Come as You Are

Dear BW Readers,

This is the second of the two part series I intended to write about why I think many folks like cruises.

The pic is yours truly in doing a sport activity on the boat, known as Boogie Boarding on the Flowrider.



The Flowrider pumps 13 thousands and recycles them every minute that it is turn on. As you can tell, I am not wearing any sort of make-up, I am a bit overweight but still not ashamed of wearing a bathing suit as over time I've lost 50 lbs. Yes, I'm certain there were opinions held by others of my appearance, but no one in general cared or said anything openly about it. There were plenty of men and women who were obese or underweight, wore thongs or speedos, but during pool time on the 15th and 16th decks, you came as you are. There were plenty who also never donned a swimsuit, more comfortable in shorts and sitting in the shade to read.

This observation also reminded me of the time when I was involved with the One America blog and with the campaigns. Many of us identified with Elizabeth Edwards as she struggled with her weight. She looked like one of us. And I liked it that on this cruise, people of all ages were comfortable with one another.

Of course, folks like cruising too because everything is provided for them--3 solid meals, plus snacks, entertainment of all sorts, room was attended to 3 times a day by many of the stateroom attendants, and there were people to have lunch with if you wanted. I particularly enjoyed the trivia contests and the dancing parties.

Mr. Benny and I had a great time, but I think we didn't totally drink the cruising kool-aid of some that we met on the ship. One woman was celebrating her 71st cruise. I asked why she was a repeat customer. She said she was born for cruising. Not certain what to make of it. Others said they built up "frequent cruising miles" or perks, whereby their trips, except for the flights and drinks, were almost paid for. There was one couple who had been on a cruise three weeks before and was from Bayonne, NJ. Bayonne is not a great town, so I suppose it was a sad commentary that this couple felt the need to get away on cruises frequently. I think I would have just left NJ and move to Florida.

Drawbacks to cruises: Royal Caribbean in particular "nickels and dimes" you for even soft drinks. We paid extra for those sodas. I drank club soda most nights at dinner, and if we wanted any wine or anything else, we paid for those (which were few) at an entertainment establishment because they were cheaper than the Main Dining room.

Overall, I would recommend a cruise to any landlovers for a different experience. I don't recommend a big ship, such as the Allure of the Seas for very introverted folks; 6200 folks and 2200 staff is a lot of people to encounter daily. But would I do this every year, I think Mr. Benny and I believe that we can wait for a couple of years before going again as we want to do more urban trips in the future.

But I do like the idea of "Come as You Are."

A Couple of Changes at Benny's World

Hi Readers,

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately. I've been busy helping Mr. Benny get ready to move to our Plantation, FL rental condo. Takes up a tremendous amount of energy.

Couple of changes at Benny's World in terms of the links. I have added Rep Alan Grayson's website. Alan Grayson is the most progressive member of the House next to Dennis K and supports the public option for health insurance reform. He's also very funny. He did an eloquent smackdown of Sarah Palin recently when she went to Orlando and criticized him. He also blogs at the Daily Kos, which is really kewl.

JREG bit the dust and no longer exists. It appears that JFrew, the blog owner, has redirected the URL to Andrew Young's book, and since I have no interested in publicizing the work, I have removed the link altogether. I'm sorry it went away, but I don't blame the owner either for disbanding it out of respect to Elizabeth Edwards.

In late April, I will be making some other changes to this blog in order to reflect the values of a former Edwards ideas supporter and one that appreciated Elizabeth more than John in the first place. Hopefully, I will have more time to blog then.

EE and Mr. Benny: Nova SE

Many BW readers know that Mr. Benny has been out of work for awhile, and has been seeking employment in nearly any area of the country except Alaska, Hawaii, California, and New England.

He's about to sign on the dotted line at Nova Southeastern in a couple of weeks.

Now, here's an interesting thing: Elizabeth Edwards is speaking at Nova tomorrow night.

Planets not quite aligned yet, but man, is that coincidental or what?

Sure Miss this Politician

http://www.democrats.org/a/2007/02/john_edwards_vi.php

(Flash 8.0 required)

He was right then. Too bad his personal life was different from the politician I wanted in the WH.

Those ideas, likely EE's too, are still on the backburner.

Elizabeth Edwards Supporters Group at the DU

Well BW readers,

I went over to the DU this morning, and it appears that Skinner renamed the JRE supporters group to the Elizabeth Edwards Supporters group. The group didn't lose any content either.

We love Elizabeth!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=257x12569

DU Forum Name Change?

Inspired, whom I know from the trails in Iowa, has suggested that the JRE supporters group be renamed the Elizabeth Edwards Supporters group. I actually favor the idea since EE was likely the brains behind the ideas in the last campaign.

I will always feel inspired here though by JRE and I would have not been able to meet his wonderful wife otherwise. I still wish she was POTUS or FL, although I have become a fan of Michelle Obama.

If are a DU'er and want to see that forum's name change, go here.

Soap Opera Media

Geez, is this the best investigative journalism we can get? National Enquirer types who are attempting to get prizes for exposing a personal affair?

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/27/edwards.split/index.html

When it is pornographic intent from a rejected lover to trap someone (male or female) (unless there is evidence of physical harm) and another issue when sexual or other abuses are done to youth under the age of 17? There is quite a bit of difference.

How one one get a tape of such evidence if there wasn't a plotting to trap someone like John Edwards (vis a vie possibly Young and the Gold Dust Woman) for extortion? I don't have evidence, I just watch Law and Order. I'm glad I was not and still not privy to any of this tabloid journalism. Just a volunteer and an observer.

No one can wait for history, I guess. History was 5 minutes ago if one is a wantabe as a celebrity.

My sympathy goes out to Elizabeth and to John (to a certain extent, but he really got himself into a mess--and my concern is without further counseling, he will continue on this path) , but no sympathy towards the Gold Dust woman. I do feel for Quinn, who is the most victimized due to two very self-absorbed unmarried parents, especially her lazy mother who was a party person with malice. A gold buddha indeed about the child. How sad.

But what happened to health care? Jobs? Economy?

Guess the Gold Dust woman doesn't care about those things at all. No wonder EE is unhappy, and the children are in tabloids' harms ways.

Geesh.

Two Families: So Different

One woman of a family thinks of entitlements for having sex with a wealthy politician; the other is a recent widow and has two sons with cerebral palsy. For the second family, my workplace raised over $1200 and bought most of this following wish list:

Mom

Tide laundry soap
Baby wipes
Shampoo
Cascade Action packs



Oldest Son, age 24, confined to wheelchair

Shirts, adult size L
Jeans, 32 W, 32 L

More visual, can’t use hands very much, enjoys animated movies


Younger son, age 12, also confined to wheelchair

Shirts, child size medium or size 8
Pants or jeans, size 10

Hotwheels, just the cars
Transformer toys
Transformer II movie


Household

Both boys could use new sheet sets for bedding, twin size, no flannel

Bath towels, wash clothes

Kitchen towels

Pots and pans


In addition, staff brought cards, postage stamps, etc. I bought for them one of the sets of sheets (some nice all cotton ones).

Can you imagine wishing for laundry detergent and shampoo as personal gifts?


BW readers, we asked what the mom wanted for herself. She said she liked scented candles.

Mind you we are facing furloughs and layoffs.

The Gold Dust Woman in JRE's life is something else to demand 18K a month and doesn't even try to work. She is selfish and lazy.

I call her that based on this song by Fleetwood Mac:

http://www.kewego.com/video/iLyROoafteck.html

Poverty will always tug at my heart strings. I will not understand why John got involved with such a low class (in spirit) woman and put his family through the tabloids. This woman is capable of working and chooses not to. She is not the working poor when she demands $2100 for babysitting expenses and doesn't try to work.

Grief and Resilence at the CA Women's Conference

Elizabeth Edwards was one of the speakers at the Lunch Breakout at the CA Women's Conference hosted by CA First Lady Maria Shriver.

This session was about grief, healing, and resilience.

I thank Indyvoter for this wonderful h/t.

http://www.californiawomen.org/the-womens-conference-2009/lunch. It's about 1 hour and 41 minutes before one sees the Grief panel.

One Carolina Girl found the pic above. This is a powerful emotive group. Elizabeth is maintaining composure, but it's clear she is totally empathetic. She's right about the triggers, you never know when you have them. Gifts are great.

Thank you First Lady Maria S. I understand about the recent loss of your mother; it happened to me over 6 months ago.

Unlike Susan St. James who lost her son, the man who wrote to her with the comment, "I know what you are feeling, I lost my dog recently" this was an initial thought. She made a small joke about it, and the joke wasn't totally unfeeling, but Elizabeth was right to point out that not everyone means to say the wrong thing. Usually they mean well even if it's not what you expected.

Grief is not all about the human losing a human experience, Ms. St. James. It is about losing family members. I'm mourning the loss of our beloved girls, Sydney and Mattie, our Aussie Shepherds, who went to Rainbow Bridge 50 weeks apart in the last year. They were family too. I'm hoping Ms.St James will pay heed to EE in her words of being sensitive to many of us, even if we were human parents to pets. Many of us loved being humans of pets whom we loved them. And spent thousands or hundreds of dollars to save them when they were stricken with diseases challenging to fight. Many of us didn't want to give up our pets and ran bills to our plights.

We had to sacrifice $405 to get our Sydney diagnosed, and she expired 2 days later. But it was worth knowing what could happen, and our vet was pretty much on the mark. It was a challenging on our budget of mainly from one income, but we wanted our options for our Syd. I will not accept from anyone that pets aren't as acceptable as humans. Just my opinion.

Please, grief is about humans and our pets.

Elizabeth Edwards About Her Cancer on Local TV

Elizabeth was interviewed this week on one of the local channels. My understanding is EE was also a speaker at one of the universities this week concerning her battle with breast cancer. As she said in the interview, cancer may win, but why give anymore days or time to that process.



Keep fighting the good fights, Elizabeth. Especially when you are asked your expert opinion on other matters such as bankruptcy legislation that is being considered for medical care expense reform.

Now we need it for dogs, cats, and horses. Vet bills are expensive, and often pets are members of our families too.

UPDATE: Indyvoter posted a link to a C-SPAN recorded testimony about medical debt.

That makes sense to me. I couldn't figure out why the news would ignore this important hearing in the story. I guess they got short on time.

Here's a link too to the written statement.

Great smackdown by Senator Franken about stupid data samples concerning cancer rates around the world--and the lack of correlation to medical debt.

Elizabeth also does a polite smackdown of Sen. Jeff Session's comments about foreclosures and different states' provisions on chapter 7. He didn't appear to understand what he voted for in 2005. I noticed he sought her out after the hearing.

Support Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's bill, Medical Bankruptcy Fairness Act of 2009. Senator Russ Feingold has requested to be a co-sponsor. It is S. 1624. Let's reform health care, not just health insurance.

JRE supporters may recall JRE was against the Bankruptcy bill in 2005, and here's why (from TPM Cafe).

Resilence: Another Family's Story

This afternoon, Mr. Benny and I had to make a visit to our veterinarian. Our remaining Aussie Shepherd, Sydney, was low in spirits, would not eat, and had trouble getting up. Her symptoms appeared similar to her sister, Mattie, who went to Rainbow Bridge on October 30, 2008.

We had thought the worst and had expected to help transition Syd as we did with her sister to Rainbow Bridge. However, Syd rebounded yesterday afternoon. She ate some dog food out of a can and she was able to walk a bit better last night. Her spirits and face looked less sad. It was as though Syd knew we weren't ready for her to go; she didn't wish to disappoint us as she knew how much we love her.

While I wish the latter were true, we had some tests run on Syd. Her blood platelet count was exceedingly low, but the rest of the blood levels were fine. However, the x-rays revealed some mitochondrial looking cells around her spleen, lungs, and near her main artery. Her lungs looked compromised. I don't recall what the technical terms are called, but to simplify for BW readers, she likely has two forms of cancer, one benign, the other probably malignant. She has arthritis too in her back, but luckily, we had already started giving her vitamin supplements for it, and it's not quite as bad as it was for Mattie last year.

BW readers remember all too painfully about Elizabeth when her cancer returned with a vengence; this time, there would be no cure. She would have to take meds on a regular basis. We know from interviews and other sources (such as the book Resilence) that Elizabeth gets transfusions in addition to her daily tablet.

And if that weren't enough, her family suffered some other set backs. I read another story in the LA Times this evening about the awkward moments in a restaurant recently. Must be hard on the children, although Elizabeth is still considered popular in the area.

Benny's real world outside of this blog has experienced some setbacks as well. We lost Mattie 50 weeks ago. My momma died 6 months ago. Mr. Benny is now unemployed and while he gets some interviews, more places in his field are pulling the positions, or the HR departments are so sloppy in their "no thanks" responses. Some places haven't offered to pay for his mileage or for a meal in return for driving many hours for the one hour interview. Times have been tough for him. It's demoralizing at times.

Yours truly has taken on extra interim work where I am employed. I receive a stipend for it, albeit I've not seen it yet in my paycheck. Our work place is so stretched that it's hard to get all of the administrative tasks done in a timely manner. I don't make it a habit to talk about my work here, so I won't tell you what I'm doing. But I will say that I'm hoping the experience will pay off on my long term plans of moving ahead in my career. The stipend, when I see it, will be helpful in supporting my family.

I think it would not be wise to put myself in Elizabeth's and JRE's shoes because our situation is very different. Elizabeth and John live a relatively comfortable life. She gets the best health care money can buy (although she wishes for a Medicare option for anyone as I do). Mr. Benny is now on my health insurance, but we have to watch very carefully how it is used. Mr. Benny has make 5 contacts a week to earn his unemployment check. No one in the Edwards family has have to work, although Elizabeth chose to open a part-time furniture store just to leave a legacy for her children to remember. But what Elizabeth's family and my family have in common is that we will continue in the long term to be resilient. We will have more valleys than peaks for the months to come, but we welcome the peaks when they arise.

And in living with Syd's cancer, we were given two options: we could get an ultrasound to confirm, but we also were told that even if Syd would be operated on, she is at high risk for expiring on the operating table in problems with anesthesia. Her tests today were $405. We know we can't afford surgery for her, but even if we could, her survival rate wouldn't be much more than she has in just living with the condition.

Sydney was resilient today. She was happy, went for a short walk, and she had a good appetite this evening. She will continue to have collapses as she did last weekend where she may rebound but each time, the recovery time will take longer--or she may just finally go in her sleep. The vet said she may live a few more weeks or even months, or she may have another relapse in the next days. However, Mr. Benny and I decided not to go forward on other procedures for Syd. We will live each day with her (and for that matter, Elmora, who is afflicted with feline hyperthyroidism, but holding her own at the moment) as though it is another gift from the universe.

We thank all of the BW readers for their positive thoughts and prayers, and ask that you continue to send them as Syd moves through the last days of her earth journey. You are welcome to submit your thoughts in the comments section, even it is a struggle you are experiencing and would like prayers from us.

Blessed be.
Update: Let it Be:

Still Miss You, Momma

Short post on BW. Today was the 6th month anniversary of my momma's passing. I was busy most of the day and I knew I would be. A good thing, but it doesn't mean that I missed her any less. It means that I'm still grieving, but working through the stages of grief as I go along.

One thing I know is that she would have been so disappointed to hear BS about bloggers and the accusations about EE being pseudonymous with the alias "Cherubim", I invite any of those folks to come here.

It appears Eugene Robinson quit circulating the NY Post rumors. Too bad I didn't keep those on my hard drive.

BW to Celebrate 5 years

Benny's World just turned 5 a few days ago. Here's the first post. I used to write more substantively then. Today, we're older, more relaxed.

We'll have a cake and open house for JRE-like (meaning policies, not personal lives) Dems soon.

This week, expect a special comment somewhere about the malicious comments coming against EE which I believe are unfounded. It's not as much about the comments is that there seems to be a perpetual silly season in which one former staffer's comments are more important to the media than EE's intelligent work or advocacy for health care reform, unless one is Keith Olberman or Rachel Maddow.

Stay tuned. Meantime, I'm certain the Edwardses prefer that the Panthers win over the Dallas Cowboys. It's a close contest, so may the best team win. Pokes ahead though 21-7, but the Panthers are still in this game. Meantime, my spouse thinks I'll have a sore throat from my passion in hollerin' for the Cowboys.

Elizabeth Edwards, Scholar on KO Last Night

Short post---a link to the interview of EE on Keith's show last night.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#32768585

She's fab! I heart that woman's eloquence, and I think Keith does too.

John and Elizabeth Edwards Reflections about Ted Kennedy

JRE and EE attended Teddy's service last evening. I didn't watch much of the service, but it looked nice. Reporters from the New England Cable Network spoke to JRE and EE before they went in.



If that doesn't work, go here.


It only seemed fitting that the two would be invited since Ted probably understood both of them with their separate issues.

(h/t to one carolina girl)

Red Window

Elizabeth Edwards held a grand opening for her new furniture store on Saturday. The store is called Red Window and it's based on a charity store her mother had in Japan. She buys furniture in Hot Point, then sells at wholesale prices.

Here's a video clip:

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6978049

Elizabeth Edwards called the store a family endeavor. On hand for the opening was her assistant manager and 11-year-old daughter Emma Claire, along with John Edwards."I do more moving furniture than anything else," John Edwards said. "This is Elizabeth's deal, but everybody in the family is trying to help support her."

Update: The Durham Herald Sun has more about Elizabeth and her purchasing methodology, and also how she was able to locate the store.

Next year while I am in NC for a meeting, I hope to go visit the store and catch up with some former campaign volunteers.

Elizabeth Edwards on Larry King Live

Last night, Elizabeth Edwards was on Larry King's show, debating amongst things, the rhetoric of health care reform with former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson. Here's the video, courtesy of CNN:




For now, here's a link to the transcript. Later I will post more parts of it and comment on what was exchanged between EE and TT.

And to many commenters on my post about EE standing by her man, she reiterated that "they" (and I took it to mean her and John) were getting the kids ready for school.

From the transcript:

EDWARDS: Things are going fine. We're getting the children ready for a new school year. Everything seems to be going pretty smoothly at my house.

KING: And the...

EDWARDS: But thank you for asking.

KING: And the continued questions about the paternity factor, is there any solution there -- DNA tests?

Do you know if anything is going to happen?

EDWARDS: I -- my expectation is at some point, something happens. And I hope for the -- for the sake of -- of this child that -- that it happens, you know, in a quiet way.

My point here is that while Elizabeth may or may not be by to read BW, she will follow her own advice. I stick by Elizabeth and she knows what is best for her family.

She's gone

This is my about my Mother. BW readers, hope this becomes clear to you.

Elizabeth Edwards realized that her life of what she imagined as a young person was gone and to create anew.

My life has changed many times in recreating the past, and realizing, I have the strength to go on with a new one too. I had some bad/weird things happen to me in the past few weeks, but I feel the need to push forward.

I didn't talk to the sky last night. EE may or may not call it faith. I call it prayers instead in my thoughts. And I think I am about the journey, not about the faith to an afterlife. I am not critical though of EE's faith towards the afterlife, especially being raised that way.

Hall and Oates from the pop days of the 70's recorded, She's Gone.



I thought it was about a big breakup. In truth, I think that is the main topic. But I believe it was broader than just the lyrics presented.

When I had seen that my mother had passed, "She's Gone" was the song which passed through my thoughts immediately. It was supposed to be about a breakup btwn a woman and a man, or perhaps any couple, including GBLT, which it should be in real life . To me, the tune was about losing a loved woman in my life. Broadly speaking, it was my mother, not one who took a hold on me personally, but who loved me, and for eternity loved all of us, including me.

But I felt she was gone.I have to move on. And I will. I love my friends online and those by on FB too.

Happy Birthday Health Care Advocate Elizabeth Edwards

For the 4th year in a row, and I anticipate annually, BW gives its best wishes to our favorite lady Elizabeth Edwards. Today Elizabeth is 6o, still amazingly strong in her views about health care reform, especially for the public option that is being considered (but may be a dismal one again).

Via a h/t from Indyvoter, here's a clip of EE on Dr. Nancy's show earlier this week about health care:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Happy birthday, EE. You look really well. Hope you are at the beach house, enjoying your family, and your mom. I wish I could call my mom tomorrow for my birthday, but guess I'll have to just speak to the sky.

Elizabeth Edwards on NPR in Chapel Hill

Pretty funny stuff, show is called "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" The host asked her "so how big is the dog house that your husband is living in?"