Hurricane Season

Yikes...

Now this might be the one and only time anyone will ever hear me say this.  It's a good thing that I'm typing it because it might hurt a little bit if the words were actually coming out of my mouth.  This is the one time of year that I'm really glad that I live up north and far away from the sunny beaches of South Florida.  No, it's not because it's so hot down there and I might get a sunburn.  In fact I would rather be in the hot heat baking it up right now.  But when you start to hear weather reports of ah-hem (I hate to even say the word) hurricanes, the Greek Girl wants to run and hide.

Before you say anything, no I'm not a wimp when it comes to these things.  Sure, I like to play it safe and a hurricane party can be fun, that is assuming you like everyone involved.  What I don't like is the amount of flashbacks I have from watching Cartman getting eaten alive by ants.

What in the heck in the world am I talking about...??

Well, let me explain... It all started back in the summer of 2004 when my sweetie and I were staying in Palm Beach for an extended vacation with family when not one, not two but three hurricanes decided they would come and march across my birthday celebration.  My actual birthday is September 4th, we had to evacuate the day before September 3rd.  Every year for over 10 years now my Mom gets me a birthday cake made in the shape of Eric Cartman from Southpark.  That year was no different except this particular time she shipped it.

Marble cake, with real old fashioned Buttercream frosting, with a custard filling... Yummo!

That's right.  My mom overnighted via Fed-Ex a full-sized Eric Cartman sheet cake to me.  Now this is the funny part because there was a hurricane coming, picture this: here we are my sweetie, his mom, dad, grandmother our two dogs (at the time we only had two) me, and my bag of sneakers & vitamin waters all standing huddled in the foyer of their house waiting to evacuate.  But we couldn't do it before my cake showed up.  Meanwhile a category 3 hurricane was barreling down on us when suddenly in the distance the white truck shows up and the driver raced to the door carefully carrying my cake all safely packed into a tupperware container.

We drove off and evacuated to the other side of the state to stay at a friends condo and wait out the storm.  The cool thing was we were able to enjoy my birthday, play some cards, watch some movies, and thanks to my awesome mom even have my special cake.  Because it was so big we decided to take the leftovers back home with us two days later.  (Oh yeah, before I forget, since the package was guaranteed by 11am and he was 30 minutes late, my mom was credited part of the $75 shipping fee. - That's what I call a Greek Girl bonus)

After the Hurricane left the state when we got back to my in-laws house we found not only was it a total mess, lots of damage, but there was also no power.  So in order to save any perishable food we stored it all quickly in the fridge hoping some of the remaining cool air would prolong the decay until we could get things in order.  In Cartman went where he would be safely kept (or so I thought).

About 2 hours later I was getting the munchies from cleaning up the mess in all that heat.  That's when it happened, my life stood still and all went black as I opened my Cartman cake box to find the horror inside.  The entire cake was covered in itty-bitty-teeny-weeny ants eating him...!!!!!  I nearly passed out and haven't been the same since.

Now, when I hear about how Hurricane Isaac might ruin the RNC's week or how Louisiana and the neighboring states will have to batten down the hatches once more, all I can think of is that little cute cartoon face staring up at me gasping for his last bit of life as he was being devoured by the terrible Florida ants.

All kidding aside, I sure do hope everyone in the path of Issac stays safe and sound, and has plenty of rations all ready in an "ant free" zone.  I hope and pray that the storm breaks up and fizzles out before it can do any real damage to anyone or anything, and especially to anyone's birthday cake.  Hope you have a big smile and a beautiful day!

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava :) xox
www.avaaston.com

Shut Up and Sing

"Political Correctness is just tyranny with manners."
Charlton Heston

When I was a little toe headed Greek Girl (oh who am I kidding, everyone knows my hair is bleached by now) make that when I was  little Greek Girl my Grama Pauline used to say to me "Children should be seen and not heard."  What Grama Pauline forgot was that when you tell a kid that it only makes them want to talk more, not to mention I'm Greek.... HELLO Grama can you hear me?

So here I am all grown up finding myself in a world where a lot of people like to talk, but don't really want to talk about the truth and what is going on in our society.  Well they like to tiptoe around it, unless of course you're talking about some neutral topic that in no way shape or form could ever offend anyone.  This leads me to wonder... Why?

When did we turn into this ultra "PC" society devoid of our values, morals and or beliefs?Well, I mean many of us have them, we just have to keep them to ourselves lest we offend anyone.  This irks me. Last time I checked people who believe in the things that happen to go against my moral compass don't seem to be concerned about doing or saying things that offend me.  Yet these same people will waste no time calling it "discrimination" if I happen to disagree with their views.  They're not worried about losing a job if they are open or out of the closet on any subject per say.

This leads me to wonder...  If it's OK for Clint Eastwood, Chuck Norris and Kid Rock to have an opinion, oh I forgot about Sarah Jessica Parker, George Clooney, Matt Damon and even Oprah.  Why can't I have an opinion?  What because I'm not "famous"  I'm not entitled to have an opinion?  Otherwise I might be blacklisted from ever becoming famous (for my singing of course).  Anyone see the irony here?...

What about freedom of speech?  Where is My freedom of speech?  Why isn't it OK for me to have an opinion about the things that are going on in our world besides the fluff and buff stuff?  These are trying times, there is a lot going on in the world today.  In order to be able to get anything done, we should be, and are supposed to be able to talk about our differences in opinion.  There are two parties, we are a republic remember.  We're not living in Cuba under a dictatorship.  I mean HELLO The United States was founded on the premise to escape the tyranny of a Monarchy.  We should be able to have different viewpoints about things and not be afraid we are going to lose our friends, job, or not be able to obtain or book a job because of them.

If we were all the same or believed everything the media is telling us we should, we would all be like a bunch of robots, and that would be - boring.  Why am I all of the sudden a "bad" person if I don't happen to agree with George Clooney about politics?  Why are people like him allowed to do or say whatever they want without fear of recourse and I'm not?  Why do I have to just suck it up and keep my opinion to myself in order to have success in the music industry as I desire?  Oh I get it I'm just supposed to shut up and sing.  Why does anyone for that matter in any walk of life?

I thought we weren't allowed to discriminate against anyone's age, race, religion, sexual preference, or even in some instances political affiliation.  So what gives? Oh wait a minute, I forgot, that only applies if you're not a Christian or a Republican

Remember, there are three sides to every story, yours, mine and the truth...  It takes more than just one opinion on any topic to get to the truth.  I don't hate, demonize or discriminate against people who disagree with me.  They are free to think what they want, so why can't I be allowed the same courtesy?

I'm not saying we should run around picking fights with people.  What I am saying is, we should be able to feel free and comfortable to express our beliefs without having to be in the closet on all the dreaded topics... and even to admit we are that nasty word (a Republican).

That's just plain silly...  Because as the Greek Girl sees it, what's good for the goose is good for the gander.  At the end of the day all I can be is me.  I'm not going to do, say, not say, or pretend things just to make people happy.  I am who I am, love me or hate me, I'm free - as we all are to be - just me.  Have a beautiful day!

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava :) xox
www.avaaston.com

What Would You Do

$305 Million, that's a lot of dough ~ I'm in!

So it happened again.  What am I yapping about now?  The Powerball Jackpot of course!  No one hit the jackpot for the last drawing, and this has been going on for a while now.  That means that the Greek Girl can buy more tickets with the $8 winnings I had from my last two tickets and continue to ponder what I will do with all the loot if I win the next drawing...

1. Donate boatloads and boatloads of moola to my favorite charities: The ASPCA, The Progeria Research Foundation, The JDRF Foundation, Operation First Response, and The Machine Gun Preacher Ministry in Africa (that's a blog for another day).

2. Pay off my moms house and set her up so she never has to work again, then randomly hand out cash to strangers.  Because it really is so much better to give than to receive. Nothing beats the feeling of seeing the joy on someone's face when you have really helped them.

3. Start my own dang Record Label!  Record a new album, buy a tour bus, go out on tour, and produce an entire season of "Ava The Diva" Cartoons and have them broadcast on Network TV.

4. Sneakers, buy more sneakers... because a girl can never have too many pairs of sneakers.  Sneakers for me, my family, friends, and anyone else who needs a pair who just so happens to be around. ;)

5. Start an hotel chain that is pet friendly in all locations, because fur-babies need to travel too.

6. Send Mr. Bricks to a Opthamologist to do something about that lazy eye of his...

7. Buy a strip mall and fill it with my favorite things. A Dunkin Donuts, a Starbucks (hey - it's MY Strip mall I can have as much coffee in it as I want), a Greek Diner, a Sneaker Store, a Kohls, a Pizza joint, an Animal Rescue/Adoption Center, a Petco, a good Sushi joint, a movie theatre, and anything else that my little Greek heart desires.   

8. Buy a Bumble Bee Camaro... you had to know that was coming, didn't you? ;) Well if you've been reading my blog long enough you would.

9. Hire all of my favorite fitness trainers and rotate them throughout the year... Jillian Michaels, Tony Horton, Bob Harper, Jackie Warner, Brett Hoebel, and Billy Blanks.

10. Give my sweetie all the dough he needs to produce all of his movie and TV show scripts, better look out Spielberg! ;)

Just a few of the things I would do if I win the Powerball Jackpot.  So, what would you do?...  Don't forget to get your ticket - cause like the ad says... "All you need is a dollar and a dream (well for Powerball it's actually $2, but hey who's counting.)  Good Luck!

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava :) xox
www.avaaston.com

Tolerance

Nothing like a little side of "Tolerance" with those waffle fries....

What was that?  That loud clanking sound?... oh that was nothing, it was just my filter it fell off and hit the floor.  Seriously, does the above photo look like "Tolerance" to you?

No one really wants to talk about it, but enough is enough.  The gloves are off and the Greek Girl has had it.  Has anyone else noticed that there is an all out assault on Christianity in the United States?  It's OK for everyone else to be whatever he or she desires to be: Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, Wiccan, gay, bi-sexual, LGBT, or anything else I forgot to mention - and we must not ever offend or make any of those people uncomfortable ever.  Because that would be just plain wrong, wound't it?  But those Christians, now they really have a lot of nerve don't they to expect the "exact same" freedom and respect to express their beliefs and to worship and among other things run their lives and businesses as they chose.

We have a word for this in the Greek language people it is called, Hypocrisy.

We have this amazing thing in the United States, it is called "The Constitution".  You know, it's a document that is over two hundred years old.  It was laid out for us as a guide by our Founding Father's.  Let's examine the First Amendment shall we?

AMENDMENT I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

In case anyone needs a refresher course about the Pilgrims and why they risked life and limb to travel to the "New World", it was not to escape Religion.  It was Freedom OF Religion, not Freedom "From" Religion.  Many people have this misunderstanding that it was Freedom "From" Religion.  It was in fact, for the Freedom to practice their Religion the way they chose to.  The Freedom to be Protestant, Methodist, etc.  The Freedom to practice something other than the "State Run" Religion that was the law of the land in England.  The idea was to not have a "Government Run Religion".  That was the whole point of separation of Church and State...  Not to have a country without God, as many would like to have it nowadays.

Yet here we are hundreds of years later after good men and women fought and died for our Liberty and Freedom and now we have a Government telling us we can not offend anyone by being Christian.  They took God out of the Pledge of Allegiance, and want to strip God from every public building.  That everyone needs to be free to be whatever they want, as long as that is not "Christian".  Because we Christians are offending people.  I find it ironic that we have Muslims coming here using our own laws against us, they are free to worship, establish mosques, get onto our social programs, and yet we "Christians" can not even live according to our faith because it might offend them or someone else.

Last time I checked, if any person enters a Muslim country with so much as a cross or a bible in their possession they will be tossed into jail, beaten, stoned, and or much worse things I don't care to list here but you get where I'm going.  But gee willikers if we Christians "offend" any Muslims here in our own country.  That would be so wrong...

I'm pretty sure the Founding Father's goal of Freedom of Religion was not meant to give people the right to practice a religion that tortures women, children, and animals among other things.  Peaceful Religion my behind.  A religion that offers a reward of being able to have 72 Virgins in heaven (which by the way having relations with a virgin can be a harsh act in and of its self, yet it's not just one, but 72 virgins no less), a religion that stones people, cuts off limbs for stealing, allows and encourages arranged marriages of children as young as 1 year old and those marriages to be consummated by the age of 9, and gasp... even condemns homosexuality to the point of even killing them.

So where is the outrage from the LGBT community towards Muslims?  Why aren't they up in arms demanding that Muslim owned businesses be boycotted?  Why aren't they accusing them of hate, and hate speech?  Just because there are no interview's dominating the news with a quote from a Muslim owned business owner does not change their position on homosexuality.

Tolerance - it's a simple enough idea.  I mean really who could argue with the whole "say la vie" mentality?  Live and let live in peace, and respect the beliefs of others.  Yet somewhere along the way in our society the whole idea has become really kajumpled.

Who could miss all the controversy that's been swirling around the word lately?  Unless of course you're one of the millions of people who keep track of just the "important stuff", you know like everything about The Kardashian's, and yet have no idea who their local Senator is...  (inside voice: the thought that these people are voting is frightening, really... but thats a rant for another day).  There's been lots of talk about Freedom of Speech, and tolerance.  Well in order to get some perspective about this whole fiasco lets take it back to the classroom shall we?  Tolerance according to the Merriam Webster dictionary means:

Tol·er·ance [tol-er-uhns] noun

1. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry.

2. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own.

3. interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices, etc.,foreign to one's own; a liberal, undogmatic viewpoint.

So I just have one question, where's the tolerance?  A man stated his personal beliefs in an interview.  He stated his own personal views about the whole Gay Marriage issue.  No where in his statement did he say that he hated gays, that he didn't want gay people to eat there, or anything else that could be considered hateful.  What he stated was his personal belief and according to his faith that "Marriage" is between one man and one woman.  He went onto further express that when we as a society start to think we know better than God it is a slippery slope.  Marriage by the way is a "biblical" term.  Why gay people demand that a religion that clearly states what they are doing and how they are living is against it's practices, why they demand that religions "term" be used to describe their lifestyle makes no sense in my noggin.

How is it tolerant to start a great big fat muckery sandwich in the media over a company that is free to run it's business however it choses, and to express their faith?  Because according to The Constitution Chick-fil-a is free to do just that.

If we all have to be tolerant of everyone else's beliefs, then you know what, everyone else better get used to Christian's being able to express their own beliefs as well.  Because it goes both ways people, it goes both ways.  All right, Greek Girl is coming down off of my soapbox, and going to attempt to re-insert my filter....  Signing off until next time.

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava :) xox
www.avaaston.com