Celebrate! It's spring, at least for now ...

Bought purple and yellow pansies and a yellow primrose a couple of days ago. Uncovered the patio furniture and set out some chairs. We've eaten outside almost every night this week. I'm wondering if we somehow went back to California, where it was sunny and beautiful every single day.

And I want to say what a great time we had celebrating PJ's birthday. A whole day of celebration starting with the 95th then a walk on the Magnificent Mile with stops at the Apple store and Crate and Barrel and a photo op with PJ and Marilyn Monroe. Then on to Andy's, Callahan's and Howl at the Moon. We partied!! So much fun--I felt 22!

Happy Spring!

This should get you in the mood for spring.

We Blue Staters Provide for Red Staters--who hate us--what kind of fools are we?

Read this story, Blue States Provide. Red States are Parasites.

Have I got this right? Red states are fighting for lower taxes, yet they get more money back for their taxes than blue states, which means they get blue state tax money to supplement their red state tax money. If they don't want blue state tax money, why are we fighting to give it to them? They hate us for it.

What a crazy woild we live in. Sometimes I wish Lincoln had let the south secede and offered sanctuary and 40 acres and a mule to all African-Americans. The America envisioned by red state people would have mandatory Christian church-going, no public schools, no unemployment insurance or aid to indigent people, no government supported highways, police, firemen, no social security, no medicare or medicaid, no unions ... and that's the short list.

YIKES. If that's the world they want, why are we fighting to pay our hard-earned blue state money to keep them from it? They hate us for wanting all the things we provide them with our blue state supplement. We goody two-shoes blue staters need to think this through.

Just imagine, if we didn't have to support the red states with our tax money, we could keep disbursing our blue state tax money in the blue states and have the secular America we want--with good schools and a strong infrastructure and union wages and a great safety net ... the list goes on.

If they don't want higher taxes or government in their lives, is there any way we can let them go their own way and save our hard-earned blue state tax money for blue states?

Liberals rock--JFK quote that says it all

If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."—JFK

Self-Published Book Awards | WritersDigest.com

Self-Published Book Awards | WritersDigest.com

I just entered A Sixties Story in this contest for the second time.

It didn't win the first time I entered, but I just received these comments from one of the contest judges:

What did you like best about this book?

Say "Chicago" and "1968" and, if you were alive then, you'll think of the "police riot" that went on during the Democratic convention. Apicelli brings considerable insight into her description of that event, including Mayor Daley's order to kill rioters and maim or cripple looters. I was old enough to watch the Chicago events on television and I remember hoping I never, ever, saw anything like that again. She did a wonderful job with this coverage, and I felt personally grateful to the "angel" woman who offered to take the scared kids out in her car. I've known a great deal about this event, but Toni made it personal and offered new events.

How can the author improve this book?

Although tie-dye is a perfect symbol of the sixties, the dark background makes the cover look more like a target, which I thought at first it was! (Or maybe that's appropriate for the Chicago event.) Self-publishing is expensive, so recalling all those books and changing the cover might not be practical. I hope that if it goes into reprint she'll color that cover.