Withdrawal

Beyond overdue for this!

Withdrawal is Muckery! Don't you hate it when you are just dying to have something that you know you can not have right at this very moment?  No I'm not talking about withdrawal from coffee (dunkin's of course), chocolate, Vitamin Water Zero, or even time with my sneakers...  I'm talking about withdrawal from the beaches of sunny south Florida!

Whatchutalkingabout Greek girl?  Well let me see July is almost over and I have yet to take the yearly road trip to the sunshine state to see family and get some Vitamin D therapy.  Oy Vey, for reals!  Last year we even went two times, but this year has just been too busy to go yet.  Plus having one extra fur-kid in the family makes planning that trip a wee bit harder since "Glama Aston" has to watch all five of them.

So... I was sitting here thinking about all the reasons I know I need to get to South Florida pronto!

1. Because I lost last years tan line just before Hurricane Sandy dropped not one but two trees on our house back in October.

2.  New bathing suit I scored at TJ Maxx that I'm dying to try out!

3. Vitamin D Therapy... the kind of Vitamin D I need doesn't come in a bottle from The Vitamin Shoppe.

4. Everyone goes a lot slower in Florida, which is exactly how Greek Girl rolls!

5. Ice cold beverages are best when there is sand on the outside of the cup, just sayin.

6. Need to test out the new VW Jetta #TDI "Joel Jetta" vs. the old one "Jillian Jetta" to see who gets the better highway mileage. (what, doesn't everyone name their cars)?

7. Bingo withdrawal... Everyone play BINGO with their Nana don't they? 

8. Seafood... HELLO South Florida has some of the best places to dine out right smack dab on the water!

9. To get away from the Obama Health Care Propaganda Tour.  You knew I had to slide that one in there didn't ya? ;D

10. Casino... Nothing beats spending time at the Casino with a bunch of family.  Yes I admit it, I'm addicted to slot machines.  What is more fun though is to watch my nana laughing at me when I win loads of dough.

So there you have it, the top ten reasons I know I need to get my pasty self to south Florida pronto!  I sure hope everyone has had ample fun and sun time so far this year.  If not, get on that before it's snowing again already! 

Blessings, Love & Music!
Ava :D
www.avaaston.com 

The Royal Fetus

Really?... Have we Nothing else to cover?

What?  Why would anyone care if I call the it that?  I mean there are people out there who think that a baby is not a miracle from God, but instead just a lump of cells, really just a blob so Greek Girl is just using the politically correct term after all.  Isn't it ironic though that the "Royal" baby is a baby even though it is not born yet.  Yet other babies who are not born yet can be referred to "fetuses" just a blob of cells that one can "get rid" of at any time if they are found to be inconvenient to the mother.

Seriously it's great that Will's and Kate are going to have a "baby".  What is not so great is the unhealthy fascination the world (fueled by the media) seems to have with it.  Really there are so many things going on in our world today, one would think that we have a lot more pressing issues to cover than the arrival of the newest British Royal.  So since the news outlets can't seem to find anything else to cover other than the Royal baby, I decided to come up with my own top ten list of things I want them to cover.  Not too much to ask is it?  I mean informing people about things going on in the world that effect their lives either now or in the future.  I mean isn't that what the "News" was created for in the first place?  Letting the masses know what was going on, so they can act accordingly to be prepared.

WARNING: I actually use that organ inside of my coconut, therefore I am interested in things other than  Beyonce, Gag Gag, Justin Bieber's latest brush with authorities, and the rest of the fluff and buff-ish topics the news likes to cover.  This is code for, this list will not be politically correct.

1.  The Constitution.  First and foremost maybe if the people who bring us the news would do a story about the founding document, maybe the sheeple might get a clue about the things happening that violate it.

2. Why are Muslims being appointed as Judges here in the United States?  Moreover why are there Muslim Brotherhood operatives working in the Administration?  I'm not kidding.  Six named people include: Arif Alikhan, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for policy development; Mohammed Elibiary, a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council; Rashad Hussain, U.S. special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference; Salam al-Marayati, co-founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC); Imam Mohamed Magid, president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA); and Eboo Patel, a member of President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships.  Houston this is a BIG Problem!

3. The real clear and present danger that Islam is to America.

4. The truth about the costs of Obamacare vs. the Propaganda.

5. Censorship of Christians.  More like the War on Christianity...  

6. Globalism, what the word means.  Then possibly the sheeple might get that it is bad for America and bad for Individualism, Freedom and Liberty.

7. The real driving force behind racism.  Not actual racism, but people using the Trayvon Martin tragedy to perpetuate and keep it going.  The truth about the billion dollar industry driven by Al Sharpton, BET and the like.

8. Why was gas $1.89 per gallon in January 2009 when Obama took office and now less than a year into his second term it's $3.94 per gallon?  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that lack of business experience isn't a quality one would want in a President.  However thanks to the lapdog media we are stuck with this insanity for three more years.  God help us.

9. Common Core.  Don't know what that is?  Well you should, and you should be afraid, very afraid.  Unfortunately the media is not really talking about it, so do the research then get out there and start talking.  It's bad news bears people, BAD!

10. BENGHAZI.  The real story, what really happened.  If the media would actually do their job then the crazies in the administration who covered up this Terrorist Attack to win an election might be behind bars where they belong vs. running our country into the ground.

Well there you have it, the top ten things I want the news to cover.  If you're one of those people who wants to only hear about happy things, and not know what is really going on in the world, I'm sorry to burst your bliss bubble.  I too love pictures of my dogs, staying positive, and trying to not let the cares of the world effect me.  However I find this fascination with the Royal Baby ridiculous.  They are giving more coverage to the Royal baby than they did to the trial of Gosnell, a butcher who murdered babies for literally decades.  The things in my list are really happening as we speak.  If we are not aware of what is going on, then we might just wake up one day and not have the freedom to post pictures of our dogs, and do all the happy go lucky positive things that we want to.  It's called balance people - something that is seriously out of whack in our country lately.  Just sayin.

Blessings,
Ava :D
www.avaaston.com

Heat Wave

Looks like me after my workout ;o) lol

Is anyone surprised that I complained all winter about how I couldn't wait for summer to hurry up and get here so I could get back to nice long dates with my sneakers via my much loved runs outside, and now that it's finally here I'm complaining about how hot it is?  Well if you are you shouldn't be, HELLO I'm Greek people!  We invented drama along with the windex, politics, and believe it or not yes even - complaining.  What else would we do when we sit around a table for hours upon hours at all the diners we own if not complain? ;o)

Seriously though it's a scorcher and set to only get worse before it gets any better.  Time to batten down the hatches, draw the curtains, and hunker down with the air conditioning.  This goes for everyone including the fur-kids.  Speaking of fur-kids anyone in their right mind knows that you do not tie your dog out to a tree or a dog house, or bring your dog out to do errands or go shopping with you in extreme weather.   Further to never leave a dog in a hot car in the summertime, right?...  Wrong.  Yup I just ran into a brainchild who apparently didn't get that memo and this guy actually had the audacity to stand there and argue with me about it when I went into Schooling mode Greek Girl style.

Most everyone who knows anything about me (besides my music) knows this one thing, I Love Animals, dogs in particular!  I have five dogs (yes I said five 5 - I know, I know I'm a special kind of crazy) and I will not stand for animal abuse.  Part of how I ended up with five, two of them are rescues.  I have chased dogs down  all over the country from Los Angeles, to NYC and lots of places in between.  If an animal is in need, lost, hurt, whatever I'm on it.  I can't help it, I love them and can't stand to see them suffer, especially for things that are so preventable.  It never ceases to amaze me how ignorant people can be when it comes to the care of animals and how some can turn a blind eye when one needs human help.

Living in the Hudson Valley of New York State has some neat attractions and one of those is an outlet mall called Woodbury Commons not too far from where I reside.  So I'm sure it's no shock that I frequent it often, again the Greek genes take over.  Remember Greek is also another word for Thrifty ;D In other words if I can get it for less,  that's how I'm getting it.  So I was at Woodbury Commons over the weekend scoring lots of sale loot.  As was walking back to my car I saw in the car parked right next to mine a big old beagle in the back of a giant old station wagon.  The windows were rolled down, and he did have water, but that is irrelevant.  It was 99 Degrees outside.  About noon smack dab in the hottest part of the day, and this clown was walking around and about the outlet alone, then making trips back to the car to check on his dog.  Meanwhile the dog is sitting in the car panting, and basically cooking.

I waited about twenty minutes when I first spotted the dog for him to come back to the car and asked him about it.  He proceeded to tell me "well the windows are rolled down and he has water, mind your own business".  I then proceeded explain to him that in New York State there is a law against leaving animals in parked cars in extreme weather and then to hand him a "you could be cooking your dog card" that I carry in my glove box for just incase such an occasion ever occurs.  He was so angry he was getting grumpy and started to take it out on the dog.  So I did what any good Samaritan would do, yup I called security.

Well after fifteen more long hot minutes security finally arrived and I told them what I observed and they informed him of the law and took it from there.  After a bit more talking with the security officer he got in his car and left.  I was annoyed that they did not actually call the real police and site him with a ticket.  What upsets me even more is this dog is not the only one who will be sitting in a hot car while some yahoo for whatever reason is out galavanting.  Seriously... if you see a dog in a car in the hot weather, please do something.  It might take a few minutes out of your day, but you could be saving a life.  The life of an animal who can't speak for them self, who only wants one thing in life to be safe and loved.

Here's a link to some of the states with laws on the books about animals in parked cars: http://animallaw.info/articles/State%20Tables/tbusdogshotcars.htm   So heavens sake please keep your fur-kids inside, cool, safe and with plenty of water.  If not I'll have to send "Punkin" Aston out to find you and send you straight to jail without passing GO! ;)

Keep your fur-kids cool and safe or "Punkin" will come to lay down the law!

Blessings, Love & Music ~

Ava :D
www.avaaston.com 

True Colors

Justice is blind, or is it?....

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last two years you have most likely seen coverage of the Zimmerman, Martin incident and probably more than you wanted to.  Don't you love that about the news, for whatever reason they think that we really want to watch every waking minute of the trial.  I guess they think that a terrible accident is more newsworthy than the trial of a butcher who murdered babies for decades.  Yeah I think it's a bunch of muckery that they are covering practically every waking minute of the Zimmerman trial, yet until people in new media started jumping up and down people in the news other than a select few on a select few occasions would not even cover the Gosnell Trial.

What's your point Greek Girl?  Give me a minute people... So I'm just wondering about something.  There is so much pressure from some people in the minority community about "Justice for Trayvon", everyone from R&B stars to Russell Simmons are tweeting the play by play of the trial on a daily basis.  If one were to go read a twitter feed from one of these people you could come to the conclusion that they think if Zimmerman is not found guilty it is racism.  They seem to have this idea that George Zimmerman (who by the way is a Hispanic "minority" himself) went out one night and shot Trayvon Martin because he was black.  Seriously... anyone who comes to that conclusion after looking at the facts, and timeline is either deaf, blind, or has their eyes blindfolded and ears stuffed full of cotton balls.  The worst part is there are people out there who came to that very conclusion before any facts even came out.  But that couldn't be "racism" could it?...

Why was it that George Zimmerman was not arrested until forty five days after the incident occurred?  Usually when there is a "murder" the police although they need time to gather evidence, usually make an arrest long before forty five days.  Could it be because they were receiving a ton of pressure and outcry from the black community and felt compelled to charge him rather than deal with the backlash?   This same community who is quick to cry racism directed at it, yet does not acknowledge that their own practices and behavior not only practices racism towards whites and other races, but worse perpetuates the whole idea of racism itself.

Think about it, we have BET (Black Entertainment Television), Essence Magazine, Ebony Magazine, Homes of Color Magazine, Bounce, shall I go on?  What would happen if someone were to say start a TV Network and call it "White Entertainment Television?... No one in their right mind would do that because everyone knows that would be racism.  Hmm... Take for example me little old Greek Girl living and working in and around the NYC Tri-State Area, a culturally diverse place, the melting pot of the world, right?  If anywhere on earth should be accepting and free of racism it's New York City, right?  Well what would you say if I told you that I can not count how many times I have driven up to the cash lane at the toll booth for the George Washington Bridge and had a black person completely ignore my "Hello, how are you?, Can I please have a receipt?" then hand it to me like I just asked them for their first born child and utter not a word to me or make any eye contact whatsoever despite my tries.  True and it has happened on more occasions than I care to remember.  Is it because the black person working the toll that day hates white people?  Jumping to that conclusion is just about as silly as people jumping to the conclusion that George Zimmerman is a racist is.  More likely he or she working that toll both is having a bad day, has something on their mind, or plain just would rather be somewhere else besides sitting in a little box taking my toll money.

My point is there are people out there who want to take anything that happens and turn it into some form of racism.  This is not only ignorant, but it ends up perpetuating the thing they say they want to end.  I wrote a blog about the George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin incident when it first occurred because I was so disturbed by what I was seeing and hearing from people in the media (see blog here) The bottom line is the world is full of good people and bad people in all races, sizes, shapes and colors.  Until we stop the practice of putting people into nice neat little categories, boxes, groups, etc. and seeing people as just that - people, the awful practice of racism on both sides of any issue is not going to stop.

I personally find it appalling that  there are facebook fan pages with the title "Kill George Zimmerman" allowed to be put up, yet people end up in facebook jail for accepting or requesting too many friends?  Really?... Some things going on today are really mixed up and upside down all in the name of political correctness.  What happened that night was a terrible tragedy.  None of us were there.  However expecting George Zimmerman to be convicted of murder because the victim was black is completely absurd.  What would happen if the roles were reversed and Trayvon Martin was white, and George Zimmerman was black and a white entertainment celebrity would have tweeted out the address for George Zimmerman like Spike Lee so ignorantly did?  Why is it the people doing the finger pointing never stop to consider these things?  We have a word for this in the Greek language people, it's called hypocrisy.

There is an old Greek saying my dad told me  long time ago to illustrate this word: "The camel laughs at the camel in front of him because of the hump on it's back, and he can't see the hump on his own back."  Food for thought people...

Where is the outcry for what happened to Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom in Knoxville, TN on January 7th, 2007?  Where was the outcry for lynching of the black defendants?  Who are Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom you might be wondering?   Exaclty... there was none.  Because what happened wasn't about "race" it was about bad people doing bad things to innocent people.  This poor couple was, carjacked, kidnapped, robbed, raped, sodomized, sexually mutilated, set on fire and more unspeakable things I will not go onto mention... So where is the justice?  By the way the poor "defendants" had prior criminal records.  Which I'm sure had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they went onto commit more atrocious crimes.  You see that's what the bleeding heart liberal mentality leads to.  This convoluted idea that people are not responsible for their wrong actions and choices.  That if a person grows up to be or do something wrong, there has to be a "reason" for it... someone, somewhere had to have wronged that person.  Bleeding hearts have to slap a victim label on anyone and everyone that they can in order to justify their own existence as the bleeding heart do good savior to the poor minority, or person with the victim label.  Which is insulting to the real victims of the world, people like Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom.

It's terrible what happened that night where two people so terribly misunderstood what the other's intentions were.  It is a tragedy that the Martins had to bury their son.  However slapping the label of racism on it is not going to bring Trayvon Martin back, nor give George Zimmerman his life back.

The end of this trial can not come soon enough for me because as I watch the reaction from people it only shows me how very ugly we can be as people on the inside.  It shows me how some people can be such a voice for peace, love, kindness, helping your fellow man, kumbayah and that sort of gobbly goop but when push comes to shove, they can turn on a dime and show their true colors.

I for one am praying for and end to the ugliness.

Blessings,
Ava
www.avaaston.com 

Fireworks Scrapped

You've got to be kidding me!

When I read this on my Yahoo homepage recently the words screaming in my coconut were "Whatchutalkingaboutwillis?!"  Seriously...  I actually almost spit my Dunkin's hot cup of happiness all over macbook when I read it.  We have resorted to canceling Fireworks on Military bases to save money, really?

OK it's no big secret that Greek Girl rolls to right side of the political isle but this should be a no brainer for anyone using their brain on either side of the isle.  HELLO our men and women in uniform are the reason we are free to think, be and speak freely.  They serve at home and abroad in countries across the globe in conditions that most of us wouldn't last five minutes in.  Yet we can't find any other place to make cuts to our budget than to cut the one thing that represents that freedom to the people who are standing up to keep us free on the day that represents Freedom?

Houston I think we have a problem.  The king on his throne in DC has no problem shutting down tours to the White House to make a political point, yet at the same time could not find anywhere to cut any money from the $100 Million trip to Africa?  It's common sense people, simple math at the most elementary form 2 + 2 = 4.  In order to cut a budget you need to make actual cuts.  Cutting from one place and then continuing to spend uncontrollably adding extravagances to other places will not change the math in the end.

So while all this finger pointing goes on the people who do the most are getting short changed and on the most important day, of all times.  Independence Day is sacred to our History as a Nation.  It's not about the sales and the barbecues, it's about Freedom, Liberty, and Independence.  An experiment called America that was once and although being stressed to her limits still is the last great beacon for Liberty and Freedom from Tyranny in the entire world.  While the media slug it out for their guy our men and women in uniform will be left standing there to an empty sky.

I find this so sad... where is the reverence, the respect, the honor for the job they do?  Sure we can get sponsors to put on a great Macy's Fireworks display and concert to be televised across the nation.  Yet where are these same sponsors to put on fireworks displays at the bases who are getting the cuts?  Just wondering...

I might not be a big music star yet, but if I were I would surely be putting on a big show for our men and women in uniform with Fireworks!  In the meantime I offer what I have.  Inspired by ignorant comments from Bill Press and Daniel Tosh saying the Anthem was "embarrassing and un-singable" among other things;  my good buddy Alfonzo Rachel (click to learn about Zo here) asked me to do a special version of our National Anthem with him.

To all of our men and women in uniform past present and future, Thank You for your service.  In my humble Greek Girl opinion you are a National Treasure!  Please know that although there may be mixed messages coming from the top, we the American People still value and appreciate your sacrifice more than words can say.
Have a safe, fun and blessed 4th of July, and please don't forget to say "Thank You" to a Service Member.

Blessings, Love & Music ~

Ava :D
www.avaaston.com