…………If I ever needed a reason not to move to Australia….or down under….this is it!!!!!! This snake found its’ way into the toilet bowl and made itself at home…..It gives the old adage “Look before you leap” new meaning! If this was my house I would have packed up and left immediately let alone take a picture!!!!
………………………This picture was taken in 1971…..This was taken on my birthday, and I had just turned 22 years old, and still had my baby fat face!!!!!! LOL…..I had just started working as a full fledged “designer” at a company called Giorgini. My very first designer job…Previously I had been a design assistant fresh out of Parsons School of Design…..Maurice Antaya [in the photo with me] worked right next door, literally. The doors to our offices were next to each other. He designed for a sister company named Ginori, which was a more moderate priced sportswear line. I was brought in to design this brand new division of a more expensive Designer Sportswear line…….Our friendship had a rough start. He didn’t like this young kid coming in and “sharing” HIS space. I think he felt a little threatened by this upstart, and he didn’t like that I was designing the NEW higher priced sportswear line….Eventually, we became fast friends, and he sort of took me under his wing and taught me the ropes…..I was a complete novice….the Long Island kid living in the BIG CITY….He took me to the trendy men’s boutiques in NYC to help me get a new wardrobe…..a 70’s wardrobe….He thought it was time I got out of the khakis, blue button downs and tan buck lace ups…..The funny thing is….when I started working at Anne Klein years later, I went back to my khakis, blue button downs and tan bucks……He arranged a birthday party for my 22nd birthday at the office…..Maurice was very crafty and made me the box with our picture on it, and gave it to me at the party…which I still have!……FIFTY PLUS YEARS later we are still best friends……..BBF……We have both been through a lot together over the years, both losing our life partners, and soul mates…..but we are keeping on keeping on……This year Maurice will be 86 years young.
……………..Looking up from a white sand beach and seeing beautiful Palm Trees…………….makes me HAPPY
…………………Is this what freedom has become? How do you interpret this?
……………………..This is not a happy Memorial Day…….Actually, none of them really are…..The Holiday does give us a reason to get together with family and friends and have a BBQ or go to the beach, and have fun…..but in all truth it is the saddest day of the year….Every year on this day we think about those who have lost their lives defending us so we can be free, and every year this Holiday becomes more and more profound……This Memorial day we have so much to pray for……..all those that have lost and continue to lose their lives in Ukraine, and the thousands wounded…,….I am sure the Russian mothers and fathers who have lost their children are asking themselves….”what is this for?”…….They should be……The Buffalo supermarket massacre is still fresh in our minds and funerals are still taking place….and now THIS!!!! It’s Sandy Hook all over again!!! These innocent children and teachers who have lost their lives for no reason at all…..to a demented 18 year old who shouldn’t have been able to buy these weapons in the first place. Their lives, their dreams are over….it’s so final….never to be seen or heard from again…..those sweet innocent children…..When will it stop?…will it ever stop?….The husband of one of the school teachers, who lost her life, had a heart attack and died….I’m sure it had everything to do with his grief…They left a young family behind….More victims…..I point the finger of blame to those men and women who refuse to do anything about changing the way things are….The Right proclaims to be Pro Life, but they will do nothing to prevent these massacres from happening….HYPROCRITS…..Should these assault weapons be manufactured???? What purpose do they serve??? Other than to kill innocent people. Hunters don’t use them…..There’s no sport in it…..What about the store owners? It’s all about profits without any of the responsibility……..Only individuals with murder on their minds want them….Is an 18 year old mature enough to own a gun of any sort. The last three massacres were committed by white men age 18….when will this stop? Who are these men and women still getting elected, and who are these people electing them?….Are they so brainwashed by the NRA that they really believe guns are going to be taken away from them…..BLOOD is on their hands….The NRA screams “They want to take your guns away!!!” BULL SHIT…They are more guilty than anyone…As I drive through certain states it is shocking how many gun stores there are….one right after the other. They can sell any weapon without any restrictions…..Are Americans so blood thirsty?…..I feel I am being consumed by all of this hatred and these constant murders….In NYC that’s all you hear on the news…EVERY DAY……Where is the joy? It certainly wasn’t like this when I was growing up….Is it all politics? Is it all about the all mighty dollar?….If so it’s a disgrace…..America is not the country it used to be…the loving caring country….it is so far from that…..I thought those words would never pass my lips, but with everything we are constantly bombarded with I can’t help but feel that way……On this Memorial day I pray for everyone…..everyone around the world……I will continue to pray for change, but I’m feeling more and more hopeless that nothing will ever change, and history will only repeat and repeat itself…..The most important issues of gun control aren’t even on the table to be discussed, because all those in Washington know it will go nowhere with all of the lobbyists…..When and where will the next massacre be, and will someone we know fall victim?…Will it be one of us walking on the street, sitting in church….going to a school to pick our children up…on a bus or train…..in a supermarket…..Is nowhere safe anymore????..You know it will happen….and again no progress will be made……Other countries don’t have these mass murders!!!………What is wrong with America?