Susie Duncan Sexton's Blog, page 23

So honored to be featured in Our USA Magazine!

Check out my essay in Our USA Magazine, summer edition! Page 64! Click here to read!



Here is an excerpt:

Although occasionally a handful of folks insist that I should "keep 'em coming" referring to columns I offer monthly, mostly I try to read "something" positive into blank stares I encounter while out and about mixing it up with the public. One astute reviewer DID compare me to fellow Hoosier Kurt VonneGUT -- I DO have guts! Another reader likened my style to that of a science fiction novelist, the late "Ray Brad Berry" (Translation? Ray Bradbury!) who wrote "Fried Green -- Dandelions"? (A little confusion between "Tomatoes" and "Wine"!) Amateur critics run the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous. I compensate through development of thick skin to coordinate with my thick waist.

(Also, my fellow Post and Mail columnist Amy Abbott has an essay featured on page 57!)

Click here to read!




________________


thanks for this feedback, friends!

David Loehr of the James Dean Gallery: "That's Great! ...Hello from David in Fairmount...!"

Steve Leininger: "Ah, the good ole days, when things worth saying were said, in English, with proper syntax and punctuation (good grammar, as it was known). Well done, Susie....I'm sure the well deserved accolades will be along shortly.....good luck with the zoo."

Tina Braid: "How wonderful!"

Maureen Weisserman Mansfield: "[Roy], your mom rocks!"

Simone Duffin: "Thank you ♥"

Gregory Heath: "Good stuff!"

Mike Tempel: "That's cool!"

Lotta Stenfelt: "Congrats, Susie Sexton!"

Barb Nicholson: "Like this column regarding the movies and old television. I like black and white films/TV shows! Watched TCM film yesterday 'Talk of the Town' (I hope I have the right title). The leads were Jean Arthur, Ronald Coleman and Cary Grant. Great movie!! [And regarding the Our USA Magazine essay,] Susie has such a great imagination! Makes me want to run out and get the future coloring books (if/yet to be published) for my grandchildren!"

Marla Rondo: "Awesome!!! How cool is that."

Mike Hillebrand: "Congrats – very nice!"

Kat Kelly-Heinzelman: "No matter what you write and I read, Susie, I learn something. I do appreciate you so much, and I'm so glad to have you as my friend and fellow writer. Thank you so much for you and Roy sharing your lives with the rest of your fans. Of course Don is included because he is part of the whole. I have learned things I have never know about small town living even though I lived in a small town all my life. LOL Thanks again, Susie, for being exactly who you are and that is a friend to all and mentor to others. Love you, my friend."



_________________




Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or won't

Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Stories from a Smart and Sassy Small Town Girl

and that kind of attitude is not deserving of a heavenly situation

now, here's the deal from the blue blue sky...arghhh. when we accept the finality of death, then we work to treasure our lives and the lives of others! no meeting in heaven when it is more convenient...no assuming we are so damned good that we'll all have more time to visit when we graduate and ascend. nope. this is as good as it gets...gotta be there for each other TODAY. and gotta call killing what it is...dead is dead. no rainbow bridges. the end.



i have tried to get this concept across every which way from sunday...and people just stare and blink. DEAD IS DEAD...the tranquilizers we are supposed to swallow to avoid that fact are bullsh*t to keep the masses in line. arghhhhh.

“We want to stand upon our own feet and look fair and square at the world - its good facts, its bad facts, its beauties, and its ugliness; see the world as it is and not be afraid of it. Conquer the world by intelligence and not merely by being slavishly subdued by the terror that comes from it. The whole conception of God is a conception derived from the ancient Oriental despotisms. It is a conception quite unworthy of free men. When you hear people in church debasing themselves and saying that they are miserable sinners, and all the rest of it, it seems contemptible and not worthy of self-respecting human beings. We ought to stand up and look the world frankly in the face. We ought to make the best we can of the world, and if it is not so good as we wish, after all it will still be better than what these others have made of it in all these ages. A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by words uttered long ago by ignorant men. It needs a fearless outlook and free intelligence. It needs hope for the future, not looking back all the time toward a past that is dead, which we trust will be far surpassed by the future that our intelligence can create.” ― Bertrand Russell (Thanks to John Harrington for forwarding.)

I AM NOT SUPERSTITIOUS...but whatever helps us while we live, to cope, i approve of if it involves reaching out to others in real time. and heaven would only be heaven because NO ONE has a lot to lose. equal opportunity...heaven only for some sounds too club-like to me. too exclusive like a country club. and entrance to heaven or not sounds pretty threatening and not sweet and kind. people have made the entire concept up out of whole cloth.



animals i completely relate to, people are more of a challenge...and don't always have "eyes of Angels"!

IF i had been raised on a farm, NO WAY would i have put up with the slaughter...not for one nano-second! we gotta be their guardian angels, no matter what it takes.

i am surrounded by stuff from my columns and advocacy and bought file folders JUST to get myself to slow down so i can file all of this information...actually i am thinking i have facebooked (primarily for animals) for 4 years? is that possible? i am my own secretary...to work on all of this and then stop to organize is a herculean effort...and i am exhausted just thinking about it let alone getting something accomplished! we do have fun, though, don't we? we are on this earth to do what we are doing!



I LOVE THE ANIMALS SO MUCH...and the people who help them! i totally believe in this social network...if only to find folks who are "on the same page" on this trip called LIFE in real time! no sense in waiting until we get to "heaven"...gotta be productive while we live...heaven on earth! yeah, yeah, yeah!

ANIMALS = HEAVEN! RIGHT IN FRONT OF US IN REAL TIME...SOME OF US KNOW THAT, AND WE ARE THE LUCKY ONES!

but some people (like some of my precious facebook friends) give me faith in human beings...cuz, to be truthful, i do not understand most human beings, so it's a bonus to find neat ones who know what's important!



i see the promise of heaven after croaking as a giant tranquilizer for humanity...and also a "santa's watching" threat? a great concept to control the masses, however...that means death is meaningless and will be more thoughtlessly frequent with hateful slaughter of animals and occasionally people...no consequences...no accountability for the perpetrators or those who wish to be apathetic. no reason to become involved to curb and prevent the violence and the cruelty WHILE PEOPLE AND ANIMALS ARE PRESENTLY ALIVE.



WHILE PEOPLE AND ANIMALS ARE PRESENTLY ALIVE, manufactured tranquilizers such as 'rainbow bridges' and 'RIP' and 'promises of angels with harps in heaven' are placebos and prevent the solving of horrid real-life problems. and furthermore, how anyone is so vain to believe they'll arrive there because of "goodness" and will catch up with those they ignored on earth is absolutely a disastrous daydream and quite rude. and that kind of attitude is not deserving of a heavenly situation. and i do not wish to discuss this further...geesh almighty!

love this...

from Deborah Fields Perez: "I'll tell you a little tid bit about my Cozmo. My sweet dog follows me everywhere I go. I don't mean to the store, etc. I mean he stays at my heels from room to room and even if I move only ten feet. He's following right along. If I'm drying my hair, he lays at my feet and even sometimes puts his paw on my foot and just leaves it there. If I'm in the kitchen, he's right there with me...on the sofa....in the mirror putting my make-up on. It doesn't matter, he wants to be right beside me. I can reach over and pet him at any given time when I am home because he is always that close, yet he's never in my way. If I sit down, he will gently lick my hand once or twice and look up at me with the most loving eyes. Life doesn't get any better than that."

LeeAnn Lewis: "I'm with you all the way, Susie - God bless!"

_________________




Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or won't

Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Stories from a Smart and Sassy Small Town Girl

Latest Homeward Angle: Big Mac and Little Me!

My brother-in-law, a "Goodfellas" type from rugged Youngstown in Ohio, met my sister Sarah in 1958 at Indiana University in Bloomington where he played rugged football courtesy of an athletic scholarship just after serving as a rugged MP stationed with the rugged U.S. Army in rugged Alaska! Go Big Red!



Read the original column and view more photos by clicking here...

One of the foremost reasons his pesky little sister-in-law, who relentlessly pestered him, loved this soul so dearly would be: Charles Eugene McBride, Jr. (a.k.a. "Mac") adored/adores movies, musicals, and all of "show biz" itself unconditionally in any and all of its manifestations! Thanks to Big Mac, as a 12 year old and onward I got an early education with respect to grown-up cinematic bill of fare cuz I sometimes tagged along on his dates with my sis! THE LIST: "Sweet Bird of Youth"… "Psycho"… "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"… "BUtterfield 8" …."The Young Philadelphians"…"Somebody Up There Likes Me"…"The Misfits"… "Dr. No" (First James Bond entry! Mac resembled Sean Connery!)…and especially "Ben-Hur" (with intermission and playbill book!) which served double duty as my 8th grade graduation present!



Thanks to my brother-in-law -- of presently 53 years, I rode all the way to Warren, Ohio, to witness the Kenley Players' ("America's Most Exciting Summer Theatre") production of "A Thousand Clowns" starring…IN PERSON…50s heart-throb movie star Van Johnson! And after lapsed Catholic Mac and Protestant Sarah married at the Grace Lutheran Church on Main Street in June of 1960, about two years into their union they bought all of us (the McBrides and the Duncans) tickets to the Indianapolis Starlight Players' (originally "Stars Under the Stars" ) touring production of the musical "Little Me" featuring song and dance man Donald O'Connor who assumed the reins from funnyman Sid Caesar! (I also endured the Verdi opera "Aida" on that same stage as a part of "Girls' State" in 1963. One of the oodles of Egyptian barefooted spear-and-palm-frond-carriers participated in the show-stopping, eye-popping prolonged "Triumphal March" while wearing tennis shoes and quickly got spotted by us "girls"! We giggled throughout the remainder of the four-hour spectacle/production!) Mac bonded with McLean Stevenson, who achieved international fame eventually as Lt. Colonel Henry Blake in the "Mash" TV series, when that other "Mac" portrayed Professor Harold Hill in the 1962 Wagon Wheel Playhouse's "The Music Man". So that I, a teenage chorus apprentice, might sing nightly alongside Mr. Stevenson, Mr. McBride occasionally delivered me to performances via a yellow 1959 Ford Skyliner Convertible!



For Mother's Day and my birthday, which usually land on the same date, in retrospect I have enjoyed son Roy's valedictory speech to Wabash College's administrators, faculty, parents and students at his 1995 commencement as the top student in his graduating class -- AND his leading roles in Metro-Detroit's "Bells are Ringing"… "Rags"…"Company"… "Pajama Game"…"Oklahoma!" … and just last month " Legally Blonde", the musicalized version of the Reese Witherspoon tailor-made vehicle which assured her stardom forevermore! The blustery, surreal, Sunday afternoon sky contained every variety of cloud in the science textbooks -- cumulus, nimbus, cirrus, cumulonimbus, cirrocumulus, stratus, and flat-bottomed yet towering darker than dark thunder-clouds! Somehow, the glorious sun also peeked through the troposphere simultaneously…GLOBAL WARMING IS ALIVE AND WELL! The show, a tour de force of ten energetic sold-out performances, bounced, glided, convulsed and amazed. Roy played the villainous Harvard law professor "Callahan" to sheer perfection. I, from my front row seat, gleefully clicked with the true "stars" of the show -- a diminutive Chihuahua transported downstage and upstage via a tacky pocketbook, a "scene-stealing-scene-chewing" Rat Terrier, and my favorite actor (second only to Roy!) a singing UPS delivery man hysterically authentic in official brown shirt, cap, white socks, hiking boots, and Bermuda shorts!



Wonder of wonders! I frequently hearken back to a road trip Don and four-year-old Roy and my parents and I experienced, the highlight being a tour of Henry Ford's Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan -- unbeknownst to any of us that this "mitten" state would eventually become "little Roy's" stomping grounds! Our "Wolverine" son recently returned from a Vegas trip (read more here), reporting on the usual sight-seeing extravaganzas such as Hoover Dam, Caesar's Palace, endless casinos, the glitz, the lights, the neon signs, the poker chips, one-armed bandits, glamorous show-girls, etc. However, the highlight of his stay emerged as gorgeous Shania Twain serenading her pet horse on stage while transforming romantic songs formerly aimed at a loyal husband (now EX!) who unfortunately strayed, losing his #1 ranking in her affections. Once again, we seem to -- throughout life -- continually cross virtual paths with Big Mac and sister/Aunt Sarah who lived in Las Vegas for several years!



Never would have dreamed that I would grow up to marry and become "mom" to a kid who would star in eight roles in Patrick Dennis's (author also of "Auntie Mame") vaudevillian romp entitled "Little Me" which will run for three weekends from July 11 to July 27 in neighboring Michigan -- outdoors in a beautiful Ann Arbor park -- with tickets available at www.pennyseats.org! Comedian Tim Allen's commercials for his "adopted" favorite state entice tourists, and actor Jeff Daniels currently resides in Ann Arbor -- I yearn to run into him one of these days! I've had experience myself fulfilling multiple roles in the musical "Stop the World…I Want To Get Off!" -- British wife "Evie" to the hustler/politician Littlechap, as well as his German, American, Russian and Japanese mistresses! Life truly does follow patterns and themes!



As baseball legend Yogi Berra redundantly describes one's journey through life, "It's Déjà Vu all over again!" BTW, Big Mac, did I ever thank you for all of those tickets, specifically those providing for our familial viewing pleasure of that early 60s live summer fun-fest entitled "Little Me"? Well, consider it done, and we shall see if "little" 6' 2" Roy Sexton gives Sid Caesar and Donald O'Connor a run for their money! I'm bettin' on it!



neat comments!

Beth Hilt: "Thanks for sharing! If you don’t mind I’d love to forward to my daughter (a budding writer)…schedule permitting we will be at the September 15 event! Just need to get the book so she can read it beforehand!"

Belinda Braggs: "Beautiful pics, thanks for sharing!"

Helen Cochrane: "I enjoyed this--fun to see Mac and Sarah together! Aunt Helen"

Angie Choe: "Love the pics! Nice looking picture of the family during Mother’s Day! And it was a lovely article that your Mom wrote. I too hope to bump into Jeff Daniels one day! Looking forward to seeing 'Little Me'!"

Becca Mansfield, mama of the chihuahua thespian Emmy: "she's even more famous now!"

_________________




Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or won't

Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Stories from a Smart and Sassy Small Town Girl

Wow! "Where Writers Write"...

What an honor! I am the latest author featured on Where Writers Write...



Here's a quote: "I still live in the tiny, cute house in the tiny, occasionally cute town where I grew up. I upgraded to a computer from a Royal Typewriter a few years ago, and that computer sits in our back room that once doubled as an office/rec room for my father. It is a happily haunted house full of memories and love and I try to channel those sprightly specters through my writing."

Read the rest and view photos by clicking here...



_________________

Neat comments!

Barb Nicholson: "The cat is definitely protecting your mom’s writing space, secrets, & Pepsi One cans! Just daring someone to walk in and try to disturb anything!"

Kat Kelly-Heinzelman: "I'd love to come visit and say hi and sit on the porch in a small town and enjoy the life. Best of all the people...."

David Rat: "WOOOO HOOO...give her a big ole hug from me! ♥"

Don Sexton: "Thanks for sharing – I love it! And like a good writer – Susie isn’t divulging her secrets in the magic creative room."

Eric Walkuski: "That’s really cool! I enjoy reading these!"

Cherie Boeneman: "Wow. That cat look exactly like my cat Dinky. How strange but cool."

_________________




Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or won't

Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Stories from a Smart and Sassy Small Town Girl

karma. i feel naughty...

wondering if god approves of throwing his name around rather loosely to advance in society and to please the right crowd and to become really popular and achieve monetary gain? i am betting not? good for God then!



i wonder if anybody else notices the same ploy on facebook and in social-climbing life in general? and it seems to be working...but i wonder if in the long-run the hollowness will be detected by both God and His son?

from Wikipedia: "Spiritual opportunism refers to the exploitation of spiritual ideas (or of the spirituality of others, or of spiritual authority): for personal gain, partisan interests or selfish motives. Usually the implication is that doing so is unprincipled in some way, although it may cause no harm and involve no abuse. In other words, religion becomes a means to achieve something that is alien to it, or things are projected into religion that do not belong there."

have you seen the newest gatsby movie...this latest treatment really reveals the core of why this story has enjoyed such success. the book left me cold until now. daisy speaks about her child, "she can function in this world as a fool and i hope she does so that success is hers..." or words to that effect. and the actress with her performance at that moment gives that film its heart...dark heart to be sure...but one knows what the conclusion will be...a great deal of human damage to those who do not play the game just as those who do play the game go merrily on their self-seeking way. life is anything but fair!



i loved the newest cinematic adaptation...i loved leo...his uncertainty moved me immensely...and daisy was exquisite! the tv drama of about a dozen years ago was also superior. the redford/farrow movie left much to be desired. never have seen the alan ladd version or the 1929 film. and i am not always that fond of leo!

i am actually allergic to fitzgerald and the classic story we have all been forced to read...and this treatment by luhrmann appealed to me to the max...also not a fan of moulin rouge to be perfectly frank! so go figure! i adored the movie...an improvement on an over-rated classic in my mind! truly adored the film...every aspect!



aside: adelaide clemens played the sis of isla fisher who played myrtle in THE GREAT GATSBY and what is so very interesting is that she resembles ms. carey mulligan who played daisy...and this adelaide girl also starred in RECTIFY...which i only saw the first episode of...darn!

it's all about karma. i feel naughty...but i am "praying" occasionally for just that very thing! tired of the pretension...speaking of which, mel brooks on PBS tonight...speaking of unpretentious...american masters thingie. the golden calf did not make god happy if i remember! either in the bible or in a mel brooks skit or a chuck heston bible movie.



mel brooks provoked laughter for some 90 minutes....BTW, one film clip featured moses receiving the 15 commandments until he dropped a tablet...which reduced the final tally to just the ten we all know so well to this day!

i think that was an out-take from History of the World, Part I... i always forget the title of that nutsoid movie but i loved it...the Last Supper may have also been documented in that film.



aside: i swear that anne bancroft is even funnier than mel. several moments featuring her in the PBS presentation we just watched.

"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…."(F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Penguin Modern Classics edition, p. 170)

...i do think outside the box...can get lonely out there...but i always stay the course since before birth! i view this world through huge round spectacles like the billboard in the gatsby story... fun, isn't it?

(BUT SHOULD I AIM MORE OFTEN FOR THAT LITTER BOX? =^..^= just to make life easier for myself once in awhile?)

_________________

neat feedback! Kelly Huddleston: "I really liked this one, especially Susie's thoughts about people trying to profit from their spirituality. And I agree with her about THE GREAT GATSBY -- a classic that I'm happy I read once, but probably only once!"

Shannon Allen: "Loved it Thanks for sharing, Roy! xoxo"

_________________




Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or won't

Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Stories from a Smart and Sassy Small Town Girl

Latest Homeward Angle: THE GAME OF LIFE? NO CONTEST! My Attempt at CATharsis -- Meow! =^..^=

"Gentlemen, start your engines!" Seriously, if I qualified as a gentleman, I would refuse to start my engine. Not unlike Marlon Brando, George C. Scott, Katharine Hepburn, or Sacheen Littlefeather, with regard to races and/or contests and/or competitions, I am a non-believer.



Fighting others to win laurels is an unattractive, pointless endeavor and significant maybe only to those odd creatures known as "marketers" who delight over a manipulated bigger picture and money in the pot at the end of the rainbow.

View the original print version here...

True that the week of April 15-19, 2013 qualified as the easy winner of a miserable contest called "most horrendously spooky televised five days of this century thus far" boasting a fiendishly terrorized Boston Marathon for starters! Failure of gun control legislation followed, then onward to the incredible explosion of a Texas fertilizer plant which preceded a Thursday memorial service for victims of Monday's back-pack bombs culminating with a frenetic Friday Police State shut-down of the city of Boston and a storm trooperish man-hunt reminiscent of "The Life of Pi" convincing America that "The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!" Where was Borat? Or Alan Arkin?


"Don't cry for me, Argentina!", but I seldom ever toted home a prize even as a result of the "luck of the draw" -- except for a totally useless set of bar-bells in the fifth grade. Oh, wait! An exquisite doll with her own trunk-load of fashions "once nearly was mine" but got snatched from my hands at the Delts' Halloween Queen festival, traditionally held at the 4-H pavilion for years, because not only had my Dad bought raffle tickets but another family member, superstitiously, also had entered MY name, rather than her own daughter's, into the drawing! Following a brief, testy family consultation and tussle which gained "And-the-winner-is-Susie Duncan" instant martyrdom, an upright decision (worthy of King Solomon) facilitated an intact pre-Barbie dream-doll accompanying another diminutive, blood relative "little-kid-mommy" home instead! I harbor excellent reasons to disown "contests"! Although, I'm still a teensy bit proud of consolation prizes -- tacky decks of flowered plastic-coated cards -- that Jeannie Strouse and I got awarded while substituting for adults at an Elks Duplicate Bridge night! Mere high school kids upstairs at the Elks mind you, we returned home with both wounded pride yet "booby" prizes for cooperatively, mind numbingly occupying folding chairs as we moved from one table to the next simply to clasp 13 cards in our inexperienced hands and to "Pass" rather than bid.




I accidentally garnered a couple of scholastic awards and an Arion Award musicianship medal along the way, a "good" citizenship certificate at an Indiana University Journalism Institute, a couple of trophies…and THE premiere John R. Emens Outstanding Senior plaque at Ball State University…but I never even knew I was being monitored for such. Contests cannot be other than subjective, noteworthily based on who knows whom or what's in it for the presenting body.

No crowns, valedictories (pretty close, though!), loving cups, contrived amassing of "penny votes", bouquets of roses, velvet capes, nor angel wings ever happened for me, but a close encounter with co-starring alongside nine other coeds in Stephen King's horror movie "Carrie" did. Only nineteen, skinny, shy, naive and suddenly "crampy", I strutted my stuff while wearing a virginal white swimsuit and very high heels in a beauty/scholarship (?) pageant in front of irreverent fraternity boys, sorority sisters who wondered why they themselves were not on stage, and a judges' panel comprised of ogling, elderly males and seasoned, manicured, specious veteran beauty queens! My own jittery parents, seated in the audience in the cavernous lush new Emens Auditorium, writhed in agony, over-hearing whispered derogatory comments as we ten finalists thrust out chests, sucked in tummies, wiggled rears, waved, and smiled broadly to mask our embarrassment. The experienced winner got coronated possibly due to two last minute tricks--an entire bottle of baby oil slathered allllll over her resultant glistening form PLUS a surprise designer gown and bathing suit previously unavailable at dress rehearsal and actually hand-tailored just for her toned bod! Hands down, the perky little crown landed on her winsome, mayonnaised, Breck-Girl hair-do! Awwww, who would want to go through life as a former "Miss BALL State" anyway? Sour grapes? No, truthiness!



My guilty pleasure from that Salvador Dali-esque spectacle involved an ambitious first runner-up -- whose charmingly disarming snarkiness would assure that a "Miss Congeniality" she never would be -- who re-entered herself that same particular spring in the Miss Indianapolis pageant and achieved queendom due to her Julie Andrews voice in a "Mary Poppins"/"Sound of Music" season. Irony of ironies! Miss Indy defeated Miss Ball State by the time this (highly personalized) victimization of young women chapter reached the final curtain of "Miss Indiana" status. She actually got perilously close to hearing Bert Parks serenade her walk to the end of the plank at Atlantic City in that banner 1965 year of living dangerously: "THERE SHE IS…MISS AMERICA…There she is, your ideal…Walking on air she is…Fairest of the fair she is…There she is, MISS AMERICA!" The only titles I ever may have accumulated over a lifetime consist of Miss Represented and perhaps Miss Understood!

Believe it or not, I still have bad dreams about the entire event every May in commemorative retrospect…once was enough! A feminist/finalist got born on a Muncie stage during that overwrought festivity in the mid-60s! Girls aren't supposed to be herded about and treated like cattle. And neither are cattle!



POSTSCRIPT: For all of my noble protestations, I am quite proud that an animal tale of mine recently won first place ranking as "Story of the Month" -- my award consisting of a $75.00 coupon to be redeemed for two huge buckets of horse nutrients -- and will proceed for consideration as an on-line magazine's "Story of the Year"! Should I emerge victorious, do you suppose the UPS truck will deliver an actual "horse, of course"? Ah, memories! I recall my dad's jocular, repetitious announcement: "I've got to travel to Kalamazoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo to see a man about a horse!" And he did just that in 1950. He named the mare Maude, and we loved her and she loved us in return! Hey, in my book, UNCONDITIONAL LOVE sweeps all categories, whether "Win, Place, or Show", without fail -- no strings attached!

"We are far more likely to be harmed by our fellow man than by our fellow animals, yet we call animals wild and dangerous and we call man advanced and civilized." ~ Anthony Douglas Williams, "Inside the Divine Pattern"



_________________

wow! what comments!

Drex Morton: "Susie, Again your venturing down memory lane brings me back to the mid 1960's and evokes similar thoughts. I was a rather awkward middle schooler who accidently achieved some fame in the Spring of 1965, because I played Friederich in the South Eugene High (Oregon) version of the Sound of Music and could singer higher than most sopranos. Our Maria (who was a voice student of my Dad's) became Miss Oregon that year and was one of the 10 runner-ups in 1965, but didn't make the cut (family lore has it) because she wore a nun's habit on stage and danced in a libertine fashion offending the judges' capricious sensibilities of the day. She went on to join 'the New Christy Minstrels,' and we lost touch. I applaud you for becoming a pioneer of the future then, and not an icon of the past...those were the days!"

Barb Nicholson: "So much down-to-earth truth in this column!! I’ll always take an animal over any award!!"

Mona McBrayer Benson: "Check out Susie's Blog! I love this woman!"

Bridget Bly: "I agree with your mom! Which lady in white is she, by the way? [she is in the middle] enquiring but idle minds want to know...I should have guessed -- now she looks just like someone who would make pithy social commentary... give her my best."

Joelle Schade: "No beauty pageants? AMEN to that! ... I did really like her point about contests in which people do not know they are being monitored....I guess that's good sometimes because then you aren't performing in order to receive an award or psych yourself out of something... I deduct from her writing style that she has a highly unusual amount of energy and could run circles around anyone."

Shannon Wright: "HAHA! 'Gentlemen, start your engines', in the words of Tony Hullman :D"

Mary Shaull: "I don't consider this swearing, but by God, you're good!!! Oh, I wish I'd gone to school with you! What fun we'd have recalling our performances - both accepted and frowned upon. At our class-night talent show, the day before graduation, I was to have sung 'A bicycle built for two' - which fit into the theme the teachers had chosen. Well, my fellow classmates talked me into singing 'Dirty Lil' instead. It delighted the kids, but appalled my parents and dear Aunt Viola and Uncle Ray who had driven up from Ft. Wayne for all the events. I was never forgiven. 'Dirty Lil, Dirty Lil, she lives up on garbage hill ......' My parents never forgave me and I'm still sorry I did it. Haven't thought of that awful evening in a long time. YOU are MY MISS INDIANA/MISS AMERICA!!!"

B Anne Giles Watson: "Look at those beautiful eyes!"

Diane Shenkman Baumgarten: "Beautiful then and now!"

Angie Choe: "Great article! She was and is beautiful! Love her smile!"

_________________




Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or won't

Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Stories from a Smart and Sassy Small Town Girl

can you believe that this is america in the 21st century?

Sarah Palin is not the answer to a woman's prayer for equality in real time while we live. The "conservatives" have offered up what they believe to be the voice of a female, in several instances...bachmann, coulter, etc. I never did take to cheerleaders who are allowed to jiggle their wares on the sidelines of games boys play. Still don't! Girls should know better! i had sorority sisters just like her...no, a bit brighter...but all sex!



where are they coming from...is it all for show? or do they actually believe in "forgiveness"? boogie and get forgiven and then boogie some more...boogie...get forgiven...boogie, good LORD! really target or j.c.penny oughta start selling glittering handbags or shoulder-bags shaped like bibles for carrying pearl-handled revolvers to protect "their families"! awesome! ;)

palin is a tick...i removed one from my dog's ear this week-end...and it just dug in its heels and sucked and sucked...but i persisted and flipped the little blood-filled booger awaaaaaaaay...but ticks probably never are ever gone, right? stay home, sarah...suck the blood from someone else.



can you believe that this is america in the 21st century? the conservatives are anything but...wrong term for them...in more ways than one. so weary from their hatefulness while brandishing the cross...and for writing speeches for those well-paid go go dancers whom i consider to be pretty fast-living dames. "carry a gun and love the lord" = oxyMORON!

the world is quite alarming way too often lately. i am an animal advocate as well as a feminist at this point in my life...somehow, tenderness and acceptance and appreciation for diversity all come together...all beings matter...life matters. kindness matters. coarseness and vulgarity and apathy are damaging. empathy is key. stereotyping of any sort has no place in the evolution of the heart and heightened sensitivity.



cannot abide snobbery...yet i am a snob myself about one facet of LIFE...all sentient beings matter...and IF we do not stop to help them, to save their lives AND in so doing teach children to revere all innocent beings, then we have failed and have made no difference whatsoever during our lifetimes. a-men. (period)

funny how i can take a pass on landscaping clubs or supporting just certain amendments or those "right" to hunt groups, and zero in on vegan lifestyles, protection of sea lions and encouragement of gun CONTROL instead. you know, those thingies that float over to the right on webpages? and, on facebook, when i see that certain truly lovely humans have LIKED responsible and loving groups, i gravitate even more to sites that promote the health and well-being of our planet rather than puffing up human egos and promoting the "emotions" of fear and jealousy and prejudice. one can tell a lot about a person by what is LIKED! just sayin'!



if i sense a fight from those with no sense, i breeze on and let them languish there waving their little tiny facebook arms and chewing nails and showing what they are made of...proves the point the little fun harmless "posters" are making. every time! ;) lots of times, the bible even gets quoted by the same types for an extra bonus!

_________________

From Carol Baker: "Roy, my friend, your dear mother is too much of a lady to 'deal' with those people. That's why we need people in the world like me. I have no such patience or manners. We need people like Susie and we need people like me."

_________________




Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or won't

Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Stories from a Smart and Sassy Small Town Girl

still waiting though.

our hearts break every day...so we continue to share away!

all lives matter so we pray...how? by posting faces like TODAY!

please consider clicking SHARE...because you understand and care!

thanks for helping each hopeful stare...find a home. Answer a prayer! ♥!!!



_________________


WOW! From Helen Melaine Hockemeyer: "Whenever my life is getting low, Susie Sexton meets us randomly and I think about it and laugh for days upon weeks. Thanks, Susie."

omigosh...you just this second thrilled my soul, angel girl! i feel exactly the same about you. and i also feel like we have known each other all of our lives, helen! you are one special girl! THANKS SO MUCH! i keep reading this, helen...your timing is heaven-sent and i kid you not. i am going to adopt you...SERIOUSLY! meet your new sister, roy!


_________________


"proud history of hunting" "rite of passage in rural areas" "guns designed for children" "designed in pink for girls and blue for boys"....has this nation lost its mind?

...sometimes i truly believe this nonsense is all just a bad dream...and we'll wake up and people will have gotten smart and kind and sensible. still waiting though.

Shelly PoochparkWear commented on facebook: "Susie Sexton, I lived in Israel most of my life; every house has a gun and boys and girls go into the army at the age of 18, and then carry on doing training till the age of 45 ... but you do not see what happens there like in this country. It's insane, and not only that people cannot get it into their heads that teaching kids to shoot is not ok as it's teaching them that harming is all right. I am at a loss here over what is happening. They preach no bullying but teach them to shoot; why are they not practicing what they preach, it is just so, so, so sad. Did you see the news the other day that they have come out with a bullet proof backpack now for kids ... what next? I am totally dumbfounded on a daily basis as to what is happening in this world. I am a teacher, and I will not let my kids bully or disrespect or act in any way that I do not think appropriate; actually I made one of my nine year olds the other day write a five line essay about respect and made him put his name on it, so if he plays up with me he has to read it ... best way to teach I decided."

oh, shelly...thanks for this post. and for sharing your experience in Israel with me. IF i had little kids, they would be home-schooled for sure in this current environment. i began teaching in 1968 and wondered where all of this was headed way back then. the decline is no surprise to me, but still it is horrifying. i continue to contend that the apathetic disregard for any and all sentient beings is the core of the problem. parents should start with pets in the home so that children can learn empathy and how much kindness means. geesh. not to be believed what is going on and on and on day after day. speechless and dumbfounded. we are living in a nightmarish world.



you give me hope, shelly...i am THRILLED that you are a teacher! those lucky kids!!!!!

_________________

from wonderful Bob Wannberg...

Symphony Animal Foundation, a "No Kill" Animal Shelter and Haven in Pahrump, Nevada, a Radio-thon this Fri, Sat and Sunday! tune in Fm 95.1 - live streaming @ this link. Studio Phone 775-751-6193 Other pledge phones to be updated prior to the event.

SAF is a non-profit rescue 501(c)3 that takes in ANY domestic animal to care for with eventual placement into a good forever home. Covering all of Southern Nevada, Pahrump, Las Vegas, all of Nye County and the entire U.S. via networking with other shelters. Listen to the great things Symphony Animal Foundation is doing for these precious animals, their new and larger facilities under construction and meet founder and author Laraine Russo Harper. Any amount, even $1, will help save these beautiful animals, provide shelter, food and medical care.

Laraine Russo Harper along with station owner Karen Jackson will discuss their wonderful programs for placement, spay and neuter, equine operations, and Community Education to name just a few. Tune in to this very important event! and thank you for taking the time to read about this event, it is so much appreciated!



From Mark D. Pruitt: "I walk my dogs everyday. I am constantly amazed at the number of people that are terrified by these animals. Where does empathy begin when so many are afraid of a harmless dog. These are sweet, medium size dogs that are not lunging at anyone (well at least not when they have their gentle leaders on). I cannot remember people being so terrified of animals when I was a child."

Gillian Prince: "I remember there were always dogs about when I was much younger, don't remember being scared of them... hardly ever see dogs roaming free here now which is good..."

_________________




Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or won't

Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Stories from a Smart and Sassy Small Town Girl

Latest Old Type Writer: Blue Bell 'Choraliers' lead me to reveries of Jones Bakery

New "Old Type Writer" column - here is my editor Jennifer Zartman Romano’s description: “Follow along as columnist Susie Duncan Sexton takes us on a journey for information as she seeks the names of singers in an old photograph -- and finds herself reminiscing about baking history in downtown Columbia City today on Old Type Writer...”



Enjoy! Read the original post here...

(And for those of you in Michigan, be sure to come see Roy play vile and nasty Callahan in Farmington Players production of Legally Blonde the Musical, running through May 18 - www.farmingtonplayers.org - tickets going fast!)

_________________

(Talk of the Town photo provided) The photo above features the Blue Bell Choraliers and columnist Susie Duncan Sexton is still hoping somewhere out there, someone knows the names of each of these singers.

By Susie Duncan Sexton

Hi, readers! On March 18, I sent an e-mail to Jennifer entitled "AN EARNEST REQUEST FROM THE OLD TYPE WRITER WHO ADMITS TO KNOWING NOT EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW!" My letter and genesis for this column follows here:

PART ONE --

Hi Jennifer! Remember when you discovered one of your missing school medals around Christmastime 2012, and I entered on your Facebook page that I, too, had experienced a Back to Sanity moment simultaneously and had re-discovered a yellowing newspaper from 1967 which I had borrowed from Don York 26 years ago? Well, I returned the "Whitley County Observer" to former Blue Bell employee Don whose photograph appears there "...weighing and marking each box to send them on their way to the trucks waiting at the boarding docks"! Featured in the "Focus on Blue Bell" photo-story, I counted nearly 50 "candid camera" type black and white pictures of industrious, energetic employees crafting Wrangler jeans and dungarees and overalls from bolts of denim into spiffy, finished products ready to clothe American kids, farmers, car-washing dads, truckers, gas station attendants, golfers, teenagers on hayrides, ranchers, etc. from "sea to shining sea"...and beyond our borders! Step by loving step, fingers flying at top speed, machines well-oiled and whirring away, those pix bring a crucial part of local history back to life!



So, Friday, Mr. York, who is eternally grateful that I retrieved his treasured newspaper, swapped this terrific photograph of "The Blue Bell Choraliers", and we both remain copacetic! However, I attempted a few months ago to investigate this topic of ladies -- from the local factory-- frequently garbed in choir robes or formals gathering to sing their wondrous tunes near and far and all over this community. My fact-gathering amounted to zilch, even though I consulted with "Blue Bell Family" members Bill Winters and Evelyn Zumbrun who both rate as superior sources of limitless information.

Thus, I submit this photo to you to run in my Old Type Writer spot so that we can garner some retro-information which will allow me to proceed with a column. How about running this very message itself, if you would be so kind? Former Blue Bell employee Deb Lowrance and I have discussed a Blue Bell factory reunion sometime in the future to be held in one of the lovely rooms at the Peabody Library. Blue Bell closed its doors 35 years ago in the spring of 1978 , largely due to globalization. So, a special remembrance soiree would be well-timed. The group photo is attached...I recognize Mrs. B. V. Widney, my dad's secretary Phyllis Mattix (Back row, third from left!), Don York's wife Marilee, and Marjorie Cullimore Freeman. Several of these women's faces seem quite familiar to me, but I am clueless as to their names because, indeed, I am an OLD Type Writer! ;D



I would appreciate hearing from those folks who recognize a loved one -- or delighted to listen to accounts from the members themselves. Wow! Thanks for all that you do to capture the past and present and to promote the future of Columbia City and Whitley County, Jennifer! (Several other pix related to this 1967 "Observer", which I sadly parted with, can be found at the conclusion of my gallery of photographs at my website: www.susieduncansexton.com)

PART TWO -- (the fun part!)

Last week, I called Don York's wife. Marilee York, nee Heil, always characterized in my mind since childhood as the happiest, smilingest, perkiest lady alive, laughed with me as we both tried to recall those musical angels from left to right and from front row to back without skipping a beat or misspelling even one name! Between the two of us, Marilee having worked at the Blue Bell plant where she tacked belt loops during her freshman and sophomore years in high school, we agreed that choir director Mrs. B. V. Widney stands gazing at us as the first lady "front row, left"! Also an easy identification followed of Mrs. York's sister Willadeane Holycross, nee Heil! My earlier mistake (re-read PART ONE!) got corrected because Eloise "Jones" Freeman never participated, while the lady whom I had assumed to be Marjorie "Cullimore" Freeman may indeed be Marjorie "Cullimore" ANDERS? (Sixth from left in the back row!) Wondering if the sleuthing of even Sherlock Holmes might reconstruct that moment in time when "the Choraliers" posed for a local 1950s (or possibly 1940s) photographer?

Instead, this column took a new, delectable turn. Why? Marilee, employed for 17 years at Jones Bakery on Van Buren Street, supplied me with the names of that staff who specialized in satisfying Columbia City's collective "sweet tooth" both happily and entirely throughout MY "growing up" years: Owner Kenneth P. Jones nicknamed "Tom"; his wife Bertha; their only son and baker Dwight; Paul "Delli" Schrader; Fred Neigh; Donna Myer and Frank Prum. However, Marilee all by herself represents the essence of all that totally mattered to me at that location each Saturday morning or on "detour routes" after school. Her beaming, ever-present smile for every customer and kid who, beckoned by divine yeast-like bread-raising smells permeating the outside air, swung open the screen door setting off a tinkling bell and revealing an unforgettable feast -- a vision of a vast expanse of glass cases containing pies, frosted layer cakes, doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, an enticing array of cupcakes, and MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL--COOKIES... BE THEY CHOCOLATE CHIP, OATMEAL, PEANUT BUTTER OR SUGAR!!!!!



PART THREE --

Obviously, assigning names to only five photographed female singers and neglecting to do so for twelve others (one shy of a "baker's dozen"!) does not earn me my stripes or stars as a dogged reporter. (My apologies, Jennifer!) Also, I am rather ashamed of my fickleness and unimpressive attention span in switching from another column focusing upon Blue Bell observations to a description of our magical bakery which offered delights only matched by Willy Wonka in Britisher Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"! My detective work failed. However, a really neat lady from a person's distant youthful past answered the telephone on an April evening in 2013 with "Hi, Honey..."! That sweet person is also associated with handing an eager little girl (me!) crisp, white paper sacks of a half-dozen sugar cookies maybe a couple days per week for several years. I daydreamed NOT about long-ago songbird-seamstresses diligently manufacturing blue jeans but rather remembered how frequently I succumbed to temptation and "spoiled my supper" as I walked home to watch "Howdy Doody", "Buffalo Bob", "Pinky Lee", or "Carol and Corky"!



From Barb Nicholson: "Oh, the mystery of old photos! Taking a few moments to write names on the back would save so much on research years/decades later. Hope your mom has success with identifying all the ladies!!!"

_________________




Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or won't

Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Stories from a Smart and Sassy Small Town Girl

your vote reveals your heart and your intelligence: Indiana's Ag-Gag Bill

Ah, the wonders of communication..by PHONE! Just spoke with Hoosier folks who'll convey my message of concern regarding today's "conference" status of S.B. 373, the "Ag-Gag" Bill!



They listened patiently and will convey my thoughts to four Republicans: Governor Mike Pence (got his voice-mail!); Senator Jim Banks; and Representatives Kathy Heuer and Dan Leonard. I pray that human health, animal welfare, free speech, and the transparency of "industrial" operations will all be considered and will lead to opposition of this bill so that Indiana is in step with the 21st century.

Re-electability should not be a factor nor should this issue be politicized when intelligent elected officials vote their consciences -- I trust that will happen. I hope that I am correct.



I ask of all politicians...

Please do not politicize this issue with all Republicans voting against the welfare of animals who are victimized for profit. All 'industries' need to be monitored...and free speech guaranteed.

Your votes when previously recorded and studied absolutely reflect that animals seem to be Democrats and their lives do not matter. This is an important vote for the well-being of humans, regardless of party affiliation, as well as abolishing the crass apathy and frequent cruelty directed toward those animals over-reproduced and too often mistreated and all for monetary gain, regardless of the damage to the human digestive system as well as the spiking proliferation of breast and prostate cancers, Parkinson's disease, and heart attacks.



Be brave...your vote reveals your heart and your intelligence. Be not afraid that you might be voted out of office...this matter involves the importance of AND your regard for life itself.

______________


If you know anyone in Indiana, please share this immediately. Indiana’s ag-gag bill, which makes it illegal to expose factory farms, clearcutting, and fracking, has resurfaced and it is being rushed through the legislature.



The bill had been watered down in response to massive public backlash against it. But now, Senate Bill 373 has all the anti-consumer language all over again. The provisions were inserted by the original Senate author Travis Holdman(R).

Phone Number for SENATOR JIM BANKS is 1-800-382-9467 and for KATHY HEUER 1-800-382-9841 and for DAN LEONARD 1-800-362-9841 or 260-356-8204

Consumers do care...please urge the vote against Senate Bill 373!

_________________

Terrific response I stumbled upon a moment ago regarding S.B. 373 from Glen Flaningham:

Before I became enlightened, I naively never thought of animal rights/welfare being a political issue. It truly amazes me that more often than not, one side of the aisle seems to always side against what's best for sentient creatures. I always made the assumption that both sides would care fairly equally or not but that doesn't seem to be the case. I'm not bashing you if you're a Republican because there are some that care but it does seem to be fewer and fewer at least the ones that serve in our governments. I'm saying this as someone who is on the left on some issues, on the right with some, and in the middle at times too!

elected officials always ought to respond to the common lowly people's interests if only to be considered credible!

And another great comment from Sue Charles:

This is ridiculous!! Night after night we post, and share, and beg for help so these innocent ones won't be killed!! With prayers and tears we work, hour after heartbreaking hour trying to save them!! The killing of the innocent HAS to STOP!! It can NOT go on!! Where's the compassion? Where's the courage to say they won't kill any more? Where's the integrity and moral standards which say the innocent and defenseless shall NOT be killed??

Oh, how I do agree with Sue Charles! ♥!!!! i love what she wrote...as i notice a startling amount of shallow narcissism whenever i wander about reading posts, it is refreshing to know some percentage of the facebook population comes up for air once in awhile to see the big picture



This truly matters to so very many of us...this legislation is so important. Kindness and acceptance and fairness to absolutely all living beings is essential.

Reply received via email from Jim Banks...

Dear Susie & Don,

Thank you for taking the time to contact my office about SB 373. I appreciate hearing from my constituents about any and all issues.

In regards to SB 373, which makes it unlawful to record agricultural or industrial operations, for a person, with intent to defame or to directly or indirectly harm the business relationship between an agricultural or industrial operation and its customers, this bill is still a work in progress but originally passed out of the Senate by a vote of 30-20. The intent of this bill is to prevent vigilantism and disparagement of certain industries and would require a person to report any information about bad practices or animal abuse to the proper authorities within 48 hours. It would also protect farmers' private property from being trespassed on and support the authority of agencies charged with insuring that proper rules and regulations are followed.

Again, thank you for contacting my office I do appreciate you sharing with me your concerns. Please feel free to contact me anytime.

Sincerely,

Jim Banks
Senator

_________________

timely editorial...

Hoosier Opinions -- Chronicle-Tribune of Marion, Indiana April 26, 2013..."There is a long history of (conflicts of interest) in our community... It is as if the central purpose of government is not to do the public good but to do personal good for those in power. Otherwise, in this culture, why would anyone perform the thankless task of making and executing our laws and public policy? Certainly not, apparently, just for the good living government officials are paid above the table..."




Cindy Ducey: "I pray to God that this bill does not pass. I heard Carrie Underwood is very opposed to this law and is trying her best to prevent its passing. She grew up on a farm and is vegetarian."

Thanks, Cindy! "grass-fed BEEF"... no such entity ... maybe a grass-fed steer or cow ... BTW, where do cows and steers get their protein then? (a riddle...a humane riddle) ...and try eating just a salad this evening...your heart will thank you! our teeth were not designed to tear flesh apart ...

Rebecca Winder: "We took a road trip out west three years ago, and passed a long stretch of highway in Colorado, bordered on either side by massive feedlots. It was disgusting, and reeked for miles. I took a bunch of pictures as we passed. It wasn't until later that I learned what I'd done was illegal. Good thing I found out before posting them on facebook!"

_________________




Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes

Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page

Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com

Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or won't

Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Stories from a Smart and Sassy Small Town Girl