When I was a kid, I lived a few houses above the cartoonist Lo Linkert. Whentt they moved elsewhere, my family moved into the place they had been living. For years afterwards, residual cheques would continue to show up and he would make periodic visits to pick them up. I've found a few sites that talk about Lo's life and work.
He had been born in Germany and suffered from the privations of the time, including injuries in the war itself. His work has been featured in a variety of prestigious magazines.
Being a child at the time, my conception of cartoons veered towards the animated Saturday morning variety as well as comics, such as Archie. It was only later on that I appreciated his ability at caricature.
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His daughter, Colleen, was a person I looked up to. I thought she was so nice and had the coolest clothes. I am sure I must have worn on her, being a little kid, but she never let it show. She was forever engaging when I went over, knocked on the door, and asked if she was there.
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Collections of his work continue to be offered on Amazon.
As the saying goes, a person never knows when it can happen. It's with horror that I read of the attacks on innocent people by fanatics as they were trying to enjoy a brief reprieve from their working lives. Likewise, the school shootings that have become almost a once a year fixture for some kid who fell through the cracks. Of course, last week the horror struck a church. Yet again, that was done by a person who needed to blame his short-comings on others.
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Years ago, it was blind luck that prevented me from being on site when we had one of our first mass shootings. I've written several times of my love of Quebec and how I've visited often. I stood on deck as we reentered the country and I took a French immersion course at another time. I've visited for pleasure and never tire of it.
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As I was a student, my preferred lodging of choice was the YWCA, which was a bit out of the actual Old Town itself. The usual attractions were targeted, one of them being the Legislative Assembly. The tour was conducted by a very affable man, who wasn't all that tall, but was very jovial and seemed nice. The day was then spent watching the elected officials debate the matters at hand. There was a restaurant, but I wasn't suitably dressed for it and decided I would come back another day. I also wanted to take some photos of the exterior of the building, as it has a number of statutes.
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On the day I had meant to take said pictures and to go to the restaurant I woke up to discover that it was cloudy and very wet. I owned a cheap kiddy camera and it would be a pointless endeavour. Instead, it was decided to fill the day with the Place Laurier http://www.laurierquebec.com/, an immense shopping complex that was indoors. It was May and this day was particularly nasty, so being inside was a better option. As I walked around I suddenly noted that there were large groups of people standing at the televsion stores and some of them were weeping. This was before electronics stores had all gone out of business and when such shootings still caused general concern.
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What transpired was a man who had been in the military had gone on a shooting spree. . One of the places he shot was the cafeteria. In total, he killed three people and injured thirteen. I kept hoping that the man who had given the tour was safe, as he was real to me. I saw the heavy pall cast on the city and the profound sense of grief the citizen's felt.
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I realized at that moment how something insignificant, like a cheap camera and bad weather can change your fate. I've since gone on to realize how quickly things can escalate. We hide behind reassuring platitudes to get us through the day, such as "it can't happen here." But, as we are unfortunately coming to learn, of course it can, especially when you get a group of those kids who need somebody to blame in one place. Then it's a Lord of the Flies free -for - all.
The Supreme Court did good today. Here's Mama Cass, featured on the children's classic Pufnstuf, singing "Different." She's performing from the heart. It was thanks to hard battles by people who began at Stonewall and then others who stayed the course through court cases. The Prop Eight Case and Edie Windsor are stand out battles.
I'm sure that by now everybody is familiar with the websites that out "the other woman." These purport to give the scorned wives a platform in which to vent their spleens over the injustices they have suffered. In doing so, they can offer a fair amount of entertainment.
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In reading the stories, I've come to a few conclusions: many of the men work in the military or as truck drivers. An awful lot of the stories mention having "the usual problems marriages have and then we had another kid." In fact, they seem to have more than the national average which makes me ask a question. Do some people have children hoping it will be the glue that holds a marriage together or does having them cause an already unstable situation to become worse? Several of the stories mention one of the parties becoming "deathly ill" at one point.
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As the stories go on, the truth will out. At the start, it's the fairy tale, with the "perfect man" in wonderland. However, a few lines in will reveal that he's sometimes not had secure income or has put his hands on the writer. Oh, oh, Prince Charming drank too much and did some time for a DUI. I missed that part when I read Cinderella.
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Despite all of these foibles, he's still a keeper, since the other woman gets branded a whore, he remains anonymous, and the poster stays with him. She won the war and kept the prize.
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Not all waters are clear. There are stories posted on these sites that have had follow up comments claiming knowledge of the case. Some people cannot let go. A divorce has taken place or a relationship has broken up. The other party has gone on with their lives and met somebody. They never wrecked a home because it didn't exist at the time of the meeting.
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I think we also know couples who break up and get back together as often as I check the oven door when I'm cooking something. People who have "broken up" are eligible for dating, especially in the eyes of the new party. God only knows what they tell the person they meet on a dating site or through mutual friends or at work. If they are living in their own place, by all appearances, they are single. There are people who thrive on drama and love living in their own "Lifetime Movie of the Week." Don't blame the other woman for the chaos.
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Some men right out lie. They tell the woman they meet that they are single. By the time she becomes aware that the story wasn't true, she's emotionally invested. If she pulls away now, she's still going to be called the home-wrecker and she's devastated on top of it all. People want to believe the people they love, so there's more filler---the wife is crazy and he can't leave because she'll kill herself or won't let him see the kids.....fill in the blanks.
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It's all in how the post gets written up and once it's out there, a reputation gets ruined. What if that person were up for a job interview? There's always the possibility that it could be done on purpose---to give somebody else the edge.
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By the way, either sex can do this. However, since these are websites that tend to expose females, I'm using the male gender.
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There are women who are obsessively jealous and accuse their partner of being involved with any woman they come into contact with. They won't allow them to have any female friends, which is difficult when they have to interact with women on a professional level. I'm sure we've all met a few of these in our lives. I recall one posting in which the woman wrote that her partner "disappeared for four hours," all because she had been texting and could not reach him. Again, we've met the type; a person who is attached electronically to somebody and they must answer, as though they are on probation.
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Which gets me to another issue---the snooping and spying. I am appalled at how acceptable it has become. There is constant mention of tracking devices and the reading of the other party's personal e-mails and texts. It's interesting that the police are mandated to get a court order to do this with a murder suspect, but these women have no qualms over a gross invasion. If anybody did that to me, it would be the end. Trust is essential and paranoia is sad. If the relationship has descended to the point where a person feels a need to snoop, there are already issues. Finally, I feel that when people do such things, it speaks of their own character. They reflect onto others something that they themselves would do.
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The double standard persists that women still get branded with the home-wrecker label. It's her fault that the man strayed---like Eve she tempted some poor innocent and led him astray. If anybody mentions this on these sites, they too will get called a "whore." I believe this was a tactic well used during the Red Scare. I detest it. It's bullying at its worst. I certainly don't condone a specific behaviour, but I know nothing of these people's lives or what actually went on. I wasn't there. It is one thing to e-mail nude photos to my neighbour's husband whom I know is married. It is another for a person to meet somebody at a function and be told that they are single.
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So? It's sad that people who are wrongly defamed cannot come after the other party. What does it say about us as people if we get on there and call out Scarlet Woman? There are news stories that deserve comment and scorn much, much more than this, such as animal abuse, child neglect and horrific assault on human rights currently happening in much of the world. It's one thing if you were there and you know the truth, but then blame the guy too.
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Really, any one of us could be falsely accused by a crazy bunny boiler. And that's the truth.
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I actually dragged my lazy self out for a walk today.
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Here's the tree in the clearing and as you can see, there's now corn growing all around it. It was a tad breezy, so the stalks were moving around. It was several shades of green out there.
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I can't figure out if somebody was out for a walk and suddenly felt a sudden need to defend themselves against vampires. I have to admit, the bugs were really bad and I had forgot to put on repellant. I doubt drawing the line in the sand did the trick, although moving around keeps them at bay. This dirt is really solid so whoever did this worked up a sweat, which is counter-productive...just sayin....
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Ahh yes, the bugs. I did mention that I forgot the spray and that it had rained the other night. You see this swampy area? They were out in full force right here.
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Here too, it was time to make a fast dash thanks to the bug bombs. The path here must have been an old farming road at one time as the rocks were obviously laid down by somebody. They are still visible beneath the grass as you walk further up the path. It must have been a lot of work for the original people who worked this land to put them all down.
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The above photo is a close up of the path. You can see that there are lots of rocks, most of them small, that are now firmly packed into the ground. It is like walking on cobblestones. There's dirt moss and grass growing between them. It's an uneven surface but still very well done. It would have allowed for wheels to move well.
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Don't let the appearance fool you. The Fraser has some nasty currents.
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There's a nice assortment of wild flowers growing around you. I have no allergies, so it's not a problem, but there's a lot of cotton wood on the ground and in the air also.
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I don't think this old barn has too much life left.
Jean Anouilh said "There will always be a lost dog somewhere that will prevent me from being happy." That about sums it up. I lack the turn-off switch.
