Important book author request, pleasee, please help!!! If anyone has a contact at Amazon or theWashington Post, with someonewho can help me collect book proceeds accumulating over the years, but which I have been unable to collect because of technical issues, then please let me know. We've tried to do it every which way without success, only to be flummoxed at every turn. I am 88 years old and could certainly use that money right now. If anyone reading this has ever bought my books on-line or even printed on paper, Amazon has already gotten its cut, but I, the author, have not had any for many years.
I am willing to go to Amazon headquarters in Alexandria, show them my ID and also print copies of the 2 books for someone there to help sort things out. I would even be quite willing to have my plight publicized in the Washington Post. (That might actually also help with sales.) So if anyone actually does help me to get that money, I am willing to offer you a cut.If you have a contact at the Post or at Amazon, please let me know ASAP.
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Yes, I am now age 88, with 12 more years to reach 100. Do I really even want to go there? I've already lived a long life. My Dad died at 81, Moher at 92, as was mentioned previously. A few friends surviving beyond age 100 have reported it wasn't really worth it. I've already lost my younger brother, older son, and Cuban foster son. I cannot bear to lose another younger family member. Mom died after she stopped eating, but there must be easier ways to go. I wouldn't want to starve to death, or to do anything to hasten my own demise, but also not to hang on any longer than necessary. How long is that? Best just to go to sleep one night and simply not wake up. But do we really have control over how and when we might die? We have more control over how we may live.
What do readers want for themselves at the end of life? Your comments would be welcome, as decline and death will come for us all. If you have anything to say on the subject, please contact me by email.
But I could really use some WD-40 in my joints right now.
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Here I am with the cake made by some very kindly CoolFont cooks for my 88th birthday.
So many birthday greetings in both Spanish and English have come in. Here's one in English.
And here's one now in Spanish:Querida Bárbara hoy es tu cumpleaños y deseo felicitarte y hacerte saber que aunque pasen los años nunca me olvido de tu bondad con mi persona.
Deseo que recibas este nuevo cumpleaños con buena salud física y espiritual. Y con mi cariño.
I even got one in Catalàn.
So thanks to all for your kind birthday wishes; I am now feeling all those good vibes.
Flowers near our rural home have begun springing up everywhere.
Perhaps someone dropped some seeds here, as no one would have planted them on this rural roadside. Here below are even more.
West Virginia trees are also flowering everywhere today,
This very common redbud is in full bloom.
Back in Washington, DC, my former home, it's now also
cherry blossom time.
On a DC website, I see that a young woman intern at the Smithsonian is looking for a place to stay. When I lived on DC's Capitol Hill, many young visitors stayed with me in my 3-story home built back in 1895. If I still lived there, I would welcome her.
Unfortunately, today, right now, at this very moment, Donald J. Trump is still our president.
President Trump has shown he's ready for a fight. And he's not the only one in a fighting mood.
War criminal Pete Hegseth, who also likes a fight, now boasts: "We negotiate with bombs."
How can we get rid of these guys? How can we get rid especially of blatant war criminal Hegseth, whose family must have made a humongous donation to Trump, or else how did he ever get his jiob? He has zero qualifications.
The survey, released Wednesday, found that 59 percent of registered voters do not approve of Trump’s handling of the presidency, with 47 percent who say they strongly disapprove.
Another 41 percent said the opposite, with roughly half of that number, 22 percent, saying they strongly approve of his job performance.
Daily Beast,Trump’s ICE Brag Immediately Blown Up by Scathing Poll
FROSTY RECEPTION
Donald Trump claimed that Americans think ICE officers are “nice guys,” but polls tell a different story.
Here now is an Iranian missile.
An Iranian missile landed in a West Bank village on Tuesday. Four people were injured. This is the war now hitting too close to home for Israel. Time now for an immediate ceasefire and the start of peace negotiations. Bibi needs to be exonerated, no matter what he's accused of doing, Hundreds are still being killed on all sides just to protect him. So it's time to forgive Netanyahu for whatever he has done.
Iran launches new strikes, denies Trump's claim of 'very strong talks.' Here's what's happening on day 25 of the war. [Read more about it.]
Catholic churches across the U.S. and internationally are experiencing a surprising, sharp surge in adult converts, with many dioceses reporting 30–70% increases in 2024-2026, reaching near 20-year highs. Driven largely by young adults and Gen Z, this "revival" is occurring amid a post-COVID quest for authenticity, community, and tradition, challenging previous trends of secularization.
I can actually think of 2 reasons, one is the American pope, the other is vice president JD Vance's conversion.
I am Catholic myself. though not very observant. It depends on the environment. When I am in Latin America, where most people are Catholic, I do attend Sunday mass with my friends. I was married in the church and my late ex-husband attended sessions intended for future spouses. My children attended Catholic schools in part and observed First Communions and Confirmations.
But I have not been to any church here in Berkeley Springs,
My 17-year-old great-grandson, now a high school senior in Florida, excels at sports like basketball and soccer. Here he is with both his grandmother (my older daughter) and his mother displaying a trophy he was just awarded. I plan to attend his graduation ceremony in May. I also hope he won't be drafted to fight in Trump's completely unnecessary and avoidable Iran war.
In Spanish, I am dubbed friolenta, that is, particularly sensitive to cold. If I were were sweating profusely in summer showing great sensitivity to heat, I would be called calorienta. And if the person so described were male, he would be called friolento or caloriento, according to his reaction to cold or heat.
Because I know Spanish, I can mostly understand Portuguese, Romanian, and Catalàn, and also can get the gist of Italian. When I was sent to Romania to evaluate rehab services there, I asked myself, "Why am I mostly understanding everything these folks are saying?" I was surprised, as I'd never expected Romanian to be a romance language. Of course, the rehab services I was checking on there were abysmal and children were being cared for in orphanages in the most dreadful of conditions--that was in Romania during theCeaușescu era. I don't recall now who sent me there or why, only that it was a charitable organization. That was back in 1989. At the time. I was working at the Occupatioanl Therapy Association, although a former social worker and juvenile probation officer, not an OT. I later wrote about what I'd found in Romania for our association's magazine, OT Week. However, while I was still there, there was a sudden uprising.Ceaușescu and his wife were overthrown and both were executed. It was really quite a turbulent time. Romanians were out dancing in the streets.
Although I've never particularly looked for adventure, adventure has always found me, often just by being in the right place at the right time, as happened in Romania. I also witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall. Then I was in Nicaragua when Violeta Chamorro defeated Daniel Ortega, and in Honduras when the first female president took office there. Violeta died only last year at age 95, while she was living in San José, Costa Rica. I was at her home in Managua when our late former US President Jimmy Carter came in to advise her in his twangy Spanish to delay her victory announcement until the next morning to give the Sandinistas time to adjust. Now both Violeta and Jimmy Carter are gone. They would have remembered me as I certainly remember them. Some of these happenings are described in more detail in my books, if blog readers should be interested in finding out more. There are also many photos in my books, including one of me with Carter in Nicaragua.
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"Boston marriage" was a term formerly used to describe 2 women living together in a lifelong partnership. I was born in Boston, but have never been in a romantic relationship with another woman.
Writing this blog has become increasingly difficult. So I may ask someone to come in to try to help me correct the bugs. I will advise you if and when that has happened. Many thanks to readers for your continued patience and understanding.
Who would want to emigrate to this country anyway under our President Donald Trump?
Donald Trump has never been the brightest bulb in the socket, but now that often flickcring bulb is starting to dim. Bibi Netanyahu, to divert attention from his own legal troubles, urged a first strike on Iran to assassinate the Ayatollah. A mentally failing Trump agreed that would really be a nifty idea. But Bibi warned him to keep the plan top-secret, not even to tell Congress as is required by law.
Trump Goes Out of His Way to Say Hegseth Was ‘The First’ to Advocate Iran War: ‘You Said, Let’s Do It’
It's not hard to imagine that blatant war criminal Pete Hegseth, who had ordered lethal stikes on surrendering Caribbean boaters, would also advocate for a first strike on Iran for no particular reason. He seems to view such actions as just fun war games. Why Trump ever picked him to be Secretary of Defense when he had virtually no military experience is a big mystery. Nor has Hegseth been a fast learner either. (Did Hegseth's family perhaps make a major contribution to Donald Trump?)
Trump doubtless thought he himself would always be remembered for this strike on Iran. While his visage may never be on Mt. Rushmore, nor will he actually take over Greenland, nor will he ever be awarded a Nobel, yet his name will still go down in history. Yes, Donald J. Trump will indeed be remembered as a blatant war criminal and absolutely the very worst US president ever in our nation's long history, even worse than Ulysses S. Grant.
Donald Trump just loves fossil fuels: oil, gas, and coal, whose industries are some of his major campaign donors, so now he's making sure to keep them all in business. Advocates for renewables like wind and solar simply don't have that kind of money.
In exchange, the French company TotalEnergies would invest in oil and natural gas projects in Texas and elsewhere.
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Back now again to Iran.
Exclusive--Trump approved Iran operation after Netanyahu argued for joint killing of Khamenei, sources say
Confirming what we already knew.
'Tip Of The Iceberg': Iran Mocks US As Pentagon Seeks $200 Billion More For War
(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump’s decision to back down from his threat to destroy Iran’s power infrastructure came after US allies and Gulf countries privately warned the president of the dangers of following through with his threat, according to people familiar with the matter.
Trump may also be looking toward the midterms, where the war is not popular with voters.
With steps toward de-escalation beginning to occur, the war can start winding down, and then Trump may actually continue in that direction. Netanyahu also seems safe for now.
Maybe the US can actually even offer to help in Iran's recovery, as has been done for losers in prior wars.
The Ayatolla is like a pope to Muslims in Iran
This message has just come in now.
The Senate is close to voting on yet more War Powers resolutions; efforts to block funding for the Iran War and continued military aid to Israel. Messages to Susan Collins from Mainers are especially important but others should go to Senate.gov and follow the prompts to your Senator as well. Re the amount of money involved, never mind the 200 billion supposedly asked for. You can make clear that the amount asked is excessive, but the core message, I suggest, should be no more dollars for the misbegotten enterprise, and none for an Israeli Military apparently determined to kill enough Palestinians, Iranians and others they dislike to ensure the creatioon of ten times as many terrorists in
days to come.
Reuters, As for the Americsn Catholic pope, now Pontiff Leo has called the war in the middle east a 'scandal' for humanity. (He has no plans whatsoever to visit the US this year or any time soon.)
A US strike on a suspected drug boat off Costa Rica leaves 2 dead, 1 critically hurt
Are such lethal strikes on civilian boaters without even a declaration of war and lacking any proof of wrongdoing actually legal under international law? Can civilians still just be killed because Donald Trump or Pete Hegseth has ordered their killing? No, probably not, but who dares to challenge the Trump administration whose main slogan seems to be "might makes right" ?
Atlantic, Trump’s Eye Is Already on Cuba
“Regime change is lined up,” awaiting the president’s signal, according to one administration official. Without Russian support, the Cuban government is unable to resist and probably most Cubans on the island would actually welcome a US takeover.
Se acercan los acontecimientos en Cuba, segun Epoch Times
Yes, changes are coming to Cuba, according to this article in Spanish. We already knew that was happening.
Some 25 years ago, I was ejected from Cuba and told never to return. Dare I go back even now? Cuba today may just evoke nostalgia for visitors, as a country still frozen in time.
====================================================== Now let's consider hats. Head adornments for ordinary people have a long history, but these days are worn mostly for protection against the elements, not as statements about fashion or rank.
