The After David Is Released

Andrew Harnik 

AP/Shutterstock

 "A president cannot defend a nation

 if he is not held accountable to it's laws."

~DaShanne Stokes

The title of this post is, "The After David Is Released." It refers to an SNL skit that aired just after the 2020 election. See, a young woman in Michigan claimed, through a signed affidavit, that election irregularities had taken place and that she had been a witness to it. The lady was pretty unbelievable, and because of that, she ended up in a skit about her testimony and subsequent statements to the press. I never forgot that in the skit, Cecily Strong referred to the woman's signed statement as an "after David" rather than an affidavit. It made me laugh. Those were better days. Some of the elements of Donald Trump's BIG LIE were actually laugh out loud funny, such as Rudy Guiliani indicating that he would be holding a presser at The Four Seasons, which turned out to not be the famous hotel, but rather The Four Season's Landscaping company. The owners were just as astonished as the rest of us. Huh? Anyway, this post isn't about the subject of the BIG LIE, it's about Trump having taken classified documents into his civilian life, and stored them at his resort home in Florida.

Sigh.

What the actual fuck? Just another day in the dumb Trump experience. So, for the sake of history, here is the government's redacted version of the recent warrant issued for the search of those documents at his club. Part of the justification for the warrant, was the signed affidavits of several individuals who claimed to have knowledge of the mishandling of the classified documents. I am not including the full PDF, because it somewhat lengthy, but history will bear the full story. And if I have nobody still following my blog, I have the full PDF that I can personally reference. Either way, it's all good. So, here are the first few pages, just for history sake. I, for the most part, like posting about current events. I got used to it, due to microblogging on Twitter, so it seems natural to continue to post about it here. I wish I was posting about some good news so bigly that it would take several entries on my blog to share it, but unfortunately this is where we have been since Trump announced his candidacy in 2015. Rolling around in the surreal, disgust and fear. This is not how I expected to feel when I reached the slightly over ripe old age of 60.

I've been semi-retired from bitching about Trump, and politics in general, since Joe Biden took office but this is something different. It's history. Unfortunately.

 

 

The affidavit is over 30 pages long. There was no mention of anything related to the nuclear program, but then a lot is redacted and it's common knowledge this affidavit does not contain all that was sealed in the warrant, so my nightmares continue, and I pray he never gets anywhere near the White House ever again, but I know, deep down, that free will is a double edged sword and God isn't going to send my Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl, just because I pray for it, or make the Republican party grow a soul, if its not their free will to do so.

 

And thereby lies the tale.

~Me

August 26th 2022

Western Meadowlark

 

"Some birds are not meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place, rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure."

 

~Stephen King

Rita Hayworth And The Shawshank Redemption

 

There has been a lot of happy colors in this year, so I really need to remind myself about how lucky I am. In an attempt to remind myself of all the real joy in my world, I have been tip-toeing through the photographs I have done in the wilds of the San Joaquin Valley thus far. I seemed to have organically done a lot of groups of the birds that were in the greatest numbers, rather than taken a one and and done approach to my photography and bird counts. So, for the next few posts, or so, I will be showcasing these beautiful and vibrant birds. Up first, the gorgeous Western Meadowlark, which I mostly found along Desmond road, in lower Sacramento County. This bird really seemed to love my little red Mini Cooper!

 

 

This Way Guys! UPDATE!

 

"If you're born without wings, 

 do nothing to prevent them from growing."

 

UPDATE: That contraption the fella is flying about the sky in is actually called a "paramotor" or motorized glider, not a para-glider. Thanks to my friend Bob ( https://twitter.com/WagstaffBob ) for the update!

 

~Coco Chanel

 

So one day last spring, while bird watching along Desmond road, in Galt, I noticed this fella soaring about the sky over Lodi. Sometimes he seemed closer, sometimes farther away, which I suppose is the nature of paragliding, but what stood out were the colors of his sail. They were so beautiful and vibrant it was hard to remember that hanging a puss had become my new hobby. And with the optical illusion of his leading a flock of Greater White-faced geese across the sky, I damn near broke into a smile!

 

Damn IT!   ;) It really is the little things!

 

~Me 

August 24th 2022

19 Years And A 19th Nervous Breakdown (An Anniversary Post)

 

"Homesickness is not always a vague feeling, nostalgic almost beautiful emotion, although that is somehow the way we always seem to picture it in our mind. It can be a terrible keen blade, not just a sickness in a metaphor but in fact as well. It can change the way one looks at the world, the faces one sees in street look not just indifferent but ugly... perhaps even malignant. Homesickness is real sickness... the ache of the uprooted plant"

 

~Stephen King

 

First off, I should acknowledge that today is my 19th year of blogging, and oh my, the places I have went! From the Bush administration, to the big AOL Journals migration to Blogger, to the many wonderful photo challenges I have shared with friends, to my own migration from the big Bay Area out pricing of affordable housing, and the eventual purchase of our house, and of course, the eventual sale of our first house last year. Big stress stuff. And all that without mentioning surviving the Trump administration. A thing I didn't think possible. But keep in mind, that was an attitude I feel quite vindicated about, in light of his taking Top Secret nuclear program documents to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, after the asshole was voted out of office!

 

This year has been difficult. In some ways it has felt like the last 19 years has somehow rolled into past last year. The move from the house was a shitshow. I am still picking up the emotional pieces. I am tired. Heartsick. A little lost. And, well, scattered. The move was a huge part of it, but catching Covid-19 and a husband retiring didn't help. Neither did the murder of our Chevy Equinox, in a hit and run, in the wee hours of a chilly October morning. But I guess Covid-19 has had the most profound effect on my life. Little by little the Long-Covid seems to be healing itself, but it is a scary thing to think about a virus having such a deep effect on me almost 9 months later. It's an invisible monster, living inside your body, reminding you every day of your mortality.

I wish this post was more filled with joy for having blogged all this time. I want to feel more positive, but I am finding it so hard to find joy, which is known as depression. I am working with a new therapist to try and breakthrough my sadness. I have hope, and hubby is carrying the weight. Because of him I do have a lot of moments of joy. We still have our movies, and the fur-babies. We have music and jaunts bird watching. I have a good life, I just need to find it again. One positive thing did happen recently to mix things up. Our landlord is letting us stay put for at least one more year. I can stop worrying about having to move again. I'm home.

Things feel like they are trying to transition from all the painful negativity to a safe and quiet existence. I have a lot to work on while I am in this condo... this home... like learning to let go of the life I left behind in our home. I try to not think of the house. I haven't grieved it yet, so, oh goody, THAT'S coming! Right now the thing I need to let go of is my life in the Bay Area. All the places I grew up around, all the memories and ghosts I was used to dealing with. I guess I grieved it wrong or something. Or if I am being honest, not at all.

 

 I'm still bargaining with the universe over it. I search the rentals for ANYTHING we can afford, ANYWHERE in the Bay Area, and of course it's always for nothing. Affordable housing in California is practically nonexistent, but the Bay Area recently surpassed NYC in lack of affordable housing. My old life is always there for visiting, but sometimes visiting, and then leaving, hurts so much I think all it does is set me back. Trump didn't successfully get San Francisco off the map, at least not yet, so I must learn how to balance love and sorrow. Who knows what the 2024 election will look like? He could get back into office, and then who knows what button he will push. 

Sorry... it was all the uprooting talking just then.

"Monsters are real, and ghosts are too.

 They live inside us, and sometimes, they win."

~Stephen King

 

~Me

August 23rd 2022