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Click here for the New York Cool July-December 2019 Edition!

Miss Wendy's Occasional Comments on the
State of the Popular Culture

Ask Miss Wendy
L-R: Michael Mazocco, Wendy R. Williams, Armistead Johnson
Photo Credit Stephen Moser

September 4, 2021

"Murder in the Leeward Islands, A Caleigh O'Neill story, is live on Amazon.com.

“Murder in the Leeward Islands: A Caleigh O’Neill Story” is the third novel in “The Caleigh O’Neill Stories,” a series of romantic suspense novels about an heiress who is blackmailed into joining a shady undercover government agency. Book Three finds Caleigh, mission unaccomplished, on her way back to Barcelona to reunite with her new husband, Anton Dubec, a Ukrainian oligarch with a more-than-doubtful past.

Caleigh is overcome with lust for Anton and an overwhelming desire to make him pay for forcing her to marry him. Caleigh concedes that she lost round one in the marriage wars but is determined to never again play on the losing side.

Caleigh makes an unexpected trip to the Caribbean, where she is surprised to discover that she has a stepsister, Ruben’s daughter Alia. But as soon as she meets Alia, she needs to play big sister to protect her from one of Anton’s henchmen, Maksym Andrich, who is hit with a thunderbolt the first time he sees the eighteen-year-old Alia.

“Murder at the Top of the Stairs” was the first of this series of international crime novels set in the implausible but true intersections between Eastern European crime lords and global mega-rich society. The book tells the story of an heiress who inadvertently witnessed a crime and is forced to join a shady undercover government unit.

In the second novel, “Murder in Mallorca,” Caleigh is in Barcelona, Spain, swimming in a film-nourish world of minor Spanish royalty, sex clubs, and human trafficking (as advertised in the travel brochures).

Please like the Facebook page for “Murder at the Top of the Stairs” series.

Click on my author page to see a list of my other books published on Amazon.

Kindle Unlimited subscribers can read the books for free.

"Will you walk into my parlor?" said a spider to a fly.” Mary Howitt.

August 29, 2021

Ruminations on the importance of studying history to avoid future Oops and Ut Ohs:

Read this article in Wikipedia about all the different empires and countries who have invaded Afghanistan and were forced to leave with their tail between their legs.

July 24, 2021

"Murder at the Top of the Stairs" the first book in The Caleigh O'Neill Stories will be part of a free promotion on Amazon.com on Saturday July 24th and Sunday July 25th. Click here to get your free copy.

July 21, 2021

Some Republicans are starting to encourage their constituents to be vaccinated. The entire House is up for reelection in 2022 and the ads just write themselves. Film clip of Republican poo-pooing vaccinations interposed with the unvaccinated death count for their state.

July 20, 2021

The stock market dropped yesterday on fear of a Coved 19 resurge. Let's hope the opportunist vaccine fear-mongers own stock and are now forced to reaccess their reckless behavior.

Come on Fox News! There's lots of stuff in the cultural landscape you can bray about to scare your viewers. You don't need this one. Let the DFs live!

July 19, 2021

Ruminations: A lot has been written about how we now have Two Americas, one liberal and one conservative. But I think we are looking at two different types of brains and these brains are born, not cultivated.

I look at the people who refuse to get vaccinated and the people who support Donald Trump, and the only explanation I can come up with is they are working with a different type of brain. I'm not theorizing that that they are stupid; many of them are highly successful financially. But they must look at life through a different lens, one that doesn't show the humanity of their fellow man. How else to explain the willingness to support a man who tears families apart at the border or a party (and network) that peddles vaccine skepticism during a pandemic.

Most of the people whose loved ones died of Covid after the vaccine was available or who have relatives facing felony charges for storming the capital, have apparently not changed their mind about the vaccine or Trump. They still support a President who told his followers to "Fight like hell," and then did nothing to help them after they were arrested.

That my dears, is a different type of brain.

July 18, 2021

The New York Times has a fascinating story about three unvaccinated women in Mountain Home, Arkansas, who were infected with Covid and ended up in the hospital. They were each very sick but none of them will admit to regretting not getting the vaccine. As Truman Capote's Holly Golightly said, "I must say, the mind reels."

July 16, 2021

My granddaughter attended a Free Britney rally yesterday in Los Angeles. I was concerned about her participation because I didn't know if her parents had cleaned their home to the level necessary to receive such illustrious company.

But kidding aside, it is utterly ridiculous for Britney to be in a conservatorship when male celebrities (Kanye, Mel), who have occasionally appeared bonkers, run free in Hollywood. And we all know that if Britney weren't a highly successful recording artists making millions of dollars, no one in her family would be interested in putting her in a conservatorship. It would be, "I know, but what can you do?"

This mishegas smells like grift.

So let the poor woman go so she can be whoever she wants to be without forcing her to pay a team of so-called protectors to keep her in line.

July 15, 2021

Ruminations:

When I read the excerpts from the three scandalous books about the last year of Trump's Presidency, I am amazed that Mr. Trump had no clue that in the end, his Presidency would be summarized in one paragraph in a seventh grade history book. And that paragraph will be written by a historian, not his PR person. History is never kind to fools.

March 21, 2021

From Miss Wendy:

"Murder in Mallorca, A Caleigh O'Neill story, was just published on Amazon.com.

"Murder in Mallorca: A Caleigh O'Neill Story," by Wendy R Williams, is the second book in the Caleigh O'Neill series.

Texas-born heiress Caleigh O'Neill fell through a rabbit hole when she witnessed a murder at the top of the stairs across from the United Nations. She became a pawn in a firestorm between the worlds of New York society, Texas royalty, a Bulgarian crime family, and the FBI. By the end of the game, Caleigh had blood on her hands and is conscripted into a quasi-government terror-fighting agency.

Book Two of the series finds Caleigh working undercover in Europe to take down a human trafficking ring. Caleigh reunites with her mother, who is married to Ruben, a Spanish billionaire with a doubtful past. Using her mother's connections, Caleigh finagles an invitation for a cruise from Barcelona to Madagascar on a yacht owned by Ruben's arch-rival, a Ukrainian billionaire with an equally doubtful past. The game is on, the hand is dealt, and Caleigh is the prey!

"Will you walk into my parlor?" said a spider to a fly. Mary Howitt.

Book three of the series will be published in the Summer of 2021

Click on my author page to see a list of my other books published on Amazon.

December 11, 2020

From Miss Wendy:

"Murder at the Top of the Stairs, A Caleigh O'Neill story, was just published on Amazon.com.

"Murder at the Top of the Stairs: A Caleigh O'Neill Story," by Wendy R Williams, is the first book in the Caleigh O'Neill series. "Murder" tells the story of a four-car-pileup between the insulated worlds of New York society, Texas royalty, a Bulgarian crime family, and various law enforcement agencies with differing levels of competency.

When "things" become too heated in a downtown nightclub bathroom, Caleigh O'Neill flees the club with no cabs in sight. She grabs a Citibike and rides up First Avenue on the way to her Upper Eastside apartment. Pedaling past the UN, she stops to take a moonlit photo of two men standing at the top of the stairs leading to Ralph Bunche Park, when she sees one man stab the other, and a body falls over the railing, through the trees, and into the park.

Unfortunately for Caleigh, the body that fell into the park belonged to the son of the United Kingdom's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and the murderer is the son of the head of a Bulgarian crime family. She is now the "witness" and beamed into a world where being an innocent bystander is not an option.

In Book Two of the series, Caleigh is in Barcelona, Spain, in a world of minor Spanish royalty, sex clubs, and human trafficking (as advertised in the travel brochures). Book Two will be published on Amazon in February of 2021.

Click on my author page to see a list of my other books published on Amazon.

October 20, 2020

Ruminations:

I watched some footage of Trump supporters in Ohio hosting a Trump flotilla on a local lake. The news story focused on why they support Trump and how they are angry at the East Coast elites. But that explanation does not make sense to me. Most of those men were good looking men in the 40-50 range who were self-made. Why would they spend their days obsessing about people like Bill Gates and Amal Clooney? Most people don't get upset about lofty ideas and save their anger for issues that affect them directly.

Then it hit me. It's women. These guys are sick and tired of college-educated women rejecting them because of their blue-collar background. They see beautiful educated women who will only date lawyers, doctors, and corporate executives and look down on guys who own the local marina or truck stop. I am not saying these guys can't get a date. Most of them are probably married or have been married. But it's the idea that there is an elite class of WOMEN who look down on them that busts their chops. They think they are better than all women, so who do these women think they are? Trump acts like a blue-collar tycoon, and he marries models, bypassing women who have MBA's from schools like Stanford. And boy or boy would they like to stick it to those witches-with-a-b the way Trump does.

It's not the misogyny not the economy, stupid.

September 7, 2020

Ruminations: The five boats sinking at the Lake Travis boat parade honoring Trump, is a perfect metaphor for his Presidency. The big boats sped by and the small boats sank in their wake. And I bet the dunces on those dunked small boats actually thought they were part of the Republican gang and were enjoying the parade.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/07/us/trump-boat-parade-sink-trnd/index.html

July 25, 2020

Ruminations: Trump started his Presidency by trying to ban Muslims from traveling to the United States. Now we are the pariahs who cannot travel the world, including the EU and the Bahamas. Yup, we have been kicked out of the Bahamas. We're their best customers and still they say, "No Thanks, we'll pass."

March 11, 2020

Ruminations: So it looks like it is going to be Uncle Joe for President and that's fine with me. Trump still thinks he can do some damage with Burisma investigations. What he is not considering is that voters have become so overloaded with his daily crimes, no one will care about whatever so-called "scandal" the Republicans are able to muck up.

We are fast becoming French and can only react with a yawn and a "So?"

February 19, 2020

Ruminations: Trump supplied his biographers (and the post 2020 FBI) with some juicy material yesterday when he pardoned a band of renegades. Betcha he has committed everyone of the crimes for which they were pardoned. As in "Bribery, fraud, those aren't crimes." So "Follow the Yellow Brick Road." It is all laid out in front of you.

January 28, 2020

Ruminations on the Impeachment Hearings: I am on a Caribbean cruise and yesterday I was standing on a dock in St. Lucia, waiting to board a catamaran cruise. I was talking to a gentleman who was wearing what you would expect for a man about to board a catamaran - board shorts and a tank top. The subject of the impeachment came up and four of us were shocked to find out that we were standing in line with four other Democrats (cruise passengers tend to be older and whiter and you know what that means). So the gentleman in the board shorts says to me, "Trump's impeachment defense is like my telling you that I am wearing a yellow dress today and expecting the Republicans to agree with me."

And there goes the King with no clothes.

January 2, 2020

Happy New Year to all!

It's an election year and we have an opportunity to actually "Make America Great Again," by electing a new President who will reverse all the Russian and Evangelical backed assaults on our democracy instituted by Citizen Trump. I will Vote Blue No Matter Who. Any of the Democratic candidates standing at the last Democratic debate will do. Hell, even my fifteen year old granddaughter would do a better job than Trump. She knows that she does not know everything and would ask a lot of questions before she opened her mouth. In life, there is no substitute for a willingness to do your homework.

Ruminations on the attack on the American Embassy in Iraq:

The Iranian militias will be back for more. They scored "bigly" when news organizations showed photos of the American Embassy being attacked with impunity. Their withdrawal is a joke. Iraq allowed them to breech the Green Zone and attack our Embassy in the first place. A quick "Oops. Ut oh. There are those pesky militias again. Who knew?" by Iraq and it's on to another PR stunt by Iran. Humiliating the United States is addictive; just ask Kim Jong Un.

September 18, 2019

Ruminations: Corey Lewandowski, who is pondering running for the Senate in New Hampshire, wrote his opponent's attack ad when he testified before the House and gave these sizzling quotes:

"I have no obligation to be honest with the media because they’re just as dishonest as anyone else.”
&
“I’m as honest as I can be, as often as I can be.”

Well, duh, Corey. Why don't you run up to New Hampshire and tell them all about your lying self?

And there is the bit about how in New Hampshire, half the populace are women and Mr. Corey comes across as a nightmare first husband.

See Washington Post

August 5, 2019

More Ruminations:

Trump gave a speech today where he attempted to say "something" about the massacres. As to whether he will ever actually do anything about gun violence, read this quote from Rober Heinlein, “Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.”

Ruminations:

Here is old Cherokee parable about the wolves inside us:

"One evening, an elderly Cherokee brave told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “my son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace love, hope serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The grandson though about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee simply replied, "the one that you feed.'" Quote from the HuffPost.

So if someone asks you how what Trump "says" is responsible for what those shooters "did," tell them he is feeding them. Trump throws raw meat to monsters and then feigns surprise when they attack.

Thank about it. Homeowners are held responsible when their attack dogs kill someone. How is this different?

Ruminations:

According to this morning's New York Times, Texas Representative Will Hurd (the only black Republican presently in Congress) will not seek reelection. He is joining a number of incumbent Republicans who have seen the writing on the wall and decided that there are better ways to spend their time than to run as a Republican in today's toxic environment.

See this quote from the article: "The party is not growing in some of the largest parts of our country,” he said in a June speech to the Log Cabin Republicans, a conservative L.G.B.T. group. “Why is that? I’ll tell you.”

“Don’t be a racist,” Mr. Hurd went on to say, according to the The Washington Blade. “Don’t be a misogynist, right? Don’t be a homophobe. These are real basic things that we all should learn when we were in kindergarten.”

So there you have it.

May 26, 2019

To cheer us up this morning:

The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not. Mark Twain

May 1, 2019

With Trump at his 10,000 "untruth" (according to the Washington Post), we are all now suffering from Boiling Frog Syndrome. According to Wikipedia, "The boiling frog is a fable describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death."

Where I come from, an "untruther" is a f'ing liar, plain and simple.

April 26, 2019

Kellyanne Conway's husband George has become the gift-that-keeps-on-giving. He gave Trump a most fitting nickname and hashtag - #Deranged Donald. #Deranged Donald is trending. So pass it on!

April 25, 2019

Trump has instructed his present and former White House aides to stonewall subpoenas from the House. Maybe his present aides will comply, but I bet a lot of of his former aides will "on advice of counsel" show up (it's too late for Trump to claim Executive Privilege after both he and his staff "cooperated" with the Special Counsel). After all, how many rats are willing to go down with a sinking ship?

April 23, 2019

Kellyanne Conway's husband George has informed the press that President Trump's crimes are so egregious he should be impeached immediately. The quick assumption would be that things must get pretty heated in the Conway household since Kellyanne is a Trump's spokesperson. But wouldn't it be a hoot if we later found out that there was no conflict at all, just some eye rolling and an attitude of "a guy or gal has to do what they got to do." After all, they do have four children and even one child can suck up all the available air in a room, leaving very little energy for anything else. Hey, it's Washington where people are born cynical.

February 4, 2019

Hot Tip: Watch "A Discovery of Witches" on Sundance. Sundance is offering a seven day free trial and the series is so watchable, it is easy to flip through all eight episodes in a week. Check it out - it's Vampire Porn for nerds with doctorates.

January 27, 2018

Here is a bit of perspective for the day: "Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” - Mark Twain

January 26, 2018

So President Trump holds a news conference expecting to wave a magic wand and the hideous mess he alone caused will simply disappear. As if! There will be repercussions for years. How many Federal employees are going to say, "F**k you and the horse you rode in on and Bye Felicia too?"

And it will be the really talented ones who leave. They always have the most options and working for a fool will not be one of them.

January 20, 2019

Rumination: When people make fools of themselves on a large public stage (yes I am talking about you Donald and you too Nigel and Boris), they must never think about how they will appear in history books. Think of the summations/the titles, "Donald Trump, Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson ushered in the Age of Lying," and on and one. Just the kind of thing one wants one's grandchildren to read. Example: How would you like to be Neville Chamberlain's great grandchild?

Check out "Short History: Vietnam War" by Daniel Turner with this opening sentence, "The war in Vietnam was a bitter and unpopular conflict for the American soldiers and people back home." I lived through the Vietnam War and recall that many people still supported the war up till the bitter end because they could not stand to lose. But the Vietnam War is now history and condensed to a a "bitter unpopular conflict." P.S. I opposed the Vietnam War.

Oh that we could wake up to find it was all a dream and the deplorable "base" was given a Shakespearean potion that made them fall in love with those fools with their donkey heads.

January 17, 2019

Ruminations:

1. That Brexit thing: In my perspective from across the pond, it appears that the UK voted to jump off a cliff and Prime Minister Theresa May has been frantically running around purchasing every net and cushion she can find, only to have Parliament tell her, "No, no, no. Too expensive and besides, Nigel and Boris told us we would fly."

It's really hard to raise kids who insist on touching hot stoves.

2. The US shutdown. When writing plays or books, don't start writing until you know the end. If you know the beginning and the end, you can outline and then adjust as needs be, but always move towards the desired end. Our President shut down the government with no plan in place except that Nancy Pelosi would cave and give him the wall. Hah! Someone should tell him that Pelosi has read Sun Tzu's "The Art of War," with quotes like this, “Who wishes to fight, must first count the cost” and “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” Or my absolute favorite, “If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by.”

P. S. Pelosi raised five children and knows how to deal with a toddler's temper tantrum - ignore him or her giving no positive or negative reward.

Click Here: The Travelogue's Have Been Moved.

December 25, 2017

Dear Readers,

Merry Christmas! If you are running about trying to figure out what to contribute to the feast, here are two of Miss Wendy's favorite holiday recipes.

Miss Wendy's White Trash Fruit Salad

1 large can of fruit cocktail (drained)
1 large bag of colored miniature marshmallows
1 large container of Cool Whip

Mix ingredients in a bowl and enjoy

Miss Wendy's White Trash Queso

One package of Velveeta cheese, sliced
One jar of salsa
16 ounces of half and half

Put all ingredients into the crock pot, heat and serve with chips.

Happy Holidays!

September 26, 2017

I am thinking about starting GoFundme.com account to purchase a toga and a violin for Donald Trump.

September 23, 2017:

Who knew alligators could fly?

September 21, 2017

Ruminations: I could not help but snigger when North Korea' "Glorious Leader" called Mr. Trump a deranged dotard. Of course, I immediately showed my age by not having to Google the word dotard or for that matter snigger. What's next? Bitch slapping? And yes yes yes, there is nothing funny about seeing two world class idiotards hissing at each other. When I was growing up in South Texas, if two yard cats got into a tussle, we just threw a bucket of water on them. Unfortunately, that is not an option here.

P. S. It was standard practice to keep bucket of water on the porch of South Texas homes. Not just for taking care of fussy cats, but to use if the dogs suddenly decided to become amorous just as the preacher was pulling in the driveway.

September 9, 2017

Ruminations: I wonder what a Republican family who lost their beautiful home in Houston's Bellaire thinks about climate change now. I don't think any scientist has said that climate change caused Harvey, but they all say it made the hurricane much worse than it would have been without climate change. I have been convinced that we are threatened by global warming ever since I first saw Al Gore's film, "An Inconvenient Truth." But I know a lot of people who live in Texas would refuse to watch a movie made by a Democrat so how are they supposed to have known about it. It's not like Ted Cruz made a film.

When people talked about climate change, the normal prediction was that New York and Los Angeles would be under water first. No one predicted Houston, yet here we are.

P. S. Houston is a blue city in a red state. But even so, the powers-that-be in Houston tend to be Republican climate-change-deniers.

September 4, 2017

It is amazing how much smarter everyone is now that we have Google. In the olden days, a person such as Miss Wendy would have to get dressed, put on her hat and drive to a library and deal with microfiche (if you don't know what that is - Google it).

September 3, 2017

Regarding Nurse Wubbels, the Salt Lake City nurse who was roughed up and arrested by a cop (Jeff Payne) for refusing to break the law and allow him to get a blood sample from a comatose burn patient (see WashingtonPost.com):

There is a very simple explanation about why this cop became abusive to a nurse who was following the law. A neighboring town's police force had chased a suspect down the freeway at high speed resulting in the suspect plowing into a truck causing the truck driver to suffer severe burns. The neighboring police force will and should face severe financial penalties for their recklessness, so they got in touch with their cop buddies in Salt Lake and asked them to get a blood draw in the hope that they could claim contributory negligence on the part of the truck driver. That's why the officer wanted the blood and that is why he got so mad. He was defending the blue wall.

Listening to his rage, it is obvious that he has previously been able to bully his way into getting a blood sample without a warrant and cannot believe that this time he was not able to plow his way through.

September 2, 2017

Reading the national news feels like strapping in to take a quick drive around the Indianapolis Speedway. When 2020 finally comes around, someone really needs to run on a dignity ticket.

Low class is not better than no class at all.

August 31, 2017

Burning Man is in full swing - see this article in the New York Daily News. Burning Man is ultimate proof that life does not need to make any sense whatsoever.

August 30, 2017

Melania Trump had a Marie Antoinette "Let them eat cake" moment when she sashayed off to the Texas Flood (not that is not a country band but it would be a good name) in six inch stilettos. Now Mrs. Trump has the right to wear any shoes she wishes, but it was still fun to watch such a clueless display.

August 28, 2017

Last night was the Season 7 finale of Game of Thrones. I simply don't know what I will do with myself until sometime in late 2018 when the final season of the show will begin. Check out the New York Time's recap.

August 27, 2017

Ruminations: There is another Hurricane in Texas with another evacuation call. Looking at the news coverage of the people stranded by rising waters, you could wonder - just why didn't they evacuate? Well, if you want to leave you had better leave long before the evacuation order. Because afterwards, the freeways heading north turn into parking lots filled with motorists in overheated cars who are stuck in over one hundred degree weather with never enough water. The choice is risk drowning in your home or having a heat stroke on Interstate 35.

And as with any problem concerning the weather, no one takes responsibility. And South Texas's evangelical Christians don't have anymore clout with the weather than the local witch coven.

August 25, 2017

Afterthought: When Trump goes to bed at night I bet he dreams of a balcony from where he could rally his supporters like darling Evita had at the Casa Rosada and Mussolini had on Rome's Palazzo Venezia. Of course, there is the concern that if the White House did have such a balcony it would be in DC where 80% of the residents voted for Hillary Clinton. So his "adoring" crowd would be carrying pitchforks.

When this nightmare is finally over, someone needs to write a musical with a tap-dancing little Donnie Trump.

August 23, 2017

Last night's Trump Rally in Phoenix:

A lot has been said about Trump's unhinged rant last night in Phoenix. Now, after the week Trump had where his gun kept malfunctioning and aiming for his toes, he desperately needed a "make-out" session with his friends/followers just so he could feel better. But what kind of idiot schedules a rally in Phoenix in August and expects anything to go well? It was 107 degrees outside folks.

August 22, 2017

Ruminations on modern medicine and Greenwood Cemetery:

Greenwood Cemetery
Photographed by Katherin Wermke and Beatriz Schulze for
Barcelona Photographer

Brooklyn's Greenwood Cemetery was founded in 1838 as an "over-flow" cemetery as Manhattan church yards were filling up rapidly (the first housing crisis?). It is also one of the most beautiful places in New York City - a gorgeous haunted park with paths that wind by stunning mausoleums and mature trees.

I spent a morning at Greenwood Cemetery a couple year ago when I was researching my book "Solange's Song," the sequel to "The Big Apple Posse Trilogy" (yes, that was a plug). I was looking for Jean-Michel Basquait's grave, which by the way it very modest, but covered with strange voodoo trinkets making one wonder who brought the Gris-gris and exactly what do his dead neighbors think about these "goings-on.”

But it was not the gorgeous monuments that told the stories of New York's former wealthy and famous residents that blew my mind; it was the fact that hardly any old people were buried in Greenwood before the mid-20th century. People in their 20's, 30's and 40's were dropping like flies, but graves for people in their 60's and 70's were few, because by the time people would have reached these ages, they were already in the ground. Those were the times when if a person had the flu, cancer, high blood pressure or high cholesterol, they could die simply because there were no drugs to treat their condition. Some of the saddest graves were those of children who died before the age of 10 (diphtheria?), the graves of young women who died in childbirth and whole families who died from the Spanish flu and were all buried together.

The moral of this story is: The next time you become riled up by the cost of modern medicine and drugs, take a trip to Greenwood and consider your alternative.

August 21, 2017

Today is the day of the solar eclipse. Here are some tips on how to watch the eclipse from the New York Times. No point in saying this to New Yorkers (who always know everything anyway), but don't look directly at the sun.

August 20, 2017

The wonderful legislature state of Texas is at it again, going in apoplectic fits because the Speaker of the Texas house is blocking a dearly cherished ( by the right-wing nutters) "bathroom bill." This bill is opposed by titans of the business community who don't want their state to lose millions of dollars and become more of a laughing stock than they already are like the state North Carolina. This is legislation that is in search of an issue to solve. I live in New York City where pretty much anyone can use the bathroom they choose and my only complaints have been about the fact that some women can't take care of their business without showering the toilet seat and most public bathroom are out of paper towels.

As to the usual "What about the children?" I don't know any Mom who does not supervise her small child's visit to a public bathroom, including standing outside the men's room door ready to run inside when her sons are too old to accompany her into the ladies' room. As for schools, the scariest thing in public school bathrooms are bullies, not trannies.

As to why this is going on in Texas, it's because everyone except the ultra-religious right wingers are too lazy to vote in their primaries. So when they walk into the voting booth, there are some really scary people behind the Republican button.

September 4, 2016

I'm back: "The University of Chicago has warned incoming students not to expect “trigger warnings” when they arrive on campus.“Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called ‘trigger warnings.'” quote from fortune.com.

Miss Wendy highly approves of the University of Chicago's approach drawing from recent experiences (aka the sh*t) in her own life. When Donald Trump first decided to run for President and opened his mouth to spill his spew, it took all of Miss Wendy's considerable stamina to stay in her home and not run around the block screaming and tossing her wig(s). But now she is used to this recurring horror, can stay seated in her chair and is progressing to the point when she can merely snigger. So desensitization does work.

This may not be progress.

October 24, 2015

Ruminations on the Benghazi Committee: I watched a good part of the 11 hour marathon and came away with a few thoughts:

1. First, Hillary won. She fogged them - answering their questions authoritatively but quietly. Hillary's total control increasingly infuriated the Republicans on the Committee, turning them into a pack of unhappy chihuahuas, jumping up and down while barking furiously, totally bewildered that they were unable to scare their prey.

2. The next thought was - how did the Republicans who are supposedly in charge, not see that coming? Surely they had met the ultraconservatives on the committee - Chairman Trey Gowdy, and Representatives Susan Brook, Jim Jordan, Mike Pompeo, Martha Roby, Peter Roskam and Lynn Westmoreland - and had some idea how they would come across on national television?

3. Maybe I am being really cynical, but is it possible that Speaker John Boehner (who was planning on resigning anyway) just had enough of being harassed and harangued by the ultra conservative Congressional Republicans and decided to hand them enough rope to go hang themselves as in, "You want to form the 8th group to investigate Benghazi, have at it guys."

4. Republicans have this saying that Americans want to vote for someone they would like to invite home for a beer (thus W). But after seeing that pack of sweating miserable attack dogs, would anyone invite them over for anything?

5. Memo to whomever is left of the so called Republican leadership: You were had guys and I wonder how long it will take you to figure it out?

September10, 2015

Rootstein Mannequin's Philippe Blond Male and Female Mannequin
The Blonds Designs
Photo Credit: Wendy R. Williams

Rootstein Mannequins hosted a presentation/party for the The Blonds collection last night. Rootstein had created both a male and a female mannequin from the likeness of Philippe Blond ( half with his brother David of design team behind The Blonds). The gorgeous mannequins were dressed in Blond designs and the mannequins, the designs and the guests were simply fabulous, darlings - simply fabulous.

September 5, 2015

Ruminations:

It was a slow news week so we were treated to the 24-7 spectacle of a Kentucky country clerk, Kim Davis, being thrown in jail because she refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. (It was actually fun to watch.)

The Judge in the case, did not have much choice. As long as Davis was at work, she has stated that not only would she not issue licenses to gay couples, she would forbid her employees from issuing them either. Davis is an elected official so she can only be removed by being impeached which is never going to happen in Kentucky. Fining her would not work either because Davis's fine would happily be paid by her fundamentalist Christian supporters.

So right now, it looks like Davis is going to sit in jail until the Judge figures out a way he can let her out without her immediately instructing her clerks to once again cease issuing licenses. Judge Bruning also summoned all Davis's deputies to her contempt of court hearing and they were all questioned about their willingness to issues licenses in Davis's absence. Five of the six swore under oath that they would and the very next day, gay couples were able to go to the courthouse and get a marriage license.

Most of the Republican candidates are going on record as supporting Davis in her fight for her so-called "religious liberty." But I would love to see where those Republican candidates landed if an Orthodox Jewish county employee refused to issue building permits for hamburger joints because hamburger joints serve cheese burgers (mixing dairy and meat). Or better yet, if a Hindu county employee refused to issue building permits to all meat servicing or selling establishments as in - there goes the grocery store.

I am sure when Ms. Davis was elected County Clerk, she never thought her job would change so that she had to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, but it did. Now her choices are to follow the law or get another job. It is a simple as that.

This situation will resolved itself, most likely at the voting booth when the good citizens of that Kentucky county decide that they don't want to continue to be the laughing stock of the nation and that they also don't want to pay for being the laughing stock of the nation - court costs plus overtime for the police to deal with demonstrators, not to mention the cost of room and board to keep Miss Kim in jail.

And where will this leave Miss Kim? Well, out of what must have been a pretty darn good job in a part of the country where good jobs with benefits are hard to find. Miss Kim is not a woman who will be able to cash in on the lecture circuit. She will either be waiting tables or making 20,000 a year as the secretary at some right-wing Christian academy. And just where will all the people who were "egging her on" be when it comes time to take a Carnival Cruise or pay her bills.

June 19, 2015

Rumination on the state of race in America:

1. On Wednesday, June 17, 2015, Dylann Roof shot and killed nine worshipers at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. His level of hatred is unfathomable - he spent the hour before the shooting attending a prayer meeting with his intended victims.

But as soon this horrific tragedy was reported, conservative pundits immediately chimed in to state that the shootings were not caused by the fact that in the United States of America, any nut job can get a gun. The President of the NRA even stated that the deaths were the responsibility of the murdered pastor because he opposed letting parishioners carry guns into the church. This ill advised rant has since been removed from the NRA website.

And none of South Carolina's Republican politicians think Roof's level of racial hatred was in anyway influenced by the fact that the state of South Carolina insists on flying the Confederate flag on the grounds of the capitol. Dylann Roof liked the Confederate flag too - he displayed it on his car's license plate.

I don't know what Confederate flag flying supporters have in their hearts when they see that flag, but to the civilized world it is a sign of blatant racial hatred. Supporters say they fly it in support of tradition and all I can say is, "And exactly what tradition is that? Is it the tradition of beautiful antebellum homes built and staffed by slave labor?"

As President Obama stated in his address after the shootings:

"We don’t have all the facts, but we do know that, once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun.

Now is the time for mourning and for healing. But let’s be clear:

1. At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn't happen in other places with this kind of frequency. And it is in our power to do something about it."

2. I am from Dallas, a city about 30 miles south of McKinney and when I heard the story about the McKinney pool party, I immediately knew what happened. Some disgruntled homeowners saw a bunch of boisterous black kids celebrating high school graduation in "their" pool and called the police to report that there were people on their pool who looked like they "did not belong." The police immediately dispatched 12 policemen who arrived to look for the people who "did not belong." Everyone was in a swim suit so how could they tell who "did not belong?" Why, by the color of their skin of course. The cops then took control of these marauding swimmers and one made the national news when his assault of a young black girl was filmed by a white kid who had no problem filming because the cops assumed that he was where he belonged.

I raised my children in the South and there were a few occasions when they attended parties that became too loud and the neighbors called the cops. You know what happened? One squad car would show up and two cops would tell the kids it was time for everyone to go home. It was just a normal Friday night gig for the local police. But my children are white. "Do not belong" is Southern code for black.

The city of McKinney will probably have to pay big time to settle the lawsuits that will quickly ensue and they should. Being hurt in the pocket book will encourage the city council to pay a lot more attention to the actions of their police department.

Who knew when the cell phone was first invented that it would become the eyes of the world and an instrument of social justice.

May 26,2015

Don't Mess With Texas?

The Lone Star state continues to make a fool of itself and in the process, supplies fodder for derision by the national media. First the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, alerted the Texas National Guard to keep a close eye on the some war games the Pentagon hosts every year in six Western states just in case the government (led by known socialist Muslim Kenyan President Barack Obama) is planning on invading Texas to take away Texans' freedoms. Then the legislature is working up a bill to take away the salaries of any county clerks who issues marriage licenses to gay couples after the expected Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage. And another bill to protect clergymen who refuse to participate in gay nuptials. (That last one makes my head reel - what gay couple would ruin their ceremony by insisting that a sanctimonious Baptist minister officiate or for that matter that a homophobic baker create their cake?)

For a quick laugh, check out this photo in the Dallas Morning News. Am I the only one whose first impression is that the two gentlemen so closely entwined in the center of the photo are a gay couple celebrating their marriage anniversary with a cake festooned with pink roses? And what is going on with that third gentlemen so intent on snuggling into the happy couple from the rear?

This is all very sad but also incredibly funny. In the words of Jane Austen's Mr. Bennet, "For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?”

April 12, 2015

Ruminations:

1. Don't you just love the way online ads are targeted to your previous searches. Thank the Goddesses restaurants can't send smells via WIFI - we would all be too fat to walk through the door with our new purses.

2. The Republican candidates all seem ready to implode by braying against three issues the majority of American favor: gay marriage, normalizing relations with Cuba and forging a nuclear agreement with Iran. (They are ready to go to war secure in the knowledge that their sons and daughters will not be on the front lines.)

And why do they do that? Because they receive large campaign contributions to represent niche interest (social conservatives, Cuban Republicans and the war machine {Haliburton etc}}) and in the United States of America, candidates represent moneyed interests, not the people. They have to or they would never be elected. But it is still disgusting. (Caveat - Democrats represent moneyed interests too, but not so much on social issues.)

Quick hint to the Republican party: If you want to remain relevant in the future (even in 2016), you simply must quit being photographed together. A large group of white men in suits do not represent the United States of America. The entire Republican party would benefit by a trip to Disneyland to see exactly what America looks like today - a total melting pot of nationalities and races, all of whom are able to afford to go to Disneyland.

March 24, 2015

Ruminations: It was a very slow news day yesterday. Senator Ted Cruz announced his campaign for the Presidency of the United States and all the new outlets covered it. Seriously.

March 22, 2015

Sia
Kourtney Kardashian Hosts Season Preview
Marquee Dayclub in Las Vegas
Cosmopolitan Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, NV, USA
March 21, 2015
Venue & Location:
Photo Credit: PRN / PRPhotos.com

I have no idea why Sia goes through life with a wig over her face, but I am glad she does. Sometimes it is hard to stay awake and this kind of thing helps.

February 7, 2015

We are back with the Republican no-nothings. Both Governor Chris Christie of "lock up those diabolical health workers who dared to go to Africa" fame and Rand Paul have chimed in to say that parents should have some choice about vaccinations. They both immediately had to rent a backhoe to excavate their feet from their mouths.

We get vaccinated and get our children vaccinated because we all live together in a global herd where one person's illness can kill someone else.

Governor Christie has obviously never heard that old adage, "Engage mind then open mouth."

November 27, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 24, 2011

Dear Readers,

Today is Thanksgiving! If you are running about trying to figure out what to contribute to the feast, here are two of Miss Wendy's favorite Thanksgiving recipes.

Miss Wendy's White Trash Fruit Salad

1 large can of fruit cocktail (drained)
1 large bag of colored miniature marshmallows
1 large container of Cool Whip

Mix ingredients in a bowl and enjoy

Miss Wendy's White Trash Queso

One package of Velveeta cheese, sliced
One jar of salsa
16 ounces of half and half

Put all ingredients into the crock pot, heat and serve with chips.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 16, 2014

Ruminations: Now that our Ebola panic is over for the time being (the streets of New York City are not filled with hemorrhaging subway riders, Williamsburg is not steaming from the stench of dead bowlers and the schools and workplaces in Texas have not been decimated by Frontier Airlines customers who are bleeding from their eyes), here is an analogy between Ebola and fire. (In case you are living under a rock, there have been no known transmissions of Ebola in the United States except for the two Dallas nurses who took care of an Ebola patient in the end stages of his life when he was highly contagious.)

Fire, like Ebola, can be devastating. It can wipe out entire towns (see California and Texas) and kill indiscriminately (just read the New York newspapers). And we all know this and are rightly afraid of fire. BUT - we also know a few things about fire and how it is spread and feel perfectly comfortable having a gas stove, a wood burning fireplaces and/or even storing a cigarette lighter or matches in our pocket or purse. And we have no protocols in place to be sure that people who buy homes with gas furnaces and/or fireplaces, have taken courses in fire safety and have well behaved children.

Scientists tell us that Ebola can only be spread by contact with the bodily fluids of someone who is symptomatic and even then it is the most contagious when someone is either about to die or has died (thus the infection of the two Texas nurses). But politicians saw hay to be made by ignoring this fact and spreading fear with statements like "we don't know what we don't know" and "the CDC has been all over the place on Ebola" because there was some discussion on how many pairs of gloves should be worn and the need for more training on how to remove the protective gear, a situation involving only health care workers.

So here is a message to Governors Cuomo, Christie and Le Page who decided that they knew more about how this should be handled than the CDC. No, you "don't know what you don't know" but medical professionals and scientists who have been fighting Ebola in Africa for forty years do "know what they know" so you (the Governors) need to quit braying and listen for a change. I am absolutely positive that if any of the three of your came down with a tropical disease you would go to the best doctors/scientists for treatment and not even think about calling your fellow governors for advice.

So Governors: Quit jailing health care workers when they return so they will continue to go to Africa and put out the fire that could devastate the world. Because if Ebola ever showed up a highly populated poor country like India, it would be disastrous. The only doctor I read about who supported quarantines for returning medical workers said something ridiculous along the lines of how doctors never know when they are sick and will go to work anyway. What? A doctor who was in Africa watching people die hideous deaths would just blow off their own elevated temperature? That would be like stating that a doctor who was bitten by a rabid dog could not be trusted to get rabies shots and should be locked up to be sure he or she takes care of the business of not becoming a rabid animal.

October 29, 2014

Tentgate: Kaci Hickox Versus the Governors:

If you were not under a rock, you now know about last weekend's mishegas. Kaci Hickox, an asymptomatic volunteer with Doctors Without Borders, was snared as the first catch in New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's mandatory quarantine of all health care workers who return from treating the Ebola outbreak in Africa. Nurse Hickox had been traveling for two days when she finally arrived at Newark Airport where she told the truth about where she had been and what she had been doing. Even though the forehead fever scanner showed no heightened temperature at that point, she was thrown into a room where she was isolated and interrogated (interrogated???) for seven hours including by someone from Customs who came into the room and barked questions at her while he was wearing a gun. After being detained in such a fashion, they retook her temperature using the forehead fever scanner and she now registered 101. Nurse Hickox, who has an advanced degree in epidemiology and has formerly worked for the CDC, explained to the gloating "forehead scanner" that she was upset and flushed and that she did not feel unwell and would they please use an oral thermometer to get a more accurate reading. Instead they called seven police cars to escort her to the hospital where she was tossed into an isolation tent with a portable toilet, no shower, no TV, no reading material where she remained from Friday until Monday when she was finally released. The New Jersey Health Department has refuted this saying she had a cell phone (her own), reading material (supplied by other nurses at the hospital), take out (Pizza Hut on Sunday) and a computer with wifi (also supplied Sunday after 48 hours in the tent). And this was all done even though after her temperature was rechecked at the hospital, she registered as 98.6 and the doctor said that she obviously did not have a temperature. She now at home in Maine and vowing to oppose Maine's newly imposed quarantine for returning health care workers.

(I recently traveled to London and arrived at Heathrow at 2AM my time and had to go through Customs in an overheated hall. It took hours and I am sure if anyone had put a scanner to my forehead I would have had a higher than normal reading. And I would not have been alone. Everyone in my line looked absolutely beat and we were sweating buckets. Plus we were all disoriented after having deplaned and walked what seemed miles through the airport and then stand in line for an hour in what to us was the middle of the night.)

Tentgate occurred because the governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, got upset because he heard that Dr. Nancy Snyderman from NBC, who had recently returned from reporting on the Ebola crisis in Africa, was spotted picking up take-out and New York's Governor Cuomo got upset because Dr. Craig Spencer, also recently returned from treating Ebola patients in Africa, had been taking the subway and bowling.

Quick reality check: From everything I have read from the CDC and the NIH, Ebola is only contagious after you have symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, and people who are starting to feel sick don't normally want to get take-out or go bowling. Especially not doctors who have recently returned from an Ebola hot zone where they have first hand knowledge of what a horrible death it is to die from Ebola. Is the assumption that these medical professionals are suicidal? And if so, please give us the evidence. I have not heard of a single incidence where someone with a medical degree who had been around an Ebola patient, started to have a fever and did not immediately self report.

The only reason I can see that the governors want to impose these 21 day quarantines is to reassure the public that they are doing everything they can to stop the virus, but by doing so, they are perpetuating the myth that non-symptomatic people are contagious when they are out bowling, getting food, or riding on a subway. Now that is enough to panic anyone. Who would not wonder why when we are being told that we won't get Ebola unless someone vomits or defecates on us, the City of New York is paying to decontaminate a bowling alley? What do they know that we don't know? Well, they do know politics but from everything I have read about this crisis from medical professionals, they obviously don't know much about medicine.

Here are the reasons why these quarantines don't make sense or at the very least should not be applied to medical professionals.

1. Which medical professional after seeing Nurse Hickox imprisoned in that tent by a braying Chris Christie would not be discouraged about going to Africa to help stop the Ebola crisis at its source. All of these people are highly trained medical professionals and according to the WHO, we now need 5000 more VOLUNTEERS (going to help in the Ebola crisis is not a highly paying job for a medical professionals - it starts at 1731 a month). We desperately need these medical professionals to stop this plague in Africa before it spills over and infects our country with hundreds of cases. What if this disease spreads to India where everyone lives on top of each other and their public health system is sparse? How many cases would then "pop up" in the United States.

2. It is utterly silly to "catch" medical professionals who not only declare where they have been and what they have been doing but their organization notifies the US when they are about to return. I know politicians would rather "fish in barrels" but really?? What Governor Chris Christie should have done instead is immediately release Nurse Hickox on Friday after her normal oral thermometer reading and ask her advice on how best to combat Ebola in the state of New Jersey.

Also, what about the medical professionals who are treating Dr. Craig Spencer? Are they also to be tossed into a tent and if so, who will treat the next Ebola patient while they sit in the tent? Well you can say we have better control in the US than in Africa. To which I reply - Dallas.

3. The real danger we face is from patients like Thomas Eric Duncan flying into the US. And oh, you can say, but we can prevent that by stopping that nonsense. Well maybe him, because he was not a US citizen, but there are plenty of US citizens in the hot zone who now have no reason to tell the truth about who they have been around and what they have been doing. Because who wants to go sit in that tent? And these travelers are not trained medical professionals who would know to immediately self report. And saying that we can examine the passports of these travelers to see where they have been is ludicrous. African borders are notoriously porous and American citizens who have business in a hot zone will now decide to drive instead of fly when they visit their manufacturing plants, deliver their bribes or whatever business they have in the hot zone.

4. And here is the real clinker. We are now going into flu season and lazy Americans (no flu shots) will now be popping up at emergency rooms all over the US with fevers and sore throats which are exactly the presenting symptoms of Ebola. And because their governors have led them to believe that they could have been exposed on the subway, while bowling or picking up take-out, they will think they have Ebola instead of the flu. Are we really to put thousand of them in tents while they await their (very expensive) Ebola tests?

P. S. Please get your flu shot! Flu killed over 50,000 Americans in 2011. The flu (unlike Ebola) is airborne and you can catch it on the subway or while you are bowling. Now that is something to fear!

October 23, 2014

Sarah Jessica Parker and Oscar de la Renta
FIT 2012 Couture Council Award
For Artistry in Fashion
David H. Koch Theater - Lincoln Center
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Photo Credit: Nick Hunt for Patrick McMullen

The fashion world lost one of its best and brightest when famed designer Oscar de la Renta died on October 20, 2014. De la Renta dressed first ladies from Jackie Kennedy to Michelle Obama and his creations always decorated the the runway at the Oscars. His latest fantasy creation was the beautifully ethereal wedding dress worn by Amal Alamuddin when she married George Clooney. Rest in peace to a true artistic genius! He will be missed.

October 3, 2014

Ruminations: Looking at the fiasco in Dallas where a man who had recently traveled from Liberia was sent home from an emergency room because the workers supposedly thought he had some other kind of virus, is pretty horrifying. And after it was discovered that the man in fact was infected with Ebola, the Dallas authorities thought it was prudent to make four members of his family (including a 13 year old child) quarantine in the same apartment where the Ebola patient became violently ill. The fact that this quarantine took place for a week without any kind of decontaminations taking place has greatly increased the chance that we will now have patients 2-5.

I moved here from Texas 20 years ago and I know exactly what happened. Emergency room doctors and nurses at private hospitals are trained to not admit anyone to the hospital unless they absolutely have to and then if they do admit them, to send them home as soon as possible or barring that, transfer them to a charity hospital. This is to insure that the hospital does not get stuck with a enormous bill for which there is absolutely no reimbursement. This would especially be true for a Liberian citizen where there would be no hope of having him enrolled in Medicaid.

So their top thought in their minds was not "Liberia, could he possibly have Ebola?" but "Proscribe some antibiotics he probably cannot afford and get him out of here." That is what they are trained to do and that is what they did.

If there is anything to be learned from this it is that "your health is my health." We all live in a global soup where we can easily infect each other with a huge variety of illnesses from Ebola to SARS to antibiotic resistant tuberculosis. Our public schools are petri dishes. Anyone whose child attends a public school should be vitally interested in all of their classmates having health care, if for no other reason than so those classmates don't come to school and spread Strep Throat. Or if you live in Los Angeles and are too fashionable to have your own children vaccinated, catch a retro disease like polio or diphtheria.

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