Tiger Tiger Woods Ya’ll

stop lying

Yes, I too am gonna speak on Mr. Woods. And why not? Everybody else in the free world has already, right? And in case you need to catch up, Ole Nancy Grace goes in on Tiger on a nightly basis, detail by detail, blow by blow (ooh maybe poor choice of words:)
Personally this story has made me laugh, yes I initially found delight in Elin busting the windows out of the car. I posted the Jazmine Sullivan video Bust Your Windows on Facebook. I thought of getting a t-shirt made with the words TEAM ELIN in bold type. Or Elin tee’d off on Tiger’s…. Though in my heart I know, domestic violence is not funny and definitely is not the answer. Then those feelings turned to sadness, for the children, for Elin and for Tiger because his actions could possibly cause the breakup of his family. Then sadness turned to pure disgust as I heard his voice on voice mails and the skank count grew on a daily basis. The one feeling that has been the same from day one is poor Elin. I feel for her as a wife, as a mom and as a human being. I can’t imagine the pain she is in. I hate that Tiger’s actions have thrust her out into the public eye in such humiliating circumstances. I feel for the children whose father’s lack of judgement and/or lack of scruples have broken up their family and one day, they will know the circumstances and mourn the loss all over again. And most of all I hate that he at no point thought or cared about any of the above to stop it.
We can call it sex addiction. We can say he was finally letting his hair down because of his regimented childhood at the hands of Earl Woods, that only consisted of golf. Or may be the formerly geeky, buck tooth, skinny, racially confused Tiger, now a billionaire, was living out his fantasies. Heck, all of it may be true. But is does not excuse the total lack of character. Tiger has been a winner all of his life but truly he is the biggest loser. And he stands to lose a whole lot more than a golf tournament. SMDH.

Hanna Hanna Go Away!

So it’s hurricane season and they are starting to line up out in the Atlantic. Katrina totally changed the game and those of us in the southern states and east coast watch a little more closely. I think before we used to like to see what clever little names they would be given more than anything. So earlier this week we braced for Gustav. He was no Katrina, Thank God. Ironically, I had a trip tenatively planned for N.O. and Gustav came along and put an end to that.

Now fresh off the heels of Gustav is Hanna.

Hurricane Hanna

This time it’s personal. She is threatening my beloved Savannah. No offense to N.O. but I love Savannah. I have never been to New Orleans but people compare the two cities and that is probably due mostly to the architecture. Also, they are both very old cities, sit near the water and are tourist towns. Oh yeah and you can drink on Bourbon Street (N.O.) and River St. (Savannah). I keep hearing that New Orleans is dirty and it smells (even before Katrina).   New Orleans has Mardi Gras, beads and boobs.  Savannah is a more conservative town that prides itself on it’s slow, leisurely pace. The city only really lets loose during the St. Patrick Day festivities. Then it is on! Green grits. They dye the fountain green. If they were cousins, N.O. would probably be the spunky one with painted lips and a foul mouth and Savannah is the more demure, pristine one who might let you feel her up after a few drinks. But only if you say please and don’t tell anyone the next day.

I lived in Savannah for a few years. I fell in love with her immediately. I loved the beauty of the buildings, the squares and even the Spanish moss that hangs from the trees. The city is so old and has so much history. I always felt like you could feel the spirits in the downtown area. I spent many lazy afternoons on Tybee island and tipsy nights on River Street (shout out to Wet Willie’s). A lot of people I know say that Savannah is too “slow”. But I loved the slower pace, lack of traffic and small town feel of the city. I love to get back and visit anytime I can. It is such a relaxing getaway. I miss it so. I am hoping that Hanna will not gain strength or that she will turn away from her projected path (which will put her eye over Savannah). Lord knows we need the rain she might bring but hopefully she’ll be a sweetie and keep it moving like ole Gustav.

Up next is Hurricane Ike and if he is anything like Tina’s old man, he is gonna be a mutha.

Go Greyhound (Well maybe not)

Decapitation suspect appears in court

By now you have probably heard of the tragic incident on a Greyhound bus a few days ago (see link above). This is a really sad and scary story. I send my condolences to this young man’s family.

Today random acts of violence happen in our schools, churches, malls and other public settings. What is even more troubling is they are increasingly unprovoked. You don’t have to step on someone’s shoe or look at them the wrong way. People are “snapping” and turning on innocent bystanders for absolutely no reason at all.  Is there truly anywhere you can be completely safe anymore?

I have many memories of traveling across country by bus as a young girl. My mother had a fear of flying, so Greyhound was it. Traveling by bus is interesting and that is putting it mildly. You see people from all walks of life. You smell all kinds of stuff ( a lot of it ain’t nice). You hear all kinds of conversations, many of which will make you put on headphones or try to force yourself to sleep. There are people who walk the aisle to the bathroom all night and then there is always going to be that person who sits next to you who either snores or will talk you to death from Texas to California non stop. I remember seeing scared young boys in uniform on their way to their duty stations. Elvis got on in one state. Oh yeah and I remember two little redneck children who got on with two of those giant stuffed animals from the carnival. Their mother tried to stuff them into the overhead storage but the butt was too big and hung out. I remember watching it bounce as we rode down the highway.

The bus depots are another story, especially in major metropolitan cities. They can be just plain scary and nasty. And that is coming from a social worker. And we see it all. These are not places you want to hang around for too long. You will want to gather your things, make sure your ride is there and get up the road.

I think everyone should travel across country at least once in their lifetime. This country is beautiful. The desert. The hills. The mountains. The rivers and lakes. But if you do it by bus know that, you will be tired. You will be annoyed and you’re either gonna say “Hey that was interesting” or “Never Again!” You’re in for one helluva ride.

Shake Rattle and Roll

So there was an earthquake in CA today that registered 5.8 on the Richter scale. I made calls to all my friends in CA to see if they are ok. Everybody is fine, just a little shaken up. I remember growing up in CA and how we had to do earthquake drills in school in addition to fire drills. You had to get under your desk and curl up in a tight little ball with your arms covering your head. Living in CA you grow up hearing that one day there is going to be “The Big One”. The earthquake of all earthquakes that will shake California so hard that it is going to break off and float into the sea. The island of California. So every time there is an earthquake and it shakes a little too long or a little too hard, you can see the concern in people’s faces. Because everybody is thinking Is this The Big One???

I left CA back in 1992. Before I moved away, I was temping at night in a bank building in downtown San Diego. It was a tall building maybe 50 stories. One night there was an earthquake. It shook and most people kept working. Small little quakes happen every now and then, no big deal. But it kept shaking and then it shook harder. It didn’t stop. You could feel the building sway and roll. It was a very scary experience. A few people screamed. People ran for the stairs. It was like a scene from one of those bad late 70’s disaster movies. I remember running down the stairs just praying to get my feet on the ground. When I got outside, there were people gathered around the building. There were sighs of relief and nervous laughter. I remember looking up at the skyscraper saying “I am so glad I am leaving CA, so I won’t have to go through any more earthquakes.” Some smart*** in the crowd says, “Well back East there are hurricanes.” And I say, well that’s true but I can get in a car and run from those. There is some advance warning. You have time to go to Home Depot and board up the house. There is time to grab the kids, the dog, some old pics and get out of dodge. With an earthquake there is no warning. They just come out of the blue. And they are scary. And when they are over, you always think Thank God that wasn’t The Big One.