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The Strategy I’m Not Endorsing

April 4, 2025

Robyn Parnell annoyances, are we having fun yet? (Women & Men & Feminism), books & magazines, current events, family life, foodie, freethought/humanism, friends, health & wellness, Holy Shit!, Isms (religion), politics , , , , , , , , Comments Off on The Strategy I’m Not Endorsing

Department Of So Long To Asparagus Every Damn Day Month

Every damn day.  Of March.  Yep.

I’m gonna miss it; moiself  loves fresh asparagus season.  It was fun, every damn day, either trying out new recipes or returning to long time favorites.   [1]

Asparagus Every Damn Day Month is not on the official National Day Calendar or those months long observances lists  [2]   …but it should be.  It will be on mine, starting this year, and continuing…as long as moiself  feels like it.

 

 

*   *   *

Department Of Attention, All You One-Issue Warriors:
This Is What Your Purity Got You

Moiself,  remembers how frustrated, hopeless, and angered-bordering-on-enraged I felt when, before the election, I was talking to daughter Belle about why some Otherwise Fully Left-Leaning People ® her age openly spoke of their reluctance to vote for the Democrats in November.  She said the OFLLP were thinking of either voting for The National Socialist German Workers Party  the MAGA Nazis the Republican presidential ticket, or not voting at all, due to the Democrats’    [3]   knee-jerk support of Israel.

 

 

“So, for this one issue about which they feel strongly, they are willing to risk the shitstorm which *Every* Other Issue will undergo, if the Mandarin Mussollini and his jackbooted thugs attain power?” I sputtered.  “What do they think will happen if the Republicans get to The White House – do they think Palestinians and those who support their cause will get a better shake, or anything resembling fair treatment?”

Though I am also frustrated by the seemingly unnavigable and unwinnable (for any side) Israel-Palestine situation, I was quite twitterpated by this leftist electoral clusterfuck strategy – which I’d heard/read about from other sources as well – enough so that Belle had to assure me that *she* wasn’t going to do that.  She saw that strategy as ultimately self-defeating (not voting at all would be a passive vote *for* the Evil Empire Republicans), if understandable, on certain levels.

And now, here we are.

“The video is a grim watch. Plainclothes officers, some masked, confront a student in a Boston suburb, handcuff her and force her toward an unmarked car. From what we know now, the student — Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old Turkish national on a student visa working on her PhD at Tufts University — was taken by homeland security officials to a facility in faraway Louisiana. The video of her arrest Tuesday proliferated on social media.

By Thursday, U.S. officials confirmed that Ozturk’s student visa had been revoked and that she was in deportation proceedings — one of a growing number of foreign nationals here legally who have had their visas revoked by the Trump administration for allegedly participating in pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses. Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized foreign students he said were ‘creating a ruckus’ in universities and said his agency had already revoked about 300 student visas. ‘We do it every day,’ Rubio told reporters Thursday. ‘Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas.’ ”
(excerpts, The Washington Post, “Trump’s war on universities puts U.S. in an
autocratic club – Rumeysa Ozturk’s arrest reflects a wider global trend of
nationalist leaders targeting universities as hotbeds of radicalism….” )

 

 

“We’re going to punish the Dems; they take our support for granted….”
( rhetoric from Palestinian supporters & other disaffected leftists )

To y’all  Of-course-I-didn’t-like-tR___-but-I-wanted-to-punish-the-Dem-establishment  voters and abstainers:

Y’all happy now?
Did you get what you wanted?

Of course it wasn’t what you *wanted.*  But it *was* what was FUCKING  INEVITABLE, to anyone paying half a brain’s worth of political attention.

 

 

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Department Of Speaking Of The Unspeakable

#47, who as regular readers of this space know will not be mentioned by his birth name in this space, is known for his nicknaming of his opponents, in spectacularly non-imaginative ways (e.g. such rhetorical zingers as, Crooked Hilary; Sleepy Joe).  The they-go-low-we-go-high optimistim policy of the Obamas, while morally and ethically admirable, was ultimately ineffective.  Thus, moiself  highly encourages one and all to take what little comfort can be gained in these times that try our hearts, by riding that low train on the low road, as far down as it will go.

If you need help in doing so, see ActionNetwork’s Pick a Nickname for D_____ tR___   here.
I think this was from a while back, but it’s still fun.  And petty/infantile?  Sure.  But, as the site curator wrote…

 “I think it’s time we came up with, and stuck with, a truly wicked nickname for Trump. One that all of us can use, akin to what Dan Savage did to Rick Santorum      [5]   oh so many years ago.
Now why do it? For the same reason Trump does it: It will drive him nuts. And the nuttier Trump gets, the more quickly he will show the American people just how unfit he is to serve as president. (And frankly, the man spends so much time taunting people, he deserves a little taunting back.)”

You can suggest entries of your own (moiself  likes The Mandarin Mussolini, which I first heard from Belle ), or vote for entries they list, which include such spot-on pithy descriptors as

* Traitor Trump
* Cheatin’ Donald
* Don the Con
* Cadet Bone Spur
* Agent Orange
* Benedict Donald
* Lil’ Donny Moscow
* Red Don
* FAUXTUS
* Mrs. Putin
* Impotus
* President Spanky McLiarface

 

 

*   *   *

Department Of A Sure-Fire Cure, However Temporary,
For Cynicism And Despair…

…doesn’t exist.  Yet.  But watching Love on the Spectrum comes close.   [6]

LOTS  is a reality television show, from a couple of years back (with a new/third season, available just as of a few days ago), with American and Australian versions.  It follows young (mostly) adults on the autism spectrum as they begin, with the help of family and friends and autism-knowledgeable life coaches, to dive into the dating world.

When moiself  recently started re-watching that series during my morning exercises, I remembered the spectrum (sorry) of emotions I experienced the first time I saw it, several years ago.  I didn’t know anything about the series when I first started watching it, then had a sheepish, Well what were you expecting?!  realization about halfway through the second episode, re what I was so surprised about?  I couldn’t (shouldn’t) have been surprised to see that, regardless of one’s neuro (typical or atypical) status, most of us share the same panoply of emotions and experience the same wonders and blunders of humanity, particularly when it comes to trying to understand attraction, dating, and love.

 

 

*   *   *

Freethinkers’ Thought Of The Week     [7]

 ( Excerpts From responses posted on ( an atheist-leaning) Reddit chat site, in response to the prompt:
“The Middle East is fighting over make believe again.
Do you ever think ‘fuck it, let them fight?’ ” )

* I will admit that this thought crossed my mind despite being a Jewish wife.
Then I saw the video of the grieving families….
I support both Israeli and Palestinian victims and stand against Hamas and the Israeli Defense Force and anyone else who kills civilians….
This brings me back to the murderous almighty.
“ Do you ever think ‘fuck it, let them fight?  Do you feel guilty for thinking this?
I felt guilty AF.

* The religions might be fake but the exploded loved ones are really real.
This fight will go on forever, until one side or the other is dead. It’s disgusting.
And it did not have to be this way.

* This fight will go on forever, until one side or the other is dead.

* It will not end after this. History has shown that they will just pick a new enemy to kill
over something equally meaningless.

 

*   *   *

May you never vote as a one-issue purity warrior;
May you appreciate the love in your life no matter your place on the spectrum;
May you enjoy the petty pleasure that is only possible
when savoring nicknames such as Lil’ Donny Moscow;

…and may the hijinks ensue.

Thanks for stopping by.  Au Vendredi!

*   *   *

[1] When in doubt, steam or bake, dress with lemon juice, minced garlic, salt & pepper, a spritz of EVOO and/or a tablespoon of plant-based parmesan.

[2] There are some good ones there – I was aware of January’s Dry January and Veganuary, but had no idea that February is National Bird-Feeding Month (United States), April is Financial Literacy Month, and May is International Masturbation Month….

[3] the party in general and the Biden administration in particular.

[4] Why isn’t there another footnote here?

[5] In the early 2000’s Rick Santorum made many anti-LGBTQ statements in his campaign for the senate, including comparing gay marriage to man on dog sex.  In response, author, advice columnist and gay rights activist Dan Savage led a campaign to have the name “santorum” mean a crude sexual act, and enough people participated in the stunt that for many months, when you googled ITAL Santorum the first two hits you got were a description of some quite visually repulsive imagery….  Ah, the glory days.

[6] No footnote here; nope.  Move it along, folks.

[7] “free-think-er n. A person who forms opinions about religion on the basis of reason, independently of tradition, authority, or established belief. Freethinkers include atheists, agnostics and rationalists.  No one can be a freethinker who demands conformity to a bible, creed, or messiah. To the freethinker, revelation and faith are invalid, and orthodoxy is no guarantee of truth.”  Definition courtesy of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, ffrf.org

The Titles I’m Not Choosing

April 15, 2016

Robyn Parnell family life, foodie, freethought/humanism, health & wellness, Holidays, Holy Shit!, Isms (religion), The Write Stuff (literary life), Wow, Yikes! , , , , , , , , Comments Off on The Titles I’m Not Choosing

This week I renewed MH’s and my membership with the Portland Art Museum. On the online renewal form, I decided to check out a category – the one for “title” – I usually skip unless it is mandatory. I was richly rewarded for following that whim.

When I clicked on the box for title, Instead of the usual three to six possibilities (Mr. Mrs. Miss Ms. Dr., etc.), I was offered an awe-inspiring, forty-plus choices of honorifics:  [1]

– Acting Counsel General
– Ambassador
– Baron
– Bishop
– Brother
– Captain
– Chair
– Chairman
– Chief
– Col.
– Commissioner
– Consul General
– Councilor
– Cpt.
– Dr.
– Drs.
– Father
– First Lady
– General (Ret.)
– Governor
– Judge
– Lady
– Lt.
– Madam
– Mayor

 

But you’ve left out “His Excellency, Supreme Leader, Shining Star of Paektu Mountain, Ever-Victorious, Iron-Willed Commander, Glorious General, Who Descended From Heaven…”

– M.D.
– Miss
– Miss.
– Monsieur et Madame
– Mr.
– Mr. and Mrs.
– Mrs.
– Ms
– Ms.
– PhD.
– President and Chief Executive Officer
– Prof.
– Rabbi
– Representative
– Rev.
– Rev. Dr.
– Reverend
– Senator
– Sir
– Sister
– The
– The Honorary
– The Rev. Hon.
– The Rev.Honorary

How could I leave the space blank after all that?  I was tempted by several titles (will life offer me any other opportunities to be addressed as Ambassador ?), but settled for one. My choice has, IMHO,  a deceptive simplicity that implies so much more – truly, a title of unlimited possibility. I’m not just (a) Robyn Parnell, I’m The Robyn Parnell.

*   *   *

She Doesn’t Call; She Doesn’t Text; She Doesn’t Write,
She Never Likes My Posts Anymore…

The notice from Facebook reminded me to wish CM a Happy Birthday. Trouble is, CM died over a year ago. And now I’m wondering, who gets to report those things?

I received the notification while standing at the mailing/copy center desk at Office Depot. The Nice Young Woman ® who always helps me mail my care packages to daughter Belle set me up on OD’s shipping entry monitor, then began to assist Another Customer who stood next to me. I checked my phone, and wondered aloud re yet another social media dilemma: did either of them know what to do? I assume there’s a way to alert Facebook (but if so, nobody’s done it yet, re CM), but do you have to be a family member to do so? How can you (or do you even need to) prove [2] that someone has died so that FB can retire the page of the deceased?

Another Customer (thoughtfully furrowing her brow): “Wow, that’s a good question. There’s so much going on…you just don’t think of taking your page down when that happens.”

Moiself: “Well…yeah. When you’re dead, that’s not the first thing on your mind.”

 

 

*   *   *

Department Of Stupid Religious Rituals [3]

This week I’ll take a break from pointing out the idiocy of my own ancestors’ holy beliefs and customs and pick on another religious tradition. The pickings are far from slim, lemme tellya.

Well-being (wĕl′bē′ĭng) n. The state of being healthy, happy, or prosperous; welfare.

The following caption accompanied the following picture in Wednesday’s world news section of The Oregonian:

Hindu devotees perform a ritual balancing fire pots on their heads and hands on Sitala Puja, dedicated to the Hindu goddess of pox, in Kolkata, India, on Tuesday. Devotees participate in various rituals during this event to make a wish for the well-being of their families.

 

 

Because nothing bodes well for the health, happiness success and of your family like having your mother, draped in flammable garments, hold pots of barely contained fire.

 

*   *   *

 

 

Yes indeed, it’s alive. One of many reasons I love looking at my sourdough culture.

 

*   *   *

Department Of You Know It’s Spring…

 

…at our house, when it is time for that most anticipated of rituals, [4] The Harvesting Of The Asparagus. Which, in the case of our garden, is literally the ( as in, one) asparagus.

 

*   *   *

Department Of WTF Is Wrong With People

There is a new kind of piercing…oh, no, there isn’t. Rather, there is a body site for piercing that is new to my hitherto unsullied eyes.

An employee has been notified to assist you, read the message on the register screen at the self-checkout stand I was using at the grocery store.  When I heard the footsteps presumably belonging to The Employee Who Had Been Notified To Assist Me approached me, I looked up from unloading items from my cart, and it took all of my composure to stile my intuitive gasp.

 

 

Where another person might have dimples, The Employee Who Had Been Notified To Assist Me had symmetrical piercings. It looked as if someone had pounded  two flathead nails in her cheeks.

The indented skin around each of the clerk’s cheek piercings was reddish, as if infected or inflamed. It . Looked. So. Wrong. And painful. I instinctively/sympathetically clenched my jaw, as if anticipating painful dental work, when I beheld her face.

I can’t figure out how such a piercing would be done, except by going through the upper inside of the mouth. Thus, just looking at her cheeks made me think, festering infection. Which is just what you want running through your mind as you prepare to scan your carton of yogurt.

The average person’s mouth is a bacteria rodeo; the Germy McMouth Germs are fine if they stay put, but if they enter the bloodstream through a cut or wound – which is what a piercing is – yikes. And what would happen if the parotid ducts (the cheek’s saliva glands) were pierced? [5]

Dentists are as a rule opposed to any kind oral piercings, and will happily recite (yes, I asked mine, once) the risks, from deadly serious endocarditis  to the may-not-kill-but-will-seriously-annoy complications including nerve damage and increased saliva/drooling….

Yeah, Old Person Rant Alert© . I am more or less tolerant (even admiring) of certain piercings, depending on where they located. [6]  But this clerk’s self-mutilation choice of body adornment had to be one of the stupidest I’d ever seen.

Ah, but the century is young.

 

 

Yes, please, put me in a position of customer contact and service.

*   *   *

Department Of Pretend I Wrote Something Witty About Tax Day

Such as, Am I the only person who wishes she were paying more in taxes, because that would mean I’m actually making money?

Such as, schmuchas. That’s not witty. Just pathetic.

 

*   *   *

May you delight in the title of your choice;
May your tax burden be a reminder of economic plenitude;
May your body adornments not induce people to vomit in public;
…and may the hijinks ensue.

Thanks for stopping by.  Au Vendredi!

 


*   *   *

 

[1] Many are, to me, amusingly redundant – are people really picky about having the abbreviation vs. the spelled out title (Captain and Cpt.), or are there some women who want their Miss to have punctuation vs. standing alone?

[2] I assume some kind of proof is needed, else people would be pranking one another other by having their frenemies declared dead.

[3] Pardon the redundancy.

[4] And quite reasonable, when compared with balancing firepots on your head.

[5] Can you say, “You’d be drooling from your dimples holes?” I knew you could, boys and girls.

[6] Ears, yay. Other parts…??? And, apparently, cheek or “dimple piercing” has been around for some time, but is not one of the more common body parts to pierce, for several reasons, including the dangers/side effects (read here for a lovely story on a piercing artist who had to remove her own dimple piercings after they…well…yuck).