DeVos, Du Bois and Biden da boss

Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote about W.E.B. Du Bois, “One idea he insistently taught was that black people have been kept in oppression and deprivation by a poisonous fog of lies… " And so the Democrat party media continue the racist tradition with Wokeism. 

Remember when Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of Education under Trump, tried to honor W.E.B. Du Bois as an educator? His name appeared as DeBois in the text, and the media (beginning probably with Twitter) went crazy. Two people with a European De Du D in their surname indicating a connection to nobility or the land in the same sentence. The media were already calling her racist because she wanted parents to have a choice in schools, something I think Du Bois would have approved of. But oh horror! De instead of a Du!!! It's a horrible microaggression in the Trump administration. At least she didn't pronounce his name the French way (Bwa meaning wood) using the English Bois (like in Boise without the e). And I think her name Vos is pronounced Vahs, so I usually get that wrong. Not sure who I'm offending. The point being, the media had to go woke, if it was a Trump cabinet member. Put the worst possible slant on names not commonly found in American English. 

And shouldn't we all speak clearly like Joe Biden who said " Well, I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black," to a black radio host during the 2020 campaign.

Time travel with memories

We've both been trying to remember the name of an electrician from Cleveland who was on Bob's Haiti team and was a friend on Facebook (until he blocked me because he was a Democrat).  But so far, we have not come up with a name.  But we will.  Long after we need it.

A few weeks ago, it came to me that I was forgetting a lot of names, faces and events (duh!), and I should write down a list of all the names of the people I remembered. What a dumb idea, I thought, but I couldn't get it out of my mind. I kept seeing a list in categories.  Forreston, Mt. Morris, church, Lakeside, college days, So, I finally started one in word processing, although at first, I was going to hand write it. I decided if I did it in the word processor, I could alphabetize, and use the "find" feature if I didn't remember where a name was. It's now up to about 12-13 pages. 

 I do have some printed church directories, our school annuals, our Lakeside property owners' directory, some club directories, etc. to use as guides. I also have the Mt. Morris Past and Present, and the Mt. Morris War Record. If there are photos, I look at them, and try to remember if or when I've ever really "known" the person. It's been interesting. I can remember many faces of the class of '52, but not '58 or '59. Some people I still know on Facebook like Dick Butler or Jim Isenhart. Then I have a little symbol next to the name if they have died and put in the death date if I know it. I remember a lot of the parents of friends, like Nancy's, and Lynne's, and Sylvia's. So, I'm adding those names too. I remember the people on our block on Hitt St. in Mt. Morris from when I was 4 or 5, because I use to walk into their houses and talk to them! For some I have to find sources for first names because they were, "Mrs. Aufterbeck" or "Mrs. Duncan," since we didn't call adults by first names. I knew so many adults from when I worked at the drug store and at the town library, so I'd better write down the names while I can still remember. There were a lot of farmers who came into the drug store, some all the way from Polo, and most of those names I've forgotten. I used to babysit a lot, so I'm trying to recall those names. There was a Jewish couple who lived on N. Hannah, I think their name was Fishman, but I've forgotten their first names, and their kids' names. Maybe it will come to me--in the middle of the night! :-)

Anyway, it's something to do when it's too hot to go outside. Who knows if I'll ever finish it.

  

  

 

Remember who you're representing, Hillary

Hillary Clinton is calling Trump supporters names.  She's of the party of Jim Crow, slavery and KKK; she's of the party that writes abortion for any reason into its platform--and those are disabled babies, girl babies, and maybe babies who would grow up to be gay; she's of the party that for 50 years has trapped the poor by using the War on Poverty against them. She's the one who said she believed in traditional marriage when she thought it was a voter pleasing phrase, and now she parties with rich gays to raise funds after testing the wind. She's the one who will never share a bathroom with a man who identifies as a woman and whose grandchildren will never attend public school or go without an armed escort. She's the bigot and racist. And a huge crook and phony.

Thursday Thirteen--13 cities in the U.S. named for saints

How many of these have you visited?

The big ones everyone knows. . .

1. St. Louis
2. St. Augustine
3. San Francisco
4. San Antonio
5. San Diego
6. Santa Barbara
7. Santa Clara
8. Santa Ana
9. Santa Maria
10.Santa Monica
11. St. Paul

And then the not so well known

12. St. Joseph, Illinois
13. St. Mary’s City, Maryland

I have visited 1,3,4,5,6,9,10,11 and 12. That I can remember. We were in Maryland a few years ago and so St. Mary's City is a possibility. This shows the Catholic Spanish and French influences.

And there are many more cities, states, rivers, parishes and counties named for saints. But. . .I only needed 13.

Los Angeles isn't named for angels, but for Mary. "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reyna de los Angeles" (although it's a little murky).
Sacramento is named for the sacraments (after the river), but that's not its original name.
Santa Cruz is Holy Cross.

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Thirteen, check here.

Reince, Keynes and McCain's--a poetry challenge

Reince (pronounced rains) Priebus and John Keynes (pronounced canes) and John McCain's are words that rhyme. I just can't come up with a poem that would include the head of the GOP, a deceased British economist, and a US Senator. I hear from Reince just about twice a week asking me for money--as head of the GOP, and apparently a very bright fellow who grew up in Wisconsin. John Maynard Keynes is the Brit who thought and taught it's OK to spend money you don't have, and he's given us Keynesian economics currently digging a hole for our grave. Then there's John McCain's candidacy that caused us such grief in 2008, but which brought us the lovely Sarah Palin.

Let me noodle that for awhile, as Paula would say.

Funny Illinois names

I was born in Winnebago County, Illinois. According to the National Geographic Blog,

"Winnebago: The name of Wisconsin’s lake means "person of dirty water" in Algonquin. The word was used to describe Siouan Indians who lived near the lower Fox River, where dead fish accumulated every summer behind a natural dam. And that's bad, but Chicago means, "At the skunk place." Ohio means nice river.

In the vitals today

In the vitals today
a poem about love lost and names
November 7, 2009

Love has turned sour
and gone its own way
leaving these marriages
in the vitals today

Abdirashid from Safiya
and
Wendkieta from Katyia

David from Dianna
and
William from Milana

Hassanatu from Abdulai
and
Katrina from Kyei

Jimmy from Equane
and
VaShon from JaQuine

Elgio from Yazmin
and
Jessica from Adem

Chaunte from Diante
and
Christopher from Ute

Hassan from Sadia
and
Alc from Theresa

Shana from Aric
and
Jennifer from Patrick

Laurence from Aisha
and
Anwar from Ayesha

Frank from Melissa
and
Benjamin from Schlelia.

Michael from Shelley
and
Mindy from Stanley

Tesfamichael from Senait
and
Merhawi from Ghenet

Janelle and Derrick
and
Irina and Eric

Deborah from Delron
and
Jodi from Shawn

The name meme

I saw this over at Jane's and thought it looked like fun.

When I'm famous, my name will be......

1. ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Lassie Caravan

2. GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Moosetrack Thumbprint

3. “FLY Girl” NAME:(first initial of first name, first three letters of last name) N-Bru

4. DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Coral Pinto

5. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Joyce Rockford

6. STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters of last name, first 2 letters of first) Bruno

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) The Blue Coffee

8. NASCAR NAME: (first names of grandfathers) Charlie Joe

9. STRIPPER NAME: (favorite perfume. favorite candy) Summer Shower Peanut Butter Cup, or just "B Cup" for short

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names) Inez William

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME:(5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) Michael Madison

12. SPY NAME/BOND GIRL: (favorite season/holiday, flower) Autumn Rose

13. CARTOON NAME:(favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) Apple Shoozie

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) Honey Crisp Sycamore

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) The Writing Cloud Tour

The exclusiveness of being Norma

There are no men named Norma. There are no similar or even fairly similar names to Norma for either men or women. But there are a small number of men named Annie. And a huge number of similar names to Annie for both men (Ernie, Ananias) and women (Alexandrea, Ginny). You're probably thinking, What about Norman, but there are actually some women named Norman; but no men named Norma. So, I'm special.

The popularity of my name peaked in 1931, long before I was born. I think there were some movie stars named Norma (Shearer, Talmadge and the fictional Desmond) and for some reason, mommies want to name their babies after people who can't put three words together unless someone else has written it down for them. Marilyn Monroe didn't like her name and changed it. Maybe she didn't know about those other famous stars named Norma.

I was named by my father, a story my mother often told me when Dad was out of the room and mad at me for something. Apparently, with his third child he decided to try the daddy thing and was bouncing me around when I was an infant, tossed me in the air, and I hit my head on the ceiling light fixture. It was a long time before he picked up a baby again. By the time the great-granddaughters came along, he was getting pretty good at it, although I don't think he ever changed a diaper.

If you are choosing a baby's name and you wish the child to totally confuse future employers and the draft board, pick either Byrd or Kendall, the top two sexually ambiguous names. But if you want your daughter to stand out in a crowd, name her Norma.The special one
To check out your own name, try The Name Playground.