Is Casey Anthony Guilty?

Acquitted. Now let's make this all worth while. Sign petition below.

Last time I checked, although I am Greek, I am still living in America. And the last time I cracked open a Rand-McNally map Orlando, Florida was also still part of the United States of America. So if these two statements are true that should still mean that if someone was acquitted of a crime in O'Town they were judged by a jury of their peers to have been found not guilty of the crime they were charged with.  Furthermore, they are not to be held accountable in a court of law, no matter what other facts there may be.  It is the way our court systems have been working for more than a hundred and fifty years. If you do not like it, move to Iran or Iraq and just pray that you see men and women in green uniforms with the US flag sewn on their shoulders to liberate you and give you some of the same freedoms and democracy we enjoy here. 'Nuff said.

Ok, that is my geography/legal mumbo jumbo disclaimer for the day. Let me get into the meat and potatoes of what I need to get off of my Greek chest.

I remember the OJ verdict. I didn't follow the trial but I do remember seeing the riots and the aftermath of his acquittal. I thought to myself what a crazy thing to do. The fact that the rioting and outcry was actually from many people who agreed with the verdict but used it as an excuse to become lawless and unruly.  How silly is that? I did not follow the Casey Anthony trial so much either - but the reaction to the verdict has been near impossible to miss. I am glad there was not civil unrest with the announcement of the verdict for Casey Anthony. My biggest fear was that riots would have hooligans burning down Cinderella's Castle at Disney World, busting the Aquarium at Sea World trying to set Shamu free or worst yet toppling the giant globe at the front entrance to Universal Studios Florida because that is where Casey said she worked. My googled eye manager Mr. Bricks who has spent the last month in Florida (doing God only knows what) was super concerned that someone would smash up all of the all-you-can eat buffets on International Drive. To him, that would have been the true travesty of justice in this case.

Right or wrong, whether you agree or do not agree with the jury's verdict it is the way 12 people saw the evidence and voted. I have seen reports that all of the alternate jurors also would have voted the exact same way. So clearly as smug as he was Jeff Ashton did a very poor job and spent way too much time trying to make Casey out to be a horrible person. I am thinking perhaps Florida prosecutor Jeff Ashton is a cousin or somehow related to HLN's talking head Nancy Grace...just a hunch. Would someone investigate that for me please?

Ok, keep your pantaloons on and remember according to where we all live (see first paragraph of this blog) everyone is entitled to their opinion and I am just using my constitutional rights and blogging....but what the point of today's blog is, is to say that  something very beautiful has come out of this circus. It is a petition to create a new law that would be called Caylee's Law that will make it a felony for a parent or guardian to not notify law enforcement of a child going missing in a timely manner. It was started by a woman named Michelle Crowder from Oklahoma who was outraged by the verdict and decided to do something about it.  To date more than a million people have gone to change.org and have signed the petition. Now that is using your noggin! If you want to sign the petition you can go there:

Sign Caylee's Law petition here

Please sign the petition.

Blessings,

Ava

xox

Fair Weather Friend

I have spoken a lot on my blog in the last few days about the beach, sand and the surf. I should apologize to those blog readers who live in areas where the weather was not as great as it was in Florida. While I was posting, tweeting and blogging away in the warm sunshine, some of you were rusting away in a cold drizzle. I feel for you.

I knew maybe I had rubbed some people the wrong way with my constant surf side updates when Mr. Bricks tweeted me that he hoped I got sand in my sneakers. (if you do not follow me yet on Twitter you can follow me @avaaston)

My hopes are that you do not hold my vacation against me and treat me as a "fair- weather" friend. A fair-weather friend is the type who is always there when times are good but forgets about you when things get difficult or problems crop up. The Urban Dictionary describes it as, "A friend who is only a friend when circumstances are pleasant or profitable. At the first sign of trouble, these capricious, disloyal friends will drop their relationship with you."

But that is so, not me. Keep in mind I am the same Greek girl who was freezing her noggin off with the rest of the nation for the months of November, December, January, February and March! I think I am entitled to 10 days of sunshine without anyone bailing on me for this little time I have spent defrosting in the Florida sunshine.

I am excited to start heading back to the salt mines. I have left Mr. Bricks alone minding the candy store for way too long. I think that is why he tweeted me the nastygram about sand in my sneakers.  Maybe Mr. Bricks is a fair-weather manager???

Blessings,

Ava

xox

PS  2 more days until the premiere of my music video "Gone" on Thursday April 28th

Why Old People Go To Florida

As I was growing up I always heard stories of cantankerous New Yorkers who would go to Florida for the winter.  I thought that was silly, who doesn't like a good snow storm now and then? My sisters and I secretly thought it was the hot Florida sunshine that turned the older ladies hair blue.

Well, I was such a naive little Greek girl.

After experiencing the winter that we did in New York this year, I hope I never have to go through something like that again. Buuuurrrrr, I get cold just thinking about it. So to treat myself, I decided to spend my Easter vacation in Florida this year. Maybe just to try to see if I can get that punk look with some blue hair action happening on top of my Blonde coconut.

It didn't take long to convert me. After one week, I decided that when I get old (about Mr. Brick's age) and when I am no longer on tour with my music, I'm going to be a snow bird, and fly south for the winter. 

Like in the video, this has been my social agenda for the entire week:

1. Lace on sneakers - go for run on beach.

2. Swing by Dunkin Donuts for iced coffee (yummo)

3. Chill on beach

4. Send Mr. Bricks a postcard saying, "I bet you wished you were here"  (The thought of Mr. Bricks in a speedo...ok, I just threw up a little in my mouth) Next day repeat steps 1 -4

Blessings,

Ava

xox

I Just Ate Deep Fried Pickles

Yummo. Deep Fried Pickles. My new BFF?

Still in Florida and loving it.

The best part about traveling is being out of your comfort zone. It's good to not get too complacent in life. When you are not in your own home night after night you tend to need to improvise to make things "more like home." Choosing what to eat on this vacay, has certainly  put me out of my comfort zone on a few occasions so far.

I normally make my own meals or have my meals prepared for me exactly the way I want to ensure that it is not loaded with unnecessary sodium and/or fats. Whenever I travel for a length of time like this I always have my secret stash, just in case I need a dose of healthiness.  However a Greek girl can't live on Coffee and Zone Bars alone, so I had to venture out of my comfort zone yesterday and try something new. Deep fried pickles.

At first I wasn't going to even try it because, well it was deep-fried. I was thinking, who do they think I am Mr. Bricks? He will eat anything deep-fried, I eat very little fried food. But at the last-minute I decided to throw caution to the wind and try them. And guess what? They were good. Don't get all excited Mr. Bricks you won't find deep fried pickles on my tour bus anytime soon. But in a social setting if they were being served, I wouldn't pass them up. I couldn't eat too many fried pickles as I still have a few more days I need to look good on the beach in a bikini.

Why is it that we take more chances doing things on vacation than when we are safe and sound in our own house and home towns. There are always pictures being posted on Facebook from people saying they just got back from vacation and look what they did, ate or saw. On the beach I also saw a few people who decided to wear things that I am pretty sure they do not wear in Oklahoma City. My Greek eyeballs are still burned with the image of those two older men in speedos ~ yikes!

I suspect that we all do things outside our comfort zone on vacation just for all of the bragging rights. Because look at me, not only did I eat fried pickles on my Florida vacation, I also bragged about it right here on my blog!

Time to put a little more sun screen on the nose....

Blessings,

Ava

xox

Flip Flops in the Sand

Flip Flops in the SandPhotos Courtesy of Wharman Photostream

I successfully made the migration to Florida for my 2 week vacation. Here is my itinerary:

• Plant my little Greek butt on the beach
• Stick toes in sand
• Enjoy the sunshine and warm weather
• Send "Dear John" postcard to Old Man Winter (it's finally over!!!)
• Send "I bet you wished you were here" postcard to Mr. Bricks
• Edit "Gone" music video to be ready for the April 28th premiere
• Go sneaker shopping

It  was such a long cold winter in New York this year and since I have been working so hard recently I really do not feel guilty about just taking some Ava time. But don't get your pantaloons in a wad, I will still be blogging from the beach. Blogging is not like work for me, I consider it Greek translation. As the words just flow from my noggin I put it down on paper... it's kinda magical, as if I didn't write anything at all - just sayin'. Song writing is like that for me as well, it just flows like butter, well actually  like "smart balance " or real olive oil - that's how I roll. My triglycerides are 33, so I think I'm good.

Blessings,

Ava

xox