Fashion Sense Looks at Our Love for Betty White

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Everyone loves Betty White right now, and she justly deserves all the attention for her great comedic timing and feisty personality. But maybe there's a little something else behind all the adulation. [Click on the image for a larger version of this piece. The text reads: 'One of my petsitting clients is my friend Jennifer, and she has a lot of rescued animals, and I just stayed overnight at her house so she could go visit her mother, and I admit it was a challenge taking care of 3 dogs, 5 cats, 4 horses, 2 macaws, a llama and a geriatric iguana, and when Jennifer got home she complained about having a big fight with her mother over having so many animals and not getting married and having kids, and then she asked how things had been while she was away, and I didn’t want to tell her about the fact that her mother had called and talked to me about why Jennifer had so many “pets,” so I just said everything was fine, and then she said, “And my mother kept going on and on about how old she is and how old she feels and how she isn’t getting any younger and neither am I, and my biological clock is running out, and now I feel really old,” and since Jennifer is my age I felt compelled to say, “Oh, come on, you’re not old, and  you look great. When I feel old I remind myself that there are people like Bette White, who is wildly popular right now with a hit show and is funny and cool, and she outdid all the other talent on Saturday Night Live, and they say she’s the best thing about Hot in Cleveland, and she’s nearly 90,” and she said, “She just gets all that adulation because she’s going to die soon! And people feel like they have to give her one last present of their love and admiration because she’s not long for this world, and she reminds them of their mother and grandmother and great-grandmother that they’ve disappointed and not been able to please no matter how hard they try,” and she was talking louder and louder and in a higher and higher-pitched voice and seemed like she was hyperventilating, and I said, “Take it easy Jennifer. None of us can ever really please our parents, but I’m sure your mother’s very proud of you” and just then her mother called again, and as I walked away with a couple of the dogs to give her some privacy, I heard her say, “No, I don’t expect you to think of an iguana as your grandchild!”']

Desert in Bloom, Part III

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The next phase of this year's spectacular cactus bloom has begun. The cholla cacti on the hill behind our house are full of flowers and look like strangely beautiful spiky trees:

The cholla flowers themselves come in a variety of colors--pink, yellow, red, orange, and my favorite, which is a color I can't quite name:

The saguaro in front of our house is full of buds and has also begun to bloom. There are more buds on it than I've ever seen before:

In June and July when saguaro fruit ripens, it is harvested by the Tohono O’odham people and used to make a rare and delicious fruit syrup.

Fashion Sense Comments on the Gulf Oil Spill

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The Deepwater Horizon rig keeps spewing oil into the Gulf, and the failure of the Minerals Management Service to regulate big oil has been brought into sharp focus. You remember the MMS. They're the ones that were involved in the 2008 scandal, caught partying with oil company executives. [Click on the image for a larger version. The text reads: 'While out birding today, I met this hummingbird migrating up from Mexico, and he was, like, I used to summer in Arizona, but I heard about the anti-immigrant law and the boycott, so I’m checking out other options, and I said, “Did you fly over the oil spill from the BP rig in the gulf?” and he was, like, Yeah, it’s so huge it was hard to miss, and I said, “Michael Brown--formerly Brownie of FEMA--said Obama wants the oil to spread so he can justify ending offshore drilling,” and he was, like, The gulls in the gulf are laughing their tail feathers off over that one, and at Rush Limbaugh’s comment that eco-terrorists blew up the oil rig, but then gulls have a weird sense of humor, and I said, “Limbaugh also said the oil could be left in the ocean because oil’s as natural as water,” and the hummingbird was, like, E. coli’s natural, but that doesn’t mean you want it in the water, and I said,”Minerals are natural, but that doesn’t mean you want mercury in the water,” and the hummingbird was, like, Speaking of minerals, I just heard that the Minerals Management Service approved BP’s plan to build that rig without requiring a full environmental impact study, and I said, “They were the ones caught doing drugs and having sex with oil company reps during the Bush years,” and the hummingbird was, like, Maybe that’s what Sarah Palin meant by Drill, baby, drill, and I said, “How can the MMS do their job if they keep sleeping with the enemy, literally and figuratively?” and the hummer was, like, I heard that BP was in the running for an MMS safety award this year!, and I laughed and said, “I guess life’s a beach and then there’s an oil spill,” and the hummer was, like, You humans have a weird sense of humor, too, and I said, “I agree,” but by then he had ruffled his tiny feathers and buzzed away.']

Desert in Bloom, Part II; and Arizona Senate Bill 1070

Just last week we had a cloudy day and quite a bit of rain, and when Greg and I took a walk on the trail near our house, the sky was dramatic, and the Catalinas looked amazing:

In addition, the prickly pears had really begun to bloom, and we saw beautiful cactus flowers everywhere. I felt privileged to live in southern Arizona and to be able to see all this beauty.

Then on Friday Governor Brewer signed Arizona Senate Bill 1070. It's a harsh law, racist in its implications, and despite the beauty of this unusually lush desert spring, SB 1070 is an ugly thing. It's also a reminder that we still have a long way to go in order to bring justice and equality to our nation.

Fashion Sense Wishes We Could Have a Happy Earth Day

On Earth Day it's hard not to be sad that the Belo Monte dam project will continue, despite many protesters and the intervention of Avatar director James Cameron. [Click on the image for a larger version. The text reads: 'Mimi, my neighbor who’s obsessed with Avatar, saw me just as I was getting into my car, and she said, “Are you on your way to see your rescued Premarin mare?” and I said I was, and she said, “Then I’ll come along because I want to see how much she reminds me of a Na’vi direhorse,” and after we got in the car she said, “Happy Earth Day,” and I said, “Not so happy, especially since the Belo Monte dam in Brazil is going to be built after all,” and she said, “It seemed like life was going to imitate art for a while, and Cameron and Sigourney were going to come to the rescue of the indigenous people, like in Avatar, but it just didn’t happen,” and I said, “There are still lots of protesters in Brazil, but they can’t seem to stop it,” and she said, “If life really imitated art, we would be able to go to the Amazon and see the rainforest and be Amazon avatars for real, and then we would learn to love Earth the way the Na’vi love Pandora,” and  I said, “Lula says he’s a friend of the rainforest and the indigenous people, but Brazil needs power, so they’re going ahead with the dam because progress takes energy,” and she said, “I guess we really need to find our own unobtanium,” and I said, “Or we need to stop using so much energy and be willing to give up our wasteful lifestyle,” and she looked at me like I was crazy and said, “I want to be an Amazon avatar, not a poor person!” and I said, “So you don’t love Earth the way the Na’vi love Pandora?” and she got mad and said, “Maybe you’d better take me back to my house. Avatar is coming out on DVD today, and I also want to look at 3-D TVs for when it comes out on 3-D Blu-Ray,” and when I finally got to see my mare I gave her an apple and said, “I think it’s strange that people who love Avatar because it’s about living in harmony with nature don’t want to have to change anything in order to live in harmony with nature,” and she just rolled her big brown eyes at me as if to say, “Duh!”']

Desert in Bloom, Part I

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Yesterday we took a short hike on the Brown Mountain trail in Tucson Mountain Park. The desert is in bloom, and yellow flowers are everywhere, especially brittlebush as in this picture:

 

Ocotillo buds add their orange accents:

 And the first of the blooming cactus, the tiny hedgehogs, are covered in magenta flowers:

Fairy dusters add texture and more subtle color:

Fashion Sense Thinks iPads are Nice but Dirty Energy Isn't

The iPad generated a lot of buzz last week from users and the tech community, including Stephen Colbert, who sliced and diced salsa with his. But Greenpeace reminded us that cloud computing uses lots of energy and contributes to global warming, and everybody who uses the internet should think about how to change that. [Click on the image for a larger version. The text reads: 'I had to take my gerbil to the vet’s and leave him overnight for some tests, and on my way home I ran into Tiffany, and she said, “I’m so excited because today I’m going to get my new iPad,” and I said, “The iPad looks  cool, but according to Greenpeace cloud computing creates lots of greenhouse gases and contributes a lot to global warming,” and she said, “I don’t believe in global warming,” and I said, “Well then your conscience is clear, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t real,” and she said, “Stephen Colbert loves his iPad so much he chops vegetables with it, which must mean it’s pretty green,” and I said, “And he also hosted a science smackdown between a meteorologist and a climatologist about whether human activity causes global warming, so who knows what to think about him,” and she said, “Well, I love Stephen, and I follow him on Twitter and Facebook,” and I said, “Those are some of the sites in the cloud that are using too much energy,” and she said, “Not only do I not believe in global warming, I don’t even believe in cloud computing,” and I didn’t know what to say to that, and after I went home I listened to a report about Detroit and the poor fuel-efficiency of American cars, and then I fell asleep and had a dream that Apple invented a new kind of vehicle called an iFloat and people were floating all over the place in them, and they were making iFloats in Detroit which seemed very good for a while, and then it turned out that the iFloat wasn’t really energy-efficient at all and was hugely increasing global warming, but people were listening to their iPods and talking on their iPhones and looking at their iPads the whole time, so they didn’t notice, and I woke up when the vet’s office called and said, “You can come pick up your gerbil -- he’s fine, just showing some signs of age,” and as I was riding my bike over to get him, I was thinking about the fact that by 2020 web hosting alone will surpass the airline industry in carbon emissions, and iWorry.']

Celebrating Cactus (and Native Foods)

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Elsewhere in southern Arizona this spring there are showy wildflower displays, but in the little patch of Sonoran Desert I call home, we don't have carpets of Mexican Gold poppies or lupines. But I'm sure we'll have lots of cactus flowers this year, and to me that's even more beautiful. I went out today to get some pictures of prickly pears in bud--some of the buds produce flowers:

Others produce new pads (which in some types of prickly pear are harvested and eaten, known as nopalitos):

This year every prickly pear I saw had many, many buds, even plants that seemed as though they weren't going to live much longer.

The cholla are also in bud right now:

Ciolim - cholla buds are a traditional food of the Tohono O'odham people

For Jesse James or Bill Clinton, Is an Apology Enough?

[Note to Readers: I've tried photomontage for several Fashion Sense fictigraphics. Now I'm going to use fashion croquis for a while -- they do have an obvious connection; click on the image for a larger version.]

The tabloids have been full of the dramatic story of Jesse James cheating on Sandra Bullock. He apologized, but is that enough? Here at Fashion Sense we're also asking the same question about Bill Clinton's apology over trade policies that have devastated Haiti. [Click on the image for a larger version. The text reads: '"I was doing yoga at the end of a long stressful day, but my cat was, like, So will Sandra Bullock leave Jesse James, yes or no? I need an answer, and I said, "I can’t give you an answer. It’s up to her. But sometimes a wife stays with a cheating husband if he apologizes," and my cat was, like, But he did apologize, and she moved out anyway. What would you do? and I said, "Well, the apology might just be a ploy, and the mistress has some Nazi-posing pictures in her background, and that wouldn’t be good for Sandra’s career, and I think he’s cheated before, so since marriage is about trust, I think I’d dump him," and my cat was, like, So should Haiti dump Bill Clinton as U.N. special envoy even though he apologized for making them lower tariffs and accept American rice imports which contributes to their post-earthquake food crisis? After all, he cheated on his wife with other women before Monica? and I said, "Now you’re confusing me. Bill Clinton apologized about cheating with Monica long before he apologized about the Haitian tariff thing, so I don’t get the parallel," and my cat was, like, Well, you said it’s about trust. From what I can see Bill has other issues like this in his background; I mean, he signed NAFTA, which did the same thing in Mexico and caused lots of suffering for small farmers whose corn couldn’t compete with American imports, but this may just be a ploy to avoid sending aid to countries like Haiti and Mexico when they’re badly in need, so it’s a matter of trust like it is for Sandra is all I’m saying, and I said, "I still don’t get what you mean," and went back to my yoga, and my cat was, like, I mean should Sandra keep Jesse and should they keep Bill in Haiti? The connection is that both situations were caused by winning. In Bill’s case, he won the Presidency, which tends to make you do bad things to poor countries. In Sandra’s case, she won an Oscar, and the curse of the Oscars makes people lose their partners, and I yelled, "PLEASE GO AWAY AND LET ME DO MY YOGA,"and then I had to apologize for my outburst, and my cat was, like, Well, I don’t accept your apology, and I’m leaving right now -- for good! but since he’s an indoor cat, I have confidence that our relationship will survive.']

A Short Trip to Red Rock Country

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Last week Greg and I went up north to visit red rock country. Because of recent rains the countryside is lush and green:

Among other places, we visited Red Rock State Park, a small and accessible park with a nice visitor center that gives lots of information about the ecology and history of the area. Unfortunately, due to budget problems in the State of Arizona, it's scheduled to close on June 3.

We enjoyed walking along Oak Creek, which rushed and tumbled along like a small river:


Because of Oak Creek, this park is also a riparian habitat with many beautiful trees. Though most of them were not yet in leaf, the sight of so many large deciduous trees is unusual in our dry state.
Red Rock State Park lives up to its name. The colorful red sandstone gives a rich texture to the landscape.
And you can begin to see red rock formations as soon as you get out of your car at the visitor center.
The next day we bought a Red Rock Permit, which allows you to park in the Coconino National Forest and hike closer to some of the big rock formations. We hiked around Bell Rock, along with lots of other people:
And, again, I enjoyed looking at the rock textures,:
as well as looking up at the red sandstone formations against a big blue sky.
I couldn't resist a short film clip of these hard-working red ants in the red, red dirt: