You were a mixed bag. A review of my posts this year reflects high highs and low lows.
For this post, though, I’m going to focus on the positive.
I got to see both of my sons at Christmas. Joy!
My younger son (Gideon) chose to study environmental science at the university for which I work. That means free tuition, a great education, and I get to see him all the time. He earned two As and a B in his first semester and loves it.
My older son (Dominic) attended Navy A School in Pensacola, Florida, graduated fourth in his class, and is about to go to Norfolk, Virginia. He seems happy, mature and focused.
Ex (Eddie) is dating a lovely woman who was gracious enough to invite me over for Christmas dinner.
My man friend and I got to explore more of Oregon: Bend, hot springs, Seal Rock, Eugene, etc.
Got to see St. Louis family, framily and friends for Thanksgiving. Man, I miss that town and those people. Gideon went with me, begrudgingly according to him. At the end, he had this to say, “I actually had a good time.” Actually. 🙄
Though I miss St. Louis, I love my job and my coworkers. Oregon is growing on me.
Wendy and Wallace visited me this month, and we managed to all spill beer on Wallace. Lucky him!
I’ve been taking care of my granddog (Vince) while Gideon is with his father on winter break. Leo and Vince are getting along. That in itself is a Christmas miracle.
Saw “Wicked” the movie, “DRAG the Musical” and “A Wonderful World” in New York, along with friends Michael, Shane, Jason and Brooke while I was there for my birthday.
Also got to see my birth father. Third year in a row of going out to see him as part of my birthday weekend. Cool, right? Seems fitting. And we are trying to make up for lost time.
36-hour Tina broke her own record. New moniker: 20-hour Tina. She got into New York at 2 p.m. on my birthday, and I dropped her off at La Guardia at 10 the next morning. In between, we ate at trendy Cocodaq, participated in “Life and Trust,” shopped at Bryant Park, and stayed at the notorious Standard High Line.
I won the mask I’m wearing, entrance to the VIP lounge, 20% off items in the gift shop, and bragging rights.Brooke told me I was the only one to make it across the finish line in Red Light, Green Light. All those years of having to freeze in various plays during my MFA years paid off!Brooke and I enjoy the Squid Game VIP lounge.Hour Two of 20-hour Tina’s visit Look at this chicken. In the bucket. (Not Tina, as she’s fairly brave.)Birthday brunch with Michael — a delight!I always have to see the Rockefeller Center tree.And watch the OG Grinch every year.While I was visiting the boys in Savannah, I picked up a few necessities I can’t get in Oregon.Leo and VinceSee? Getting along.
I’m hopeful that 2025 has more ups than downs, but I remain thankful for the abundance of joy in my life.
Though I’m not a fan of Biden’s Department of Education (see FAFSA failure), Trump’s was terrible too (hi, Betsy DeVos).
Now he just wants to just get rid of the DoE altogether.
Without the Department of Education, what becomes of special needs programs? Head Start? Pell Grants? FAFSA overall?
Oh, money is going back to the states? Riiiiight. Sure it is. I’ll bite: How? What’s the process? How is it not going to be a disaster like FAFSA was/is?
Why do I care? I work in higher education. I am worried about my job in a way I’ve never had to worry about in any other presidential election.
Also, Vance called professors “the enemy.” So that’s great. 🙄
If I lose my job, I can’t sleep on the street. SCOTUS said so.
Plus, I’m middle aged. The sidewalk would hurt my back.
Ordinarily, if the candidate I voted for didn’t win, I’d be disappointed, but I’d go about the business of living my life. Just regular grousing.
It’s different now.
Among many other ‘bright’ ideas, Trump said he wants to bring back prayer in schools (which is a violation of the separation of church and state, and unconstitutional as of 1962), eliminate birthright citizenship (which is against the 14th Amendment of the Constitution**), and plans to go through with mass deportations of millions of people (with “no price tag” — isn’t that the OPPOSITE of smaller government you said you wanted?).
Y’all did say you care about the economy and immigration, so let’s start with the latter.
I don’t think you know who picks your food. Who works on your roads. Who builds your houses. And it will deter people in the tech, engineering and medical fields as well.
There will be a price tag, alright. And we will all pay it.
Deporting illegal immigrants will collapse our economy. Also, we are talking about HUMAN BEINGS with full lives and families in this country. What are they going “back” to? What about the people who have no ties to their country of “origin?” What’s wrong with you?
I did my own reconnaissance on the price of things, just for an “OMGTHINGSARESOEXPENSIVE!!” baseline. (They aren’t.)
Note that I’m in Oregon, where cost of living is higher for many things. Produce tends to be lower, though. Still, I’ll check back in on these prices once Trump really gets going.
It’s worth noting that this is the lowest gas has been since I moved here.
I meant to take a pic of coffee. That’s something we import the shit out of. And bananas and sugar. I’ll document those on my next grocery run.****
If Trump starts with his insane tariff plans, costs for all those will go up.
I don’t think you understand tariffs. Or economics. Or definitions of economic systems.
Let me help.
Capitalism: Private individuals and companies offer goods and services. They control production and distribution.
Socialism: The community owns goods and services through a centralized government. Individuals can own property.
Communism: Everything is owned by an authoritarian government. No private property.
Marxism: A critique of capitalism that focuses on the exploitation of workers. Marx said the next step is socialism after the workers rebel.
And while we are at it, here are three more:
Fascism: A system of government where a dictator has complete power — squashing criticism and opposition while emphasizing extreme nationalism.
Authoritarianism: A system of government where the power of the state — either one person or a small group not accountable to the people — is more important than individual freedom.
Oligarchy: A form of government in which a few people or a dominant class holds all the power.
Huh. Those three sound a little too familiar.
Anyway. I did what I could before the election to counter the misinformation you all were lapping up like my naked cat drinks water. I tried. And I voted. Even though my ballot has STILL not been counted, according to the online tracker. (Starlink, again?)
All I can say is this:
I hope you get what you voted for.
Beth
Just putting this here for proof. Ignore the apostrophe (“High’s”). The rest is accurate. (I didn’t make this graphic.)
Thanks for coming to Family Weekend to surprise Gideon. He loved having you here and being able to talk to you about his classes.
I love that we can still spend time together like regular people/parents even though we are divorced. It’s good for us and for our kids.
Gideon and Mikayla even ditched a Halloween party with their friends to hang out with us and play cards.
(And no, you are not the reigning Uno champ in anyone’s record book. Ask Uncle Pat.)
I was glad you were here this weekend for another reason: I got to see your reaction in person to this:
“Comedy” at its finest, amirite?!
(To all people defending him and the rally in general: Explain the joke. Tell me like I’m five how it’s funny and not offensive. And if it’s that he’s a “shock comic” that took aim at everyone, tell me why there weren’t any jokes about white people. Seriously.)
I could almost see the blood boiling beneath your skin.
One thing Trump didn’t do at the rally, surprisingly, was repeat his stupid claim that children go to school for gender reassignment surgery.
Trump’s team saved the lie for a text blast AFTER the rally. Great. Also, HOW did I get on their list?
Me: Can you imagine? The school wouldn’t even give Gideon a Tylenol for a headache without a note from me! You: But yet they have surgery suites with doctors and nurses in one of the classrooms. Sure. Me: And all within a school day! When teachers are buying supplies out of their own pockets. Right. You: How can anyone believe this?
It was just like old times.
The good news is that Gideon is just like us.
After I texted him what I said to a high-school “friend” who called the MSG rally “patriotic” (the same rally that one of the speakers — radio host Sid Rosenberg — called “a Nazi rally“), he texted the following. (We all curse like sailors so I sanitized it for publication.)
Thought I’m a fan of his POV, I’d love some punctuation.
By the way, did I tell you that he sent in his request for an absentee ballot back in September and Georgia (specifically Chatham County) STILL hasn’t sent it? Same for Mikayla. He’s been calling to no avail. It’s maddening. And Georgia is a swing state too. SIGH.
Anyway, thanks again for coming. It was good to see you. Beth
Thanks so much for taking the Saviors Tour to Portland. Because of you, I got to share a special evening with my son.
I’m a Green Day fan — perhaps not a super fan, but a fan nonetheless. I love live music of any sort. Gideon is a Green Day fan. I’ve been trying to steal his Green Day shirt for a year now. And his girlfriend loves Smashing Pumpkins, one of the openers.
Heavy rain (yay, Oregon!) and traffic (yay, Portland!) and difficulty parking (yay, Providence Park!) meant that we missed the Linda Lindas and Rancid, which made me very sad. We did arrive in time for Billy and the gang, though, which made Mikayla happy.
Typically the home stadium for the Portland Thorns, Providence Park is a great music venue with fantastic acoustics.
Sadly, our open-air floor seats meant we needed our rain ponchos at times.
Didn’t matter. Totally worth it.
When you played “Longview” (Gideon’s favorite), he said, “I’m so happy, I think I might cry.”
And I thought I might cry too.
It was only Gideon’s second concert, if you can believe it.
His first also was with me.
He was not even a year old. I was wearing him in one of those baby Bjorns at the Police reunion tour stop in New Orleans in 2007. (Long story for another time. Going to the concert with kids wasn’t part of the plan, and a friendship ended over it.)
You sounded AMAZING! As good if not better than the recordings. And you’ve been at it for 37 years. Fitting then that it was a 37-song set list.
37 songs!
All of “Dookie.” All of “American Idiot.” Plus a few more classics.
Billie Joe, you seemed choked up too.
Maybe it was because it was the second-to-last night of a very long tour. Maybe because it was a great night. Maybe we were all sharing something special.
So thanks. From the bottom of my jaded little heart.
Wine tasting at Durant, where the view was spectacular but the wine was not. ($6 per taste of what amounted to witch hazel. No, thank you.)They should stick to olive oil as they do that VERY well.Chef’s counter at I.ki.gai. Fried okra for us. Clock the hat. This chef knows.
Thanks to Jason‘s inspiration, I actually suggested a “hike.” Thankfully, you and I were of the same mind.
Look at these massive shamrocks! (Alright, I think it’s wood sorrel.)If you stay at home, you don’t see this.Or this part of the North Falls.Or expend 300 calories on these stairs alone.Totally worth it.Especially getting to go behind the falls.The South Falls were less impressive.Then we treated ourselves to wood-fired pizza and White Pinot Noir at Left Coast Estate. Peer pressured into buying yet another bottle of wine? FINE.The view! I had to stop the car.
Old:
Brooks Winery never disappoints. I don’t care if I’ve seen you a day ago or 12 years ago (Mary!), Brooks is the place to go.And then there’s Leo.
Thanks for coming, and I hope to see you again soon!
I wish you weren’t the kind of person who would post things like this:
But sadly, you are.
You also posted this:
You dared me to fact check it.
Challenge accepted.
The claim: “Allowed 15m unvetted illegals into the country.” The truth: “Allowed” is the wrong word. (How can you “allow” if they aren’t vetted?) Regardless, the number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States is estimated at 11 million — about the same number it was in 2015. The number reached peak in 2007. You know who was president then? George W. Bush. A Republican. (Not sure if you hate Democrats or Biden or both, but I’ll reference presidents AND parties in this exercise.)
Side note: Are “illegals” taking jobs or are they lazy/living off services and/or drug dealers/rapists? Are they taking the drug-dealing jobs? I just want to be clear.Also, someone you love very much is a rapist and took a qualified-person’s job, so …
The claim: “Historic inflation crisis.” The truth: In Biden’s first year in office, the inflation rate hit 7 percent in 2021, which was a 40-year high, thanks to the pandemic, supply chain issues, the war in Ukraine, etc. The all-time high was 29.78% in 1778. Also corporations like Kroger behaved badly.
The claim: “Record high gas prices in all 50 states.” The truth: Hard to say if it was the case in all 50 states, but gas in general hit a record-high price in March 2022 — once again, thanks to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It beat a record set in July 2008. Who was president? Our buddy Dubya.
The claim: “Record high consumer debt.” The truth: This is accurate. It goes up every year, and could be a complaint about every single administration. No doubt it will go up no matter who is president.
The claim: “Released terrorists into the country.” The truth: Hard to research/know about this one. Who are these terrorists? Maybe it comes from this Jim Jordan report saying 100 people on the terrorist watch list were let into the country in 2022. The Biden Administration closed a loophole leading to this. There’s a conflicting report saying 100 were STOPPED from entering in 2022 with 160 stopped in 2023. Here’s some general fact checking about immigration.
The claim: “Israel-Hamas War.” The truth: Same response as above in that Biden in no way started this war. The Gaza-Israel conflict essentially has been going on since 1967.
The claim: “Disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.” The truth: HOO BOY. Both the Trump and Biden Administrations made big mistakes. Arguably one of the biggest was Trump releasing 5,000 Taliban from prison. One of those is Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is acting first deputy prime minister of Afghanistan today. Kind of a big deal.
The claim: “Violent crime skyrocketing.” The truth: False. A Pew Research Center report noted, “Both the FBI and BJS [Bureau of Justice Statistics] data show dramatic declines in U.S. violent and property crime rates since the early 1990s, when crime spiked across much of the nation.” Fun fact: The murder rate rose 30 percent between 2019 and 2020 — the largest single-year increase in more than a century. Who was president then? Oh right. Trump.
The claim: “Tried to jail political rival in name of democracy.” The truth: Is this a reference to Trump’s convictions? HAHAHAHAHA! GTFO. Trump, a rapist, broke the law many, many times. He should be held accountable like anyone else. This isn’t Biden’s doing. Trump did this himself.
The claim: “Lied to the American public about Joe’s decline.” The truth: I don’t even know where to start with this. Everyone gets older (“declines,” I guess). No need to lie about anything. It’s not like they hid his age. I love all the armchair physicians. Here’s what I do know: Running the country takes an administration (Executive branch) plus Congress (Legislative branch) with laws upheld by the Judicial branch. Biden’s cabinet supported him. Fun fact: Trump’s cabinet did not (and do not).
The claim: “Declared war on American energy.” The truth: How do you declare war on a quantitative property? Is the claim that the Biden Administration is trying to shut down or constrain energy companies? In fact, it is just the opposite: The United States is producing record amounts of oil, natural gas and renewable power.
The claim: “Record low test scores for K-12 students.” The truth: Which K-12 students? All of them? That’s impossible to know. Average test scores for reading and math for 13 year olds dropped since 2020 (um … pandemic, hello!). However, the science scores among 15 year olds is unchanged since 2018. Test scores in Oregon among children in grades 3-8 and 11 for English and math and grades 5, 8 and 11 for science show progress. So this claim needs to define terms/ages/states, etc., in order to compare apples to apples year over year.
The claim: “Most unpopular president and VP in history.” The truth: Among Republicans, maybe. Just kidding. This is completely false. You know who had the lowest “high” on the all-time approval rankings? Trump with just 49 percent. The president who had the highest high (92 percent) and the lowest low (19 percent)? Dubya, once again. Here’s a fun Gallup chart for all you visual learners:
Clearly, I missed my calling as a fact checker and researcher. (I wonder if Snopes is hiring.)
Here’s a list of just some of the things Biden and his administration actually did. You may not agree with or want all the things on this list, but these are the facts. No need to make up anything.
Also, jobs.
Anyway, Timothy, I know my work won’t change your mind. Maybe it will change someone else’s.
I’ve been in Oregon a year. I’ve had a visit from one friend. (Shout-out to Amber. Holla!)
Listen, I’ll make it worth your while. Here are some fun things we can do:
We can go to the coast, like Amber and I did. I’ll introduce you to Benjamin Franklin.We can drink wine at one of the 30+ vineyards within a 20-mile radius of my house. I’ll take you to Lumpy’s Tavern, my favorite dive bar.You can shop for unique and/or fun merch.We will eat our weight in delicious food at Din Tai Fung. We can visit the beautiful Lan Su Chinese Garden in downtown Portland. And we can marvel at the lotus.Though I’m not super outdoorsy, we could go on a low-impact hike like I did recently with my friend Jason. (When Jason suggested this, I was horrified. But here I am at the end of the “hike” — alive and sweat-free.)We can eat blackberries from the side of the road.We might play Skip-Bo on my porch.
This week, we covered Riesling, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
Chardonnay and I have not been friends. I have a theory that people who dislike Chardonnay also dislike IPAs.
(IPAs. Gross.)
What I have learned in this class, though, is that I don’t like Chardonnays fermented in oak. Give me stainless steel, please.
See? I’m learning.
I’ve also learned that my palate may be more discerning than I thought.
We tasted a zinfandel last week. We were supposed to taste notes of red fruits and black fruits.
OK, check.
Another student in the class said she tasted meat.
Alright, Jill. Calm down.
But maybe I’m the weird one. After all, one wine did taste like chicken bouillon to me.
I’ll know more in a few weeks. Yet, I’ll never know as much as folks in the “Somm” documentary.
I was planning on just being happy to pass the eventual test. But I’ve learned that it’s possible to pass with merit (75+) or distinction (85+). Great. Now I have to study.
You have everything I would expect in a county fair:
Rides assembled and operated by ex convicts Parking in a field Odd signs (“shave ice”) “Food” in the form of corn dogs and funnel cakes White people in overalls
You also have some things I didn’t expect:
Hats with fake Trump hairGoats with unusual peltsThe biggest trough of curly fries I’ve ever seenA rodeo (photo by Amy)Me as a chicken (photo by Amy)Inflatable cattleSleepy pigs
I’m a fan. That’s why I badgered my friend Jason into seeing you take on the Portland Thorns on the Wrex Coast Tour.
But it wasn’t the Thorns. It was the Thorns Academy. Like high schoolers.
Should have been an easy win, right.
Yeah, not so much.
When we left (early, because we are old and wanted to “avoid the crowds” as our dads used to say), you were down 4-0. One goal happened because your goalie was way out on the field.
Observe and report 