Summer Fun

Okay so since Ferris Bueller, I mean Obama is out playing golf while Iraq is burning, and since I don't want to get audited by the IRS, and my Veteran husband can't get a doctor's appointment at the VA for another 6 months I figured I would focus on what I can do to "enjoy" this summer.

Now if you are like me and the rest of those living up here in the Northeast, you may have not noticed that summer has officially kicked off.  I literally didn't even realize it until I heard it on the news.  Well, I obviously didn't get the memo and since my flip-flops have barely seen the light of day since my trip to see family in Florida for Christmas, it was a bit of a shocker.  So I'm finally getting geared up for my Top-10 things I am looking forward to doing this summer.

10. Have dinner at the 76 house in Tappan NY with a couple of good friends.  Legend claims it is the oldest tavern in the US.  Just for those who are wondering... it is one of the places George Washington met and planned his strategy during the Revolutionary War.

9. Find a Jersey Beach to actually go to.  Yes I have lived here most my entire life and no I have never been to the Jersey Shore.  So this summer that too will change.  Oh and I will of course have a iced-cup-o-happinss a-la Dunkin Donut's in my clutches.

8. Now, this one is a stretch considering when I go outside I break out from poison ivy.  But I would love to actually go for a proper hike through Harriman State Park here in NY. Don't worry, I will make sure to bring some Twinkies just in case I run into a bear on the trail.

7. Then I want to take a guided tour of the Bannerman Castle aka "the Crumbling Castle on the Hudson River".  It is something I have wanted to do for a long time.  I love to explore and this just seems to be such a cool thing to see before it is completely gone.

6. Take a day-trip with my favorite person in the whole world and visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  No, I have never been.  Since I am the daughter of an immigrant this is a very important trip to me.  Then finish the day off off at the Southstreet Seaport or Little Italy in NYC eating junk food.  (Hey Stan Appling, I can hear you snickering).

5.  Jingle-Jingle-Jingle!  That's the sound of the slot machines I love to play.  Now, I don't do it often and I only do it for fun.  But when I do it I make sure to play it safe.  So, I will be headed to either Yonker's Raceway, Monticello or maybe even Foxwoods.  I am not sure but it will be fun... I guarantee it.

4. Finish my book. No... not summer reading, but summer writing.  What?  You didn't know I am writing a book?  That's right.  I am working on a 40 Day Inspirational Devotional that will go along with "Operation Mustard Seed" the crowdfunding campaign done for my new music, which I am currently working on.

3.  That brings me to the next thing.  Get in the studio.  Yep, this Greek Girl has been working on a whole bunch of songs.  Now, it's getting close to that time.  Time to make some tracks.  So that is one main thing to do... Get back in the studio ASAP.

2. I fully support the 2nd Amendment.  So that means I want to finally go to Gander Mountain and buy me that 12-gauage Mossberg 500A Tactical shotgun and lay down some lead.  No, not at animals of course, but I am not opposed to a little target practice (just in case I ever have to defend myself or my furkids).

1. Take a special road trip.  I love road trips and nothing beats going to a city or town you haven't been to in a long time or someplace new.  In the past I've gone to Niagara, DC, Philly, Outer Banks and others.  This year it will be either Boston or Historic Williamsburg. Of course if time permits we might make it to both...  We shall see.

Either way, no matter what I do this summer I am going to make sure to have fun, lots of it.  Oh and of course I will be wearing my flip-flops and keeping cool with my Iced Cups of Happiness a la Dunkins.  So what are you doing this summer?  Hope you have fun and keep it safe and stay cool!

Blessings, Love & Music~
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com

Knocked Up

Good Grief...

Now before you go getting your pantaloons all in a wad, no I'm not talking about me. I repeat the Greek Girl is NOT Pregnant. (That is not going to happen at least until after I have my 1st Grammy).  Now unless you've been living under a rock you would know that Jersey Shore's resident princess Snooki is however knocked up.  Oh and in case you might be wondering, I think she might be registered at your local tanning salon.

All joking aside I've been noticing a lot of hoopla about "contraception" in the news lately.  I mean who hasn't?... unless of course you've been under that dang rock again hiding from Snooki (and I can't blame you on that one).  Seriously though, the thing that I've been noticing is that there seems to be just a wee bit of hypocrisy going on in this whole debate in the media.

Oh boy where is her Greek noggin going this time? You see there appears to be a whole bunch of people who seem to "get" sarcasm when it suits them. For example if Bill Maher or Jon Stewart make a remark about someone it has to be "sarcasm", right? When it doesn't benefit them, they can take a line or series of them in this case and twist them entirely out of proper context and blow them ridiculously out of proportion. Yes I am talking about the Rush Limbaugh comments about Sandra Fluke. Now I was not listening, however being the good greek girl that I am I did what any good investigative reporter would do... I went to youtube to see for myself exactly what he said.  Was it the best choice to illustrate the sarcastic dry point he was trying to make?... Not my call, but I still got what he was trying to say.

Listen you do not have to be a rocket scientist to comprehend that as a person you are responsible for your own dang self.  I really do not care if we are talking about a struggling law student from a poor family, a law student from a very wealthy family, or anything in between...  In my coconut, her whole argument to congress about why she needs to have her birth control paid for was nonsense. If there is a medical necessity ie: ovarian cysts or something else like that and a woman needs to medically be on birth control, then yes by all means insurance should cover it. Otherwise, if you want to be on birth control because you want to have sex without a conscience, then pay for it, wether it costs up to $3,000.00 a year as she stated to congress, or get it at your local target where all generics are $4.00, or you could do something really radical and discover an ancient Greek girl secret... a calendar.

A what? You read it right, I wrote a calendar. You know that genius little invention that helps you keep track of things, like say your ummm female cycle. If Sandra Fluke or anyone else does not want to get knocked up like Snooki, maybe they ought to check that out.  There - Problem solved.

Where the hypocrisy comes in is where was the moral outrage when people like Bill Maher not sarcastically mind you, but full on out called Sarah Palin the following: the c-word, a category 5 moron, a dumb twat, and even went so far as to call an innocent baby Trig Palin an "inbred weirdo".

Where was Gloria Allred when Ed Shultz called Laura Ingram a "right wing slut" on his radio program?  Or how about when Keith Olbermann said that conservative commentator S.E. Cupp "should have been aborted by her parents"? Or when he called conservative blogger, commentator and author Michelle Malkin a "mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick"? I donno call me crazy, but we have a word for this in the Greek language, folks it is called hypocrisy. Back to the dictionary we go...

Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually have.^[1] Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie.^[1]

The word hypocrisy comes from the Greek ὑπόκρισις (hypokrisis), which means "Jealous" "play-acting", "acting out", "coward" or "dissembling".^[3] The word hypocrite is from the Greek word ὑποκρίτης (hypokrites), the agentive noun associated with υποκρίνομαι (hypokrinomai κρίση, "judgment" »κριτική (kritiki), "critics") presumably because the performance of a dramatic text by an actor was to involve a degree of interpretation, or assessment.

(just so you knew I wasn't kidding when I said it came from us Greeks.) ;D

OK see what I mean? All the moral outrage about the Sandra Fluke comments from Rush  Limbaugh, and what do we hear from the feminists and the people who cry for social justice when someone launches an all out character assassination on a "conservative woman"? What do you hear?....  (insert cricket sounds here)

So what am I getting at? No matter what side of the political aisle you like to sit on - if it's wrong for one side then it's wrong for the other. It's wrong all around, you can't have it both ways. At the end of the day the only person that should be held accountable for your body, is you.  It makes no sense for women to be blinded to the reality that in the 1960's they were burning bra's because they didn't want to be controlled - yet now they are asking the government to quite literally not just enter their bedroom but their womb.
All the while what are we saying to our youth in this whole argument? That men don't need to be responsible, have all the sex you want, it's OK as long as you are on the pill?... Good grief! It seems like the moral compass of society is a little out of whack - just sayin.

Blessings,
Ava :D
www.avaaston.com

Am I Ugly?

Am I Ugly?... NO You're not, you're beautiful!

Loyal readers of my blog know that the Greek Girl has been known to temporarily lose her filter from time to time.  Well, I have to warn anyone who decides to read further:

WARNING:  Help, my filter has fallen off and I can't pick it up! That's because my noggin erupted today when I was on Yahoo and I read about the viral "Am I Ugly" videos.

This epidemic is so sad - and yet, so insane at the same time. It really makes my Greek ears bleed.  Is anyone shocked that we have literally an entire generation of young girls and boys growing up with serious self-esteem, image, values and more problems than I can even begin to list here?

Why on earth are these kids growing up so messed up, confused and losing their childhoods? Jeepers, I can't think of one reason.  The reason is, because I can think of a bajillion examples of such positive messages and images for them.  I mean with some top-notch tv shows instilling morals and values into their impressionable young noggins - I can't imagine why they would be so insecure and broken (yep, that was as sarcastic as it sounded.)  Let's have a little look see at a little list of  their favorite influential shows: American Idol, America's Got Talent, The Voice, So you Think you Can Dance, Dance Mom's, So You Think Your Mom Can Dance (coming soon, I'm sure) Toddler's and Tiara's, The Jersey Shore, My Super Sweet Sixteen, Keeping Up with the Kardashian's, Ice Loves Coco, The Girl's Next Door, Khole and Lamar, Kourtney and Kim Take NY, Kendra, Scouted, Bridalplasty, The Dance Scene, 16 and Pregnant, 15 and Pregnant, 14 and Pregnant, 13 and Pregnant, A Kardashian and Pregnant, Teen Mom, I Just Want My Pants Back, America's Best Dance Crew, Jackass, I Used to Be Fat, I Used To be A Fat JackAss, I Used To be A Fat Jack Ass Now I'm Just A Kardashian, Made, The Real World, Mob Wives, Single Ladies, Basketball Wives, FootBall Wives, Boring Golf Wives, Love and Hip Hop, The Real Housewives, Where's My Record Deal Mr. Bricks, need I go on?.....

Oh, and let us not forget the Grammy's this year.  Was it just me or did anyone else have to turn off the TV because Nicki Minaj's performance (if I dare to use that word to describe what she did) burned their eyeballs out?

What on EARTH are we telling kids - and adults even for that matter today?  Has anyone really stopped to ponder this, or do they just not give a crap? Why don't we all just throw up our arms in defeat and join Mr. Bricks at McDonald's for a plate of McRibs and celebrate the decline of our society. What shows like this tell people - whether you want to admit it or not, is that if you do not get on TV, if you do not get "famous"- for literally any reason, then you have no value.  If you do not look a certain way, wear a particular size, wear the right clothes, listen to the right music, do your hair right, and on and on and on - then you have no value.  What is being pushed down the throats of the American public at large is a big giant truckload of Muckery if you ask me.

By perpetually pushing this "you must be famous" gotta get a "viral video" agenda, the entertainment media are literally squashing the heart and soul of an entire generation. Where are the future Dr's, lawyers, rocket scientist's, politicians, engineers, teachers, firemen, police officers, airplane pilots, astronauts, entrepreneurs? For crying out loud a good chef makes over $100,000 per year.  Why, why, why is it that everyone wants to be famous? And why are so many young girls loosing their way and growing up with so many insecurities, hurts and a great big giant gaping void? Well,  the Greek girl is going to tell you why... it's because they are looking to people like the Kardashian's, Nicki Manaj, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, MTV, Snooki and her slick Jersey Shore cast/bed mates to measure themselves to. Young girls are listening to the words and messages in their songs, watching their videos and their little coconuts are jammed full of confusing messages. So much so that teenage & pre-teenage girls are turning to posting these disturbing videos on YouTube asking if they are ugly.  As Lucy would say, GOOD GRIEF CHARLIE BROWN!!!!

 

Example: Has anyone ever really listened to the words to "Last Friday Night" by Katy Perry?  Mind you, she spoofed Rebecca Black in the video and she even invited the 13-year-old to perform the song with her on stage at a concert this summer. Now I don't know where little Rebecca's mom was, but if she even had only half of her noggin working properly she would not have allowed her daughter to perform that song with Katy.

Think my Greek nogggin has quit working? Not yet -- just check this out, you'll see what I mean...

Lyrics: "Last Friday Night" by Katy Perry

There's a stranger in my bed,

There's a pounding my head
Glitter all over the room
Pink flamingos in the pool
I smell like a minibar
DJ's passed out in the yard
Barbie's on the barbeque

There's a hickie or a bruise
Pictures of last night
Eended up online
I'm screwed
Oh well
It's a black top blur
But I'm pretty sure it ruled

Last Friday night
Yeah we danced on tabletops
And we took too many shots
Think we kissed but I forgot

Last Friday night
Yeah we maxed our credit cards
And got kicked out of the bar
So we hit the boulevard

Last Friday night
We went streaking in the park
Skinny dipping in the dark
Then had a menage a trois
Last Friday night
Yeah I think we broke the law
Always say we're gonna stop-op
Whoa-oh-oah

This Friday night
Do it all again
This Friday night
Do it all again

Trying to connect the dots
Don't know what to tell my boss
Think the city towed my car
Chandelier is on the floor
With my favorite party dress
Warrants out for my arrest
Think I need a ginger ale
That was such an epic fail

Pictures of last night
Ended up online
I'm screwed
Oh well
It's a blacked out blur
But I'm pretty sure it ruled

Now call me old fashioned, but I just don't think a song about hmm let's see, a menage a' trois, drinking, getting arrested, skinny dipping, not knowing what you did because you were so wasted is really a song that any thirteen year old should listen to, or sing on stage for that matter. just sayin. When I was that age I was writing and singing songs about kittens, unicorns and fairies....and I hadn't even met Mr. Bricks yet!

I have a message to young girls everywhere.  STUFF YOU EARS FULL OF COTTON BALLS, and stop looking to these seriously misguided people for your value and self-worth.  You are perfect just the way you are, no matter who you are, how old you are, how skinny or fat you are, what kind of family you come from, and no matter what you look like.  How do I know you are perfect?  Because you are God's creation - and he does not make junk.  Each and every one of us has value, we all have talents, and abilities unique to each of us.  We are all special, regardless of what TV tries to make us think we need to "be" in order to be special.  You are perfect just the way you are.  So shine, be you, and do not let anyone put out your fire.  

I wrote my newest song "I Don't Even Care" because I was tired of people telling me what I was supposed to do or be in order to be successful in the music industry.  I've been at it a long time, and I have still not yet achieved my goals.  However I will not let anyone stop me from being myself while on my way to where I am going.  I am me, just the way I am, and if the entertainment industry does not like it, well.... They can just kiss it.  What I am saying to young kids everywhere is NO YOU ARE NOT UGLY!  You are perfect just the way you are.

Please watch, listen and share:

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

Government Shut Down? Alright, Bring It On!

Gone Fishin'

Because our political leaders can't get their financial act together a government shut down is looming. What does this mean? How will you and your family be affected? Well leave it to me, the self-appointed Government Real Economic Expression Klutz (GREEK) Czar. I am here to give you the ins and the outs of what's going to happen financially and how to survive (if not even thrive) if there is a shut down of the U.S. Government.

First off this GREEK Czar recommends buying stock in Federal Express immediately.  As the Government shutdown happens forget trying to send or receive mail for 44¢. For those of you who listen to the GREEK Czar, you will become filthy rich off of your new investment in Fed Ex stock and will be able to retire before the next Kardashian reality series debuts.

The TSA employees will retreat back into their little caves, so boarding and flying on an airplane will become enjoyable once again. The GREEK Czar also must announce that the FAA will also be on temporary furlough so look for Southwest Airlines to bring back more pimped out versions of their recently unveiled Boeing 737's convertibles. E! Television will announce a new reality series starring Rob Kardashian called Pimp My Plane.

Because voting is such a huge part of the US political system and with the politicians inability to vote and agree on a budget, the GREEK Czar has decided that in a show of solidarity any TV series that requires a vote will be immediately shut down. This includes American Idol, Dancing With The Stars, The X factor, Survivor and the newly pitched ABC series called The Survivors of Dancing with the Ex-American Idols.

The GREEK Czar has some exciting news about those of you who have yet to file your 2010 Federal Taxes. Although your taxes will still be due by April 15th there won't be any post offices to mail in your 1040 tax forms, so you will have to spend a little bit more money by using Federal Express to ensure they are delivered by the deadline of midnight of April 15th. However, the IRS agents won't be reporting to their cubicles during the shutdown so all personal taxes can be filed in "waiter or waitress" mode. This means you do not need to report your actual total gross income for 2010, just report what amount you think will not raise any red flags like most waiters and waitresses do.

The offices of the FCC will also be shuttered during this time so as your friendly GREEK Czar I just want to warn you that you might want to keep your children and small pets away from the television and radio in case any insensitive or vulgar material slips out over the airwaves. Every precaution will be made to ensure this doesn't happen. This includes  a moratorium on how many episodes of Jersey Shore can air in a single 24-hour period and limits the number of Michael Bolton songs that can play on the radio during the hours of  8 am to 8 pm.

It won't be easy to get through this difficult time, but rest assured you have the GREEK Czar helping in any way I can.

Blessings,

Ava

xox