It’s been quite a while, my friends. I think it’s time for some catch up!
Life has been a total rollercoaster for the past few months. I made a little Lifestyle Change, stopped eating fast food and started eating fruits and veggies with a vengeance. I’m officially down 30 pounds! A few weeks before the election we lost a student to violence, then lost another. I can’t say that I ever want to attend another teenager’s wake again in my life. It was all pretty gut wrenching and disturbing.
By the time the elections came around, I figured I had cried enough to last a few lifetimes. Needless to say, I spent election night drinking wine and sobbing tears of joy, for a change. Let’s hope that’s what we get.
I grew up spending every other weekend with my dad. He lived about an hour away, so my brother and I would be force fed Conservative talk radio for 60 straight minutes of the drive to my dad’s apartment. Unless Dad bought a new bagpipe tape for us to listen to, Rush Limbaugh was my first taste of horror, hysteria, hate, and straight up hypocrisy. Even at 14, I remember finding it oh-so-ironic that my dad, who jumped the family ship to hit it with a red head 14 years his junior, was clinging to political stance that contradicted HIS lifestyle choices.
I think my dad found great amusement in my rage against conservatism, as long as it wasn’t personally directed towards him. He’d chuckle at Rush’s stupid one-liners, while I would sit in the back seat steaming. This arrangement went on up until I went away to college and suddenly realized that the values my MOM had instilled in me where clearly…liberal, bordering on socialist. She wasn’t as outspoken about her politics as my father was, but I learned early on that it was not only a virtue to expect equality for all, but a duty. I learned early on that, no, poverty and welfarism wasn’t something to scorn or berate, but rather something to pity.
The point: I haven’t listened to shock jock radio is years, but was a little shocked to hear what they’re REALLY saying. I mean, I’m all for the First Amendment, but this shit has got to stop. Check out the Bill Moyers Journal.
That’s the only way I can describe what I just saw at the RNC. Sarah Palin may THINK she can convince middle America that she’s cool, feisty, and whatever… Sorry, Sarah, I’m not chancing voting for a ticket that includes a candidate who banned books from public libraries, advocates pro-life in ALL circumstances (including rape and incest), and pushes abstinence only programs in public schools despite the fact that THAT education clearly didn’t work for HER children.
I just reviewed the following video to remind me what I’m pushing for:
I’m still transfixed with the current political drama.
Ya know, at first I was interested in learning more about Sarah Palin, up until I learned about her Pro-Life stance. From that point on, I decided that I would NOT be voting for McCain under any circumstances. And to be completely honest, prior to that, I couldn’t help but kind of like the guy. I agreed with his perspective on pulling out of Iraq and leaving our soldiers high and dry. I liked his biography (minus the whole cheating on his first wife, who waited for him for 5 years while he was in a cell in Vietnam thing). I liked his ability to cross the aisle…and though I wasn’t exactly a Lieberman fan, I liked that McCain wanted to make the ballsy move of choosing him for VP.
But now? Now? There’s no way in HELL that I’ll jump party lines to offer any kind of support to yet ANOTHER Right wing Christian. Didn’t we all already learn the hard way that a leader who governs with a Bible instead of the effin’ Constitution gets us into some pretty murky places??
Palin’s church video makes Reverend Wright’s debacles look like a walk in the park.
Hmmph. It seems that it’s been a while since I directly wrote about politics.
Obama
I bought Obama’s The Audacity of Hope a few weeks back. While I will admit Barack is a decent writer, I found it, overall, pretty boring. If you’re into policy, congressional history, mixed in with a little autobiography, you’ll like it. Otherwise, skip it or read the excerpts on the net.
I left the book thinking, despite his grandiose ideals (that I just happen to share), he’s not such a great husband or father. He’s got that only child, my-job-is-so-important-that-it-compromises-my-family-life vibe going. Then again, these are likely GOOD qualities for a leader of the “most powerful” country in the free world. Like any great writer, artist, or leader, I guess something has to give. In this case, we get an inspiring leader, while his kids and wife get a part-time father and husband.
I’m not buying 100% into his rhetoric, yet can’t help but appreciate the words and ways of thinking. Sadly, I kind of feel like he already sold out. The title of this book was inspired by a 1990 sermon from Jermiah Wright (a piece written in reflection of George Frederic Watts painting, “Hope”), the man he dropped like a hot potato following the now infamous Wright sermons on AIDS, 9/11, and White America.
The audacity of hope.
That was the best of the American Spirit, I thought–having the audacity to believe despite all the evidence to the contrary that we could restore a sense of community to a nation torn by conflict; the gall to believe that despite personal setbacks, the loss of a job or an illness in the family or a childhood mired in poverty, we had some control—and therefore responsibility–over our own fate.
It was this audacity, I thought, that joined us as one people. It was that pervasive spirit of hope that tied my own family’s story to the larger American story.
Lieberman
What’s the deal with his choice to speak at the Republican National Convention? Is he really this desperate for attention or is he merely “socking it to” the Dems for screwing his previous election? Either way, I tend to believe that his presence doesn’t make him look like some rebel, but more like an A-hole.
Cindy McCain
I never liked this woman. There. I said it. After this was covered on NPR the other day, I found yet another reason to strongly dislike her. Now, I know First Ladies aren’t exactly running for president, but the person you chose as your running mate in life certainly has a reflection on YOU. I never inherently hated McCain, but his wife, on the other hand, is quite a piece of work.
Just Me
I really hope the next 4 years will bring better times than the last 8. Not that I blame GW or 9/11 for all of my life’s tribulations, but this certainly hasn’t been a great time to come into adulthood.
I randomly heard “American Pie” on the radio the other night. The last time I heard that tune was the night GW was elected for the second time. I remember being on the 290 in my beat up mercury tracer station wagon and gulping back tears at the irony of the timing. I know I’ll never again be that wide-eyed 23 year old, coming to a new town with high hopes and aspirations. It’d be nice to come in from the cold.
We really thought we had a purpose
We were so anxious to achieve
We had hope
The world held promise
For a slave to liberty
Freely I slaved away for something better
And I was bought and sold
And all I ever wanted
Was to come in from the cold
I’ll be honest, I’ve had a Myspace account since it first came on the scene. In fact, I distinctly remember my friend getting me to sign up for Friendster in 2002, a year BEFORE Myspace launched. Thing is, back then I wasn’t willing to paste my REAL name on a website.
However, at the urging of another friend, I recently joined Facebook, which I’ve been told is the “old people version of Myspace.” I like the concepts and love that I have access to my real life friends (their photos, their applications, etc) across the country 24/7. I have thoroughly enjoyed battling out several rounds of Word Twist on a daily basis with a friend who lives two hours away. And I LOVE that no one I know can view any damn thing about me, unless they’re part of my friends list.
With all of that being said, what’s the deal with really dumb teachers posting really unsavory topics on their profiles? I fell upon this blog today, which lead me to a fairly recent Washington Post article on the topic. Check it out,
Click “View Photos of Erin,” and you can see her lying on her back, eyes closed, with a bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila between her head and shoulder. Or click on her “summertime” photo album and see a close-up of two young men flashing serious-looking middle fingers.
“I know that employers will look at that page, and I need to be more careful,” said Webster, adding that other Prince William teachers have warned her about her page. “At the same time, my work and social lives are completely separate. I just feel they shouldn’t take it seriously. I am young. I just turned 22.”
My first thought was, well DUH, get out of your local network so people living in your area don’t have access to anything and everything you post! On further inspection, I started thinking; is it really fair for teachers to be considered the moral compass for the rest of the country? And aren’t these sites supposed to have age restrictions?
I was sitting at my computer and noticed my dog watching the news coverage of McCain’s fundraising events. A staunch libertarian, he didn’t notice it when I slipped on his much hated 2008 Donkey bandanna.
Is summer over yet? I don’t know if I can take another month of this boredom.
Let’s say you just started writing in your little blog. You’d like people to come and commiserate with you, but can’t figure out how to increase views without sounding desperate for attention. So here’s what you do: add Playgirl and/or Naked Men to your tags and voila! You have 40 views in one day and get your blog cross listed on a variety of porn sites! Yippeee!
(I think) there’s truth in what Jesse was saying.Obama code switches, depending on the audience he’s speaking to.When the news covers him speaking to predominantly black voters, he breaks into a southern drawl, throws in a few double negatives, and makes cheap attempts at evoking some kind of evangelical preacher spirit.If he was smart, he’d stop worrying about convincing black America that he’s black, and start perfecting his Spanish.<p>Make no mistake, I’m voting for him, but I’m certainly not as smitten as I was when he first hit the scene.
You Said It