thanks to everyone who has emailed and called me. i appreciate your concern about us. we're alive and safe. we are at a la quinta in san marcos, tx., which is in what is called the I-35 corridor between san antoniio and austin.
we boarded up our home and packed and left friday morning. got on interstate 10 about noon-thirty. our trip took about an hour longer, due to stop and go traffic on the west side of houston, but all in all was a pretty good trip.
hubs was not going to leave at all, and i had decided to stay with him because i tried to look into the future and how i would feel if missy and i evacuated without him and something happened to him. we told missy she could go but she felt like i did.
friday morning i decided to ask hubs what our gameplan was for weathering the storm. our bedroom hall is the only space not walled by windows. so we were going to sit there. then i asked him, what if the storm surge comes? what if our roof comes off? his answer to leaving had been, where do we go? so when i asked him to really, really, look at what would we do in the house were Ike to destroy it, he finally began to see logic. so, we looked online for a hotel and found one that took pets right off. good omen. we packed and left. lots left behind, as in our entire lives. but what can you do?
even evacuated to a safe place with internet and air conditioning, the last few days have been very traumatic for us. it's been next to impossible to find information about the status of our locality. eventually, by late saturday and sunday, we began to hear from friends and family. my brother works for our city and he had to weather the storm at his home, which survived 8 tall pine trees falling and barely missing it. he was on call so he had to navigate the roads at 6 pm saturday to go to work on a skeleton crew clearing the roads and then manning the phones at the emergency call center.
my brother found time to drive to our home and found it in great condition, thank goodness. the top of the chimney that keeps water out had flown off and the back fence is leaning, and that is all. i cannot tell you how much of a relief that was. our street never flooded, even though we are 1/4 mile from cedar bayou, which flows into galveston bay. we were not in a mandatory evac zone because our land is very high. it is on a plate separate from the bottomland that is pretty much sea level.
we are about 25 feet above sea level. and we do not have flood insurance because we were always told we do not need it. i probably do not need to tell you that hubs and i were sweating it out heavily, since all of the meteorological warnings predicted a 22 foot storm surge up into galveston bay and its tributaries, cedar bayou being a main one of those and the houston ship channel aka buffalo bayou being the other main one. i had figured we were just f*cked. my mindset was, hey, i was never gonna use all those art supplies anyway. lol, trying to rationalize so the sting and hurt would be lessened.
so, anyway, here we are today. our house still has no electricity and the water is not drinkable due to the water plant being flooded. hubs helped bring the refinery down on thursday before he left work and it is still down until they can get proper power, but all reports from his coworkers who were on shelter-in duty there are good. the refinery sustained very little damage and it hardly rained there at all. they are ready to bring it back up, but the utility infrastructure of the area is delaying it. you might live in a new area where the utilities are underground, but on my gulf coast they are largely hobbled together above ground, pole to pole, susceptible to wind, trees, wild animals and lightning. just my 2 cents, but if the gov't wanted to help lessen the effects of weather along the gulf coast, they would use the rebuild dollars on relocating the utility infrastructures underground where possible. every time this happens, that is what is damaged the most. who listens to little old me though.
I waited til today to update the blog because the wireless router for our hotel building wasn't working until today. i was going to find another hotel if it hadn't been fixed by today. like hubs said, if the tv in the hotel room didn't work, he'd be pissed. same with my internet, jeebus. anyway, all is well for time being at least.
hubs left to go back this morning. he just couldn't wait around. he had to go back and check out what's going on. me, i am planning to stay right here in san marcos until our water and electricity are back online and good. poor missy is really distraught. she spent all weekend refusing to give up hope that she could return to school in beaumont today, despite us telling her that was a pipe dream. the downtown there had 9 feet of water in it. they and western louisiana got pelted by ike just as much if not more than we did. missy and her school friends spent all weekend trying in vain to find out when they were supposed to be back at school.
we finally found out this morning that missy's tentative date to return to school is Sept. 29, and that is at the earliest. turns out that a lot of the campus flooded. her dorm room is on the 3rd floor, so luckily her room did not flood, and the roof is still okay. she is still not happy about having all that time to fill though. i feel bad for her, but she is really impatient by nature, so it is gonna be testy, lol.
well, she wants to go see "burn after reading" so we are off to do that. i'll check back in later...
Monday, September 15, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Y(IKE)S, Call 9/11
Well, it's that time again, isn't it? This time around, it strikes me that Americans are united in honoring this day, yet there are so many differing beliefs on how we got here and how we go on.
For myself, I wouldn't be shocked to discover that OBL ordered the attack as vengeance for the Bushies cozying up to OBL's father and bringing western evil to his country. I even used to think there might be a chance that GWB choreographed it to start his wars and control us easier.
My planning to vote GOP in November doesn't mean I believe the possibilities of those theories any less. It's just that was then, this is now, and we have to move on and deal with the leftovers. There have been many days that I want to hurt George Bush but I guess I've always paid enough attention to the news to know that John McCain has probably wanted to hurt him more and more often. Most of the nasties in the Congressional GOP are no longer there, finally, and I think sometimes the GOP haters are still hating the past.
So it is that on this day I always re-assess my feelings about our place in the world. I remember how passionately angry so many around me were in 2001, and although I wanted to be, I wasn't. Instead, I get a bit angrier about it with every passing year and less fearful of accepting and appreciating a hawkish stance in a post-9/11 world. That my child and her many wonderful friends have all become adults in the last 7 seven years has a lot to do with my courage, I think.
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As I write this, Ike keeps turning more and more towards us. Even so, Hubs wants to stay and shelter in place, and Missy called to report she doesn't want to come home. So we decided last night not to leave, and went to bed.
Hubs got up to discover Missy sleeping in her bed. Turns out the college and town both decided on an evacuation in the middle of the night. There was the college's automated message on our machine. We'd slept right thru it. Well, there goes my Plan B (I was going to hang out at her dorm if things looked really ominous for us.)
We turn on the local news and the damn storm track is closer to us even more now. I try reserving a hotel and the traffic nightmare to get to any of them makes me stop. (Missy refuses to get into that traffic after the last storm.) So, here we are, waiting for a mutha of a massive storm to decide the weapon and the method, cuz it's now a given that it will happen to us. We will get the storm. What scares me is the storm surge, should it become a Cat 4. We are around 25 ft about sea level, but also only about 1/4 of a mile from Cedar Bayou that feeds into Galveston Bay. The bayou will back up and rise if the bay does. It's never flooded on my street from the bayou or from storm surge and I am just praying this is not the first time.
I don't know, but it seems like right now only the coastal low-lying towns are under evacuation right now. Seems like a lot of folks are going to stay. Tropical storm winds and rain are supposed to begin tomorrow mid-day, and I have have have to prepare a corporate tax return today (my last official one). It's due next week, but if we lose electricity that's a problem so gotta do it now. Then, I have to take a video of all our rooms. Then help secure odds and ends. Missy can get groceries today. I paid all the bills already for the next two weeks. I have our prescriptions, our hurricane supplies, cash, full gas tanks, water, clothes are washed, got dogfood. What else?
A nuclear black-hole machine to put Ike in would be nice...
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Mayor Palin's Big Book-Ban Scandal 411
FROM THE ARCHIVE: Palin: Library censorship inquiries 'Rhetorical'
By PAUL STUART
Editor's note: This story first ran in the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman Dec. 18, 1996. It has been typeset and posted here to accommodate numerous requests for the story from media worldwide and curious individuals. Please note that not at any time were any books ever banned from the Wasilla city library.
WASILLA -- In the wake of strong reactions from the city's library director to inquiries about censorship, Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin on Monday was taking pains to explain her questions about censoring library material were “rhetorical.â€
Library Director Mary Ellen Emmons last week said Palin broached the subject with her on two occasions in October - once Palin was elected mayor Oct. 1 but before she took office on Oct. 14, and again in more detail on Monday, Oct. 28. Besides heading the Wasilla City Library, Emmons is also president of the Alaska Library Association.
The issue became public last Wednesday, when Palin brought it up during an interview about the now-defunct Liquor task Force. Palin used the library topic as an example of discussions with her department heads about understanding and following administration agendas. Palin said she asked Emmons how she would respond to censorship.
Emmons drew a clear distinction Saturday between the nature of Palin's inquiries and an established book-challenge policy in place in Wasilla, and in most public libraries.
"I'm not trying to suppress anyone's views," Emmons said. "But I told her (Palin) clearly, I will fight anyone who tries to dictate what books can go on the library shelves."
Palin said Monday she had no particular books or other material in mind when she posed the questions to Emmons.
Emmons said in the first conversation, before being sworn in as mayor, Palin briefly touched on the subject of censorship.
But on Monday, Oct. 28, Emmons said Palin asked her outright if she could live with censorship of library books. This was during a weak when Palin was requesting resignations from all the city's department heads as a way of expressing loyalty.
"This is different than a normal book-selection procedure or a book-challenge policy," Emmons stressed Saturday. "She was asking me how I would deal with her saying a book can't be in the library."
Monday Palin said in a written statement she was only trying to get aquatinted with her staff at the time. "Many issues were discussed, both rhetorical and realistic in nature," Palin added.
Emmons recalled that the Oct. 28 conversation she pulled no punches with her response to the mayor.
"She asked me if I would object to censorship, and I replied 'Yup'," Emmons recounted Saturday. "And I told her it would not be just me. This was a constitutional question, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) would get involved, too."
Emmons said Palin asked her on Oct. 28 if she would object to censorship, even if people were circling the library in protest about a book. "I told her it would definitely be a problem the ACLU would take on then," Emmons said
Asked who she thought might picket the library, Palin said Monday, "Had no one in mind ... again, the issue was discussed in the context of a professional question being asked in regards to library policy.
"All questions posed to Wasilla's library director were asked in the context of professionalism regarding the library policy that is in place in our city. Obviously the issue of censorship is a library question... you ask a library director that type of question," Palin said
Palin also said Monday censorship issues would not involve any departments other than the library.
Emmons said she has been offered help if it is ever needed on censorship issues from the state library association's Intellectual Freedom Committee and the National Freedom to Read Foundation.
Palin called Emmons into her office Monday to discuss the censorship questions again.
Palin also attended Friday's staff meeting at the library, but without mentioning censorship , Emmons said.
"I'm hoping it was just a trial balloon," Emmons said, "because the free exchange of information is my main job, and I'll fight anyone who tries to interfere with that."
The timing of the issue comes at a time when Emmons is trying to get the book-challenge policies of the Wasilla Library and of the Palmer City Library in line with the Mat-Su Borough policy, revised in December of last year.
Emmons described the new borough policy as "a very good one."
It is a step-by-step blueprint of procedures for anyone wanting to challenge the selection and availability of library material, Emmons explained. "it is a good process, and almost all public libraries have one."
The borough's policy was revised mainly to replace the borough manager as the final decision maker with a formal Reconsideration Committee Mat-Su Borough Manager Don Moore said Saturday that changes were made, with the blessings, after a dispute that was resolved about two years ago involving a challenged book at the Big Lake Library.
Emmons said the current Wasilla policy, which she described as written in more general terms than the borough's, also worked procedurally in a book-challenge case last year. Emmons said then-council-woman Palin was distressed about the issue when it came up, indicating she was aware of the city's book-challenge policy.
Emmons said in the conversations with now-Mayor Palin in October, she reminded her again that the city has a policy in place. "But it seamed clear to me that wasn't really what she was talking about anyhow," Emmons added. "I just hope it doesn't come up again."
Meanwhile, Emmons said she is working with borough libraries boss Bruce Urban and Palmer Library Director Janice Sanford, in the hope of getting the cities to adopt a book-challenge policy identical to the borough's.
My additional information: Palin had constituents who wanted books banned. What if you were mayor of your town and had those constituents? Not cool to just tell them no. A mayor serves all the people. Palin asked questions and took her full position to do that, but that's all. She didn't DO anything. Just asked questions. And is that the story you got in newspapers, magazines, and TV news about this? No, but it should have been with an unbiased media...
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Too Far Gone and Just Silly
I just can't help it. Even though I may get skewered and sent to hell, I have to show this video. It makes me cover my mouth and pee my pants Every. Single. Time.
This was on Jimmy Kimmel, and I know children are supposed to be off limits, and rightly so, so my bad in advance. It's just that whoever thought it up deserves kudos for cleverness, cuz it's one in a million. And ya gotta admit, that was one of those embarrassing parental moments, similar to one I had when they taped Missy's kindergarten class singing at assembly in and she was seated in a dress, exposing the entire world to her underpants. In my defense, I do think it qualifies as okay under "Kids Do the Darnedest Things" and is actual network TV RNC convention footage:
I also LOL'd at the latest Jib Jab video:
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I spent all day yesterday fretting over Hurricane Ike and being in the middle of his Cone of Uncertainty (da da da duhhhhhhh). By about 2 this morning though, the Cone began moving far enough south to calm me down. Houston is not entirely out of the woods yet, but things are looking better and better. Fingers crossed...
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Okay, now to get serious:
Palin has some gubernatorial policy achievements she's been touting ad hominem, and she has been criticized ad hominem, and as usual the truth lies in the middle. I will attempt today to take on 2 of them, earmarks and the bridge to nowhere, and look for the middle truth.
1. Earmarks. This article is one I found that mentions all of the players and almost all of the circumstances. Keep in mind though that both Palin and Obama have decreased their earmark dollars over time. Since I heard Rick Davis explain that Palin is getting blamed for earmarks for Alaska that other Alaska officials ask for and get (true), and that once she got up to speed on things she began cutting the ones she could. Fine, I buy that, but I also think she should have said that better and more specifically from the get-go. And I don't think Obama can be criticized for basically doing the same thing. It looks like silly tit for tat if you know what really happened.
One earmark request that I would criticize Obama for, however, was his asking for $1 million in funds for the University of Chicago Hospital, Michelle's employer at the time, for a pavilion. Michelle Obama had also received a promotion to VP of Community Affairs and her yearly salary almost tripled from $121K to $317K, all soon after Obama won his Senate seat. Just last month, Senator Grassley (R-Ia) requested info to investigate them for skirting their non-profit status by shooing off needy patients, which just happens to be one of Michelle Obama's initiatives there.
But the bottom line on earmarks is, all of this back and forth keeps the biggest point on the back burner: in his entire 22 years in the U.S. Senate, McCain never asked for one earmark for Arizona that has been defined or considered pork barrel, and he has a high rating on that from the National Taxpayer Union, a harsh critic of pork barrel spending. In 22 years (source is in the same article I linked first + I looked up when he began his Senate career). And that's walking the walk on that.
2. Bridge to Nowhere. Again, I think Palin is not helping herself by not being more specific in her description of this achievement. It's basically another example of her having a lag time when first elected and then acting as she claims once she figures out the project is not fiscally sound. She's not clairvoyant. But she could have qualified the achievement more. I found this actual 2007 story on CNN as the story had unfolded. She was for it before she was against it, as a candidate for governor. Then the bridge project began attracting negative national attention for the $329 million funding to provide a town of 50 mainland access. And after assuming office, Palin discovered the earmark would only fund half the cost of the bridge, so she vetoed the project and redirected the funds toward highway repair.
One thing to note here that I think is important: the back and forth of this earmark in Congress required it to be voted on twice: once as an earmark for the bridge, and then once as a lesser amount of funds to be used at Alaska's discretion (which was what allowed Palin to re-direct them). I've now heard FNC and NPR's Juan Williams say twice (and even though I cannot find a quote, I do believe him)that Obama and Biden both voted for the bridge earmark and against a vote to redirect those dollars to Katrina victims, and this article confirms it but was really hard to find (no one writing about it?). That's ironic, eh?
Okay, I am exhausted now and cross-eyed. More tomorrow...
This was on Jimmy Kimmel, and I know children are supposed to be off limits, and rightly so, so my bad in advance. It's just that whoever thought it up deserves kudos for cleverness, cuz it's one in a million. And ya gotta admit, that was one of those embarrassing parental moments, similar to one I had when they taped Missy's kindergarten class singing at assembly in and she was seated in a dress, exposing the entire world to her underpants. In my defense, I do think it qualifies as okay under "Kids Do the Darnedest Things" and is actual network TV RNC convention footage:
I also LOL'd at the latest Jib Jab video:
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I spent all day yesterday fretting over Hurricane Ike and being in the middle of his Cone of Uncertainty (da da da duhhhhhhh). By about 2 this morning though, the Cone began moving far enough south to calm me down. Houston is not entirely out of the woods yet, but things are looking better and better. Fingers crossed...
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Okay, now to get serious:
Palin has some gubernatorial policy achievements she's been touting ad hominem, and she has been criticized ad hominem, and as usual the truth lies in the middle. I will attempt today to take on 2 of them, earmarks and the bridge to nowhere, and look for the middle truth.
1. Earmarks. This article is one I found that mentions all of the players and almost all of the circumstances. Keep in mind though that both Palin and Obama have decreased their earmark dollars over time. Since I heard Rick Davis explain that Palin is getting blamed for earmarks for Alaska that other Alaska officials ask for and get (true), and that once she got up to speed on things she began cutting the ones she could. Fine, I buy that, but I also think she should have said that better and more specifically from the get-go. And I don't think Obama can be criticized for basically doing the same thing. It looks like silly tit for tat if you know what really happened.
One earmark request that I would criticize Obama for, however, was his asking for $1 million in funds for the University of Chicago Hospital, Michelle's employer at the time, for a pavilion. Michelle Obama had also received a promotion to VP of Community Affairs and her yearly salary almost tripled from $121K to $317K, all soon after Obama won his Senate seat. Just last month, Senator Grassley (R-Ia) requested info to investigate them for skirting their non-profit status by shooing off needy patients, which just happens to be one of Michelle Obama's initiatives there.
But the bottom line on earmarks is, all of this back and forth keeps the biggest point on the back burner: in his entire 22 years in the U.S. Senate, McCain never asked for one earmark for Arizona that has been defined or considered pork barrel, and he has a high rating on that from the National Taxpayer Union, a harsh critic of pork barrel spending. In 22 years (source is in the same article I linked first + I looked up when he began his Senate career). And that's walking the walk on that.
2. Bridge to Nowhere. Again, I think Palin is not helping herself by not being more specific in her description of this achievement. It's basically another example of her having a lag time when first elected and then acting as she claims once she figures out the project is not fiscally sound. She's not clairvoyant. But she could have qualified the achievement more. I found this actual 2007 story on CNN as the story had unfolded. She was for it before she was against it, as a candidate for governor. Then the bridge project began attracting negative national attention for the $329 million funding to provide a town of 50 mainland access. And after assuming office, Palin discovered the earmark would only fund half the cost of the bridge, so she vetoed the project and redirected the funds toward highway repair.
One thing to note here that I think is important: the back and forth of this earmark in Congress required it to be voted on twice: once as an earmark for the bridge, and then once as a lesser amount of funds to be used at Alaska's discretion (which was what allowed Palin to re-direct them). I've now heard FNC and NPR's Juan Williams say twice (and even though I cannot find a quote, I do believe him)that Obama and Biden both voted for the bridge earmark and against a vote to redirect those dollars to Katrina victims, and this article confirms it but was really hard to find (no one writing about it?). That's ironic, eh?
Okay, I am exhausted now and cross-eyed. More tomorrow...
Monday, September 08, 2008
Whatever It Takes, But Will It Sell?
YESTERDAY'S NEWS:
McCain's Problems: decreased GOP voter registrations, low-to-no-tech campaign, RNC's delayed ground support.
The emails I received varied in their assessments of damage to McCain. A few people said it showed how out of touch McCain is, one person noted that maybe he just doesn't roll that way, and a few people said toss-up. I liked the idea I read that wouldn't it be cool if it ended not mattering a bit?
I have to agree, it would be one of those amazing footnotes to history, not unlike the 1948 election. Since I look at McCain / Palin and see many similarities to Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Truman, that dog might hunt and that shoe might fit. (Note: T.R. was an avid outdoorsman and Truman once sold shoes, LOL.)
What kind of odds would I bet on that happening? I have no freakin idea. Not high. We'll have to see. Lots of days left for stuff good and bad to happen. But I should also assert that these very factors could cause it to all go terribly wrong for McCain. And that kind of upsets me a bit, for all of us who want there to be a real fight for the office. Just sayin'...
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Saul Alinsky, an early 20th century Chicago activist who is considered the father of modern community organizing, taught hundreds as a mentor to apply aggressive psychological techniques and bold behavior to both the people he was trying to empower as citizens and the people and institutions he considered their enemies or opponents. He had one thing in common with Dr. Martin Luther King: the belief in bloodless revolution. Beyond that, the differences in methods are clear and important. If you click on his name (above), that will take you to Wikipedia's page about him, where you can read more about his methods (if you didn't avail yourself of the links I provided yesterday, particularly this one).
My problem with Alinsky as an Obama mentor is not as a model for grassroots local community "revolution" because I think Alinsky's methods are tailor-made and appropriately suited to that small population. The problem IMO is how Obama has applied Alinsky's principles to the largest population possible: this country. What works well for 30 or 300 doesn't often work for 300 million, dig? To me, the volatility is in the chaos that must be created. And I believe you see that bad application on Obama's part in the vilification of both Clintons and Ferraro to dispose of them (take them all out of the political equation), and then the exact same thing being done to Sarah Palin in the blogosphere, the media, and, at the risk of sounding redundant, members of the Dem Party.
Many Obama supporters are totally out of control but feel empowered to plow on, because they've been taught Alinsky's principles one way or another. They read about him in Obama's books, they saw his pastors actions, they see how they can take over the internet and brow-beat their debate opponents. I just want to know, where is the accountability for this and who takes responsibility when it all goes terribly wrong (as it has, more than once)? Who is the grown-up when all Obama will say is the actions are despicable and his campaign staff will be fired if they participate, conveniently leaving out the vast number of perpetrators? And for why? He waaaa waaaa cannot control them? Oh. Well, just prove my point. I think here is where I say, see French Revolution. See Russian Revolution. The power of the mob without accountability is one of the main things our forefathers sought to avoid and one of the big reasons we are a democratic, representative republic instead of a flat-out democracy.
You may be thinking, what's the harm? Where are the dead bodies and burning buildings? Nowhere. There are none. The only casualties have been journalistic truth and perspective, something the forefathers also considered so sacred they gave it a special rightful place as arbiter, but also with a requirement to keep their integrity.
I lack 7 hours of having a bachelors degree in journalism, before changing majors and earning a bachelors in accounting 30 years ago. I once practiced it very seriously and felt its power and impact on a local level. I have always taken journalism very seriously. So, I see the difference now, the loss of total integrity and objectivity, believe me. The Bush Administration had them cowed. This is not a correction. It's a sell out. Actually, it has bore the hole where I put my negative feelings about Obama. IOW, if the media would do their jobs, I might very well have many more positive feelings about the candidate. So, it is not that I just "see" or "read" things into the media's work. Well, I do see one thing: the Emperor's New Clothes.
So, when I see Obama practicing Alinsky on a dangerously too large population of people, excuse me for not just concluding as Alinsky does, whatever it takes, do not worry, feel guilty or hold back, just do. I see horrible bad judgment with no responsibility for accountability.
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Obama Flip-Flop Watch:
Obama considered joining military, regrets abortion answer
BONUS QUESTION:
Joe Biden came out swinging today at the McCain campaign for "sequestering" Palin. It seems she hasn't yet interviewed with that lovable old media that trashed her, her family, and also several of her decent coworkers and friends in Alaska. Just today I read on a blog about the latest blogosphere rumor to be proven false. So, it has not stopped, just maybe toned down somewhat and maybe even gone underground for microscopic analysis of every little pimple and wart.
It was announced today at about the same time that Palin would give her first interview one on one to Charlie Gibson at ABC on Thursday...9/11.
So, do you feel she was justified in not immediately making herself available to the media, because of the smearing?
McCain's Problems: decreased GOP voter registrations, low-to-no-tech campaign, RNC's delayed ground support.
The emails I received varied in their assessments of damage to McCain. A few people said it showed how out of touch McCain is, one person noted that maybe he just doesn't roll that way, and a few people said toss-up. I liked the idea I read that wouldn't it be cool if it ended not mattering a bit?
I have to agree, it would be one of those amazing footnotes to history, not unlike the 1948 election. Since I look at McCain / Palin and see many similarities to Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Truman, that dog might hunt and that shoe might fit. (Note: T.R. was an avid outdoorsman and Truman once sold shoes, LOL.)
What kind of odds would I bet on that happening? I have no freakin idea. Not high. We'll have to see. Lots of days left for stuff good and bad to happen. But I should also assert that these very factors could cause it to all go terribly wrong for McCain. And that kind of upsets me a bit, for all of us who want there to be a real fight for the office. Just sayin'...
*********************
Saul Alinsky, an early 20th century Chicago activist who is considered the father of modern community organizing, taught hundreds as a mentor to apply aggressive psychological techniques and bold behavior to both the people he was trying to empower as citizens and the people and institutions he considered their enemies or opponents. He had one thing in common with Dr. Martin Luther King: the belief in bloodless revolution. Beyond that, the differences in methods are clear and important. If you click on his name (above), that will take you to Wikipedia's page about him, where you can read more about his methods (if you didn't avail yourself of the links I provided yesterday, particularly this one).
My problem with Alinsky as an Obama mentor is not as a model for grassroots local community "revolution" because I think Alinsky's methods are tailor-made and appropriately suited to that small population. The problem IMO is how Obama has applied Alinsky's principles to the largest population possible: this country. What works well for 30 or 300 doesn't often work for 300 million, dig? To me, the volatility is in the chaos that must be created. And I believe you see that bad application on Obama's part in the vilification of both Clintons and Ferraro to dispose of them (take them all out of the political equation), and then the exact same thing being done to Sarah Palin in the blogosphere, the media, and, at the risk of sounding redundant, members of the Dem Party.
Many Obama supporters are totally out of control but feel empowered to plow on, because they've been taught Alinsky's principles one way or another. They read about him in Obama's books, they saw his pastors actions, they see how they can take over the internet and brow-beat their debate opponents. I just want to know, where is the accountability for this and who takes responsibility when it all goes terribly wrong (as it has, more than once)? Who is the grown-up when all Obama will say is the actions are despicable and his campaign staff will be fired if they participate, conveniently leaving out the vast number of perpetrators? And for why? He waaaa waaaa cannot control them? Oh. Well, just prove my point. I think here is where I say, see French Revolution. See Russian Revolution. The power of the mob without accountability is one of the main things our forefathers sought to avoid and one of the big reasons we are a democratic, representative republic instead of a flat-out democracy.
You may be thinking, what's the harm? Where are the dead bodies and burning buildings? Nowhere. There are none. The only casualties have been journalistic truth and perspective, something the forefathers also considered so sacred they gave it a special rightful place as arbiter, but also with a requirement to keep their integrity.
I lack 7 hours of having a bachelors degree in journalism, before changing majors and earning a bachelors in accounting 30 years ago. I once practiced it very seriously and felt its power and impact on a local level. I have always taken journalism very seriously. So, I see the difference now, the loss of total integrity and objectivity, believe me. The Bush Administration had them cowed. This is not a correction. It's a sell out. Actually, it has bore the hole where I put my negative feelings about Obama. IOW, if the media would do their jobs, I might very well have many more positive feelings about the candidate. So, it is not that I just "see" or "read" things into the media's work. Well, I do see one thing: the Emperor's New Clothes.
So, when I see Obama practicing Alinsky on a dangerously too large population of people, excuse me for not just concluding as Alinsky does, whatever it takes, do not worry, feel guilty or hold back, just do. I see horrible bad judgment with no responsibility for accountability.
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Obama Flip-Flop Watch:
Obama considered joining military, regrets abortion answer
Sun Sep 7, 10:00 AM ET...QUESTION OF THE DAY: Are Obama's flip flops just clarification of honest viewpoint, or innocent pandering to connect to McCain supporters, or calculated spin to dupe them? Is it acceptable to you or unacceptable? Is it effective?
Barack Obama says his answer about abortion at the Saddleback Church forum was “probably” too flip.
During separate televised interviews last month, Pastor Rick Warren asked the two presidential candidates when a baby gets human rights. Obama replied that the question is “above my pay grade,” while John McCain won love from the right by saying quickly, “At the moment of conception.”
Now, Obama tells ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an interview taped for “This Week”: “What I intended to say is that, as a Christian, I have a lot of humility about understanding when does the soul enter into … It's a pretty tough question. And so, all I meant to communicate was that I don't presume to be able to answer these kinds of theological questions.”
In the ABC interview, Obama goes on to give the answer he wishes he’d given: “What I do know is that abortion is a moral issue, that it's one that families struggle with all the time. And that in wrestling with those issues, I don't think that the government criminalizing the choices that families make is the best answer for reducing abortions.
“I think the better answer — and this was reflected in the Democratic platform — is to figure out, how do we make sure the young mothers, or women who have a pregnancy that's unexpected or difficult, have the kind of support they need to make a whole range of choices, including adoption and keeping the child.
In an electric interview, Obama suggested again and again that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain’s running mate, is unprepared for the job. At one point, he mocked her camp’s suggestion that Alaska’s proximity to Russia gives her foreign-policy credentials: “Well, look. You know, I actually knew that Russia was next to Alaska, as well. I saw it on a map.”
“It's not a qualification?” Stephanopoulos press.
“I don't think it is,” Obama replied.
But Obama’s team recognizes that picking a fight over experience isn’t necessarily in Obama’s interest, and he acknowledged as much in the interview: “You know, this whole résumé contest that's been going back and forth is not what the American people are looking for.”
Obama also accused the McCain campaign of cynicism by frequently attacking him and then denying it: “I mean, these guys love to throw a rock and hide their hand.”
However, Obama said he did not agree with the commentators who saw “racial code” in the Republicans’ mocking reference to his early work as a “community organizer” during their convention.
“You know, I didn't hear that,” Obama told Stephanopoulos. “I mean, I just think that there is a — for folks who suddenly have tried to grab the change banner, you know, they've got a very traditional view of what service means.
“You know, it means, running for office and being a politician, I guess. Or serving in the military. I mean, those are the two options that I think they've talked about. I think there are a whole lot of people — young people, in particular — who are teaching in underserved schools or working in a hospital in need, you know, volunteering for their community, that think that's part of the change that we need. That's part of the energy that we've been able to mobilize in this campaign.”
Obama disclosed that he had once considered serving in the military.
“You know, I actually did,” Obama said. “I had to sign up for Selective Service when I graduated from high school. And I was growing up in Hawaii. And I have friends whose parents were in the military. There are a lot of Army, military bases there.
“And I actually always thought of the military as an ennobling and, you know, honorable option. But keep in mind that I graduated in 1979. The Vietnam War had come to an end. We weren't engaged in an active military conflict at that point. And so, it's not an option that I ever decided to pursue.”
BONUS QUESTION:
Joe Biden came out swinging today at the McCain campaign for "sequestering" Palin. It seems she hasn't yet interviewed with that lovable old media that trashed her, her family, and also several of her decent coworkers and friends in Alaska. Just today I read on a blog about the latest blogosphere rumor to be proven false. So, it has not stopped, just maybe toned down somewhat and maybe even gone underground for microscopic analysis of every little pimple and wart.
It was announced today at about the same time that Palin would give her first interview one on one to Charlie Gibson at ABC on Thursday...9/11.
So, do you feel she was justified in not immediately making herself available to the media, because of the smearing?
Sunday, September 07, 2008
The Socratic Method of Choice
They say that in order to really understand a concept or idea, you have to know it so well that you can argue for it as well as against it. I think I am going to do that as pertains to my presidential ticket choice at present: McCain / Palin. I want to make sure one more time that I have made the right choice for me.
And I don't rule out changing my mind because of what I discover. The goal is not to save face. The goal is to vote the best choice.
And I'd love to have company, so please feel free to chime in and give your take. The best way to learn is from many sources. And, on a personal note, some of my views may still be evolving. I won't go so far as to say that I wake up every day thinking differently about this or that, but I've come close a time or two.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Let's start with a probe into McCain. I heard various things on various cable channels this weekend that gave me pause.
unemployment was 6.1% in August, the highest % since 2003, which was when we were pulling out of the recession of 2002. Now, this number is not that bigadeal when you realize that it went up 2% in 5 years, but it sounds bad as a sound bite. The other thing about it is that it went down for the 3rd straight month, aligning with other recent economic good news.
Then, I realized that I had seen and heard things that together make me pretty suspicious that the RNC is just now gearing up for the campaign. In a story about McCain receiving his $85mil from public financing and the balance from the RNC to total $200mil, there was also comments that made me think they are just gearing up their "high tech" voter track system used in the last 2 elections, and they may have already written off all those registrations that changed over to Dems for the primaries. The cumulative effect of this made me blurt out to myself, There's no frickin way McCain can win!"
I was struck wondering how well the high-tech system stacks up this election against Obama's CIA of cyber-intelligence. I mean, please tell me if I'm over the top here, but I signed up for email at McCain's website 2-3 weeks ago and have not gotten more than a Welcome reply, and that took almost a week. By contrast, I'm on Obama's mailig list just for grins and I usually get at least one email from them daily, if not more. If I were an Obama chattering-class blog and message board activist, I'd be getting the email equivalent of talking points to spread. And McCain is not even participating.
Add to all this that I think I heard that Dems have increased their registered voters by 2 million, whereas the GOP has lost 660,000? This is the effect of the primaries again. What, if any, does all this mean?
And yet, Gallop just announced today's poll with McCain 48 and Obama 45. And Gallop and Rasmussen both said yesterday that the full week of the GOP convention would not be reflected in the poll numbers until Monday-Wednesday as far as the full convention bounce and VP pick. Interesting...
Anyway, some things to think about. I also wanted to pass on some great links to learn more about Obama and his background in community organizing with the Saul Alinsky method. I believe we have already seen proof of his campaign's use of it, and it would really be instructive to know about this very important aspect of his approach to governing and citizen participation. I'll discuss what I think of it next time:
THE AGITATOR: OBAMA'S POLITICAL EDUCATION
BARACK OBAMA: COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
OBAMA'S ALINSKY JUJITSU:
COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS FIGHT BACK
************
Baby Name Trivia: ...seen on the internet, the McCain / Palin ticket has birthed a new gender-neutral name: McCailin. Place your bets on this being the "hot" name in 2008 or 2009, for a girl OR a boy...
And I don't rule out changing my mind because of what I discover. The goal is not to save face. The goal is to vote the best choice.
And I'd love to have company, so please feel free to chime in and give your take. The best way to learn is from many sources. And, on a personal note, some of my views may still be evolving. I won't go so far as to say that I wake up every day thinking differently about this or that, but I've come close a time or two.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Let's start with a probe into McCain. I heard various things on various cable channels this weekend that gave me pause.
unemployment was 6.1% in August, the highest % since 2003, which was when we were pulling out of the recession of 2002. Now, this number is not that bigadeal when you realize that it went up 2% in 5 years, but it sounds bad as a sound bite. The other thing about it is that it went down for the 3rd straight month, aligning with other recent economic good news.
Then, I realized that I had seen and heard things that together make me pretty suspicious that the RNC is just now gearing up for the campaign. In a story about McCain receiving his $85mil from public financing and the balance from the RNC to total $200mil, there was also comments that made me think they are just gearing up their "high tech" voter track system used in the last 2 elections, and they may have already written off all those registrations that changed over to Dems for the primaries. The cumulative effect of this made me blurt out to myself, There's no frickin way McCain can win!"
I was struck wondering how well the high-tech system stacks up this election against Obama's CIA of cyber-intelligence. I mean, please tell me if I'm over the top here, but I signed up for email at McCain's website 2-3 weeks ago and have not gotten more than a Welcome reply, and that took almost a week. By contrast, I'm on Obama's mailig list just for grins and I usually get at least one email from them daily, if not more. If I were an Obama chattering-class blog and message board activist, I'd be getting the email equivalent of talking points to spread. And McCain is not even participating.
Add to all this that I think I heard that Dems have increased their registered voters by 2 million, whereas the GOP has lost 660,000? This is the effect of the primaries again. What, if any, does all this mean?
And yet, Gallop just announced today's poll with McCain 48 and Obama 45. And Gallop and Rasmussen both said yesterday that the full week of the GOP convention would not be reflected in the poll numbers until Monday-Wednesday as far as the full convention bounce and VP pick. Interesting...
Anyway, some things to think about. I also wanted to pass on some great links to learn more about Obama and his background in community organizing with the Saul Alinsky method. I believe we have already seen proof of his campaign's use of it, and it would really be instructive to know about this very important aspect of his approach to governing and citizen participation. I'll discuss what I think of it next time:
THE AGITATOR: OBAMA'S POLITICAL EDUCATION
BARACK OBAMA: COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
OBAMA'S ALINSKY JUJITSU:
COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS FIGHT BACK
************
Baby Name Trivia: ...seen on the internet, the McCain / Palin ticket has birthed a new gender-neutral name: McCailin. Place your bets on this being the "hot" name in 2008 or 2009, for a girl OR a boy...
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Political Potporri
Before I get into my hodge-podge of links and newsworthy items, I want to send a well-wishing shout-out to 2Paws Sarah who is experiencing Tropical Storm Hanna as I write this. She was just leaving me a comment the other day wishing me well during Gustav, and I remember thinking, she's in the middle of NC. How nice of her to think of me when hurricanes aren't a part of her life... Dang, hope I didn't cause the Hanna karma to find her... You might laugh, but after awhile a hurricaneer sometimes wonder why oh why, do I have a hurri-magnet on my butt or something? LOL
Anyway, Sarah, stay safe and dry! (She just re-did her bathroom floors this summer, too...).
And lookie what might be headed toward me next week? I don't like Ike!
Okay, on with the Potporri!
Saw this advertised on Greta Van Sustern tonight, and I'll be watching. I like Greta a lot. She is about the fairest commentator out there, and always takes great pains to appear neutral politically. Probably worth watching, on her recommendation...
Don't know about you but I can only take so much of this partisanship. I'm a judicious type by nature, always gotta weigh pro and cons, both sides. So, I think in a couple of days I will start something like a double-sider on the issues or the candidates. Doing that helps me stay grounded, like a reality check if one of those ever exist in politics...
Most of the internet posts and comments I read about the election are partisan, but sometimes there will be people post who say, "What Palin attack? I don't see it, can you provide links?"
This usually sends me into fits of laughter, but geebus, what a great idea that would be to have a website where they are all listed and linked? Anybody know of one or wanna start one? Huge job, too huge for me to produce, but I can provide help. Email me or leave a comment if you are interested. I mean, hell, Obama has an entire website devoted to fringe emails about him being Muslim. I think it might help us remember it all. And, I'm still waiting to receive my deluge of Obama email. Seriously, I'd love to know what the heck he's talking about?
See how that can go both ways? I'm just sayin....winkwink
Anyway, I can't decide whether to really believe that kind of question if it is indeed being asked sincerely. I guess someone who is watching Turner Classic Movies 24/7 would miss it. Or if they watch network news.
But it can, as I showed, easily be a tactic to cause chaos and upset. One of the boards I was on the other day had a group of Obama supporters in an obvious concerted effort to start as many threads as they could with Palin rumors. And after awhile, we McCain supporters were worn out trying to defend and correct the record, and one big reason I quit once I realized what was being done.
Those of you who do not know the name Saul Alinsky and his effect on Obama need to read this excellent 2007 article. When I look at what the Obama supporters teach each other to do (and his campaign can deny this all they want, but I'm sure the talking points are distributed by them albeit covertly), it always makes me think that Alinsky would be proud. Alinsky is the unofficial father of community organizers, among other more radical ideas. Anyone wanting to look objectively at Obama better make a long stop at Alinsky. The article I provided is a great start.
I kind of want to buy into some odds on whether Keith Olbermann can make it until Election Day without totally imploding or exploding. Let's think back to when MSNBC Prez Phil Griffin rationalized that they maintained objectivity using Matthews and Olbermann as anchors during primetime election coverage. The boys are supposed to be subdued and non-snarky. Right. Anyway, Keith finally blew that beyond all recognition on Thursday night. See the story here, complete with video.
This interesting piece of info from the article: Keith blogs on Daily Kos and read the comments in order to gain perspective.
WHAT?
I kid you not, my friends. (HA! I've actually begun using that phrase at times!) This arbiter of journalistic-objectivity-my-ass gains perspective from Daily Kos. Oh, never mind. He and they are both beyond any sane comprehension. Still, people should know he's a loon. A frickin loon.
Now, I used to love Olbermann before that political switch clicked in my head. I seriously did. I used to watch MSNBC 24/7 and abhor Fox. It's now the exact opposite. I really do think that partisans see the same issue or candidate through completely different lenses. And I have been, in one year, at both ends of the spectrum, lol. No wonder I've been having headaches, lol.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Gustav, Palin...and Missy's 5-Hour Ride
I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend. Missy did get home. It took her 5 hours to drive a 70-mile stretch of Interstate 10! One of the things that make people down here get upset about having to evacuate is the fear that the traffic will be like when Rita hit. And, I'd say poor Missy got a deja vu. She was livid, but what can you do? It's a stretch of straight road with cross roads that lead only to small hamlets and no real alternative routes, so she was stuck. Me, I'd have had to tinkle after the first hour...sigh.
****************
Well, Gustav ended up sparing us, although up until the very end after landfall, he was tracked to turn west and hug our coast. So, I almost wasn't believing it when he went north instead of west. I do not believe we even got one drop of rain. I'm grateful, but I still feel one of those storms has our number this season...
I have been trying to keep the good folks on the Florida, Georgia and Carolina coasts in my prayers. The one-two-and-maybe-three punch of this current string of storms in the Atlantic is just ridiculous-scary. Hope it's the only pattern of its kind, evah! Stay strong safe and tough, East coasters!
****************
Well, let us get to the real hurricane in front of us, shall we? LOL
No, I don't assert that the Palin women are storms, but they sure are causing one, or two, or three of them!
The chat out there in message board political threads and blogs is contentious. The Palin pick has brought out a lot of debate. Now, being someone who wanted to experience this and see for myself if it was hype or real, I immersed myself into 2 communities. I have been having problems with stiffness in my fingers and the doc told me to exercise them. Plus, I had the political urge. I had the urge to spread my (poly) ticks, as Yellow Dog Dems down South say. I can now say I've BTDT. Enough for me, at least in that high concentration. I've never seen anything like it in my lifetime, seriously.
I do believe that the Obama campers have the internet covered and the McCain campers are just too outnumbered online to give their oppo a real fight. (Voters who hang on message boards and blogs, though, are still in the clear minority of total voters, so that means nothing in the way of predicting an election outcome.) And, if the number of emails and private messages that were sent to me was any indication, a lot of women just do not want to enter the cyber fray but hold positions just as dear and passionate as the posted ones. I cannot tell you how often I was privately thanked for voicing others' opinions. No, doesn't make me right. I simply appreciate validation and connection, that's all, as well as being reminded that the hyena in front of my face is not as huge as it appears, LOL.
I think it's a great thing to say for our country that I never ran into even a hint of racism, although there were posters who, were they any quicker on the race-baiting trigger, they'd be in jail for discharging a firearm. Someone used the word "uppity" to describe the look Obama makes sometimes, and Lord, never mind that that's been a term to define "stuck up, conceited, self-absorbed" for my entire life. It was "did you mean to say .....", and you can finish the sentence on your own. Of course, it was sometimes a test for me to stifle my snarkiness, as with that example, I was dying to reply, "Wait, wouldn't that be "uppity wegro, he is half-white, ya know." LOL No, I saved that for here. Yeah. That kinda thing.
And I will say this: I never thought I'd ever see this or come to believe it, because as a lifelong Episcopalian I am used to tolerance and inclusiveness to the very point of nausea, but of all the poli-posters who waved their religiosity in front of my face, the most unkind one was Unitarian for goodness sakes. I would have at least guessed a religious denomination less connected with liberalism, but shows what I know.
Actually, I think it shows what we might need to know as concerns this election. I am going to assume that you, dear reader, knows by now that many of the Obama-supporting women out there are back-peddling on women's rights now. I'm gonna say right up front that I don't believe them for one second and that it's a pretty sad day when you have to abandon all that you believe to in order to make points for your candidate. (I'm talking about all the Dem women and some GOP women too who post that Palin shouldn't be running because of her kids, and all she has on her plate, etc).
I find that argument insulting, frankly. Not from the conservative women who truly feel that no matter what their candidate espouses, but the idea that it's ok to so hypocritically flip-flop as an argument against Palin by the Obama supporters. I will assert that this is just further proof that Obama has no real empathy or support for "women's issues". *He* (meaning his supporters and the media, who is in his tank) has already shown this in trashing Hillary, in trashing his 'typical white' grandmother and now in this. And it also shows me my opinion of the ruthlessness in some GenX women is very real. The Obama Boomer women have surprised me, though.
It shows me that you only get support as a woman from the Left if you support the politically correct candidate / platform. Wow. At least Gloria Steinem opposes Palin for her political views and for Steinem's opinion that she lacks experience, and has enough of a conscience to chastise those who are using sexist arguments about her family. At least someone worries about their legacy and record as well as obvious logic, lol.
As for Sally Quinn, what can I say? That woman has been a DC political whore for 30years, so her pitiful little WaPo essay is no surprise. (Click on the whore link for a great read in Salon that dishes the real dirt on Sally. Then tell me this women wouldn't sell herself to get Obama elected.) And, Earth to Sally: when her hubby is WaPo publisher Ben Bradlee, that kinda explains why you get to have published essays at all.
My low opinion of Quinn didn't stop me from emailing her, though, lol. Here's what I wrote her:
Ms. Quinn, I am a 52-y.o. married white woman with a daughter in college. I have voted Dem all my adult life, the first time in 1976. I was tutored in old-school feminism and abortion became legal the year before I became sexually active. My parents were equal partners in their marriage and still are, as I am in my 21-y.o. marriage. I am also a lifelong Episcopalian and have never been born again or fundamental about anything. I say all of that as background for my opinion of your essay about Palin, which is, as I was reading your arguments against her, it suddenly occurred to me I was reading a logic eerily similar to the arguments given my mother in 1959, when she unsuccessfully applied for a teaching position that she was well-qualified for, but it was before I was old enough for 1st grade (there was no daycare back in that day and the official line on working women with young children was almost identical to what Palin is getting thrown at her now, as I am sure you well remember since you are now elderly). By the way, the arguments my mother was given for refusing to hire her back then are illegal for an employer to espouse today.
I am filled with nausea that you are so, so filled with partisan hunger that you cannot see what glares at me. Your stance reminds me of the old withered feminist spinster, who is offered many proposals and career opportunities, but who turns them all down because none are perfect or pure enough in motive.
Out of Biden's lips today (in reference to Palin's red-meat criticism of Obama in her convention speech):
"What do you talk about when you have 8 years of failure? You talk about the other guy!"Well, Joe, which ticket are you talking about, really? Think about it, hehe.
Yeah. There is sooo much I could point out, but make no mistake. One has only to read about how ruthless Obama was in his Chicago and Illinois election contests to know how ruthless he is now. He thinks nothing, nothing of creating chaos in our cobbled-together culture for the sake of his ascendency. We now have generational, racial and sexist divides so deep I think it might have set us back years. And that was all before he declared in June he had enough delegates. If you wonder what got into McCain, believe me, he didn't want to have to fight fire with fire, but nobody else has against Obama, and McCain, being the fighter and profile in courage that he really truly is, is not about to step back from this.
More tomorrow. I'll be regular from now on because there is just too much to write about and better to do it here than on a freakin message board! Stay tuned....
Saturday, August 30, 2008
I Like Her!
My brain is really too fragmented right now and has been all day. Having spent yesterday digesting info on Palin, I spent the better part of today digesting commentary and reaction to McCain's new running mate, as well as keep a running command central infodesk concerning Missy and her continually-changing hurricane plans.
Let me just dispense with Missy's story. She is off at school about 70 miles away, at Lamar University in Beaumont, on Interstate 10 at the Tex-La border. For the last two days, we've been getting the connect-ed automated phone calls detailing any changes made on account of the storm. First, they cancelled classes thru Tuesday for a tentative Wednesday re-opening. Then as Gustav crossed Cuba and the Cone of Uncertainty shifted east, a county-wide mandatory evac was ordered as of 6pm today. Meanwhile, Missy is working a double shift at her restaurant job, and the owner is shuffling his feet about deciding to close. Finally he decides to close thru Tuesday too, and Missy is allowed to leave and make her own plans. But she crosses over I-10 on her drive back to her dorm and it's super-clogged. So now she is waiting til tonight when it hopefully will have finally tapered off. She only has about an hour drive to get home to us, but during Rita an hour drive turned into 10 hours, and she would rather stay put given that chance. I don't blame her, so we are watching and waiting. She'll get here, we just don't know when yet.
Now for the fun:
Just some thought fragments of my reaction to McCain choosing Palin, which was very positive initially, then grew once I began reading more about her. She's not unblemished and not perfect, but to me her positives outweigh her negatives.
You or someone else might ask, how does a pro-choice Democrat embrace Sarah Palin? The entire crux of why and how for me is that as I got older I recognized that culturally, abortion has become a legal taboo compared to my heyday feminist years (yes, it really has), and then I realized that the only solution to this is compromise.
So, comprising on the Supreme Court declaring the federal guarantee of right to abortion in the matter of Roe v Wade is the worst that can happen, right?
So I think about it, definitely not for me, but for my daughter, should she ever want that choice. A conservative majority declaring Roe unconstitutional kicks the legality of abortion back to the states. Period. And I think it's safe to say that NY and CA will be tripping over each other to enact legalization laws if that were to happen. And, hey, it's now a plane trip away. So, to me, the compromise is just that. Worst case scenario.
Poof! Not that big a deal to me. And this is after polling Missy and her friends. Newsflash: the Millienial Gen is conflicted over it and is not ga-ga passionate about it like feminists of my generation were.
Here's the other thing. I've already posted about how dear fiscal conservatism is to me. So, this really explains my embrace. If I have learned anything from being a voter for 34 years and this one will make 9 presidential elections I've voted in, it's this: you have to learn to vote in compromise, and sometimes vote against as much as vote for. You have to vote no matter how much your choices might disgust you. And you have to realize you are voting for 4 years, not forever. What is needed now that can realistically be done in that time frame and who can deliver it best?
So, cultural issue difference pale in comparison to me right now. We are on the verge of economic disaster unless we reign in spending. Game over. For me, anyway.
I think that represents one interpretation of "politics makes strange bed fellows."
More later. Missy's on her way...
Friday, August 29, 2008
Hell Hath No Fury
...like former presidents scorned. But that fury can be placed impeccably or very badly.
Take Jimmy Carter. His latest attack was on McCain, saying he is "milking" his POW experience, most notably at Rick Warren's Saddleback Debate. Just for the record, that was the first time McCain had gone into that much detail about it during this campaign...or ever, really, according to many pundits. So, "milking" must take place at the very first "udderance"? (oh, huge GROAN, but I couldn't help it). ROFL
Take Bill Clinton. The day of Hillary's speech at the DNC this week, while speaking at a conference of one of his foundations, he "riffed" (as ABC's Jake Tapper described it): "For example, you're a voter, and you have Candidate X and Candidate Y. Candidate X agrees with you on everything. But you don't think that person can deliver on anything. Candidate Y disagrees with you on half the issues, but you believe that, on the other half, the candidate will be able to deliver. For whom will you vote?"
Ohhhhhh, Bull's Eye. Now, THAT's a well-placed cutdown. I should note that McCain's campaign soon issued a statement stating they felt McCain was surely Candidate Y in that example. Hehe. Obama's camp couldn't say anything because the timing for the insult was brilliant -- neither Clinton had spoken yet at the convention, and there was already scuttlebutt about Bill being pissed at being told to speak on national security when he wanted to speak on economic matters, the hallmark of his presidency.
Bottom line: I can't deny it...Bill's "example" pretty much describes my take on the two candidates, so I can only assume that it connected with at least a few million other voters. Well-placed, Mr. President. Yup, back during the primary when Michelle Obama was stumping in South Carolina and kept insinuating in her speeches that Hillary couldn't handle the White House because look how she handled her own house (wink wink). This is what the insiders on the HRC campaign say egged Bill on to give his infamous comment that Jesse Jackson won SC too and then was labelled a racist for it, and curiously, Michelle never mentioned that publicly again.
Shouldn't have gone there, Michelle, tsk, tsk. Paybacks will just keep coming, I promise. Hell hath no fury like a former president scorned. Gotta love it, ya know? (Oh, and the other thing I hear from the old campaign gang is that Bill really truly only meant that sure, Obama can win SC by a landslide, but SC is a red state in the general due to a humongo amount of whites who are Republican, so an Obama primary victory means squat in the end. That's not racist, that's statistics, but the politics of smearing took over.)
McCain's VP Pick Today ...
Well, onto a different topic. I'm gonna say right off that my first druthers on this was Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindahl. I love this guy! He's earnest, level-headed, young yet experienced, and he can talk a mile a minute and not let anyone else get a word in (good for debating and tv sound bites). However, he has said he's taken himself out of the running, so we are left with Romney and assorted others on the short list.
Given that, my strategic choice was Romney and my reason is a bit stereotypical, but hey, it's allowed in politics. I know from lurking on the 2peas boards and then blog-hopping that a huge amount of Mormons have moved to the Southwest states surrounding Utah...they are branching out to Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, states up for grabs right now. And Romney's a Mormon. Now, I'm not saying that Mormons would do what blacks have done with Obama and older white women with Hillary (aka blind allegiance), but WHY WOULDN'T THEY (and more power to them). In a word, Romney brings his people with him. This could be strategically brilliant, because this year, the religion vote is not automatically in the GOP tank.
But Fox just reported, it's not Romney. SO, the suspense heightens!
The outside choice was, for a while, Minnesota's Pawlenty, whom I am sure is a very fine man but there is just something about him, I'm sorry. Just my shallow impression. I've watched him speak several times, and he has seemed either angry or boring (although, not at the same time, LOL), and is kind of slow...a thinker perhaps, but not an asset in a Biden debate. Plus, it is doubtful he could deliver MN to McCain.
Pawlenty took himself out this morning, though, and I breathed a sigh of relief. We need a snazzier pick.
Then there is Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (pronounced with a long A). Hmm, will McCain bet the farm on the women vote?
And, does picking her deliver it? I don't know her at all, but she's pretty sexy looking, especially when you discover she just gave birth to kid #5. Dang, she can fry it up in a pan, fo sho. If I were an embittered Hillary Dem and on the fence, would this make me jump off on the Red side? I honestly cannot answer, but I know one thing: it's not gonna turn me off and there would be points for McCain that at least HE chose a female running mate...
We will find out later today, so I'll just leave it there. But here is my little observation: if McCain goes with Palin (McCain/ Palin...sounds good), that means the numbers are clearly showing that we Hill-Raisers are crucial, and Obama blew it with us, and it might just mean the election. Man, I would just love that if it turned out to be true. We shall see...
Take Jimmy Carter. His latest attack was on McCain, saying he is "milking" his POW experience, most notably at Rick Warren's Saddleback Debate. Just for the record, that was the first time McCain had gone into that much detail about it during this campaign...or ever, really, according to many pundits. So, "milking" must take place at the very first "udderance"? (oh, huge GROAN, but I couldn't help it). ROFL
Take Bill Clinton. The day of Hillary's speech at the DNC this week, while speaking at a conference of one of his foundations, he "riffed" (as ABC's Jake Tapper described it): "For example, you're a voter, and you have Candidate X and Candidate Y. Candidate X agrees with you on everything. But you don't think that person can deliver on anything. Candidate Y disagrees with you on half the issues, but you believe that, on the other half, the candidate will be able to deliver. For whom will you vote?"
Ohhhhhh, Bull's Eye. Now, THAT's a well-placed cutdown. I should note that McCain's campaign soon issued a statement stating they felt McCain was surely Candidate Y in that example. Hehe. Obama's camp couldn't say anything because the timing for the insult was brilliant -- neither Clinton had spoken yet at the convention, and there was already scuttlebutt about Bill being pissed at being told to speak on national security when he wanted to speak on economic matters, the hallmark of his presidency.
Bottom line: I can't deny it...Bill's "example" pretty much describes my take on the two candidates, so I can only assume that it connected with at least a few million other voters. Well-placed, Mr. President. Yup, back during the primary when Michelle Obama was stumping in South Carolina and kept insinuating in her speeches that Hillary couldn't handle the White House because look how she handled her own house (wink wink). This is what the insiders on the HRC campaign say egged Bill on to give his infamous comment that Jesse Jackson won SC too and then was labelled a racist for it, and curiously, Michelle never mentioned that publicly again.
Shouldn't have gone there, Michelle, tsk, tsk. Paybacks will just keep coming, I promise. Hell hath no fury like a former president scorned. Gotta love it, ya know? (Oh, and the other thing I hear from the old campaign gang is that Bill really truly only meant that sure, Obama can win SC by a landslide, but SC is a red state in the general due to a humongo amount of whites who are Republican, so an Obama primary victory means squat in the end. That's not racist, that's statistics, but the politics of smearing took over.)
McCain's VP Pick Today ...
Well, onto a different topic. I'm gonna say right off that my first druthers on this was Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindahl. I love this guy! He's earnest, level-headed, young yet experienced, and he can talk a mile a minute and not let anyone else get a word in (good for debating and tv sound bites). However, he has said he's taken himself out of the running, so we are left with Romney and assorted others on the short list.
Given that, my strategic choice was Romney and my reason is a bit stereotypical, but hey, it's allowed in politics. I know from lurking on the 2peas boards and then blog-hopping that a huge amount of Mormons have moved to the Southwest states surrounding Utah...they are branching out to Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, states up for grabs right now. And Romney's a Mormon. Now, I'm not saying that Mormons would do what blacks have done with Obama and older white women with Hillary (aka blind allegiance), but WHY WOULDN'T THEY (and more power to them). In a word, Romney brings his people with him. This could be strategically brilliant, because this year, the religion vote is not automatically in the GOP tank.But Fox just reported, it's not Romney. SO, the suspense heightens!
The outside choice was, for a while, Minnesota's Pawlenty, whom I am sure is a very fine man but there is just something about him, I'm sorry. Just my shallow impression. I've watched him speak several times, and he has seemed either angry or boring (although, not at the same time, LOL), and is kind of slow...a thinker perhaps, but not an asset in a Biden debate. Plus, it is doubtful he could deliver MN to McCain.Pawlenty took himself out this morning, though, and I breathed a sigh of relief. We need a snazzier pick.
Then there is Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (pronounced with a long A). Hmm, will McCain bet the farm on the women vote?
And, does picking her deliver it? I don't know her at all, but she's pretty sexy looking, especially when you discover she just gave birth to kid #5. Dang, she can fry it up in a pan, fo sho. If I were an embittered Hillary Dem and on the fence, would this make me jump off on the Red side? I honestly cannot answer, but I know one thing: it's not gonna turn me off and there would be points for McCain that at least HE chose a female running mate...
We will find out later today, so I'll just leave it there. But here is my little observation: if McCain goes with Palin (McCain/ Palin...sounds good), that means the numbers are clearly showing that we Hill-Raisers are crucial, and Obama blew it with us, and it might just mean the election. Man, I would just love that if it turned out to be true. We shall see...
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Storm Clouds are Coming
I don't know about you, but my week has been getting a little bit worse with every day. I want things to stay the same for a while, but no one is asking for my input. ;-) It seems like it's getting harder to stay positive, just as I decided to be positive, LOL.
So much for fate and that which we call the randomness of life. I've been keeping up with all of the challenges that have hit me these last couple of weeks, smiling through the rain, always looking at the half-full glass. So, dang, I'm really wanting things to stay the same for awhile!
Gustav's headed for the Gulf and this time we need to finally stock up and do the preparation routine, since we've been given 2 dry-runs so far. To ask for 3 would be reckless without being prepared. It might seem mindless to not have stocked up yet, but it stresses us out bigtime to go through the motions because it causes us to have to think of the worst. The current guessing game has it reaching land on Monday, so we adopt that and change as the guessing changes, because even though it may not hit us at all, we still have to operate AS IF.
Hub's mother called and just like every time she calls, our To-Do List got added to. Family stuff that I have to go to, too, for some reason. Why is that? She wants us all to meet on Sunday afternoon at the cemetery as it is his dad's birthday that day. That is totally approriate, except that it doesn't stop there. It's all fricking evening. We all go out to eat afterwards, then a quote-unquote family meeting. Oh, Brother. She doesn't want to be alone, but can you tell I'm just tired of it? Why can't Hubs just go spend time with her? I'm gonna be n-e-r-v-o-u-s by Sunday and I really don't even want to go I may be feeling too badly to go, and I say that sincerely...because whenever I think about what the heck it could be about, I feel like I'm gonna be ambushed somehow. I'm so apprehensive about it that I am halfway hoping if that storm's coming, then come on Sunday.
We're worrying about Missy. She's begins her hardest courseload yet this semester. She also begins something called Ad Fed, which is like a student advertising debate team, except it's a strategy team that does competitions. Many colleges that have decent advertising schools have Ad Fed.
So cool...except if you also have a job and you're trying to work your way through school to help mom and dad pay for it. Missy is so determined to pay her share that her logical next step should things get too hairy is to quit Ad Fed, and so I'm trying to find enough time to talk to her and make her see she needs to quit that restaurant job, not Ad Fed, if need be. Plan B is student loans which we have not yet tapped. And Hubs and I can pay help pay a little more than we are doing, we will just adjust plans we have, if need be. Or borrow from Hubs' 401K.
So, she basically does not have enough hours in the day, what with the restaurant wanting her to work 6 days a week and then take some stupid training classes on day #7. What good is having a job and earning the money to go to colage if you cannot get out of it what you need? So, I dunno, my mind is stressing over that, and for now, she's going to try to juggle it and hope they hire some more employees. Oh, yeah, and today was only her 4th day of class...
We're needing to spend some money to make a few serious household repairs, but we're afraid to! Geebus!
Just a lot of weird stuff piling on...and I want it to be last week again, even though I had a dead computer. Because I was happier then than I am now. I don't know, maybe it's a cumulative effect.
So, I bet at least some of you wanted me to write about the election, especially now that I have my blogs separated and all. LOL But, I'm just kind of calm about it all now. About the only opinions I have right now about the convention are that Hillary was awesome and it sort of made me nauseated to watch all the black people at the convention treat Bill Clinton like they used to back in the Pre-Obama Day...now that Bill's towing the Obama line...like he's not a racist now or doin' to them what he did to Monica (their words). Right...You know me, the hipocracy angle always shows itself...
I still continue not to rule out 100% that I won't vote with the Dems, unlike Hubs. It's not like the end of the world if Obama wins, but I'm still not empassioned to believe, or to stay home and not vote. Like Hubs says, this is an election year where you are voting AGAINST someone more than FOR someone. At least here it is.
I think one reason the Obama message doesn't convince me is because I just don't see things as all that bad. If just everyone would be more frugal over the long term. Bear in mind though, we live within our means totally and always have, so we are not overextended anywhere. Plus, Hubs has a job where his area and what he does is pretty freakin indispensible to the refinery process, so I think it's prudent to assume he has job security until he retires sometime in the next 5 to 9 years. Not a totally sure bet, but you have to assume one way or another, cuz what else are ya gonna do? You cannot save an alternate job in the bank, ya know?
I'm just a hopeless expense cutter, I guess. There's a lot I disagree with him about, but I see McCain being the only one of the two with any hope of actually cutting our expenses, and I feel strongly we need to do that, yesterday. This country freakin needs to live without a whole lotta crap for awhile. With Obama, I see lots of new domestic programs that are just going to cost and cost, and to what end, in the end? Plus, I feel safer with Grandpa in charge. End of story, pretty much.
So, that's that. Kinda blue, isn't it? Blame it on the dog days. It's August, after all. ;-)
Friday, August 22, 2008
Lessons in Safe Computing, Part 2
And now, the conclusion to the long, laborious and boring saga of my latest computer travails...
I am now waiting with bated breath for the arrival of my new Gateway Laptop computer, an external hard drive enclosure case, and a replacement power supply and graphics card, all courtesy of Amazon.com, whom I love deeply and loyally. Yes, you can even buy a power supply for your computer model, or atleast I did. Isn't online shopping wonderful? Here's the official photo and stats of my new baby:
*Color: Slate Grey Ridgeview™
*Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor1 T5750 (2.00GHz, 667MHz, 2MB L2 cache)
*Genuine Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit) SP1
*Operating System Backup Media: Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium Media (64-bit)
*RAM: 4096MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2-2048MB modules) (Memory Capacity Maximum 4GB)
*HARD DRIVE STORAGE: 320GB 5400RPM Serial ATA II hard drive with 8MB cache (1-320GB)5
*External Ports: (3) USB 2.0 Ports, VGA Connector
*Expansion Slots: One ExpressCard™ Type 54 Expansion Slot
*Display: 15.4" WXGA Ultrabright TFT Active Matrix (1280 x 800 max. resolution)
*Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 with up to 384MB of Dynamic Video Memory and Intel® GM965 chipset
*Optical Drive 8x Multi-Format Dual Layer DVDRW with DVD-RAM featuring Labelflash™ Technology6
*Backup Media: Cyberlink Power2Go with Cyberlink Label Printer for Windows Vista
*Wireless Network: Integrated Intel® 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N Wireless Networking
*PAN (personal area network): Bluetooth® 2.0+EDR
*Integrated Modem: 56k ITU v.92 ready Fax/Modem (RJ-11 port)
*Integrated Network: 10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port)
*Integrated Keyboard and Mouse: Full-Size Keyboard, Touchpad with Vertical Scroll Pointing Device and Dedicated Multimedia Panel
*Finished Goods: Brushed-metal precision-touch multimedia control panel, featuring smooth-cut keys and touch-sensitive volume adjustment.
*Web Camera: Integrated 1.3 Megapixel Web Cam
*Digital Media Manager: 5-in-1 Digital Media Manager (Memory Stick™ (MS), Memory Stick™ Pro, Multi Media Card™ (MMC), Secure Digital™ (SD), xD-Picture Card)
Dimensions (Box) 17" (H) x 13" (W) x 6" (D) or 432mm (H) x 330mm (W) x 152mm (D)
Dimensions (System) 1.1"-1.50" (H) x 14" (W) x 10" (D) or 28-38mm (H) x 356mm (W) x 254mm (D)10
*Battery: Primary 6 Cell Lithium Ion battery w/ 1 Yr. limited battery warranty
*65 Watt AC Adapter
*Software: Microsoft® Works 9.0, Microsoft® Money Essentials
*Warranty: 1 Year Parts and Labor Limited Warranty9
*Weights: 6.29 lbs. (2.85 kg) system unit only / 10.28 lbs. (4.66 kg.) box11
l) the Intel logo, Intel Core, and Core Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
2) Windows Vista® 64-bit versions are intended to work with 64-bit drivers and peripherals. Windows Vista® 32-bit compatible applications work in Windows Vista® 64-bit versions. Visit Microsoft's page on 32-bit and 64-bit Windows for more information on upgrading 32-bit applications and hardware.
3) HD requires ATSC digital antenna (not included). HD signal reception depends on multiple factors.
4) Intel, the Intel logo, Centrino and Centrino Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
The best part is, I got ALL THAT for $780. Did you see, 4 GIGS of RAM and 350 GIGS Hard Drive? Vista Home Premium 64-BIT? Optical drive DVD BURNER? BLUETOOTH wireless personal network? Plus, the only other notebook I ever had was a Gateway back in 2000, and I LOVED it and the support. Missy got a lot of wear out of it as a hand-me-down, and we even took it to Europe with us in 2004. So, if this baby is anything like that one, I'm gonna like it a lot.
I did spend $230 more than my tentative budget of $550. But, for what I got with that extra outlay, I think it's a wise investment. I may even buy an additional 2 year service contract, because this thing's got the power to be around in 3 years...I think (who really knows?).
So, Life is looking good again. I am still going to be up to my ears in computer set-up, research, and instructions, but at least I'm travelling down the lit hallway to the end of the tunnel.
Only one mystery remains (and it's a big one, which is why I'm trying to think good thoughts): will I be able to access my hard drive data? Stay tuned for installment #3 later this weekend.
In the meantime, let's concentrate on more pleasant quandries, like this one:
Lessons in Safe Computing, Part 1
Hey there! Well, Friends, it finally happened to me...I got caught with my computing pants down.In other words, my computer died on me and I have no recent back up of my data. :-(((
My computer has been sharing the symptoms with me for a few weeks now, but I ignored them. My cooling fan in my desktop cpu began whirring randomly. What did I do? Banged the cpu with my fist until it stopped and went on with my life.
I was so smug. I researched and determined it definitely wasn't my hard drive, because that would be a grinding and I would not be able to make it stop like I did. But, did I stop to wonder what in the heck it could be?
Yes. I finally discovered it was my fan, but my mistake was thinking it would go on forever like that or I would know when it quit working. Wrong.
Then, my monitor began acting wonky. And my screen began to blink black, which was highly annoying, but when it started blinking every 3 seconds, I finally got scared.
You shoulda seen me. I was able, using remarkable perseverence brought on by panic, to navigate through a black screen every 2 out of 3 seconds onto the internet, find my latest video graphics card driver, download it, and then install it! After rebooting, problemo solved!
Or so I thought. It lasted about a day. Did I use that day to do a backup? Oh Hell No. No, I spent that day looking for computers online, taking my usual turtle-speed time. Then, I went to sleep for 10 hours and left the machine on. That is pure D confidence, lemme tellya.
It proved to also be stupid and fatal, cuz Monday morning the blinking started up again and when I rebooted, I got the Dell screen, then the Windows XP screen, then...a blue screen. I could hear the familiar sounds of the hard drive accessing the programs to load them at startup. Just could not see crap. Dead screen.
So, the bottom line is, I am pretty sure that my hard drive is okay, but I needed to figure out a way to be able to access it. I would have to, at the very least, replace the fan and the video card...and I also read that a few people had their ram cooked, too, so just repairing the pc innards might not let me see my info.
Missy to the rescue! I've been able to use her laptop when she is at work. I learned all about hard drive external enclosure cases that connect via usb. I learned that I could take my hard drive out of the desktop, put it into one of these cases, and then it becomes an external hard disk to my new computer. I can then access all my old files: my emails, my address book, my bill receipts, my usuernames and passwords, my photos, and last but not least, my personal and client tax return files.
Well, this concludes Part 1 - stay tuned for the exciting conclusion! ;-p
Friday, August 15, 2008
New Banner Here + New Blog #2!
Hidyhoyo!
(This is the current greeting among Missy's pals this summer...it's so hokey, it makes me chuckle every time I hear it.)
So, how do you likey my new banner? I have been wanting a banner-lift for a while, and yesterday I just rolled up my sleeves and made something I'd had in my head. I dunno, I kinda like it.
And hey, guess what? What's a year without me creating a blog, right? So far this year, I haven't done that. But, wait! LOL, yup, I did it again, hehe.
Seriously, I've been wanting to separate my life and opinions from my art. This blog has a good title for my life and opinion posts, so it became apparent the the new blog #2 needed to be the art one. That's how Paper Paisleys art journal blog was born!
There is still tons to do over there in the way of transferring links and decorating here and there, but I'll fill in those things as I go. Please go visit and see the banner I created for that blog, too. :-)
Meanwhile, here at the ranch, I need to catch up. I was blessed to have been given no less than 3 blogging awards in July, and I have them displayed on my sidebar.
Karyn awarded me the Twinks Award.
Then, Benita and Jill both awarded me the Brillante Award. Thank you very much, Ladies! (And Happy Birthday, Jill!)
The rules for the "Brillante Weblog" award are:
The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
Link to the person you received your award from.
Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
Put links to those blogs on yours.
Leave a message on the blogs of the people you have nominated.
I am giving the "Brillante Weblog" award to the following bloggers:
1. Cheryl - she needs a tiny little pick-me-up right now
2. Lynn - I've been thinking about arthritis and wrestling lately, and that fits only one person I know! ;-)
3. Noelia - I've been working on a special sumpsump for her, a year overdue {hangs head in shame}, but good things happen for a reason and ever since I decided on something I loved, I finally started it last week. Soon, my friend. And hoping you are having fun on your trip. :-)
4. Maureen - she's funny and I have so many of her posts to catch up on {hangs head once more in shame}
5. Vicki - love this woman...and she and her DH need some healing thoughts right now.
6. Theresa - because she is the only female golfer I know :-)
7. Texas Kim - this girl needs another job and maybe this will be good luck. :-)
Onto other items of note, my health has worsened a bit since the spring. The arthritis needs strong meds and then I get complications that are a pita as much as the disease.
I definitely have to close up my tax shop and there'll be no more working for the next several months. I'm embarrassed to say that I have ADD now as one of those treatment complications. Lord, I'm really glad I didn't have this my entire life. They tell me it will go away once I finish the therapy protocol, but part of me wonders about it. And I'm also told that it gets better as I learn to deal with it better. Hope so. Typing is still a real chore some days.
I've really had to re-think my involvement in almost everything in my life this year. This is why I've not been blogging so much. That saved energy works better for me if I put it into my art because that calms me down and helps me practice focussing. Since "focus" was my Word for 2007, how creepy is that, that I would be taught the following year that I was then a pretty good focusser, after all, before I really needed work now.
Making things also helps me stay more positive. It's been tough to lose your previous life-as-you-knew-it, in bits and pieces, inch by inch, slowly. It just never stops, ya know? I am going to write more frequently though. Just maybe in shorter spurts. And then just upload images to Paper Paisleys with few words. On those days that a big old post (like this one! Already breaking my rules...) seems too complicated and hard to do.
That's my cue to sign off for now...Sooner and Laterz!
(This is the current greeting among Missy's pals this summer...it's so hokey, it makes me chuckle every time I hear it.)
So, how do you likey my new banner? I have been wanting a banner-lift for a while, and yesterday I just rolled up my sleeves and made something I'd had in my head. I dunno, I kinda like it.
And hey, guess what? What's a year without me creating a blog, right? So far this year, I haven't done that. But, wait! LOL, yup, I did it again, hehe.
Seriously, I've been wanting to separate my life and opinions from my art. This blog has a good title for my life and opinion posts, so it became apparent the the new blog #2 needed to be the art one. That's how Paper Paisleys art journal blog was born!
There is still tons to do over there in the way of transferring links and decorating here and there, but I'll fill in those things as I go. Please go visit and see the banner I created for that blog, too. :-)
Meanwhile, here at the ranch, I need to catch up. I was blessed to have been given no less than 3 blogging awards in July, and I have them displayed on my sidebar.
Karyn awarded me the Twinks Award.
Then, Benita and Jill both awarded me the Brillante Award. Thank you very much, Ladies! (And Happy Birthday, Jill!)
The rules for the "Brillante Weblog" award are:
The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
Link to the person you received your award from.
Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
Put links to those blogs on yours.
Leave a message on the blogs of the people you have nominated.
I am giving the "Brillante Weblog" award to the following bloggers:
1. Cheryl - she needs a tiny little pick-me-up right now
2. Lynn - I've been thinking about arthritis and wrestling lately, and that fits only one person I know! ;-)
3. Noelia - I've been working on a special sumpsump for her, a year overdue {hangs head in shame}, but good things happen for a reason and ever since I decided on something I loved, I finally started it last week. Soon, my friend. And hoping you are having fun on your trip. :-)
4. Maureen - she's funny and I have so many of her posts to catch up on {hangs head once more in shame}
5. Vicki - love this woman...and she and her DH need some healing thoughts right now.
6. Theresa - because she is the only female golfer I know :-)
7. Texas Kim - this girl needs another job and maybe this will be good luck. :-)
Onto other items of note, my health has worsened a bit since the spring. The arthritis needs strong meds and then I get complications that are a pita as much as the disease.
I definitely have to close up my tax shop and there'll be no more working for the next several months. I'm embarrassed to say that I have ADD now as one of those treatment complications. Lord, I'm really glad I didn't have this my entire life. They tell me it will go away once I finish the therapy protocol, but part of me wonders about it. And I'm also told that it gets better as I learn to deal with it better. Hope so. Typing is still a real chore some days.
I've really had to re-think my involvement in almost everything in my life this year. This is why I've not been blogging so much. That saved energy works better for me if I put it into my art because that calms me down and helps me practice focussing. Since "focus" was my Word for 2007, how creepy is that, that I would be taught the following year that I was then a pretty good focusser, after all, before I really needed work now.
Making things also helps me stay more positive. It's been tough to lose your previous life-as-you-knew-it, in bits and pieces, inch by inch, slowly. It just never stops, ya know? I am going to write more frequently though. Just maybe in shorter spurts. And then just upload images to Paper Paisleys with few words. On those days that a big old post (like this one! Already breaking my rules...) seems too complicated and hard to do.
That's my cue to sign off for now...Sooner and Laterz!
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