Rainy Day Wonderings

Saturday, December 02, 2006

A Day in Court

Yesterday was a difficult day in the Rain household.

As most of you know my son is in jail and he has been charged with a couple of felonies.
After two continuances my son was scheduled to appear in court yesterday.
His lawyer and the District Attorney confronted Rusty with all of the evidence they have against him.
I was informed for the first time that one of the felonies that Rusty and his co defendant are facing fall under the State of California’s Three Strike Laws.
Rusty’s lawyer does not believe they have sufficient evidence to charge him with his first strike so they asked for yet another continuance.
Both lawyers agreed that this was the right thing to do.
The plan is to try and keep them in county jail for as long as possible for the families sake and spend as little time remaining in a state prison.
So far there is no deal pending for either of them so they are looking at six to twelve years each.
Rusty’s lawyer assured me that by the time he goes back to court in January of 2007 there will be some sort of deal offered.
I don’t believe that there has been another time in which I wanted to give my son a hug so badly and was unable to do so.

Fuck.Fuckity, fuck,fuck!

Oh, and did I mention that there is a third defendant that happens to be a minor, with priors a mile long?

Aww, crap! My son is a dumbass.

Last night while at dinner with friends I was asked what my hopes are for my son in all of this shit.
Without hesitation I replied;

My son is guilty of some of the crimes that he is charged with and he needs to take responsibility for his actions. Therefore, I would like to see him spend a minimum four to five years in jail.
Also, because Rusty has a drug and alcohol problem I would prefer that in addition to jail time he receive a mandatory eighteen to twenty four month residential drug rehab program.
If Rusty does not stay clean during the time spent at the residential drug rehab program, he should go back and finish the remaining time in jail.

I received kudos from the people that were there, saying that they are happy I was remaining so positive and upbeat throughout this ordeal.
I should have been an actress , because I am giving the performance of a lifetime.
Where is my fucking award? I deserve it, dammit!
To be honest, I feel like I keep stepping into a elevator and the fucking floor keeps dropping out from under me.
Once again I am trying to deal with my control issues and everything I try is not working.
The stress of the holidays is becoming unbearable and I know that I must keep going for the sake of my family.
I want to wrap myself up in a cocoon, shut the world out and try and heal our family wounds.
For those of you who understand my personal illness (BipolarII) rapid cycling fucking sucks!

Hmm, I just read what I just wrote and I think I am going to have to make a call to my doctor.

Labels: Rusty

N Posted by Rain at 12/02/2006 12:13:00 PM

Friday, December 01, 2006

World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day: December 1st

December 1st is World AIDS Day. Established by the World Health Organization in 1988, World AIDS Day serves to focus global attention on the devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Observance of this day provides an opportunity for governments, national AIDS programs, churches, community organizations and individuals to demonstrate the importance of the fight against HIV/AIDS.

With an estimated 38.6 million people worldwide living with HIV at the end of 2005, and more than 25 million people having died of AIDS since 1981, December 1st serves to remind everyone that action makes a difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Americans should be reminded that HIV/AIDS does not discriminate. With an estimated 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 HIV- positive individuals living in the U.S., and approximately 40,000 new infections occurring every year, the U.S., like other nations around the world is deeply affected by HIV/AIDS.

Sadly in the last ten years I have lost six friends to AIDS.

The first two were brothers Randy B. and Travis B. who lost their personal fights with AIDS at the young ages of 31 and 34 respectfully. Both suffered from Hemophilia and contacted the virus through blood transfusions.

Sherry C. was just 29 when she died of AIDS. She contacted AIDS from a former boyfriend that had unprotected sex with prostitutes. The ex boyfriend is still alive thanks to his 'cocktail mix of meds' that he takes every single day.

Bill and Mike who were partners and owned my favorite hole in the wall restaurant in San Francisco. Both contracted AIDS before they met, and they found each other at a support group headed by my father.

Mona D. I met her just six months before she died. I met her doing volunteer work at a local hospital here in San Diego. Mona contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion during emergency surgery while in the Congo. I believe her death hit me the hardest because she left behind four beautiful young children and her husband to raise them by himself.

Want to know more? Please visit:

UNAIDS Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

Teen AIDS-Peer Corps

FRONTLINE: the age of AIDS

Have a great weekend everyone! Comments are always appreciated.

Labels: AIDS, Health

N Posted by Rain at 12/01/2006 01:55:00 AM

Thursday, November 30, 2006

American Sculptor

Cubi XIX, 1964

Stainless Steel Tate.

Purchased 1966 © Estate of David Smith/ VAGA, New York, DACS 2006

David Smith

American Abstract Expressionist Sculptor

1906-1965

David Smith was born in Decatur, Indiana, in 1906. His mother was a school teacher and a devout Methodist; his father was a telephone engineer and part-time inventor, who fostered in his son a reverence for machinery. After his family moved to Paulding, Ohio, in 1921, Smith developed an interest in art, taking a correspondence course in drawing under the auspices of the Cleveland Art School. Although he spent one year at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, Smith felt that the studio art curriculum there did not offer the stimulation he sought, and he subsequently dropped out in the spring of 1925. During that summer, he worked as a welder and riveter at a Studebaker automobile factory, where his understanding and love for industrial materials and techniques took root. Much of this rudimentary training proved essential to Smith's career as an artist.

Wagon II, 1964, Steel sculpture.

Purchased with assistance from the American Fund for the Tate Gallery, the National Art Collections Fund and the Friends of the Tate Gallery

1999 © Estate of David Smith/ VAGA, New York, DACS 2006

Smith moved to New York in 1926 and enrolled in classes at the Art Students League, where he met Jan Matulka, a Czech abstractionist. Through Matulka, Smith became familiar with the work of Piet Mondrian, Wassily Kandinsky, and the cubists. By the early 1930s, Smith had begun to incorporate found objects such as shells, bones, wood, and wire into his paintings, adding depth and transforming them into sculptural reliefs. Soon thereafter he began constructing welded steel sculptures, and it is for these works that Smith is best known.

Smith fingers ~ David Smith:

A Centennial is at Tate Modern, London, from November 1 until January 21 2007

Smith developed friendships with other avant-garde artists, including Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, and John Graham. Graham, a painter and critic, introduced Smith to the welded sculptures of Julio Gonzáles and Pablo Picasso, which made a tremendous impression on the artist. By 1934 he had settled into a "studio" at Terminal Iron Works, a foundry in Brooklyn, where he constructed innovative and remarkably diverse sculpture from used machine parts, scrap metal, and found objects.

The Forrest The Forest, 1950

Painted steel, on wood. Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, Dallas © Estate of David Smith/ VAGA, New York, DACS 2006

Throughout his career Smith's largely abstract work evoked the figure. Often executed in series, his sculptures fully explored particular ideas about materials and composition. In 1965 David Smith's career was cut short when he died in a tragic automobile accident at the age of fifty-nine.

After Smith died in a car crash in 1965, the painter Robert Motherwell wrote an epitaph: 'Oh David, you were as delicate as Vivaldi and as strong as a Mack truck'

David Smith is widely regarded as the most important American sculptor of the 20th Century. I really hope you enjoy his works as much as I do. Please visit the links that I have provided, there is much more to his work than what I have posted here.

Have a great day everyone!

Labels: Art

N Posted by Rain at 11/30/2006 01:34:00 PM

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Hershey's Chocolate

OMG!

Hershey's Cherry Cordial Creme Kisses

I must resist temptation...

Why couldn't they have made them sugar free?

Oh my, lookie there...One of them doesn't have any foil on.

Hmm, delicious!

Almost as good as an orgasm =0)

Labels: misc

N Posted by Rain at 11/29/2006 12:03:00 PM

Monday, November 27, 2006

Mondays Glamour

Lucille Ball

Desi Arnaz

Movie Trivia

During the scenes of Nicky and Tacy pulling their trailer in the mountains, their 1953 Mercury Monterey convertible is replaced with a larger but similar appearing 1953 Lincoln Capri convertible. The distinct Lincoln grille is clearly evident in a shot as the car rounds a curve. The more powerful Lincoln (which is equipped with a 205 HP V8 engine) was needed to pull the heavy New Moon trailer up and over the steep grades of the Sierra Nevadas where the scenes were filmed.

I hope everyone survived shopping this weekend. Have a good day everyone!

N Posted by Rain at 11/27/2006 08:14:00 AM