Thank you. We're looking forward to hearing from you.
To all the Canadians--I hope you had a good Canada Day yesterday. To all the Americans--have a great Fourth of July holiday weekend! To everyone--be safe and enjoy your summer (or winter)!
Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot! November 5 is Guy Fawkes' Day in the U.K., and my English husband loves a good reason for a bonfire (since that's the traditional time to burn poor Guy in effigy). And what better reason to build a fire on that day than to burn off your garden wastes to create some carbon for your compost pile, right?
Getting the fire going with scrap paper and twigs.
Of course, Guy Fawkes was just the poor sap who got stuck swinging for the gunpowder plot. The real brains behind it got away more than likely. I find it a bit telling how popular Guy Fawkes' Day has become in the U.S. after the release of the movie V for Vendetta. The idea of putting on a mask and anonymously taking revenge against those in power who want to cheat you of your rights is irresistible, isn't it? Interesting how close the day comes to Election Day in the U.S. as well... You'd hope more people would connect the two and get out and vote, making a less violent change in our society for the better. But many folks stayed home. They couldn't be bothered to take part of the
political process. I guess they had more fun things to do on their
iPhones or had movies that couldn't wait on Netflix. You know, important things.
It burned for some time. We had loads of tomato vines.
While we didn't attempt to burn down Parliament like Guy Fawkes this year, we did get rid of diseased tomato vines and tons of small frozen fruit that didn't quite make it. Silly how the tomato vines kept putting out flowers all through October... Didn't they realize how close the frost date was? It was a lost cause trying to produce fruit so close to winter. You'd think they'd spend their energy playing games on their iPads or Tablets, huh?
The parsnips are really going strong!
The parsnips, cabbages and Brussel sprouts all love the colder weather, so they'll hang in there until the snow buries them. Alas, everything else dies in the first hard frost of the season. We're turning over the beds and planting a cover crop of winter rye (which we grew and harvested ourselves last year) to work as "green manure" in the spring. But as of November 6, for the most part it's time for our garden to go to sleep. The rain barrels are emptied and turned over to prevent them from cracking in the freeze and the potted plants are brought inside.
Now is the time to spend energy online researching ways to improve next years' garden and finish those book manuscripts, right? Maybe even a story about a guy with a gunpowder plot to blow up Parliament? What do you plan on growing in your garden in the spring? What things are you going spend your energy doing during the coming cold months?
Last year my husband AJ Matthews and I were writing some sketch comedy for a local theatre group, but this year we're writing funny video animations of a sort. Feel free to pass the link along to all who may enjoy it as well. (That should be about 99% of us!)
Can you remember which classic Monty Python sketch we were inspired by? Write your guess below, and we'll see if you're right. ;)
My Rebuttal to Mitt Romney’s “I'm-not-concerned-about-the-very-poor” comment:
This is a time people are worried. They're frightened. They want someone who they have confidence in. And I believe I will be able to instill that confidence in the rich American people. And, by the way, I'm in this race because I care about rich Americans. I'm not concerned about the very rich. They have plenty of safety nets. If any need repair, they’ll be able to effectively lobby Congress to fix them.
I'm not concerned about the very poor; they're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of the American people, the 1 to 5 percent of rich Americans who right now are struggling with paying more than 15% in income tax, and I'll continue to take that message across the nation.
Thank you Mr. Romney for making it oh-so-clear where your political leanings lie… Very near your wallet.
We at the Mad-As-Hell Party are focused on all struggling Americans. We could focus on the rich. But that's not our focus. We focus on the very poor because so many fat cat politicians who make $21 million a year don’t focus on them enough. Maybe it could be they’re too busy making $10,000 bets with each other.
Mr. Romney, I’d like to make a bet with you. I bet you that you will not make it to the White House in 2012. Hmm—how much would you like to bet me, an underemployed, struggling-to-survive American? Ten thousand? Well… let’s see what I have in my wallet to bet… two dollars. I look forward to your two dollars very soon, Mr. Romney. It’ll go a long way to fix my “safety net”.
Sincerely yours,
Cindy A. Matthews
If you’d like to comment on my rebuttal, please do so in the comments section below. And you can join the discussion on Facebook at The Mad-as-Hell Party page. Thank you.
I’ve rapidly grown tired of this presidential campaign season. My weariness of all things political includes local, state and regional campaigns as well. No matter what the major political party is nowadays, they all seem to have one thing in common: They universally resort to slinging mud at their opponents rather than show how they’d go about to positively change the outcome of our current situation. In other words, negativity is the big thing in campaign 2008.
If you don’t think I know what I’m talking about, you could be right. I’m not a pundit or a Ph.D. in poly-sci. But I’ve been conducting my own non-scientific survey since the first political flyer landed in my overcrowded mailbox a month or two back. I’ve kept them all, and I’ve carefully gone through them, dividing them into “positive” and “negative” advertisements. Guess which side enjoyed a landslide victory?
Yes, I know I’m weird. I like to write—enough said. But if even a non-politically astute person such as myself can discern from the mountain of political ads that things have taken a decidedly negative tone in 2008 (even compared to the negativity of past years), then something is amiss. It seems no one has a positive outlook on life, our country or our form of government in general. Every candidate only sees the black clouds, never the silver linings.
Other than throwing open a window and yelling, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!” (that famous quote from the movie Network), I think the only thing I can do is to “vote positive”. I will vote only for candidates and issues that present their platform in a positive manner. If this means I’ll have to skip voting for a few offices, then so be it.
A blank ballot is a statement in and of itself, isn’t it?
