Ask Luke’s Mother-in-Law: Bullies, Apocalypse and Owning Your Own Bed

Martha Boyd is not just Luke’s mother-in-law – she’s also an ex-cop, a landlord, a self-described crazy cat lady, a major Star Trek geek and the widow of a green beret. So go ahead: ask her anything. And we mean anything. Just be polite when you do.

Hey de ho all. It has been a busy week. As you know LYT and Julia were out for a few days; LYT taught me in about 5 minutes how to resize the pictures that I put into my rants. Now, if he can teach a 58 yr-old, computer-stupid lady how do do this I don’t understand why others are either unwilling or not capable of doing the same. It was not rocket science. Anyway, I now know how to resize the photos that I send in with my work for TR. LYT was a member of the clean plate club all weekend. I made chicken with curry, ginger and paprika on it and then baked it, carrots, green beans and twice baked potatos. Another day we made pizza, and of course Sunday breakfast of scrambled eggs, fried potatoes , bacon and sausage. I made my Grampa Franks fried potatoes. I hand cut the potato slices and then fry them with garlic and onions.

Also last week, I was doing an appraisal near the home of a famous local artist. Simi Dabah. The entire yard is filled with the work. For more information check out simidabahsculptures.com. It is amazing work. I have attached a couple of pictures of the yard.

Another fun trip this week was a hike in Joshua Tree National Park. We hiked the BarKer Dam loop in the park. I have included several pictures from the dam and cattle water station. There was still water in the dam, which was great to see. When we were there all of the animals were in hiding for the day as it was starting to get warm. The Barker family founded it in 1900 and then it was raised to a higher level in 1949 by William Keys. It is only a 1.5 mile hike and fairly easy walk.

So now on to the questions.

William C:
When your kittens and your cats take over your bed, is there any point in calling it your bed anymore?

Well, I bought and paid for the darn thing and they don’t pay rent – so yes, it is still my bed. However I am more than happy to share with my fur babies. We have worked out placement which is working fairly well. It is a California King bed, so rather large. I now find that I sleep across the top portion of the bed and they sleep on the bottom portion. This way I don’t spend most of the night kicking them.

They also tend to sleep in shifts. So many times I will start the night with all five in bed. We like to watch TV together and then over the course of the night they take shifts so someone is always in the bed. Miss Boo generally finishes the night as she is the alarm clock. That cat knows when 5 a.m. rolls around and starts saying meow rather loudly, then Mr Friz comes in and starts head butting. They have a full morning routine.

Christopher S: What would your starting Pokemon be: Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle? And why?

Squirtle is the best; he can get you more points and advantages. He is also a cute little water person. I still have original Pokemon decks around the house. Some day they will be worth a mint along with my Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast cards.

Christopher S: What are your thoughts on the use and practice of Civil Asset Forfeiture by Police Officers?

This is something that is done in many countries. In the U.S., it is most often done by the FBI, DEA etc. and the property is generally disposed of by the US Marshal’s Office. It is most common in drug cases, but can happen in other cases and on other levels. I generally don’t have a problem with it as long as everything is done legally. Also in the U.S., the person with the property being taken generally has about a month to show why the items should not be taken.

Julia Thompson: What is the real reason why I wasn’t allowed a playstation until I was 13? Lol

Because you have a computer and we only let you play educational games on the computer. We did not want the playstation on the family tv as your dad and I were not into video games at the time. You had an expensive computer. Most of the playstation stuff at the time was not educational and you had an expensive computer. Get the theme going here? You had an expensive computer; you did not need playstation. Mean mean parents you had – yes. LOL

Brando Lars:
If you were to wake up one day in a medieval realm of Magic and mystery, what role / job / class would you see your self-picking up for you exile in that land?

Is this a game? But I would be an evil queen. So my class would be the top of the heap as I am queen. I would love to be the evil queen as they generally have great outfits and tons of power. They have so much fun. I would have a big castle with a moat with a couple of dragons, magic genie and how about that mirror on the wall. Got to have one of those.

Gene H:
What does the trend for sequels and adaptations of familiar stories versus original movies say about the average movie goer?

Well, I think many people are afraid of original content. The big thing with the price of tickets is that some are afraid of having to spend the money and then find that the movie sucks. With a sequel many times you know somewhat you are getting; you know the story line and players. We always found when running the local community theater we got much better turnouts on plays that people were familiar with then some new trendy thing that no one has heard of. So we generally put on shows that were dusty, but familiar where the audience alreay knew what they were getting. I would say that most audiences are semi brain dead and lots of writers, studios etc take the easy way out to make a buck.

Anonymous:
Say you don’t have kids and are very determined to not be one of those obnoxious childless people who tell parents how to do their job. But you see a child who is very likely to be a target for bullying in a few years but to the best of your knowledge hasn’t yet. And because of your own experiences of being horribly bullied for years, you are pretty sure the approach the kids parents are taking to minimize the child’s risk is not going to work. Should you say something or mind your own business? (Oh, and if you do use this one, please keep it anonymous. )

I would say that you should say something. You have personal experience and if a kid can be saved from the hurt of a bully it is best to give them and/or the parents the tools to deal with the situation. If you had not the experience with the situation I would more likely say mind your own business – but as you were subject to a bully you can share firsthand knowledge that maybe the parents don’t have. I think that it is every adult’s obligation to help stop bullying. Kids need to be carefully watered and not cut down. I say go for it.

Edward G:
What’s your favorite form of the apocalypse, and why?

I’m not really thrilled with any form of the apocalypse. But if we have to go out, let’s go in a big fiery bang. Let’s make a show of it. Now this is if the apocalypse is the end of the world. However, we must keep in mind that there are several meanings of apocalypse as it is a revelation and could be the end of an age – so in this case, I would not really want to go out in a bang, but would like to be around to see what happens. Let’s see – the world was going to come to an end when we hit 2000 – didn’t happen, and what about the Mayan Calendar 2012 thing – seems like we are still going. It would also be the end of the world as we know it if the electric grid were destroyed or an asteroid hit us. So for now I think I will hang tight and just see what happens.

Well folks, that is it for this week. Keep the “cards and letters” coming. Tonight I am going to the 2nd show of the Joshua Tree International Film Fest: Skanks by Billy Ray Brewton. I understand that Mr. Brewton will be attending and I plan on speaking with him and will report back next week. Anyway, Skanks is a documentary on the play Skanks in a One Horse Town. This is an original play first presented in Birmingham, Alabama in 2012. The documentary was released in January of 2013 and follows the production from start to finish, casting, rehersal etc. The plot is about a time traveling disco ball in Studio 54. A group is taken back in time to save a western town from the evil Railroad baron. “Skanks” has been shown at Slamdance, IndiGrit, Boston LGBTQ fest etc and now at Joshua Tree. Should be a fun evening.

Then on Saturday – drum roll please. I will be seeing the 1955 thriller Tarantula staring John Agar, Mara Corday and Leo G. Carroll. The film was shot near Joshua Tree in the Lucerne Valley / Apple Valley area and is in glorious black and white. I am seeing this at Copper Mountain monthly movies under the stars. Very informal: bring your own lawn chair and cooler, but I understand they will have popcorn and hot dogs for sale. Sound like a lot of fun. P.S. Henry Mancini was involved with the music for this movie. This is a classic Universal Studios horror movie. Will let you know my thoughts on this next week also. No, I am not trying to steal LYT’s movie review thunder with either of these 2 pictures.

Anyway as always be good to each other this next week. Is everyone getting their Halloween costumes ready? We don’t have trick or treat way out were I live, so I get all of the candy to myself. I did decorate the front yard with pumpkins, scarecrows etc and it passed inspection from LYT and Julia. After turkey day the Christmas stuff goes up.

Huggs to you all. See you next week.

As always, keep your questions coming, be they foolish, philosophical or anything else! Any questions on any topic submitted in comments below will be included in future columns.