I
think Elly of For Better Or Worse is going to have a heart attack
given this morning's last panel, and who wants their favorite comic
to be all maudlin like that? Let's get back to Elizabeth's lack
of a love life or April's suicidal friend or the nervous breakdown
Deanna's going to have because of her two squalling children! Funky
Winkerbean or whatever's been interesting lately, too, cause he's
a drunk filled with self-loathing. Good stuff to start the day with.
===
There's
been an abundance of news lately about the state of this country's
foster care system, and for some reason it's really affecting me.
25% of the kids who don't get adopted become homeless when they
get booted out at 18, and 25% of them suffer from post-traumatic
stress disorder. And they have no one in the world -- they're all
alone. It's just such an overwhelming idea, to be floating around
in this world with nobody there to get your back. So I've been trying
to think of ways to help the situation, which of course is ridiculous
because realistically I can't do anything, but then I was telling
Gray an idea I had about how they could maybe thrive and find some
lasting brotherhood so they wouldn't be alone, and he goes, "That'd
make a good movie." And in today's paper there was a blurb
about how the actress Ally Walker is showing her documentary about
the foster care system in LA tonight at the Beverly Garland hotel,
so maybe I'll go to that. I figure I should pay attention to the
universe when things start lining up. Maybe I'll write a screenplay
and that can be my way to try to do something about it. Perhaps
paltry, but it'd be something.
===
Okay,
so the obituary of the week belongs to Leonardo Pena of Madera.
I'm not sure why he's in the Burbank paper, but whatever. So he's
79 (well, not anymore) and I'm reading, reading, reading, and then
what catches my eye is that he has SEVENTY-EIGHT grandchildren,
FIFTY-THREE great grandchildren, and three great-great grandchildren.
So I back up and read the middle part, which says:
"Survived
by his wife Juana Pena, preceded in death by his daughter Lucia
Pena. (start counting now). Children include Santos Pena of Madera,
Luis, Jorge, Arturo, Gildardo, Rigoberto, Gerardo, Eberardo, Sergio,
Martha, Juana, Lilia, Cecelia, Rocio, Leticia, Araceli, Angelica,
and Almarosa Pena all of Santa Clarita." My cooter HURTS for
that wife of his.
