Washington Square in Philadelphia

My Philadelphia & the Arts class (which is taught by the sociable and suave Professor Jack Byer) took a tour tonight of Washington Square. I just finished writing one of my essays on the square and on it's monument, "The tomb of the Unknown Soldier." See pics below:

The statue is of our first president George Washington and is a replica of a famous bronze statue by artist Jean Antoine Houdon. The words behind the statue, in case you can't read them say, "Freedom is a light for which many men have died in darkness." And as if that wasn't poignant enough, this statement also strives to break my heart (and is written on top of the stone coffin shown behind the eternal flame) : Beneath this stone rests a soldier of Washington's army who died to give you liberty.

One word: wow.

The last paragraph of my essay on this subject, which contains elaboration of my WOW, is shown in the paragraph below.

A few years ago I had appointments to go after work, and I would find myself walking on a diagonal path through this park. I would stare up at the trees as I walked. The trees surely have been there for more than a hundred years!  The sheer size and majesty of them attests to my theory!  In my walks through the park, I had the opportunity and leisure to observe the Monument of the Unknown Soldier.  On the big wall of stone behind the statue of the president it reads: Freedom is a light for which many men have died in darkness.  These poignant words struck me deep in my heart and made me misty-eyed and proud.  I found it immensely touching that recognition was given to these unknown soldiers, each who might’ve traveled great lengths only to die and be buried in nameless, uncounted, unmarked graves.  How proud such a soldier must be, gazing down from the heavenly blue sky, peeking through the leafy treetops, to see the eternal flame. This burning blaze serving as a beacon, beckoning to his wounded soul; he surely must know now, that he was not forgotten…

...and they call me the Dutchess!

You know how they say, "Things will get worse before they get better" ? 

What an understatement! 
 

My house is a total disaster. Not only do i still need an effin maid, but I also need a designer, an organizer, and a motivator! Right now, we're "under construction" and it feels like it will never-ever end! I probably should not be complaining. It's my excuse for not doing things I should be doing. It's just going to get dust on it after you sand that spackle now isn't it? Ahhh, the justifications of the slothful; they are what is truly never-ending!

My husband is the contractor, so I get my labor for free. How sweet is that? VERY! He isn't going to disappear, or charge me big bucks to do the job, but the man is working 7 days a week, sometimes two different jobs in the same day!! I'm lucky if I can get him to work a whole day at our house!  Right now we're in the middle of a living room remodel and the walls are not completed yet (still some spackle marks and unpainted spots) and we didn't get our new flooring yet NOR our new furniture. So now it's September, and my daughter turned 15. Time to stop calling her Scootle I guess. I'll revert to my other alias of her, Lina. She asked us to re-do her room for her birthday, you know: new paint, new flooring, new ceiling, new bed, new everything. Yes I think she's aware that this is costing us over a grand to do. She is one of those chicks that will forever look at herself in the mirror and proclaim with absolute certainty (just as in the Loreal commercials):

Yes, I'm worth it!  

Well goodie goodie gumdrops and sprinkles for HER.

As for me, I am sleeping in what I regularly call, "the third world country." ( I 
bought this house before I knew my handy hubby.) Since I moved in and ripped up the carpets in my bedroom, they have stayed that way. I started to paint my room dark dark blue, but never did the 2nd coat nor cut it in because? Because I decided I didn't like the effin color after all, but did I do anything about it? NO! Instead I carpeted and painted my daughter's bedroom and made it look all girly and cute. Now I'm doing it again, 7 years later, and voila....still the 3rd world country theme in my bedroom. And it's not just the bad, unfinished paint job or the cracked uneven wooden flooring, but its also the mis-matched furniture, the lack of a closet, and a bay window area that has cracking ugly textured plaster, and rotted wood windowsills. And they call ME the Dutchess?

Excuse me for expecting the Dutchess to not only have a maid, but also a beautiful decor and comfy surroundings...!  My daughter, the princess, is the real royalty around here! Yes, I could've complained to my ever-patient loving hubby that I need a re-do, but as most parents do, we put ourselves last.

Which brings me to the story of the new animated pic to the right (and below) that says, "Dutchess".


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For years, my sister has been the self-proclaimed "Princess", yes with a capital P.  In jest, I said, "Well what does that make ME?? .... The Dutchess?"  This brought about laughs from both my sister and my father, and so my sister, who does PSP (not pcp) made up that animated poster for me to tell everyone my status.

I think it's a lie. I think I'm really the scullery maid and nobody really wants to point it out. The truth can just be so.....ugly.

Evanescence!!

Oct,30,2011: Upcoming Evanescence performing at the House of Blues, AC!
I just bought 3 tickets, I'm so excited! If you look at previous entries I've made some video entries of them. Here's another of my favorite video's of theirs:

This one's for you Jack....

Jack, my professor, mentioned (graciously I might add) that he "missed my blogs." So ..this one's for you Jack.

Tonight we did a walking tour of different "Public Art" around the city of Philadelphia. Because of the hour, and because my mind has since digressed, I plan to talk about this tour and provide pictures in a later blog.

After finally getting home, I realized I had online work to do in my Anthropology 101 class. The textbook we are using is, "Cultural Anthropology in a Globalizing World" by Barbara Miller. In each chapter there are different cultural stories and I read one on the San peoples of southern Africa...how they've been displaced and driven off of their own land. I decided to cut and paste my "rant" that i posted on the electronic blackboard, mostly because I am too tired to re-rant!!! LOL (yes i made up a word and i'm using it dammit!!)
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I really feel for the San peoples, as well as for the Native Americans. These indigenous people were unrightfully displaced. It's quite an embarrassment to the "civilized" western culture, that in order for our society to emerge and expand we had to take advantage of the natives of the Americas, as well as the natives of Africa and used them both to build our nation. Where would we be without the contributions of those peoples? Dead and broke is where we'd be. When we boast about being "the greatest nation on earth" we should in our hearts give recognition to and thanks to all the people that we came to step upon in order for our nation to exist! I'm so very grateful for our country, but I am embarrassed of it's beginnings and it's disregard and advantageous use of native peoples in its stretch for greatness. Our "mother country" England, no doubt taught us such behavior, as for EVER they have butt in on other cultures, colonized, and in some cases (like the Dutch in Rwanda) have ruined a nation and caused irreversible damage to societies with utter and complete disregard for anyone but themselves and their goals. I suppose that in that great time of exploration, those exploring were quite ignorant of what they saw to be primitive. Today, however, as "enlightened" as we are on matters of human rights, people are still continually used and stepped on and raped of their country's natural resources for foreign gain. I was SO glad to read that the San people had an advocate that sued the pharmaceutical companies that produce hoodia for the western world. Why should we ever go onto someone else's land and use their resources and not compensate them for it? Just because their economies may be SO desperate for money that they will work for pennies on the dollar, doesn't mean that western corporations should be allowed to employ them so cheaply and exploit them so grossly. Perhaps I should go work for a transnational advocacy group and forget the trivials of billing and management! When I read about the indignities of the world it makes my problems and concerns seem so small...!