Charissa’s Comments (group member since Nov 17, 2008)

Charissa’s comments from the Axis Mundi X group.

especially when dipped in chocolate

lucky you ; )

but lickable.

the mental health situation in this country is unfortunate at best. If it weren't for parental advocacy groups it would be even worse than it is. We have locally no fewer than a dozen schizophrenic folks who obviously live at the margins, off their meds most of the time, wandering around town muttering and shouting at trees and lampposts, in need of a shower and some decent clothing. They get by somehow, it seems. I know there are a couple of homeless shelters here and a food kitchen. But the closest mental health facility was in Napa and that has been shut down, as far as I understand. A close friend of mine with two small children became seriously unhinged a few years ago, to the point that we feared for her life and her children's lives. I tried to find a way for her to be taken inpatient for a while, but there really was no facility for it. Kaiser doesn't really have anything. And even more facilities have been shut down since then. It's appalling.

On the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees
Where the lemonade springs where the bluebird sings
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

my grandfather believed in starting every day with a smile, even if you didn't feel like it. It was his belief that if you smiled, pretty soon you would feel it. He lived a pretty happy life.

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Indeed Richard, I do believe we are left with doing what is in front of us, making small differences where we can. And maybe that is enough.

I do think electronic media is a great boon to the world... but I wonder about the transition, and what it's going to look like for the future of free societies. I think that closed societies are being impacted by the internet... which is a good thing, so ultimately... it will probably work out on the side of the positive. Meanwhile... good journalists, instead of tracking down difficult stories, are working to earn a living in places like this:

http://www.the-lodge.com/the_lodge/

Irony, she is a two dollar hooker.

But they lose advertising when they lose circulation numbers. I don't believe that all the papers across the country are being mismanaged. I really think it's a sign of the times due to loss of circulation numbers, which has caused loss of advertising dollars. Papers don't survive on subscriptions. They survive on numbers. I wonder what the future of free press is going to look like.

I understand your loss of hope in regards to the future. I struggle with that myself, as you can tell from my post.

I started getting the paper delivered a few months ago, even though I really didn't want to, because I am a bleeding heart. Some black young men came to my door, trying to better themselves by selling newspaper subscriptions, and I couldn't turn them away. It takes a certain amount of grit to go door to door in a predominantly white, small town when your patois is decidedly black and urban. A few months later and I've read perhaps one out of nine papers that get tossed at my doorstep each morning. They stack up, still in their wrappers. I recycled them, mostly unopened. The exception being the Sunday Chronicle, which features comics, and the "pink" (entertainment) section. There is something deeply nostalgic and comforting about the Sunday paper and a cup of coffee on a weekend morning. But I still go on line for my news. Unopened papers on the stoop and I'm checking in with the NY Times and the BBC and Reuters and Scientific American on line. It's no secret why the newspaper industry is dying. And it is. A few of my friends work as journalists and photographers and they are having to take side work to make ends meet. Some of them may lose their jobs altogether. Like the folks at Denver Rocky Mountain News. Meanwhile, I have always dreamed of having a weekly column in some local paper. Getting paid to ruminate on various news items and cross sections of my life. I think that boat has sailed. Now it's blogging or nothing. And getting paid for it is the magic trick everyone and their brother is trying to pull out of their hats. Meanwhile, I have a 19 year old young man living with me who skateboards. Correction: he longboards. Street skater who goes for distance. It's today's version of every boy on a bicycle, the ones who had a morning paper route to make their spending cash. Except this boy, instead, gets tickets and fines for riding his longboard. Just for riding it. Skateboarding is a crime, apparently. Life is moving faster and faster around here. West Coast frenzy. Sometimes I think people around here would sell their grandmothers to make a buck. And with housing prices and the cost of living it's no wonder. But what came first, the chicken or the egg? People sacrificed quality of life for acquisition of goods, and now almost no one can afford to live here. Each day I chip away at noble pursuits in the effort to earn a living while contributing something artful, green and worthy to the world. But mostly the average person chooses day after day to purchase objects made in China, regardless of the consequences of that choice. It's a toboggan ride straight to hell and, as we all know well, toboggans have no brakes. I have longed for my entire life to wake up in a world where the choices most people make are in regard for the impact on the natural world, regard for their fellow human beings, regard for the greater good. I've been swimming up stream for a long time. It's not terribly profitable. But I can't seem to switch gears. Nor to refrain from mixing my metaphors. I keep praying though. Can we get back to basics? Can we be satisfied with what is enough?

Papers cut down trees, but I still want to see a skateboarder delivering my Sunday morning paper. I want to get my news on line from around the world the rest of the days of the week but for good journalists to be able to make a decent living. Otherwise what will happen to a free society? We will only be fed "news" that has been issued from spin agencies.

What kind of world do you want to live in? How are you voting with your dollars? How are you shaping the future with your time on earth?

In Soviet Russia... jokes joke you!

Wow... I may be suffering from the plague, but at least I'm not sleeping in that cat bed.

Wow NB... you really pull the luck in this department don't you? Sorry to hear about your friend.

yes yes yes.... but when I did that everyone was confused and didn't know who I was! I have resigned myself to being called Char. Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Larry, dude, you're giving me seizures with all your changes. Stop it!!!

Amelia.... only you know my secret heart. Mostly I just try and ignore the use of "Char". I'm so not a hamburger!! I should have started this account with my nickname, then everyone would call me Daki like they are supposed to.

C'est la vie! C'est la guerre!

I actually like wearing compression garments. It makes my back stop hurting.

Nope, this is the Madonna in a girdle:

humping pagans is the best antidote to communism, don't you know that?

but seeing as us pagans is lenient, you can have a reprieve until Lugnasadh.