"US President George W Bush has vetoed a [previous] bill that would have set a deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. The bill was approved by BOTH the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Congressional opponents of the war believe the veto signals that now it is the President alone who must take responsibility for continuing America's involvement, and the casualties. " [taken from a BBC on-line article which you may read HERE].

How in world do we think can we "export democracy" with a neo-Nazi in power?
Bush simply DOES NOT REPRESENT THE WILL OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!!!
It boggles the mind, what this demonic duo (Bush-Cheney) have gotten away with...in a word MURDER. Yup. Lie to the Americans, play dumb (very easy for Bush) then have your way.
The result?
To date, there have been Over 3400 American casualties. 30,000 injured!!!!!!!!!! 30,000!!!!!!!
There have been between 64-70,000 Iraqi civilian casualties.

We are putting our troops in harms way FOR NO REASON. We are not dealing with ONE civil war in Iraq... presently there are MANY regional civil wars and the unspoken edict among all Iraqis: KILL AMERICANS. Over 70% of Iraqis want the US OUT OF IRAQ!!!

I, for one, cannnot stand for this BULLSHIT. I am so tired of it.
Are YOU?
Below is a list of how the senators voted.
PLEASE, if you see one (or both) of your senators on the list, I URGE you to call them and ask them to give us what the majority of Americans want to see: THE END OF THIS HORRIFIC, POINTLESS WAR!!!!!!
Thank you.
Peace and love to all...and GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS!! AMEN.
xoxoxoxoxo

Voted In Support of Feingold-Reid:

Akaka (D-HI)
Biden (D-DE)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Clinton (D-NY)
Dodd (D-CT)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL)
Reid (D-NV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)


Voted Against Feingold-Reid:

Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCaskill (D-MO)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Tester (D-MT)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)
Webb (D-VA)


Did Not Vote:


Brown (D-OH)
Dole (R-NC)
Johnson (D-SD)
McCain (R-AZ)

Do I Disappoint You?

Well, while my hubby is away, Suzie gets to play!
With his car that is.
He recently bought a used Mazda Miata.
It's his mid-life crisis car. Mine now!
He told me to drive it as much as possible since we are selling my car soon and we don't want Sue to smash it or anything.
(He's gone for about 6 weeks).

Yes it is very California to drive a convertible, but I feel really strange when I drive it.
People tend to always look at you when you are cruising with the top down.
I wish they wouldn't.
I fear I am just a huge let down for many.
They are expecting some young hot size zero blonde babe in something low cut and slinky.
What they will find in this green Miata is a middle aged mama (is 44 middle aged?) with an afro ("wind blown" mop headed curls translates into an afro) who lives in jeans and clogs and hardly ever wears makeup.

I always look around when entering or exiting this vehicle.
It is VERY difficult to look graceful as you slide your way into the seat.
I usually slide in and plop down. Even though I have lost weight this year, I am far from svelte, and getting into the Miata, well...oh nevermind. It's too depressing!

Getting in is hard, but getting out is even trickier.
If no one is looking, I will open the door and push my self out of the damn car.
Today I pretended that the eyes of the world were upon me and I swung both legs to the side and bent from the thighs. No pushing needed. Aha! Got it.

Today drove the eency car to the mall to have my eyebrows waxed (and buy a birthday present).
It's so funny how often when we communicate, we very rarely say what we REALLY mean. When I asked to have my eyebrows waxed, what I really wanted to say was, "could you wax my face, please?"
I followed the beautician to a small room and she asks me, "eyebrow wax?" and I say, well, I also need my "uppper lip" [which is actually code for "moustache"] and chin done.

I swear, by the time she had finished, she nearly HAD waxed my entire face! I mean she outlined what could have been a goatee with the wax. If I didn't get these waxings, I would probably be touring with some circus as a bearded lady with a unibrow or something. Nah, I'm kidding. The woman went a LITTLE overboard, I think.

God definately must be a heterosexual male. Why He must make us suffer the world's worst pain during childbirth (and facial waxings!), give us cramps and bloating for a week every month, let us sprout beards as we crawl toward menopause, where we will be greeted with hot flashes and violent mood swings among God knows what other bodily dysfunctions is beyond me.

Imagine a world of opposites: as we age, our metabolism increases! Your friends will say, "girl, you better watch yourself, you are just wasting away!"
I'll shrug and say, "I know...old age. Not a damn thing I can do about it."

Life's A BEACH!

Here are my daughter and her friends at Coronado Beach. They had fun burying themselves in the sand.
You can see the Hotel del Coronado in the background. (Click on the photo to see it better). We live about a 15 minute drive from there. I am already getting homesick! (We are moving to Taiwan in July).


Oh man...last Sunday was the PERFECT beach day - a little early, but, hey, it IS San Diego. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.


There were tons of people sailing... I guess (according to Pete Townshend) it's one of the best places in the world to sail. I've never sailed on the ocean here. I started to take sailing lessons on the bay though...but I am just really bad at sailing...well, I can sail but I suck at rigging. That's what scared me away! I DO love to sail though. I even surived a three month Outward Bound course in the Florida Keys - we sailed and hiked through the Keys, the Everglades and Southern Florida. I just wanted a tan and boot camp. I got that and much, much more. I hated it most of the time...it was torture. An ex-boyfriend tricked me into going...he was going to go too, then bailed at the last minute (he never intended on going the bastard!). Oh well, he got me a scholarship. He just wanted my position as assitant General Manager at a college radio station where we both worked. He got it too. Loser.

Below you can see all the sailboats and the Coronado Islands (off the coast of Mexico). Sorry, it's a bit crooked.

For Sale: 1 Husband

He cooks, he cleans (sometimes...but he is very quick and efficient). He could use a little help in the fashion department.

I put him up on eBay.
Don't worry, he comes with a new set of pjs.


This pic was taken the day after a going away (pyjama) party last weekend...

Nirvana at the Belly Up on Saturday

Aha!
That got your attention.
No I didn't see a dead rock star sing! I never did see Kurt, sadly.

Still walking on air after seeing Rufus Wainwright on Saturday.

My fellow Rufian Laura took the train down from LA Saturday afternoon.
We had a long, leisurely late lunch - I made Indian vegetarian food (dal, aloo gobi and mattar panir and rice, followed by burfee which is like Indian fudge only not so sweet).

Laura, my husband Sujoy and I arrived at the club at 6:15 and met a few fellow groupies - there is a small circle of diehards here in soCal...so that was fun chattting with them.

We went in and got right up to the front of the stage and waited for Teddy Thompson. (I am gaga over his last cd, Separate Ways, so I was excited about seeing him again).
Laura and I pre-ordered Rufus' new cd, and in turn we were given a VIP badge which we annoyingly flashed at eachother a la Wayne's World! This badge allowed us to go meet Ru and have him sign our cd after the show.

Teddy played a beautiful set, mostly solo. He only performed a few songs from his last cd, concentrating on new material from a cd that will be released in July. I enjoyed his set very much - it was mellow, but good. Love his voice and, yeah shallow Sue didn't mind looking at him either!

Rufus came on shortly and gave THE best performance I have ever seen.
He wore a crazy outfit: striped shirt, striped pants, a white ribbon around his neck in lieu of a real tie, and brooches on his shirt AND pants! (His fans know he loves brooches so they always bestow him with brooches!). If that wasn't enough, his entire 6 piece band was also dressed in stripes, and they all wore brooches!!! The man is too funny.

This is the best shot I got, taken with my cell phone, because I was afraid to bring my camera.


Rufus performed 23 songs - I think it was about a 2 1/2 hour show. I have never seen him more relaxed or happy. He kept smiling - he looked like a handsome Lepruchan, minus the red hair, beard and green suit! LOL He has the cutest appley red cheeks.
Ok stop Sue!

Highlights: there were SO many, but a stand outs were "Beautiful Child" w/the fab horn section...I Don't Know What It Is, 2 songs from the Judy Garland tribute (he sounded better than at Carnegie Hall), a new one and I am not sure of the title, but it was very apocolyptic/Radioheadish... INTENSE, MAGNIFICENT...AWE INDUCING. Another new one, "Leaving for Paris" made Laura cry, it was that gorgeous (she studied there last year).

Rufus is a natural comedian/ham...near the end of the show, he said, "my band tells me the women are HOT here in San Diego. I wouldn't know...but they assure me that they are...so I'll start auctioning them off for brooches!" Cute cute cute.


After the show, we waited in line to get our cd signed. I knew they were hurrying everyone along...so this is what I said:

"HI RUFUS!!!!" grinning profusely. I touched his hand and asked how his mother was doing. (I am not sure, but I believe she has a serious illness...I know she was ill from his board). He said she is fine, then I leaned into him and said, "give Martha a hug for me...I introduced her to Pete Townshend and Rachel Fuller...Lala helped me" (Lala was his techie).
Most people know the story, I won't bore anyone now w/the details! I did it via email and MySpace after having met Martha in October 2005. I have met her many times, she remembers me!
So Rufus smiled and nodded and said, "I will tell Martha you said hi."
Then the security guard gave me a hard time so I walked away, as Rufus said "BYYYYYE," and he didn't sign Laura's cd until he saw that I looked back and he smiled and said BYE again!

Ta da.
That was my night in a nutshell.

::sigh::