From the East Wing, With a Mad Cat, Obama's Place in History, Dujmping on the Rappers, My Momma's "Cheers", Saying Goodbye To My Sister Thelma

¬Greeting to all and welcome new visitors to the East Wing,

Wow ! Didn’t know so many people have so many Black & White cats, and have so many pictures of their Black & White Cats. I’ve got enough cat pictures last week to do me for a while.

One thing was pointed out to me last week by a lady who’s in my office on a regular basis way, I didn’t tell ya ‘bout Miss Kitty’s thumbs. Yep, Miss Kitty’s got opposing digits that allows her to grasp things much the same way you and I grasp things. Now where we have only two opposing digits, Miss Kitty’s got four. She has thumbs one all four feet. It is not unusual to see Miss Kitty pick up things with her thumbs on her front feet, then set on her butt. In that position she looks like a penguin holding stuff.

Not only did Sophia the Republican Cat, get mad at me for talking so much ‘bout the office cats, she really got mad when the cat pictures starting coming in the email. Damn cat stomped ‘round the house for four day like she had a burr on her tail or something. She’s ok now, back working on her upcoming political campaign. Don’t know how she’s done it, but she’s got the 2girldogs, democrats all, and the Angel fired up and making campaign posters. I sure hope she don’t get the idea to hold a march in front of my house again, still don’t know how that cat was able to pull to wool over the marchers out of Chicago, but she did. And they did.

During the holidays, I had all my Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer stuff setting on the top of the printer in the East Wing. Last Sunday me and the she took down all our Christmas Decorations, and guess what. Sophia has sat on top of that printer ever since. She abandoned the back of my chair for the printer top. Of course I had to turn the screen so she could still see what was being said. (Damn Republican Cat)

Remember some time back, we were talking ‘bout the pyramids and how the current thought being that it took a 100,000 slaves working for 30 years or so to make one of those things, and I said if they elected me Pharaoh, that same day I’d tell the salves to stop working on somebody else’s pyramid and start working on mine, and I didn’t believe we know how those things were really build anyhow.

Well guess what, we don’t. Just last week information was published that brings into question all we have taken for granted about how these big piles of rock got stacked up. I’m telling ya, not only don’t we know how they got built, we don’t even suspect how they got built.

Now they’re saying it took only 10,000 men to build a pyramid and they were not slaves after all. Didn’t say how much they got paid but did say they ate 26 buffalo and 23 sheep a day. This new information is predicated on the findings of grave sites located in proximity of the kings. Guess if ya get buried with the kings, ya can’t be a slave, so ya gotta be buds with the Pharaoh to get a good spot.

Don’t know how they figured it out but there’s evidence that every day these pyramid builder ate 26 buffalos and 23 sheep. I think that was for lunch, they didn’t say anything ‘bout breakfast or dinner, but looks like they had lunch covered.

The only thing we ever built of such size and magnitude is the Hoover Dam and that took us 5 years and ‘bout 4000 men. Of course we had help from a little deal called electricity that made motors spin, and pulleys turn that lifted stuff and put it somewhere else. Handy little helper, that electricity. In the absence of electricity, what those pyramid builders needed most of all was good organization.

Too bad President Obama wasn’t there, he would’ve gotten the job for sure, after all his real claim to fame is a community organizer, ya know. Oh sure, he could have organized those old ancient Israelite slaves, ancestors of the Jewish people, to build the pyramids. Then the Israelites could’ve been the first ACORN Group. Why, I’d bet Obama could even get that first ACORN Group Health Insurance from the Pharaoh, with his community organizing skills and all. I’m sure he’d even get ‘em a living wage by unionizing the workforce into the APBE (Amalgamated Pyramid Builders of Egypt) which we all know was the forerunner of AFL/CIO. Maybe we’ve stumbled onto Obama’s rightful place in history. Too bad he missed it.

But on the other hand if he was there, that’d mean we’d be stuck with John McCain, and haven help us with that deal. I’m still trying to figure that one out, how John McCain ended up running for president. Any political party dumb enough to put John McCain as the presidential candidate deserves to lose. Even the hottie from Alaska couldn’t help his case.

There must have been some special deals or something that were never made public for John McCain to get in there. Wow! What a dumbo deal. It almost seemed to me the republicans sorta rolled over and played brain dead when it was time to choose a party candidate. The republicans would have been better off trying to get Hillary to flip. When the democrats put up the weakest candidate maybe in the last 100 years, ya gotta admit, this guy’s weaker than Jimmy Carter, and I voted for Carter. President Obama’s claim to fame is his ability to read. Nothing more, nothing less, and the republicans put up John McCain, an even bigger loser, and sure enough, McCain came through.

Still think the republicans would’ve had a chance to pull it out, had they jumped on the Vice Presidential Candidate when he uttered the big “M” word on national television. There should be a constitutional amendment to ensure that the word “Malarkey” is never spoken in a political campaign. I always thought Joe Biden was a joke even before he said “malarkey” on Meet the Press.

It’s interesting how certain words are accepted or rejected by society as a proper part of the language. Or in certain instances, where just a part of society accepts certain words within their own culture and condemns all other use of the words. Some of the current rap music is an example of what I’m talking ‘bout. There’re other examples too, just fill in your blanks on your own.

I don’t care what anybody says, if I typed the words from popular rap music as coming from the East Wing, well, for one thing, 1wife’d kill me for talking dirty like that, and for another thing, those of you who are kind enough to visit the East Wing on Sunday Evenings, well, ya would just never come back, and I couldn’t much blame ya. But not to worry, that’s not my style.

Might just as well say it right now, I don’t want any emails defending your right say such stuff like that in public. Be it rappers or crappers, I kinda put ‘em together, if you’re gona write music, use words that you wouldn’t be ashamed to read slowly in the presence of your mother and grandmother at the same time, and ask them if the words you just read are acceptable. Just that little benchmark would go a long way toward making this world a better place. If you’re ashamed to say it to your momma and grandma, don’t say it to your friends. I ’m not sure, but Joe Biden may even be a rapper, with that malarkey comment and all.

I do sometimes try to live the gospel according to BobbyRay. There has never been a single word uttered from the East Wing that I would be ashamed to let my momma read. In fact she does read it. Now my momma don’t do computers, she leaves that to me and Brother Ed, so I print her every letter from the East Wing. Sometimes she likes what I say, and sometimes she tells me what I should have said, but has yet to tell me I used “dirty words”. After all if your momma reads it………

Every time my momma reads my stories, I consider it a special gift from God, to be 65 years old and have my momma critique my writings. Momma’s not an easy sell, but we’ve know each other for a while and we get along.

My son John and I have lunch with Momma on Friday. Now it just worked out that due to holidays and going on vacation and bad weather, we’ve not taken momma to lunch since December 18th. She called me last week and said “This not going out for lunch on Friday is for the birds.” Didn’t ask if we were going to lunch or not, just said “who’s gona pick me up Friday, you or Johnny?” Last Friday Momma, Johnny and I had lunch at Richards of Toto, which is my momma’s favorite fine dining establishment in Northern Indiana. For Momma, it kinda like her “Cheers” where everybody knows her name, and they’re always glad she came. Richards of Toto, a nice place in downtown Toto Indiana.

Last Friday morning I received word my oldest sister, Thelma, passed away in her sleep. Sister Thelma had been ill for some time. When you read this I will be in Paintsville KY on Sunday Night. The wake is Sunday and Monday in Salyersville KY with the funeral on Tuesday.

I’ve always considered myself lucky to be born into a family of girls. I loved ‘em all, my sisters four. We are now Sharlotte, Barbara, Kay and me. I’m now down to sisters three.

Thelma was special sister of mine. My father was married twice. His first wife died at a young age. Thelma is a child of that marriage. Myself and my other three sisters are from my father’s second marriage. Now in some families such offspring have difficulties identifying who is what and where and when and stuff like that. Not so in my Family of Howard. There never was such a thing as half in my family. Half anything. Ya were either family or not. Up until just this past Friday, I had four sister. The last time I saw my Sister Thelma, she told me how glad she was that I was her brother. She called me BobbyRay. She was my sister, I loved her so.

Thelma was an interesting lady. She was a true “Kentucky Colonel”, this title having been bestowed upon her by the Governor of the State of Kentucky several years ago. She was very involved in the Magoffin County Historical Society for years, as well as many other civic, social and political involvements. Thelma was a Christian Lady who seldom missed church. Her father was a preacher, her grandfather was a preacher, she had seven uncles who were preachers, and so do I.

My sister was truly an old woman of the mountains, she spent most of her life in southeastern Kentucky. Her speech was constantly illuminated with remnants of the old English Language still lingering in the high mountains. Interesting to note, some believe the very last remains of the old English Language on the earth is not in England, rather the high mountains of southeaster Kentucky.

My Sister Thelma had the rare ability to put words on paper just the same as if she’s talking to ya. At first ya may think, well I can do that. Pick up the paper and pen, and guess what, it’s hard to start, ‘cause you’re stopping to choose your words differently than when ya talk. Ya think of a word and then change before ya write it down, and before ya can write that word, another word which may fit pops into your mind. Writing like ya talk is hard. Thelma could do that. I can only try.

Stay safe in Iraq and Afghanistan

From the East Wing, with A Mad Cat, Obama’s Place in History, Dumping on the Rappers, My Momma’s “Cheers”, Saying Goodbye To My Sister Thelma

I wish you well
BobbyRay