Okay, for me Friday isn't any different than any other day of the week. I work seven days a week from my home. Monday is Wednesday, Thursday is Sunday, they're all pretty much the same unless I have someplace I have to be at a certain time on a certain day. But I thought you might appreciate that it's Friday because, well, you probably work a five day week and today signals the end of work and the beginning of fun time (smile)!
It's still cold here, big surprise and it's snowing lightly, another big surprise, right (smile)? But they're talking about a warm up on Sunday with a projected high of 35. Sure, 35 isn't really and truly warm, we all know that. But when it's been minus with the windchill, well, 35 is going to seem like Florida. And some of the snow is going to melt and that's a very good thing. That'll give us some wiggle room for when the next batch of flurries rolls in a few days later (smile).
Are you ready for the Super Bowl on Sunday? Got all your little munchies and beverages? For me, no huge surprise here, Super Bowl is just another day. I don't care about football. I don't care about any sports to tell you the truth. If I had to be a sports fan, like it was a do or die sort of thing, I guess I'd be either a hockey fan or a basketball fan. Why either of those two? Because hockey is exciting with all of the pushing and shoving, and some of the basketball players are cuties (smile). Alan Iverson, a new Piston, comes to mind. Except for the tattoos (I don't like tats at all).
What have I been up to lately? Reading and crocheting. I'm in the middle of one of Faye Kellerman's latest books, maybe not the latest, but the one that came out the end of last summer, Mercedes Coffin. Crochetwise I'm working on a scarf. It's a pretty blend of burnt oranges in Lion Brand suede-like yarn. I'm crocheting it for my Uncle David. Yes, you're right, I just gave him a beautiful black + white crocheted scarf for his birthday this past December. One that I labored over. You know what happened to it? He was blowing my snow and got it caught in the snow blower. It was a blessing that he didn't get seriously hurt or worse. The scarf was destroyed, but as long as he was okay that's what matters. I tried to locate some more of that black + white yarn but it turned out the company who made it is no longer in existence. Who knew I'd been using vintage yarn (smile)? This new scarf should be finished in a few days and then I don't know what I'll make next. Maybe back to purses, who knows?
The library is starting to fill up and there's folks waiting to use the computers so I'm signing off for now. You be good and be careful, take care, stay strong. Have faith. It's going to get better.
hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
Friday, January 30, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
4-Legged Friends
It's another snowy day here in beautiful Farmington Hills, Michigan. We got somewhere around 3 to 4 inches of snow last night and into this afternoon. Not a lot by any means, but just enough to make the roads horrible. Due to budget shortages the state, counties and cities are not plowing and salting as they used to do. I am thankful that I work from home.
My friend Tallulah, who is dealing with way more snow than we ever see down here (thank goodness!) emailed me some more of her pretty photos. This time it's of her four-legged friends, the deer.
Sorry this is so short but I have a cake in the oven--a pound cake—and it's just about ready to come out.
Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong. You're always in my thoughts and prayers.
Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
My friend Tallulah, who is dealing with way more snow than we ever see down here (thank goodness!) emailed me some more of her pretty photos. This time it's of her four-legged friends, the deer.
Sorry this is so short but I have a cake in the oven--a pound cake—and it's just about ready to come out.
Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong. You're always in my thoughts and prayers.
Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
Monday, January 26, 2009
Weather Today: Cold But Sunny!
I never thought I'd be able to snag a computer this morning at the library. Why? Because it's such a pretty day, all sunny and bright and cheerful looking. I plum forgot that when the temperature is hovering around 2 above, well, some/many/most folks prefer to just roll over in their snuggly beds and go back to sleep rather than putting on four layers of clothes plus their boots and going to the library. Silly me.
Truth is, had I realized just how cold it was I might not have left my chilly (but warmer than 2 above) house this morning. Okay, I had errands to run, true enough, but none of them were the 'if I don't do them today the universe will blow-up and it'll be all my fault' kind (smile)! After the bank and the post office I was just going to drop my library books in the drive-thru slot and keep going, but, well, the parking lot wasn't crowded--I found a spot right near the door!--and the allure of new books to read completely overwhelmed me. Then I saw about a dozen computers empty and I knew I had to seize the opportunity.
My plan for today's blog had been to email the whole thing to TWG (the web guy), along with some of Tallulah's spectacular photos, and ask him to post it for me. But plans are just dreams and I altered today's dream.
Are you watching Big Love on HBO? Last night was the second episode of the third season and it was great. I love it when I can have a HBO Sunday and that's been missing from my life since The Wire ended and this new season of Big Love took all but forever to get on the air.
Tonight if you call me from about 6:30pm until around 11pm I won't be home. Why? I'll be at the Chinese Buffet celebrating HSM and ABM birthdays. Hers is on February 10th, his is on January 31st. It was decided to combine the two birthdays on a neutral day and go out to dinner. What did I get them? Well, I can't tell you this morning what I got HSM because with my dumb luck she'll read the blog and then it won't be a surprise, but he never reads it so this is what I got him--a $75 gift card for Costco! Maybe it doesn't move you but he'll like it.
I just got reprimanded by the librarian. My cell phone rang and you're supposed to turn the ringer off when you come in. I apologized and handed her my phone, asked her to turn it off because I don't know how (I really don't, I wasn't making it up), but then told her she'd have to turn it back on when I got ready to leave because I don't know how (still not making it up, all I know how to do is answer the darn thing). She couldn't figure it out either. I told her it wouldn't ring again. The odds of it happening again this morning are zero zilch nada (nobody calls me on the doggone thing unless it's an emergency). It was my Uncle David and he said what he had to say in about 15 seconds and that was that.
I know, you know how to do it all on your cell phone, right? Well, I'm technologically challenged, so what. The cell phone I had years ago when I first bought the phone sex business was a piece of cake to use. All it did was be a phone. It ran me around $300, it had two batteries and I could easily use it. This one, it's a TMobile, no contract, uses minute cards. It has more gizmos on it than, well, than a phone should have. I can't retrieve messages so I had my Uncle David, in his voice, put my message as 'You've reached Tawny's phone. She doesn't know how to retrieve her messages so DON'T leave her a message!'. No, I'm not embarassed that I can't do anything but answer it and make calls, that's all a phone needs to do, that's all I need to do. Turn the ringer down? Can't do it, don't care, will leave the phone out in my truck from now on. Problem solved when I'm in the library.
Okay, that's it for this morning. Still have a few errands to run. You be good and be careful, take care, stay strong. Spring is almost here!
hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
Truth is, had I realized just how cold it was I might not have left my chilly (but warmer than 2 above) house this morning. Okay, I had errands to run, true enough, but none of them were the 'if I don't do them today the universe will blow-up and it'll be all my fault' kind (smile)! After the bank and the post office I was just going to drop my library books in the drive-thru slot and keep going, but, well, the parking lot wasn't crowded--I found a spot right near the door!--and the allure of new books to read completely overwhelmed me. Then I saw about a dozen computers empty and I knew I had to seize the opportunity.
My plan for today's blog had been to email the whole thing to TWG (the web guy), along with some of Tallulah's spectacular photos, and ask him to post it for me. But plans are just dreams and I altered today's dream.
Are you watching Big Love on HBO? Last night was the second episode of the third season and it was great. I love it when I can have a HBO Sunday and that's been missing from my life since The Wire ended and this new season of Big Love took all but forever to get on the air.
Tonight if you call me from about 6:30pm until around 11pm I won't be home. Why? I'll be at the Chinese Buffet celebrating HSM and ABM birthdays. Hers is on February 10th, his is on January 31st. It was decided to combine the two birthdays on a neutral day and go out to dinner. What did I get them? Well, I can't tell you this morning what I got HSM because with my dumb luck she'll read the blog and then it won't be a surprise, but he never reads it so this is what I got him--a $75 gift card for Costco! Maybe it doesn't move you but he'll like it.
I just got reprimanded by the librarian. My cell phone rang and you're supposed to turn the ringer off when you come in. I apologized and handed her my phone, asked her to turn it off because I don't know how (I really don't, I wasn't making it up), but then told her she'd have to turn it back on when I got ready to leave because I don't know how (still not making it up, all I know how to do is answer the darn thing). She couldn't figure it out either. I told her it wouldn't ring again. The odds of it happening again this morning are zero zilch nada (nobody calls me on the doggone thing unless it's an emergency). It was my Uncle David and he said what he had to say in about 15 seconds and that was that.
I know, you know how to do it all on your cell phone, right? Well, I'm technologically challenged, so what. The cell phone I had years ago when I first bought the phone sex business was a piece of cake to use. All it did was be a phone. It ran me around $300, it had two batteries and I could easily use it. This one, it's a TMobile, no contract, uses minute cards. It has more gizmos on it than, well, than a phone should have. I can't retrieve messages so I had my Uncle David, in his voice, put my message as 'You've reached Tawny's phone. She doesn't know how to retrieve her messages so DON'T leave her a message!'. No, I'm not embarassed that I can't do anything but answer it and make calls, that's all a phone needs to do, that's all I need to do. Turn the ringer down? Can't do it, don't care, will leave the phone out in my truck from now on. Problem solved when I'm in the library.
Okay, that's it for this morning. Still have a few errands to run. You be good and be careful, take care, stay strong. Spring is almost here!
hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
Saturday, January 24, 2009
I Didn't Mean to Lie
Since the feedback from my prison tales was positive, well, here goes another one. (That'll teach you to tell me you liked them! smile)
I didn't mean to lie the other day when I said my only ever bad prison visiting experience was that time at Marquette Branch Prison when the young fellow on the neighboring visit attempted suicide. Sometimes things are so unpleasant, so traumatic even, that we purposely forget them in order to keep moving on.
There are three really good ways for prison officials to 'mess with' a convict: Screw up their meals, tamper with their mail, and fuck with their visitors. Any one of those is grounds for a convict to become really angry.
I had been visiting the many prisons in Michigan for years when this happened. To see a list of the numerous prisons in my state, as well as all things prisons (from the point of view of the Michigan Department of Corrections), go to:
www.michigan.gov/corrections
While most guards and various other prison officials may not have known my name, I was a familiar face in Michigan's prisons. I visited from one end of the state to the other. In fact, I routinely carried a list of prisoner names and numbers in my purse so that if I had extra time, and I was in a prison town, I could stop in to see a prisoner. I was never a problem, never a security risk. I took no contraband in and I brought nothing out. Everyone knew that, it was common knowledge. There had never been even a hint or a whisper of anything improper regarding me.
It was while I was visiting a prisoner in the Upper Peninsula, a prison that was part of an enormous complex in the Kinross/Kincheloe area that this happened.
The man I was there to see was a prisoner leader, a man of great influence amongst his peers. He, and those who looked up to him, had been a thorn in the administrations side for quite some time. Tensions were running high between them.
I signed in at the front desk to visit him, totally unaware that there was a problem. Before I knew what hit me, I was informed by the guard that if I intended to visit this man I would first have to submit to a strip search. According to the guard, a kite (an internal memo written by a prisoner and delivered to the administration) received earlier that day said that a visitor to this prisoner was going to be bringing in contraband (drugs, weapons, green money).
Remember what I said the three best ways to mess with a convict were?
While I did not have to submit to the strip search, I would have been turned away from seeing him that day and a note would have been attached to his file stating that I refused the search. Therefore, forever and ever, a cloud of worry would have hung over my head anytime I went to see him. I'd never know if or when they'd require it of me again.
So I submitted to it even though I knew, and the guards doing it knew, and the warden who ad authorized it knew and everyone else knew it was all bullshit. All a lie. No kite had ever been sent saying anything like that. They all knew I didn't have any contraband on me. They just wanted to fuck with, retaliate against that prisoner. It wasn't anything personal against me.
As I'm sure you've gleaned from all the times we've spoken on the phone, as well as the relatively modest photos on my website, I am a modest woman. It was very difficult for me to pose for many of the photos on my site and I would not have been able to do it without the hair and the sunglasses.
Two female guards escorted me to the employee female bathroom. I was told to disrobe, article of clothing by article of clothing, and they went over my clothes with their fingers and a wand metal detector. Once I was naked I was told to bend over and spread my ass cheeks so they could visually inspect that nothing was between them. I was told to open my vaginal lips so they could visually inspect that nothing was in there. I had to lift my breasts, etc. They looked everywhere they could, all without physically laying a hand on me.
Yes, as horrific as it was for me, it could have been worse. They could have done a body cavity search, however that would have required a search warrant from the Michigan State Police. And that would have been terribly risky for the MDOC since they knew (and they knew I knew) that this was all for show, all to antagonize and 'get back' at a prisoner. I would have hired an attorney and filed a very expensive lawsuit against the state.
Aside from the strip search, the guards also went through my purse. They touched all of my money and credit cards, dumped out all of my allergy medicine and Tylenol so they could look through it (which I then had to throw out because who knew where their fingers had been?). I believe they also went through my car.
By the time I finally got in to the visiting room the prisoner I was there to see could tell by the look on my face that something was terribly wrong. I explained what had happened and he said he was oh so sorry that had happened to me. He comforted me as best he could. He was ready to 'go out' (speak angrily) on the visiting room guard and I talked him out of it.
He and I sat and talked about the strip search on that visit. He said that as many times as he had undergone them, they were still troubling and traumatic to him. He said it was all a part of dehumanizing people.
Because it's so important to get back on a horse after it throws you, I went right back to visit that same man at the same prison the very next day. I knew if I didn't confront the very same people who had humiliated me I would be crippled by their actions. I could not let them win.
When I got back home a few days later I went to see an old friend of mine. Donald, who had himself once been a Michigan prisoner. We sat and talked and talked and talked some more about what happened to me. I instinctively knew that I had to talk it out if I was going to recover from it. Thankfully, Donald was gracious enough to listen to me. Had I not had him to talk with I would have gone to a rape crisis center because to me I had been raped.
I'd like to say that I was totally over it within a week but that would be a lie. It took me a very long time to come to terms with the strip search. Years in fact.
If there's a plus side to it, and it's important to find the silver lining in every storm cloud, word got out across the state about me being strip searched. The prisoner grapevine is not a myth. From then on, while I had always been well received and well liked by the convicts I dealt with, they liked me even more. Why? I think because I had submitted to and survived one of the many indignities they encountered daily.
If ever, heaven forbid, you're forced to submit to a strip search, there's only one piece of advice I can think to share with you--do the best that you can to survive it with as much of your dignity in tact as you are able. A strip search is designed to humiliate you, to make you feel less than human. For me, I did not speak as it happened. I did not cry or even tear up. I merely complied with their orders. There was ample time for tears when I returned to my hotel room and my privacy.
I didn't share this story so you could 'get off' thinking about me naked, nor did I share it to try and garner sympathy from you. I shared just to share. None of us know everything, but we all know some things. If we share what we know......
You be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.
Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
I didn't mean to lie the other day when I said my only ever bad prison visiting experience was that time at Marquette Branch Prison when the young fellow on the neighboring visit attempted suicide. Sometimes things are so unpleasant, so traumatic even, that we purposely forget them in order to keep moving on.
There are three really good ways for prison officials to 'mess with' a convict: Screw up their meals, tamper with their mail, and fuck with their visitors. Any one of those is grounds for a convict to become really angry.
I had been visiting the many prisons in Michigan for years when this happened. To see a list of the numerous prisons in my state, as well as all things prisons (from the point of view of the Michigan Department of Corrections), go to:
www.michigan.gov/corrections
While most guards and various other prison officials may not have known my name, I was a familiar face in Michigan's prisons. I visited from one end of the state to the other. In fact, I routinely carried a list of prisoner names and numbers in my purse so that if I had extra time, and I was in a prison town, I could stop in to see a prisoner. I was never a problem, never a security risk. I took no contraband in and I brought nothing out. Everyone knew that, it was common knowledge. There had never been even a hint or a whisper of anything improper regarding me.
It was while I was visiting a prisoner in the Upper Peninsula, a prison that was part of an enormous complex in the Kinross/Kincheloe area that this happened.
The man I was there to see was a prisoner leader, a man of great influence amongst his peers. He, and those who looked up to him, had been a thorn in the administrations side for quite some time. Tensions were running high between them.
I signed in at the front desk to visit him, totally unaware that there was a problem. Before I knew what hit me, I was informed by the guard that if I intended to visit this man I would first have to submit to a strip search. According to the guard, a kite (an internal memo written by a prisoner and delivered to the administration) received earlier that day said that a visitor to this prisoner was going to be bringing in contraband (drugs, weapons, green money).
Remember what I said the three best ways to mess with a convict were?
While I did not have to submit to the strip search, I would have been turned away from seeing him that day and a note would have been attached to his file stating that I refused the search. Therefore, forever and ever, a cloud of worry would have hung over my head anytime I went to see him. I'd never know if or when they'd require it of me again.
So I submitted to it even though I knew, and the guards doing it knew, and the warden who ad authorized it knew and everyone else knew it was all bullshit. All a lie. No kite had ever been sent saying anything like that. They all knew I didn't have any contraband on me. They just wanted to fuck with, retaliate against that prisoner. It wasn't anything personal against me.
As I'm sure you've gleaned from all the times we've spoken on the phone, as well as the relatively modest photos on my website, I am a modest woman. It was very difficult for me to pose for many of the photos on my site and I would not have been able to do it without the hair and the sunglasses.
Two female guards escorted me to the employee female bathroom. I was told to disrobe, article of clothing by article of clothing, and they went over my clothes with their fingers and a wand metal detector. Once I was naked I was told to bend over and spread my ass cheeks so they could visually inspect that nothing was between them. I was told to open my vaginal lips so they could visually inspect that nothing was in there. I had to lift my breasts, etc. They looked everywhere they could, all without physically laying a hand on me.
Yes, as horrific as it was for me, it could have been worse. They could have done a body cavity search, however that would have required a search warrant from the Michigan State Police. And that would have been terribly risky for the MDOC since they knew (and they knew I knew) that this was all for show, all to antagonize and 'get back' at a prisoner. I would have hired an attorney and filed a very expensive lawsuit against the state.
Aside from the strip search, the guards also went through my purse. They touched all of my money and credit cards, dumped out all of my allergy medicine and Tylenol so they could look through it (which I then had to throw out because who knew where their fingers had been?). I believe they also went through my car.
By the time I finally got in to the visiting room the prisoner I was there to see could tell by the look on my face that something was terribly wrong. I explained what had happened and he said he was oh so sorry that had happened to me. He comforted me as best he could. He was ready to 'go out' (speak angrily) on the visiting room guard and I talked him out of it.
He and I sat and talked about the strip search on that visit. He said that as many times as he had undergone them, they were still troubling and traumatic to him. He said it was all a part of dehumanizing people.
Because it's so important to get back on a horse after it throws you, I went right back to visit that same man at the same prison the very next day. I knew if I didn't confront the very same people who had humiliated me I would be crippled by their actions. I could not let them win.
When I got back home a few days later I went to see an old friend of mine. Donald, who had himself once been a Michigan prisoner. We sat and talked and talked and talked some more about what happened to me. I instinctively knew that I had to talk it out if I was going to recover from it. Thankfully, Donald was gracious enough to listen to me. Had I not had him to talk with I would have gone to a rape crisis center because to me I had been raped.
I'd like to say that I was totally over it within a week but that would be a lie. It took me a very long time to come to terms with the strip search. Years in fact.
If there's a plus side to it, and it's important to find the silver lining in every storm cloud, word got out across the state about me being strip searched. The prisoner grapevine is not a myth. From then on, while I had always been well received and well liked by the convicts I dealt with, they liked me even more. Why? I think because I had submitted to and survived one of the many indignities they encountered daily.
If ever, heaven forbid, you're forced to submit to a strip search, there's only one piece of advice I can think to share with you--do the best that you can to survive it with as much of your dignity in tact as you are able. A strip search is designed to humiliate you, to make you feel less than human. For me, I did not speak as it happened. I did not cry or even tear up. I merely complied with their orders. There was ample time for tears when I returned to my hotel room and my privacy.
I didn't share this story so you could 'get off' thinking about me naked, nor did I share it to try and garner sympathy from you. I shared just to share. None of us know everything, but we all know some things. If we share what we know......
You be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.
Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Some Prison Stories Are Sad
I've been really and truly blessed in a great many aspects of my life, no more so than in my prison visits. I have only ever had one, just one, sad, unpleasant and potentially tragic experience in all of my prison ventures.
The one that was sad happened at the prison in Marquette Michigan at the Marquette Branch Prison, Here are two links that will give you some general information about the prison, as well as a photograph of the original part of the building, which was finished in 1889.
http://hunts-upguide.com/marquette_marquette_branch_prison.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquette_Branch_Prison
I was there to see a prisoner being housed in the protection unit. While the original part of the prison was finished in 1889, because of increased prisoner population and areas/units needed for specific uses, the prison has been added on to numerous times over the last hundred plus years.
Visitors sign in at the old part of the prison, sort of in the vestibule, and then, at least when I was there that particular time, are dispersed to wherever it is that their prisoner has his visits at.
The protection unit at that time was separate from the main prison. So separate, in fact, that a prison van was used to drive the visitors around to the side of the prison, through a series of gates, and then dropped off at a building that was behind it's own set of concertina wire topped double fences. Prisoners in protection, often times referred to as the blue hole, were kept so separate from the rest of the population because, well, for a myriad of reasons. Sometimes it was because the prisoner was a snitch, also known as a rat, because they owed money to other prisoners, etc., etc., etc. The bottom line? They were there for their own protection.
At that time the visits were non-contact. That meant that you were not able to hug or kiss or even pat the hand of the man you were visiting. Not even at the beginning or the end of your visit.
The visits were conducted behind an enormous glass 'window' that ran the length of the visiting area. The prisoners sat in a cubicle on their side of the glass, the visitors sat in a similar cubicle on their side of the glass and you conversed over a telephone. There were concrete block 'walls' separating each cubicle so you had a modicum of privacy. A guard sat to the right, behind his own glass 'window', observing the visits.
That particular day there were only two sets of visitors. Me and a couple, a husband and wife, the parents of a mid-twenty year old. It was their son's birthday and, prior to the visit, they told me (as people waiting for visits tend to chat with each other) they had driven all night from Detroit in order to see him on his special day.
At some point during the visit I could hear a great deal of noise coming from the cubicle next to me. I asked the man I was visiting 'is everything okay over there?' He said yes. It got louder and louder on my side and I could hear the father screaming 'NO son, NO!' and the mother crying. Again I asked the prisoner I was seeing 'what's going on over there?' and this time he stood up and looked into the other cubicle.
The young prisoner, extremely distraught, prior to coming out on the visit had hidden a piece of razor blade inside the waistband of his pants and was now attempting to cut his own throat. His parents, understandably out of their minds with fear for their son's life, were screaming. The father had picked up his chair and was attempting to smash the glass separating the prisoners from us.
Theoretically, nothing like this should have been able to happen. The guard, whose sole job it was to oversee the visits, should have nipped this in the bud as soon as the young man reached into his waistband. Why didn't he? The guard had vacated his post. I'm sure he felt that since we were all separated by glass and could neither pass contraband, steal a kiss or do anything else with or to each other, he could run to the bathroom or grab a cup of coffee or whatever he'd slipped off to tend to.
My prisoner screamed for the guards as he tried to take the razor blade from the young fellow. A guard came rushing to the gate, saw what was happening and hollered for back up. It took what seemed like an eternity for the Emergency Response Team to suit up and put an end to the situation.
Unfortunately, because the prisoners side of the visiting area was so tiny, and because there wasn't enough time to remove us visitors from the area, the parents had to witness the ERT guys storming in and dragging, even manhandling, their son to get him back to the unit.
The father was still trying to smash the glass, there was blood everywhere on both sides of the glass, and the mother was wailing. It was a terrible time for them.
It was also a frightening time for me. I had been scared to death that the glass would break and not only would the distraught young man have access to us with his razor blade, but also access to innumerable shards of very sharp glass.
When the electronic doors on our side of the visiting area opened I got the heck out of dodge and stood in the waiting area. When the prison transport van came careening around the corner to drive us back to the main prison I refused to ride with the parents. We would have been jammed together in the back of the van and I just couldn't do it.
Because everything and everyone was in such an uproar, it went unnoticed that I didn't enter the van and, totally against protocol and probably my very own safety, was now wandering around outside in the prison yard amongst male prisoners. The guard who finally noticed me almost had a stroke when she did. I was herded back inside the razor-topped fences until a prison car could be dispatched to return me to the main prison.
Fortunately I wasn't at the prison by myself that day. My friend Joan was there visiting her boyfriend. I was so rattled that had I been alone I don't think I would have been able to drive. I was so distraught over what I'd witnessed that I stopped talking and you know I can talk a blue streak at the drop of a hat.
But as upset as I was, God Knows the parents of that young man were far more distraught. I was told that they didn't even stick around to speak to anyone about what had happened, they just fled to their car and took off. I'm sure it was a horrible drive back to Detroit for them. And a long drive as Detroit is at least an eight to ten hour drive on a good day.
Joan, a nurse, had the good sense to realize that as traumatized as I was, if I didn't get 'back on the horse' right away I might never have the nerve to visit another prison ever again. She got me in the car and we headed for Munising, a town approximately forty miles east of Marquette, and home to yet another of Michigan's maximum security prisons. We visited a mutual friend, behind glass and over a phone (that's how max visits were/are in Michigan) and Joan insisted that I tell him all about what had happened. Talk therapy, I guess.
Anyway, that's the first and thankfully the last time anything so horrendous ever occurred while I was visiting someone at a prison. I am thankful that the young man was saved from his suicide attempt. Later I learned that he had been immediately sent downstate to a prison with a mental health unit so he could be evaluated and receive treatment. I don't know what became of his parents, I never heard anything.
I didn't tell you this story to try and frighten you off from ever visiting a prisoner, but rather just to let you know what happened that day and to remind you that anything can happen anywhere and you have to stay prayed up.
You be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.
Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
The one that was sad happened at the prison in Marquette Michigan at the Marquette Branch Prison, Here are two links that will give you some general information about the prison, as well as a photograph of the original part of the building, which was finished in 1889.
http://hunts-upguide.com/marquette_marquette_branch_prison.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquette_Branch_Prison
I was there to see a prisoner being housed in the protection unit. While the original part of the prison was finished in 1889, because of increased prisoner population and areas/units needed for specific uses, the prison has been added on to numerous times over the last hundred plus years.
Visitors sign in at the old part of the prison, sort of in the vestibule, and then, at least when I was there that particular time, are dispersed to wherever it is that their prisoner has his visits at.
The protection unit at that time was separate from the main prison. So separate, in fact, that a prison van was used to drive the visitors around to the side of the prison, through a series of gates, and then dropped off at a building that was behind it's own set of concertina wire topped double fences. Prisoners in protection, often times referred to as the blue hole, were kept so separate from the rest of the population because, well, for a myriad of reasons. Sometimes it was because the prisoner was a snitch, also known as a rat, because they owed money to other prisoners, etc., etc., etc. The bottom line? They were there for their own protection.
At that time the visits were non-contact. That meant that you were not able to hug or kiss or even pat the hand of the man you were visiting. Not even at the beginning or the end of your visit.
The visits were conducted behind an enormous glass 'window' that ran the length of the visiting area. The prisoners sat in a cubicle on their side of the glass, the visitors sat in a similar cubicle on their side of the glass and you conversed over a telephone. There were concrete block 'walls' separating each cubicle so you had a modicum of privacy. A guard sat to the right, behind his own glass 'window', observing the visits.
That particular day there were only two sets of visitors. Me and a couple, a husband and wife, the parents of a mid-twenty year old. It was their son's birthday and, prior to the visit, they told me (as people waiting for visits tend to chat with each other) they had driven all night from Detroit in order to see him on his special day.
At some point during the visit I could hear a great deal of noise coming from the cubicle next to me. I asked the man I was visiting 'is everything okay over there?' He said yes. It got louder and louder on my side and I could hear the father screaming 'NO son, NO!' and the mother crying. Again I asked the prisoner I was seeing 'what's going on over there?' and this time he stood up and looked into the other cubicle.
The young prisoner, extremely distraught, prior to coming out on the visit had hidden a piece of razor blade inside the waistband of his pants and was now attempting to cut his own throat. His parents, understandably out of their minds with fear for their son's life, were screaming. The father had picked up his chair and was attempting to smash the glass separating the prisoners from us.
Theoretically, nothing like this should have been able to happen. The guard, whose sole job it was to oversee the visits, should have nipped this in the bud as soon as the young man reached into his waistband. Why didn't he? The guard had vacated his post. I'm sure he felt that since we were all separated by glass and could neither pass contraband, steal a kiss or do anything else with or to each other, he could run to the bathroom or grab a cup of coffee or whatever he'd slipped off to tend to.
My prisoner screamed for the guards as he tried to take the razor blade from the young fellow. A guard came rushing to the gate, saw what was happening and hollered for back up. It took what seemed like an eternity for the Emergency Response Team to suit up and put an end to the situation.
Unfortunately, because the prisoners side of the visiting area was so tiny, and because there wasn't enough time to remove us visitors from the area, the parents had to witness the ERT guys storming in and dragging, even manhandling, their son to get him back to the unit.
The father was still trying to smash the glass, there was blood everywhere on both sides of the glass, and the mother was wailing. It was a terrible time for them.
It was also a frightening time for me. I had been scared to death that the glass would break and not only would the distraught young man have access to us with his razor blade, but also access to innumerable shards of very sharp glass.
When the electronic doors on our side of the visiting area opened I got the heck out of dodge and stood in the waiting area. When the prison transport van came careening around the corner to drive us back to the main prison I refused to ride with the parents. We would have been jammed together in the back of the van and I just couldn't do it.
Because everything and everyone was in such an uproar, it went unnoticed that I didn't enter the van and, totally against protocol and probably my very own safety, was now wandering around outside in the prison yard amongst male prisoners. The guard who finally noticed me almost had a stroke when she did. I was herded back inside the razor-topped fences until a prison car could be dispatched to return me to the main prison.
Fortunately I wasn't at the prison by myself that day. My friend Joan was there visiting her boyfriend. I was so rattled that had I been alone I don't think I would have been able to drive. I was so distraught over what I'd witnessed that I stopped talking and you know I can talk a blue streak at the drop of a hat.
But as upset as I was, God Knows the parents of that young man were far more distraught. I was told that they didn't even stick around to speak to anyone about what had happened, they just fled to their car and took off. I'm sure it was a horrible drive back to Detroit for them. And a long drive as Detroit is at least an eight to ten hour drive on a good day.
Joan, a nurse, had the good sense to realize that as traumatized as I was, if I didn't get 'back on the horse' right away I might never have the nerve to visit another prison ever again. She got me in the car and we headed for Munising, a town approximately forty miles east of Marquette, and home to yet another of Michigan's maximum security prisons. We visited a mutual friend, behind glass and over a phone (that's how max visits were/are in Michigan) and Joan insisted that I tell him all about what had happened. Talk therapy, I guess.
Anyway, that's the first and thankfully the last time anything so horrendous ever occurred while I was visiting someone at a prison. I am thankful that the young man was saved from his suicide attempt. Later I learned that he had been immediately sent downstate to a prison with a mental health unit so he could be evaluated and receive treatment. I don't know what became of his parents, I never heard anything.
I didn't tell you this story to try and frighten you off from ever visiting a prisoner, but rather just to let you know what happened that day and to remind you that anything can happen anywhere and you have to stay prayed up.
You be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.
Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Tawny Visits A Prison For The First Time
I had been trying to find something to do, some way to give back for all of the kindnesses shown me through out my life. I came across a column in a religious magazine that carried pen pal ads for prisoners. For some reason the thought of writing a prisoner appealed to me. After all,
Jesus said we should visit those imprisoned and so I decided to 'visit' via letters, writing letters to three, a man doing time in Texas, a man doing time in Ohio and a man on death row in Indiana.
Surprisingly (to me), all three prisoners wrote me back. I didn't realize at the time that life in prison is so excruciatingly boring that of course they all immediately responded to my letter.
At the time I had preconceived ideas about prison. I thought that while it was obviously a bad place, a place no one wanted to go, at least while you were there, the guards and the state worked hard to help you rehabilitate yourself so that upon release you became a productive citizen and never returned to prison. Wrong.
Under the tutelage of these three convicts I soon learned that prison was a warehouse. Rehabilitation was virtually nonexistent.
The man on death row was housed at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana. Because Michigan City is approximately a four to five hour drive from here, and therefore easy for me to get to, I asked if he was open to a visit. He jumped at the opportunity.
Here are two links you may find interesting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_State_Prison
http://www.cpa.eku.edu/buildings.htm
I explained that I had never been to a prison before and had no idea what to expect. 'Obey the guards' he told me. 'As long as you do exactly what they say, you won't have any problems' he warned.
Okay, I was good with that. I had always been an obedient person, I could do obey standing on my head (smile).
When you go to a prison to visit it's pretty much the same procedure everywhere--you show up, present your identification, and sign in. Put your coat and purse away in a locker and wait for the guard to announce that your convict is in the visiting room and ready to see you.
I was dressed modestly. A longish skirt, a long sleeved blouse, appropriate undergarments and sandals. When the guard called my name I stepped forward and, as directed, walked through a metal detector. The detector beeped! The guard, a female, looked at me and said 'what do you have on?' So I took off my watch and ring and went through again. Beep! 'Are you wearing an under wire bra?' she asked and I said no. 'Take off your shoes and walk through' she directed me. No beep! It was my sandals! I was wearing an old style pair of Birkenstocks with metal arches.
'You may proceed to the visiting room' she instructed me. And so I padded off down the hall. 'Wait!' she hollered. "Where do you think you're going?' I told her to the visiting room, just like she told me to. 'Without your shoes? Do you think I'm going to make you go without your shoes?!'
I didn't know. I was told to obey the guards. I was told to take off my shoes. She never said I could put them back on. I was okay barefoot if that's what the state of Indiana wanted me to do (smile).
From then on each and every time I went to Indiana State Prison that guard would tease me about visiting barefoot (smile).
I went back to ISP numerous times over the years. I visited that man on death row in the special death row visiting room that sort of looked like a huge cell with bars all the way around it. There were tables and chairs in the room and vending machines and it could accommodate several sets of visitors. The visiting room guard sat outside the locked barred
room.
In hindsight I probably should have been frightened to visit a prison but it never once crossed my mind. I believed that I was doing a good thing and that was all that mattered.
The man I visited on death row went on to be executed by the state of Indiana. No, I did not witness his execution. By then he and I had stopped communicating with each other. Bless his heart, while he obviously committed a heinous, capital crime, he was mentally ill and had the intelligence of a very young child. Often times it was difficult to deal with him due to his diminished mental capacity, as well as the side effects of the intensely strong psychotropic drugs they fed him.
One time when I was there to see him they kept me waiting for at least an hour, then rushed me in to the visiting room at double-time speed. Why? He had to be drugged to get himself under control before they could bring him to the visiting room and, once he was drugged, they had to get
him down and back before the meds wore off.
I don't know if this was the kind of prison story you were expecting from me, but I figured I'd start with my very first visit and work it from there in subsequent blog posts. Questions? Email me at tawnyford@webtv.net.
Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong. And remember, there but for the Grace of God it could be you or me in prison.
Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
Jesus said we should visit those imprisoned and so I decided to 'visit' via letters, writing letters to three, a man doing time in Texas, a man doing time in Ohio and a man on death row in Indiana.
Surprisingly (to me), all three prisoners wrote me back. I didn't realize at the time that life in prison is so excruciatingly boring that of course they all immediately responded to my letter.
At the time I had preconceived ideas about prison. I thought that while it was obviously a bad place, a place no one wanted to go, at least while you were there, the guards and the state worked hard to help you rehabilitate yourself so that upon release you became a productive citizen and never returned to prison. Wrong.
Under the tutelage of these three convicts I soon learned that prison was a warehouse. Rehabilitation was virtually nonexistent.
The man on death row was housed at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana. Because Michigan City is approximately a four to five hour drive from here, and therefore easy for me to get to, I asked if he was open to a visit. He jumped at the opportunity.
Here are two links you may find interesting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_State_Prison
http://www.cpa.eku.edu/buildings.htm
I explained that I had never been to a prison before and had no idea what to expect. 'Obey the guards' he told me. 'As long as you do exactly what they say, you won't have any problems' he warned.
Okay, I was good with that. I had always been an obedient person, I could do obey standing on my head (smile).
When you go to a prison to visit it's pretty much the same procedure everywhere--you show up, present your identification, and sign in. Put your coat and purse away in a locker and wait for the guard to announce that your convict is in the visiting room and ready to see you.
I was dressed modestly. A longish skirt, a long sleeved blouse, appropriate undergarments and sandals. When the guard called my name I stepped forward and, as directed, walked through a metal detector. The detector beeped! The guard, a female, looked at me and said 'what do you have on?' So I took off my watch and ring and went through again. Beep! 'Are you wearing an under wire bra?' she asked and I said no. 'Take off your shoes and walk through' she directed me. No beep! It was my sandals! I was wearing an old style pair of Birkenstocks with metal arches.
'You may proceed to the visiting room' she instructed me. And so I padded off down the hall. 'Wait!' she hollered. "Where do you think you're going?' I told her to the visiting room, just like she told me to. 'Without your shoes? Do you think I'm going to make you go without your shoes?!'
I didn't know. I was told to obey the guards. I was told to take off my shoes. She never said I could put them back on. I was okay barefoot if that's what the state of Indiana wanted me to do (smile).
From then on each and every time I went to Indiana State Prison that guard would tease me about visiting barefoot (smile).
I went back to ISP numerous times over the years. I visited that man on death row in the special death row visiting room that sort of looked like a huge cell with bars all the way around it. There were tables and chairs in the room and vending machines and it could accommodate several sets of visitors. The visiting room guard sat outside the locked barred
room.
In hindsight I probably should have been frightened to visit a prison but it never once crossed my mind. I believed that I was doing a good thing and that was all that mattered.
The man I visited on death row went on to be executed by the state of Indiana. No, I did not witness his execution. By then he and I had stopped communicating with each other. Bless his heart, while he obviously committed a heinous, capital crime, he was mentally ill and had the intelligence of a very young child. Often times it was difficult to deal with him due to his diminished mental capacity, as well as the side effects of the intensely strong psychotropic drugs they fed him.
One time when I was there to see him they kept me waiting for at least an hour, then rushed me in to the visiting room at double-time speed. Why? He had to be drugged to get himself under control before they could bring him to the visiting room and, once he was drugged, they had to get
him down and back before the meds wore off.
I don't know if this was the kind of prison story you were expecting from me, but I figured I'd start with my very first visit and work it from there in subsequent blog posts. Questions? Email me at tawnyford@webtv.net.
Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong. And remember, there but for the Grace of God it could be you or me in prison.
Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
Friday, January 16, 2009
Winter, Winter Go Away!
There is absolutely no excuse for me not posting anything else this week. I mean it's not as if I had to venture out in to the sub zero temperatures and make my way to the library. That friend of mine, the web guy (TWG), said all I had to do was send it to him and he'd post for me. So how hard is that? Not very. The reason I haven't posted? How much time do you have?
First of all, I was trying to finish the latest purse I've been working on. I was using Lion Brand Wool Ease yarn and I will never ever never use that doggone yarn again. Never. My fingers got tore up working with that stuff. Then, the final stages of the purse as I was putting it all together (lining, closures, etc.), anything that I could do ass backwards I did ass backwards not once but at least three times. By the time I got the doggone thing done my fingers were swollen, my neck hurt, my back ached and I was a very unpleasant camper.
Then, while it hasn't been nearly as cold here in my little corner of southeastern Michigan as it's been else where in the state, or in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa or the Upper Peninsula, it's been cold enough that my house--even though the thermostat registers the same temperature it always does--has felt significantly colder. So much so that I've spent most of my time huddled under the blankets on my recliner with Kathleen on my lap.
But today, well, breakthrough I guess! Today is the coldest of the days we've had so far but maybe I'm used to it now, who knows.
I know I always share Tallulah's fabulous photos with you, but today TWG sent me some that I thought you might enjoy seeing.
These were taken in beautiful, snow covered Kenosha, Wisconsin. The snow looks really pretty, doesn't it? That's my favorite way to see snow--out my windows, not out actually in it (smile)!
The last time I posted I mentioned how I had some websites to share with you. Here they are:
www.rescuetime.com
www.chatterblocker.com
www.mahalo.com
www.snooth.com
www.organizedwisdom.com
www.seamlessweb.com
www.howcast.com
Hope you find them as interesting I did.
If you called yesterday and you heard an incredible amount of background noise while we were talking---NO, I wasn't preparing dinner! It was my beloved Kathleen. For some reason known only to her, she has taken to lobbing her hard plastic balls at the closet door every time I get on the phone. It sounds like I'm rattling pots and pans, but I'm not, it's her. She's twelve years old, you'd think she'd understand about being quiet when I'm on the phone but obviously she's regressing (smile). My apologies to all.
All righty, now the prison stories? Tomorrow. I'm working on them in my head as we speak. By tomorrow they should be ready to put down in the blog.
Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong. Stay warm.
Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
First of all, I was trying to finish the latest purse I've been working on. I was using Lion Brand Wool Ease yarn and I will never ever never use that doggone yarn again. Never. My fingers got tore up working with that stuff. Then, the final stages of the purse as I was putting it all together (lining, closures, etc.), anything that I could do ass backwards I did ass backwards not once but at least three times. By the time I got the doggone thing done my fingers were swollen, my neck hurt, my back ached and I was a very unpleasant camper.
Then, while it hasn't been nearly as cold here in my little corner of southeastern Michigan as it's been else where in the state, or in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa or the Upper Peninsula, it's been cold enough that my house--even though the thermostat registers the same temperature it always does--has felt significantly colder. So much so that I've spent most of my time huddled under the blankets on my recliner with Kathleen on my lap.
But today, well, breakthrough I guess! Today is the coldest of the days we've had so far but maybe I'm used to it now, who knows.
I know I always share Tallulah's fabulous photos with you, but today TWG sent me some that I thought you might enjoy seeing.
These were taken in beautiful, snow covered Kenosha, Wisconsin. The snow looks really pretty, doesn't it? That's my favorite way to see snow--out my windows, not out actually in it (smile)!
The last time I posted I mentioned how I had some websites to share with you. Here they are:
www.rescuetime.com
www.chatterblocker.com
www.mahalo.com
www.snooth.com
www.organizedwisdom.com
www.seamlessweb.com
www.howcast.com
Hope you find them as interesting I did.
If you called yesterday and you heard an incredible amount of background noise while we were talking---NO, I wasn't preparing dinner! It was my beloved Kathleen. For some reason known only to her, she has taken to lobbing her hard plastic balls at the closet door every time I get on the phone. It sounds like I'm rattling pots and pans, but I'm not, it's her. She's twelve years old, you'd think she'd understand about being quiet when I'm on the phone but obviously she's regressing (smile). My apologies to all.
All righty, now the prison stories? Tomorrow. I'm working on them in my head as we speak. By tomorrow they should be ready to put down in the blog.
Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong. Stay warm.
Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
Monday, January 12, 2009
The Freezing Cold Is On The Way!
Might as well let you know right from the get go--this is more than likely the last time I'll be able to get out and do my own posting for awhile. Okay, I'll be able to get out of the house but I might not want to--they're talking subzero temperatures for the next week or so and that's not counting the wind chills. While I'm not exactly a hot house violet, I'm not particularly wild about putting on twelve different layers of clothes just so I can go to the library. Geesh, I'm already wearing three layers and it's 18 degrees out there, a veritable spring day compared to what's coming.
Over the weekend--from Friday evening to Saturday night--we got approximately seven inches of snow here in beautiful Farmington Hills, MI. Some suburbs/towns around here got a foot. Thank goodness it wasn't us. And you know what? Remember me telling you I spotted a salt truck in my subdivision the other day and I speculated it must have gotten lost because the city hasn't done jack shit for us all winter? Well, one of their plow trucks must have taken a wrong turn Sunday afternoon because our street is plowed!
And it's a good thing, too, because with the subzeroes headed our way, well, it's not like the snow was going to melt any time soon and it gets older than old having to help dig your neighbors out when they get stuck on their own street. The only thing that saved us the last big snow, when we got every bit of six inches or more, was we had an abnormal hot streak (temps in the 60's if I remember correctly) and then rain so everything that was messing with us and our vehicles got washed away.
I had a whole list of really cool websites to share with you but don't you know I forgot and left them sitting on my desk at the house. Tomorrow, or whenever I can impose on my friend-the-webmaster, I'll share them with you. I found them in the most current issue of Popular Science. Do you ever read that magazine? I became familiar with it when Bargain Books here in dowtown Farmington (not to be confused with Farmington Hills--remember me explaining to you once how Farmington was the hole of the donut and Farmington Hills was the donut?) was selling slightly out-of-date magazines for $1.00 each. Such a deal! Anyway, I picked up a Popular Science and a Popular Mechanics and liked them both so much I ended up buying subscriptions to them. You should check them out, you might like them, too.
Want to hear something really nice? When Tallulah found out I bought a postal money order to send to my uncle in prison she told me to quit spending that extra $1.05, send her whatever money I want to put in his account and she'll run it over to the prison and drop it at the desk. I don't know why I didn't think of that, she lives in Marquette and so does he.
And speaking of the prison in Marquette, Michigan--Marquette Branch Prison--if you're interested in old architecture you should google and see the photos of it. While it is by no means a nice place to live, it looks like an old castle on the exterior. If you didn't know it was a prison, and therefore the walls filled with too numerous stories of heartache and misery, both from the convicts and their loved ones, you'd think it was really a beautiful building. And it is a beautiful building, you can't take that away from it, but it's a sad place filled to the brim with misery.
People have been asking me for years, when they find out I've done prison volunteer work, to share some of the prison stories with them. I guess all those Lockup shows on cable tv have piqued peoples interest in what it's like behind the walls. I've spoken about some things with a few folks on the phone so it's not like I'm adverse to talking about the stuff I've seen and lately I've received a few emails asking me about it. Maybe while I'm house bound from the cold and I don't have to worry about people leaning over me at the library computer to read my lurid tales I'll blog some about it. Maybe. We'll see.
Okay, that's it for now. The library is starting to fill up and I hate hogging a computer when others want to use one. You be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.
hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
Over the weekend--from Friday evening to Saturday night--we got approximately seven inches of snow here in beautiful Farmington Hills, MI. Some suburbs/towns around here got a foot. Thank goodness it wasn't us. And you know what? Remember me telling you I spotted a salt truck in my subdivision the other day and I speculated it must have gotten lost because the city hasn't done jack shit for us all winter? Well, one of their plow trucks must have taken a wrong turn Sunday afternoon because our street is plowed!
And it's a good thing, too, because with the subzeroes headed our way, well, it's not like the snow was going to melt any time soon and it gets older than old having to help dig your neighbors out when they get stuck on their own street. The only thing that saved us the last big snow, when we got every bit of six inches or more, was we had an abnormal hot streak (temps in the 60's if I remember correctly) and then rain so everything that was messing with us and our vehicles got washed away.
I had a whole list of really cool websites to share with you but don't you know I forgot and left them sitting on my desk at the house. Tomorrow, or whenever I can impose on my friend-the-webmaster, I'll share them with you. I found them in the most current issue of Popular Science. Do you ever read that magazine? I became familiar with it when Bargain Books here in dowtown Farmington (not to be confused with Farmington Hills--remember me explaining to you once how Farmington was the hole of the donut and Farmington Hills was the donut?) was selling slightly out-of-date magazines for $1.00 each. Such a deal! Anyway, I picked up a Popular Science and a Popular Mechanics and liked them both so much I ended up buying subscriptions to them. You should check them out, you might like them, too.
Want to hear something really nice? When Tallulah found out I bought a postal money order to send to my uncle in prison she told me to quit spending that extra $1.05, send her whatever money I want to put in his account and she'll run it over to the prison and drop it at the desk. I don't know why I didn't think of that, she lives in Marquette and so does he.
And speaking of the prison in Marquette, Michigan--Marquette Branch Prison--if you're interested in old architecture you should google and see the photos of it. While it is by no means a nice place to live, it looks like an old castle on the exterior. If you didn't know it was a prison, and therefore the walls filled with too numerous stories of heartache and misery, both from the convicts and their loved ones, you'd think it was really a beautiful building. And it is a beautiful building, you can't take that away from it, but it's a sad place filled to the brim with misery.
People have been asking me for years, when they find out I've done prison volunteer work, to share some of the prison stories with them. I guess all those Lockup shows on cable tv have piqued peoples interest in what it's like behind the walls. I've spoken about some things with a few folks on the phone so it's not like I'm adverse to talking about the stuff I've seen and lately I've received a few emails asking me about it. Maybe while I'm house bound from the cold and I don't have to worry about people leaning over me at the library computer to read my lurid tales I'll blog some about it. Maybe. We'll see.
Okay, that's it for now. The library is starting to fill up and I hate hogging a computer when others want to use one. You be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.
hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
Friday, January 09, 2009
Let's Set The Record Straight
First things first. Yesterday's blog posting brought a flurry of emails, and that's a good thing, I love hearing from you. However, these emails were along the lines of: "Whoa! Tawny! Since when don't you like prisoners?' This was in response to me mentioning that I had to get a money order for my uncle in prison, an uncle that I don't like not even a little bit.
If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, or talking to me on the phone about non-erotic matters, then you know I dearly love my Uncle David. He is my favorite uncle in the whole wide world. Uncle David did over thirty years in prison.
You also would know that I have done prison volunteer work for a gazillion years and have visited prisoners here in Michigan as well as several other states, both state and federal.
I like prisoners. I have nothing against them. There but for the Grace of God it could be any one of us doing time in the joint.
It's my uncle that I don't like. And I wouldn't like him if he was a baker or a plumber or an electrician. I just don't like him. He is not a nice man. You probably wouldn't like him either.
While we're on the subject of prisoners, here's a website you should check out:
www.humankindness.org
Yes, I know, I've mentioned these folks before. They are so worth mentioning over and over and over again. Bo and Sita Lozoff are good people. Make sure you look at their Links.
All right, here's another one of Tallulah's fabulous winter photos.
I keep telling her that she should put her photos together in book format. I think they'd be wonderful as a coffee table book. She might even be able to make some money from it.
Well, that's it for today. Big snow is supposed to be heading towards us. They say 5 to 8 inches. I hope they're wrong.
Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong. It's going to get better.
Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, or talking to me on the phone about non-erotic matters, then you know I dearly love my Uncle David. He is my favorite uncle in the whole wide world. Uncle David did over thirty years in prison.
You also would know that I have done prison volunteer work for a gazillion years and have visited prisoners here in Michigan as well as several other states, both state and federal.
I like prisoners. I have nothing against them. There but for the Grace of God it could be any one of us doing time in the joint.
It's my uncle that I don't like. And I wouldn't like him if he was a baker or a plumber or an electrician. I just don't like him. He is not a nice man. You probably wouldn't like him either.
While we're on the subject of prisoners, here's a website you should check out:
www.humankindness.org
Yes, I know, I've mentioned these folks before. They are so worth mentioning over and over and over again. Bo and Sita Lozoff are good people. Make sure you look at their Links.
All right, here's another one of Tallulah's fabulous winter photos.
I keep telling her that she should put her photos together in book format. I think they'd be wonderful as a coffee table book. She might even be able to make some money from it.
Well, that's it for today. Big snow is supposed to be heading towards us. They say 5 to 8 inches. I hope they're wrong.
Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong. It's going to get better.
Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
Thursday, January 08, 2009
We Paid Our Sunshine Bill!
It is a beautiful day here in Farmington Hills, MI! Sunshine, brilliant almost blind you sunshine! Abundant sunshine! If it wasn't still so doggone cold--24 degrees--I would be sorely tempted to lay out in my backyard and work on my tan (smile). But the cold temps? Who cares when you have sunshine. Okay, I'm not going to go lay out, but I am going to enjoy the sunshine. Maybe this will be just what the doctor ordered to dispell my winter down in the dumps attitude.
Tallulah is suffering from the winter doldrums too. She tried to talk me into running away with her for a week or two. 'Where would you rather go,' she asked, 'Las Vegas or Florida?'. Neither was my answer. I don't like flying and you'd have to be certifiably crazy to drive almost cross country in the dead of winter. And then if you did go somewhere warm and sunny, just think how agonizingly horrible it would be to have to come home and face the snow and slush and freezing cold again.
Last night she called. 'Okay, nobody wanted to run away so I bought a new computer', she told me. And that was a good thing because she's been fussing over her old one for a long time, said it was way too slow, etc. She's going to clean off and pack up her old one and give it to the daughter of a friend of hers.
Okay, so this morning--after I scraped off two layers of ice and a bunch of snow from my truck--I went to the bank, both of them, and took care of my business. Then it was the post office where I picked up all of the mail you've sent me, and bought a money order for my uncle who's in prison. I can hear you now, Tawny! I didn't know you had an uncle in prison! Well, I do but I hardly ever never speak of him because, well, I don't like him. I don't like him one little bit. Then it was off to Dollar Tree, the dollar store, where--hold onto your hat!--they had yarn! Nice yarn, all the different kinds that I'd never buy at the yarn store because they want $4, $5, $6 a skein, but which were $1 a skein at DT. Last stop before here (the library) was the Chinese restaurant where I had lunch. Nothing exotic, just almond chicken and fried rice, egg drop soup and an egg roll. Burp (smile).
To tell you the truth I though I'd be too late to get a computer at the library. It's around noon and it seems like the place jams up at noon, more people want time on the computer than want lunch apparently. I'm glad I was able to score a machine because it's always nice to chat with you and because I hate having to bother my friend the webmaster to post my writings.
There isn't a whole lot of anything to tell you today. My Aunt Gloria flew to California on Tuesday to visit Uncle Robert and his wife. I think she's going to be gone for about a week. She hit big at bingo two nights before she left so that gave her mega spending money for her trip. My cousin the 'pharmacutical salesman', his grandma on his mother's side, her funeral was Tuesday morning. She was very old and had been seriously ill for a long time. I didn't go to the funeral but my Uncle David did and he said the preacher was a mess and the old woman got a lousy send off.
HSM's son went and bought all of his books for his first semester of college. He starts classes on Monday. Did I tell you? he wants to be a policeman. I gave him money to get a cellphone. He's never had a need for one before, he was homeschooled from about the 4th grade, but I figured he could use one at college so his Mom can stay in touch with him. HSM said, after looking over his textbooks, that she didn't think he'd have any trouble this first semester with his courses. She said the college textbooks she used with him for 12th grade were more substantial and harder than the ones he just bought. She said there's no reason why he can't pull all A's this semester.
Well, that's it for today. The library is filling up and I know how it is when you want to use a computer and you have limited time. You be good and be careful, take care, stay strong. Tomorrow is another day.
hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
Tallulah is suffering from the winter doldrums too. She tried to talk me into running away with her for a week or two. 'Where would you rather go,' she asked, 'Las Vegas or Florida?'. Neither was my answer. I don't like flying and you'd have to be certifiably crazy to drive almost cross country in the dead of winter. And then if you did go somewhere warm and sunny, just think how agonizingly horrible it would be to have to come home and face the snow and slush and freezing cold again.
Last night she called. 'Okay, nobody wanted to run away so I bought a new computer', she told me. And that was a good thing because she's been fussing over her old one for a long time, said it was way too slow, etc. She's going to clean off and pack up her old one and give it to the daughter of a friend of hers.
Okay, so this morning--after I scraped off two layers of ice and a bunch of snow from my truck--I went to the bank, both of them, and took care of my business. Then it was the post office where I picked up all of the mail you've sent me, and bought a money order for my uncle who's in prison. I can hear you now, Tawny! I didn't know you had an uncle in prison! Well, I do but I hardly ever never speak of him because, well, I don't like him. I don't like him one little bit. Then it was off to Dollar Tree, the dollar store, where--hold onto your hat!--they had yarn! Nice yarn, all the different kinds that I'd never buy at the yarn store because they want $4, $5, $6 a skein, but which were $1 a skein at DT. Last stop before here (the library) was the Chinese restaurant where I had lunch. Nothing exotic, just almond chicken and fried rice, egg drop soup and an egg roll. Burp (smile).
To tell you the truth I though I'd be too late to get a computer at the library. It's around noon and it seems like the place jams up at noon, more people want time on the computer than want lunch apparently. I'm glad I was able to score a machine because it's always nice to chat with you and because I hate having to bother my friend the webmaster to post my writings.
There isn't a whole lot of anything to tell you today. My Aunt Gloria flew to California on Tuesday to visit Uncle Robert and his wife. I think she's going to be gone for about a week. She hit big at bingo two nights before she left so that gave her mega spending money for her trip. My cousin the 'pharmacutical salesman', his grandma on his mother's side, her funeral was Tuesday morning. She was very old and had been seriously ill for a long time. I didn't go to the funeral but my Uncle David did and he said the preacher was a mess and the old woman got a lousy send off.
HSM's son went and bought all of his books for his first semester of college. He starts classes on Monday. Did I tell you? he wants to be a policeman. I gave him money to get a cellphone. He's never had a need for one before, he was homeschooled from about the 4th grade, but I figured he could use one at college so his Mom can stay in touch with him. HSM said, after looking over his textbooks, that she didn't think he'd have any trouble this first semester with his courses. She said the college textbooks she used with him for 12th grade were more substantial and harder than the ones he just bought. She said there's no reason why he can't pull all A's this semester.
Well, that's it for today. The library is filling up and I know how it is when you want to use a computer and you have limited time. You be good and be careful, take care, stay strong. Tomorrow is another day.
hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
All In A Day
It's cold here, although not nearly as cold as it is up in Tallulah's neighborhood. When I saw she was having minus something temperatures this morning I shivered for her, then thanked God we were at least in the teens.
I do believe she's getting snow again today which makes it about a gazillion days in a row of snow for Marquette, Michigan. We're expecting snow down here today, tomorrow and the next day, but totals shouldn't be any more than maybe four inches. While four inches of snow is dismaying to me and my little lifestyle, Tallulah wouldn't even flinch or notice a teeny baby snowfall like that.
She emailed me this photo a few months ago, back at the beginning of the snow season. See off in the distance? That's a freighter on Lake Superior. If you were sufficiently bundled up you could sit on the park bench and watch the ships go by. I like doing that, but I prefer to do it on a 75-degree day (smile). It makes a pretty picture with the snow, though.
HSM's oldest received wonderful news today regarding financial aid for his college tuition. He got a full Pell Grant! Okay, it won't cover his books, but it'll cover his classes, and that's a wonderful thing.
This morning the local Detroit TV stations were very busy covering the sentencing of Christine Beatty. She is the former lover of former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, as well as the former most powerful woman in Detroit politics. She pled guilty to several counts of lying under oath and received 120 days in jail, 5 years probation and a $100,000 fine. She went directly from court to jail.
Kwame Kilpatrick is in jail as well; His 120 day’s jail time should be up sometime in mid-February.
I've written at length in this blog over the past many months about what Beatty and Kilpatrick did and I don't feel to rehash it, but if you're curious you can easily access all the sordid details by perusing the archives at www.freep.com (Detroit Free Press newspaper).
Have I ever told you that my favorite TV program is Little Mosque On The Prairie? If you're scratching your head trying to figure out what channel it's on because you've never heard of it, it's a Canadian show shown on Canadian TV. It's a comedy and, although really hokey, it never fails to make me laugh. If you're interested, check these out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wik/Little_Mosque_on_the_Prairie
http://blogs.sun.com/robsblog/entry/little_mosque_on_the_prairie
and run a google (www.google.com) search on Little Mosque On The Prairie, you'll be surprised at what you'll find.
Lastly, the war rages on in Gaza. More and more women and children dead or severely injured. There are protests all over the world and all over the US against this violence. I heard one man on the radio, from New Jersey I think it was, and I'm paraphrasing here--'when there are bombs going off in the US it's 911, when they go off in Gaza it's oh, it's just the Palestinians'.
I don't understand why the Israeli government is not taken to task by the world for their continual and constant mistreatment and attempted genocide of the Palestinian people. Who the hell are these Zionists that the world seems to either be so afraid of or hold in such awe?
I'll tell you who they aren't. These Zionists are NOT God's chosen people. They are not the spiritual children of the Old Testament. They are foul politically with a dreadful agenda.
Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.
Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
I do believe she's getting snow again today which makes it about a gazillion days in a row of snow for Marquette, Michigan. We're expecting snow down here today, tomorrow and the next day, but totals shouldn't be any more than maybe four inches. While four inches of snow is dismaying to me and my little lifestyle, Tallulah wouldn't even flinch or notice a teeny baby snowfall like that.
She emailed me this photo a few months ago, back at the beginning of the snow season. See off in the distance? That's a freighter on Lake Superior. If you were sufficiently bundled up you could sit on the park bench and watch the ships go by. I like doing that, but I prefer to do it on a 75-degree day (smile). It makes a pretty picture with the snow, though.
HSM's oldest received wonderful news today regarding financial aid for his college tuition. He got a full Pell Grant! Okay, it won't cover his books, but it'll cover his classes, and that's a wonderful thing.
This morning the local Detroit TV stations were very busy covering the sentencing of Christine Beatty. She is the former lover of former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, as well as the former most powerful woman in Detroit politics. She pled guilty to several counts of lying under oath and received 120 days in jail, 5 years probation and a $100,000 fine. She went directly from court to jail.
Kwame Kilpatrick is in jail as well; His 120 day’s jail time should be up sometime in mid-February.
I've written at length in this blog over the past many months about what Beatty and Kilpatrick did and I don't feel to rehash it, but if you're curious you can easily access all the sordid details by perusing the archives at www.freep.com (Detroit Free Press newspaper).
Have I ever told you that my favorite TV program is Little Mosque On The Prairie? If you're scratching your head trying to figure out what channel it's on because you've never heard of it, it's a Canadian show shown on Canadian TV. It's a comedy and, although really hokey, it never fails to make me laugh. If you're interested, check these out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wik/Little_Mosque_on_the_Prairie
http://blogs.sun.com/robsblog/entry/little_mosque_on_the_prairie
and run a google (www.google.com) search on Little Mosque On The Prairie, you'll be surprised at what you'll find.
Lastly, the war rages on in Gaza. More and more women and children dead or severely injured. There are protests all over the world and all over the US against this violence. I heard one man on the radio, from New Jersey I think it was, and I'm paraphrasing here--'when there are bombs going off in the US it's 911, when they go off in Gaza it's oh, it's just the Palestinians'.
I don't understand why the Israeli government is not taken to task by the world for their continual and constant mistreatment and attempted genocide of the Palestinian people. Who the hell are these Zionists that the world seems to either be so afraid of or hold in such awe?
I'll tell you who they aren't. These Zionists are NOT God's chosen people. They are not the spiritual children of the Old Testament. They are foul politically with a dreadful agenda.
Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.
Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Back With Some Bits
Okay, so I've been taking some flack because I haven't written anything in awhile. And it's true, I haven't written but it's not because I didn't want to, heck, I always want to, it's just I didn't know what to write about.
You figure for a few weeks everybody was caught up in December 25th preparations. Activities and festivities, and because I don't participate in that stuff, well, it's not like I could rattle on about what my tree looks like and how many strands of lights I put on it, or what cookies I was baking, or what gifts I bought my friends and family members. I'm definitely out of the loop with that kind of stuff.
And then it was New Years Eve and I couldn't share my wild party plans with you because I don't go out on NYE, I always stay home. Don't laugh but you know what I like to do on NYE? Go through my receipts and checkbook and get things in order so, when all the paperwork comes in, I can pack it up and send it to my accountant for my taxes.
And now it's what, the third day of 2009?
Are you paying attention to the news or are you totally caught up in football games? I can't believe how many Bowl games there are! The only one missing is Tawny's Secret Fantasies Bowl Game (smile)!
I've been watching the carnage-taking place over in the Gaza Strip. It makes my heart hurt something fierce to see the daily bombings and the dead babies and dead civilians.
It's no secret to anyone who knows me, I've spoken of this before in the blog I think, but I am not pleased at all with Israel or with our continued support of that country both monetarily and emotionally.
While I wish no harm to befall the good people of Israel, I do not believe (contrary to certain sects of US Christians and other assorted peoples) Israel has a right to exist. Way back in the day God told the Jews that He would restore their country to them one day. And that's cool by me. God can do what God wants to do. But God did not restore the Jews homeland to them, the US did. And, because the Jews wanted a place to call their own so very badly, they took what the US offered. This, I truly believe, showed a total lack of faith in God.
The Jews weep about the Holocaust, and rightly so, it was a tragedy, and yet they massacre the Palestinians without remorse. What kind of shit is that????
On another note, Tallulah tells me that they've had snow in Marquette, Michigan something like 25 consecutive days. She says she's running out of places to stack the snow when she plows it from her sidewalk and driveway. In an effort to assist her, I sent her a recipe for Snow Ice Cream this morning (smile).
And as tiresome as all this snow is to her, she still sends me some really pretty photos of it. Isn't this lovely?
Before you ask, yes, I finished that bag I was crocheting out of the Lion Brand suede-like yarn. It came out really nice! I lined it with black fabric and, while I am loath to brag, it looks as nice as anything you would purchase at a fine store.
Now I'm working on another bag, this one made with some Lion Brand thick yarn. I can't recall the exact name of it but it's part wool and part acrylic and it's fat and it works up really fast. I almost had the bag finished when it dawned on me, as big as it was, it was going to be way too heavy after it was lined and then in use so I'm taking it apart as we speak, sort of, and starting over. I'll let you know how it turns out.
HSM's new dog is doing well. The puppy is house trained and learning to respond to commands. I haven't met her yet but they say she is so sweet and loveable.
My beloved Kathleen is doing well, too. As I type this she's curled up in the electric throw on the Lazy Boy chair and listening to public radio as she snoozes (smile).
Hope all is well at your end of the world. You be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.
Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
You figure for a few weeks everybody was caught up in December 25th preparations. Activities and festivities, and because I don't participate in that stuff, well, it's not like I could rattle on about what my tree looks like and how many strands of lights I put on it, or what cookies I was baking, or what gifts I bought my friends and family members. I'm definitely out of the loop with that kind of stuff.
And then it was New Years Eve and I couldn't share my wild party plans with you because I don't go out on NYE, I always stay home. Don't laugh but you know what I like to do on NYE? Go through my receipts and checkbook and get things in order so, when all the paperwork comes in, I can pack it up and send it to my accountant for my taxes.
And now it's what, the third day of 2009?
Are you paying attention to the news or are you totally caught up in football games? I can't believe how many Bowl games there are! The only one missing is Tawny's Secret Fantasies Bowl Game (smile)!
I've been watching the carnage-taking place over in the Gaza Strip. It makes my heart hurt something fierce to see the daily bombings and the dead babies and dead civilians.
It's no secret to anyone who knows me, I've spoken of this before in the blog I think, but I am not pleased at all with Israel or with our continued support of that country both monetarily and emotionally.
While I wish no harm to befall the good people of Israel, I do not believe (contrary to certain sects of US Christians and other assorted peoples) Israel has a right to exist. Way back in the day God told the Jews that He would restore their country to them one day. And that's cool by me. God can do what God wants to do. But God did not restore the Jews homeland to them, the US did. And, because the Jews wanted a place to call their own so very badly, they took what the US offered. This, I truly believe, showed a total lack of faith in God.
The Jews weep about the Holocaust, and rightly so, it was a tragedy, and yet they massacre the Palestinians without remorse. What kind of shit is that????
On another note, Tallulah tells me that they've had snow in Marquette, Michigan something like 25 consecutive days. She says she's running out of places to stack the snow when she plows it from her sidewalk and driveway. In an effort to assist her, I sent her a recipe for Snow Ice Cream this morning (smile).
And as tiresome as all this snow is to her, she still sends me some really pretty photos of it. Isn't this lovely?
Before you ask, yes, I finished that bag I was crocheting out of the Lion Brand suede-like yarn. It came out really nice! I lined it with black fabric and, while I am loath to brag, it looks as nice as anything you would purchase at a fine store.
Now I'm working on another bag, this one made with some Lion Brand thick yarn. I can't recall the exact name of it but it's part wool and part acrylic and it's fat and it works up really fast. I almost had the bag finished when it dawned on me, as big as it was, it was going to be way too heavy after it was lined and then in use so I'm taking it apart as we speak, sort of, and starting over. I'll let you know how it turns out.
HSM's new dog is doing well. The puppy is house trained and learning to respond to commands. I haven't met her yet but they say she is so sweet and loveable.
My beloved Kathleen is doing well, too. As I type this she's curled up in the electric throw on the Lazy Boy chair and listening to public radio as she snoozes (smile).
Hope all is well at your end of the world. You be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.
Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
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