Remembering "Aunt Vicki" Victoria Sorrells

Aunt Vicki was the most beloved person, so full of life and fun. She was a giving, loving, character who gave so much of herself despite her personal and physical hardships and trials. She had a zest for life and a sense of humor like no one else. No one could tell a story, really weave a tale, like Aunt Vicki could. I miss her terribly.

Larissa Kelly lost last night on Jeopardy

It was a crushing defeat for Larissa Kelly last night on Jeopardy. She set a record and I had high hopes that she'd be the long-running female equivalent of Ken Jennings.

Alas! It was not to be.

Larissa's momentum shifted after her error on the last question in the first round. She made a big wager, but came up with the wrong question. Psychologically, I think it did her in, sealed her fate even before the second round had begun. She never got off the blocks from that point onward. I think she was tired.

The only good news in any of it is that she will be back for the Tournament of Champions and I hope she smokes 'em all then and shows 'em whose boss.

Larissa Kelly on Jeopardy

Larissa Kelly, 28-year-old from Newton, Mass., has already broken a record for the highest amount of cash winning of any woman who has ever appeared on Jeopardy. She is on a roll!

She is absolutely delightful with a mild-mannered, gentle, quiet, sweetness, and adorable innocence that cloaks her incredible facility to nailing the answers in every conceivable category on Jeopardy.

She is unassuming and conservative, but can clearly kick it up in crunch-time when she has to and she is blazing a trail. I adore her. I hope she will not only be on Jeopardy as long as Ken Jennings was, but that she will even exceed his run.

Go, Larissa! Go!!!

Photography by Jaynie Jones

See my photography at ... double-click on any of the tiny images to see the complete image in a larger version.

St. Lucia suicide

With the approach of Mother's Day (the most painful day of the year) the agony and heartbreak that have enveloped my life for the past nearly fourteen years reaches a crescendo. Each year I wonder how I can bear it, how I can endure it another time since my daughter's suicide mission to St. Lucia in 1994, and my beloved son having disappeared from my life ten years ago.

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA volunteers) needed for children now

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteers are needed in Seattle and King County and elsewhere around the State of Washington.

One of my dearest and most treasured friends, Kimberley McKaig, is a CASA volunteer. She gives her heart to help the neediest children and finds such joy in doing so. She passed along via e-mail a request for her friends to give some thought to not only consideration of becoming a CASA volunteer, but to also think of new avenues of ways to get the word out that there are much needed and highly rewarding opportunities for volunteerism with the children in these most difficult situations.

Kimberley writes so well (that's part of being a CASA volunteer is writing reports for the courts) so I am taking the liberty of posting here what she wrote. Please share it and think about it; consider the needs of the children and think of how you might be able to help.

Contact Information for CASA and more information on volunteering can be found at:

http://www.washingtonstatecasa.org/CASA/whatis.htm

Now here is what Kimberley passed along and I hope it will start you thinking...

I'm sending this to you who know about the work I do as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer, representing abused and neglected children in the court system. These little ones (under age 13) have been removed from their homes and are in the care of the state...

Our program, which currently has over 1,000 volunteers in King County, is experiencing a shortfall of new volunteers to meet the needs of these kids...all very needy of personal representation.

I quote below from the newsletter our CASA office sent out, in case you might have an idea of a way you could (comfortably for YOU) expose the program to someone(s) you know...at work, church, to family, friends, whatever....

Of course response is great, if you have an idea for me to send to the CASA office to be followed up on. As you can see below, you are not the one who has to do the work, (other than to perhaps put out materials you receive, if you have access to a venue).

CASA is mainly looking for referrals our office can pursue as an opportunity to publicize the program. I suppose it goes without saying, but if not, I will say that this is a powerful opportunity to carry the grace and love of Jesus just as he did while he was here, to “the least of these.” It’s the best...indeed the only reason to do it.Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this!!!

Kimberley McKaig

QUOTE from the CASA newsletter:

**If you or a family member works for an organization that permits posters, flyers, brochures, bookmarks, etc. We have a good assortment of attractive CASA materials that we will send or bring to you at no charge.

**If you or a family member works for an organization that occasionally uses speakers for community information events, let us know. We have many CASAs who are experienced at public speaking, enjoy telling the CASA story, and will come to your site.

**Similarly, if you have access to an Intranet Bulletin Board in which volunteer opportunities are posted for employees to see, let us know. We can easily supply a CASA announcement.

**If you live in an apartment building or condo which could make use of any of the above, let us know. If you frequent a Community Center or recreational facility, look around to see if other groups publicize their programs there, and let us know.

**Let us know about websites you’re aware of that feature volunteer opportunities. If we’re not already using them, we’d like to give them a try.

**Pay attention to news stories by reporters who might be good prospects for a CASA feature, and let us know. Often you will see public interest stories about local citizens doing interesting and important work. Those reporters like to interview “good examples” in the community, such as CASAs. We will do the outreach if you give us a good tip.

http://www.washingtonstatecasa.org/CASA/canyou.htm

Concise "Twitter" text message leads to release from Egyptian jail

If you've ever wondered about how potentially valuable the blog can be and/or text messaging, the following story will make the answer abundantly clear as it did for James Carl Buck.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/04/25/twitter.buck/index.html

Best Mexican dinner ever: Carne Asada Platillo

Tacos Guaymas, family-owned, with several Northwest locations, has a restaurant between Pine and Steele Streets in Tacoma right on 38th Street, not far from Tacoma Mall which yields a spectacular view of every evening's sunset.

For the best, most authentic Mexican food it is not only the most flavorful, but the presentation is spectacular and portions are grande.

I've never had anything at Tacos Guaymas that I didn't just love and want to rave about and would definitely order again.

However, my favorite meal of all time is superior at Tacos Guaymas (located in a former Taco Time location) and when/if you have the opportunity order the Carne Asada Platillo for the best dinner ever.

This picture from last evening's dinner says it better than I can describe it.

Mmm-mmm-mmm- good...

To-die-for good.

Delicioso!

Tony Hazapis dies, but will forever be remembered

Tony Hazapis, former executive director of the Seattle AFTRA office (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), died March 22, 2008, in Seattle. He had been hospitalized since December.

Tony was such an incredible, phenomenal human being and accomplished so much in his lifetime of service to mankind and to our AFTRA union members in particular. He was a great guy, a bright guy, had a wonderful laugh and a winning way with people.

He used to listen to my radio show, The Overnight Club on KOMO AM 1000, from Seattle. His favorite song of all time was Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto. The song was originally a hit in the 1960s, but it remained Tony's favorite song throughout his entire life. He'd call me on-the-air occasionally to request that I play it for him.

We became friends through work-related issues surrounding my employment and lack thereof, and kept in touch off and on over the years.

Ironically, it was only a few months ago that I heard Sukiyaki being played on the radio in the middle of the night on 570 AM KVI, Seattle, as bumper music during Coast to Coast AM with George Noory (Art Bell's former haunt).

Instantaneously, when I heard Sukiyaki wafting out of my radio speaker here at home, I thought of Tony and all the times he had called me to play that song for him. I dashed off an e-mail to him and told him that if per chance he was still awake and could turn the radio on to KVI and do it quickly, he could still hear the rest of Sukiyaki.

Tony was awake. He was astonished that I was awake...and that I was still remembering after all these years that he loved that song so much. He picked up the phone and called me since he knew by then that I was awake also -- even though it was after midnight.

We talked for a couple of hours. We laughed a lot. I don't even remember now what all we talked about, but we covered a lot of ground.

The irony of that conversation was that over the years Tony has been building a collection of recordings of Sukiyaki by various artists not just the original one in Japanese, but he even had acquired a more recent version in Spanish. I think there were nine of them altogether. As we talked, Tony played each of those renditions of Sukiyaki into the telephone for me. It was hilarious. Nutty as hell, but hilarious, simple, heartwarming, innocent fun and sharing. Tony's wife, Dale, was somewhat bemused by our wackiness and affinity for Sukiyaki, but she was tolerant of it and was good natured about all the laughter in the middle of the night...and the endless playing of Sukiyaki.

Little did I realize that that would be the last time I'd ever hear Tony's voice. I'm so glad that we had that time together to share our thoughts and his joy in particular, his pride and joy in having amassed a collection of recordings of Sukiyaki.

You'd think with all of the really, really big deals in his life (union contracts and other labor matters, dispute resolutions, etc) that those would have been the really big deals.

But I think one of the simple pleasures that he took such pride in was having built a collection of music -- variations on a theme, you might say -- various artists' interpretations of his all-time favorite song Sukiyaki.

The circle of life is complete. In this context, it began with Tony Hazapis calling me and asking me to play Sukiyaki for him. It ended with our last conversation, when Tony played Sukiyaki for me.

When I hear Sukiyaki, I'll think of Tony. I hope you will, too. As a tribute to Tony and his love of that song, I'm including the lyrics here...

Sukiyaki Lyrics (English)
It's all because of you,

I'm feeling sad and blue

You went away,

Now my life is just a rainy day and I love you so,

How much you'll never know

You've gone away and left me lonely.
Untouchable memories

Seem to keep haunting me

Another love so true,

That once turned all my gray skies blue

But you disappeared,

Now my eyes are filled with tears

And I'm wishing you were here

With me soaked with love

all my thoughts of you

Now that you're gone

I just don't know what to do

If only you were here,

You'd wash away my tears

The sun would shine,

Once again you'll be mine all mine

But in reality,

you and I will never be 'cause

You took your love away from me.
ChorusGirl,

I don't know what I did to make you leave me

But what I do know is

That since you've been gone

there's such an emptiness inside,

I'm wishing you to come back to me.
If only you were here,

You'd wash away my tears

The sun would shine,

Once again you'll be mine all mine

But in reality,

You and I will never be 'cause

You took your love away from me.

Oh -- Baby you took your love away from me.

Sukiyaki Lyrics (Japanese)

Ue o muite arukou

Namida ga kobore naiyouni

Omoidasu harunohi

Hitoribotchi no yoru

Ue o muite arukou

Nijinda hosi o kazoete

Omoidasu natsunohi

Hitoribotchi no yoru

Shiawase wa kumo no ueni

Shiawase wa sora no ueni

Ue o muite arukou

Namida ga kobore naiyouni

Nakinagara aruku

Hitoribotchi no yoru

WhistlingOmoidasu akinohi

Hitoribotchi no yoru

Kanashimi wa hosino kageni

Kanashimi wa tsukino kageni

Ue o muite arukou

Namida ga kobore naiyouni

Nakinagara aruku

Hitoribotchi no yoru

Visit Legacy.com to record your own online greeting for Dale and the family.

Tony Hazapis' life on Earth ends, but legacy lives on

Tony Hazapis lived in Oregon and listened to my late-night radio show on 50,000-watt KOMO from Seattle. Tony joined The Overnight Club and would call in a request from time to time, always for the same song -- his all-time favorite -- Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto from the 1960s. I always enjoyed our telephone conversations during the radio program. See additional tribute to Tony at and more details about Sukiyaki. http://emeraldprincessa.blogger.com/

As time went on, Tony, who was an attorney, eventually moved from Oregon to Washington where he became the executive director of the Seattle local unit of AFTRA while I was still employed at KOMO, because I stayed nearly ten years at AM 1000.

AFTRA is the labor union for the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
Tony was well-known, well-liked, highly regarded by all who turned to him for assistance with various labor-related issues both in the workplace and upon termination. He helped so many people. He was a rock. He had a deep, inner, abiding strength and calmness, a confidence that he exuded. He really knew his stuff. He knew the law. He knew the union contracts. He knew the regulations. And best of all he knew how to ensure that he would prevail on behalf of the AFTRA members.

Tony died last Saturday, March 22, 2008, in Seattle, after having been hospitalized since December 2007. I was profoundly sadded on learning of his death. What a loss!

I invite you to read Tony's obituary notice in the Seattle Times newspaper:
http://www.legacy.com/NWclassifieds/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=106411224

To post and share your own memories of Tony or to write a note or condolence to his wife and family, or even just to read the anecdotes I've shared about Tony in the online Guest Book, visit
http://www.legacy.com/NWclassifieds/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=106411224

Noose news: will Duke be lynched?

Duke's Chowder House has three Seattle locations, plus one each in Kent, and in Tacoma, Washington.

dukeschowderhouse.com

For the past couple of years I have subscribed to receive e-mail announcements and coupon specials from Duke's.

Today I received the offer shown here featuring Duke's deer-in-the-headlights photo with a noose hanging prominently in the picture with the caption "Managers blame Duke for recession." The ad conveys that Duke faces lynching by his restaurant managers.

Funny? Comical? Knee-slapping hilarity?

I wrote to Rich Carr of Duke's marketing department and expressed revulsion at seeing a noose in their advertising. I did not find it appetizing nor would it entice me to patronize the restaurant. I added that the noose as a symbol would also be especially offensive to African-Americans.

Rich Carr replied with the following statement (italics supplied):

The imagery, the verbiage, the impact of the message were all developed to cut through the clutter of your average email and/or marketing campaign. And, while we acknowledge your viewpoint, we also meant this to be ‘tongue in cheek’ as ALL Duke’s emails are. I don’t see the reference to African-Americans as you state, as the history of the hangman’s noose go back to Colonial America as well as England during the 16th and 18th centuries as a form of capital punishment. Period. Will it be used all the time, certainly not. Is it a powerful image that relates to Duke’s missive, yes. Does it spur people to read more? Certainly.

Most Duke’s Email Club members appreciate his sense of humor, use of imagery, and the text he writes himself. It’s Duke…his approach has never altered in his 30 years in business as the last thing we ever want to be is ‘another’ email, but something people talk about, buzz about, tell their friends about, and realize that humor in all its forms sometimes offends albeit that is certainly not our intention.

Again, I appreciate the feedback and will forward directly to Duke should he want to weigh in. However, I feel he’ll echo my comments as these collaborations are just that.

When he wrote, "I don't see the reference to African-Americans..." and continued the defense of the noose (referring to its use in "Colonial America and England in the 16th and 18th Centuries...") underscored how out of touch and insensitive he/they were in the use of the noose as a symbol for their advertising. 400 years of the unspeakable, shameful horrors of slavery and he does not "see the reference to African-Americans?"

I would bet any amount of money that he ran a Google search for the "history of the noose" before he wrote that little bit of trivia, that factoid that he threw back at me about "Colonial America and England"...yeah, right, like he had that on the tip of his tongue!

Hello?!?

I wrote again and set forth a couple of outrageous, hypothetical scenarios, which I was confident as a matter of good taste Duke's would never even consider using in an ad, simply as a means to make the point that African-American people have a profoundly different visceral reaction to the image of a noose anytime or anywhere and that reaction is different from how white people perceive it.

Duke's would be hard-pressed to find a Brit or other white person whose reaction would be the same as an African-American's painful reaction on seeing a noose utilized in an advertising campaign flippantly as if it is or can be an object of amusement.

• I challenged Duke's to show the ad to black employees and ask for their gut reaction to it.


• Does it make them proud to work for Duke’s?


• Or does it make them fear for their jobs or fear a hostile work environment? They may be afraid to answer truthfully


• I encouraged him to give employees an opportunity to weigh in on it.


• I suggested that Duke's distribute a simple, anonymous survey card that would only require a check mark as a reply:

“Seeing a noose in an ad for Duke’s: a) bothers me, b) doesn’t bother me.”

Rhetorically, I asked if they'd consider putting a "Whites Only" sign at the entrance or if the next ad campaign would feature Duke being "tarred and feathered." Of course not! It would be outrageous. I pointed out those scenarios in an effort to help Duke and Rich 'connect the dots' hoping they might come to realize that a noose is every bit as offensive.

Rich Carr replied that (italics supplied):

This is not a racial email, nor will we entertain attempts to take it that direction. Your ideas of ... have obvious racial undertones and in no way reflect anything we’d ever produce or distribute.

That's great news! I appreciate the affirmation.

It's unfortunate that Duke's didn't think through the implications of using lynching and a noose in their current ad prior to distribution of it. By blogging about this topic, creating dialogue about it, it is my hope that a broader understanding and insight will come about as a result. Readers and writers in the blogosphere can let their voices be heard. Lift every voice...

Growing a gaggle of geese

The exquisite beauty of birds of all kinds thrills my heart (as noted in my earlier blog post), and for as much as I love photographing seagulls and other seabirds, I grew up on a farm and among our menagerie, we also raised chickens. I had a pet chicken named "Chick." Wow! The creativity was really flowing when I was kid. We also had a dog named "Pup"...because she had so many...14 in one litter alone. And she was the dog we kept trying to get rid of. We'd put an ad in the newspaper to sell her (back in the days before Craigslist and such)...people would come and "buy" her from us, but always within a few days, no matter how far away the new owners would take her, "Pup" would always find her way back to our farm.

Well, I've gotten off track now with my rambling about "Pup"...that goes back decades in terms of memories...

But in more modern times (in the 1980s) when we lived on the little five-acre farm on the East Side of Tacoma, we had geese: Embden geese, the huge, gorgeous, whiter-than-white geese.


Linus and Lucy shepherding part of their gaggle of geese/goslings along in our pasture

We started out with just two that were given to us by Dr. Ted Rothstein, who lived in Bellevue, at that time, but has since relocated to Washington, D.C., and George Washington University. The pair of geese he gave us were named Linus and Lucy.

It wasn't long before Linus and Lucy were blessed as parents. Lucy laid a clutch of 17 eggs and every single one of them hatched. The goslings were precious. A couple of them didn't survive long, but the other 15 grew to maturity.

There is no end to the love story about these magnificent birds...

The geese were fond of chasing our horses out of the barn. Sometimes they'd clamp on to the horse's or pony's tail and take a wild ride almost like water skiing being towed behind a boat, one of the geese would hang on and not let go as the horse or pony would run wildly in circles around the pasture.

On one of those occasions, one of the geese sustained an injury to its webbed foot when the horse stepped on it. We kept that goose in the house (yes, our house, not the hen house) inside a shower enclosure for nearly a month where I administered hydrotherapy to the mangled foot with the shower spray, and fed the goose antibiotics and food via a funnel. If you've never had the privilege of administering medications and food to a squirming goose with a funnel in its throat, you really have missed out on something. After the first few times, the goose seemed to understand that what I was doing was intended as being helpful and it became cooperative and would even open his/her mouth to allow me to place the funnel without pulling away.

As time went on, the once gangrenous-looking traumatized foot returned to a healthy color indicating life in the tissue, and he/she was able to return to the rest of the family at that point in time. It was quite a thrill to have succeeded in restoring the bird to health.

Ordinarily, Linus, Lucy, and their offspring resided in the barn, but they were free to roam about the pasture or the creek that formed part of the perimeter of the property.

One year the kids and I went on a three-week vacation through Oregon, California, and Mexico driving South on 101 most of the way (part way on I-5), and then up through Death Valley and Mammoth Lakes, and on to Crater Lake on the return trip to Washington.

Neighbors looked after all of our pets while we were on the long road trip.

When we returned home, to our complete surprise, our gaggle of geese had moved out of the barn...and onto our front yard. There they all were: waiting for us to come home! What a welcoming party it was to be greeted by all of the geese. Interestingly, once we were home, the geese readily moved back to the barn on their own volition. It truly was as if they just wanted to be there to greet us on our return, as if to say, "We've missed you."

Seagulls, Sandpipers: seabirds make my heart sing

Bird pictures thrill my heart!

The biggest thrill of all (for me) is to feed the seagulls at the beach, at Ocean Shores, Washington, on the Pacific Ocean coastline.

Prior to digital photography, taking 35-mm color pictures of the seabirds was my biggest vice: I used to spend thousands of dollars each year on film and processing. The savings by now (since having a digital camera) are tremendous...although I cannot say that I have literally saved a dime, because I have no savings whatsoever, but at least I haven't been having to spend it on shots that didn't quite turn out right, always striving for the ultimate seagull picture.