Sunday we had a trip to the city planned, visit a few stores and see a couple of friends.
I had it in my mind how the day would go.  It went another way.
Storm and I had a good day and did see some people we have not seen in a while,  & it was great to say Hello and catch up a bit.
But the day had an event that really stuck in my head. Enough to draw it.

I suggested to Storm that we find an outdoor patio so that I could medicate. Which was badly needed. Young st. was busy - what else is knew... the level of poor was new, to me anyhow. Everything you see in the cartoon is TRUE and more.  It was a visual smorgasbord!   

The color, the people, the noise were slightly overwhelming as it is but when we finally found an empty patio and had just ordered a coffee, was about to medicate, I heard this strange beeping...  you know s sound you know but are not sure where....

I turned to see a woman in a hospital gown, no shoes on her feet... walking towards us - with an IV pole - she was hooked up. The blood backed up into the line connecting to her arm.  The machine on the IV pole beeping! 

I instantly thought of TIFF and thought it might be some stunt.. 
She walked right where we were sitting, when an EMT worker pulled up beside her and started to question her. We were sitting right beside her.

He was nice and asked her where she was going, he said she had walked 5 km from a hospital?!  5 km and no one stopped her? No one asked her where she was going or what she was doing. ;(  The conversation continued and he expressed concern about the IV Pole  stating a few times “it’s worth about $3,000...  “  I was thinking - buddy - she is in her hospital gown in the middle of young street attached to an IV POLE do you think she was thinking about the cost?

Well a couple of police cars later... she had slid down the railing where we were sitting almost within touching distance.. she did turn and say “sorry”

I told her she had no need to apologize.  I felt bad for her. She was here from Alberta, no family, at a shelter and sick., She had a bad infection and was in the hospital to get better. It is great in this country she can be treated!  I get it bout the IV Pole.. but really? What has played on my mind is the fact that he got so far. How sad. :( So many people just ignoring everything. stepping over the poor liek they re trash on the street. 

I bet people looked at her  when she was not looking and they thought she must be crazy. Who is cray? THOSE who see and do NOTHING are the closest to mad there is. No compassion.

I did not leave, We sat there. I at one point thought the conversation might have gone differently if she were alone. The other officer made a point about asking her is she had been in trouble and  also the cost of the Pole.
Then they talked about how they needed bigger cars. 

An ambulance finally arrived and she had to go back. Back to where she was so very tired of.  I don’t have the answers. Better security at the hospitals?

This cartoon is full of mental illness. Alcohol abuse. Sexual obsession,  Shopaholics. The rich and the poor. People together but a great percentage alone.  Many on phones. Obese people getting more obese on the takeout  Blvd. as they stroll past a woman begging for food. 

Everyone in their own world. 
NOT.   

WE ARE here TOGETHER!  One day that might be you! 

What is happening to you Toronto? Not the city I know and loved. 
That could easily be someone's sister or mother. 
I talked it over with a friend who work in the city and she said “you see so much so often you just learn to turn your head.”

I don’t think that is what Jesus meant when he said ‘Turn the other cheek’.
Forgive us, for we know squat.  ;( .
xox <>< 

There is a sign of hope in the cartoon. Can you find it?

I try to live my life stress free - LOL! Don't we all. 
I understand there is stress we can't avoid it, death, illness and many unexpected events... but there is stress we can avoid. It's the petty stuff. The small stuff.  
I constantly try to be a better person - it's not an easy task, I am human and I lose my temper and drive - more often than I wish to admit ;)  That being said, I have learned  "the truth' does set you free.  ;) !! 
I made some changes. 
~I don't assume - if it is bothering me - as in 'on my mind' - I ask.  
~I tell the truth. If you don't want to know don't ask... I am realizing, most people have a pretty good idea before they ask -  do you agree?
I try to be nice.... lol - If I can't, I try not to say anything at all,  unless of course it means something important to me! What are you waiting for speak up! 
TRY to speak with some thought.. I recently watched a tedtalk  (I think)  and the gentleman speaking said  remember this when speaking: HAIL
I agree!  
It is what I try to do and will continue to do as long as I'm here. 
It's how we learn.  
I certainly have held nothing back on this blog to date. 
I made a promise to myself and God as long as I'm here to speak my mind.  I just so happen to do it with a blog.  
Others do it other ways. It is not how we do it but what we say. 
FOR one day try not to say anything negative about anyone!   
Not even Rob Ford or Steven Harper!  LOL  Can you do it? 
it is a habit like anything else. It needs work to make it a pattern. 
Either way... HAIL is something I think we can all learn. 
I work daily on eliminating gossip, it's easy to 'get caught up'.. but I think I'd rather get caught up in some art.  Tune it out to TOON in.
<><   xox   
HAIL! 

Labels...

It occurred to me, how so many are still very ‘concerned’ about labels and not the ones they should be.  I recently had someone talk to me - he was ‘asking for a friend... ‘, really - and the friend has a child who is experiencing grand mal seizures. Well, apparently he is thinking about cannabis but “is worried about the kid getting stoned.”
Really?

I do not understand how a parent of a child  can watch them have a grand mal seizure  but are afraid to see them ‘high’? What ever that may be in their mind.  
Then there is the medicine. How is that o.k. to start to watch your child become a pharmaceutical junky?  BEFORE you would look into cannabis? A plant. Never been recorded for causing a death, certainly not by anyone using for pain, nausea, epilepsy, cancer... It’s endless.  

Don’t believe me? Google it.
Wait! God forbid someone find out your googling ‘cannabis’!  That would make you a ‘stoner’!? LABELS.  We are less consumed with what actually goes into out bodies, and can cause us damage from the inside out.  The labels - ‘name calling’ bulling - for lack of a better word, can cause many problems as well. STRESS. 

The sooner we learn we are not responsible for how anyone else thinks about us the better off we will be. I know people I have met and like and later find out - they don’t like me. Go figure LOL  In the past I just might ponder that. Now, I have better things to ponder. :) Love, Peace and Happiness.  
I’m not saying a child cannot benefit from  western medication. Although, I am not longer convinced this is the golden rule.   As parents WE are ‘the gatekeepers’ and the first thing we can do - as ‘hoaky’ as it is is give our kids the key to success - EDUCATION! I’m NOT saying university- I believe it is NOT for everyone. Just encourage learning and passion and teach them about consequences..
I am not preaching, I am praying out loud.
There are so many already messed up people that were probably messed up as kids - but they don’t all grow up nasty and mean. 
You can be introduced to love at any age! <3

For those of you still tempted to take this drug or other cox-2 inhibitors and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAIDS) pain-killers:  be careful, they can kill more than pain. READ the LABELS !! Know what does not kill? Good for pain?  Cannabis. 
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/fda-approves-pain-killer-linked-to-death.htmlhttp://cannabisdigest.ca/  also on FaceBook  @ https://www.facebook.com/CannaDigest

A friend had some plants taken from his back yard.  I am hoping it was just some thoughtless kid and NOT someone he knows.  He is upset and stressed. I GET IT. 

How do you think I feel when I worry about he proposed future of medical Cannabis in Canada today?  Not being able to afford medicine that Storm needs. Medicine I need. 
I get it.

Someone stole the plants - to get high. Not thinking much about anything other than themselves and getting a BUZZ. The real buzz is the BUZZ kill  a patient now is dealign with over a plant. Suffering - a few months supply of medicine gone. Thief.

If this PLANT were decriminalized and be as IT SHOULD  - a seed to plant for all human kind - no one would need to go around and STEAL it! 
What other weeds do people do around and steal!? Not my dandelions.  

Prohibition is turning people into criminals over plants. 

Not the Plant and not the person - that is HUMAN NATURE, to want to feel good. 

Please THINK before you consider lifting a plant you might see  that does NOT belong to you.  It could mean a lot more than getting high to someone - I could mean them being able to keep their job, or function with their family.. it could mean life or death. 

A Thief is a Thief. If they steal from one with no guilt, they will steal from another. 
It is sad. I don’t think anyone ever trusts a thief again. Including themselves.

I also feel there is an entire beautiful energy surrounding this plant - bad karma if you ask me.  Not a high I would enjoy.  Not one someone who truly appreciates cannabis would do.
VOTE  & GROW it. 
xox <><

Reading about all the politicians that admit to smoking cannabis - is awesome! 
Woot woot!  Time to come out of the cannabis closet.  
BUT, at the same time I can’t help but think... well Cannabis has ‘always been illegal’ even if you only did it 35 years ago, and yes you were younger BUT so what! 

It was illegal (still is to most ) and I bet it was far less that 35 years for many.  
So to sit in office and judge others, punish others for something you HAVE done it the epitome of Hypocrisy

Part of me thinks, WHO cares?  Who - the average Joe that has lost his job and family for doing the exact same thing, that is WHO.  The AVERAGE person who has been  deemed a criminal for exactly the same thing and if your black and in America , and NOT obama - well chances are you have even gone to jail for  taking a few tokes. 

It has effects millions  with a criminal record, that can ruin many a future. 

HOW can anyone sit back and continue to watch what is happening, (anyone in political power) and go along with it?  They have other things to focus on - if you can not treat people the same on a basic level than forget the rest. 

So, as much as I am thrilled, the more that admit the more people will understand that it is nothing but a waste of time and tax payers money to keep prohibition on Cannabis  illegal. How many more will come out of the woodwork and admit to Cannabis use.?WHO CARES. DO the right thing! If you have smoked it in the past admit it, teach your children and admit that it never ruined your life or fried your brain - look at all the politicians!  Hmmm.. might not want to make that compassion ;).

Decriminalize it. < What I wish for.
Legalize it. - < what I see happening - so the government can still make $$$
END the lies. 

A few more names you might know... that HAVE admitted to Cannabis use.. 
Bruce Babbitt Governor of Arizona,
Michael Bloomberg  Mayor of New York City
Bill Bradley  Senator from New Jersey
George W. Bush  President of the United States
Paul Cellucci  Governor of Massachusetts
Lincoln Chafee Senator from Rhode Island, 
Lawton Chiles Senator from Florida,
Bill Clinton President of the United States
Steve Cohen  House of Representatives
Jack ConwayAttorney General of Kentucky
Andrew Cuomo Governor of New York
Howard Dean Governor of Vermont,
Joseph DeNucci  Auditor of Massachusetts
Mary Donohue Lieutenant Governor of New York
John Edwards Senator from North Carolina
Newt Gingrich Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
Al Gore Vice President of the United States
Gary Johnson Governor of New Mexico
Joseph P. Kennedy II Member of the House of Representatives
John Kerry Senator from Massachusett
Ed Koch Member of the House of Representatives, Mayor of New York 
Richard Lamm Governor of Colorado
Connie Mack III Senator from Florida
Kyle E. McSlarrow Deputy Secretary of the Department of EnergyRepublican
John Miller Member of the House of RepresentativesRepublican
Susan Molinari House of Representatives
Jim Moran Member of the House of Representatives
Evelyn Murphy Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
Richard Neal Member of the House of Representatives
Barack Obama. President of the United States
Sarah Palin Governor of Alaska
George Pataki Governor of New York
David Paterson Governor of New York
Edward W. Pattison Member of the House of Representatives
Claiborne Pell Senator from Rhode Island
Arnold Schwarzenegger Governor of California
William Scranton III Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania
Clarence Thomas Supreme Court Justice
Bill Thompson New York City Comptroller
Peter G. Torkildsen Member of the House of Representatives
Jesse Ventura
and the list goes on.............................

xox <><

Love thy neighbor.

There is a reason ‘that is a good’ one if you ask me. Your neighbors know you best.

 I love my neighbors. They are all human to me, I see them daily, see they all have to shovel the drive way, know we all pay our taxes, deal with domestic bliss and try to keep our kids safe. Wave, smile, a friendly hello... off we go.

My neighbors have my back and I theirs. I once saw a car go through my neighbors fence! The person tried to leave and I told them forget it! It was allot of damage. I saw a teen jump a fence into a neighbors yard and take something, I phoned him, he confronted the teen in the act. Just being a teen.   I’ve returned lost pets and kids!  I have also had the pleasure of teaching many kids over the years and don’t get me started on Halloween! LOL  Over the years I have gone to my neighbors  for sugar, batteries, propane propane, eggs, lawnmower, a vacc, many reasons over the years, locked out of my house, to give extra tomatoes, sell Halloween kitties door to door..

(I have returned the favors with art over the years.)

I especially like to keep an eye on the elders. ;-) I have stopped a bit of school ‘walk home bullying’ over the years ;-( so sad. One little guy I had to drive home he was so afraid. I live between 2 elementary schools.  I have had people say I should mind my business. PLEASE my neighbors and kids are my business!   I do mind my business, I have never called the cops on a neighbor. We all have our parties, we all get loud from time to time, we all aggravate each other, so what. That is life, but living side by side like any good relationship we have to; not sweat the small stuff.

LOL one of my neighbors has been learning electric guitar (say no more..) BUT we heard him this spring and we all commented - Hey! He’s getting better, and all laughed. Thank God. I’m even looking forward to the electric guitar this summer ;)

So..  say you smell Cannabis from next door. SO WHAT?  Do you know your neighbor? Do you know what they are dealing with? Will you call the cops or will you not?   I figure as long as no one is being hurt, it is not my business. An easy decision when you learn about the facts between alcohol and cannabis.
Do not judge a book by its cover or the person by the pain medication they choose! 

I KNOW I have friends in HIGH places and trust me you would never think they sit back at night to enjoy a little reefer - medical or not. 
I cannot make excuses for stoners or drunks. We all have that neighbor, perhaps I was one of them over the years- I had a few wild parties.. ;-)   WE ALL DO! 
Love thy neighbor have their back! Don’t judge them over a smell.  
Kinda like judging someone over curry, coffee or CIGARS! < YUK.  
Are we not being judged enough by the world as it is?
Are we not entitled to enjoy our homes, and NOT have to stress about what 
eases our pain?

Many people who smoke cannabis medically and recreationally are far from STONERS or bad people.  You never know what goes on behind closed doors. 
Smelling Cannabis should be the least of some peoples worries.
xox <><

Music for your blog reading enjoyment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzs1K3caXJk
Wow, this cartoon smacked me right in the head ;-) Awesome.
It started with a joke from my best bud Cathy.♥ 
I was stressed wondering what to draw for 4/20?! 
The universal day of 
Celebration for Cannabis!!! 
A Plant.
Grown from a seed.
Made by *GOD.
(*original patent holder)


Medical, Recreational, Hemp, Food, Fuel.. 
It's the day and I want to say THANK YOU!  
                                       I have said it so many times, I thank God daily for this Plant! 
Give us this Day our daily Bud...  <3 Wow. YES,   I read recently  how powerful that prayer is;  Give us this dayour daily bread,  -not thanks for yesterday, or make sure I have it tomorrow. Give us THIS day.  Focus on today.
.. and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,
 and that                 ^ ^        ^  That simply put means  ^    ^  ^             :
                                               PEACE, PEOPLE!  
Religion aside... who can argue with those lines?  How else are we going to get ahead, clearly WAR is not the answer! 
Thank you Marvin, now in my head for the rest of the day.
People all around the world who suffer over a plant. A plant less toxic than many others,  proven helpful to ease pain, yet illegal and lives destroyed because of it.    
WTF?   O.M.God.  How disappointing.  
A PLANT.  While others  rape, kill, abuse, terrorize, suffer & starve needlessly... 
enough with the bullshit distraction. 
FOCUS on the REAL problems at hand. 

Rise Up people! Speak up! <3   Celebrate this Plant! Let it be a symbol of change.
It all starts with a SEED!!!  Life.

So.. Yes!
     Give us this Day our daily bud, 
       and thank you Lord  for it!
I do! Everyday! Keeping the Love of my life happy - How could I not give thanks?
Celebrate 4/20, Spread Peace and Love !!! 
- there are already enough assholes doing the opposite;-)


xox <><

Cannabis laws don't effect me...
Oh yeah- Think again! How about the suspicion of marijuana.
Watch this:  
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/outrage-texas-women-cavity-searched-police-over-alleged-marijuana-smell  
I saw this on Fb and could not believe the extent that this was taken. I believe the woman will win in court. I HOPE.   
REALLY - Just for the smell of Cannabis!? It could easily be you. 
For a drug that has never killed anyone - unlike alcohol and prescription drugs.
I first thought Legalize but it's not enough. Decriminalize - well I thought this was the way to go but it appears people are still being arrested in states where it is decriminalized. It appears many people feel like I do and just want it to be exactly what it is a plant. 
Some comments on a recent post:

-Legalize, if we only decriminalize it the government will still try to control it and restrict our access as well as itll probably not even be the high grade medicine we are looking for considering everyones needs are different and not every strain works for another i have had some meds that just don't cut it at all and other times its perfect.
- Neither, the ONLY and I stress ONLY way to end prohibition is to deschedule it off the controlled substance list and to repeal all of the laws surrounding this plant and get the DEA off our back and people out of jail. That's it. I know it isn't that simple but if we ALL pull together we can do this. And another thing I live in a decriminalized state. Funny thing is 1 person is arrested every 37 seconds here.
-Should be as legal to grow as any other delicious herb  the gov doesnt limit how many basil or garlic plants i can grow, or control their potency... Cannabis should be no different.
-Oops forgot to reason. Marijuana never got its day in court. Instead an overweight white man testified that it made white girls want black men and that was considered evidence. Pot needs to be put back where it was, off the legal books, legalize not decriminalize, its not a crime.
-Remove cannabis from the law books entirely. No laws, no controlled substance designation. Just a plant, simple and free. Just like anything else in a common backyard garden.
-The worst possible side effect from marijuana use is a criminal record

At one point Homosexuality was a crime and was decriminalized. No one being arrested since I believe. WHY? Because it is a crime against the person. Women breast feeding in public was a crime! IMAGINE - Feeding your baby - the most natural act in the world for a mother - makes me wonder who the idiots are that invented these laws in the first place and why are we being punished for their stupidity decades later.
Judging someone and punishing them for using a plant as their medicine or recreationally - when no other person is being harmed is a crime against the person.  
Legalize! Decriminalize! Both are steps in the right direction.  
Put this plant back in the garden where it belongs. That is the ultimate goal ;-) 
xox <>< 

* Rant warning! Read no further if you think I don't get angry.  As much as I try to stay positive - IT gets the better of me-  I have to get & let it out.

From time to time I am compelled to draw the same cartoon with  a twist. WHY? 
Because it is the same bullshit - different day. I have drawn this one far too many times.

I thank GOD when people say "Storm looks great! "
Yes he does!! ***BEAMING***  
He eats healthy - and he is the one that has his dad and I  also eating better.
He drinks very little alcohol - perhaps a beer from time to time. 
He works out at he gym. He is determined NOT to let his bone disease get the better of him. This however does not mean he is not in pain. He is never really out of pain.
With his medicine - Cannabis - he able to control it where it is NOT controlling him.
I don't know if you get that. I don't care.

He works hard to look good and keep his body as healthy as he can. 
It does not mean his bone disease in not progressing. It is. We know it. He knows it.
and we don't give a f*ck if you know it or not..  (oops control)

LOOK around you.  
If you were able to match all the numbers with the people in the cartoon above, then I am afraid one of us has failed.  Me as the cartoonist or you as a person?  
I'll leave that for you to judge...

When I drew the above cartoon I thought of each person with love. I did not have in my mind that anyone of them did/was anything. Just people.
Because, quite frankly - I have no f*cking clue who does what, and neither do you! 
Hello!? A murderer? If we knew what they looked like...
I'm pretty sure there would be fewer murderers!!! 

So please stop. 
Think - AM I Judging this person with out really understanding??
I AM  far from perfect... I tell this  ^ to my own mind all the time and I believe it is working.  I will not give up.
AT the end of the day I have to judge myself. 

You do not know what someone is dealing with by looking at them, think about it. 
Then again - with the expection of some seriously ill.   They look like they are dying. 
 So thank you GOD my son looks great! I want to shout it to the world! 
And you know why!  Plant and prayer;-) IMO.

On top of everything else do you think people who are sick, living with a serious condition, NEED you to say - "Well you don't look sick!?"       `WTF? 
YES there are fakers. They will be judged soon enough. We can't stop them or prevent them.  Then there are people like my son, who wishes every single day, more than anything they were not in the situtation that they are but they try to rise above it -every day! 
We have always told Storm you will grow up to be what ever you want! 
You have to believe! 

So... every time some thoughtless F%$!  says- "you dont' look sick" with a 'snarky smirk' on their face - I want to smack them.                    *Sigh*
I apologize.  Please forgive my momentary loss of control. 
I AM a MOTHER - I LOVE my SON. 
We know what he has lived with and continues to deal with daily. Be thankful you do not. You or your children.
 
WHO are you to make the ASSumtion my son is fine because 'he doesn't look sick'?
Or anyone for that matter? Have you walked in their shoes? Have you experienced what they experience? 
WHO are you to tell us, as a family what we can or can not use to heal his pain and make our all lives happier?  

WHO ARE YOU?!  

“You're going to come across people in your life who will say all the right words at all the right times. But in the end, it's always their actions you should judge them by. It's actions, not words, that matter.” 
― Nicholas Sparks, The Rescue

“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.” 
― Erma Bombeck        

I AGREE !
 xox Georgia 
☮☯☝✞☭☬☫☩☪☨☧☦☤  = ONE LOVE

It happened again! I had one of those 'Who the F*&^% is that?!'  moments in the middle of the night with my mirror. I just cut my hair short as I am getting ready for surgery and I know part of it will be shaved so I'm making the transition easier. ;-)..  I got up in the middle of the night to - what we do in the middle of the night and caught a glimpse of my reflection! I swear I let out a small scream without even realizing - it was a -did I say that out loud moment!  Where is that hot babe that always looked back looking sexy - no matter what shape her hair was in! LOL I'm still here and even though my own appearance catches me off guard I am reminded that is all it is a reflection. It is NOT me.  I think we would all be better if we did not see our reflection. 
I was watching a doc  called  'Mansome'  http://mansomethemovie.com/  we watched it on Netflix.  Norm and I both enjoyed it. Well there was this one 'indian guy" and I thought he was Hot, BUT as the interview goes on I am sick of him catching his reflection in every shiny object he can and his SO full of himself/shallow attitude was quite a turn off.
I'd much rather have someone like Zach Galifianakis anyday compared to him (he is also in the doc)  Not into the Mansome stuff.  Especially the C, S&B wax.  Ouch, yuk.
 We put too much on appearances because yes they do - we all fade, slip, sag, wrinkle and grey one day!  To which I say YIPPIE! One because I am still here to see another day- many are not much younger than I, and with each wrinkle I know I have truly earned it. I love my S&P hair! It would cost me a fortune for such streaks!!!

Anyhow as fate would have it - the very morning this drawing was on my desk not yet colored a friend stopped by and we started talking about bathrooms paint and turning on the light and catching your reflection! She said the same thing I had just drawn!  We are not alone! I know I am not the only sasquatch sighting at 3:a.m.   
Embrace it! 
Embrace the Sas when you see it!!!  It means (all that really matters)- we are sill breathing. xox <>< 

added Oct,  someone sent me this  re the above toon:
 Your blog made me remember when that happened to me. I was into my treatment { pegatron n interfon which was a yr long} for the Hep C about 3 1/2 months, looked in the mirror one morning and seen this sick looking person with hair falling out in handfulls {already cut it short} gaunt looking {lost about 45lbs} pale, skin hanging looking like death warmed over. I went back into the shower and cried my heart out. I think letting it all out in the shower helped me accept what was happening and knowing/hoping {50/50 success rate} it would only make my life so much better. It was a long hard road but I crossed that path and love the one I am on now.
My toon was really just about  age in general but yes it is important to remember when people are not feeling well and a little added TLC is needed to help them. People realize when they don't feel well - just like obese people KNOW they are obese - they don't need anyone to remind them - that is what a mirror is for. Be good to yourself ;-)