Hangin’ at the THC Bakery

So the other week I had a new experience. I went to a bakery that specialized in baked goods and drinks that are infused. As in substances that used to be illegal. Luckily for me, I was able to get a drink that was not infused with anything.

This particular night, I needed someplace to sit and work on my laptop while my husband was at a beer tasting event at a place that was 40 mintues from our house. I was the designated driver and did not want to be tempted. Nor did I want to drive all the way home, only to have to turn around to get him. I didn’t want to hang at McDonalds or some other fast-food joint. Nor would Starbucks or other restaurants in its ilk be open till nine.

So I began a google search and found this bakery was open till 9:30 P.M. Perfect!

I could sit on my computer and phone, quietly tap away while having an iced drink and eating some sort of baked goody. I did not count on the infusion.

I cannot have this type of infusion.

Why is that?

Let’s just say that eating that stuff will have an adverse effect on my digestive system. I have tried a gummy -once- only to be in bed for the rest of the day after my system cleaned itself out. I finally managed to pass out then went on to have some of the weirdest stress inducing dreams I have ever had.

Anytime I go for a colonoscopy, I wake up nauseous. I am willing to stick my finger down my throat as far as it will go to make the nausea stop. I will never get any medicine that starts with Narco unless, of course, I want to lose ten pounds in one day. 

It is the worst feeling.

So here I am at a business that sells the stuff I cannot have. After a quick explanation from the very friendly staff, I chose a non-infused iced tea mango drink.

Very tasty.

I explained that I needed some place to sit while I waited for my husband to be done at his thing. I was told to settle in and be comfortable. So I did near an outlet so I could charge my phone. While I worked on my laptop, creating the book list I posted last week, I got to people watch all the customers who came in.

Some were like me, needing a full explanation. Others knew what they wanted but needed tips from the staff on how to get the most out of their purchase. Other customers asked each other about the infused drinks and how well they worked for themselves or the person they were buying them for.

It was interesting and informative. I was very comfortable and actually heard a bunch of music I don’t normally listen to. There were various rap songs being played I don’t hear normally that intrigued me.

This is probably a place I will take family members who prefer these products.  There was a giant Jenga game and a swing chair along with the big table I took over. I had a great experience and hope to go again sometime.

The White Girl Woke Reading List

In a post that I put up a few weeks ago, I mentioned that I
am on the Anti-Racism Committee at my church. Yes, it is a liberal church, and
yes, we have some conservative people who attend who weren’t sorry that Trump
won the election in 2016.

It is also a church that is devoted to social issues. The
Faith in Action group makes a concerted effort to help programs in our area.
The town that the church sits in may be rich but the surrounding towns don’t
always live up to that level of economic stability.

In the two years I have sat on this committee, I have wanted
to move things faster. I wanted to find ways to slowly bring the ‘other’ into
our midst to get people to realize we are all the same. And there were times I
wanted to leave the group because all of the pondering and philosophizing
drives me crazy.

And that is when I do what I do best- I read. I read a book
a week sometimes. Many times I listen to books because there are times I simply
cannot focus to read the written word. It helps me know how to pronounce words
or get the rhythm of how people speak. It helps me learn about a character not
only by what they say but how they say it.

So the following list are books I have read mostly in the
last two years but some were longer ago. I have yet to finish Beloved because
the book is emotionally difficult. I find myself feeling terrible for our woman
who did what she felt was right at the time. But because of this story, based
on a real woman, I made the effort to learn about Medea.

While you have heard of a few of these titles, I am guessing
there are some that are unknown to you. I purposely choose mostly fiction
because I believe fiction gives us a snapshot of time. It is through stories
that we really learn about a time and the people in that time. Even historical
fiction gives us that picture so we can enjoy and learn all at the same time.

I made this list alphabetical, not in order of what I think
you should read. All of the books in the first list are there because of an
element of racial discrimination within the story, even in the vampire story
which seems innocuous at first.

The second list focuses more on women’s issues or
discrimination of other sorts. I found them worth reading in how they made me
think of how people are marginalized in various ways.

Please let me know what you think of any of these selections
in the comments. I want to start a discussion with the hope that better
knowledge can be spread. If being woke means being kinder to anyone who doesn’t
look like me, well then, call me woke. I would rather live in a world where
people didn’t reach for their guns and asked questions later.

Enjoy your reading.

 

 

The White Girl Woke Reading List

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi

Cameron Battle and the Hidden Kingdoms by Jamar J. Perry

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee

Finding Me by Viola Davis

The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher
Murray

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

The Other Princess: A novel of Queen Victoria’s Goddaughter
by Denny S. Bryce

Overground Railroad: the Green Book and the Roots of Black
Travel in America by Candacy A Taylor

The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria
Christopher Murray

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

So Many Beginnings by Bethany C. Morrow

South to America by Imani Perry

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

When Crack was King by Donovan X Ramsey

 

Other
Good Reads to Make You Think

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

I heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Tara Jenkins Reid

The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Regan Barnhill

Continuing the Road of Genealogy

Until I looked back at this blog, I did not realize I have been working on my family history for two years now.

During that time I have found many families and secrets, wondered what people were like all while digging into the mystery of Ira Marshall.

When I say secrets, I really don’t think I have found deep dark secrets. In reality, they are secrets that I never knew. Like what you ask?

Secrets like my great-great aunt Inez named her first born son Ira during the time that my great-grandfather was living in Chicago. His brother, my great great uncle John Sherman named his son Russell Ira during that same time. Russell would be mayor of Taylor Mills in Kentucky for a time.

During this time, I met a cousin. Our common relative is Robert Mason Marshall, our two times great grandfather. He was a Union soldier who’s first wife died sometime in 1873. He marries a younger woman in 1875, Sara Catherine. They end up have five children together along with the three living children he brings from his first marriage. I’m not sure Robert Mason was an easy man to live with as his wife lived with their remaining son according to the 1910 and 1920 census. I haven’t found his will yet but I feel certain there will be some bombs in it.

But I did visit the graves of Ira, Robert Mason, and Sara Catherine. During that same visit to Independence, Kentucky, I saw the gravestone for Francis, Montie, and Inez – siblings to Ira. Their brother Charles is buried in Washington State. Alma is buried in a town west of Independence. Mary is buried in Missouri.

There are other people I cannot find or will need to start going through archives to make better connections. At this time I am ordering death certificates for a few family members so my DAR application can go farther. I never thought I would ever have cause to apply for Daughters of the Revolution. Now, I know through research and contact with other family members that I might be connected to at least four “patriots.”

Who would have thought I would find all of these people?

My Testimonial

Recently, I gave a testimonial at my church in regards to the work we do regarding racism on the Anti-Racism Committee. Later in March, there will be a workshop to help people start working their way through what they know and what they feel in regards to racism. This is my testimonial which took at least two months to write, and more shaking around in my head.

Good Morning

I am here today to give my testimonial on racism. About why I would want to talk about racism.

And I know what you’re thinking. “Why is she talking about this? Look at her, she is whiter than white.”

How white am I? I am the person who uses the highest sun block possible or I look like a lobster in the summer.

I come from a long line of white people from Eastern Europe and the UK. Many of them came in 1905. Another couple arrived in the 1870s. Because of that, I was always told the slavery question did not matter to our family as we did not participate in that practice. Even my Proctor relatives who came in the 1850s were busy settling the Illinois prairie. The most that patriarch had to do with slavery was to fight on the Union side, and thereby earn his citizenship. 

Like many families, we have stories I like to tell. Such as the one about Michaly Riban who was walking in Chicago with friends when he spied a pretty girl. He nudged his friend and said “that’s the girl I’m going to marry.” And he did.

But there are other stories that I don’t like telling. Such as the great-grandfather who deserted the army in 1905 and later deserted his family. Or the beloved grandmother who taught me many life lessons but she was also a member of the KKK in the 1920s. She said they only ever held picnics and didn’t do anything else.

What I cannot deny is that the thoughts and behaviors of that group made their way down to my father and were given to me as well. My world was rocked a little more during my genealogical adventures when I discovered a four-times great-grandfather who was a revolutionary patriot and slave-owner. It’s right there in the 1790 census, that he owned twelve people.

I can tell you these and more stories. But there are other stories I do not ‘have’ to tell. Such as my grandfather having to keep a cap in his nice car in case he got stopped so he could explain that he was driving his employer’s car. My sons don’t have to keep a toy in the back seat of their nice cars to show they are family men and not potential drug dealers.

I will never be able to tell the story of my daughter being pulled over because she did not use a turn signal to show she was changing lanes when a police car suddenly sped up behind her and she moved over to be out of his way.

These are not my stories because of my lily-white skin that was passed on me and I passed on to my children. We have been given a pass, even when I and my children have made stupid decisions. Stupid decisions such driving around with a broken taillight or going to the convenience store for an Arizona and Skittles while wearing a hoodie. Stupid decisions such as getting out a wallet for requested ID.

I could go on with references of people killed because of the color of their skin, something they cannot control. But I am guessing Julie wants to give us her sermon before eleven. And I am certain some of you are wondering where all this talk about different types of stories is going.

If I have learned anything from the Anti-Racism Committee, it is that we need to look at the stories that are hard to tell. Such as why an item like the Green Book had to be created. The singer and actor Billie Porter recently said, sometimes we have to name that which is ugly.

Racism is that ugly product of the legacy of slavery when our country’s forefathers – whether they are yours or not – forced unwilling African immigrants to work.

Despite everything I have read on the subject and seen with the C-ROAR group, I still don’t like talking about racism. Its painful to think that a quirk of fate has given me advantages because of my lily-white skin. I don’t like that story. But as Mia Henry, an activist and motivational speaker, said “it’s not going to go away because we don’t talk about it.”

So that is why I talk about it. That’s why I read books on the subject so I can have a better understanding without having to pain people to tell me their stories. Racism comes at a cost to all of us. It forces you to stay in certain pathways, no matter what color skin you might have. And when a person strays from those pathways, others feel threatened.

Just because I was born with lily-white skin and have histories of past family members with racists beliefs and actions, doesn’t mean I have to go along with their beliefs. I don’t have to stay in familiar pathways.

If I believe that all people should have the same kind of ease with which I move through life, then I have to shake off those old belief systems. And it isn’t always easy.

While I am not perfect, I have been able to make different choices than my parents.

After hearing all of this, I hope that you will talk about these things no matter how difficult. Read books by different authors, attend the upcoming workshop, mull over all that you learn, and let it move you into a different pathway. Make racism disappear by talking about it so that racism is out in the open and burned up in the sunshine like the soul-sucking societal vampire racism is.

Thank you.

For more information about the upcoming workshop, please visit the website for the Flossmoor Congregational Church at http://www.fccfaithful.org

The Charcuterie Board

When you hear that word – charcuterie – do you start getting nervous?

I see pictures of all of these boards for meat and cheese or hot chocolate or roasting marshmallows.

And I get charcuterie-paralysis.

What do I put on it? What cheese should I put on it? Salami or Pastrami? Fruit, no fruit?

Just the thought puts me in a stand still.

Until this past Thanksgiving.

I decided to just do it.

The kids love salami, so I had my husband buy salami. I enjoy goat cheese, so I had him buy two small packs of goat cheese. We had a berry jam and apricot jam so Iput them in small dishes. My mother bought crackers and regular cheese. There were grapes in the house and cherry tomatoes.

That’s when I grabbed a beautiful wooden board and put it on the counter. I filled it with crackers, cheddar cheese, cheddar jack cheese, a small plate with goat cheese, salami, crackers, grapes, and cherry tomatoes. I made sure to have little knives and little spoons. Then, I had to continuously refill the board.

Surprisingly enough, I was the only one who ate the grapes and tomatoes.

After making the charcuterie board, I wondered why I had never done this before. Everyone tried it. They put jam on cracker and cheese. They mixed cheese with the Salami. They ate just salami.

So have you made a charcuterie board? Was it successful? Share your pictures in the comments.

Wookie Blondies

It’s Christmas. Which means cookie making.

But this year is a little different.

I am on strict orders to stay off my feet as much as possible. This makes cookie making a tough feat with doing the drops and taking pans back and forth to the oven, getting cookies off of the pans, and guarding them from roaming marauding cookie eaters – i.e. the husband and teenaged son.

So this years I decided to make my favorite Christmas cookie – the Wookie Cookie from a Star Wars cookbook – into a bar. And to ensure there would be enough to fit onto a cookie sheet, I combined my recipe with a blondie recipe. The sweetness of the Blondie combined with the cinnamon, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and milk chocolate chips seemed like a good idea.

Oh, and it was.

The blondies are made with brown sugar for a butterscotch-y richness. The cinnamon adds depth of flavor. The two types of chips are simply decadent. When I make this again, I am thinking of adding pecan or walnut bits to offset the richness and give the cookie a little more crunch.

Try the recipe and tell me what you think.

Wookie Blondies

1 cup butter – soft or melted

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs (room temp if you want)

2 t vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour

2 t cornstarch

1/2 t baking powder

1 t salt

1 t cinnamon (add more if your really like cinnamon)

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Start with butter and brown sugar, mix till smooth

add eggs, stir

add vanilla, stir

add salt, cornstarch, baking powder, and cinnamon, then stir

add chips, stir

add flour. stir

spray or place parchment paper on your cookie sheet

spread mixture onto your pan, making sure every corner is filled

Bake for about 25-30 mins. (mine were good at the 25 min mark but everyone’s oven is different.)

Cool, cut, enjoy!

Mkae sure to comment below how your version of the Wookie Blondie turned out

The Dress

Today, I thought I would write about the dress.

Yep, that dress.

The one that Tiffany Trump wore at her wedding that was truly spectacular.

I loved the classis square neckline, the fitted bodice, the A-line skirt, and the long, luscious train.

Then there was the fabric – satiny, shiny, beaded.

It was elegant. The bride looked like a princess.

As she should. And when we see her happy face, it makes one wonder if she was able to forget the family drama all around her.

The sister who wore a crop top at the rehearsal dinner. The sister in-law who wore some silver thing that wasn’t quite in the pastel vibe as the rest of the wedding party. The fiancee of her brother who wore black. The step-mother who wore off-white.

Well, at least her mother was beautiful in a pastel purple.

But forget all that. Let’s allow Tiffany to be known as a beautiful bride because she was. Mar-a-Lago was filled with flowers, music, food, and a little magic. She and her groom looked happy together. And soon they will settle into a new life together. She is a beautiful bride and perhaps the most renown for right now.

After the Biden grand-daughter gets married on the South lawn of the White House, we will be getting new pictures of a beautiful bride.

I hope her dress is just as magical as Tiffany’s.

Note: See pictures of Tifany’s two wedding dresses at the Hello Magazine website. My efforts to save a picture of the dress were futile.

Banning Girls Who Code

Some stories get my goat, especially when it is about banning books. .

I wonder what people are thinking when they act out. I wonder if they even vetted the book they are trying to ban.

A few weeks ago I was watching Ari Velshi’s Banned Book Club on his Saturday morning show on MSNBC. And he began talking about the Girls Who Code series. It is aimed at middle school girls who are in a club to learn how to create code that can make new apps for computers or mobile devices.

Think of it as a new version of the Babysitter’s Club.

We have five girls who have become friends because of this club. Each girl has a separate interest outside of coding such as fashion, sports, and performing.

Each girl has a different ethnic identity. Christian, Jewish, Muslim. White, black, Hispanic, Afghanistan.

I read Spotlight on the Coding Club, book 4 in the series. In this book, the girls are getting a code together so their school’s Talent Show. Each act has to make a video of their performance and the coding club is developing an app so that students can vote on each act to determine the top three act.

Each book focuses on one of the girls; this time it is Erin who has a big secret. She has anxiety. And the thing she doesn’t want to mention to anyone is that she has had an anxiety attack in a long time – till just recently. She is worried about her father is on active duty somewhere in the middle east or central Asia or somewhere in the world.

While clubs have kept Erin busy in the past and able to control her anxiety, this time she is having a harder time. And her response is to take on more projects. Well, you can see where this is going. Each girl tries to have her own act, each girl tries to do something for the app but don’t have the time.

Luckily, Erin has good friends and parents who want the best for her. It takes her awhile to trust in them. But as you can imagine, all works out in the end. Does Erin’s entry win at the talent show? Well you’ll just have to read it to find out.

So what could groups such as Moms for Liberty find wrong in this book? I mean it’s about girls who like coding to create bits and pieces of programming for apps. Some people think its because the books give girls the idea that this could be a profession for them. Or it might be the acceptance of girls of all backgrounds. Or it could be that anyone who is different is not ostracized.

The girls like and appreciate their differences, even though their problems seem to transcend all of those factors. Each girl has a worry that any of have had or could have.

I think these groups focus on the fact that one of the girls is gay. In the book I read, it is not a focal point. What happens is our main character figures out that her friend has a crush on another girl and encourages her friend to talk to that person. And then it is pretty much done.

We go back to Erin’s anxiety and her role in the club and group of friends. And she is lucky to have friends who try to help her and support her as they learn about her issues. We get to enjoy all of these girls while learning that coding takes time and requires constant testing to make sure you get it right.

Perhaps Moms for Liberty don’t like this normalizing of the strange and different. Perhaps they fear their children will turn gay reading this. I have no idea what their beef if because they don’t share it or deny that they had anything to do with getting this book series banned. What I d know is that they sy they are for giving parents the right to choose what their children are reading.

But they want to determine what all kids read and my choices for my kids be damned. It doesn’t matter that I want my kids to read about different kids dealing with situations they are dealing with – peer pressure, new emotions (love), anxiety and worries, fitting in at school. I want my kids to know there are all sorts of people in this world. Just because those people are not straight, white, Christians doesn’t make them bad, it just makes them different from being straight, white christian individuals.

That strange thing is that we are seeing these banning efforts not taking hold. Fewer than 1% of parents in Florida have signed up for programs demanding their children NOT read certain books. In Virginia, Governor Glenn Youngkin closed down his hotline for people to report incidents of CRT teaching because they were not getting calls about that.

It makes me wonder this: If so few people want to ban books or ban teachers from teaching various subjects, why are we allowing them to dominate the discussion?

The Perfect Halloween Dinner

Every Halloween in years past, I have made the family favorite  –  Blood and Guts.

It’s a fabulous dish of white cheesed filled extra-large pasta shells swimming in a sea of marinara.

Some people call it stuffed shells. On a cold Halloween night, after hours of traversing the streets in search of candy, our kids find it to be the warming dish of their dreams.

A few weeks ago, two of our four kids were home. When the menu choice was released, a third one somehow made it home for supper.

It is a meal I make occasionally because it is a lot of work. I don’t make the sauce from scratch but I do stuff the shells individually. That can be close to 70 shells.

So where do I start? I get the ingredients. This is for a smaller batch but you can double it if desired. I normally start by making the filling.

16 oz Ricotta

2 cups Shredded Mozzarella

1 cup shredded Parmesan

1 package cooked spinach (thaw and drain of extra liguid. Squeeze water out if necessary)

2 eggs

I mix these together in a bowl by hand. You can refrigerate and use the next day. I tend to make it the same day. You need to squeeze the spinach because the freezing process leaves a lot of water. You don’t want the filling to be too watery. I get it about half squeezed out.

½ pound of ground meat or Italian Sausage

1-2 16 oz jar of marinara – your choice.

I tend to fry the meat while getting other parts of the meal ready but not the filling because the hands get too messy. I get the water for the pasta going. I open the marinara jar(s). I get out the 13×9 pan(s).  I pour just enough marinara in my first pan to cover the bottom. Then I scatter the cooked meat on top of that marinara cover.

1-2 boxes of Barilla extra large shells.

Here is where the magic happens. Pre-heat the oven to 350. Once the water is a rolling boil, I start by putting in 10-12 shells in at a time. Boil them for six minutes, just enough to soften. Put them in your colander after 6 minutes. While they are cooling in the colander, put 10-12 shells in the water. Add water as needed.

While those shells are boiling, start filling the shells that have been cooling. I use a teaspoon to ease the filling into each shell. Some will be tighter than others. Nor do you want the shells to be too soft. Once filled place each shell in your pan. I like to make a tight fit as I fill the pan.

Keep boiling and filling until you have no more filling. If you have more filled shells than will fit into one pan, prepare another baking dish that will fit the amount you have left. If you make a double batch, you are going to fill another 13×9. If not, you might be doing a 9×6.

Once all the shells are filled and in the pan, use your marinara to cover each shell. You can do this as thick or thin as you like. The more you put on, the more sauce you need on hand. Sprinkle mozzarella on top.

Place in the oven for 30 minutes. You can make the salad, get your garlic bread ready, force others to set the table. This would be a good time for a glass of wine if you so choose.

Once those thirty minutes are up, remove the pan(s) from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. I place the pans on the table with trivets or hot pads underneath. While the blood and guts are cooling, I get the garlic bread in the oven. My husband will cut the bread when it’s ready.

Now you get to eat this concoction. It is messy and tasty. Some people put on a little more parmesan at the table, others do not.

Sometimes I play with the recipe and add garlic powder or other spices to the mixture. Most of the time I eyeball the mozzarella. No matter what, this is the most asked for dish for Halloween besides my Chicken Riggie. Yes, it takes time – -about an hour for the stuffing alone.

But it is one of those dishes that is always worth it and seldom has leftovers.

Reasons why I am not voting for Darren Bailey

1. The Mask Lawsuit

During the Pandemic Bailey filed a lawsuit against the State (Pritzker) to have the mask mandate removed. Bailey believed he was saving the entire state from a mandate he felt was unlawful. However, the judge deemed that Bailey’s lawsuit was justified – for Bailey only. This lawsuit would not apply to the rest of the state.

If a person fails his objective in such an epic manner, he has made some bad decisions either in going through with the lawsuit or picking lawyers to go through with the lawsuit. If you cannot make good decisions regarding a lawsuit to get a mask mandate removed for all, how do you expect us to believe that you can run a multi-billion dollar economy?

2. Abortion

Bailey is in favor of making abortion illegal in Illinois with no exceptions. We have seen how this works in other states that have outlawed abortions.

Women who are having miscarriages cannot get the care they need because their doctors don’t want to be prosecuted for performing an abortion.

Women who are having ectopic pregnancies cannot get needed healthcare because their doctors are afraid of being prosecuted for performing an abortion.

Women in need of Rheumatoid Arthritis medication are being denied their medication because one of the side effects is miscarriage of pregnancies.

If there is no regard for women’s healthcare, that women are turned into suspects because their bodies fail to carry a pregnancy (which happens in 1/3 of all pregnancies), is outlawing abortion a good idea? If making this man our governor makes it more dangerous for women to get their healthcare needs taken care of during their fertile years, why are we voting for this man?

3. Donald Trump

This man supports Donald Trump, a man who lost the 2020 election but refused to publicly acknowledge it. For months before the 2020 election, Trump stated if he lost then that meant there were voting irregularities. However, 60+ court cases and republican-led voting audits not only did not find more votes for Trump, they did find more votes for Biden.

Now Bailey is stating that he loses, he believes it will be due to voting irregularities. And he plans to have 6000 poll watchers on election day to make sure all goes well. All this is a page out of the Trump playbook. Does he plan to have fake electors as well?

4. Highland Park 4^th of July Shooting

I had forgotten about this incident until I saw a political commercial today. Within hours of the shooting at the 4^th of July parade in Highland Park, Bailey appeared upset that the parade he was going to be in had been cancelled. He tried to sound calm as he expressed sympathy and concern for the people of Highland Park. But then he stated that we need to get over the events earlier in the day and celebrate our country’s birthday. Yep, he said that on the same day, minutes after expressing sympathy. I heard him say this. Tone deaf much? Unable to actually express sympathy without moving away from his policies is inexcusable. Will he continue such behavior as governor?

5. What has he actually accomplished in the State house? I have seen many, many commercials from Bailey’s campaign. I have heard people talk about his farm experience showing he knows how to work. I have seen his commercials against Pritzker, striking fear about mis-interpreted laws bringing more violence and crime into our lives. I have seen Pritzker ads showing Bailey’s views on abortion and the no-votes for bills that would have help first responders and women dealing with domestic violence.  I have not heard a single commercial touting what he has done that is good for the state.

6. Bailey hates Chicago and has never hidden his feelings. But now he is renting an apartment in the former John Hancock building on the Magnificent Mile because he wants to get to know the city. What he does not realize is that every neighborhood is like a small town. Each neighborhood has its own flavor and dangers. Does he think that working class through upper-middle class Chicagoans are going to be fooled by this stunt? We all know that what he is signifying is that he will be available to the power brokers of the city because he has a place in the city. Until I see him actually visiting the best and the worst neighborhoods of Chicago, this feels like a stunt to me.

7. Pritzker may not be perfect, but he has been a good leader for the state. Our bond rating has improved. He is working at the deficit governors on both sides of the aisles built. And during the Pandemic, he was willing to make tough decisions. Even when that meant going against the President who was hell bent on denying the virus even as it killed tens of thousands of people.

Both men are rich although Pritzker is super rich.  I will take a productive blowhard like Pritzker over an unproductive blowhard like Bailey. This is a man who criticized Biden for giving handouts but took a PPP loan of $231K, and then gave $150K to his campaign a few weeks later while claiming a big loss on his taxes. (https://pantagraph.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/bailey-campaign-defends-gop-candidate-getting-federal-relief-loans/article_b853a489-4a48-56da-af60-47af5ac481ad.html). And we are supposed to believe he is a simple farmer who knows the value of hard work.

These are the reasons why I am voting my conscious and not voting for Darren Bailey to become the next governor of Illinois..