Date: 2002-11-17 22:14:00 Subject: Green Party

We play with our children, read books, go to work and enjoy recreations only because people with guns stand ready, willing and able to kill other people with guns who would kill us if they could.

It's sweet to forget this and therefore difficult to keep it in mind. "It is hard for those who live near a Police Station to believe in the triumph of violence," as T.S. Eliot wrote. That's us â€” we Americans, protected by a mighty military that by and large obeys the rules of our republic â€” safe enough, and keeping much of the world safe enough, so that we find it hard to believe in what would happen if that protection failed.

But these fighters do keep us safe. And because keeping us safe is harsh, dangerous work, we should glorify them, exalt them in story and song by way of appreciation.

"United 93" â€” the film celebrating the heroic civilian attempt to retake a hijacked plane on 9/11 â €” opened last week. That's great. Well done and about time. But now, let's have some war movies.

We need some films celebrating the war against Islamo-fascism in Afghanistan and Iraq â€” and in Iran as well, if and when that becomes necessary. We need films like those that were made during World War II, films such as 1943's "Sahara" and "Action in the North Atlantic," or "The Fighting Seabees" and "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," which were released in 1944.

Not all of these were great films, or even good ones, but their patriotic tributes to our fighting forces inspired the nation. More than that, they reminded the country what exactly it was that those forces were fighting to defend. Though many of these pictures now seem almost hilariously free with racist tirades against "sauerkrauts," and "eyeties" and "Tojo and his bug-eyed monkeys," they were also carefully constructed to display American life at its open-minded and inclusive best.

Every roll call of Hollywood's U.S. troops seems to include a Ragazzi and a Donovan, a Hellenopolis, a Novasky, and a wisecracking Roth. "Sahara" even throws in the black "Mohammedan" Tabul, a Sudanese ally. This may have been corny, but it was also more or less realistic, and it depicted the war as a conflict between our lovably mongrel melting pot and the despicable Axis ideal of racial purity.

For all their epithets and stereotypes, then, these pictures sent the distinctly American message that it's not bloodlines but national creeds that make a people, and that while even so great a creed as ours can't guarantee the decency of individuals, evil creeds surely sweep them up into destructive madness and therefore must be opposed.

Today we face an enemy in the grip of a belief system just as evil, just as destructive in its intent, as the system we fought back then. We were attacked at home in this war as we were in World War II. The outcome of the struggle is just as much in doubt. Worse, because Islamic fundamentalism supersedes nationhood, the danger it poses is more protean and diffuse. It's easier to pretend it isn't there, more tempting for the war-weary and the fatally foolish to waver and sound retreat.

In short, we need war movies now even more than in the '40s. So why aren't we getting them? One reason surely is that, in the years since World War II, our self-assurance as a nation, the self-assurance necessary for the waging of war, has been shaken, and Hollywood reflects that. The change occurred against the backdrop of postwar history, but I believe it has as much to do with our cultural values, their uses and misuses, as it does with events. The Western ethos, with its Christian roots, demands that we look to our own sins before judging the sins of others. It's amazing how quickly, after the war ended, Hollywood began to examine the ways in which Americans shared the moral failings of the Axis.

As early as 1947, we had "Crossfire," about an American GI who commits an anti-Semitic murder. In 1949, "Home of the Brave" depicted a heroic African American soldier dealing with prejudice. And by 1955, there was the classic "Bad Day at Black Rock," in which a veteran uncovers homicidal anti-Japanese bigotry when he tries to deliver a medal to the father of a Japanese American killed on the battlefields of Italy.

Such self-examination and reform are part of the measure of our greatness. But there's a difference between a humble nation confessing its sins and a country of flagellants whipping themselves for every impure thought. Since the '60s, we have had, it seems, an endless string of war movies, from "Dr. Strangelove" to "Syriana," in which the United States is depicted as wildly aggressive and endlessly corrupt â€” which, in fact, it's not; which, in fact, it never has been.

In taking our self-examining ethos to these extremes, we have lost a kind of wisdom, wisdom that acknowledges the complexity of human life but can move through it to find the simple truth again. While assessing the intricate failings of our moral history, many of us have lost sight of the simple truth that the system that shapes us is, in fact, a great one, that it has moved us inexorably to do better and that it's well worth defending against every aggressor and certainly against as shabby and vicious an aggressor as we face today.

Not only have we lost this kind of wisdom, but I think that a handful of elites â€” really only a handful of academics, journalists and artists â€” has raised up a golden counterfeit in its stead. With this counterfeit wisdom, they imagine themselves above the need for patriotism; they fantasize they grasp a truth beyond good and evil, and they preen themselves on a higher calling than the protection of our way of life. And all the while they forget that they imagine and fantasize and preen only by the grace of those who fight and die and stand guard to secure those freedoms that our system alone guarantees.

When war comes, as it always will, and when it is justified, as it is now, some nuances and shades of gray have to be set aside. It is time, instead, for faith and for ferocity. Our enemies have these weapons, after all. Our movies should inspire us to have them too.

I feel that times of war are times when it is most necessary to have active dissent.

------Date: 2006-05-07 20:32:00 Subject: Cardinal Wants Da Vinci Code Legally Suppressed

In the latest Vatican broadside against "The Da Vinci Code", a leading cardinal says Christians should respond to the book and film with legal action because both offend Christ and the Church he founded. Cardinal Francis Arinze, a Nigerian who was considered a candidate for pope last year, made his strong comments in a documentary called "The Da Vinci Code -- A Masterful Deception." ...

"Christians must not just sit back and say it is enough for us to forgive and to forget," Arinze said in the documentary made by Rome film maker Mario Biasetti for Rome Reports, a Catholic film agency specializing in religious affairs. "Sometimes it is our duty to do something practical. So it is not I who will tell all Christians what to do but some know legal means which can be taken in order to get the other person to respect the rights of others," Arinze said.

"This is one of the fundamental human rights: that we should be respected, our religious beliefs respected, and our founder Jesus Christ respected," he said, without elaborating on what legal means he had in mind....

I had hoped that the Catholic Church had learned that it's wrong to try to use legal coercion to suppress religious views that one disapproves of -- and that no religion should have a legal right to be free from criticism or disagreement (or for that matter novels it dislikes). I'm sorry to see that at least one leading cardinal takes a different view. Those of us who condemned Moslem leaders who called for legal suppression of the Mohammed cartoons (not just those who called for violence, but also those who called for government action) should condemn this Catholic leader's call as well.

Luke ------This is sadly not very much of a surprise. Another example of history repeating itself.

After posting/linking 6 times in one day, I'm declaring myself a member of the Pajamas Media.

The â€œEuston Manifestoâ€ keeps it simple. It prefers democratic pluralism, at any price, to theocracy. It raises an eyebrow at the enslavement of the female half of the population and the burial alive of homosexuals. It has its reservations about the United States, but knows that if anything is ever done about (say) Darfur, it will be Washington that receives the UN mandate to do the heavy lifting.

It prefers those who vote in Iraq and Afghanistan to those who put bombs in mosques and schools and hospitals. It does not conceive of arguments that make excuses for suicide murderers. It affirms the right of democratic nations and open societies to defend themselves, both from theocratic states abroad and from theocratic gangsters at home. This is probably the most "conservative" document I've ever signed. Although I don't agree with every single word, I like the change of direction it suggests for progressives/liberals.

Because, its authors believe, it will lead to a return to common sense and put an end to so-called liberals supporting gruesome regimes for political gain back home.

It has won support from John Lloyd, Paul Berman, Anthony Julius and Francis Wheen. There are now more than 200,000 mentions of it online

Luke ------"its muddled sympathies now falling in with terrorists in its rush to condemn its own government"

Guess his claims after the life verdict ["America, you lost," Moussaoui taunted, clapping his hands as he left the courtroom. "I won."] are ringing a little hollow these days for the man who will spend the rest of his life in a 7X12' cell. reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Clearly he was gunning to be a martyr. Kudos to the jury for denying him that opportunity. Instead he will rot in prison--a humiliation he seems to deserve.

------Date: 2006-05-10 14:39:00 Subject: Memory ask me to tell how it feels remembering your mother's face turned to water under the white words of the man at the shoe store. ask me, though she tells it better than i do, not because of her charm but because it never happened she says, no bully salesman swaggering, no rage, no shame, none of it ever happened. i only remember buying you your first grown up shoes she smiles. ask me how it feels.

User Comments: reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------LOVE Clifton's stuff.

From Eschaton comes this, which is really no surprise to me since I can't think of a candidate in 2008 that I could back right now.

------Date: 2006-05-11 10:11:00 Subject: You're either with them or against them

Howard Dean says, on the 700 Club, that the Democratic Party believes marriage is between a man and a woman.

I've never stolen any music from anyone. I pay my 99 cents to Itunes whenever I want a new song. But I really, really wanted the Traveling Wilbury's CD, volume 1 & 3, and couldn't find it on Amazon or Itunes. So what did I do? I googled it and ordered from the first 'sponsored link' on the page...what could be wrong with that?

My first clue came when I got a note in my mailbox that I needed to pick up a certified/registered package at the main PO in Dc, next to the White House. The only indication of who sent this package to me was a note at the top of the notice "Russia."

When I handed the note to the postal worker, she promptly (at least promptly for the post office) went to the back to get it for me. A few minutes later, she came back apologizing for the delay and said she needed to get someone to open the safe. Wow...the safe?!?

I got the package and quickly retreated, watching my back as the FBI Building is not too far from this post office. The CD looks great, but I imagine it's an illegal copy. I hope not, but again, I tried to be good.

Luke ------I agree with Matt. If you ever need anything that you CAN'T find anywhere else, as far as I'm concerned it's fine to download seeing as that it may be the only legitimate way to get it. Let me know and I got you covered.

Matthew ------There are only 3 surviving members of that band left, and they're too stoned to care if you're getting their music illegally. haha

The fact that the NSA now has a record of who I call and who calls me, which, btw, they got from the phone company who has this stuff in their "Jill file of phone calls" will not cause me to lose any sleep tonight.

LisaMarie http://www.journalscape.com/lisamarie ------I am angry that it is yet ANOTHER thing this administration is doing that I don't like, and there is something fundamentally wrong about it, but I am not going to lose sleep over it either.

It's ok that NSA knows how frequently I call my mother. I will accept that. I should but a call into congress or the whitehouse or something, just in hopes of making a "special" file. :)

Ted ------I'm not losing any sleep either, but I wish the Congress was more of a check and balance than they have been on this administration. The latest poll says 2 out of 3 people say it is justified - when I heard that, all I could think of was Martin Niemoller http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came... reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------You have made the choice to share your information with CVS and Safeway.

Everyone else on that list has a good reason for that information, with the possible exception of the charitable contributions, your employer with the drug testing... and the NSA. Does the government have probable cause to suspect you as a terrorist? I'm not losing sleep either, which is probably the sad thing. This wanker administration fails to surprise me anymore.

------Date: 2006-05-12 10:09:00 Subject: I should have kept my Texas Voter Registration Card

MUSICIAN and mystery writer Kinky Friedman brought his long-shot bid to become governor of Texas a little closer to reality yesterday when he turned in 169,574 signatures to get on the November ballot - more than 31/2 times the number needed. Friedman, clad in his trademark black cowboy hat and Western clothes, stood on the steps of the Texas secretary of state's office and quipped, "Thank God for bars and dance halls. Every signature counts, whether it came from a country club or homeless shelter."

I was going to preface this post with "which one's Matthew, which one's Luke?" but guess I didn't have to be so obvious for you smart ones!! ;-)

------Date: 2006-05-14 15:30:00 Subject: I'm the new member with tears streaming down her face

I signed the membership book and joined All Souls Church, Unitarian in DC today. It's a great church with a rich history. I'm happy to be a member there.

After attending a 3-hour introductory class yesterday about the history of the church, along with a tour of the building including a 8-story trek up the bell tower, we had the opportunity to make the decision to become members. I was glad to continue my over 4 year relationship with UUism with this wonderful church.

Today, we were honored in the service, but just before we were presented to the church body, a soloist sang the song "Wind Beneath My Wings." I thought I was prepared for it. I read the order of service prior to the start of church and said, under my breath, "oh no" as I realized that this solo was placed just immediately ahead of our getting up from our comfortable seats and standing before the congregation.

Now I kept thinking, mind over matter. I'll just pretend I don't hear the words, I'll just "mentally" stick my fingers in my ears and shout "I can't hear you, I can't hear you" while the song was being sung. But none of these tricks worked and I just cried.

I'm sure the song was picked to honor our mothers, as today's Mother's Day. But while she was singing it, all I could think of was my sister Sherry.

Many times now, when I attend church, or spiritual events (12 step meetings/an image and poetry class/my granddaughter C's pre-school program honoring her mother/etc.) I find myself getting a lump in my throat, my eyes tearing up.

I realize that now that I'm finally settled in my new home and all my boxes are unpacked, the emotional baggage of the loss of my sister is waiting to be opened up and dealt with. There's no escaping it now; it's just the way it is. I have a feeling though that it'll not be as easy finding a home for the contents of this heartfelt grief.

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------I'm glad you connected with this church. Hopefully it will be one of those safe places to unpack the heart.

Luke ------Yes, that can real tough. It's those unexpected times that can be the worst.

The story of United Flight 93, more than any other taleâ€”true or fableâ€”of our lifetime, makes you wonder about yourself. These were not young soldiers in battle. This was not the culmination of some long crisis with time to ruminate and firm up your resolve. These were ordinary, middle- class and (mostly) middle-aged Americans going about their everyday lives, whenâ€”bang!â€” they faced the ultimate test. And passed. "Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide," goes the old hymn. But usually it's not literally just a moment. These people were not just courageous. They were instinctually courageous.

I think I'd flunk. Oh, perhaps optimistically, I give myself a 50-50 chance of having the courage to rise from my seat and join a charge toward the cockpit (once I'd concluded I was almost certainly going to die anyway). What I find harder to imagine is disobeying the instructions from authority figuresâ€”flight attendants, anonymous voices over the public-address system, telling me to stay seated and remain calm.

In retrospect, this was bad advice. Similar instructions were even worse advice at the World Trade Center, where people who called 911 were told to remain at their desks. Many ignored or didn't wait for this advice, fled anyway, made it partway down the emergency stairs, and then were told to go back to their desks, or to wait at assembly points in the doomed buildings. Hundreds did as they were told and died as a result. Other hundreds defied authority, proceeded out of the buildings, and went about the rest of their lives.

So, what's the lesson? Is it to defy authority and follow your own instincts in an emergency? If so, we haven't learned it. For a while after 9/11 there was talk of changing the official policy regarding hijackings and to start encouraging the passengers to whack the hijackers with their pillows, and so on. An urban myth sprouted about an airplane captain who gave the passengers detailed instructions in guerilla warfare at 30,000 feet. But today, airline passengers are still told at the start of every flight that in an emergency they should remain calm and follow instructions from anyone in a uniform orâ€”in the case of Unitedâ€”even inanimate objects ("lighted signs and placards").

Poking around the Web, I stumbled across the official "Hijacking Survival Guidelines" for employees of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They say, "Stay calm and encourage others around you to do the same. Do not challenge the hijackers physically or verbally. Comply with their instructions. Do not struggle. â€¦ Blend in with the other airline passengers." (There's no telling, I suppose, how an emotionally volatile hijacker might react to the discovery that there is an Agriculture Department employee on board.)

So the U.S. government is kicking in millions of dollars for a memorial to the heroes of United 93. But meanwhile it is officially encouraging people not to do what these heroes did, should the occasion arise. "Don't try this at home" might be a sensible policy if the United 93 passengers had been specially selected or trained. But they were an utterly random collection of Americans, just like you or me or the employees of the Ag Department. If they are heroes, why are we being told not to do what they did?

It is the nature of authorities to assert authority, and its hard to imagine officials of anything urging people to pay no attention to official instructions. But there is also some logic here. The policies followed by police and fire officials at the World Trade Center (at the cost of their own lives as well as others') seem very wrong in hindsight. But these rules themselves were the product of hindsight. During the first World Trade Center bombing, back in 1993, rescue attempts and fire control were frustrated by the anarchy of thousands fleeing unnecessarily down narrow emergency stairs. Emergency planners are like generalsâ€”always fighting the last war. But what other choice do they have? Let he who anticipated that the next four hijacked planes would be pointed at major office buildings cast the first stone.

With convenient symmetry, it also seems to be the nature of most people, most of the time, to obey authority. The famous Stanley Milgram experiments at Yale in 1961 demonstrated that it is frighteningly easy to induce ordinary peopleâ€”good peopleâ€”to inflict pain on others, when ordered to do so by some authority figure. Sept. 11 demonstrated that most people will sit tight and obey orders even unto their own deaths. The defiance of authority is a big reason the United 93 story is so thrilling. This was heroism, American-style. Dissing the Man on your way out the door. These folks were cowboys. John Wayne and Clint Eastwood don't have time for the rules, and neither did they.

But instinct aside, people who choose to obey authority in crises may do so because of a conscious and rational decision that it is the right thing to do. If, in an airplane emergency, the flight attendant told me to remain in my seat with my seat belt buckled high across my waist and my seat back and tray table in the full upright and locked position, I would be strongly inclined to assume that a trained flight attendant knew more about what was going on, and the best way of dealing with it, than I did. She, far better than I, could assess the ever-present danger of items shifting in the overhead bins. The incantatory power of these familiar phrases no doubt enhances their persuasiveness. As a fairly enthusiastic fan of the rule of law generallyâ€”in a democratic society, that isâ€”I would probably regard being caught in the middle of a crisis like 9/11 as a test of my principles in extremis. And I would be inclined, even for high-minded reasons, to do as told.

And sometimes obeying authority is the counsel of courage while defying it is the counsel of cowardice. It probably took more courage to climb back up to your office in the World Trade Center than it did to proceed down and out of the building. Foolish courage, as it turns out, but you never know. I suspect that many emergencies are what game theorists call a "prisoner's dilemma" situation, where everybody is best off if most people obey the rules, but the few that disobey are even better offâ€”as long as they're only a few. In a situation like the World Trade Center, for example, the most lives might be saved by an orderly evacuation, but your best shot at saving your own life is to escape before order collapses because everyone else is doing what you do.

Courage and cowardice, obeying instructions and defying them, are all unreliable guides in an unimaginable crisis like 9/11. In a way, that's comforting. You can't really get it wrong. You're in the hands of fate (or faith, if you've got it). We celebrate the passengers who rebelled on United 93 for their choice, but we surely don't, or shouldn't, blame any of the folks on any of those planes for arriving at a different decision, or none at all.

The closest I've come to such a crisis was a big earthquake in Seattle a few years ago. I was at a meeting in a ground-floor conference room at Microsoft when the tremors started. People shouted, "Don't run outside, don't run outside"â€”that being the one piece of official advice everybody remembers. Then, after a very long two or three seconds, everybody ran outside. Including me. That's not courage, and it may not be wisdom. But it's instinct and it's irresistible. I'd do it again, whatever they may say.

Luke ------I also wonder if a reason why the official line is to remain calm is because, say a flight attendant were to organize a "rebellion" but the rebellion failed, the airline might be held liable for any lives lost as a result of said "rebellion".

That might not be true, but in such an "insured" world, I bet this has at least a small part of why they tell us to remain in our seats.

September 2003 - drop in appetite loss of weight in neck and arms lower chest look good on ct scan lymph nodes enlarged uterus enlarged 3 times normal size lymph nodes around aorta to left kidney are enlarged liver ok can't promise to get out lymph nodes a sarcoma of uterus or ovarian abnormality game plan-take out as much as can safely get many possibilities really innovative things now very worrisome things may need to take out part of colon every week for 7 weeks in a row no hair loss nausea kidney function can affect blood counts no steroids colon resection

CA125 - 52 repeat ct-scan after next week comparison of lymph nodes pelvis clean as a whistle finish this round may change protocol

Evidence good de-bulked 90% dead bowel/dead kidney left kidney encased scar tissue none show extreme drug resistance no interferon one more week chemo sensitivity - all will treat

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------Peace be with you, my friend.

This past weekend was one of the most wonderful weekends of my life! Being with my adult children and seeing them interact with each other is a joy and I feel so blessed.

Luke ------Yeah, it was a blast and a half. Katieg http://www.journalscape.com/katieg/ ------It was great. I'm already looking forward to the one next year!

Matthew ------I agree. It was a great weekend. It's one that I'll remember for a long time to come.

I attended Douglas Brinkley's talk about his new book about New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and Katrina last night at Politics and Prose bookstore. I love these events and attend them regularly.

First of all, P & Prose is a great bookstore! I always feel alot smarter after my visits there. It's neat to hang around like-minded people. And it makes me glad that people still buy books there and that it's still around.

Oh, and I thanked Mr. Brinkley for dedicating his book to the wonderfully warm people of Houston for opening their arms to evacuees during this terrible time. I agree, Houston's a great place!

Luke ------Can't wait til you visit this great place. reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Great dedication!

------Date: 2006-05-26 10:04:00 Subject: AmeriCorps I met a young man last night at Politics and Prose that was serving his third and final year in AmeriCorp, helping homeless people. He had a backpack full of energy bars, information about helpful resources, and bars of soap, etc.

I thanked him for his service to his country and then he said, "yeah, I wish I could do this the rest of my life, but they (I'm assuming the bureaucrats here in W, DC) limit AmeriCorp service to 3 years."

Now, why in a country where one can be career military and serve 20 or 30 years or more, do we limit someone's service to AmeriCorp to 3 years?

Luke ------Right, I agree. I think some people will hate us regardless, but yeah, spending a billion dollars a day on the peace corps would go a LONG way!

Jill ------Now I'm not saying that there aren't some radical islamo-fascists out there that would hate us Americans no matter what we do, but can you imagine how different life would be if we placed as much importance on the Peace Corp and AmeriCorp as we do on the military?

Luke ------That is a good point... It might be something I would do. reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Things that make you go hmm...

Or not. If that kind of service were a priority to us, we'd find a way to allow people to continue.

QUESTION: Mr. President, you spoke about missteps and mistakes in Iraq. Could I ask both of you which missteps and mistakes of your own you most regret?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Sounds like kind of a familiar refrain here -- saying "bring it on," kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner -- you know, "wanted dead or alive," that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted, and so I learned from that. And I think the biggest mistake that's happened so far, at least from our country's involvement in Iraq is Abu Ghraib. We've been paying for that for a long period of time. And it's -- unlike Iraq, however, under Saddam, the people who committed those acts were brought to justice. They've been given a fair trial and tried and convicted.

PRIME MINISTER BLAIR: I think inevitably some of the things that we thought were going to be the biggest challenge proved not to be, and some of the things we didn't expect to be challenges at all proved to be immense. I think that probably in retrospect -- though at the time it was very difficult to argue this -- we could have done the de-Baathification in a more differentiated way than we did.

I think that the most difficult thing, however, has been the determination of people to move against the democratic process in Iraq in a way that I think -- as I was saying a moment or two ago -- indicates our opponents' very clear view from a very early stage that they have to stop the democratic process working. And I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made, but the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination of our opponents to defeat us. And I don't think we should be surprised at that.

Maybe in retrospect, when we look back, it should have been very obvious to us, and is obvious still in Afghanistan that for them, it is very clear. You know, they can't afford to have these countries turned round, and I think that probably, there was a whole series of things in Iraq that were bound to come out once you got al Qaeda and other groups operating in there to cause maximum destruction and damage. And therefore, I'm afraid in the end, we're always going to have to be prepared for the fall of Saddam not to be the rise of democratic Iraq, that it was going to be a more difficult process.

[The following is the text of my (Norm Geras) talk at last night's Euston Manifesto launch.]

By one of those coincidences that don't mean anything, 70 years ago today - and I mean to the very day - the poet T.S. Eliot paid a visit to a small hamlet in Cambridgeshire. He took the name of this place as the title for the fourth of his Four Quartets - 'Little Gidding'. What has that got to do with the Euston Manifesto? Nothing, really.

But in the way of these things, I went back to the poem just to have a look, in case (you never know) I might find some other connection than merely the date. What I came back to there were these lines:

And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from...

There you go â€“ that gives me somewhere to start from this evening. Because I want to talk about ends and beginnings in both a public and a personal sense.

The first of these: 9/11 - September 11, 2001. It is a day imprinted on the public memory - indelibly - because the crime committed in New York and Washington DC announced a terrible willingness, of which few previously had been aware: a willingness to use terror without limit for political ends; a terrorism, that is to say, unconstrained by any concern about the numbers of the innocent dead. That day was both an end and a beginning because it showed, and to many of us in an instant, that the world was now different, dangerously so, and in a way not amenable to simple-minded responses.

This brings me to a second end and beginning, and if I may get your indulgence for this, I will frame it in more personal terms. It happened in the days immediately following 9/11. Not just simple-minded, but cold, shameful, appalling responses to the crime that had been perpetrated, parading across the pages of the liberal and left press. You know the terms of it: blowback; comeuppance; yes, a crime of course but... But what? But a crime to be contextualized immediately, just in case you might be unaware that it wasn't the first or the worst crime in human history.

This kind of stuff, I regret to say, was coming principally from a part of the left. And in those few days, 12, 13, 14 September 2001, it became clear to me that this part of the left wasn't a part one should have anything - or anything more, depending on where you were at the time - to do with if the left was to have a worthwhile future and merit anybody's support.

Anyone who's ever belonged to anything, as we all have - a family, a group, a club, a movement - will know that this involves having some quarrels. If you're part of the left then you have your quarrels; and having been a part of the left all my adult life, I've had my share. But some things you quarrel about. About other things you draw a line. Over 9/11 I decided the time had come to draw a line. A left truly committed to democratic values doesn't make excuses for terrorism, not at all, not ever. Terrorism is murder. There is no context that makes it OK. This is a simple principle - that you do not wantonly kill the innocent - embodied in the most basic moral codes of civilized existence, embodied in the rules of warfare and in international humanitarian law.

The left paid a heavy price for its fellow-travelling with - its justification and apologetics for - the mass crimes of the Soviet Union in the twentieth century. For another generation to put its foot upon a similar path is not something any of us should look upon with indulgence. It's the place to draw a line. You make an end and, if necessary, another beginning. The left has to be better than that.

OK, now push the clock forward. It's 2003. A number of people are blogging about the Iraq war. In my own case this starts in the summer of 2003, but others have already been going a while, and more others are getting into the conversation with each month that passes. There are bloggers of the left who support the war. How's that possible? Support the war? From the left? Well, it's possible because Saddam Hussein's regime is a murderous tyranny - as it has been said, a torture chamber above ground, a mass grave below - responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people of that long suffering country.

Of course, it was also possible to oppose the war, even while knowing this - as did a number of the supporters of the Euston Manifesto. There were weighty considerations on both sides, and reasonable people could reasonably disagree about the prospects and the dangers, how things were likely to turn out, as well as about the alternatives to war and their likely consequences and dangers.

But there has been another discourse of opposition to the Iraq war, starting with the banners and slogans for that Saturday on 15 February 2003, from which one would never have known what kind of a place Saddam's Iraq was. It has been a discourse of denial, evidenced by the numbers of those on the left unwilling to allow, or even comprehend, why others of us on the left supported the war; by a rancorous hostility towards the pro-war left; and, most seriously of all, by the lack of interest in initiatives of solidarity with the forces in Iraq battling for a democratic transformation of their country, itself part of a wider lack of enthusiasm for the success of this enterprise.

To those who now say that such criticisms levelled by the Euston Manifesto at a large part of the anti-war left are misdirected, applying only to a small number of people on the far left, I have two answers. (1) Not true. (There's a more forceful way of putting that, but it violates the rules of public civility.) (2) That it isn't true has been documented at length.

In any event, this takes us back to those shameful responses to 9/11 from which I started - because some of the themes of what I'm calling the discourse of denial in argument about the Iraq war are for their part shameful too: a tendency to go silent about, or at least to minimize, the horrors of Baathist Iraq; a manner of distributing blame for everything that has gone wrong in that country in such a way that the daily killing of civilians by so-called insurgents figures only as one of the lamentable consequences of coalition failure, and barely at all as the result of the actions of those who are directly responsible - as if they were merely a hive of bees stirred up and not people making choices; only the most grudging acknowledgement - if that - that millions of Iraqis voting for a different kind of future for themselves was a matter of some significance.

One has to draw a line. This is not the authentic voice of the left, and it is not a voice which any self-respecting liberal should be willing to own. It is a disgrace to the best aspirations of the progressive and democratic tradition.

So, some people - bloggers, the owners of other websites, trade unionists, other kinds of activists - come together last May. We know there are others out there who share our sense of non- belonging to the left-liberal consensus on such issues. We know because of the feedback we get. 'Thank goodness, I found your blog. Thank goodness I'm not the only one who feels that this left doesn't speak for me.'

We decide to produce a document setting out some general principles, some common positions. The Euston Manifesto steps out into the world. What it says I hope many of you now know, and I won't try to rehearse it here.

But thank you all for coming this evening. We need to insist that there is a different tradition which socialists and democrats and liberals can speak out for. There's been quite a chorus of voices these past few weeks saying that the Euston Manifesto is of no account - though a lot of those saying so seem rather animated about it. Well, we make no extravagant claims. It's a beginning, that's all.

And so parts of the left - including Peter Beinart's upcoming book - refuse to be bystanders on the war against Islamist terror. If the Democrats are smart, they will follow their lead. We have real enemies out there; and they need to be uncovered, fought and killed before they kill us. And the primary victims of our enemies - ordinary Muslims across the Middle East - need our democratic support now as much as they ever have.

and more...

Bush, Blair, Iraq

They were different men last night - for the first time dropping all pretense that their occupation of Iraq has gone in any way according to non- existent plan. And in a strange way, that helps them. They both have expiration dates marked on their heads; they share this legacy; they remain committed to it, because they have no other realistic option. But their acknowledgment of the "ghastly" violence, their ownership of past mistakes, and the clear interest we all have in seeing the project succeed makes things in some ways less fraught. They get it now: bravado is not strength; realism is. I'm with Tom Friedman on this one. We're three years in. Remember the Kurds? They were effectively liberated fifteen years ago. They experienced a brutal civil war before their society was able to gain some semblance of pluralist normality. The violence in Iraq was preventable - but it may also, in a horrifying way, have been a way to purge the society of the terrible grievances and divides that are the consequences of several decades of brutal dictatorship. Iraq is still the lever for real, profound change in the Middle East. It is our only real brake on Iran. It is the front line against Jihadism. Our job will not be finished in two more years; maybe not in twenty. But this is America. It can be done. Bringing the Arab and Muslim world into the new millennium is a pre- requisite for our own security and the world's. We must finish the job.

I agree! ~ JillSusan

------Date: 2006-05-29 18:54:00 Subject: The Returning Dead

They have become the day's concluding news,

Installments from a world without anthems

Or children, unfocusing eyes

A question that repeatedly rejects

My easy terms. They are ones who believed

And acted in the narrow and select

Ways handed them, while ordinary lives

Ran on without interruption

Or bad pictures, as though nothing had changed

Change is the one unanswerable question

Of these faces. The world can rearrange Itself repeatedly, but these remain

The same, silent in everything they lack;

That's what they've come to, in places with names

Like Afghanistan, Iraq,

And this is the way it happens: the words

Are old - mother, father, home - and will catch

Surrounding currents in the slow absurd

Descending will of any river etched

Out of a landscape history refines

To myth. The TV blanks between

Segments, but every static face defines

Itself, holds stubbornly its private scene

Fixed, publicly, as we are led

Back to that little negative whose lack

Is each of us, staring the staring dead,

Leaning, sometimes like grief itself; then straightening back.

-Wyatt Prunty

------Date: 2006-05-29 22:19:00 Subject: Scooby(s)

Grandkids Scooby

User Comments: Ted ------Yes!!!! Pictures!!!!

Bravo!!!

More!!! More!!!!

------Date: 2006-05-30 17:00:00 Subject: Everything is relative

Ever since I arrived in DC, I have been remarking to anyone that cares how much I love the weather here. We have had an unusually cool, dry spring according to some.

With our Memorial Weekend temperatures hitting the upper 80s/low 90s, I'm hearing more and more, "just wait until August!" Then I respond, "I'm prepared for August...I'm from Texas...surely it can't be that bad" and that's when they assure me, "oh yes, it is!"

So I did some research.

DC Temperatures
	June	July	August
Average Temperature	75	79	78
Average High	84	88	86
Average Low	65	70	69

Dallas Temperatures
	June	July	August
Average Temperature	81	85	85
Average High	92	96	96
Average Low	71	75	74

Bottom line, I think I'll survive!

User Comments:

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------Somehow, I'm thinking you'll survive. And it's not like you haven't lived in some humid parts as well as high temp. So I'm betting on you to brave the extremes up there. reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Yeah, the last couple days R has been worried that we'd gotten you here under false pretenses... it's SO *&^%! hot up here right now.

Luke ------Yeah, the weather was so gorgeous up there. When I landed back in Houston, it had the familiar "warm blanket" feel that you just can't shake.

BUt yeah, I does get pretty dang hot up there too!

------Date: 2006-05-30 22:15:00 Subject: It doesn't get any better than this!

Guest blogger - Granddaughter #1, aka the new and improved JK Rowling

J's MaDear Story

One day a grandma who was named MaDear went on a vacation. She went to Orlando Florida and visited her grand children. The kids had a secret. They were taking her to Disney world. They told her after they went to the park. She was so surprised after they told her. She said "Wow this is cool and with my grand children even cooler". The next morning they woke up at 5:00 am. They were the first people their. They rode all the rides and even the Haunted Mansion. At the end of the day they saw the fire works. The next day they woke up at the same time. They went to MGM studio's next. They rode almost every ride. MaDear only didn't ride The Tower of Terror and the Rocking roller coaster. At night they saw Fantasmic. The next day they woke up at the same time again. They went to Epcot. They rode every ride their. Then at night they saw the fire works. The next day it was the same time. They went to animal kingdom. They rode almost every ride. They just didn't go on the spinning roller coaster. At the end of the day they left. They said "Good Bye" to MaDear As she got in the airport. They never will forget this fun journey. The End.

User Comments:

Luke ------Magnificent!

------Date: 2006-05-31 09:28:00 Subject: Imagine he doesn't know the words

From Salon's Video Dog comes this...

OK, we haven't been able to stop watching this one, and no, it's not at all like the Bush " Imagine" mash-up. This video, shot at a gala celebration for Shimon Peres' 80th birthday and starring Liel, a 16-year-old Israeli singer, leaves us with one serious, overriding question: What sort of non-inhaling boomer doesn't know the lyrics to "Imagine"? Still, you have to love the chutzpah required to stand in front of thousands and warble out a song you barely know.

------Date: 2006-06-01 15:04:00 Subject: War, what is it good for?

What with the latest possible news about yet another war â€œatrocityâ€ at Haditha (which, btw, I think is an anomaly...I still believe that most people, yes that includes our soldiers, are good...you may say that I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one) and was just now listening to Ebert/Roeperâ€™s latest review on my Ipod and they mentioned war movies (since it was their review prior to Memorial Day), I'm wondering, what are your thoughts on war movies?

I'll start you off...

1. War movie that made me want to enlist

2. War movie that best showed the realism of war

3. War movie that glamorized war 4. War movie that peaceniks would love

5. War movie that made me proud/glad I'm an American

or you can just wing it...I'm sure your answers will be better than mine, as I don't get out much!

Here are my answers:

1. War movie that made me want to enlist

M.A.S.H.

2. War movie that best showed the realism of war

Platoon

3. War movie that glamorized war

Star Wars

4. War movie that peaceniks would love

Tie - Coming Home and Born on the 4th of July

5. War movie that made me proud/glad I'm an American

Band of Brothers

User Comments:

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------I've wondered often about the glamorization of war. Even a movie I love -- Lord of the Rings -- which definitely shows some of the toll of war, ends on notes that make the war seem worth it regardless of the cost. There is, it seems, something primal about seeing one's enemies defeated. But in real life it is so much harder to identify the real enemy at any given time.

Luke ------1. War movie that made me want to enlist.

Seriously none.

2. War movie that best showed the realism of war.

I would imagine saving private ryan.

3. War movie that glamorized war

Hmmm, Rambo

4. War movie that peaceniks would love

PLatoon

5. War movie that made me proud/glad I'm an American

While not a true "war movie", I would have to say Schindlers List

------Date: 2006-06-02 09:34:00 Subject: Seems a little too late for this

I walked into my office building today and the big organization that occupies most of the building had a billboard outside their front door announcing their seminar for the day entitled "Managing Civil Strife and Avoiding Civil War in Iraq"...I hope they come up with some answers, but it seems like it would have been much better to hold this conference, say, maybe in January or February of 2003! ------Date: 2006-06-02 12:36:00 Subject: I remember how lousy I felt...

I remember how lousy I felt when I was a young child and someone in my class at school would do something "wrong" and the whole class would be punished because of it.

From blogland, comes this...

The breaking of the will

Daniel Henninger's Wall Street Journal Wonder Land column is the column of the day: "Ir aq syndrome has finally arrived." Henninger writes:

The Vietnam Syndrome, a loss of confidence in the efficacy of American military engagement, was mainly a failure of U.S. elites. But it's different this time. This presidency has been steadfast in war. No matter. In a piece this week on the White House's efforts to rally the nation to the idea of defeating terrorism abroad to thwart another attack on the U.S., the AP's Nedra Pickler wrote: "But that hasn't kept the violence and unrest out of the headlines every day." This time the despondency looks to be penetrating the general population. And the issue isn't just body counts; it's more than that.
The missions in Iraq and Afghanistan grew from the moral outrage of September 11. U.S. troops, the best this country has yet produced, went overseas to defend us against repeating that day. Now it isn't just that the war on terror has proven hard; the men and women fighting for us, the magnificent 99%, are being soiled in a repetitive, public way that is unbearable.
The greatest danger at this moment is that the American public will decide it wants to pull back because it has concluded that when the U.S. goes in, it always gets hung out to dry.
Two major military reports will come out soon on the Haditha incident, and no one will gainsay justice if that is required. But the atmosphere around this event is going to get uncontrollably manic, and that will feed the dark, inward-turning sentiments already poisoning the country's mood over issues like the immigration debate.
Good for Democrats? Don't count on it. After this, the public appetite for a Democratic president's "humanitarian" military intervention in a Darfur or East Timor will be close to zero.
One suspects that U.S. troops were party to some awful events in the Pacific and European theaters of World War II, all gone in the mists of history and the enemy's defeat. Not now. Gen. Chiarelli's magnificent "99.9%" notwithstanding, it's the phenomenon of the so-very-public 0.01%--at Abu Ghraib, on an Afghan street, at Haditha--that is breaking America's will this time.

------Date: 2006-06-02 15:16:00 Subject: Gurlz Rawk!

'Ursprache' beats 'weltschmerz' to win American spelling bee

------Date: 2006-06-05 00:34:00 Subject: American Airlines...

...you're way past on notice...you're dead to me!

So I was delayed leaving Houston tonight for my connection through DFW back to DC. They (American Airlines/AA) made arrangements for me to stay at a DFW hotel and gave me a voucher for a $10 dinner and a $5 breakfast. Of course, the hotel they booked me at does not offer food service (and I'm sure AA knows this) so it was pointless.

As we sat on the runway waiting to leave Houston in this teeny, tiny prop airline, we could see out the window Southwest Airlines jet after jet taking off, probably most of them on time! And to top it off, we had a pilot that couldn't even maneuver the plane away from the gate without almost running the left wing into the jetway, so we had to wait for the ground crew to come and push us back to the gate so he could back the plane correctly this time to get in line to take off. The landing was even more fun, as you would have thought we had ice on the runway, the way he skidded the plane to and fro.

What should have been a 35-45 minutes flight took us well over 1 hour and 10 minutes airtime! Then they had the nerve to continue the lie to passengers hoping to make connections in other DFW terminals with less than 30 minutes to make those connections. I'm sure they arrived at their gates panting and sweating to only be told that they too would have to stay at this same luxury hotel (with no food service, although they would probably get the same meal tickets I received).

And then, they too, would get to wait over an hour for the hotel shuttle to arrive, the bus unairconditioned and full of unruly and extremely pissed off passengers who had gotten the same runaround I had from American. (Also noticed that there were no AA crew members on the shuttle...could it be that they actually put them up at a nice hotel WITH FOOD SERVICE!??!!! and a van that comes on time and is air conditioned?)

Upon arrival at DFW, I asked the baggage claim people where my luggage was. Of course, this was after landing at the gate in A terminal and taking the skylink to B terminal where they said my luggage was waiting for me. Upon arrival at B terminal I was informed that no, my luggage was at A. So I waited for the bus to come to take me back to A. Upon arrival there, I was informed that I would not be able to get my luggage, as it was locked up downstairs, awaiting my early morning flight to DC. Of course, it didn't matter that I asked the gate agent in Houston 3 TIMES if I would be able to get my luggage in DFW for my quick overnight stay here and he assured me 3 TIMES that I would be able to get my luggage, as he said smarty-pants to me "where else would your luggage go, except that you'd be able to get it in Dallas?"

Long ago, my smart brother Ted relayed a somewhat similar incident about American and I, at the time, couldn't identify.

Now, of course, I know exactly what he's talking about and I will do all I can to never, ever take another American Airlines flight unless I just have to! What a way NOT to run an airline. I, for one, hope they go under, and quickly!

As my kids say "Uncle Ted is always right!"

User Comments:

Dalia ------We LOVED the visit with you and HATE that AA put a bad ending on it. I try to fly Continental or SW and I always try to fly non-stop - I too have learned a hard lesson along the way.

We have a couple of friends who work at AA (they are in it for the benefits) - I'll be glad to share your official complaint with them if you send me an email copy.

Jill ------Well, I'm home (or rather at my office) safe and sound and I guess that's the really important thing.

Oh, and I need to make amends for the line about them "going under" as I know there are alot of really wonderful people that would be hurting big time if that happened, but really, I'm composing a huge complaint letter to their customer relations department anyway, not that I'm too optimistic about it doing any good.

Things I've learned that I from my last several flight experiences:

Just because the flight is cheaper doesn't mean it's really cheaper. (I lost 5.5 hours of work and more sleep than I want to think about with this bargain fare...it would have been better to spend the extra 50 bucks and book a direct, non-stop flight).

Flying out of BWI (although this wasn't the case this time) is not always the best option, especially if you have to factor in a hotel room at the airport so that you make your early morning/late night connections.

Always, always, always carry-on the stuff you really, really need. I made the mistake of carrying on the stuff I purchased at Bobbie & Dalia's Christmas store and checking my toietries, power cord for my laptop, my house keys!, a change of clothes, and clean underwear. When I was at the DFW Comfort Inn last night (and I use the term Comfort loosely as the coolest I could get my room with the A/C full blast was 78 degrees), it sure would have been wonderful to have a toothbrush instead of assorted Christmas gifts for assorted special people in my life, but oh well.

Never, ever, ever trust anything that anyone at American Airlines tells you about baggage, including which carousel you'll find your luggage on, and in which terminal.

Always assume that if you do have a connection at DFW, you'll have to take the Skylink to another one of AA's 4 terminals to make your connection...allow one hour, at least, and if you don't have it, just have them re-book you, as you'll waste total time trying to think they'll accomodate you and "hold the flight" for you.

If you do have to book a flight that involves a DFW to Houston leg, or a DFW to Austin leg or vice versa, TAKE SOUTHWEST AIRLINES!

Don't depend on American to "give" you anything but a ice-filled cup of soda, which works itself out to be about 1/2 cup of soda, after all. Their bottom line must really be hurting, as they don't even give you the tiny bag of pretzels anymore.

Keep a sense of humor, which I was actually able to do, as I found myself with a group of people that had experienced the same kind of wrath I felt at the hands of "America's" airline! Misery loves company, I guess, and we were all able to laugh at the incompetence.

If you see that you'll be on an AA plane with propellors, know that they may or may not know how to back the thing out of the gate...as the co-pilot told us "sorry folks, we're not used to backing out this Saab from the gate and we cut it a little close...we're waiting on ground crew to help us out" (what confidence we all had in the pilots after this announcement and this is even before they took off!)

When you do get held over and AA does have to book you at a hotel and they give you a $10 dinner voucher and a $5 breakfast voucher (good only at the hotel they book you at, which I'm sure they know does not have either dinner service or breakfast service), laugh politely, tear the vouchers up in front of the agent that thinks you think he is accomodating you, and then say "I wasn't born yesterday" or something to that effect.
Don't expect anything to come out of your complaint letter to aa.com/customerrelations. No one is listening!

Luke ------Wow! Sorry you had such a crummy experience. Guess you shoulda stayed in Houston!

Matthew ------Yeah. I have to say that our experience with AA is moderately similar. We had a really sarcastic ticket agent in Austin that managed to piss off an entire line of people, as well as that adventurous landing in the DFW airport, complete with emergency vehicles lining the runway.

Ted ------As soon as I saw the title of your post in my rss reader, I *knew* what happened. I felt a tremor in the force last night but couldn't explain it. As soon as I saw "American Airlines..." I knew....

It must be a corporate policy that they will *not* level with passengers when things go poorly. Hey, sounds like the BUSH ADMINISTRATION!!!

------Date: 2006-06-05 00:55:00 Subject: BTW

Despite the previous post, I had a wonderful weekend in Houston and am all smiles about the great conversation and good times I had with Luke (et al) and Bayless & Stokes! And definitely I will be a lucky girl if my previous post is the worst I have to complain about ever!

User Comments:

Luke ------It was rad seeing you too! Nadia and I enjoyed your visit!

------Date: 2006-06-08 07:03:00 Subject: Mission re-Accomplished

Now it's time to declare victory, ONCE AGAIN, and bring our troops home!

------Date: 2006-06-08 22:50:00 Subject: Go Mavericks!

So I was all prepared not to care about this...after all, rich NBA babies and all, but tonight when I was talking with my dear sweet mother, she was sitting there in her living room, waiting for the game to start, so I thought, I better get into this. I have to admit that I watched the first half, not the game, but Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Las Vegas and then switched over to the game.

I was all prepared to really hate the Heat, (yes all that know me really know how much I hate Heat!) and then I saw him...Pat Riley, coaching the Heat...wahhhh? you know, I've always loved Pat Riley, so now I'm conflicted.

But I've seen the feminine side of Mark Cuban on Charlie Rose so I love him too!

What to do???

Oh, of course, I'm pulling for the Mavericks! Go team!

User Comments:

Jill ------All Right! tWO dOWN!

Matthew ------I'm watching too, but it's a little more bitter sweet for me. I felt that whomever won the Spurs/Mavericks series would probably win the whole thing. And now that it appears that Dallas is in the driver's seat, it's a little bitter knowing that the Spurs were literally a couple seconds away from beating the Mavericks.

But I can't hold a grudge, so I'm definitely going to cheer for the Mavericks. But only for this series. And then next year, it's back to the Rockets and Spurs for me.

Pat Riley is awesome, no doubt. The hair, the Armani suits, and the basketball know how. You can't beat that.

Ted ------All the "Fulmer women" are into basketball this year. I came in to the bedroom tonight to find CBF cheering during the last two minutes of game one. Guess I better start paying attention....

Jill ------All Right! oNE dOWN!

------Date: 2006-06-12 09:08:00 Subject: Healing in Iraq

From Andrew Sullivan, comes this...

Healing in Iraq

12 Jun 2006 03:42 am

I've often concentrated on some of the horrendous consequences of the Bush administration's abandonment of the Geneva Conventions in this war. I make no apologies for this; and I'll keep it up. But perspective also matters. And, as I've blogged again and again, the vast majority of the young men and women defending civilization in Iraq are doing great good in extraordinarily difficult circumstances, facing fear that we will never know, displaying courage that we will never be able to imitate. Here's a piece by one of them, a military physician in Iraq, giving medical care to human beings who have tried to kill innocents and her fellow soldiers. There is an inverse analogue to Abu Ghraib - far, far more common than abuse - that represents the core morality of most soldiers, let down by their civilian leadership. Read this piece . Money quote:

A new patient has arrived, lying with his chest exposed and his vital signs electronically monitored. He is ill, and we are taking care of him, but he is different from most of our patients. He lies in bed with a bandanna covering his eyes, not a bandage. At the foot of the bed are two young American soldiers with weapons in hand.
They look at me as I look at our patient, a 'bad guy' for sure, as our Iraqi interpreter calls them. He is an insurgent.
My blood pressure rises a bit. I ask, 'What did he do?' The answer: 'He made IEDs.'
IEDs are improvised explosive devices, bombs that are hidden to explode on the unsuspecting. This man is a terrorist, an evil, mean man who plots to kill our folks, other Iraqis, even innocent young children.
My blood pressure rises even more. Something inside me wants to walk up to this guy, blindfolded or not, and just clobber him. Perhaps I will remove the bandanna, so he can see it coming. People certainly do not see the IEDs coming before they explode, destroying life, injuring arms, legs and bodies.
I look down at this insurgent, an elderly, overweight man. I wonder how we can love our enemies and how we can pray for those who spitefully use us. I have lived a life with no real enemies. Here is a man who would take my life if he could. Hate and anger raged in me for a time.
Other soldiers who see these men without the bandannas tell me that there is often no light in their eyes, no hope, no goodness that you can see. They are filled with a vile fluid that cannot be easily drained. They are cold; given the chance, these men would do us harm.

And yet she heals him, and cares for him, and forgives him. This too is America - and its real heart and soul. And this is now our calling in Iraq. We broke it; we own it. We must now stay for as long as it takes to help heal it; and in so doing, do our part to help heal the world.

User Comments:

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------Thanks for these reflections. Very moving. I really like how you put all of this.

------Date: 2006-06-12 09:15:00 Subject: Gay Pride and Prejudice

From the Sunday Post comes good news!

-- Karlyn Bowman American Enterprise Institute

Oppose allowing gays to marry legally

1996 65% 2006 51%

Source: Pew Research Center

The proportion of Americans describing same-sex relations as "always wrong" has declined since the 1970s. In contrast, the proportion describing extramarital relations as "always wrong" increased from 70 percent to 80 percent over the same period.

Same-sex relations are always wrong:

1973 73%

2004 58%

Source: National Opinion Research Center

Views about hiring homosexuals for different occupations have liberalized over the years. For example, most Americans now say they should be hired as elementary school teachers, a previously more controversial position.

Homosexuals should be hired as elementary

school teachers

1977 27%

2005 54%

Source: The Gallup Organization

Have a friend or close acquaintance who is gay 1985 22%

2000 56%

Source: Princeton Survey Research Associates/Newsweek

Favor gay adoption

1977 14%

2006 49%

Source: (1977) The Gallup

Organization; (2006) ABC News/Time

User Comments:

Luke ------The times they are a-changin' reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------But I thought that evil activist judges were subverting the clear will of the people!!!!!!

------Date: 2006-06-12 20:49:00 Subject: Quote of the Day

Let each one examine his thoughts, and he will find them all occupied with the past and the future. We scarcely ever think of the present; and if we think of it, it is only to take light from it to arrange the future. The present is never our end. The past and the present are our means; the future alone is our end. So we never live; and, as we are always preparing to be happy, it is inevitable we should never be so," - Pascal, Pensees.

User Comments:

Matthew ------Great quote.

------Date: 2006-06-14 12:49:00 Subject: SoaP

The last 10 minutes of OnPoint today featured a story about this.

I'm probably, as usual, late to the party, but this story just gave me a real giggle!

If Snakes on a Plane turns out to be a blockbuster, the producers ought to pay the blogosphere, since I'm pretty sure at this point they've put in more effort than the person(s) who developed the plot. The so-bad-it's-good-or-so-we-expect film isn't out until August, but already they've got a parody: Snakes on an Elevator. Rated R for language, but if you can handle a four-syllable word or two go right on ahead.

This is hilarious! and to think that the blogosphere is having this much impact!

In March 2006 New Line Cinema, due to massive fan interest on the Internet, allowed for a 5 day reshoot to film new scenes to take the movie from PG-13 to a R-rated film (originally the film wrapped principal photography in September 2005). Among these additions is the Jackson character's line, "I want these motherfucking snakes off this motherfucking plane," a line that originated in an anticipatory internet parody of the movie.

Now, it's even part of the language.

I'll probably get fired for spending so much time on stuff like this at work...oh well, snakes on a plane...

User Comments:

Matthew ------as are we in the chuy'slovershousehold.

When it comes to viral marketing, this movie puts "The Blair Witch Project" to shame. I really hope the movie delivers, at least as a campy B movie.

I think it could be lots of fun.

Check out this link. It's a hilarious video.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/videos/snakes_on_a_plane.html reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------We are all abuzz in the reverendhousehold over this movie.

------Date: 2006-06-14 20:40:00 Subject: We give thanks this day by

O. Eugene Pickett

For the expanding grandeur of Creation, worlds known and unknown, galaxies beyond galaxies, filling us with awe and challenging our imaginations:

We give thanks this day.

For this fragile planet earth, its times and tides, its sunsets and seasons:

We give thanks this day. For the joy of human life, its wonders and surprises, its hopes and achievements:

We give thanks this day.

For our human community, our common past and future hope, our oneness transcending all separation, our capacity to work for peace and justice in the midst of hostility and oppression:

We give thanks this day.

For high hopes and noble causes, for faith without fanaticism, for understanding of views not shared:

We give thanks this day.

For all who have labored and suffered for a fairer world, who have lived so that others might live in dignity and freedom:

We give thanks this day.

For human liberty and sacred rites; for opportunities to change and grow, to affirm and choose:

We give thanks this day.

We pray that we may live not by our fears but by our hopes, not by our words but by our deeds.

User Comments:

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------Amen. The line about "understanding views not shared" grabbed me for some reason - that really is something to be grateful for.

------Date: 2006-06-14 22:05:00 Subject: AFI

I always love those AFI specials...tonight's special is about 100 Years...100 Cheers .

I really, really, really need to make more time in my life for movies.

User Comments:

Matthew ------I always miss these shows. Oh well. Hopefully I'll catch a rerun of it somewhere.

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------I love these lists too. I'm going to post on the absence of LOTR from the list.

Matthew ------DO IT!!!

Luke ------Yeah, I know that feeling!

------Date: 2006-06-15 20:16:00 Subject: I like the way this sounds

"Let us resolve to deal with the world as it is but never to accept that we are powerless to make it better than it is - not perfect, but better. America will lead the cause of freedom in our world not because we think ourselves perfect. To the contrary, we cherish democracy and champion its ideals because we know we are not perfect," - secretary of state Condi Rice, to the Southern Baptist Association.

------Date: 2006-06-15 20:26:00 Subject: What 2 party system?

The Senate rejected a call for the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq by year's end on Thursday as Congress erupted in impassioned, election-year debate over a conflict that now has claimed the lives of 2,500 American troops.

The vote was 93-6 to shelve the proposal, which would have allowed "only forces that are critical to completing the mission of standing up Iraqi security forces" to remain in 2007. 93-6. Again, I ask, what 2 party system?

------Date: 2006-06-15 21:55:00 Subject: **Straight clergy, make your point!

**Straight clergy (mostly, if not all, straight) who go on TV shows and tell us why gay marriage is bad or against Jesus or not sanctioned by the bible or the eleventh commandment, blah, blah, blah who sound absolutely non-loving, non-tolerant, non-welcoming up against any of the people they are debating on the other side.

I watched the panel tonight on Larry King Live and the gay members of the panel made such strong, wonderful points, only to be NOT answered by the straight clergy on the other side.

This debate just doesn't make sense to me, seeing as the gay side is so right and the others are just grasping...

I'm wondering in the end, who is winning over the non-believers who are watching...I'm placing my money on the gay side that just wants to love and commit to another person (is that so wrong?)

User Comments: reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Well, you will get no argument from me there, all I'm saying is that I'm sure they find their position to be very consistent internally, and in fact probably see themselves as quite counter-cultural.

There's more to say, but gotta sermon to write...

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------RM said They are not motivated by what's culturally popular, they are defending what they believe to be the truth. "The Bible says it" sounds very shabby to many, but when the Bible is your truth, it's all you need, and you don't care if others don't buy it.

My experience suggests that no one believes all of the Bible applies, no matter how true it might be. And this is the inexcusable part for me. The conservatives really do believe what is culturally popular -- it is just that their culture is myopic and theologically inbred to the point they can't admit that what they find in the Bible is the reflection of their own faces. No one should dare be so certain they know what God thinks. This is the great divide in theology to me. The greatest atrocities of the world have been committed by peole who were certain. reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------If I hear "Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" one more time...

And incidentally, by that argument we really should *require* people to marry, since it's Adam and Eve, not "just Adam" or "just Eve." If it's God's intention that we live as one man and one woman, then single people are living outside God's intention. I'll let my single clergy friend know as she prepares to adopt an unwanted child from Guatemala...

Also we should probably sanction polygamy, because it's not "Jacob and Rachel," it's "Jacob and Rachel and Leah and Bilhah and Zilpah"...

However, I must defend my conservative brethren and sistren on one point. They are not motivated by what's culturally popular, they are defending what they believe to be the truth. "The Bible says it" sounds very shabby to many, but when the Bible is your truth, it's all you need, and you don't care if others don't buy it. And they are not willing to sacrifice the truth for "winning non- believers."

In that sense I agree with them, although we come to different conclusions. In my case, I think Jesus' teachings on money and the poor (which outnumber the verses Jesus talks about gays by a couple thousand to zero) are incredibly unpopular. I'm still working out what they mean in my life of course, because I want to live a congruent life with what I believe, but I keep preaching and teaching about them, and I don't think in good conscience I should stop doing so just because they are unpopular.

I do ultimately believe that Jesus preached a gospel of radical inclusion and "agape" love, which is self-giving love, but it bothers me sometimes when Jesus gets portrayed as a blissed-out hippy guy whose dominant characteristic is being Nice. I don't think you were doing that... I just never miss an opportunity to jump on that particular soapbox ;-)

------Date: 2006-06-16 13:09:00 Subject: Giving your 2 year notice

You know you're important when you have to give a 2 year notice to your company!

Microsoft's Gates to Leave Daily Role

Microsoft Corp. said after the bell Thursday that Chairman Bill Gates will transition out of a day- to-day role in the company to spend more time on his global health and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The company announced a two-year transition process to ensure that there is a smooth and orderly transfer of Gates' daily responsibilities, and said that after July 2008 Gates would continue to serve as the company's chairman and an adviser on key development projects.

Microsoft said Chief Technical Officer Ray Ozzie will immediately assume the title of chief software architect and begin working with Gates on all technical architecture and product oversight responsibilities, to ensure a smooth transition.

Similarly, Chief Technical Officer Craig Mundie will immediately take the new title of chief research and strategy officer and will work with Gates to responsibility for the company's research and incubation efforts; Mundie also will partner with general counsel Brad Smith to guide Microsoft's intellectual property and technology policy efforts.

User Comments:

Matthew ------Maybe I should apply for his job.

------Date: 2006-06-16 19:58:00 Subject: A box of letters

My father's been dead for 9 years now, and I miss him. I remember him with love and affection.

But I know for some, the father-daughter/son relationship is complicated. This

(audio file) touched me.

User Comments:

Lady Esq. http://www.journalscape.com/shennanigans ------

I lost my father in 1984; I will never stop missing him - especially when I walk down the aisle on the arm of my brother.

Thank you for the clip - it is a new perspective for me entirely since I did the opposite, erasing all the bad.

------Date: 2006-06-19 17:07:00 Subject: Memories of time with MaDear

C came for a sleepover this past weekend. Many parts of the time with her reminded me alot of the sleepovers that I have had with her cousins, J & J. Although I really like these times together, I always realize after they get to my place, that I haven't thought out the activities or the meals that we'll share in our short time together.

This past weekend was a good example. When C got to my place, it was dinnertime. Most of the food in my place is high fiber, alot of Amy's Organic and Vegetarian ethnic dinners, and not really kid food. Now C's got a great cook for a dad and she's used to a large variety of foods, but the Indian Mattar Paneer or Samosa Wraps just didn't seem appropriate and got a response from her "I want chicken nuggets."

I learned quickly that although I know where the closest Caribou Coffee place is to my house, I haven't got a clue where the closest McDonald's is to my house. Plan B was a quick trip to the 7/11 around the corner to buy frozen chicken nuggets, frozen mac & cheese and a can of green beans...there, dinner for 2! (Of course, I *did* have the Ben & Jerry's Phish Food for dessert, so I was somewhat prepared -- at least that was my justification when buying it "hey, you never know when I'll have grandkids over and they'll *need* this ice cream, to make them happy").

Anyway, after dinner the play began. C found the dental floss that I keep close by and the first fun she chose to have was flossing her teeth. Then it was on to more fun things as she decided to get out the kitty nail clippers (kept near the dental floss) and started to examine the bits of kitty nails that I lazily had placed in the container that houses the clippers.

It got better from here, as it was time to paint our own nails (toes and fingers), but the stash of polish that I had to offer contained 8 bottles of 'ho-house' red polish and only one bottle of a color suitable for C to paint her own nails with and to lavishly apply to mine.

Feeling at this point like I'm just not the MaDear that I want to be, I asked C if she didn't want to go out and do something fun. She just smiled and said "I like it here...let's just stay here." Even my offer to get MaDear's Toy Box out with a treasure trove of toys purchased at the dollar store didn't seem to interest her much, but she did enjoy exploring the things once she decided that she'd exhausted all the fun things from my own stash of stuff.

It was then time for bed and I got her "comfy bed" all ready for her, and placed it near my own bed. She pleaded with me to watch the Golf channel (she'd learned this from her cousin J) or the Weather channel (she's learned this from her other cousin J). Instead we decided to read a book (I do have a pretty good assortment of children's books--thank you Amazon!) and we ended the evening with that instead.

As we were falling off to sleep, she looked at me and said, "I love you MaDear." This was about the same time I was thinking that I really needed to plan more, buy more, do more when my grandkids come to visit.

These sweet words brought me back to visits with my own grandmothers and the things I remember about them. It was Grandma F, carrying around that dish towel wherever she went and dusting off any surface that was in sight...it was Gannie sweeping up piles of hair off the floor in the beauty shop that she owned and how proud she was that she owned her own business (a female entrepreneur of the 50s), it was the quarter that Kay gave me to spend "any way that I want" in the 5 and Dime...it was the pride in their voices and the happy look on their face when they introduced me to their friends - - "this is my granddaughter Jill."

I'll never get the grandma of the year award, but I've got a feeling that maybe their memories of time with me will be unique in their own special way.

User Comments:

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------I think in my own memories that there was just a simplicity in the relationship with my grandparents. A simplicity that doesn't exist so readily in parent-child relationships. Maybe it's a kind of abundance that is felt. When they spend time with you it is usually all about just you and them somehow.

Bess ------Those are the best kind of memories! Some of my best memorites growing up are of Dad's (ripvansabre) office- I had more fun coloring with highlighters, eating snacks from the machine, and rolling marbles down the stairs!

Katieg ------Jessie and Joey are freaking out that I just posted that entry, so they want me to let you know that it was a joke.

Katieg ------Jessie and Joey said it was OK if we skip Disney this weekend and you just bring some dental floss and cat nail clippings to play with.

Matthew ------You win the grandma of the year every year you're up for it. You're the Tiger Woods of grandmas. :) reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------"I'll never get the grandma of the year award"

The hell you say!

Thanks for this window into your time with C. Sounds just great. She doesn't need much, just time and attention make her happy.

------Date: 2006-06-20 13:04:00 Subject: You go, girl

From Andrews Sullivan comes this...

Iran's Rosa Parks

It's a simple picture of a woman on a bus. But she's wearing no headdress or veil and a Western haircut in Iran. It's just one of several photos you can find here of the resistance to the theocratic tyranny in Tehran over the past year. The MSM does not provide enough glimpses into the struggle of Iranians against their dictators. We need to remember that we still have allies and friends in the Muslim world. And we must stand by, help finance and support them.

User Comments:

Matthew ------amen to that. ------Date: 2006-06-21 14:11:00 Subject: Maverick Mourning

"I packed one suit, one shirt, one tie" - Pat Riley, coach of the Miami Heat, 2006 NBA Champs, on Tuesday, June 20th in Dallas.

User Comments:

Matthew ------Congrats to the MAVS on a great season. They'll be back next year, no doubt. Unless, of course, the Spurs get there first.

------Date: 2006-06-22 21:06:00 Subject: Some one rat him out!

Osama's Poll Numbers

Osamapoll

Good news, at long last. Al Qaeda is losing popularity in the Muslim world, according to the new Pew poll. A shift against suicide bombing as a tactic has occurred dramatically among Muslims in Jordan, Pakistan, and Indonesia. Europe's Muslims seem to be moderating in their views as well. Osama's approval ratings in Jordan have gone from 60 percent to 24 percent in one year. Good going, Zarqawi. And most Westerners believe democracy can work in the Muslim world. Interestingly, more Brits and French believe this than Americans. There's mixed results in the report as well, but, as TPM notes, there's good reason to look on the bright side as well.

User Comments:

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------Interesting stuff. Thanks for posting it.

Luke ------word!

------Date: 2006-06-26 20:31:00 Subject: I'm beginning to think...

...that my road home is just not to be smooth sailing.

I posted recently about my rocky trip home from Houston, thanks to American Airlines.

So I switched to US Airlines when I booked my trip to Orlando this past weekend to visit K, D and JJ. All went well on the way out, but coming back last night...well, not so much. They dropped me off before 5:30 PM for my 6:30 flight back to DC. All went well, security was fast and efficient. The 6:30 flight was delayed until almost 8 PM but you wouldn't know it if you looked at the board at the gate. I guess US Air thinks if they don't post the delay, no one will notice that the flight is actually delayed.

Anyway, when we finally did take off, all went well. That is, until we got near DC. I could tell we were stalling near landing, trying to find a window in the horrendous weather that DC has been having. Soon enough, the captain decided to go for it, until he decided not to go for it, and we ended up in Richmond VA. "Welcome to Richmond" the flight attendant said, as most of us on the plane just laughed at this remark which was, I guess, supposed to make us forget that our original destination was DC. Anyway, as we sat on the plane, we wondered, maybe Richmond was not welcoming us.

Finally they decided to come back on the PA to say we were going back to DC, when the weather cleared. At about 2 AM, the captain came back on and said we were going for it.

OK, great, I'll be home before you know it....not so fast.

We arrived in DC about 2 AM and upon de-planing, I stopped by the ATM to get cabfare...I could almost feel the nice bed I'd soon hop into.

Not so fast...so did about 500 to 1000 other people who had been diverted and then re-routed back to DC.

So I spent the night, or at least until 5 AM, on the floor next to the Metro stop at Washington Reagan National Airport.

I can honestly say that I'm a DC-ite now!

I walked into my apartment at 6 AM, about 13 hours after I left Orlando. Oh, the joys of fast, lightning speed air travel!

After a few hours sleep, I got up, showered and headed off to work. I'd make it there so I'd only have to miss about 3 hours, easily made up the rest of the week. Not so fast...the trains were running really crazily today. One didn't know which track carried which trains and when they would come...a Metro "expert" said that if it was her, she'd just go to the place in between the 2 tracks and watch which trains go where and then run-like-hell to make the connection...thanks for your input, dear lady!

I finally got to work about 12:30 PM, only to find a note on the door posted "due to inclement weather, this building has no power until 6 PM today"....oh the joy of it all.

All I could do at this point was laugh!

User Comments:

Matthew ------the latter :-)

Luke ------My goodness! Does this mean you should never leave, or does it mean that upon leaving you should never return?

Katieg http://www.journalscape.com/katieg/ ------That sounds miserable. You definitely could have driven there in that time period!

Matthew ------holy cow, that may be one of the most miserable travel experiences i've ever read about.

------Date: 2006-07-04 22:16:00 Subject: 1st 4th

Today's my first fourth of July in DC...my thoughts....

sirens early couch potato afternoon showers people on stoops successful space shuttle launch a Capital Fourth reminds me of Sherry firework stands in VA a walk down 14th pot smoking (not me) across from the White House

BIG BANGS AND PRETTY COLORS cell calls from loved ones sparklers on my block more sirens

God blessed America...take care of the rest of the world now life is good

User Comments:

Matthew ------no doubt!

Luke ------Great post!

------Date: 2006-07-05 19:04:00 Subject: The Devil Wears Prada

Go see it. David Denby liked it. I feel justified in liking it too.

------Date: 2006-07-05 20:19:00 Subject: Numb

England's World Cup agony - choreographed to the Pet Shop Boys' track, Numb, from their new album, Fundamental.

------Date: 2006-07-09 22:19:00 Subject: Bathtime with M & C

One of the things MA said when they returned from Maine was that C & M needed baths...desperately...since there was only one bathroom, and a shower at that, for the past week. M woke from her nap and I took her directly to the bathtub. I love her sweet 2 toofy smile, but it really, really gets big when you put her in water. C, on the other hand, has had lots of experience with baths over her 3 years on this earth. But even C, when you convince her how fun it will be, enjoys the bath like no one you've ever seen. Let her wash her own hair, let her make the decision when to pull the plug, and she's with you all the way.

I love bathtime!

User Comments:

Bess ------So... will you come out and wash L? :)

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------Such moments to remember. I'm glad you have the eyes and the heart to see them unfold.

------Date: 2006-07-10 20:50:00 Subject: Regretting the No's

Was listening to my Ipod on the way home from working out and heard an interview with Ricky Gervais on Charlie Rose.

In it, he said that people, especially at the end of their life, regret the no's of their life, more than the yes's of their life.

I think he's onto something.

User Comments:

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------Well, I didn't mean to emphasize the holes necessarily, as much as relate to the whole question. I guess the "nos" do seem to set boundaries. And there is some part of me deep down that wants to say yes to everything, to something all-inclusive. And maybe that's the part of me that is still some sort of theist, that wants to affirm life in the fullest way. And then I'd like to say no only when to say yes would deny this larger affirmation.

But I don't think that makes any sense. Of course, maybe the heart never does.

Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------Yes, there are probably holes all over this thought. You're right, MC. Saying yes to one thing is usually saying no to another. And really, at the end of your life, hopefully you won't have too many regrets if you've strived to live life to the fullest. So of course, the no's are going to generate the biggest regret, because, as much as we'd like to, we can't have it all.

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------Interesting thought. Does that mean I should say yes to that half gallon of ice cream calling my name?

I think what's difficult for me is that it is hard in the moment to know whether you are saying yes or no. Maybe you say yes to something but later realize your yes was really a no to a larger, more compelling something. Or vice versa. Or you think you're doing something for reason x and later find out it was for reason y.

------Date: 2006-07-12 16:13:00 Subject: Repackaging

Wouldn't it be nice if we could re-package ourselves, or stuff that we have or had, say maybe 10 to 15 years ago, and make money from it? Most of my stuff is old and worn out long before that and recently, during my move to DC, I even had the Salvation Army reject some of my stuff.

I just got sucked in and ordered Pink Floyd's Pulse DVD from Amazon. It's a DVD of the video shot during Pink Floyd's two-week stint at London's Earls Court Exhibition Centre in October 1994 from Floyd's Division Bell tour.

Recently, when I saw my last movie in a theater, they were advertising a Phish concert to be shown in the theater soon of a concert they did back in 2004. It's also due out on DVD soon.

Now I'm not a Phish fan, but I'm a huge PF fan so, like I said, I was sucked in.

But I wonder, wouldn't it be nice to have stuff laying around that I could re-package and have people ready, willing and able to buy...just because it came from me?

User Comments:

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------I don't know, maybe "Jill's Greatest Training PDFs" would find a market if you set up the web site. Maybe this is one of the reasons grandchildren are so important to many. During parenthood we are still trying to find our own selves, to carve out some image, but when the second chance comes along there is somehow the affirmation that we were beautiful and full of treasures all along.

Katieg ------If you package Phish in a Ben & Jerry's carton, I am all there!!!

------Date: 2006-07-13 14:09:00 Subject: Digital Bubble Wrap!

Online bliss

User Comments:

Matthew ------ewwww

Mamala ------You got that right, rm! Wow, great minds work alike...I was thinking the same thing when I posted this! reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------All you need's an online sunburn peel and you'll be set Mamala!

------Date: 2006-07-16 22:44:00 Subject: Dodging bullets

The Washington Post says there have been 14 homicides in 13 days in DC this month of July. Do I feel unsafe? No, not really, but I'm not hanging out on the way home at night from the Metro to my apartment either.

------Date: 2006-07-16 23:00:00 Subject: Gay Marriage, Again

From Andrew Sullivan,

Glenn Reynolds airs many of the important points and calmly keeps asking the right questions, it seems to me. His responses are among the sanest I have read on the topic. I agree with him that this issue emerged before many people were ready to deal with it. But, having watched this close up from the beginning, I know this was not a decision made by the leading gay groups. At the beginning and throughout the 1990s, the gay establishment fought marriage rights passionately and treated marriage advocates as cranks. HRC did all it could to prevent this issue from dominating the discourse. They did the polling, like all principled Democrats, and wanted to play to their strengths. No gay group agreed to take the first real marriage suit in Hawaii. It took a straight guy from the ACLU to handle it. The Human Rights Campaign's leadership refused to speak of the matter for years, and only included the m-word in their literature in the last few years. Major Democratic donors also refused - and Bill Clinton talked them out of it, when necessary.

The trouble was: gay spouses found themselves barred from each others' hospital rooms in the 1980s and 1990s during the AIDS crisis, lesbian mothers had their children taken away from them, long-standing de facto marriages had family members rescind their inheritance rights, and gay consciousness evolved to the point where such scond class status rankled deeper and deeper. It was ordinary people, ordinary couples who pioneered this movement. This push emerged organically as society changed. Such pushes are always "before their time" - all social change is premature at some point. The key is to stay rational, engage the debate, see what the courts, legislatures and governors do, and let federalism do its work. I'm grateful - and so are many gay people and their families - to sane straight guys like Reynolds for standing up for this.

------Date: 2006-07-18 22:48:00 Subject: Why I love my new home

So the past few days have been hot...I mean Dallas Hot! But everyone around here acts like its a real anomaly. And tonight, after a couple of days that started out in the mid- to upper- 70s and ended up with a heat index of over 100, we had rain and when I walked to my neighborhood store for a couple of items, it was downright pleasant.

And the guy in the store acted like I was his new best friend. We've built a relationship of sorts, kind of like charging my groceries at JMH in West U in Houston. Small-town friendliness in the nation's capital...yes, it can happen!

User Comments:

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------Can you send that evening rain down this way?

Matthew ------That's great. You can't beat nice weather after a good rain. Can't wait to read more about your new buddy.

------Date: 2006-07-26 09:38:00 Subject: "Mother's Maiden Name"

~By Martha Greenwald Understand the terms, dearest customer:

Before beginning any transaction, we must

Margin your debt with memory. Calculate

3.3% of a snow day, the house sour-sweet,

Vermouth eluding the dark, mildewed ducts.

Upon approval, wander up to their bedroom.

Check the street. Father has veered downhill

To examine a patient's ice-scratched cornea,

His fishtail tracks already filled. For balance

Transfers, open the emerald-lined lingerie

Drawer of her teak bureauâ€”garter buckles,

Hippie beads, packets of envelopes addressed

To her childhood Queens address. Restrictions

May apply but extract the letters, deciphering

The varied crabbed hands of college boyfriends ...

Rosenberg Rosenberg what you read is lewd.

From his Bangladesh cubicle, an account rep,

Skewing a New York idiom, makes you spell,

Pronounce, spell, so the name becomes its own

Unknown language. Omit your guarded jokes;

Bad habits and insolvency always fail to amuse.

You are the sole beneficiary to White Shoulders

Rising from the boning of a long-line brassiere. Please note: at dusk, all grace periods expire;

Thus, winter interest fees will continue to accrue.

------Date: 2006-07-28 12:09:00 Subject: Emptiness

â€œA VISION OF THE FRESHNESS AND BEAUTY OF PARTICULARS . . .â€ to which emptiness opens the door, as illustrated in the world famous â €œfrog haikuâ€ poem by Matsuo Basho, 1644-1694.

First, phonetically, in Japanese:

Furu-ike ya

Kawazu tobikomu

Mizu no oto.

Here translated by Daniel C. Buchanan:

Into the old pond

A frog suddenly plunges.

The sound of water.

And this by Robert Hass:

The old pondâ€”

A frog jumps in,
sound of water.

And by Sam Hamill:

At the ancient pond
a frog plunges into
the sound of water.

And anonymously:
old pond,
frog jumps in

â€”splash

User Comments:

Matthew ------I like these.

------Date: 2006-07-28 12:10:00 Subject: Alice/Me

"She generally gave herself very good advice (though she very seldom followed it)."

~Lewis Carroll

User Comments:

Matthew ------Alice/Mom/Me

------Date: 2006-07-28 13:33:00 Subject: My new "foreign" home

A civics lesson for one and all...

User Comments:

Matthew ------That may have been his best interview of a Congressperson. This one and the one he did with Robert Wexler have him on quite the hitting streak.

------Date: 2006-07-29 12:47:00 Subject: hot hot hot friday five

From reverendmother

1. What's the high temperature today where you are?

They're saying 90 degrees...I'm loving this for the end of July!

2. Favorite way(s) to beat the heat.

Window unit on 75 degrees, a ceiling fan, an oscillating fan, not oscillating but blowing directly on me...heaven!

3. "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." Evaluate this statement.

Humid is better, imo. After living 15 years in Houston and now in humid (summer) DC, it's definitely better for my body! Generally I've found the humid places are near bodies of water, which just naturally generate a little breeze in the summer. I remember living in Houston in 1985 and my brother Kirk visited (a triathlete). I had just started running that year and during his visit, he went to do his daily run. After about a block or so, he came back dripping wet and said he couldn't do it and asked how I did. It "pumped up my tennis shoes" to say the least!

4. Discuss one or more of the following: sauna, hot tub, sweat lodge, warm-stone massage.

The only one of these I've done is the hot tub and I'd say it depends on who's in it with you. Definitely do not like it if it's filled with strangers.

I'll add one to the list - Hot Yoga, a series of yoga poses done in a heated room. The room is usually maintained at a temperature of 95-100 degrees. As you can imagine, a vigorous yoga session at this temperature promotes profuse sweating which rids the body of toxins. It also makes the body very warm, and therefore more flexible.

I can't imagine anything worse...that has to be hell on earth!

5. Hottest you've ever been in your life I spend so much of my life being hot, but I'll have to say that there was a summer day in July when 4 year old ReverendMother and 1 year old sister K and Aunt Sherry and I went to see their Aunt Kathleen play soccer. There was not a tree in site and it was so hot that I think K suffered somewhat of a heatstroke. She hasn't like hot temps since then!

Non-temperature related bonus: In your opinion... who's hot?

Edward Norton

Liam Neeson

William Hurt

George Chakiris

Paul McCartney

British intellectuals

James Hetfield

Brad Bird

Matt Stone

Stephen Colbert

Daniel Mendelsohn

Malcolm Gladwell

Usually a guy in a uniform

User Comments:

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------When it comes to humidity, Just Say NO!

Colbert hot? Huh?

Matthew ------On a whim, I looked at the current temperature in San Diego. They're forecasting a high of 76 DEGREES!!! THIS ISN'T FAIR!!! It sucks that my time in San Diego was doing Marine stuff, because I would have loved enjoying the nice weather out there.

------Date: 2006-07-31 15:40:00 Subject: What Bob Dylan taught me

I've really been enjoying Dylan's XM radio show and although some of the songs he plays are not my cup of tea, his banter between songs is generally interesting and informative. Just this past week he mentioned this -

Graham was born in Dallas, Texas. She married Warren Nesmith before he left for war, but they divorced in 1946. To support herself as a single mother, she worked as a secretary at a bank, eventually rising to the executive secretary (the highest position open to women in the industry).

It was very difficult to erase mistakes made by early electric typewriters, which caused problems for Graham. In order to make extra money, she used her talent for painting to do holiday windows at the bank. She realized, as she said, "with lettering, an artist never corrects by erasing, but always paints over the error. So I decided to use what artists use. I put some tempera water-base paint in a bottle and took my watercolor brush to the office. And I used that to correct my mistakes."

Graham secretly used her white correction paint for five years. Some bosses admonished her against using it, but her coworkers frequently sought her paint out. She eventually began marketing her typewriter correction fluid as "Mistake Out" in 1956.

In 1979 she sold "Liquid Paper" to the Gillette Corporation for USD$47.5 million. At the time, her company employed 200 people and made 25 million bottles of Liquid Paper per year.

Bette Nesmith's son, former Monkees member Michael Nesmith, inherited the $50+ million estate of Liquid Paper upon her death on 12 May 1980. Bette Nesmith was 56 years of age.

Although my brother has a recent journal entry entitled I *really* wish I'd thought this up...", I REALLY wished I'd thought that white-out thing up!

------Date: 2006-08-02 08:47:00 Subject: The little UN that is my work team Having come from my last contracting job in Dallas for a big firm headquartered in Richardson and made up of mostly WASPs from Iowa that transferred there during the time my father handled the ReLo for Ebby, I am struck now by the wonderful diversity of my work team.

Here's a rundown of my team:

Co-worker A - A native Virginian, WASP, father of 2, George Mason grad, soon moving into a new home that he had built pre-fab

Co-worker B - A Cambodian Frenchman, who shares my love for a cup of hot tea, mid-afternoon

Co-worker C - A fully scarfed Muslim young woman who likes to wear headphones over that scarf and "rock out" during her testing and QA processes

CO-worker D - A crazy DBA from New Mexico that will stop by my cube and give me some random fact about something in far left field, but he does keep life interesting

Co-worker E - An African-American woman who's boyfriend is serving in Afghanistan and who used to be a ballerina and now drives a Mercedes and wears nothing but designer clothes

Co-worker F - An India "Indian" who has never been to India, but was born and raised in the UK

Co-worker G - A guy named "familiar American name" who is Chinese but rather than have us struggle with first names/last names/which one is which, changed his name to "familiar American name"

Co-worker H - Young, just graduated from popular NYC college WASP, who's the social director of the group, always promoting lunches out and activities for the group

Co-worker I - A Canadian who just happens to have parents born and raised in India

Yesterday, as we were taken to lunch at a really nice restaurant to celebrate the team's good performance during a recent In Process Review for our customer, I just sat there and marvelled about the diversity of this group. While I'm not thrilled about working for the military industrial complex that is my life with this Navy contractor, I have to say that beyond that, I've never enjoyed a work team more!

[UPDATE: After I hit the "save" button this morning, I knew I just needed to add that I really, really enjoyed D & D's friendship at CCA, but the boss from hell was a true downside AND my times with CPD were usually just the best too, as cops, especially Carrollton cops (and one DPD one - brother Kirk, and I'm in love with the SWAT guys too, thanks to Bravo TV!) are my heroes!]

User Comments:

Jill ------[UPDATE: After I hit the "save" button this morning, I knew I just needed to add that I really, really enjoyed D & D's friendship at CCA, but the boss from hell was a true downside AND my times with CPD were usually just the best too, as cops, especially Carrollton cops (and one DPD one - brother Kirk, and I'm "in love" with the SWAT guys too, thanks to Bravo TV!) are my heroes!]

Jill/Mamala ------Sorry, Katieg, that's database administrator. I'm all into acronyms as that's life in the DoD (Department of Defense). I think they figure if they use enough acronyms, people's heads spin and they just walk away and let them do whatever they darn well please!

Katieg ------Very cool.

I know I am going to feel stupid when I hear the answer, but what is DBA? reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------That's very cool.

Ted ------I am glad you've got a diverse team of good co-workers. If you're less than thrilled with the military aspect of the work, maybe it would help to focus on how your work might help the enlisted men.

------Date: 2006-08-04 13:08:00 Subject: Musical Friday Five

Courtesy of NotShyChiRev...

1. Describe the last play or musical you saw. (At least provide the what, when, where, and why). What was your opinion of it? Crowns at the Dallas Theater Center in the fall of 2005. It was really, really fun and energetic!

2. All time favorite play? Musical?

a). Favorite play- Wit (although I didn't enjoy seeing my sister live it several years after I saw it at the DTC) b). Favorite musical- West Side Story (I'm a sucker for forbidden love themes)

3. â€œThe Producers,â€ â€œThe Philadelphia Story,â€ â€œHairspray,â€ â€œThe Wedding Singerâ€ â€¦all were movies before they were musicals (okay â€œThe Philadelphia Storyâ€ was a play and then a movie, and they changed its name when it became a musical, but whatever). What non-musical movie do you think should next get the musical treatment?

How about "An Inconvenient Truth"...the more ways this message can get out, the better!

4. Favorite song from a musical? Why?

Come Back With The Same Look In Your Eyes (from Song and Dance, Andrew Lloyd Webber)...as to why, see 2b parentheses above

5. The most recent trend in Broadway musical revues is to construct a show around the oeuvre of a particular super-group or composer, where existing songs are woven together with some kind of through story. The most successful of these (â€œJersey Boysâ€ (The Four Seasons), â€œMamma Miaâ€ (ABBA), â€œMovinâ€™ Outâ€ (Billy Joel)) have made a mint, but many (â€œAll Shook Upâ€ (Elvis), â€œHot Feetâ€ (Earth, Wind and Fire)) have bombed. What great pop/rock singer/composer or super-group should be the next to be featured, and what might the story-line be for such a show?

How about the tragic, true life story of (take your pick): Whitney Houston

Michael Jackson

User Comments:

Luke ------Wow.

I couldn't even fill out this survey.... THat's how little I am into musicals!

It was great reading your answers though! Although it's amazing how much longer the questions are than the answers.

------Date: 2006-08-06 23:06:00 Subject: Do you remember any of these?

Blackjack & Beeman's gum

Powerhouse candy bars

Licorice records

Wax teeth, lips, and mustaches

Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water

Candy lipstick

Candy cigarettes

Fizzies

Soda pop machines that dispense glass bottles

Pull tabs that snap off soda cans

Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers

Movie preceded by cartoons and newsreels

Party lines

Rotary phones

Sock hops

Winter rubber boots with metal latches Coonskin hats

P.F. Flyers

Bouffant hairdos

Spoolies

Hair dryers with plastic caps

Butch wax

Tin-can telephones peashooters

Cork popguns

Roll of cap-gun caps

Howdy Doody puppets

Beanie & Cecil dolls

Two-bladed ice skates that clip onto shoes

Roller skates that clip onto shoes

Roller skate keys

S & H Green Stamps and Plaid Stamps

Metal lunchboxes

Winky Dink kits for drawing on the TV screen

Crystal radios

Console hi-fis for 78s

45-rpm records

Hand-crank wringers on tub washing machines

Slide rules

Levered metal ice trays

Mimeograph paper

Carbon paper

Flashbulbs

Eight-track tape decks Home movie cameras

Dick & Jane readers

If you remember any or all of these, you must have been born between the years 1946-1964.

Hi Boomer!

User Comments:

NotShyChiRev http://www.journalscape.com/NotShyChiRev/ ------I just made it in under the wire! :-)

As for the one's I remember most...

Green Stamps

My Dad's slide rule

The smell of mimeograph paper coming out of the machine

My Mom's bouffant wigs.

Carnation's Milk at the back door. Wax teeth and wax pop bottles. (See I used the word "pop"...I'm a midwesterner now. LOL

Candy cigarettes

Having to pull really hard to get the Coke bottle out of the vending machine at the Gulf station down the road from my grandparents' farm.

------Date: 2006-08-08 08:59:00 Subject: Conflicted

The Yin and Yang that is my life in the military industrial complex...

I walk into my building today to see the meeting posted "MCO-1 (**)Wargames", listening to the Dixie Chicks' version of a Presley song (written by Tom Jans) "Loving Arms" on my Ipod.

(**-These are my asterisks added...when did it become ok to combine these 2 words - war & games?)

The one who said that she'd rather roam

The one who said she'd rather be alone

If you could only see me now

If I could hold you now

Just for a moment if I could

Really make you mine

Just for a while turn back the

Hands of time

If I could only hold you now

I've been too long in the wind Too long in the rain

Taking any comfort that I can

Looking back and longing for the freedom from my chains

Lying in your loving arms again

If you could hear me now singing somewhere through

The lonely nights

Dreaming of the arms that held me tight

If you could only hear me now

I've been too long in the wind

Too long in the rain

Taking any comfort that I can

Looking back and longing for the freedom from my chains

Lying in your loving arms again

I've been too long in the wind

Too long in the rain

Taking any comfort that I can

Looking back and longing for the freedom from my chains

Lying in your loving arms again

I can almost feel your loving arms again

I say we just put these military people in a room and let them listen to this song for a good 8 hours instead of participating in their wargames. Who knows...maybe a change would come.

User Comments:

Luke ------Yes!

Cucu's healed neck ------I love this song & haven't heard it in so long! Matthew ------Amen to that.

------Date: 2006-08-11 09:34:00 Subject: Nice try, MI5

But I'm on to you. I know what this is really all about and you're not fooling me.

It's no secret that airlines, except for a few renegade ones like Southwest and Jet Blue, are losing money year after year and many will go broke soon. We all know that. This latest scam yesterday is but just another attempt to get poor innocent citizens like me to carry your weight.

Mark my words...you'll see this happening soon. You'll be on a flight and of course, thanks to this latest scam, you've not been able to carry on any beverages. About a half hour into the trip, they'll kick the A/C up a notch in the summer or the heat up a notch in the winter and serve you complimentary pretzels and peanuts (extra salt added) and their typical 4 oz. serving of the beverage of your choice (this time, not iced) but the glasses will be smaller so you'll think you're getting more. The movie they'll show will be "Lawrence of Arabia" or possibly "The English Patient" or maybe even "Viva Las Vegas" (you get my drift, it'll be set in a dry, desert area). About a half hour after that, the happy flight attendants will stroll down the aisle with a cart full of chilled, frosty beverages and you'll happily pay the $5.00 to $10.00 charge for a cool one and thank them very much.

Bottom line, this additional income will save the airlines and we'll all pay for it! And all of this, because of the scam initiated by the Brits and their "intelligence" agencies yesterday, making us think that there are actual some Middle Eastern Islamic Fascists that want us to die. But I wasn't born yesterday, and I'm not falling for it.

User Comments:

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------Exactly. After all, they've now "lost" the moon landing videos, like they ever had them ...

Ted ------I'm willing to go along...how about this:

First they came for the nail clippers, but I did not complain for I do not cut my finger nails. Now they've come for the shampoo bottles, but I did not complain for I do not wash my hair.

Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------Now, if you think this post is nutty, you should have been listening to C-Span this morning, as every conspiracy theorist in the world was calling in and giving their own theory on the illegitimacy of this latest, quite smart and brave prevention of mass death and destruction by British Intelligence officials!

------Date: 2006-08-11 12:37:00 Subject: It's going to be a loooooooonnnnnnnggggggg Fall

This came across in the bottom of an email from a co-worker...

“Hail to the Redskins, Hail victory!”

User Comments: reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------I'll be by this weekend with your Redskins innoculation.

Really. R and I are oblivious to that stuff now.

------Date: 2006-08-13 09:46:00 Subject: Something that I haven't done all of my life

...that would be opening my windows and turning off the A/C during the month of August. Can I just say that on a scale of 1-10, the summer here in DC has been a pleasant and mild 3? or maybe even less than that.

User Comments:

Mr. Cloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy ------Hey now, don't rub it in!

Ted ------31 days above 100 so far this summer....last night the low was 82...today it will be 105 and we're at least a week away from the next POSSIBILITY of a weather change.

(provided just to make you feel even better about your move :)

Luke ------That's wonderful. The light bills will enjoy this.

Katieg ------I think this is once again proof that "Northeasterners" live in their own isolated bubble... unaware of the rest of the country.

I remember locals telling you... "It is so hot in DC in August. You just won't believe it. It's the worst!"

Little do they know what the potential could be. :-)

I'm glad you are enjoying it!

------Date: 2006-08-17 23:21:00 Subject: My first online DC meet-up

I met a few DC members of this group tonight at Politics and Prose over coffee and needless to say, to a political junkie like me, the conversation was stimulating and I think I'll do it again, given the opportunity.

User Comments:

Matthew ------This is awesome. I'm glad you're involved in a group like this.

------Date: 2006-08-21 22:16:00 Subject: Storm Warnings

July 25, 2005

Good Morning. Well, I feel 99% better this morning! The Kytril seems to be working. I even feel like trying to eat something when I finish this! I weighed myself and have only lost 2-5 lbs. I do not have a fever. Thanks for your love and concern as usual. Love, Sherry

July 27, 2005

Our thoughts and prayers are with her through this difficult time. What courage and strength she has shown. July 28, 2005

When she and I had lunch a few weeks back it was the first time that I had seen her in a long while, and though she was full of plans for vacation and looking forward to your trip, I sensed that she somehow knew it would not likely happen.

August 1, 2005

Each life is a blessing. We are all a part of each other in an inexplicable way.

August 2, 2005

Just to keep you updated, Sherry had a good weekend this past weekend. She had a lot of family and friends visit and she seemed to really enjoy this. She's not eating very much at all, and has occasional bouts of nausea, but for the most part, she's resting comfortably. Sherry has sold her business and that is a big relief to her. One more note, Sherry asked that I tell anyone that may be considering sending gifts or flowers either now or after she's gone to make a donation in her name to either one of the following two charities: National Ovarian Cancer Coalition | DFW Division or Gilda's Club North Texas.

August 2, 2005

(I need a box of Kleenex....) I am going to miss her so much.

August 2, 2005

The company of her beloved nieces and nephews (and great-nephew and great-nieces) over these last few days was THE best medicine she could get. Since yesterday (Monday evening) I've visited her each day just after work and although the house is quiet now, the echoes of your visit linger. Tonight as she and I talked she mentioned how wonderful it was to see J, J, L & C playing together so sweetly, and to listen to you all as you visited with each other and with her over the time of your visit.

August 7, 2005

Sherry is resting comfortably at my mother's home. She sleeps probably 99% of the day now. She's not in pain, but still has occasional bouts of nausea. In one of her awake moments yesterday, she flashed her wonderful smile at something that was said. She's showing us all grace in parting....

August 7, 2005 Sherry has taught us all a lot throughout her illness...God bless Sherry.

August 8, 2005

...... from "Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood" by William Wordsworth

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:

The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,

Hath had elsewhere its setting,

And cometh from afar:

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home:

Heaven lies about us in our infancy!

August 9, 2005

Before she started sleeping most of the time, I had wanted to write Sherry a note to tell her what an incredible affect she was having on her friends. She was always semi quiet and reserved when she was healthy, but she has shaken a few people up with her resolve to face the end of this life with as much grace as humanly possible. She is also touching people with her assurances for the next life...She has exhibited great courage. I hope that when it is my time, that I can do even a fraction as well. She is truly amazing.

August 10, 2005

Sherry, you are wonderfully amazing. This cannot be easy for you yet you still show us your courage. I want you to know that you inspire me. You have shown me the strength which enables me to truly live my life. Not in fear, but for happiness and the betterment of those I touch. I will always feel blessed to know you.

August 11, 2005

Sherry, you commented when I visited that you appreciated my calm visit.

What had a lot of staying power for me -- was thought provoking ---and I appreciated... â€¢ was listening to you talk about selling your business but still concerned about how it would carry on...

â€¢ was listening to you talk about wanting to be fair and yet generous with your personal possessions..

â€¢ was listening to you talk about visiting with your family, what fun you had with your cousins and siblings and family.

After I left I pondered that you leave quite a legacy of humor, dignity, caring, and love. You may have had cancer, but it never had you.

August 11, 2005

I wish there was something I could do to help.

August 13, 2005

She is always in my thoughts and prayers. Sherry has touched a lot of people in her life with her thoughtfulness, sense of humor and positive outlook. She will be missed by us all but we will have memories that make us smile......

August 17, 2005

Sherry is doing "ok" and by that I mean that she's resting comfortably at my mother's home. She sleeps probably 95% of the day and is not in any pain (except for slight back pain due to inactivity/kidney failure) but it's not been bad enough to warrant morphine. She still is able to sometimes walk to the bathroom, but mostly we're using the wheelchair now as she's very weak. She's also using oxygen for a small part of the day, hoping this will relieve some of her nausea and weakened state. I helped her with a quick shower and hair shampoo the other day and it really was refreshing for her, but wore her out. She continues to drink fluids daily, but hasn't had more than a couple of spoonfuls of food daily since she entered hospice care 3 weeks ago. She's not taking any meds at all, as they didn't seem to help with nausea or her high blood pressure anyway and they seemed hard for her body to process.

We're all grateful for every day we have with her.

August 17, 2005

Okay please tell Sherry I'm sending "virtual flowers".....and I'll donate to Gilda's house. Let's all stop and smell virtual roses. Ahh......

I have a hummingbird at my patio feeder again this year as of yesterday. what a joy.

August 23, 2005 Tropical Depression Twelve formed over the southeastern Bahamas at 5:00 PM EDT.

August 24, 2005

At 11:00 AM EDT (1500 UTC), Tropical Depression Twelve was upgraded to Tropical Storm Katrina.

August 25, 2005

By 5:00 PM EDT (2100 UTC), Tropical Storm Katrina is upgraded to Hurricane Katrina.

August 25, 2005

At 6:30 PM EDT, Katrina made its first landfall in Florida as a Category 1 hurricane.

August 26, 2005

Just a quick, brief note to let you know that it's been 4 weeks since Sherry went under hospice care. We are thankful that we have had this time with her, but her condition is now deteriorating and she is beginning to experience pain. Last night, although she has been delaying this option, she agreed to begin morphine doses for her pain. We're hopeful that it will relieve her suffering.

August 26, 2005

Sherry is truly brave...Sherry has certainly gone through this strength and grace. I am so glad to have known her.

August 26, 2005

At 1:00 AM EDT, maximum sustained winds had decreased to 70 mph and Katrina was again downgraded to a tropical storm. By 11:00 PM EDT, the National Hurricane Center predicted that Hurricane Katrina would strike the town of Buras-Triumph, Louisiana, 66 miles southeast of New Orleans.

August 27, 2005

By 5:00 AM EDT (0900 UTC), Hurricane Katrina reached Category 3 intensity.

August 28, 2005 Just after midnight, at 12:40 AM CDT, Hurricane Katrina reached Category 4 intensity with 145 mph winds.

August 29, 2005

At 6:10 AM CDT, Hurricane Katrina made its second landfall as a Category 3 hurricane near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana, with sustained winds of more than 125 mph. Katrina also made landfall in St. Bernard parish and St. Tammany parish for a total of three landfalls in Louisiana. By 8:00 AM CDT, in New Orleans, water was seen rising water on both sides of the Industrial Canal. At approximately 8:14 AM CDT, the New Orleans office of the National Weather Service issues a Flash Flood Warning for Orleans Parish and St Bernard Parish, citing a levee breach at the Industrial Canal. By 9:00 AM CDT, there was 6-8 feet of water in the Lower Ninth Ward.

August 30, 2005

My sister woke today saying she thought that she was "dying today". I just couldn't leave her.

August 30, 2005

At 12:00 PM CDT, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff became aware that the New Orleans levee breaches could not be plugged.

August 31, 2005

At 10:00 PM CDT, Mayor Ray Nagin announced that the planned sandbagging of the 17th Street Canal levee breach had failed. At the time, 80% of the city was underwater.

September 1, 2005

Conditions at the Superdome, as well as the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, continued to deteriorate.

September 2, 2005

President George W. Bush ordered active duty forces to the region.

September 3, 2005

I hope these weeks are peaceful as Sherry goes on this journey. September 4, 2005

The evacuation of the Superdome has been completed.

September 5, 2005

The 17th Street Canal levee breach was closed with truckloads of rock and sandbags. The canal reopened so that it could be used to pump water out of city.

September 5, 2005

Sherry passed away tonight (9/5/05 Labor Day) at about

6 PM. She died in her sleep, peacefully and with her family around her. We played music all day for her and the last song we played for her before she died was "God Bless America".

September 5, 2005

We both loved and thought so much of Sherry, and will miss her. She fought the bravest fight with such dignity. We will remember her always for that. I am so sorry that Sherry had to suffer even one hour with this insidious disease. She was so positive and strong - a wonderful example to us all. Her family has been blessed to be with her through her valiant battle. Cancer is absolutely evil. She was quite a girl. She had such a wonderful spirit and optimism. God welcomed her to his arms. Your Dad was waiting for her and she is happy that she is with him now. She is now at peace. She certainly epitomized "fighting the good fight " with incredible grace and dignity and the Lord has welcomed an amazing new angel. I always admired Sherry for her genuineness and will always remember her as a fine lady. I really loved Sherry. I believe that Sherry is the only person I knew who I remember always happily & with a smile on my face.

User Comments:

Luke ------powerful

------Date: 2006-08-22 20:55:00 Subject: I agree

From Instapundit...

FINALLY, A FATWA I CAN GET BEHIND: "Death to CAPS LOCK."

User Comments: Luke ------Um, I agree that caps lock might be overused, but why the energy to try to get hardware makers to stop using it?

Seems like a waste of energy to me.

------Date: 2006-08-25 22:31:00 Subject: Secrecy

Secrecy flows through you, a different kind of blood.

It's as if you've eaten it like a bad candy, taken it into your mouth, let it melt sweetly on your tongue, then allowed it to slide down your thoat like the reverse of uttering, a word dissolved into its glottals and sibilants, a slow intake of breath --

And now it's in you, secrecy.

Ancient and vicious, luscious as dark velvet.

It blooms in you, a poppy made of ink.

You can think of nothing else.

Once you have it, you want more.

What power it gives you! Power of knowing without being known, power of the stone door, power of the iron veil, power of the crushed fingers, power of the drowned bones crying out from the bottom of the well.

--Margaret Atwood

------Date: 2006-08-29 11:10:00 Subject: Too soon

Why was it "too soon" for the release of "United 93" and "World Trade Center" 5 years after 9/11/2001, but yet after only one year after Hurricane Katrina, we've been inundated with non- stop media coverage (and a movie by Spike Lee) of last year's disaster over and over and over again for the past week (at least), and no one's shouted "too soon" about that...I don't get it.

User Comments:

Luke ------good points, the both of you...

Matthew ------but ultimately, people will say "too soon" once Hollywood starts offering fictionalized accounts of events, instead of the documentary or news coverage it's getting now.

Matthew ------race?

------Date: 2006-08-30 11:53:00 Subject: Dylan's Modern Times

I agree with this review...best line of it below...

Modern Times

Justin Timberlake

Modern Times

a young man advised

~Jill, the solitary Dylanologist

------Date: 2006-08-30 19:40:00 Subject: Some sweet words

"a cold front is on its way"...I actually got a chill tonight walking home from the Metro. Yes!

------Date: 2006-08-30 20:42:00 Subject: Emmy's best moment

User Comments:

NotShyChiRev http://www.journalscape.com/NotShyChiRev/ ------I still preferred these guys to Conan...who was game, but sometimes just didn't do it for me.

Mamala ------Matthew...you are correct also.

Matthew ------I have to say that the best moment was anytime Conan was on screen. netter ------i agree. this was beyond hysterical.

------Date: 2006-09-04 21:00:00 Subject: Exhausted, but in a good way

I just had 3 of the best days of my life. I spent these days with 3/4 of my grandchildren, and 1/4 of my children.

Totally, unbiased, but they are all wonderfully exceptional in every way! I was meant to be who-I-am and grateful that they are who-they-are.

User Comments:

Luke ------Sounds like you had a great one. We are all lucky to have you in our life.

------Date: 2006-09-04 21:03:00 Subject: Retail therapy

What I should have done...

Laundry

Unpack

Website updates

Finish the TAM newsletter

Pay bills

Plan the week ahead

Grocery shop

Rest

What I did...

Walked all 4 floors of Pentagon City Mall

Had a venti half-caf at Starbucks

Bought books at Barnes & Noble

Walked miles and miles in my new home town, enjoying the almost "fall-like" temps

Found the best movie theater ever (Landmark E Street) and saw (and enjoyed thoroughly) The Illusionist

Ate a whole box of Milk Duds

Cried with my mother on the phone about her daughter/my sister's death, one year ago tomorrow

User Comments:

Luke ------I love you!

Mr. Cloudy ------I'll be thinking of you especially tomorrow. Peace. reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Sounds like a fruitful day.

I'm glad you're getting to know the hometown too.

------Date: 2006-09-04 22:50:00 Subject: Pretty flower

User Comments:

Luke ------wow..

------Date: 2006-09-06 22:49:00 Subject: Black and blue

September 5		September 6

User Comments:

Mr. Cloudy ------Thinking of you. Hugs.

Jill ------I'm trying more and more to wipe the bad memories of her last days out of my head and heart and focusing on just what you imagine her doing in the afterlife, Matthew.

Matthew ------Aunt Sherry was one of a kind. I miss her a lot.

I like to imagaine that she's in the afterlife, hanging out with Grandpa, Ganny, and all of the other family she loved.

------Date: 2006-09-09 13:15:00 Subject: We've got to carry each other

thanks, Luke and all...

User Comments: nadi ------yes this is AWESOME and inspiring and I LOVE IT!!

One love~ ps- i love how he says "we GET to.."

Luke ------awesome

------Date: 2006-09-11 11:09:00 Subject: Solidarity

Our first duty is to stand together against bin Ladenism.

BY CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS

Monday, September 11, 2006 12:01 a.m.

Never mind where I was standing or what I was doing this time five years ago. (Because really, what could be less pertinent?) Except that I do remember wondering, with apparent irrelevance, how soon I would be hearing one familiar clichÃ©. And that I do remember hearing, with annoyance, one other observation that I believe started the whole post-9/11 epoch on the wrong foot.

The clichÃ©, from which we have been generally but not completely spared, was the one about American "loss of innocence." Nobody, or nobody serious, thought that this store-bought phrase would quite rise to the occasion of the incineration of downtown Manhattan and 3,000 of its workers. It might have done for the Kennedy assassination or Watergate, but partly for that very reason it was redundant or pathetic by mid-day on September 11, 2001. Indeed, I believe that the expression, with its concomitant naÃ¯ve self-regard, may have become superseded for all time. If so, good. The beginning of wisdom is to recognize that the United States was assaulted for what it really is, and what it understands as the center of modernity, and not for its unworldliness.

But here I am, writing that it was "the United States" that was assaulted. And there was the president, and most of the media, speaking about "an attack on America." True as this was and is, it is not quite the truth. I deliberately declined, for example, an invitation to attend a memorial for the many hundreds of my fellow-Englishmen who had perished in the inferno. I could have done the same if I was Armenian or Zanzibari--more than 80 nationalities could count their dead on that day. It would have been far better if President Bush had characterized the atrocity as an attack on civilization itself, and it would be preferable if we observed the anniversary in the same spirit.

In the past five years, I have either registered or witnessed or protested at or simply "observed" the following:

(1) The reopening of a restaurant in Bali, where several dozen Australian holidaymakers and many Indonesian civilians had earlier been torn to shreds. (2) The explosion of a bomb at a Tube station in London which is regularly used by two of my children. (3) The murder of a senior Shiite cleric outside his place of worship in Iraq. (4) The attempt to destroy the Danish economy--and to torch Danish embassies and civilians--as a consequence of the publication of a few caricatures in the Danish press. (5) The murder of the U.N. envoy to Baghdad: a heroic Brazilian named Sergio Vieira de Mello, as vengeance (according to his murderers) for his role in shepherding East Timor to independence. (6) The near-successful attempt to blow up the Indian parliament in New Delhi, and two successful attempts to disrupt the commerce and society of Mumbai. (7) The destruction of the Golden Dome in Samara: a place of aesthetic as well as devotional importance. (8) The bombing of ancient synagogues in Tunisia, Turkey and Morocco. (9) The evisceration in the street of a Dutch filmmaker, Theo van Gogh, and the lethal threats that drove his Somali-born colleague, a duly elected member of the Dutch parliament, into hiding and then exile. (10) The ritual slaughter on video of a Jewish reporter for this newspaper.

This list is not exhaustive or in any special order, and it does not include any of the depredations undertaken by the votaries of the Iranian version of Islamic fundamentalism. I shall just say that I have stood, alone or in company, with Hindus, Jews, Shiites and secularists (my own non- sectarian group) in the face of a cult of death that worships suicide and exalts murder and desecration. This has not dimmed, for me, the importance of what happened in New York and Washington and Pennsylvania. But it has made me slightly bored with those who continue to wonder, fruitlessly so far, in what fashion "we" should commemorate it.

The time for commemoration lies very far in the future. War memorials are erected when the war is won. At the moment, anyone who insists on the primacy of September 11, 2001, is very likely to be accused--not just overseas but in this country also--of making or at least of implying a "partisan" point. I debate with the "antiwar" types almost every day, either in print or on the air or on the podium, and I can tell you that they have been "war-weary" ever since the sun first set on the wreckage of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and on the noble debris of United Airlines 93. These clever critics are waiting, some of them gleefully, for the moment that is not far off: the moment when the number of American casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq will match or exceed the number of civilians of all nationalities who were slaughtered five years ago today. But to the bored, cynical neutrals, it also comes naturally to say that it is "the war" that has taken, and is taking, the lives of tens of thousands of other civilians. In other words, homicidal nihilism is produced only by the resistance to it! If these hacks were honest, and conceded the simple truth that it is the forces of the Taliban and of al Qaeda in Mesopotamia that are conducting a Saturnalia of murder and destruction, they would have to hide their faces and admit that they were not "antiwar" at all.

One must have a blunt answer to the banal chat-show and op-ed question: What have we learned? (The answer ought not to be that we have learned how to bully and harass citizens who try to take shampoo on flights on which they have lawfully booked passage. Yet incompetent collective punishment of the innocent, and absurd color-coding of the "threat level," is the way in which most Americans actually experience the "war on terror.") Anyone who lost their "innocence" on September 11 was too naÃ¯ve by far, or too stupid to begin with. On that day, we learned what we ought to have known already, which is that clerical fanaticism means to fight a war which can only have one victor. Afghans, Kurds, Kashmiris, Timorese and many others could have told us this from experience, and for nothing (and did warn us, especially in the person of Ahmad Shah Massoud, leader of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance). Does anyone suppose that an ideology that slaughters and enslaves them will ever be amenable to "us"? The first duty, therefore, is one of solidarity with bin-Ladenism's other victims and targets, from India to Kurdistan. The second point makes me queasy, but cannot be ducked. "We"--and our allies--simply have to become more ruthless and more experienced. An unspoken advantage of the current awful strife in Iraq and Afghanistan is that it is training tens of thousands of our young officers and soldiers to fight on the worst imaginable terrain, and gradually to learn how to confront, infiltrate, "turn," isolate and kill the worst imaginable enemy. These are faculties that we shall be needing in the future. It is a shame that we have to expend our talent in this way, but it was far worse five years and one day ago, when the enemy knew that there was a war in progress, and was giggling at how easy the attacks would be, and "we" did not even know that hostilities had commenced. Come to think of it, perhaps we were a bit "innocent" after all.

------Date: 2006-09-11 12:10:00 Subject: For the Falling Man

Poem: "For the Falling Man" by Annie Farnsworth from Bodies of Water, Bodies of Light.

For the Falling Man

I see you again and again tumbling out of the sky, in your slate-grey suit and pressed white shirt.

At first I thought you were debris from the explosion, maybe gray plaster wall or fuselage but then I realized that people were leaping.

I know who you are, I know there's more to you than just this image on the news, this ragdoll plummetingâ€”

I know you were someone's lover, husband, daddy. Last night you read stories to your children, tucked them in, then curled into sleep next to your wife. Perhaps there was small sleepy talk of the future. Then, before your morning coffee had cooled you'd come to this; a choice between fire or falling. How feeble these words, billowing in this aftermath, how ineffectual this utterance of sorrow. We can see plainly it's hopeless, even as the words trail from our mouths

â€”but we can't help ourselvesâ€”how I wish we could trade them for something that could really have caught you.

User Comments:

Luke ------This symbolizes the true horror of that day.

Jill ------Ted/RM-You're both right. reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------haunting

Ted ------This was the poem today during "The Writer's Almanac" podcast this a.m. Very moving.

------Date: 2006-09-14 14:42:00 Subject: 'Survivor' Segregates

According to USA Today,

The NAACP, in a statement this week, did not condemn the show but used the topic to focus on the lack of minorities in the entertainment industry as a whole.

"Whether we like the concept or not â€” and, for the record, we do not â€” it is premature to judge the show purely on conjecture. We will judge the show on what we see, and we will monitor the public response." As for advertisers pulling out, CBS spokesman Chris Ender says: "Reports of advertiser defection have been greatly exaggerated and erroneously reported. The show has a full roster of advertisers."

David Lyle, general manager of Fox Reality cable channel, says this is a mere Survivor tempest that will do no long-term damage.

"The real problem is when the stunt swamps the show. And this stunt, regardless of what you think of it in socio-responsible terms, will only last for a few weeks before the tribes are melded," he says. "The device won't get in the way of the structure of the show. It could be inflammatory, but you can bet that all the players will be interesting characters who will get down to playing the game. And then it'll be business as usual."

So will this season of Survivor turn out to be a big publicity brouhaha that does no more than briefly boost ratings? Or will this stunt become a seriously offensive move that elevates Survivor into the ranks of Reality's Worst Ideas.

Now I never, ever watched this show, except when I would stop by my sister's place in the evening to give her her shot of anti-cancer drugs and she had it on, but she was glued to the TV whenever it was on and I know millions love it.

But truthfully, in a way that I can't even understand or put in writing, I have a problem with the concept of this one.

Help me out here...what do you think?

User Comments:

Matthew ------I was kind of hoping that they'd stay integrated for the entire season. In some ways, I almost respect the cajones it takes for CBS to try something like this. I really like the social experiment aspect of this. That's one of the great things about reality television; if they want to try something, it's relatively easy to pull off, whereas a scripted show has to rely on strong writing.

But if we're talking about social experiments and islands, there's only one show for me, and that's "LOST." *surprise surprise*

Jill ------KatieG-you speak the truth, sweetie! I miss her too!

Katieg ------I am a casual fan of Survivor over the years. I agree that it did have a "not right" feel to it when I first heard about this.

In tonight's episode, though, it played off no differently than when they divide by age or gender (or just a random split). And based on the way this show is usually structured, the race-based tribes will be dissolved within 1-2 episodes, making the whole thing pretty much irrelevant.

I always think of Aunt Sherry now when I watch Survivor. It makes me smile and sad at the same time. I miss her!

Jill ------Good point, netter...if indeed it doesn't reinforce stereotypes, that may be eye opening to many viewers.

Dialogue is good too. netter ------they have billed it as a "social experiment" and i'm hoping it blows away the typical stereotypes and not reinforce them.

however, i fail to see how this is any different than separating people according to gender or age.

i've been a fan of "Survivor" since the first season. and it's true, once the game kicks in all else seems to pale in comparison. it's more about survival, relationships and what people will do for a million dollars. at the very least, it will spark dialogue. that's not a bad thing.

------Date: 2006-09-17 23:19:00 Subject: My kids, that are my heroes

MA-(and her R) have an 8 month old child that eats pesto pasta with gusto!

KT- (and her D) have given up alot of life's trappings and truly live the simple life in an RV in FL

Son M & L- have just spent a weekend together, when a couple of summers ago, I wasn't even sure that they could be in the same city without seismic shifts

It just doesn't get any better than this (and who they are)

I bow down before you, my sweet Fab 4~

User Comments:

Matthew ------Luke and I were talking this weekend about you being one of our heroes, so consider the feeling mutual.

Katieg ------Hmmm... it must be something genetic. :-)

------Date: 2006-09-18 22:51:00 Subject: The Path to 9/11

You just have to read this.

------Date: 2006-09-19 12:24:00 Subject: Two Poems

To a Terrorist, by Stephen Dunn

without hope, knowing there's nothing, not even revenge, which alleviates a life like yours. I offer it as one

might offer his father's ashes to the wind, a gesture when there's nothing else to do.

Still, I must say to you:

I hate your good reasons.

I hate the hatefulness that makes you fall

in love with death, your own included.

Perhaps you're hating me now,

I who own my own house

and live in a country so muscular, so smug, it thinks its terror is meant only to mean well, and to protect.

Christ turned his singular cheek, one man's holiness another's absurdity.

Like you, the rest of us obey the sting,

the surge. I'm just speaking out loud to cancel my silence. Consider it an old impulse, doomed to become mere words.

The first poet probably spoke to thunder and, for a while, believed thunder had an ear and a choice.

September Twelfth, 2001, by X.J. Kennedy

aren't us. I wake beside you, stretch, scratch, taste the air, the incredible joy of coffee and the morning light.

Alive, we open eyelids on our pitiful share of time, we bubbles rising and bursting in a boiling pot.

------Date: 2006-09-21 21:45:00 Subject: Hovering helicopters

You always know when someone important is maneuvering around DC. You hear those helipcopters.

Tonight, when I was doing my walk, alot of black SUVs were congregating outside the White House and the DC police were urging all of us to "move on" and he-who-is would soon be going to wherever it was he was going.

I love my new town. It's very Hollywood, in a political sort of way!

User Comments:

Luke ------An intresting analogy, DC to Hollywood...

------Date: 2006-09-22 10:45:00 Subject: Friday Five--boo-boos

1) Are you a baby about small injuries?

No, definitely not. I have small bruises that pop up all over my body and I don't have a clue as to how they got there. It's that Mid-West stiff upper lip instilled upon me, I guess.

2) What's the silliest way you have ever hurt yourself?

I used to walk my dogs around my apartment complex, while, at the same time, reading my New Yorker magazine. On more than one occasion, I would walk right into the big dumpsters that were in my path...didn't really hurt, just felt like a total fool and hoped that no one was watching me.

3) Who took care of your boo-boos when you were a child?

Definitely my Mother...Daddys didn't do those kind of things in the 50s.

4) Are you a good nurse when others have boo-boos?

I never thought so, but during my sister's illness, I found myself doing things I thought I'd never do and handling more bodily fluids than I ever want to think about again!

5) What's the worst accidental injury you've suffered? Did it require a trip to the Emergency Room? The only things that have sent me to the emergency room have to do with my anxiety...the body is strong, but the mind is weak.

User Comments:

Luke ------1) Are you a baby about small injuries?

Definitely with you on this one. I don't sweat the small stuff at all.

2) What's the silliest way you have ever hurt yourself?

Probably running my cousin to the corner store, tripping while running up a cement hill, then promptly "hamming it up" and saying "I'm okay" only to require stitches..

3) Who took care of your boo-boos when you were a child?

Whatever parent was around. Sometimes I would do it myself too.

4) Are you a good nurse when others have boo-boos?

Yeah, definitely. Maybe one day I will be a nurse? 5) What's the worst accidental injury you've suffered? Did it require a trip to the Emergency Room?

Hmm, it would be quite a question if it asked about "intentional" injuries.. Odd. Anyway, it would probably be my first motorcycle wreck. And yeah, ER for sure.

------Date: 2006-10-01 23:26:00 Subject: First NFL Church

So RM drops me off at the Metro and calls me soon thereafter...

"Just passed a church and their billboard said 'Love your neighbor, even if they are a Cowboys fan'

OK, the next time I gloat BIGTIME when the Cowboys beat the Redskins.

It just doesn't get any worse than this!

User Comments:

Matthew ------Any team that has a racist term as their mascot isn't worth the time of day.

The Cowboys are clearly god's team. That's why there's a hole in Texas stadium. So God can look down and watch the Cowboys play.

Luke ------Dang!

------Date: 2006-10-05 22:36:00 Subject: Jury duty

I've been in DC a little over 9 months and received a jury summons a couple of weeks ago..today was the day for me to report. Long story short, I was released about 12:00 PM and allowed to go back to work. YAY!

Really, when I don't have a trip planned for the weekend, I'd like to serve some time.

But for today, I'll have to say that I was surprisingly amazed by the efficiency of the DC court system.

Life is good!

User Comments:

Luke ------Yeah, you would be someone who actually would like to do serve on a jury. Me too, actually!

------Date: 2006-10-07 00:54:00 Subject: What A Long Strange Trip It's Been

A great day!

Took Amtrak to NYC and it was WONDERFUL! Spent most of the time looking out the window and as we went further north, I saw more oranges/yellows/golds and reds on the trees. Lovely. And Amtrak kicks the airlines butts on this jaunt. They have plugs available for laptop computers, you can actually take on food and toothpaste, the seats are comfy with plenty of leg room and it was just 3 short hours from DC to NYC.

My hotel is right near Times Square and very convenient to everything. I have a teeny, tiny room but it's clean and looks safe so that's good.

Saw a wonderful panel tonight on "Islam and the West" with my heroine Ayaan Hirsi Ali and then on to more fun stuff with Jonathan Safran Foer and Edward P. Jones reading bits and pieces from their novels and short stories. It was at a great venue in Chelsea and I enjoyed walking around that part of the city...it's very DC like.

Now to bed...tomorrows a full day!

User Comments: Matthew ------Sounds like fun.

Luke ------Yeah, me too! Maybe next year I will come to the new yorker fest with you again.

Katieg ------I'm glad you are having a great time!

------Date: 2006-10-07 18:21:00 Subject: Edward Norton

I was less than 5 feet away from him during his (and others) talk about "Fiction into Film"...can I just say, he didn't disappoint!

This afternoon, it was Anthony Lane (hilarious) and then the discussion about Fake News with representatives from The Onion, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and Andy Borowitz...again hilarious.

Tonight, it gets more serious with Lawrence Wright (The Looming Towers - My trip to Al Qaeda) and then ends with music - Randy Newman.

I'm having a great, egghead, nerdy weekend in NYC. Had a "slice" of pizza for lunch and have done a lot of people watching. New Yorkers are good people!

User Comments:

Mamala ------OK, yes, Reverend Mother asked me what my favorite event was, and I couldn't identify the best one yet, but definitely, Randy Newman was my least favorite...he was an afterthought. Needed something to do at the close of the day, and hey, they were giving out free Grey Goose martinis! (of course, I got there too late for the freebie and I'm too cheap to pay for "good" vodka!)

Luke ------Ha ha! Randy Newman!

"Left foot! Right foot!"

------Date: 2006-10-08 19:29:00 Subject: Lunch with Nora

After attending the All Souls Church here in NYC (a great service btw, I ran down to lower Manhattan (literally) and had a wonderful afternoon while Nora Ephron cooked me lunch! Yes it was delightful and my dish from now on will be her Key Lime Pie whenever I need to bring a dish to anything! It's as easy (and tasty) as pie, npi (no pun intended).

Then it was on to hear Zadie Smith on her thoughts on writing...can I just say that next year (hopefully) I'll be joined by some or better yet all of my children as they really needed to be here this weekend with me!

You all are on notice...start thinking NYC in October of 2007...we need to make it a yearly event, or at least next year anyway! I want to share this joyful weekend with you next year.

OK, gotta run...I'm headed back down south on Amtrak.

Goodbye NYC! Until next year...ILY, and don't ever change, stay the same as you are and peace and safety to you in this day and age!

User Comments:

Mamala ------I'm soooo holding you to this Luke!

Luke ------Count me in for next year. For real.

------Date: 2006-10-09 00:56:00 Subject: Coming Home

This was just such a surreal moment.

After spending the weekend in NYC, arriving back in DC I felt like I was coming home to a small town. The Metro seemed quaint and small, the walk home was quiet, uncrowded, and fast, with no people to dodge. My kitties were waiting for me and there wasn't a hair ball or other pet intestinal distress to be found.

Life continues to be good. User Comments:

Bess ------Next time you go to the city, maybe we can come and meet you for lunch-- it is a short train ride for us too!

Bess, YECN

Matthew ------Sounds like a fulfilling weekend. Glad you had fun.

Luke ------Glad you had a good time!

------Date: 2006-10-10 23:00:00 Subject: Do you realize...

Do You Realize ...

... that everyone you know some day will die ... ? (Flaming Lips).

From the final minutes of "Six Feet Under" (spoiler alert if you're planning on Netflixing it):

User Comments:

Matthew ------I stopped after 5 seconds. That is one of my favorite songs, however.

Luke ------MATT! DO NOT WATCH THIS!!!

------Date: 2006-10-22 00:11:00 Subject: She brushes her tongue

It's no secret that I think that all 4 of my grandchildren are geniuses, but having spent the last day with my VA grandchildren, I continue to be convinced.

C is an adult in a 37 pound-3 year old package. Baby M gets it in so many ways. She responds to peek-a-boo and knows when she needs help as she reaches up to me when she feels like she may need a "higher" power - npi (no pun intended).

Can I just say that life with grandchildren, for me, is where it's at these days.

J & J, you're so on notice as I'm headed your way in early November! Let the games begin!!

Oh, and it's no secret how they got this way. My #1 and #2 daughters are great mothers (and their choices of husbands so totally rock!)

I'm glad to be MaDear.

User Comments:

Matthew ------Imagine how cool one of his Sunday School sessions would be. reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Yes, I've said before that after listening to Colbert's interview on KQED--"He had me at 'I teach Sunday School.'"

Jill ------Yes, RM, you've got it!

And one more reason for you to love Stephen...I was watching the book channel this morning and heard David Kuo, author of Tempting Faith talking about his experience on the Colbert Report. He said that Stephen talked to him in the green room and explained his character on the show and that David's job was to make him look even more like an idiot. After the interview, David said that indeed, Stephen was a comic genius, but also said "he teaches Sunday School" which pleased him (and I imagine you, RM). reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Are you saying baby M is an "it-getter"? And C is one of the "heroes"?

Stephen Colbert would be so proud.

Mr. Cloudy ------Sounds delightful. I'm so glad you can be near them in these precious times.

------Date: 2006-10-26 11:02:00 Subject: What the Doctor Said

What The Doctor Said

-by Raymond Carver

He said it doesn't look good he said it looks bad in fact real bad he said I counted thirty-two of them on one lung before

I quit counting them

I said I'm glad I wouldn't want to know about any more being there than that he said are you a religious man do you kneel down in forest groves and let yourself ask for help when you come to a waterfall mist blowing against your face and arms do you stop and ask for understanding at those moments

I said not yet but I intend to start today he said I'm real sorry he said

I wish I had some other kind of news to give you

I said Amen and he said something else

I didn't catch and not knowing what else to do and not wanting him to have to repeat it and me to have to fully digest it

I just looked at him for a minute and he looked back it was then

I jumped up and shook hands with this man who'd just given me something no one else on earth had ever given me

I may have even thanked him habit being so strong

------Date: 2006-10-27 10:19:00 Subject: The Gift of Sight

I ride the shuttle from the Metro stop to my office every work day and many days, he's on the same shuttle with me. He's obviously got some physical disabilities. He's somewhat smaller than most men and although he's not apparently Down's Syndrome, he has a similar look. He wears bottle-thick glasses and in the middle of each of those bottle thick lenses is a small circle with, for lack of a better description, a magnifying glass. Everyday, he's reading...sometimes the New Yorker, sometimes the Washington Post Sunday Magazine...always something serious. But to achieve this, he has to look through a magnifying glass (just like the one my co-worker used at CPD to study fingerprints) and he places it on the page with his glasses resting on it, his nose about 4 inches from the printed page.

Probably one of the greatest gifts I've received from giving up my car and taking public transportation is seeing one brave person after another, refusing to let life's circumstances defeat them and getting on with their life. I'm grateful I share a ride with this guy. Maybe some day, I'll work up enough courage to tell him so.

User Comments: nadsy ------loved this post!...my momma would too

Katieg ------That is great. Very inspriational. Thanks for sharing it!

------Date: 2006-10-27 12:08:00 Subject: Ghoulish Friday Five From RM's Blog

1. Do you enjoy a good fright?

Not really, just walking across the street in DC is challenging enough for me these days, or reading the paper, or listening to news, or thinking about the "evil-doers"

2. Scariest movie you've ever seen

I'm with RM on this one "Wait Until Dark," although "Psycho" still has me buying transparent shower curtains

3. Bobbing for apples: choose one and discuss: a) Nothing scary about that! Good wholesome fun. b) Are you *kidding* me?!? The germs, the germs!

In all my years, I can happily say I've never played

4. Real-life phobia

Rodents, although living in the big city, I'm trying to convince myself that they are my friends, kind of like C's Cinderella's Jaq and Gus

5. Favorite "ghost story"

I kinda like the Snipe Hunt that we engaged in when my daughters were Girl Scouts, although at the time, I didn't know it was considered "hazing" as Wikipedia says, or maybe I wouldn't have enjoyed it so much. It seemed like good clean fun at the time.

------Date: 2006-10-31 22:48:00 Subject: Halloween On this holiday, as I read my children's blogs about how they celebrated the day (Luke, what's up?), I think back to when they were children. I was the one that stayed home and gave out the candy and their dad went with them trick or treating.

Now, as they enjoy this time with their own children (at least my daughters, that is), I think I should have just left the bowl of candy on the front porch and accompanied them on their trick or treat adventure. Now that I'm a grandmother, I definitely would do that!

Why did it take me so long to give myself permission?

User Comments:

Matthew ------Next year, you can put out the bowl of candy and go to Sixth Street with all of the crazy Austinites. :-)

Mamala/Jill ------yes, of course, you were the cutest little anti-KKK ever!

Luke ------You were too busy making me anti-KKK constumes...

'member that one?!

------Date: 2006-11-01 15:04:00 Subject: The troops respond from Instapundit

AN AMUSING PHOTO FROM IRAQ. Heh.

Message to John Kerry

User Comments:

Matthew ------I think this whole Kerry thing is getting more press than the fact that the American death toll just passed the 2800 mark. I applaud their sense of humor, yet knowing the staunch Republican partisanship that exists in the military, this is a bit disheartening to me. How the troops can still support Bush after all he's done is beyond me.

Ted ------You just have to love those guys....in harm's way but still have a sense of humor.

------Date: 2006-11-07 22:41:00 Subject: What are you [wearing] watching? so I ask my sweet #1 daughter how she'll watch the election returns...I just couldn't bear to watch the shout-outs from either side of the MSM...instead, I wanted a quieter/gentler punditry.

So I started out with C-span, but that was just not to my liking, so I switched over to Fox and sure enough, it's where I'll stay. They are so totally low-key, and if you didn't know better, you would swear they all just lost their best friends (maybe they did).

User Comments: reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Oops, I knew that.

Vermont was on my mind because they went from one independent senator to another--a self- proclaimed socialist, no less! Gotta love Vermont!

Ted ------RM wrote: I feel bad for Lincoln Chafee--a decent guy and popular senator, but lost his seat because he was in the wrong party. If I were a Vermont voter I'd feel pretty gipped if I'd voted against Chafee and the Senate *still* ends up not flipping to Dem.

Vermont, Rhode Island, somewhere in New England... :)

If only Chafee had *lost* the primary, he could have run as an Independent like Joe L did in CT.

Katieg ------I have to admit that I have watched the returns less and less with each election over the last few years. Things are so close now-a-days, that I figure it is not worth the time until things are decided the next morning (or week.. or month...). Dan flipped between Fox and Headline News and kept me informed of any developments as I watched my Seinfeld reruns. :-) reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Who did we watch? That's a no-brainer: Stewart/Colbert... while refreshing the state election board website on the laptop.

It's so weird, the site has Allen up, but everybody else has Webb up.

I feel bad for Lincoln Chafee--a decent guy and popular senator, but lost his seat because he was in the wrong party. If I were a Vermont voter I'd feel pretty gipped if I'd voted against Chafee and the Senate *still* ends up not flipping to Dem.

AEF ------We gave Katie Curic a chance to see what she could do with the election results! I envy you, you live in a very interesting town!!! Our #1 daughter got to shake Barak Obama's hand on Monday- it was like meeting a rock star for her!

------Date: 2006-11-08 08:02:00 Subject: Happy Days Are Here Again!

So the Dems did it! Democracy prevailed. Now, more than anything, I hope they all drop the tools of the fight and get down to the business of the people who put them there.

User Comments:

Luke ------Yeah I was thinking about that as I stood in line voting.

I don't watch a lot of TV so I didn't see a whole lot of the negative ads, but those that I saw were really bad. Like, REALLY bad.

Negative ads seem to be the things that, in all actuality, everyone hates. Strange how they keep going. Anyway, I realized as I stood in line for 40 minutes in the gymnasium of the local high school here, that it all comes to this. I love how the act of voting and standing in line with at least 100 other people really does have a leveling effect. To me, election day is ironically a "cease fire" of sorts. It's all up in the air at that point, just a matter of casting your vote and waiting.

Civics reflection over!

------Date: 2006-11-08 08:33:00 Subject: Virginia's the new Florida

With a recount ahead (Webb/Allen), is anyone but me dreading the next week or so? {hanging chad shivers}

User Comments: reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Funny--last night I had a very lucid dream that we moved to Austin.

Lukee ------TEXAS! TEXAS! TEXAS!

Jill/Mamala ------I may have been pre-mature with this comment. Actually, I think the margin of difference was in the thousands, not hundreds, so we may all be spared from the hanging chads this time.

And yes, my dream would be for all of my kids to be in one state, at least!

Katieg ------Gee... I guess I should have moved to Virginia instead of Florida.

------Date: 2006-11-08 16:54:00 Subject: Image of the Day from Andrew Sullivan...

From the AP: "Pearl Harbor survivor Houston James of Dallas embraced Marine Staff Sgt. Mark Graunke Jr during a Veterans Day commemoration in Dallas. Graunke lost a hand, a leg and an eye when he defused a bomb in Iraq last year."

We are still at war. And this election result should require all of us to lay aside partisanship and figure out how best to honor those serving us and how best to secure the least worst option in Iraq.

User Comments: reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------That's a great photo.

Lukee ------I AGREE!!!

for many reasons I feel really good today. And no, I don't think it's all because "the dems won" so much, though that helps, but I seem to have a renewed faith in humanity that I haven't felt in a long time.

This picture illustrates that. We are all humans, and just as humans are doing our part to make this planet a violent one, we are also the ONLY creatures capable of saving it.

God bless humanity!

------Date: 2006-11-11 09:35:00 Subject: What I Would Take on the Mayflower by #1 Grandson J (6 years old, written in his own handwriting and used by permission)

1. 2 Puppets

2. Plug 3. A thing you plug in

4. A tv

5. A computer

6. Video games

7. Coloring books

8. Colors

9. Food and drink

10. Toothbrush and Toothpaste

11. Clothes

12. Swimsuit

13. Pole (as in Swimming pool)

14. Wood

15. Tools

16. Toylet

17. Ms. Blanca (J's 16 year old student teacher "girlfriend")

18. Brandon (a friend in J's class)

19. Family

20. Badderys

User Comments:

Ted ------This is the best thing I've read in a long time. Go JOEY!!!!

Luke ------Gotta love those badderys!

Also, I love how he said he'd bring wood. Never know when one is going to need to build a chair or a table whilst out at sea!

------Date: 2006-11-13 00:51:00 Subject: #1 granddaughter I remember the day exactly. My #2 daugther told me she was going to have a baby...yes, my first grandchild. Me, being the baby boomer that I was, and brought up never trusting anyone over 30, now, yes now, I was going to be really way over 30 and a grandmother....oh my.

Of course I was thrilled, but there was a little part of me that said that I wasn't ready for the grey hair and the rocking chair.

Over the next few months, I tried hard to digest the news and learned to love it.

That was easy! A new baby..of course, I'd be OK. And I soon found a "grandma" name that I could live with "MaDear"

OK, I was set. Set for a drive to Tulsa on Nov. 13th. When I walked into the room, my sweet K was smiling and saying "this childbirth thing is no big deal"

Needless to say, later on in the day, after Pitocin and labor and no real dilation, and back labor (YUCK!), the no big deal became a really big deal.

So, a C-section was decided on and I just waited. Soon, SHE arrived, gulping a big first breath that facilitated her spending a few days in NICU...a long 3 days!

I turned into Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine's role in Terms of Endearment) when late in day 2, they were keeping my daughter from seeing her firstborn "It's past ten. My daughter is in pain. I don't understand why she has to have this pain. All she has to do is hold out until ten, and IT'S PAST TEN! My daughter is in pain, can't you understand that! GIVE MY DAUGHTER THE SHOT!" or rather, "she will go to where her daughter is now!"

She did, and the rest was good.

Now, my sweet J is 9 years old...She struts when she shops for clothes. She sings and does the movements of High School Musical. She has a strong desire to get her ears pierced, but is still waiting to decide that desire is stronger than the fear of how much it will hurt. She clings to her little brother J who, in some cases, shows her the way (he just got up and walked right over to the lady behind the counter at the food court who could give him a refill on his Sprite, and she followed soon thereafter, seeing that'd it be OK). How is it possible you're 9? Can I stop time? No, not at all.

In the meantime, or rather mean time, I'm going to love the transition you make over the next few years, from that baby and little girl, to the young woman that you'll be someday, way too soon.

Happy 9th Birthday, my sweet J!

User Comments:

Matthew ------I really need to get a calendar. I so thought that J's birthday was TODAY! :-(

Expect a call today, Katie G.

Matthew ------Great post. Although, I completely misread this beginning of this post and thought that it read "my number one grand daughter said...," and I was thinking, WTF?????

You're a great Grandma!

Luke ------I never knew that you got anxious about the title of grandma!

Great post! reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------This is a great post.

I remember thinking "how can my baby sister be 'lapping' me?!?"

------Date: 2006-11-13 01:17:00 Subject: Coming Home I've just completed a 4th travel to destinations I love in the last month.

But when arriving home this evening, I realized, if I didn't already know it, that even though I loved the people I saw in the places I travelled, this arrival home was really an arrival at my home. I love it here!

Yellow leaves that had fallen from the trees lining the sidewalk, a cool chill that kept me "sweat- free" from my walk from the Metro to my place, my kitties welcoming me at the door, the quiet at my place, and the unpacking, knowing where *I* wanted everything to be.

OK, I'm probably the type to be happy wherever I'm planted, but for now, I'm really happy to be planted in this wonderfully complicated, noisy, stressful, WONDERFUL city!~

User Comments:

Matthew ------Great post. I'm glad that you've found "home," in both the literal and figurative sense of the word.

NotShyChiRev http://www.journalscape.com/NotShyChiRev/ ------And what a great city...what a way to live at the epicenter of the pulse of a nation....other than Hollywood of course...not)...:-) reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------We REALLY missed you!!!

We have put any thoughts of "where to move next" on hold because the greatness of having MaDear nearby was driven home to us once again!

------Date: 2006-11-14 22:44:00 Subject: Forgiveness

Goodnight, Willie Lee, I'll See You in the Morning

-by Alice Walker

Looking down into my father's dead face for the last time my mother said without tears, without smiles without regrets but with civility

"Goodnight, Willie Lee, I'll see you in the morning."

And it was then I knew that the healing of all our wounds is forgiveness that permits a promise of our return at the end.

------Date: 2006-11-15 09:18:00 Subject: Let it go

In Blackwater Woods

-by Mary Oliver

Look, the trees are turning their own bodies into pillars

of light, are giving off the rich fragrance of cinnamon and fulfillment,

the long tapers of cattails are bursting and floating away over the blue shoulders

of the ponds, and every pond, no matter what its name is, is

nameless now.

Every year everything

I have ever learned

in my lifetime leads back to this: the fires and the black river of loss whose other side

is salvation, whose meaning none of us will ever know.

To live in this world

you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it

against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go.

User Comments:

Jill ------Really both. I'm in a class at my church here in DC and we read and journaled about this post last night. I still am prompted to mostly write about Sherry. I miss her so.

Ted ------Was this post prompted by the season? ...or something else?

------Date: 2006-11-15 14:09:00 Subject: If (yeah, right) he did it from the wires...O.J. Simpson to Discuss Killings

The two-part interview, titled "O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here's How It Happened," will air Nov. 27 and Nov. 29, the TV network said.

Simpson has agreed to an "unrestricted" interview with book publisher Judith Regan, Fox said.

"O.J. Simpson, in his own words, tells for the first time how he would have committed the murders if he were the one responsible for the crimes," the network said in a statement. "In the two-part event, Simpson describes how he would have carried out the murders he has vehemently denied committing for over a decade."

Don't watch it...don't buy it (the story he'll tell or the book)!

User Comments: Matthew ------on a huge pile of dirty cash, that's how.

Ted ------More and more I think about the producers of these things and wonder "How do they sleep at night?" reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Where are we all going, and what are we doing in this handbasket?

Matthew ------Ridiculous indeed. Fox News Corps, or some other Fox subsidiary, owns the publishing company that's releasing his book.

Lukee ------Oh my god this is ridiculous!

LisaMarie http://www.journalscape.com/LisaMarie/ ------Amen to that!

------Date: 2006-11-19 09:28:00 Subject: Shut Up and Sing

I saw this documentary film last night and really enjoyed it. The movie theater was packed (and somewhat vocal, with their cheers and jeers) and it was fun to see it with a "blue" crowd in the district. I thought it was a very even-handed film and I'm sure seeing it in a red state would be just as enjoyable, albeit the cheers and jeers would come at different places during the film.

User Comments:

Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------The Dixie Chicks controversy that started on the eve of the war in Iraq when the lead singer Natalie Maines said at a concert in London "Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas" and the fallout thereafter.

Matthew ------What's it about?

------Date: 2006-11-20 15:00:00 Subject: Scary Movie

Happy Feet

Parental guidance suggested

Some material may not be suitable for children.

Contains ominous themes of environmental destruction to the planet.

User Comments:

Luke ------No way?!

------Date: 2006-11-20 15:08:00 Subject: Iraq the Vote

User Comments:

Shestopstraffic http://www.journalscape.com/shestopstraffic/ ------i'm new to journal scape and i'm checking out the community's journals. discovered two cool things at your journal already...that the bridge to terabitha is going to be coming out on film and there is a place for free polls like the one you posted here. yay!

NotShyChiRev http://www.journalscape.com/NotShyChiRev/ ------indeed...I think the only way out is to go big for no more than 3-4 months, PERIOD, then go home...

Luke ------A strange poll!

------Date: 2006-11-25 00:35:00 Subject: Bridge to Terabithia

this is the movie I was trying to recall for you over the past few days K, M, and RM, et al.

------Date: 2006-11-27 16:44:00 Subject: No "J" in "DC"

While walking to and from the Metro each day, I often wonder why the streets, neatly and orderly lettered, go from "I" to "K" with no "J" street. According to Snopes,

The most plausible explanation is that J Street was omitted because the letters I and J were often indistinguishable from each other (especially when handwritten), and in 18th century English they were still largely interchangeable. (The 1740 "New General English Dictionary" published in London had a single section for I and J, and the standard identification Thomas Jefferson used on his personal possessions was "T.I.") Having both an "I" and a "J" street would have been redundant at best and confusing at worst, so "J" ended up as the odd man out.

Guess that makes me JJLL or IILL! ;-)

User Comments:

Luke ------XD reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------I think I would have gone with J rather than I--I is confusing, people think it's a 1, or that it's spelled "Eye." Which I have seen people do.

------Date: 2006-12-05 11:18:00 Subject: Obamania

From Andrew Sullivan, "Obama Happens"

This Arianna smackdown of Hillary made me smile.

And more kudos from a Republican,...Mark McKinnon, who was a top adviser to President Bush in his White House runs and who is a senior adviser to Sen. John McCain: â€œI think Barack Obama is the most interesting persona to appear on the political radar screen in decades. â€¦ Heâ€™s a walking, talking hope machine, and he may reshape American politics.â€

User Comments:

Jill McKibben ------Matthew, you're not the only one that has thought about that...I shudder to think...

Matthew ------Somewhere across the US, a sniper is readying his rifle. Hate to be a downer, but everytime a politician comes around using the "h" word, they end up...damn, I forgot to take my meds.

;-)

Mr. Cloudy ------Wouldn't it be crazy if the American people actually found hope through a politician?

Matt ------Amen to that. I think he should run. If he does, I promise to volunteer on his campaign. :-)

------Date: 2006-12-07 09:41:00 Subject: The Logic of Prejudice

Another gem from Sullivan...

A reader writes:

Robert Knight describes Mary Cheney's child as being conceived "With the express purpose of denying it a father"?
MARY CHENEY: So would you like to have a child?
HEATHER POE: No, not really.
MC: Neither would I.
They continue watching Seinfeld. Mary's Partner frowns.
HP: Wait, I just thought of something.
MC: What? HP: If we did have a child, we could deny it a father.
MC: Wow, I never thought of it that way before. What should we name it?

User Comments: reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Teehee...

I wonder if that guy would say the same thing about my single (straight) friend who is adopting a baby girl from Guatemala?

Probably.

------Date: 2006-12-07 23:09:00 Subject: A perfect evening (or close to it)

-Out of the office by 4:10 PM

-On site south of the White House to see the Christmas Tree lights go on

-Starbucks venti half-caf with a shot of Hazlenut and cream

-Free premier of Edward Norton's latest flick "The Painted Veil" at my favorite movie house, with the Washington Press corps and like minded indy film lovers in the audience

-A walk home, experiencing DC's first snowfall of this winter season

-A glass of wine, kitties on my lap and flannel pj's, getting cozy

-Downloading "Fallen" from I-Tunes

User Comments:

Jill/Mamala ------Well, really, RM, it was just a tiny bit of snowfall...little flakes that didn't stick, but it was snow nonetheless, and I caught some of it on my tongue, like a child....wonderful! reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Snowfall?!?!? How the bleep did I miss that?

Outtamyhead http://www.journalscape.com/outtamyhead/ ------can we trade your evening for mine??? that does sound pretty doggone perfect (or close to it)!!!!! beautiful, really.

Lukee ------:)

------Date: 2006-12-10 19:05:00 Subject: Watching them, not her

I was lucky enough to be in ReverendMother's church this morning to hear yet another wonderful sermon. The woman amazes me in so many ways and it's hard to take my eyes off of her, but today, I forced myself to look at the large congregation she was preaching to. I studied them and their expressions, their simple 2 or 3 word exchanges during her sermon ("She sings well," "let's go see that movie [she mentioned "Stranger than Fiction" during her sermon], "etc.," "etc.") The Impact Singers (teenagers all) paid attention and laughed at the funny parts. The "sleepers" did a little less sleeping. All age groups and ethnic groups and colors, shapes and sizes seemed to cling to her words, spoken, they were sure, directly to them.

She has a great gift, and we all receive a part of it on the Sundays when she preaches.

As her mother, all I can say is "WOW"

User Comments:

Sue http://innerdorothy.blogspot.com ------Aaawww...this is so lovely! reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Aw, thanks.

And I meant what I said during the joys.

------Date: 2006-12-12 20:57:00 Subject: Simplifying So today marks the beginning of my second year in DC. And although I'm planning on signing a one year lease on my place, my goal and resolution for 2007 is to continue to get rid of stuff. All I need to do is find worthy, good causes of where to send all my extra possessions to.

Oh sure, I'll keep some of the stuff and use some of it as the year progresses (I burn candles nightly, not waiting for the "right" time). I'd also like to trim down and know that if the mood hits me and I want to re-locate, I'm not overwhelmed by the thought of packing/moving/settling in a new place.

User Comments:

Matthew ------Getting rid of stuff can be really fun. Let me know if you ever rid yourself of any books or movies. I'm always on the lookout for good ones.

Mamala ------maybe we'll end up in the same place...that'd be cool!

Mamala ------you bet!

Lukee ------"I'd also like to trim down and know that if the mood hits me and I want to re-locate, I'm not overwhelmed by the thought of packing/moving/settling in a new place."

One of the joys of being single, huh?

------Date: 2006-12-14 14:53:00 Subject: the year in review

Because ReverendMother did it and she's a rock star.

The first line from the first post of each month this year:

And I'm sure it will be a happy one!

Bono, on C-span, at the National Prayer Breakfast [hyperlink]

Since moving to DC, I've found the most confusing thing for anyone (especially off-shore people) that I talk to about my new address is my answer to their question "What state do you live in?"
I spent the better part of the day with daughter #1 and her hubby and girls as we took in the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC.

If you can't comfort the afflicted, then afflict the comfortable.

What with the latest possible news about yet another war â€œatrocityâ€ at Haditha (which, btw, I think is an anomaly...I still believe that most people, yes that includes our soldiers, are good...you may say that I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one) and was just now listening to Ebert/Roeperâ€™s latest review on my Ipod and they mentioned war movies (since it was their review prior to Memorial Day), I'm wondering, what are your thoughts on war movies?

Today's my first fourth of July in DC...my thoughts....

Having come from my last contracting job in Dallas for a big firm headquartered in Richardson and made up of mostly WASPs from Iowa that transferred there during the time my father handled the ReLo for Ebby, I am struck now by the wonderful diversity of my work team.

I just had 3 of the best days of my life. I spent these days with 3/4 of my grandchildren, and 1/4 of my children.

So RM drops me off at the Metro and calls me soon thereafter... "Just passed a church and their billboard said 'Love your neighbor, even if they are a Cowboys fan'"

from Instapundit, AN AMUSING PHOTO FROM IRAQ. [hyperlink]

From Andrew Sullivan, "Obama Happens" [hyperlink]

Analysis: I'm in the right place.

User Comments:

Lukee ------It really is! reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------It's a great snapshot of the year, eh?

------Date: 2006-12-17 22:32:00 Subject: Time Magazine's getting lazy

Person of the Year

User Comments:

Lukee ------superman

Matthew ------I disagree. I think their choice this year was inspired. Who else should have gotten it? reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Agreed

Lukee ------Lame! It's almost like at the end of a bad movie when a character comes out and spells out the moral of the story.

This and their "Top 100 albums of all time" was just awful.

------Date: 2006-12-17 22:35:00 Subject: 10 things I like about America

From Sullivan's guest blogger, Daniel:

1. Loaded potato skins

2. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights

3. Walt Disney

4. The fact that almost everyone you meet in America is incredibly polite

5. The fact that almost everyone you meet in New York isn't

6. The West Wing

7. Martin Luther King

8. The steaks at Morton's

9. The Manhattan Institute

10. The fact that you send your children across the world to risk their lives for liberty and spend billions of your dollars on it, even though the people whose liberty you are saving, including my fellow Europeans, don't say thank you properly

Here are mine: 1. The melting pot

2. Religious freedom

3. Washington DC

4. Women's rights

5. Bloggers, and the freedom to blog

6. The rule of law

7. Public TV and Radio

8. Independent Book Stores

9. Travelling state to state without a passport

10. America's version of Mexican, Italian, Thai, Indian, Chinese, etc. etc. food

User Comments:

Lukee ------Hmmm

1.) Great music: Blues, Rock & Roll, Hip Hop, etc

2.) Hollywood. I am including TV in this. While American TV and movies can be utterly horrible, when Hollywood is good, it is REALLY good)

3.) The American Dream. While it isn't true for many, it's nice to at least have an ideal to strive for.

4.) Food. Americans have some awesome food.

5.) Candy and sweets. Even better than food, we have awesome candy. Dr Pepper is from here!

6.) Natural beauty. We have mountains, beaches, deserts, forests.. We have it all.

7.) Political will. Even in times of seemingly universal apathy, we are a country that believes in self governance. 8.) Protest. We are ALL ABOUT speaking our minds when we feel wronged. Almost to a deficit!

9.) Charity. Overall, Americans are a very charitable and hospitable group.

10.) Hope. Americans are a very hopeful people. Again, sometimes to a deficit, but America is a land that embodies the phrase "Where there's a will, there's a way".

------Date: 2006-12-19 23:43:00 Subject: Add your own captions

User Comments:

Katieg ------I totally agree. reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------And see, I think L looks a lot like the divine miss m.

Jill/Mamala ------Katie, you're right! 1980 it was! I had to LOL at the comments you all have made (and I was in a business meeting when I first read them...doh!)

Katieg ------My guess would be that this was taken December of 1980.

Matthew ------I'm sure that with a higher resolution camera, you'd be able to see drool on Luke's chin.

I think I remember that shirt. It looks like a shirt I'd still wear.

I agree that K and I look alike, though I really can see a lot of Joey and Aunt Sherry coming through. A case can me made that Luke and MA look pretty similar as well. What *are* you looking at, MA? ;-)

Lukee ------Wow.

Santa looks like he is under the influence of a controlled substance. Or exhausted. It's the latter I am sure.

Matt kinda looks stunned by the camera.

I look like I am pretending to be a dinosaur.

Katie looks like she would rather be, well, doing just about anything else!

Maryann looks like she is making a very witty observation to herself.

The overall picture is VERY cute. Oh, and I really think Katie and Matt look a lot alike in this photo! How old were we?

Matthew ------haha

1. Place bowl on top of head.

2. Cut excess hair sticking out from bottom of bowl. 3. Remove bowl.

Katieg ------This is great! The only thing I can think of...

"Why does Mom give us all the exact same haircut?" reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------That?

Was hilarious.

I can't top that, except I have to wonder why K and MA did not take their coats off.

Matthew ------Here are mine:

MRM: "This guy smells like the AA meeting I went to last night with Dad, only the cigarette smell is more pungent."

LTM: "Is there a way I can fall of his lap and scare my siblings?"

KJM: "Someday, I'm going to have a son who looks just like me."

MAM: "I'd look at the camera, but my huge glasses are obstructing my view." Santa: "I hate it when the McKibbens come in."

Mamala ------Here are mine...

MRM-"why are you making me do this?"

LTM-"I'm too young to be scared"

MAM-"I want to be anywhere but here"

KJM-"I'm going to die in my room if you make me do this again!"

------Date: 2006-12-22 10:45:00 Subject: Just smile

Within less than 24 hours I've had two complete strangers say to me "I like your smile" which has made me think #1. I *have* been doing alot of smiling lately and #2. Is a smile such a rare thing these days that when someone sees it, it's a remarkable event (or an event to be remarked on)?

User Comments:

Gram ------I have a good smile too! (this was written by Jill while training Gram on journalscape)

Jillsusan/Mamala ------aw shucks...thanks for the good words

Matthew ------Oh Mom. I have no doubt that people don't smile as much up in DC, but even if we lived in Happy Land, where people smiled all day every day, you'd still have people coming up to you and saying, "I like your smile." Your smile is warm and sweet like freshly baked cookies. reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------You both have great ones.

It's rare here, where people take themselves too seriously.

Ted ------I get that all the time :)

Actually I think smiling is way too rare these days, and is to be encouraged. Keep up the good work!

------Date: 2006-12-26 13:43:00 Subject: test for training gram this is a test to train gram about journalscape

User Comments:

Gram ------this is a test comment

------Date: 2006-12-31 10:15:00 Subject: A good resolution for 2007

GOING GREEN IN 2007

Excerpts from Ten Simple Things You Can Do to Go Green

December 27, 2006 — By Della De Lafuente, Associated Press

Laurie David, who produced Al Gore's documentary about global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth," says saving the planet isn't about everyone doing everything.

"It's about everyone doing something," said David, who is also the author of "Stop Global Warming: The Solution is You" and founder of the StopGlobalWarming.org Web site. "The impact of small actions by millions of people will be huge."

Here are 10 things you can do in the new year to do your part for the environment, including some "go green" tips from David's Web site, http://www.StopGlobalWarming.org.

- Use compact fluorescent bulbs. Replace three frequently used light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs and save 300 pounds of carbon dioxide and about $60 a year. The Council on the Environment and Jewish Life is organizing a campaign called "How Many Jews Does It Take To Change A Light Bulb?" to encourage synagogues and other Jewish groups to replace conventional bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, which last four times longer but use 25 percent of the energy.

- Save the water bottle. Sick of watching your recycle bin fill up with water bottles? Time to buy a reusable water bottle. REI, the outdoor equipment store, carries a 16-ounce Nalgene bottle, $7.95, in five colors, made from polycarbonate plastic; it has a wide mouth and is easily washed. Eastern Mountain Sports carries SIGG bottles from Switzerland, including an 0.6-liter lightweight stainless steel model that is a replica of a 1941 Swiss Army bottle, $20, in blue or red.

- Pull the plug on electronics and chargers. Mobile phones, BlackBerry devices, iPods, digital cameras and other electronics use energy, even if they are turned off, if the charger is still going.

- Take shorter showers. Water for bathing accounts for two-thirds of all water-heating costs.

- Buy a hybrid car. Hollywood actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz have glamorized them; David even convinced her husband's HBO comedy series to have his character drive one on the show.

- Create idle-free zones. Schools, churches, synagogues, libraries, shopping malls and anywhere that accommodates a large number of vehicles are prime spots for signs requiring vehicle engines to be turned off to help cut fuel emissions and improve air quality. David helped institute a no-idle rule in the parking lot of her children's school in Southern California to cut down on the "carbon dioxide haze" created by parents' idling vehicles. "You can do the same at your school, temple or church, " David said. "Ask that a sign be posted outside that says, 'Turn off your vehicle.'"

- Buy local food products. You may pay a bit more in the grocery store, but buying locally grown products helps the earth because less fuel is required to transport your products to market. Additionally, buying goods that require less packaging may help reduce your garbage.

- Bring cloth bags to the market. Tote your own cloth bags to the store instead of plastic and paper bags, reducing waste and requiring no additional energy. David also suggests carrying your own garment bag to the drycleaners to avoid bringing home plastic bags and wire hangers.

- Put on a sweater instead of turning up the heat in your home.

- Use recycled paper. Switch your home and business paper products to 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper, saving countless trees and five pounds of carbon dioxide per ream of paper.

User Comments:

Outtamyhead http://www.journalscape.com/outtamyhead/ ------me too. these are some great ideas. we do most of these things already, altho there's always room for improvement.

Matthew ------Thanks for posting this. I just found my New Year's resolution(s).

------Date: 2007-01-01 10:20:00 Subject: Odd - Numbered Years

I've always had a problem with odd-numbers...1-3-5-7-9-etc. etc. and that extends to odd- numbered years. Oh sure, I was born in an odd-numbered year and 3/4 of my children and 3/4 of my grandchildren were too. That in itself should tell me that really good things happen associated with odd-numbers.

But I've been told that my lucky number is 4 and I kind of cancelled the odd-numbered year of my birth out by being born on 2/14. The fact remains, though, that those odd-numbered school years were killers (first, third, fifth, seventh, ninth, eleventh grades)...I can tell you more yucky stories about each of those grades than the calm and soothing second, fourth, sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades combined.

So I enter this new year 2007 with some trepidation. It feels just slightly off-balance so far. It's a rainy day here in DC and the plans I'd made for the day are slightly askew, alerting me to the fact that my desire for even-ness and balance in all things is merely just a dream and not reality and that I just need to deal with it.

On the other hand, I'm an eternal optimist and with the arrival of January 1st of each year, I remain genuinely grateful for this new day in this new year.

User Comments:

Jill/Mamala ------Lukee-I love that you are all smiles...what a difference a year makes!

Jill/Mamala ------RM-Didn't really have anything planned for today (which can be a good thing) but the prospect of spending time with 3 of my favorite people turned out to be a much better thing! reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Lucky 7, right?

I don't know what you had planned for today, but I am SO eternally grateful to you for helping us make the transition from harried airport to peaceful home. I coulda done it without you, but it woulda been ugly. I could tell I was losing patience with the day and the girls and it was good for them to have you there so it wasn't just them and Mommy the Ogre!

Lukee ------I am all smiles about 2007. It's gonna be a great year!

------Date: 2007-01-01 23:38:00 Subject: One of the best TV moments of 2006

User Comments: Ted ------I had missed that on TDS - what a great segment. Anyhoooo.....

------Date: 2007-01-01 23:56:00 Subject: The Laziest Son - A Rumination by Scott Horton (from Andrew Sullivan's blog)

A man on his deathbed left instructions
For dividing up his goods among his three sons.
He had devoted his entire spirit to those sons.
They stood like cypress trees around him,
Quiet and strong.
He told the town judge,
"Whichever of my sons is laziest,
Give him all the inheritance."
Then he died, and the judge turned to the three,
"Each of you must give some account of your laziness, so I can understand just how you are lazy."
Mystics are experts in laziness. They rely on it,
Because they continuously see God working all around them.
The harvest keeps coming in, yet they
Never even did the plowing!
"Come on. Say something about the ways you are lazy."
Every spoken word is a covering for the inner self.
A little curtain-flick no wider than a slice Of roast meat can reveal hundreds of exploding suns.
Even if what is being said is trivial and wrong,
The listener hears the source. One breeze comes
From across a garden. Another from across the ash-heap.
Think how different the voices of the fox
And the lion, and what they tell you!
Hearing someone is lifting the lid off the cooking pot.
You learn what's for supper. Though some people
Can know just by the smell, a sweet stew
From a sour soup cooked with vinegar.
A man taps a clay pot before he buys it
To know by the sound if it has a crack.
The eldest of the three brothers told the judge,
"I can know a man by his voice, and if he won't speak,
I wait three days, and then I know him intuitively."
The second brother, "I know him when he speaks,
And if he won't talk, I strike up a conversation."
"But what if he knows that trick?" asked the judge.
Which reminds me of the mother who tells her child
"When you're walking through the graveyard at night and you see a boogeyman, run at it, and it will go away."
"But what," replies the child, "if the boogeyman's
Mother has told it to do the same thing?
Boogeymen have mothers too."
The second brother had no answer.
"I sit in front of him in silence,
And set up a ladder made of patience,
And if in his presence a language from beyond joy
And beyond grief begins to pour from my chest,
I know that his soul is as deep and bright
As the star Canopus rising over Yemen.
And so when I start speaking a powerful right arm
Of words sweeping down, I know him from what I say,
And how I say it, because there's a window open
Between us, mixing the night air of our beings."
The youngest was, obviously,

The laziest. He won.

- - -

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu,

Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion

Or cultural system. I am not from the East

Or the West, not out of the ocean or up From the ground, not natural or ethereal, not

Composed of elements at all. I do not exist,

Am not an entity in this world or the next,

Did not descend from Adam and Eve or any

Origin story. My place is placeless, a trace

Of the traceless. Neither body nor soul.

I belong to the beloved, have seen the two

Worlds as one and that one call to and know,

First, last, outer, inner, only that

Breath breathing human being.

There is a way between voice and presence

Where information flows.

In disciplined silence it opens,

With wandering talk it closes.

- Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi (Rumi), Masnavi-ye Manavi (ca. 1265)(Coleman Barks transl.)

If we had to craft a list of the ten greatest poets of human history, then certainly this thirteenth- century Muslim theologian, who began his life in modern day Afghanistan and ended it in what later became Turkey, would have an assured position on the list. And as for universality â€“ what better measure than the fact that in 2004, Rumi ranked in surveys as the best read poet in Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and, thanks to the brilliant translations of Coleman Barks, the United States. As with any Rumi poem, this one has many layers of meaning to it. But here's my understanding.

Like Boccaccio's ring story in the Decameron (the third from the cycle of the first day) or Lessing's parable from Nathan the Wise (act 3, scene 4)â€“ this choice of virtue among three sons should be immediately understood (and certainly would have been understood by a contemporary of Rumi's) this way: which of the three faiths "of the Book" is the true faith? The father is, of course, the God of the Book, and the sons, "tall like Cypresses," are Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Rumi echoes that in the follow-on ("Not Christian, Jew or Muslimâ€¦") And to this question Rumi offers several answers, mostly laden with irony. He tells us that professed belief counts for little, particularly if not sincerely held. "I can know a man by his voice," says the eldest son, who is promptly ejected from the contest. (But compare this with the wiser man â€“ as Rumi reminds us, the clay pot must be tapped to test for a crack; the buyer who relies on the outward appearance alone is a fool). And, like Boccaccio and Lessing, he says that it is our conduct that matters and must ultimately provide the basis for a judgment.

But on this point the irony of a Sufi mystic kicks in. For conduct, Rumi takes "laziness," for which here I see the introspective process of truth-seeking that is Rumi's hallmark, and that of the Mevlevi Brotherhood which he helped define. It involves discipline and rigor ("disciplined silence"), but to the uninitiated it must, of course, seem nothing but "laziness." ("Mystics are experts in laziness.") Can you hear the laughter? Rumi mocks himself, or at least, shows that he has a sense of humor.

Importantly, Rumi warns us against demonization of the outsider, of the nonbeliever (the "boogeyman," who, he reminds us through the voice of a child, "has a mother, too.")

But back to our question. Who is the chosen son? In the end we learn that it is "the youngest son," and the youngest of the three faiths is, of course, Islam. But this is not Rumi's ultimate meaning. The true answer is to point to the false premise of the question. The answer lies in what unites, not in what divides humankind â€“ what ties humans one to another and to the world in which they live. A Sufi faithful would know this as the doctrine of the oneness of God, tauhid. Hence, the right answer: "there's a window open/ Between us, mixing the night air of our beings." Those who are driven by differentiation and false pride for their religious choice â€“ whatever the religious choice - have failed the test in the most miserable way.

And on this point, Rumi, Boccaccio and Lessing â€“ the Muslim, the Catholic, and the Protestant who launched the drive for the emancipation of Europe's Jews - see things very much eye-to-eye. But their message is a vital one for our day. We live in an age in which thoughts of crusaders and caliphates have been resurrected for shameful and blood-drenched purposes. This must be overcome with urgency.

So for the New Year, I wish what Rumi wishes â€“ not a rejection of faith, but a faith more profound, based on tolerance, compassion and respect for the ties that bind humankind. I wish that the land where Rumi once walked â€“ from his native city of Balkh in Afghanistan to his final home in Anatolian Konya - would know his thoughts and hopes again, and the peace that they promise. But I wish the same thing for my fellow citizens at home in the United States, where the poison of religious bigotry seeps ever closer to the groundwater. I hope we all can find that way "between voice and presence" of which Rumi writes. We need it badly. "With disciplined silence it opens/ With wandering talk it closes." So here's a resolve for the New Year: Let us find the tools to keep that window open. There is nothing that humanity requires more urgently than this.

------Date: 2007-01-02 20:27:00 Subject: Happy Birthday Daughter #1

User Comments:

Mamala ------RM-You dare to question my even-handedness? Even steven-ness? my "you are talented and so are your siblings, just the same?" reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Don't you mean #1 Daughter????

Judy http://www.journalscape.com/judy ------Awwwww!!!

Matthew ------DAMN!!! Check out the candle on that cake! Good picture!

Happy Birthday, Reverendmother.

------Date: 2007-01-02 23:08:00 Subject: I'm such a cut-up

The destruction/salvation/filing of my things begins. Tonight, I spent the better part of an hour destroying old medical records of mine going back to 1998 or so.

My biggest resolution of this new year was to clean up my act, both physically and materially, as, by the end of this year, I want to be more portable, both physically and materially, so I can just go to wherever, whenever the urge hits, without a lot of extra baggage.

So far, it's very liberating!

User Comments:

Lukee ------Yes! Being free of excess stuff can be the best feeling in the world!

------Date: 2007-01-03 15:54:00 Subject: Some Day My Prince Will Come

What's Wrong With Cinderella?

By PEGGY ORENSTEIN

The New York Times - 12/26/2006

[JillSusan's Note: posted lovingly for my daughters and granddaughters]

I finally came unhinged in the dentist's office â€” one of those ritzy pediatric practices tricked out with comic books, DVDs and arcade games â€” where I'd taken my 3-year-old daughter for her first exam. Until then, I'd held my tongue. I'd smiled politely every time the supermarket-checkout clerk greeted her with "Hi, Princess"; ignored the waitress at our local breakfast joint who called the funny-face pancakes she ordered her "princess meal"; made no comment when the lady at Longs Drugs said, "I bet I know your favorite color" and handed her a pink balloon rather than letting her choose for herself. Maybe it was the dentist's Betty Boop inflection that got to me, but when she pointed to the exam chair and said, "Would you like to sit in my special princess throne so I can sparkle your teeth?" I lost it.

"Oh, for God's sake," I snapped. "Do you have a princess drill, too?"

She stared at me as if I were an evil stepmother.

"Come on!" I continued, my voice rising. "It's 2006, not 1950. This is Berkeley, Calif. Does every little girl really have to be a princess?"

My daughter, who was reaching for a Cinderella sticker, looked back and forth between us. "Why are you so mad, Mama?" she asked. "What's wrong with princesses?"

Diana may be dead and Masako disgraced, but here in America, we are in the midst of a royal moment. To call princesses a "trend" among girls is like calling Harry Potter a book. Sales at Disney Consumer Products, which started the craze six years ago by packaging nine of its female characters under one royal rubric, have shot up to $3 billion, globally, this year, from $300 million in 2001. There are now more than 25,000 Disney Princess items. "Princess," as some Disney execs call it, is not only the fastest-growing brand the company has ever created; they say it is on its way to becoming the largest girls' franchise on the planet. Meanwhile in 2001, Mattel brought out its own "world of girl" line of princess Barbie dolls, DVDs, toys, clothing, home dÃ©cor and myriad other products. At a time when Barbie sales were declining domestically, they became instant best sellers. Shortly before that, Mary Drolet, a Chicago-area mother and former Claire's and Montgomery Ward executive, opened Club Libby Lu, now a chain of mall stores based largely in the suburbs in which girls ages 4 to 12 can shop for "Princess Phones" covered in faux fur and attend "Princess-Makeover Birthday Parties." Saks bought Club Libby Lu in 2003 for $12 million and has since expanded it to 87 outlets; by 2005, with only scant local advertising, revenues hovered around the $46 million mark, a 53 percent jump from the previous year. Pink, it seems, is the new gold.

Even Dora the Explorer, the intrepid, dirty-kneed adventurer, has ascended to the throne: in 2004, after a two-part episode in which she turns into a "true princess," the Nickelodeon and Viacom consumer-products division released a satin-gowned "Magic Hair Fairytale Dora," with hair that grows or shortens when her crown is touched. Among other phrases the bilingual doll utters: "VÃ¡monos! Let's go to fairy-tale land!" and "Will you brush my hair?"

As a feminist mother â€” not to mention a nostalgic product of the Grranimals era â€” I have been taken by surprise by the princess craze and the girlie-girl culture that has risen around it. What happened to William wanting a doll and not dressing your cat in an apron? Whither Marlo Thomas? I watch my fellow mothers, women who once swore they'd never be dependent on a man, smile indulgently at daughters who warble "So This Is Love" or insist on being called Snow White. I wonder if they'd concede so readily to sons who begged for combat fatigues and mock AK-47s.

More to the point, when my own girl makes her daily beeline for the dress-up corner of her preschool classroom â€” something I'm convinced she does largely to torture me â€” I worry about what playing Little Mermaid is teaching her. I've spent much of my career writing about experiences that undermine girls' well-being, warning parents that a preoccupation with body and beauty (encouraged by films, TV, magazines and, yes, toys) is perilous to their daughters' mental and physical health. Am I now supposed to shrug and forget all that? If trafficking in stereotypes doesn't matter at 3, when does it matter? At 6? Eight? Thirteen?

On the other hand, maybe I'm still surfing a washed-out second wave of feminism in a third-wave world. Maybe princesses are in fact a sign of progress, an indication that girls can embrace their predilection for pink without compromising strength or ambition; that, at long last, they can "have it all." Or maybe it is even less complex than that: to mangle Freud, maybe a princess is sometimes just a princess. And, as my daughter wants to know, what's wrong with that?

The rise of the Disney princesses reads like a fairy tale itself, with Andy Mooney, a former Nike executive, playing the part of prince, riding into the company on a metaphoric white horse in January 2000 to save a consumer-products division whose sales were dropping by as much as 30 percent a year. Both overstretched and underfocused, the division had triggered price wars by granting multiple licenses for core products (say, Winnie-the-Pooh undies) while ignoring the potential of new media. What's more, Disney films like "A Bug's Life" in 1998 had yielded few merchandising opportunities â€” what child wants to snuggle up with an ant? It was about a month after Mooney's arrival that the magic struck. That's when he flew to Phoenix to check out his first "Disney on Ice" show. "Standing in line in the arena, I was surrounded by little girls dressed head to toe as princesses," he told me last summer in his palatial office, then located in Burbank, and speaking in a rolling Scottish burr. "They weren't even Disney products. They were generic princess products they'd appended to a Halloween costume. And the light bulb went off. Clearly there was latent demand here. So the next morning I said to my team, 'O.K., let's establish standards and a color palette and talk to licensees and get as much product out there as we possibly can that allows these girls to do what they're doing anyway: projecting themselves into the characters from the classic movies.' "

Mooney picked a mix of old and new heroines to wear the Pantone pink No. 241 corona: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Mulan and Pocahontas. It was the first time Disney marketed characters separately from a film's release, let alone lumped together those from different stories. To ensure the sanctity of what Mooney called their individual "mythologies," the princesses never make eye contact when they're grouped: each stares off in a slightly different direction as if unaware of the others' presence.

It is also worth noting that not all of the ladies are of royal extraction. Part of the genius of "Princess" is that its meaning is so broadly constructed that it actually has no meaning. Even Tinker Bell was originally a Princess, though her reign didn't last. "We'd always debate over whether she was really a part of the Princess mythology," Mooney recalled. "She really wasn't." Likewise, Mulan and Pocahontas, arguably the most resourceful of the bunch, are rarely depicted on Princess merchandise, though for a different reason. Their rustic garb has less bling potential than that of old-school heroines like Sleeping Beauty. (When Mulan does appear, she is typically in the kimonolike hanfu, which makes her miserable in the movie, rather than her liberated warrior's gear.)

The first Princess items, released with no marketing plan, no focus groups, no advertising, sold as if blessed by a fairy godmother. To this day, Disney conducts little market research on the Princess line, relying instead on the power of its legacy among mothers as well as the instant- read sales barometer of the theme parks and Disney Stores. "We simply gave girls what they wanted," Mooney said of the line's success, "although I don't think any of us grasped how much they wanted this. I wish I could sit here and take credit for having some grand scheme to develop this, but all we did was envision a little girl's room and think about how she could live out the princess fantasy. The counsel we gave to licensees was: What type of bedding would a princess want to sleep in? What kind of alarm clock would a princess want to wake up to? What type of television would a princess like to see? It's a rare case where you find a girl who has every aspect of her room bedecked in Princess, but if she ends up with three or four of these items, well, then you have a very healthy business."

Every reporter Mooney talks to asks some version of my next question: Aren't the Princesses, who are interested only in clothes, jewelry and cadging the handsome prince, somewhat retrograde role models?

"Look," he said, "I have friends whose son went through the Power Rangers phase who castigated themselves over what they must've done wrong. Then they talked to other parents whose kids had gone through it. The boy passes through. The girl passes through. I see girls expanding their imagination through visualizing themselves as princesses, and then they pass through that phase and end up becoming lawyers, doctors, mothers or princesses, whatever the case may be."

Mooney has a point: There are no studies proving that playing princess directly damages girls' self-esteem or dampens other aspirations. On the other hand, there is evidence that young women who hold the most conventionally feminine beliefs â€” who avoid conflict and think they should be perpetually nice and pretty â€” are more likely to be depressed than others and less likely to use contraception. What's more, the 23 percent decline in girls' participation in sports and other vigorous activity between middle and high school has been linked to their sense that athletics is unfeminine. And in a survey released last October by Girls Inc., school-age girls overwhelmingly reported a paralyzing pressure to be "perfect": not only to get straight A's and be the student-body president, editor of the newspaper and captain of the swim team but also to be "kind and caring," "please everyone, be very thin and dress right." Give those girls a pumpkin and a glass slipper and they'd be in business.

At the grocery store one day, my daughter noticed a little girl sporting a Cinderella backpack. "There's that princess you don't like, Mama!" she shouted.

"Um, yeah," I said, trying not to meet the other mother's hostile gaze.

"Don't you like her blue dress, Mama?"

I had to admit, I did.

She thought about this. "Then don't you like her face?"

"Her face is all right," I said, noncommittally, though I'm not thrilled to have my Japanese-Jewish child in thrall to those Aryan features. (And what the heck are those blue things covering her ears?) "It's just, honey, Cinderella doesn't really do anything."

Over the next 45 minutes, we ran through that conversation, verbatim, approximately 37 million times, as my daughter pointed out Disney Princess Band-Aids, Disney Princess paper cups, Disney Princess lip balm, Disney Princess pens, Disney Princess crayons and Disney Princess notebooks â€” all cleverly displayed at the eye level of a 3-year-old trapped in a shopping cart â€” as well as a bouquet of Disney Princess balloons bobbing over the checkout line. The repetition was excessive, even for a preschooler. What was it about my answers that confounded her? What if, instead of realizing: Aha! Cinderella is a symbol of the patriarchal oppression of all women, another example of corporate mind control and power-to-the-people! my 3-year-old was thinking, Mommy doesn't want me to be a girl? According to theories of gender constancy, until they're about 6 or 7, children don't realize that the sex they were born with is immutable. They believe that they have a choice: they can grow up to be either a mommy or a daddy. Some psychologists say that until permanency sets in kids embrace whatever stereotypes our culture presents, whether it's piling on the most spangles or attacking one another with light sabers. What better way to assure that they'll always remain themselves? If that's the case, score one for Mooney. By not buying the Princess Pull-Ups, I may be inadvertently communicating that being female (to the extent that my daughter is able to understand it) is a bad thing.

Anyway, you have to give girls some credit. It's true that, according to Mattel, one of the most popular games young girls play is "bride," but Disney found that a groom or prince is incidental to that fantasy, a regrettable necessity at best. Although they keep him around for the climactic kiss, he is otherwise relegated to the bottom of the toy box, which is why you don't see him prominently displayed in stores.

What's more, just because they wear the tulle doesn't mean they've drunk the Kool-Aid. Plenty of girls stray from the script, say, by playing basketball in their finery, or casting themselves as the powerful evil stepsister bossing around the sniveling Cinderella. I recall a headline-grabbing 2005 British study that revealed that girls enjoy torturing, decapitating and microwaving their Barbies nearly as much as they like to dress them up for dates. There is spice along with that sugar after all, though why this was news is beyond me: anyone who ever played with the doll knows there's nothing more satisfying than hacking off all her hair and holding her underwater in the bathtub. Princesses can even be a boon to exasperated parents: in our house, for instance, royalty never whines and uses the potty every single time.

"Playing princess is not the issue," argues Lyn Mikel Brown, an author, with Sharon Lamb, of "Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters From Marketers' Schemes." "The issue is 25,000 Princess products," says Brown, a professor of education and human development at Colby College. "When one thing is so dominant, then it's no longer a choice: it's a mandate, cannibalizing all other forms of play. There's the illusion of more choices out there for girls, but if you look around, you'll see their choices are steadily narrowing."

It's hard to imagine that girls' options could truly be shrinking when they dominate the honor roll and outnumber boys in college. Then again, have you taken a stroll through a children's store lately? A year ago, when we shopped for "big girl" bedding at Pottery Barn Kids, we found the "girls" side awash in flowers, hearts and hula dancers; not a soccer player or sailboat in sight. Across the no-fly zone, the "boys" territory was all about sports, trains, planes and automobiles. Meanwhile, Baby GAP's boys' onesies were emblazoned with "Big Man on Campus" and the girls' with "Social Butterfly"; guess whose matching shoes were decorated on the soles with hearts and whose sported a "No. 1" logo? And at Toys "R" Us, aisles of pink baby dolls, kitchens, shopping carts and princesses unfurl a safe distance from the "Star Wars" figures, GeoTrax and tool chests. The relentless resegregation of childhood appears to have sneaked up without any further discussion about sex roles, about what it now means to be a boy or to be a girl. Or maybe it has happened in lieu of such discussion because it's easier this way. Easier, that is, unless you want to buy your daughter something that isn't pink. Girls' obsession with that color may seem like something they're born with, like the ability to breathe or talk on the phone for hours on end. But according to Jo Paoletti, an associate professor of American studies at the University of Maryland, it ain't so. When colors were first introduced to the nursery in the early part of the 20th century, pink was considered the more masculine hue, a pastel version of red. Blue, with its intimations of the Virgin Mary, constancy and faithfulness, was thought to be dainty. Why or when that switched is not clear, but as late as the 1930s a significant percentage of adults in one national survey held to that split. Perhaps that's why so many early Disney heroines â€” Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Wendy, Alice-in-Wonderland â€” are swathed in varying shades of azure. (Purple, incidentally, may be the next color to swap teams: once the realm of kings and N.F.L. players, it is fast becoming the bolder girl's version of pink.)

It wasn't until the mid-1980s, when amplifying age and sex differences became a key strategy of children's marketing (recall the emergence of " 'tween"), that pink became seemingly innate to girls, part of what defined them as female, at least for the first few years. That was also the time that the first of the generation raised during the unisex phase of feminism â€” ah, hither Marlo! â €” became parents. "The kids who grew up in the 1970s wanted sharp definitions for their own kids," Paoletti told me. "I can understand that, because the unisex thing denied everything â€” you couldn't be this, you couldn't be that, you had to be a neutral nothing."

The infatuation with the girlie girl certainly could, at least in part, be a reaction against the so- called second wave of the women's movement of the 1960s and '70s (the first wave was the fight for suffrage), which fought for reproductive rights and economic, social and legal equality. If nothing else, pink and Princess have resuscitated the fantasy of romance that that era of feminism threatened, the privileges that traditional femininity conferred on women despite its costs â€” doors magically opened, dinner checks picked up, Manolo Blahniks. Frippery. Fun. Why should we give up the perks of our sex until we're sure of what we'll get in exchange? Why should we give them up at all? Or maybe it's deeper than that: the freedoms feminism bestowed came with an undercurrent of fear among women themselves â€” flowing through "Ally McBeal," "Bridget Jones's Diary," "Sex and the City" â€” of losing male love, of never marrying, of not having children, of being deprived of something that felt essentially and exclusively female.

I mulled that over while flipping through "The Paper Bag Princess," a 1980 picture book hailed as an antidote to Disney. The heroine outwits a dragon who has kidnapped her prince, but not before the beast's fiery breath frizzles her hair and destroys her dress, forcing her to don a paper bag. The ungrateful prince rejects her, telling her to come back when she is "dressed like a real princess." She dumps him and skips off into the sunset, happily ever after, alone.

There you have it, "Thelma and Louise" all over again. Step out of line, and you end up solo or, worse, sailing crazily over a cliff to your doom. Alternatives like those might send you skittering right back to the castle. And I get that: the fact is, though I want my daughter to do and be whatever she wants as an adult, I still hope she'll find her Prince Charming and have babies, just as I have. I don't want her to be a fish without a bicycle; I want her to be a fish with another fish. Preferably, one who loves and respects her and also does the dishes and half the child care.

There had to be a middle ground between compliant and defiant, between petticoats and paper bags. I remembered a video on YouTube, an ad for a Nintendo game called Super Princess Peach. It showed a pack of girls in tiaras, gowns and elbow-length white gloves sliding down a zip line on parasols, navigating an obstacle course of tires in their stilettos, slithering on their bellies under barbed wire, then using their telekinetic powers to make a climbing wall burst into flames. "If you can stand up to really mean people," an announcer intoned, "maybe you have what it takes to be a princess."

Now here were some girls who had grit as well as grace. I loved Princess Peach even as I recognized that there was no way she could run in those heels, that her peachiness did nothing to upset the apple cart of expectation: she may have been athletic, smart and strong, but she was also adorable. Maybe she's what those once-unisex, postfeminist parents are shooting for: the melding of old and new standards. And perhaps that's a good thing, the ideal solution. But what to make, then, of the young women in the Girls Inc. survey? It doesn't seem to be "having it all" that's getting to them; it's the pressure to be it all. In telling our girls they can be anything, we have inadvertently demanded that they be everything. To everyone. All the time. No wonder the report was titled "The Supergirl Dilemma."

The princess as superhero is not irrelevant. Some scholars I spoke with say that given its post- 9/11 timing, princess mania is a response to a newly dangerous world. "Historically, princess worship has emerged during periods of uncertainty and profound social change," observes Miriam Forman-Brunell, a historian at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Francis Hodgson Burnett's original"Little Princess" was published at a time of rapid urbanization, immigration and poverty; Shirley Temple's film version was a hit during the Great Depression. "The original folk tales themselves," Forman-Brunell says, "spring from medieval and early modern European culture that faced all kinds of economic and demographic and social upheaval â€” famine, war, disease, terror of wolves. Girls play savior during times of economic crisis and instability." That's a heavy burden for little shoulders. Perhaps that's why the magic wand has become an essential part of the princess get-up. In the original stories â€” even the Disney versions of them â€” it's not the girl herself who's magic; it's the fairy godmother. Now if Forman-Brunell is right, we adults have become the cursed creatures whom girls have the thaumaturgic power to transform.

In the 1990s, third-wave feminists rebelled against their dour big sisters, "reclaiming" sexual objectification as a woman's right â€” provided, of course, that it was on her own terms, that she was the one choosing to strip or wear a shirt that said "Porn Star" or make out with her best friend at a frat-house bash. They embraced words like "bitch" and "slut" as terms of affection and empowerment. That is, when used by the right people, with the right dash of playful irony. But how can you assure that? As Madonna gave way to Britney, whatever self-determination that message contained was watered down and commodified until all that was left was a gaggle of 6- year-old girls in belly-baring T-shirts (which I'm guessing they don't wear as cultural critique). It is no wonder that parents, faced with thongs for 8-year-olds and Bratz dolls' "passion for fashion," fill their daughters' closets with pink sateen; the innocence of Princess feels like a reprieve.

"But what does that mean?" asks Sharon Lamb, a psychology professor at Saint Michael's College. "There are other ways to express 'innocence' â€” girls could play ladybug or caterpillar. What you're really talking about is sexual purity. And there's a trap at the end of that rainbow, because the natural progression from pale, innocent pink is not to other colors. It's to hot, sexy pink â€” exactly the kind of sexualization parents are trying to avoid." Lamb suggested that to see for myself how "Someday My Prince Will Come" morphs into "Oops! I Did It Again," I visit Club Libby Lu, the mall shop dedicated to the "Very Important Princess."

Walking into one of the newest links in the store's chain, in Natick, Mass., last summer, I had to tip my tiara to the founder, Mary Drolet: Libby Lu's design was flawless. Unlike Disney, Drolet depended on focus groups to choose the logo (a crown-topped heart) and the colors (pink, pink, purple and more pink). The displays were scaled to the size of a 10-year-old, though most of the shoppers I saw were several years younger than that. The decals on the walls and dressing rooms â€” "I Love Your Hair," "Hip Chick," "Spoiled" â€” were written in "girlfriend language." The young sales clerks at this "special secret club for superfabulous girls" are called "club counselors" and come off like your coolest baby sitter, the one who used to let you brush her hair. The malls themselves are chosen based on a company formula called the G.P.I., or "Girl Power Index," which predicts potential sales revenues. Talk about newspeak: "Girl Power" has gone from a riot grrrrl anthem to "I Am Woman, Watch Me Shop."

Inside, the store was divided into several glittery "shopping zones" called "experiences": Libby's Laboratory, now called Sparkle Spa, where girls concoct their own cosmetics and bath products; Libby's Room; Ear Piercing; Pooch Parlor (where divas in training can pamper stuffed poodles, pugs and Chihuahuas); and the Style Studio, offering "Libby Du" makeover choices, including 'Tween Idol, Rock Star, Pop Star and, of course, Priceless Princess. Each look includes hairstyle, makeup, nail polish and sparkly tattoos.

As I browsed, I noticed a mother standing in the center of the store holding a price list for makeover birthday parties â€” $22.50 to $35 per child. Her name was Anne McAuliffe; her daughters â€” Stephanie, 4, and 7-year-old twins Rory and Sarah â€” were dashing giddily up and down the aisles.

"They've been begging to come to this store for three weeks," McAuliffe said. "I'd never heard of it. So I said they could, but they'd have to spend their own money if they bought anything." She looked around. "Some of this stuff is innocuous," she observed, then leaned toward me, eyes wide and stage-whispered: "But ... a lot of it is horrible. It makes them look like little prostitutes. It's crazy. They're babies!"

As we debated the line between frivolous fun and JonBenÃ©t, McAuliffe's daughter Rory came dashing up, pigtails haphazard, glasses askew. "They have the best pocketbooks here," she said breathlessly, brandishing a clutch with the words "Girlie Girl" stamped on it. "Please, can I have one? It has sequins!"

"You see that?" McAuliffe asked, gesturing at the bag. "What am I supposed to say?"

On my way out of the mall, I popped into the " 'tween" mecca Hot Topic, where a display of Tinker Bell items caught my eye. Tinker Bell, whose image racks up an annual $400 million in retail sales with no particular effort on Disney's part, is poised to wreak vengeance on the Princess line that once expelled her. Last winter, the first chapter book designed to introduce girls to Tink and her Pixie Hollow pals spent 18 weeks on The New York Times children's best-seller list. In a direct-to-DVD now under production, she will speak for the first time, voiced by the actress Brittany Murphy. Next year, Disney Fairies will be rolled out in earnest. Aimed at 6- to 9-year-old girls, the line will catch them just as they outgrow Princess. Their colors will be lavender, green, turquoise â€” anything but the Princess's soon-to-be-babyish pink.

To appeal to that older child, Disney executives said, the Fairies will have more "attitude" and "sass" than the Princesses. What, I wondered, did that entail? I'd seen some of the Tinker Bell merchandise that Disney sells at its theme parks: T-shirts reading, "Spoiled to Perfection," "Mood Subject to Change Without Notice" and "Tinker Bell: Prettier Than a Princess." At Hot Topic, that edge was even sharper: magnets, clocks, light-switch plates and panties featured "Dark Tink," described as "the bad girl side of Miss Bell that Walt never saw."

Girl power, indeed.

A few days later, I picked my daughter up from preschool. She came tearing over in a full-skirted frock with a gold bodice, a beaded crown perched sideways on her head. "Look, Mommy, I'm Ariel!" she crowed. referring to Disney's Little Mermaid. Then she stopped and furrowed her brow. "Mommy, do you like Ariel?"

I considered her for a moment. Maybe Princess is the first salvo in what will become a lifelong struggle over her body image, a Hundred Years' War of dieting, plucking, painting and perpetual dissatisfaction with the results. Or maybe it isn't. I'll never really know. In the end, it's not the Princesses that really bother me anyway. They're just a trigger for the bigger question of how, over the years, I can help my daughter with the contradictions she will inevitably face as a girl, the dissonance that is as endemic as ever to growing up female. Maybe the best I can hope for is that her generation will get a little further with the solutions than we did.

For now, I kneeled down on the floor and gave my daughter a hug.

She smiled happily. "But, Mommy?" she added. "When I grow up, I'm still going to be a fireman."

User Comments:

Sherry http://www.journalscape.com/sherry/ ------Yup, It is a slippery slope from Mary Poppins to Marilyn Manson.

It seems like yesterday that I swore that if I had to see Chim-chimeny one. more. time. I would scream.

And then two days ago that same sweet Poppins fan was trying to convince me that Marilyn Manson is really a great artist!!

Lukee ------high school musical.

that is all. reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------Well, and J is 9. Apparently there are four year olds having birthday parties there. That just ain't right.

Matthew ------Oh I don't know about that. I think your grand daughters are on a slippery slope. One day it's Mary Poppins and Cinderella, the next it's Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails. ;-)

Mamala ------OTOH, Jessie enjoyed a few hours at Libby Lu over the holidays and it did seem like good clean fun, given that her parents are good at keeping things in perspective. I think that's the key.

I'm confident all 3 of my granddaughters will be just fine, given their good parentage. reverendmother www.journalscape.com/reverendmother ------I liked the article and agreed with most of it.

The most important point was that it's a matter of degree. The princess stuff is everywhere. We've bought her very little (if any?) princess stuff and yet she has managed to collect tons of it. I don't intend to ban it from the house, I've chilled out about my issues with it, but, I do hope her birthday gifts will go beyond the princess thing. Just to balance things out. It's the ultimate in hubris to make sweeping pronouncements--a person's just begging to be taken off her high horse by saying "never"--but I'm as confident as I can be in saying that there is NO WAY my child will ever go to a Club Libby Lu event on my watch.

Finally, after watching The Little Mermaid mumblemumble times with C, I can say that she shows bravery and a sense of adventure. She wants to be a human WAY before meeting Prince Eric.

Ahem.

Maggie http://www.journalscape.com/maggie/ ------Such a fascinating read. Thanks for posting this.

------Date: 2007-01-06 16:37:00 Subject: Perspective

C- "MaDear, are you getting old?"

MaDear- "Yes, are you getting old, C?"

C- "No, I'm not getting old, I'm growing up."

User Comments:

Lukee ------great post!

------Date: 2007-01-09 14:41:00 Subject: I want one

IPhone

User Comments:

Matthew ------The hands were generated by Pixar.

Lukee ------Everyone is waiting for Apple to stumble (same with pixar) but so far neither company has. And about my original comment, what IS with those creappy "perfect hands" they have in those ads?!?!

Matthew ------Nice!

1. Wonder what the battery life is like.

2. I'm really intrigued by the new iTV that they unveiled yesterday.

3. Anya's dream of a widescreen iPod is almost fully realized. If I remember reading correctly, the iPod screen on this is in widescreen, right?

4. I wonder how sleek and shiny these buttons are going to look after pressed against a sweaty cheeked phone talker.

Lukee ------nice!

Mamala ------Lukee-you mean "i-hand"?

Lukee ------a hand?

------Date: 2007-01-10 11:25:00 Subject: The Political Compass

Try it yourself Here's my score:

User Comments:

Matthew ------My blood runs red like a Communist flag. haha reverendmother http://www.reverendmother.org ------Good lord!

Matthew ------Your political compass

Economic Left/Right: -8.88

Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.41 reverendmother http://www.reverendmother.org ------Your political compass

Economic Left/Right: -6.50

Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.44

Interesting!

Lukee ------Your political compass

Economic Left/Right: -5.00

Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.03

------Date: 2007-01-17 15:05:00 Subject: The Appeal for Redress

All these Democrats do is talk, talk, talk Wednesday, January 17th, 2007 - by Mike Lupica

Talk today about Sgt. Liam Madden, a kid from Vermont who joined the Marines after high school and ended up in Anbar Province, who says that you can be a good Marine and a good American and still want our war in Iraq to stop.

Talk proudly about Madden of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, who took a petition, signed by more than 1,000 just like him, to Congress yesterday, who just by walking up the steps of the Cannon House Office Building did more than big Democrats such as Sens. Hillary Clinton (D- N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) are doing these days.

Clinton would rather be photographed with soldiers than do anything for them. The other day on "Face the Nation," Obama looked like he wanted to hide under the desk when Bob Schieffer asked him if he backed Sen. Edward Kennedy's bill that would require congressional approval to fund the troop increases that this President has planned. Obama started talking about a "phased withdrawal" and sounded like somebody trying to explain cricket.

One of the reasons Kennedy (D-Mass.) can do what he does at this stage of his career is because he has nothing to lose. Clinton and Obama are different. They are the headliners of the party in power now, but all they do is talk and talk but say nothing meaningful about Iraq. It tells you everything about how much both of them want to be President, no matter what kind of mess they would inherit in Baghdad.

This isn't about ideals with them as much as ambition. Maybe they can explain to the people on the ground now how important it is for them to find a safe place in this debate.

"I'd tell you that the Democrats are talking a good game, but they're not even doing that," Madden says. "Everybody in Congress has to understand something: If they continue to fund this war, it's not just the President who owns it. They own it, too."

The Appeal for Redress, as yesterday's document is officially called, was signed by active military members and National Guardsmen and reservists. There were 1,034 names on it yesterday when Madden and the others took it up the steps to the Cannon Terrace. And this was not partisan dissent that came from the President's political opponents. This came from soldiers brave enough to speak out, even at the possible cost of their careers, and makes them braver than the people who represent them.

Their Appeal for Redress ended this way: "The timing of the beginning of the war was a choice, and the timing of the ending will be a choice. If President Bush does not choose to end the war, then Congress must by cutting off funds."

At least Kennedy tries to do something. The best the rest of them can do is talk about some kind of nonbinding resolution. That ought to scare off Bush and Vice President Cheney.

It is as if Clinton and Obama in particular are terrified of being Swift-boated by the Republicans all over again, made out to be weaklings and cowards if they don't want to continue sending U.S. soldiers over to Iraq to die in a civil war the United Nations now says killed more than 34,000 Iraqi civilians in the last year alone. "This isn't us against the military," Madden says. "It's us against this policy."

Madden joined the Marines at 18 because, he says, he needed purpose in his life. He thought that in the last four years of his contract, he could get himself a college education. Now he is not so sure, even though he was told on his way into service for his country that he would be called back from inactive duty only for a "national emergency."

"They keep changing the rules," he says

So he puts his name on the Appeal for Redress. And then listens to Cheney, who goes on television Sunday and says that if we withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq, we "revalidate the strategy that Osama Bin Laden has been following from day one, that if you kill enough Americans, you can force them to quit,that we don't have the stomach forthe fight."

This is the same Cheney who has only ever picked up a gun in his life to shoot birds or lawyers.

"It's the same old stuff," Madden says. "If we're not blind in our loyalty to their beliefs, then Osama wins. But that doesn't work anymore, and the election should have told everybody that. The American people aren't idiots."

Just treated that way by this administration. On one hand, the President calls this the most important ideological battle of our time. Then, practically in the next breath, he says that this country's commitment in Iraq is not "open-ended." So even with the most important ideological battle of our time, he has the meter running.

Some soldiers, ones who have put themselves on the line in Iraq, spoke out against this lunacy yesterday. It is the best they can do for now. It is their elected officials who have to do better, starting with the Democratic front-runners, Clinton and Barack. They can start by saying they will vote against further funding of this war the first chance they get. You fund this war, you own it. ------Date: 2007-01-19 17:48:00 Subject: Epitaph

"I was asked once what I would like as my epitaph. In the 1960s, I had this terrible old jacket, which I loved. You know, one of those adored rags you never want to part with. And I came back and I had been covered with mud and blood and honey. I still chuckle now remembering it. It had this thing pinned to it - Sycamore Cleaners - 'It distresses us to return work which is not perfect.'

I want that on my tombstone, please"

-Peter O'Toole on The Charlie Rose Show, January 17, 2007

------Date: 2007-01-20 11:17:00 Subject: Surge Protector

I agree with Krauthammer...

We need to find a redeployment strategy that maintains as much latent American strength as possible, but with minimal exposure. We say to Maliki: Let us down, and we dismantle the Green Zone, leave Baghdad and let you fend for yourself; we keep the airport and certain strategic bases in the area; we redeploy most of our forces to Kurdistan; we maintain a significant presence in Anbar province, where we are having success in our one-front war against al-Qaeda and the Baathists. Then we watch. You can have your Baghdad civil war without us. We will be around to pick up the pieces as best we can.

------Date: 2007-01-20 11:22:00 Subject: Obama's experience

An answer to anyone who says that Obama lacks experience... remind them of the vast experience of Cheney and Rumsfeld and where that got us.

User Comments: reverendmother http://www.reverendmother.org ------Like Uncle Ted said on a sig, or in a post... amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic. lukee ------Yeah, if there is anything we do need it's new ideas.

------Date: 2007-01-21 22:24:00 Subject: Hillary '08?

------Date: 2007-01-23 10:29:00 Subject: Snow's gone

User Comments:

Matthew ------Brilliant! lukee ------Great cartoon! It's one I actually understand!

------Date: 2007-01-29 16:50:00 Subject: Kibbles and Bits

User Comments:

Katieg ------Not me. People just couldn't pronounce our last name, so it didn't get morphed to much for me.

Mamala ------Wow...I've never heard that before...so far, people I've known have been kind, although our last name is easy to massacre. lukee ------Yeah, I got it too.

Matthew ------I'm not sure if my siblings ever experienced this, but I used to get teased with McKibbles and Bits. It could have been worse, so I'm not complaining, but your title made me chuckle a little.

------Date: 2007-01-30 15:11:00 Subject: Friends Forever!

User Comments:

Lukee ------Or friends for never? reverendmother http://www.reverendmother.org ------LOL! I was thinking "BFF!" (best friends forever)

------Date: 2007-02-04 08:19:00 Subject: Merry Super, Happy Bowl!

User Comments:

Lukee ------I had a weird football related dream last night. I wonder if it's because of the superbowl.

------Date: 2007-02-09 11:15:00 Subject: 10 and a half hours of movies

I just purchased a ticket to view all 5 Oscar nominated movies for Best Movie in one day at one of the cinema-plexes here in the area. I'll go the day before the Oscars, and if I can handle sitting through all 5, I'll really have a favorite to cheer for the following night...should be fun!

User Comments: reverendmother http://www.reverendmother.org ------That's very fun.

I think we're going to host an Oscar party---you need to come!

Mamala ------Check it out!

Matthew ------Awesome! How do I get in on this?

Lukee ------That's a lot of hours of movies. Should be a good time. I don't even know what's been nominated! I feel so hermit-like.

------Date: 2007-02-12 14:53:00 Subject: The Grammys

The Grammys delivered, as I was rooting for the Dixie Chicks and they were 5 for 5. I especially liked The Police opening, but wished they'd picked another song...Roxanne's not my favorite. Other highlights for me included the medley with Corinne Bailey Rae, John Legend and John Mayer, anything sung by Mary J. Blige, the Red Hot Chili Peppers closing number and their plea to the youth of America "We need more rock bands!" but by far, the best number of the night was Christina Aguilera's as she delivered a memorable, perhaps legendary, performance of James Brown's "It's A Man's World."

User Comments:

Lukee ------Wow.

Aguilera sang *that*?

Pop culture just hit a speed bump.

------Date: 2007-02-13 20:36:00 Subject: The Heart of the Buddha

"The heart of the Buddha is in each of us. When we are mindful, the Buddha is there. . . . We need to take care of the healthy seeds that are in us by watering them every day through the practice of mindful breathing, mindful walking, mindfully doing everything. We need to touch the Buddha within us. We need to enter our own heart, which means to enter the heart of the Buddha. To enter the heart of the Buddha means to be present for ourselves, our suffering, our joys, and for many others. . . . I am confident that you can do it."

-- Thich Nhat Hanh

------Date: 2007-02-13 23:04:00 Subject: Westminster Dog Show

This is just wrong...

But then, it didn't win. James, the English Springer Spaniel did.

User Comments:

Matthew ------I really don't like poodles. They're good dogs and all, but I wish people would stop poofing up their hair like that.

Lukee ------That woman's knees look like the cocker spaniel's stomach!

------Date: 2007-02-18 09:58:00 Subject: The Divine's Evening at MaDear's

Little She-Who-Is and the Divine Miss M came over to my place for pizza and ice cream last night while their mom and dad had a dinner out in the District. Although little "She" has been here many times and knows about all of my wonderful little things (the night lights, the flash lights, the stool that she sits on to have dinner, the nuggets, the kitty brush, MaDear's toy box, etc) the "Divine" had her own discoveries to make.

She was overjoyed to find that all of MaDear's cabinet doors and drawers open all the way, without locks. She loved being able to climb up on the chair and turn the computer monitor switch on and off without having to scale the gate that surrounds her Daddy's home office. And since I have a relatively simple TV and video system she was allowed to push all the buttons on both my remotes without discouragement. The best part for her was being able to have a "picnic" during dinner as I don't have a table or even a tv tray to set up for her but rather, the 3 of us just sat on the floor and as she explored one corner or another, she'd come back to this spot for another bite of pizza or spoonful of yogurt. She was in heaven not being confined to a high chair. And you've not known the expression of being overjoyed until you've seen it on the "Divine's" sweet face!

User Comments:

Mr. Cloudy ------Hi my friend. I believe that your house is a place it is easy to be overjoyed -- a place like your heart, with room for everyone, and time for exploring and discovering. You are a gift to your family and your friends.

Lukee ------I am going to start calling her "da divine"

Judy http://www.journalscape.com/lb ------You just gotta love watching those little ones explore and discover! Your wonder at it just about matches theirs. Enjoy it!! reverendmother http://www.reverendmother.org ------So true!

Ted ------You were in heaven and so were they....what a great evening for you all!

------Date: 2007-02-18 11:15:00 Subject: Coping with New Technology

An amusing video.

User Comments:

Lukee ------Ha! Let's hear it for intuitive interface!

------Date: 2007-02-19 21:58:00 Subject: Just get over it!

User Comments: reverendmother http://www.reverendmother.org ------This one really made me laugh yesterday.

Lukee ------Ha! Wow, this is quite a comic!

------Date: 2007-02-25 01:07:00 Subject: And the Oscar goes to...

My picks:

Best Picture - Babel

Best Actor - All 4 Hunky Actors in The Departed (Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg & Jack Nicholson, yes, Jack Nicholson)- [This won't happen as none of them were nominated in this category, but wow...]

Best Actress - Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (Helen Mirren was great and I haven't seen the rest of the movies with the nominees in this category, but Meryl nailed this character) [side note: 3 of the 5 nominees in this category are over 50] Best Original Screenplay - Letters from Iwo Jima

Best Adapted Screenplay - I only saw The Departed in this category and kept thinking that although this was a good flick, haven't I seen this before?...think L.A. Confidential-ish

Best Supporting Actor - Mark Wahlberg (again, he's the only one I saw in this category so I'll pull for him)

Best Supporting Actress - a tie - Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi for Babel

Best Director - Although I'd love to see Scorsese get it (FINALLY) The Departed was very much a "guy" movie (although I endured all the blood and guts because of the tremendous acting of all the actors in this movie...did I mention Martin Sheen's excellence? Even Alec Baldwin was perfect in this movie!). However, I'm pulling for Paul Greengrass for United 93. I mean, he took unknown actors and some real life characters and molded them into the most powerful movie of the year (for me).

User Comments:

Matthew ------:-)

Jill Susan ------OK, I missed on most all counts but I know my Short Action flicks like the back of my hand!

------Date: 2007-03-01 10:39:00 Subject: An Inconvenient Truth

The Express (Washington Post's free paper for Metro riders and others) has a poll every day where people can go online and vote. They emphasize that "the results reflect the votes of those who choose to participate. They are not derived from a scientific random sample." However, I feel like the poll results generally reflect the mood of the city.

This recent poll astounded me, though, as the question was "Would you pay a tax to cut down on greenhouse gases?" and the poll results showed an emphatic 75% No and 25% Yes. Kind of depressing if even the very blue District doesn't want to make a sacrifice to help the environment. Or maybe I can look at it more positively. Maybe everyone knows and their experience has been that a tax and another government program would not help the situation (FEMA, I'm looking in your direction).

User Comments:

Lukee ------Yeah, people DO NOT like taxes. Maybe we should call them kisses or something.

Rambler http://www.journalscape.com/Rambler/ ------I suspect your last statement is true. No one wants more taxes (I say as I'm finishing my mom's taxes, and getting mine done by the accountant and being astonished by the fact that she got significantly less income last year and has to pay more, and also by the dollar amount that I've already paid in...). Many people think that the amount we're already paying should be sufficient to accomplish stuff like this. I bet anyone with an ounce of mathematical sense could eliminate billions from the money already being spent without affecting very many people, and find money for such a program. I think people also think that industries should step up (yeah, like that'll happen) and then some aren't convinced - is it emissions or land use? (I've seen compelling studies that suggest the latter...) reverendmother http://www.reverendmother.org ------True, though I wonder if the results would have been different if they had asked it another way, like, "Would you favor cutting-edge new public programs to [do X,Y,Z] to cut greenhouse gases?"

My guess is that people would. But I'd probably answer no to the poll as stated too. Tax or no tax? I'll take no tax.

But on the other hand, I think programs that would actually work on the problem are worth the investment. It's all in how you ask it. And that's what Republicans are masterful at, and Democrats suck at.

------Date: 2007-03-01 10:58:00 Subject: Twinkies, Deconstructed

As Steve Ettlinger dropped down a Wyoming mine shaft, plummeting 1,600 feet in an open- mesh cage, he wondered how many other food writers had ever donned hard hats and emergency breathing equipment in pursuit of a story. But it was too late to turn back. He'd promised his editor a book tracing the ingredients in a Hostess Twinkie to their originsâ€”and one of them was down this shaft. At the bottom, he and his hosts climbed into an open Jeep and hurtled for 30 terrifying minutes through pitch-black tunnels. Their destination: the site where a mineral called tronaâ€”the raw ingredient of baking sodaâ€”was being clawed out of a rock face by giant machines. "To say that this does not suggest Twinkies or any other food product would be an understatement," observes Ettlinger. "There you are at an open rock face, wondering why they do all this for the sake of a little snack cake."

Read the whole story

Twinkies contain actual flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, water and a trace of egg. But the rest of the 39 ingredients are not generally what you find in your pantry. A sampling:

THE FILLING

* Shortening (in the form of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and/or beef fat) is the main ingredient.

* Polysorbate 60 is a gooey substance that helps replace cream and eggs at a fraction of the cost. It's derived from corn, palm oil and petroleum.

* Cellulose gum gives the crÃ¨me filling a smooth, slippery feel.

* Artificial vanillin is synthesized in petrochemical plants. The real thing comes from finicky tropical orchids that are pollinated by hand on the one day they bloom.

THE CAKE

* Lecithin is an emulsifier made from soy. It's also used in paint to keep pigments evenly dispersed.

* Diacetyl mimics the taste of butter, since the real stuff would go rancid on a store shelf.

* Cornstarch is a common thickener. But it's more often used to make cardboard and packing peanuts.

* Yellow No. 5, Red No. 40 give the cake the golden look of eggs.

* Sorbic acid, the only actual preservative in Twinkies, comes from petroleum.

TWINKIE FACTS

* Calories: 145 each

* Shelf life: 25 daysâ€”not years, as urban legend would have it * History: In 1930, James Dewar found a way to use idle baking pans. He named the cakes after seeing an ad for "Twinkle-Toe" shoes. Shelf life was just two to three days.

User Comments:

Lukee ------Ah shucks, this is what I needed to help with my no processed sugar diet. Thanks!

Matthew ------Oh, and that picture is total BS; Twinkies have nowhere near that much inside goodiness. You're lucky to get one drop of filling in each twinkie.

Matthew ------I've never been more convinced that Twinkies have a half-life.

Maggie http://www.journalscape.com/maggie/ ------Back in the mid-nineties, when I was in college, I thought I needed a sugar rush, so I bought a package of Tiger Tails. (Twinkies with coconut and raspberry.) The expiration was for something like May 27, 2027.

I have witnesses, and we still laugh about the snack cake that was supposed to last for thirty years.

------Date: 2007-03-01 11:45:00 Subject: Theater in Da 'Hood

Last year, when searching for a place to live in the District, my son-in-law gave me a tour of the city, but before that, he drew a demarcation line on a map and basically told me that the northwest section of the city was the best, safest place for me to find a home. I listened and followed his advice. However, after being here a year now, I'm starting to venture out more and explore my new home town. I've found a great website that offers half-price tickets to area happenings. For instance, on Sunday I'll hit one of the Smithsonians and find out how to capture the contents of it on my digital camera, while listening to a tour guide walk me through the place and point out the highlights. I've gone to plays at little obscure theaters in churches and universities nearby.

Last night I attended "Kiss Me Kate," a musical which is part of Washington DC's Shakespeare Festival at the Atlas Theater in the unexplored (by me) NE section of the city. When I booked the evening, I figured that I could safely take a Metrobus from my stop at McPherson Square to the heart of H street. Seemed safe enough. However, last night was such a nice evening and I'd been in training for 2 whole days so I decided to walk the 20 blocks or so instead. There was plenty of street traffic and the walk was well lit and I felt pretty safe, but wondered as I got nearer the theater what I was in store for as it seemed the only establishments I passed on the way were liquor stores and check cashing places and an occasional Subway sandwich place with burglar bars covering its doors and windows. Upon my arrival, I was pleased to find a beautifully decorated and updated theater, a sort of pearl amongst the oysters, so to speak. The musical featured a full orchestra and probably 30 or so cast members. Although they weren't Broadway quality, they certainly gave me my money's worth as I sat in my front row seat.

The play didn't end until almost 11, and as I left, I realized that I better be smart and remember my son-in-law's advice so I stuck with a group of people as they walked down the street. My bus, the X2, headed the opposite direction of where I wanted to go, was headed my way and I quickly jumped on it, glad to be off the streets and "safe." We ended up at the Minnesota Station that looked as deserted and bleak and "scary" as could be, so I got back on the bus and waited for it to head back to my part of town.

Needless to say, I made it home safely and thought about the evening and whether or not I had taken needless chances. I decided that my choices had been valid and good ones. Living in the city, I know that the mere density of the population exposes me to dangers that I may not have otherwise. Just the other night while walking home at my normal 6 o'clock time period, a man passed by me as he was running toward an alley between the CVS Pharmacy and the adjacent building. As I looked at him, a bottle (looked like a shampoo bottle) dropped from his pocket and it was then that I realized he was a fleeing shoplifter. Taking a step further, I was met head-on, almost, as a CVS clerk chased after him.

But on the other hand, it also exposes me to really pleasant experiences as well. Just this morning as I walked to my dentist's office, I took a different street headed west and noticed a bunch of places that I want to visit and come back to. I love life in the city!

User Comments:

Lukee ------Cities can be scary places. I am glad you found some cool new places to explore! I think trusting your intuition is the best bet to staying safe.

I can't believe the CVS clerk ran after a guy who shoplifted shampoo... Wow. That minimum wage must be killer.

------Date: 2007-03-01 15:14:00 Subject: Secret Agent Jill

Just heard from the Facilities Security Officer here at work that I have my "Secret" clearance from the DoD...bow down before me, or not. ;-)

User Comments: Lukee ------Licensed to Jill.

------Date: 2007-03-02 13:34:00 Subject: The Feel Good Story of the Day

Bond Between Teammates

------Date: 2007-03-06 10:18:00 Subject: Another Bookmark Added

I've recently found a wonderful new sight filled with stimulating and thoughtful articles and links and I've added it to my daily reading. If you're looking for something new, check it out.

------Date: 2007-03-12 22:36:00 Subject: The Terminator meets Jesus

User Comments:

Matthew ------Nice, indeed.

Lukee ------NICE!

All Eyes Are on Me (sara) http://www.journalscape.com/beautiful_brown_eyes ------OMG I HAVE WATCH THAT LIKE A MILLION TIMES AND I LOVE IT

------Date: 2007-03-23 11:55:00 Subject: Writing is like driving at night in the fog

From Wordyard...

While we're on the subject, I can't resist repeating a quotation about writing that Cory Doctorow recently posted on BoingBoing. It's by E.L. Doctorow, and, well, it's just the truth:

Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you're doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing. . . . Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.

User Comments:

Lukee ------Yeah, I don't know if I totally agree with this. It's true that "writers write" and that "writing" is the most important part of, well, "writing". But I think that outlining and researching are part of writing. Talking to other people about what you are doing, well, that might not be unless you are genuinely getting ideas from them, but I do think that arranging your thoughts is part of writing.

Of course, if all you do is outline and you never get around to actually writing anything (which outlining is actually a process of writing down ideas) then that isn't writing, but otherwise...

Anyway, I can see what Doctorow means but I don't totally agree.

------Date: 2007-03-23 11:58:00 Subject: Letting go

"every single thing that I have let go of has my claw marks on it" - Anne Lamott

User Comments:

Lukee ------Wow. What an intresting quote!

------Date: 2007-04-02 19:42:00 Subject: It's April already and I'm no fool

So, my baby is growing up. Yesterday was the first April Fool's Day in some years that I haven't received an April Fool's Day phone call from him with a very successful April Fool's joke on me.

User Comments:

Mattee ------So did I.

April fools.

Lukee ------I got back with Jamie.

April Fools!

------Date: 2007-04-02 21:53:00 Subject: Three faiths, one god

Everyone should watch this show ... it explains alot and promotes understanding and tolerance.

User Comments:

East Coast Neice ------I just finished this book. It was fantastic... and interesting....

http://www.amazon.com/Religious-Literacy-American-Know- Doesnt/dp/0060846704/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-7056068-5249737?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid= 1175653842&sr=1-1 luki ------I just don't understand tolerance.

------Date: 2007-04-04 22:33:00 Subject: Obama

I absolutely hate the fact that it all boils down to dollars, but I'm loving this

He actually beat her in primary dollars. That's a big deal.

User Comments:

Matt ------It'll be interesting to see if the United States gets behind someone named Barack Hussein Obama.

Lukee ------I wonder how much race will impact the race.

(I said it)

Matt ------It's going to be an interesting race, methinks.

Lukee ------yeah it's somethin else idn't it?

------Date: 2007-04-10 21:17:00 Subject: Stranger Than Fiction...

...is a really good movie.

Netflix it, if you haven't already.

User Comments:

Woodstock http://www.journalscape.com/woodstock/ ------I just finished watching it this afternoon, and I agree, it's very good indeed. I am a voracious reader, and a tax accountant - There were several very sly pokes in the superimposed graphics as Farrell's character arrived at his office for the first time in the movie - hats off to the director and screenwriters to crack a joke only a few people would get and do it in a way which didn't detract from other viewers' understanding.

A movie about a book, and not only that, a movie about the power of the written word.

I liked it very much.

Matt ------I agree. I think Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson were great. I have slight issue with certain things about the ending, but nowhere near enough of a gripe for it to have lessend how good I thought the movie was.

------Date: 2007-04-17 21:10:00 Subject: for the UTD ALUMNI

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Virginia Tech community as its members face an unimaginable burden of shock and grief in the wake of the tragic events of April 16, 2007. We are saddened and troubled by the waste of human potential in this senseless act of violence, and many of us find ourselves looking for explanation or reason where none exists.

No one can anticipate when and how such situations may develop. There is no formula for responding to the unimaginable. But we can and do continuously examine our own security procedures and share information. In that spirit, I want to respond to the questions many of you have asked about preparedness for emergencies on our own campus.

In the event of an emergency, we have a number of channels of communication available to us that will allow swift, accurate communication with faculty, staff and students. They include:

* An e-mail channel that, when activated, would send a priority electronic message to every e- mail box on campus. This is separate from our â€œbounceâ€ system, and cannot be filtered or blocked by the recipient.

* A reverse 911 system that allows voice mail broadcast to every hard-wired telephone on campus. * An advisory telephone number that was recently created in anticipation of any event that might require the closure of campus. This number carries an announcement regarding campus operations at all times, and would be used to advise of any campus closure. You are encouraged to try it out at 972-883-7669, and to add this number to your cell phoneâ€™s directory.

* Mobile Campus, a service the university and Student Government are involved in implementing. Mobile Campus enables text messages to be sent to cell phones of every member of the campus community that has opted into the service. For more information about this service, click on http://www.mobilecampus.com/. To opt into the service, go to http://www.mobilecampus.com/universitySites.aspx, and click on â€œUniversity of Texas at Dallas.â€

* And, of course, emergency information would be posted on the UT Dallas Web site home page, www.utdallas.edu.

Beyond communication, the university has mechanisms in place to deal with emergencies. Among these are:

* Plans to â€œshelter in place,â€ or lockdown, affected facilities.

* A 50-member response team of university personnel who have been trained to assist in the evacuation of buildings.

* Mutual aid pacts with the City of Richardson Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety and other area law enforcement agencies, with whom we have prearranged plans regarding rapid response to campus emergencies. Our own police force, which is sworn and fully certified, has received training specifically for emergency response.

No one is immune to crisis. The university has taken a prudent, comprehensive approach to anticipating emergencies, laying groundwork and committing resources to deal with whatever may arise.

We live in turbulent times. As we go about our business, we must stay aware and alert to the possibility of an emergency. But we canâ€™t and wonâ€™t let fear prevent us from pursuing our mission of teaching and learning and advancing knowledge.

Sincerely, David E. Daniel

President

It sucks that schools now-a-days need to put out memos such as this...

I remember (fondly) the only thing we practiced when I was in school were drills to cover our head and hide under our desks, in the event that the "russians" would send a nuke our way...really, was that going to save us, but, oh well...

------Date: 2007-04-17 22:37:00 Subject: Hero at Virginia Tech

From Instapundit...

A HERO AT VIRGINIA TECH:

Professor Liviu Librescu, 76, threw himself in front of the shooter when the man attempted to enter his classroom. The Israeli mechanics and engineering lecturer was shot to death, "but all the students lived - because of him," Virginia Tech student Asael Arad - also an Israeli - told Army Radio.

Read the whole thing. More thoughts here.

User Comments:

Matthew ------I heard about him on NPR yesterday. He was a hero indeed.

------Date: 2007-04-20 14:41:00 Subject: Spiral Staircases

A friend of mine and I were talking about a neat apartment in NYC that a friend of hers had remodeled from an old warehouse shell. As she was describing it, she mentioned that it had two or three spiral staircases to maneuver between floors.

I shuddered, and recalled that in almost every bad dream that I have ever had, I'm stuck somewhere or trapped and can't escape fast enough because there's at least one spiral staircase that I just can't quite seem to navigate fast enough.

User Comments:

Lukee ------Wow, what an interesting reoccurring dream theme.

Matthew ------Not to mention getting dizzy and throwing up due to an inherited motion sickness gene.

------Date: 2007-04-22 22:54:00 Subject: "no adult in his life he could talk to"

That's what they said about Cho and other sick, lonely school yard murderers.

Please god, let me be there for the next one.

User Comments: sherry ------Having seen some of the kids with this potential, it still has to be "an adult in his life he Would talk to".

Sometimes I have to hope that it is enough to have tried to be there for them, even when they refused it.

Lukee ------Amen.

------Date: 2007-04-26 16:28:00 Subject: Amazon Marketplace

Although I give a lot of books that I've purchased and read to ReverendMother for her church library, I decided to try out Amazon Marketplace for a change on this book as some of the "lusty" scenes may be a little too racy for church ladies (I'd read "We Need to Talk About Kevin" from the same author and was captivated by it, so I was anxious to read her new novel.)

In less than an hour, I'd sold it and now have a cool 10 bucks in my account...not bad for a few mouse clicks! User Comments:

Shennanigans http://www.journalscape.com/Shennanigans/ ------

Can I just say that "We Need To Talk About Kevin" is one of the most amazing, heart- wrenching, kick in the gut books I have ever read! I wept my way through to the end. If I may suggest another - try a non-fiction memoir titled "The Burn Journals". Wow.

What made me stop by was your title, and, yes, Amazon is an incredible way to unload all sorts of things!!! I prefer it to EBay for some types of things, yet remain with EBay for others. So, head on out into the cyber-sales world and have yourself a ball! = P

------Date: 2007-05-01 13:46:00 Subject: The World From Your Window

From Andrew Sullivan's blog...

It's noon on May 1. When better to launch a new blog-page? A little over a year ago, I had the idea of simply asking Dish readers to send in photographs of what they see from their own windows every day. This blog is more of a collective effort than it might seem. Hundreds of emails pour in each day, with tips and arguments and ideas and differing perspectives from all over the world and from every point of view. I get to read them (or at least as many as physically possible). You don't, and I tried to think of a way to better convey the global reach of the Dish readership, and to remind people that the web is not that technological or abstract. It's actually human beings with bodies and souls and homes and gardens and windows. I've been posting a window view almost every day since, but received many more than I could possibly post. So what to do?
Some of you suggested a gallery or a coffee table book. But Shaun Raviv, a particularly gifted colleague at the Atlantic, came up with something much more elegant. It's a map of the world in flash animation, with almost 700 window views embedded. As you move your cursor over the map, you can zoom in on hundreds of places on earth, and travel the globe through the living rooms and offices and cars and bedrooms of other Dish readers. If you sent in a window view and it was never published in the Dish, it may well be now in "The World From Your Window". We still have more in the hopper to add, and we'll be adding more and more as they appear in the Dish. So keep sending them in to [email protected]. Be sure to include a place and a time of day. (No pets or rainbows are allowed - and it should be from your window, preferably with some frame of the window in shot.) But here's the page as it is now. The first time you look at it, be patient. It takes a little while for all the pictures to load. But soon, it should load quickly.
In my opinion, it's the coolest thing I've ever produced on this blog, and I owe it to Shaun, the Atlantic, but most of all, you. This is your blog as well as mine; and this is the world you live in. Enjoy.

------Date: 2007-05-06 15:52:00 Subject: Out of the mouths of babes...
So I'm walking down 14th Street today with the Divine Miss M in the stroller and She-Who-Is keeping pace not only with her steps but her constant conversation about the smells, the sites, and the city she calls "her city."
She asks me about a quarter of the way to the Metro station we are headed to if she can have some gum. I, of course, think we should charge on and not stop, and tell her I'll answer her request when we get to the station. She sees an opening in an upcoming red light on a street we'll have to cross and negotiates with me to stop and give her the gum now. Thinking like a grandparent and not a parent (yes, I would have stuck to my guns with my own children way back when and they would have just had to wait) it made sense what she was proposing and we stopped, I dug in my purse for the desired sugar-free Trident Mint gum that she enjoys so much (over the Pink Bubble Gum flavor I might add...go figure...one of the few times she turns down "pink") and handed it to her. She put it in her mouth and began to chew it, handed me the wrapper which elicits the same exact response from me every time "do I look like the trash can?" and she smiles and my heart sings, and we continued on our way.
We hadn't walked a half block more before she stopped me and said "MaDear, I can walk and chew gum at the same time."
I. Kid. You. Not.
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Awesome!
Matthew ------Ha! Too funny.
Walking and chewing gum at the same time; an all too underrated skill, IMO.
------Date: 2007-05-07 22:49:00 Subject: my own god
... what God would you be? Try here My results:
Which God or Goddess are you like?
Your Result: Budha

You are Budha. You are a very peaceful person, you love all who love you. You are a cheerful personality, and you have a great sense of humor. Congratulations!! You are Budha!!
Jesus

The Christian God

You are your own God or Goddess

Goddess Bast

Goddess Sekhemet

God Zeus

Satan

Which God or Goddess are you like? Make Your Own Quiz
User Comments:
Matthew ------Since when is Satan considered a "god?" That chump is a fallen angel.
Lukee ------No, I worship lukifer. JillSusan/Mamala ------Lukee, would that make you a Luktheron?
Lukee ------is that good?
Lukee ------Which God or Goddess are you like?
Your Result: You are your own God or Goddess

Sorry to say, i have no answer that fits you. You are your very own person, and you like to do things your own way. You have stumped me this time, but i will soon make a quiz that will have your answer, just you wait...
Goddess Sekhemet

Goddess Bast

Satan

Budha

God Zeus

Jesus

The Christian God

Which God or Goddess are you like? Make Your Own Quiz
------Date: 2007-05-28 14:29:00 Subject: Trying to Understand C-Span Programming on Memorial Day
Having spent the last couple of weekends and some weekdays out of town, and the 2 previous nights and days with my nearby granddaughters, I decided to veg today in front of the TV and try to be mindful of all those who have died defending our country and fighting for freedom and justice the world over. What better way to do this than to tune into C-Span, as they'd be sure to cover all the events? Sure enough, they re-played the Rolling Thunder events that little She-Who- Is and I attended yesterday. Then came the president and other dignitaries at Arlington. Then the following events replayed:
Arlington National Cemetery Wreath Laying Ceremonies
25th Anniversary of Vietnam Veterans Memorial
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the National Mall
Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony for the Tuskegee Airmen

Interview with Howard Schultz, President and CEO of Starbucks Coffee Company at Bloomberg Offices in New York
OK, I get all the events listed but someone please tell me how an interview with the CEO of Starbucks works into any programmer's mind there at C-Span HQ for Memorial Day. What's next? A live opening of the next, newest Walmart store? Or maybe a profile of the person who invented the new Coke with vitamins?
Just didn't seem right to me...kind of like that golf course they built next to Arlington cemetery...
User Comments:
Mamala/Jill ------Yes, sad but true...
Matthew ------There's a golf course next to Arlington National Cemetary? :-(
------Date: 2007-05-28 14:37:00 Subject: Rolling Thunder
Several years before I moved to DC, I watched Rolling Thunder ride into Washington on Memorial weekend and vowed to myself that I'd attend that event someday. Yesterday, I made the rather tough choice to forego hearing Daughter #1 preach and instead, head down to the Mall and enjoy the atmosphere that comes when hundreds, perhaps thousands, of motocycles descend on our nation's capitol.
It was truly a neat and fun time. I'm a huge people watcher and yesterday, that need in me was fulfilled hundred-fold. Little She-Who-Is was somewhat skeptical of how much fun it was, but finding a Popsickle for her on an almost 90-degree day seemed to soothe any boredom she felt by it all and she was pretty happy for most of the day to accompany me.
Some thoughts I had:
Some of the bikes had "handicap" license plates on them...didn't know there was such a thing...handicapped riders
There were quite a few 3 wheeled (trike) bikes
There are more really overweight bike riders than I even imagined
It must be neat to be a part of a group that comes to this event year after year, seeing old friends again and again

How much would I have to pay one of the riders that didn't have someone riding with them to ride with them in next year's event?

I think many/most of the riders were from my generation and many of them Vietnam Vets, who, shamefully, never got the welcome home parade they deserved at the time...glad they have this moment in the sun now!
User Comments:
Mamala/Jill ------Sweet!
Matthew ------Maybe I'll get a bike and take you there myself. :)
Ted ------Jill wrote:
How much would I have to pay one of the riders that didn't have someone riding with them to ride with them in next year's event?
Ted replies - well first of all, that answers a question Mom and I had yesterday. We saw a group of riders heading out together and I wondered aloud if JJM had gotten his Harley while you two were married would you have ridden along....guess so.
As to your question - I'll bet you'd have them fighting over you, and they wouldn't take your money. The only question is how to make contact with one of them for next year...I have confidence you'll figure that out. :)
------Date: 2007-05-28 17:00:00 Subject: For my granddaughters
Take this pledge now (or as soon as you can). MaDear's orders...love yourself (all of yourself) always!
------Date: 2007-05-28 17:53:00 Subject: One that didn't get torn up
User Comments: Jill/Mamala ------Actually it was our house in Carrollton, but yes, chocolate goodness!
Matthew ------Chocolate goodness. That must be Gram's house, right? lukee ------Oh I LOVE it!
------Date: 2007-05-30 16:43:00 Subject: This could be scary! or embarrassing!
GOOGLE MAPS SHOW 'FACES' ON STREETS...
ALSO LICENSE PLATES...
User Comments:
Jill ------Update:
UPDATE: 'OUTSIDE OF A STRIP CLUB AND CAUGHT ON GOOGLE?'...
ADULT BOOK STORE?

SEE STEVE JOBS HOUSE... lukee ------was this intentional?
------Date: 2007-06-12 12:04:00 Subject: The U.S. vs. John Lennon
I rented this documentary the other night and enjoyed it thoroughly. It brought back many memories and some sadness as John's no longer with us. What a talent he was!
Today, Amnesty International released Instant Karma/Save Darfur with U2, R.E.M, and a rather wild assortment of artists singing Lennon's songs. An interesting collection that, for the most part, I'm enjoying as I plod on at work.
User Comments:
Matthew ------I've heard good things about this movie. I can't believe I haven't seen it yet. *sigh* I'm a bad Beatles fan, aren't I?
------Date: 2007-06-19 22:53:00 Subject: Summer's here
I saw lightning bugs on my walk home from the Y tonight
User Comments:
Matthew ------Summer is here (Austin version)
What Luke and Katie said.
Katie ------Summer is here (Orlando version).
... What Luke said lukee ------Summer is here (Houston version).
It's f*cking hot! reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Wonderful, aren't they!
------Date: 2007-06-21 16:32:00 Subject: SiCKO
I have sinned.
I downloaded a copy off the *internets* and felt guilty about it until Michael Moore himself told me it was ok.
"I don't agree with copyright laws, and I don't have a problem with people downloading the movie and sharing it ... as long as they're not trying to make a profit off my labor," Moore said in a recent interview. "I make these movies and books and TV shows because I want things to change, and so the more people who get to see them, the better."
I watched it on my flight back from Flat and Hot, TX this past weekend. I'll have to say that he has me ready to pull up and move to England, France or Canada as he makes their healthcare systems sound like the next best thing since sliced bread. And that's what I have against his flick (s).
Shouldn't a true documentary show both sides? Or is there not a downside to their healthcare systems?
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------That's a great quote.
I have a love/hate relationship with MM. It is clear by this point that he is a muckraker; you have to take him in that spirit.
Matthew ------There's a downside to everything. To paraphrase Michael Moore "when people in Canada say there are downsides to their health care system and that I only show how bad the US system is, I ask if they'd like to trade systems and they always stand there silently."
------Date: 2007-06-21 16:42:00 Subject: I'm never complaining about air travel again!
The flight from hell....
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------As unpleasant as that would have been... what did he want, a parachute? It seems like the airline did the best they could, compensating the passengers and so forth.
But yeah, it puts all my travel annoyances in perspective.
------Date: 2007-06-21 17:35:00 Subject: One week and one day
I still want one...The iPhone approacheth. With sideburns:
User Comments: lukee ------Is it really being reviewed as being a subpar cell phone?
------Date: 2007-06-26 21:55:00 Subject: Top Beatles Albums
I'm watching Paul and Ringo and George's and John's widows on Larry King Live tonight...what memories it brings back!
So, they did a poll...rate the top Beatles album.
Results: 1. Abbey Road
2. Sgt. Pepper
3. The White Album
Discuss....
User Comments:
Matthew ------My top Beatles album picks often depend on what kind of mood I'm in. But usually, it's:
1) Abbey Road
2) White Album
3) Sgt. Pepper
Liked the interview, though I wish it had been Charlie Rose instead of Larry King.
Rambler http://www.journalscape.com/Rambler/ ------Revolver and Rubber Soul would have to be in the top 5, Magical Mystery Tour not too far off either. It's hard to rank them. Abbey Road probably stays on top for me. Sgt. Pepper's is probably a bit further down than 2.
Maggie http://www.journalscape.com/maggie/ ------What about Revolver? What about...
------Date: 2007-06-29 11:51:00 Subject: Hype Smackdown: iPhone v. Paris Hilton
From 10 Zen Monkeys comes this...

It's a battle of pop culture titans as two empires -- one high-tech, one high-rise -- clash in explosive PR fury. Since these two heavyweight memes have climbed into the competitive media ring of their own volition, we thought we'd size them up for you. As Stephen Colbert would say: "Pick a side -- we're at war!"

iPhone: Simple to use.
Paris Hilton: Simple.

iPhone: Questionable protection against viruses.
Paris Hilton: Has herpes.

iPhone: Critics complained battery life too short.
Paris Hilton: Critics complained prison life too short.

iPhone: Provides driving directions.
Paris Hilton: Knows how to drive. (Sort of.)

iPhone: Responds to touch from multiple fingers at once.
Paris Hilton: Responds to touch from multiple fingers at once.

iPhone: Wants to be held by everyone.
Paris Hilton: Wants to be held by her mother.

iPhone: Sexy footage leaked onto the net.
Paris Hilton: Sexy footage leaked onto the net.

iPhone: Appeared in multi-million ad campaign.
Paris Hilton: Appeared in "House of Wax."

iPhone: Everyone wants what's in the box.
Paris Hilton: Everyone knows what's in the box.

Feel free to make your own comparisons in the comments...
User Comments:
Matthew ------I heard an estimate that Apple may end up selling 100 million iPhones. That's friggin incredible!!!
Jill/Mamala ------Very well played, Lukee! lukee ------i-phone: a sign of things to come paris hilton: a sign of things to come
------Date: 2007-07-01 00:33:00 Subject: "I'm smarter than you"
That's what my granddaughter #2 said to me tonight. Me, of course, thinking this 4 year old needs to be put in her place said, "OK, how many inches are in a foot?" and she promptly responded "12"...ok, that was a lucky guess, I thought. So I proceeded, "how many feet are in a yard?" (something I'm sure I still have to think about hard...where's the metric system when you need it?) and she quickly responded "3".
Damn, busted, she *is* smarter than me! :-)
User Comments:
Matthew ------ha!
------Date: 2007-07-01 21:24:00 Subject: Better than sliced bread
Yes, that's what my new Iphone is...yes, I gave in to the media hype/marketing/whatever and purchased an Iphone (one of the last) from the Apple store at Pentagon City. The guy I stood in line with had just come back from taking his wife to "minor" surgery and was impatient that it kept him away from the store for longer than anticipated...btw, the docs that performed the surgery said they wished they were not on duty as they wanted to go buy the Iphone~
Never, have I ever, bought something so user friendly...activating was a breeze! Playing with it was even breezier!
I love it...call me!~
My son, third born, was the first to call me and break it in. So be it.
User Comments:
Derekjames http://www.journalscape.com/derekjames/ ------Sorry I haven't dropped in in a while.
And how did I know you'd be first in line for an IPhone...?
Ted ------All right! I wondered how long it would take you to make the leap. I expect a detail user report after you've had a chance to use it for 48 hours or so. Pictures would be nice but I'm more interested in your experience. reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------You did seem rather hasty when it came time to leave... :-) lukee ------Good for you! I cant wait to see it in person!
------Date: 2007-07-16 17:39:00 Subject: Best Movie Line Ever
From Andrew Sullivan...
"Well, let's play chess." -Blazing Saddles.
User Comments: lukee ------nice!
------Date: 2007-07-18 16:19:00 Subject: then and now
THE 1983 Apple Phone.
Can I just say that 18 days in to using my iPhone, I'm still really, really loving it! I agree with this eval
User Comments: lukee ------dang! that old apple phone is wicked cool!
------Date: 2007-07-27 11:20:00 Subject: What to Remember When Waking
In that first hardly noticed moment in which you wake, coming back to this life from the other more secret, moveable and frighteningly honest world where everything began, there is a small opening into the new day which closes the moment you begin your plans.
What you can plan is too small for you to live.
What you can live wholeheartedly will make plans enough for the vitality hidden in your sleep.
To be human is to become visible while carrying what is hidden as a gift to others. To remember the other world in this world is to live in your true inheritance.
You are not a troubled guest on this earth, you are not an accident amidst other accidents you were invited from another and greater night than the one from which you have just emerged.
Now, looking through the slanting light of the morning window toward the mountain presence of everything that can be what urgency calls you to your one love?
What shape waits in the seed of you to grow and spread its branches against a future sky?
Is it waiting in the fertile sea?
In the trees beyond the house?
In the life you can imagine for yourself?
In the open and lovely white page on the waiting desk?
-by David Whyte (1999 Many Rivers Press)
------Date: 2007-07-29 21:25:00 Subject: Art, Culture and The Simpsons
A great day today...woke up slowly, read The Post, then time to shop at the Farmer's Market. After that, I rushed to the National Portrait Gallery to view the Britons, the Cold War and photos of The Beatles and more by Harry Benson. I ran over to Chinatown to have a quick beef & broccoli dish, and finished my day off at the cinema with a full house viewing of The Simpsons movie.
A good time was had by all (me). User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Sounds like you're making the most of your location! Yay!
Mamala ------very good...the movie was good lukee ------sounds great! how was the movie?
------Date: 2007-08-02 10:24:00 Subject: "The internet is destroying good music" or so says Elton John...
He adds "[it's] stopping people from going out and being with each other, creating stuff." He laments the way that the internet and the emerging industry of digital music has created a cold and impersonal world for artists to create new music in.
Can you say, old school?
Need proof? Go here.
User Comments:
Matthew ------Yeah. Elton hasn't made a solid record since the 70's. reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------"locked into waiting for the next Elton John release"
Which sounds like one of Dante's Circles of Hell, actually.
Rambler http://www.journalscape.com/Rambler/ ------I'd say it's given millions the means to expose their music to the masses (which, as Lukee pointed out may not always be good music, but it IS, imo, a good THING). No longer are we locked into waiting for the next Elton John release...
Lukee ------:)
Yes, I agree. Technology historically has been the best friend of expression.
While I would agree that music and the way it's being made is changing, to say that "the internet is destroying music" is way off the mark. I am not yet prepared to say that the internet is "improving" music, but at the very least it is granting access to people who before wouldn't even stand a chance.
Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------amen, brother!
Ted ------Surely there is no better sign of old age than complaining about something that is new.
------Date: 2007-08-04 10:12:00 Subject: tastes like chicken...
OK, I normally wouldn't post something like this, but it was on NPR this morning.
Now, I'm as game as anyone to attend a festival (can you say Woodstock '99?) but this one just seems so wrong....poor bull, pure bull.
So even if you can't attend, and a dear friend of yours served up a big plate of "Rocky Mountain Oysters" would you try one (or two)?
For me, the answer would be a polite "no thank you."
User Comments:
Matthew ------Wouldn't be the first time I had balls in my mouth. ... I got nuthin'.
Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------Brave, you both are! reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------I'll try most anything!
Woodstock http://www.journalscape.com/woodstock/ ------Well, I live in Colorado, where tasting them at least once is sort of a rite of passage. They are very mild, almost without any flavor at all, and often served with a spicy breading, deep fried, with a chili-boosted sauce to dip them into.
Often garnished with green chili heavy on the jalapenos, in which case the nickname is "great balls of fire."
They don't make me gag, but I wouldn't mind if others ate my share. Truly a take them or leave them kind of food.
------Date: 2007-08-06 11:40:00 Subject: When you have an hour or two...
...it may be fun to go back in time.
User Comments: lukee ------Ha ha! Wow, some of those bring back some SERIOUS memories. Gosh.
Some of the ones I really wanted to see were taken down... shucks. reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Must... Resist... Clicking... on... Time-sucking... Link!
</Shatner voice>
------Date: 2007-08-06 17:44:00 Subject: A good Monday cartoon
User Comments:
Lukee ------I feel both smarter and dumber when I look at comics like this.
------Date: 2007-08-07 11:18:00 Subject: It's full of head-y goodness
Video: Man finds human head in hamburger
User Comments:
Mamala/JillSusan http://www.jillsusan.com ------Yeah, I know what you mean...although I find that the headlines are the funniest of all in the written Onion...see below:
"Final Harry Potter Book Blasted for Containing Spoilers"
"Adults Have Misclassified Me as a Handful" (subtitled "Am I a child who is sometimes difficult? Yes. Am I a difficult child? No.")
"Makers Unprepared to Be Met"
...these are just a few...
Lukee ------I think the Onion videos have been funny, but I think I will always prefer reading the articles!
------Date: 2007-08-08 13:13:00 Subject: Guitar Moment of the Day
From Andrew Sullivan...
User Comments: lukee ------wow!!!!!!
------Date: 2007-08-11 12:03:00 Subject: Kid's play
Watching the grandkids play is a delight...thoughts below:
C presented me with two floral leis (the plastic variety) and I told her that normally when you present someone with a lei you should kiss them first. She hesitated, then took them off my neck and went away...no kiss for you, MaDear.
J (the male one) is the POTUS and J (the female one) is his secretary (ok, I'm not posting anything about stereotyping here...it's play, after all). C started out being the president's "chef" but now she has transitioned to the Princess of Russia.
Pooltime was a delight last night. It's easy when 2 out of the 3 can swim like fish and the other one wore borrowed "googles" that covered most of her face so splashes were not a problem.
There's more to come but we're off to the mall and then to the water park! Then Disney fireworks at Fort Wilderness. for more kid's play...
User Comments:
Matthew ------Sounds fun! lukee ------Sounds great! ------Date: 2007-08-12 22:28:00 Subject: Jet Blues
It was the worst of times...it was the best of times....
Thursday's flight from hell was answered by Sunday's flight from heaven. C & I got to the airport just in time to move through security, get a Happy Meal at McD's in the airport (right next to our gate), board the plane - this airline really does have great leg room and comfortable seats! - and TOOK OFF ON TIME!
We arrived at Dulles 25 minutes early!
You've got to love air travel when it all works!
------Date: 2007-08-13 09:44:00 Subject: August - Let's Get Rid of It!
-By David Plotz
August is the Mississippi of the calendar. It's beastly hot and muggy. It has a dismal history. Nothing good ever happens in it. And the United States would be better off without it.
August is when the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, when Anne Frank was arrested, when the first income tax was collected, when Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe died. Wings and Jefferson Airplane were formed in August. The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour debuted in August. (No August, no Sonny and Cher!)
August is the time when thugs and dictators think they can get away with it. World War I started in August 1914. The Nazis and Soviets signed their nonaggression pact in August 1939. Iraq invaded Kuwait Aug. 2, 1990. August is a popular month for coups and violent crime. Why August? Perhaps the villains assume we'll be too distracted by vacations or humidity to notice.
August is the vast sandy wasteland of American culture. Publishers stop releasing books. Movie theaters are clogged with the egregious action movies that studios wouldn't dare release in June. Television is all reruns (or worseâ€”new episodes of Sex and the City). The sports pages wither into nothingness. Pre-pennant-race baseballâ€”if that can even be called a sportâ€”is all that remains. We have to feign interest in NFL training camps. Newspapers are thin in August, but not thin enough. They still print ghastly vacation columns: David Broder musing on world peace from his summer home on Lake Michigan? Even Martha Stewart (born Aug. 3) can't think of anything to do in August. Her Martha Stewart Living calendar, usually so sprightly, overflows with ennui. Aug. 14: "If it rains, organize basement." Aug. 16: "Reseed bare patches in lawn." Aug. 27: "Change batteries in smoke and heat detectors."
You can't get a day off from August, because it is the only month without a real holiday. Instead, the other months have shunted onto this weak sister all the lame celebrations they didn't want. Air Conditioning Appreciation Week, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist Week, National Religious Software Week, Carpenter Ant Awareness Week: All these grand American celebrations belong to August. Is it any accident that National Lazy Day, Relaxation Day, Deadwood Day, and Failures Day are commemorated in August?
August is the month of vagueness. October is the 10th month, March is the third month. What's Augustâ€”bet you can't remember. Does it have 30 days or 31? You have to recite the rhyme to figure that one out. The great writers of history forget August: It rates three mentions in Bartlett's Quotations, compared with a dozen for December and two dozen for March.
The people with August birthdays are a sorry bunch. Sure, Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton* were born in August, but the other presidential Augustans are Herbert Hoover and Benjamin Harrison. Film is represented by Robert Redford and Robert De Niroâ€”but also by John Holmes and Harry Reems. Third-raters populate August: George Hamilton, Danny Bonaduce, Rick Springfield, and Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford were born then. August gave us Fidel Castro and Yasser Arafat. In art, August offers Leni Riefenstahl, Michael Jackson, and Danielle Steele. (To be sure, not everything that happens in August is so terrible. Raoul Wallenberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Herman Melville, and Mae West were born in August. Richard Nixon resigned in August. MTV launched in August. And Jerry Garcia died in August.)
August can't even master the things it is supposed to do well. Despite its slothful reputation, it is not the top vacation month, July is. Nor is August the hottest month (on the East Coast, at least). That crown, too, is July's. August is when the garden starts to wither, and when the long summer days cruelly vanish.
We should rage, rage against the dying of the light. The United States desperately needs August Reform. Purists will insist that we shouldn't tinker with the months, that August should be left alone because it has done workmanlike service for 2,000 years. That's nonsense. Calendars are always fluxing. August itself was a whimsical invention. In 46 B.C., as part of a broad calendar change, Julius Caesar added two days to Sextilis, an old 29-day month. In the reign of his successor, Augustus Caesar, the Senate voted to change Sextilis' name to "Augustus" (as the Senate under Julius Caesar had renamed the month before, "Quintilis," "Julius").
August was created by politics, and it can be undone by politics. For too long, bureaucrats in Washington have been telling you how you must divide up your calendar. But these are your months, and you should be able to do with them what you like. Genuine August Reform will be hard. It will require tough compromises to protect the special interests of September and July. (And who better to sponsor this revolution, incidentally, than Sen. John McCainâ€”birthday Aug. 29?)
Here is a framework for compromise. Cede the first 10 days of August back to July, thus extending holiday revelry for more than a week. September would claim the last 10 days of August, mollifying the folks who can't wait to get back to serious work. Labor Day would come 10 days earlier, the school year would run longer, and the rush of fall activity could get jump-started. August itself will keep 10 days. That is just enough: Every summer we'll be able to toot happily, "Gosh, August went by so quickly this year!"
And as for the 31st day, it will be designated a holiday independent from any month. It will fall after the 10th and last day of August, and it will celebrate the end of that most useless month.
Note: Despite my agreement with this author about the uselessness of August, I'm thankful it gave the world "Mr. ReverendMother" and Parker's mom!
User Comments:
T ------Funny. Only Sex and the City has been in reruns for years. No new ones.
------Date: 2007-08-15 12:50:00 Subject: It sounded like a good idea at the time

User Comments:
Matthew ------Famous last words.
Lukee ------I heard about this guy.
What a moron.
------Date: 2007-08-15 14:42:00 Subject: "Don't ask me why but I thought about you!"...
...or so says my daughter #1
The Worriers' Guild
Today there is a meeting of the
Worriers' Guild, and I'll be there.
The problems of Earth are
to be discussed
at length
end to end
for five days
end to end
with 1100 countries represented
all with an equal voice
some wearing turbans and smocks
and all the men will speak
and the women
with or without notes
in 38 languages
and nine different species of logic.
Outside in the autumn
the squirrels will be
chattering and scampering
directionless throughout the town
because they aren't organized yet. Poem: "The Worriers' Guild" by Philip F. Deaver, from How Men Pray Â©. Anhinga Press. Reprinted with permission.
...guess I need to work on this -- she's right.
User Comments:
Matthew ------Like mother, like son.
------Date: 2007-08-17 10:35:00 Subject: Following a soldier onto the train
DC's full of military people and the fact that I take the Metro each work day to the stop across the street from the Pentagon allows me to come in contact with more of them than the average American citizen.
Since I've sold my car and depend totally on public transportation (with an occasional cab ride thrown in) to get me to where I need/want to be, I've pretty much put the downsides of public transportation ("crazy" people/"sick" people/the thought that it would be really a coup for some terrorist organization to blow up the DC Metro system/etc.) out of my mind.
To mitigate these risks, however, I will generally sit or stand within the general vicinity of a person in uniform. I figure if bad stuff does happen, maybe I'm next to someone who's been trained to handle it.
It makes the ride a lot smoother for me in some "security blanket" sort of way.
User Comments:
Matthew ------Unless the soldier in question's in the band. You'd be on your own. ;-) lukee ------Yeah, that totally makes sense.
Wish we had a metro rail system here like y'all got up there in the "north". :)
------Date: 2007-08-17 22:54:00 Subject: Reefer Madness
It's so much fun to be within walking distance (about a block and 1/2) of live theater. And what makes it even better is being able to purchase 1/2 price tickets for most events.
Tonight was a fun, farce of a play starring some really talented performers. It was the kind of performance that, halfway through it, I was thinking "I wish [fill in the blank] could see this...they'd really like it!"
A good time was had by all.
User Comments:
Matthew ------ha! lukee ------who were you thinking?
------Date: 2007-08-28 09:53:00 Subject: "Sentence Vick in dog years"
...that's what Dennis Miller said on his radio show yesterday. I agree.
If he gets 2 years, that's 14 in dog years, right?
This is hellish...
The cold brutality described in the indictment hardly props up any fashionably roguish images. The 52 pit bulls found on Vick's estate were mostly emaciated, authorities said, kept ravenously hungry so that they would eagerly assail the flesh of the dogs they met in the ring. The losing animals, the indictment said, were sometimes executed if they didn't die in the fight. One dog, the grand jury reported, was hosed down after a loss and then electrocuted.
User Comments:
Matthew ------This is pretty sick stuff.
Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------Oh, and one more word of wisdom from Miller...the one remaining truth for Vick is that every person in the world may shun him. If he ever gets back in sports, his teammates/opponents (being dog lovers) may hit him slightly harder and below the belt, but when all is said and done and he's alone and needs a friend, most any dog in the whole world would sit by his side, wag their tail when he arrives home and be loyal to him in his remaining days.
Jill/Mamala http://www.jillsusan.com ------Dennis also had a comment about that "finding Jesus" thing...he's thinking maybe even Jesus needs a grace period on this one. That sure, he'll take him in, but maybe he needs a serious time out...go to your room and think about what you've done. reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------If I were a decent, honest athlete in pro sports (there still are some, aren't they?) I would be so disgusted by how sick tickets like Vick have just ruined it for everyone.
Actually I'm disgusted, period. There is something pathologically wrong here.
Of course guys like Vick are the minority, right? The problem is that the behavior of the minority these days is SO beyond the pale.
Of course he says he's found Jesus. I hope that's true, because Jesus had some fiery words about how we treat "the least of these."
------Date: 2007-09-03 14:36:00 Subject: iCar
I'll probably have to buy one of these too.
User Comments: lukee ------I heard this car is going to sneeze for you.
Matthew ------I bet the gas mileage is going to be good.
------Date: 2007-09-04 17:51:00 Subject: Pointless, incessant barking
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------I resemble that! lukee ------Ah! How true this is..
------Date: 2007-09-05 17:48:00 Subject: Great Aunt Sherry
Hello. My name is Matthew McKibben, and I am Sherryâ€™s nephew. I am here, like all of you, to celebrate Sherry Fulmer Straitâ€™s life.
We all knew Sherry through different relational ties. To my grandparents, she was a daughter. To my mom and my uncles and aunts, she was a big sister. To some here, she was a business associate, or a friend, a fellow Republican, or a friendly neighbor.
But to me, my cousins, and my siblings, she was Aunt Sherry. But as with all words, names, and titles we attribute to family members, the words seem small and inadequate for those theyâ€™re attached to. Itâ€™s as if the word â€œauntâ€ could ever begin to accurately describe all the wonderful things that my aunt was.
I mean, my cousinâ€™s and sisterâ€™s children hit the nail more on the head. To my nephews and nieces, Sherry was a â€œgreat aunt.â€ Great Aunt Sherry. To me, that seems infinitely more accurate of a title. My nephews and nieces had by title, what everyone already knew. She was, and will continue to be, a GREAT aunt.
But luckily, I knew Aunt Sherry through a different title. She was not only my aunt, but she was my godmother. And not only was she my godmother, she was, as â€œgreatâ€ aunt Sherry and I liked to say, my fairy godmother. Since â€œauntâ€ seems like such a small word when talking about the importance Sherry had to my life, I can think of no more appropriate title for â€œgreatâ € aunt Sherry than â€œgodmother.â€
Taken individually, the word godmother becomes â€œGodâ€ and â€œMother.â€
First take the word God: God, more than anything, is Love. God is an unconditional love so deep that even the worldâ€™s greatest poets and writers have yet to accurately detail this love in print, despite thousands of years worth of attempts, and millions of words of practice.
Secondly, take the word â€œMother.â€ A mother isnâ€™t necessarily the person who carries you in their womb, but is more the person who carries you in their heart. Putting both words together: â€œgodâ€ â€œmotherâ€ becomes â€œgodmother,â€ which translates to â€œthe mother who carries you in their heart through love.â€ Taken all that has been said in the above paragraphs, she was a great aunt who gave me the nurturing equal to any mother through the goodness of her immense love.
One of the things that Iâ€™ve noticed throughout my life is the presence of ghosts. Ghosts exist. They exist everywhere. But Iâ€™m not talking about the types of ghosts that haunt houses, or walk through the pages of an Edgar Allen Poe short story, but the ghosts that appear through the energies of our memories.
In my grandmotherâ€™s house, there is a spot, a corner actually, next to the kitchen and the dining room table where my Great Grandmother, nicknamed Ganny used to sit and watch over her family. And every time I visit my grandmotherâ€™s house, that spot calls to mind the wonderful spirit that my Grandmother carried.
In that same house, there is a chair in the far corner of the living room where my grandfather used to sit and watch over his family like a proud lion watching over its pride. Every time I took a step into my grandparentâ€™s house, heâ€™d rise from that chair and greet me as if I were the most important person in the room. And Iâ€™m sure thatâ€™s how he viewed each person that came through his door. Now, every time I see that chair, and that spot of the living room, I instantly recall memories of that great man.
These types of ghosts exist in happy memories, but they also exist in the void left opened by their earthly departure. With Great Aunt Sherry, I can already tell you where that ghost will exist. The great memory of my great aunt, will reside in the numerous â€œfamily gatheringsâ€ that my family has throughout the year.
It is my sincere hope that each person here at one time or another, has experienced the type of familiar bonds and love that my family experiences on a daily basis, but is especially able to feel the immense love and happiness experienced when my family has one of our monthly â€œfamily gatherings.â€ My family gathers at least once a month, usually to honor someoneâ€™s birthday or major accomplishment. At these gatherings, we eat, laugh, eat some more, laugh a little bit more, tell family stories, eat some more, occasionally talk politics, eat some more, and when itâ€™s all said and done, we head for the desert.
But life being the way it is, sometimes different family members would have a major event that would pull them away from the monthly gathering. Or sometimes, someone would be out of town. Sometimes, school would get in the way of someoneâ€™s attendance to the family gathering.
But the one constant for every single family gathering was my great Aunt Sherry. I mean, she was at every single one. It got to the point, that whomever would be in charge of planning the family gathering would not even check with Aunt Sherry to see if she could be there, it was just understood that she would.
If there was a family gathering somewhere, well, Aunt Sherry was darn sure going to be there. And not only was she going to be there, she was going to be there with FOOD. As you may or may not know, my family likes to eat. And in my family of great cooks, there was none greater than my Great Aunt Sherry. Man, just thinking about those delicious casseroles, and those delicious piesâ€¦why, theyâ€™re making my mouth water just thinking about them. She was such a great cook she could even make a salad taste GREAT.
When it was announced that a family gathering was taking place, it was assumed by my family that while we scoured the newspapers at night in search of all the hot topics of national and world news, and while some of us slaved over homework and school assignments, my Great Aunt Sherry waded through page after page of her prized possessions, her cook books. You see, for not only did my Great Aunt Sherry want to find a recipe for her family, she wanted to find a recipe that would equal in greatness the amount of love she had in her heart for her beloved family. The thing about it is that we never requested that she do so. She considered cooking and providing delicious food to her family not as a chore, like I would, but considered it to be her gift to the family she loved dearly. It has been said that the way to a personâ€™s heart is through their stomach. Great Aunt Sherry knew this statement to be a philosophical Truth.
As Iâ€™ve come to realize, death is a lot harder on those of us who are left behind to sort out the pieces. For those who pass on, why they have the easy part. I mean, canâ€™t you just sit here and imagine what Aunt Sherry is doing right now? Can you imagine what this person, who loved family more than self, is doing with the countless generations of family that have come before? While we sit here, and feel sad that our beloved Aunt is no longer with us, she is reunited with her father. As we sit here and embrace one another, she now sits and feels the warm embrace of her grandparents, and her great-grandparents, and her great-great grandparents. How can we not feel happy for Sherry, who is probably right now as we speak, cooking up some heavenly pie for those in her family with her, and consequently, with us all.
But let us not forget, that while we still struggle to come to grips with an illness that attacked silently, she is illness free. I feel nothing but happy just saying those words. She is illness free. Let it never be said, or even thought, that cancer took my Great Aunt Sherry. I mean, what is cancer really? Cancer is nothing more than an overgrowth of cells. Thatâ€™s it. Thatâ€™s all. Let it never be said that an overgrowth of cells took my Great Aunt. It may have made her sick. It may have taken her hair. It may have taken her physical energy. But it did not, it could not, no matter how deep and dark it gotâ€¦it could not take her spirit or her soul. That was hers and hers alone. And no overgrowth of cells was going to take that from her. If these last few weeks have proven anything, theyâ€™ve proven that my Great Aunt Sherry was a fighter. She was tough. As her favorite president would say, her resolve was strong. Her resolve was so strong in fact, that the last time I saw her, only about a week and a half before she passed from this realm to the next, it was at times really hard to even tell that she was sick. I swear, her smile could lighten even the darkest of rooms.
So as I leave this chapel today, I carry with me the warm memories of my Great Aunt Sherry. Although she wonâ€™t physically be with me anymore, Iâ€™m positive that she will always be there. Just like Ganny sits at the bar stool next to the kitchen, and just like my grandfather sits in his comfy living room recliner, so too does my Aunt Sherry stay with us every moment of everyday. I love you Great Great GREAT Aunt Sherry. Weâ€™ll see you at the next family gathering.
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Amen!
Matthew ------She was a great woman and is sorely missed.
------Date: 2007-09-10 22:06:00 Subject: Showering Parker
I've just arrived home after a wonderful weekend "showering Parker."
Things I know more than ever tonight:
1. Air travel is exhausting.
2. It takes a village to raise a child.
3. My Mother knows who Kanye West is.
4. My "Orlando" daughter is my heart and soul. 5. Cousin Ann is the next best thing to my sister Sherry.
6. Seeing Dallas Cowboys fans in their blue jerseys are a far better sight than seeing Washington Redskin fans in their whatever-the-hell-that-color-is jerseys.
7. Returning to the city does my heart good.
8. DC mass transit rocks!
9. Calling in "sick" is easier than legitimately asking for a day off with my a-hole boss.
10. I have the best brothers in the whole, wide world!
And there's probably a little more, but that'll do it for now.
User Comments: lukee ------more blogs like this, please.
Jill/Mamala http://www.jillsusan.com ------What Katie said!!! ;-)
Katieg ------Matthew... you crack me up.
Matthew ------11. Babies don't need IBS medication. :-)
YECN http://www.thegradlifect.blogspot.com/ ------I wish that I could have been there... I am glad that you had a great time...
YECN reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Yay!
------Date: 2007-09-14 17:02:00 Subject: Human Tetris
User Comments: lukee ------That looks so fun!
YECN http://www.gradlifect.blogger.com ------I just want to know why that water is so yellow.....
------Date: 2007-09-18 10:04:00 Subject: Blogosphere 1, NYT 0
From Andrew Sullivan:
The NYT reverses one of the dumbest moves in the history of online journalism. This is not the benefit of hindsight. It was obvious at the time that this kind of gambit would never work for online opinion, and anyone with a pulse and a modem could see that, including many of the columnists themselves. In some ways, it was less a business decision, it seems to me, than a sheer assertion, by slightly desperate men, that somehow Times opiners merited a fee in a way no one else did - least of all those - shudder - bloggers. Two years ago, they could still assert that with a straight face, even if the rest of us were snickering. No longer. The NYT has some great columnists and some unreadable ones. But they are not a class apart. They are merely part of a much larger and better conversation than any Sulzberger could ever own. Welcome to the blogosphere, guys. It's free.
Happy days are here again!
User Comments:
Mamala/Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------UPDATE:
Blogosphere 2, NYT 0, WSJ 0 Headline: WSJ May Follow NYT's Lead, Drop Online Subscription Fees
Mamala/Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------Before this week, you had to pay to be a member of "Times Select" to view columns such as Maureen Dowd and David Brooks...now they are free! lukee ------so what actually happened?
------Date: 2007-09-18 10:17:00 Subject: The Emmy Clip-Off
Again, from The Daily Dish...
Comedy-writers from Colbert, Stewart, Conan, Letterman and Maher all got to produce clips introducing their staff at the Emmys last night. Pretty damn hilarious. I'd say my friends at Real Time won what they call the "clip-off", although the award went to Conan's peeps.
User Comments:
Matthew ------That was my favorite part of the show. I thought Jon Stewart's clip and Bill Maher's clips were the most original.
------Date: 2007-09-19 09:16:00 Subject: :-) turns 25
Happy Birthday to you!
User Comments:
Matthew ------:-) lukee ------:-) ------Date: 2007-09-19 14:46:00 Subject: Is America ready for a woman president?
User Comments: lukee ------The ending is quite brill. "Is a woman president ready for america?".
Matthew ------Greatness. lukee ------Ha ha!
------Date: 2007-09-20 13:04:00 Subject: Let's party!
The Urban Cup Holder is a plastic clamp that attaches to street-posts, letting you set up impromptu street-parties on the sidewalk.
User Comments: lukee ------see, i find it disarmingly satisfying.. i will take them both, please.
Mamala/Jill ------You're right...this was funny, although I don't like them any better with their mouths shut. lukee ------this seems like something you would like!
lukee ------um....
------Date: 2007-09-20 22:32:00 Subject: Thursday night's the new Friday night
I was walking home this evening from my favorite bookstore and noticed almost every restaurant along the way was packed full of partying 20 and 30 somethings (ok, there may have been a few boomers too). When did Thursday night become the new Friday night?
Now the weather here has been wonderful so it's bringing out lots of people in general. But I think it's also a good trend that people are finding an additional evening to gather with friends for a drink and dinner.
I recently negotiated a 4 day work week (10 hour days) so maybe I'll soon be able to partake of the new Friday night that is Thursday night.
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------We had those at my first company. They were called 9/80s. Work 80 hours over 9 days. I liked it, but yes, the 8 hour day is a bit of an idol in our culture.
Mamala/Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------The government (and their contractors) here in DC are working with a 5 day/9 hour schedule the first week and a 35 hour week the second week so you get at least every other Friday off.
That's do-able, and I like the idea of it, although I'm still wondering where it's written that an 8 hour work day is god?
Matthew ------I've wondered the same thing. Are three day weekends a thing to look forward to? lukee ------such a "mom" post, i love it.
mother, i really like it when you write blogs about what you do. please keep doing so!
------Date: 2007-09-23 01:47:00 Subject: A guy and a guitar Is there anything better than that?
You had me at the first strum.
User Comments: lukee ------who??
------Date: 2007-09-23 23:36:00 Subject: 3 and 0, gee it's hard not to gloat!
So I'm riding home on the Metro this evening and as Redskin fans arrive and depart, I don't even have to ask "who won" as I know that they didn't.
I get home in time to watch Dallas beat up on 'da Bears. How sweet it is.
As I've said many times, I love my new home here on the east coast, but the blue and silver team with the star will always have my heart over those pesky Redskins. I continually get the idea that they really are, and think of themselves as, the unloved stepchild of the NFL, always having to come in second to their superior big bro' (the Cowboys of Dallas).
And to think, when I was in Dallas, I really wasn't that big of a fan past the Troy, Emmitt and Michael years. Guess this is just comfort sports for me now.
User Comments:
Matthew ------That game was fun. They're looking pretty good these days. Let's hope it lasts.
Outtamyhead http://www.journalscape.com/outtamyhead/ ------i know how ya feel. our U of K football team has blown for so many years, and now we're 4 and 0 - i don't think that's happened since bear bryant was here.
we're gloating a bit ourselves these days.
------Date: 2007-09-29 14:33:00 Subject: Buying donuts in Northern Virginia Both girls were up early this morning and M had a croupy cough so it was off to the weekend walk-in clinic for the 3 of us before we passed go, before we collected $200.
We got to the Dr's office promptly at 8 AM only to find that they didn't open until 9 AM so we headed off to find donuts. Now I know I passed at least 10 strip shopping centers before I turned around and no donut shop appeared. C suggested I go to the grocery store, which I should have done, but I had my heart set on Dunkin' Donuts after she mentioned that was her favorite kind (besides Krispy Kremes, but knew they wouldn't have those out in the burbs).
It was getting close to 9 so we headed back toward the Dr's office and I decided to stop in the Whole Foods across the street thinking they'd surely have donuts (probably whole wheat ones with no trans fat, but still...).
Nope, wrong again. I tried to talk the girls into a muffin but they both eyed the huge chocolate chip cookies and wanted those instead. Losing all desire to negotiate, I gave in.
We sat in the Dr's waiting room (the sick child side) and both girls ate their cookies for breakfast.
I didn't make eye contact with any of the other parents, but I'm sure they were all thinking "no wonder they are sick...look what she feeds them for breakfast!"
Oh, the humility!
User Comments:
Matthew ------ha. I took Jay to Shipley's yesterday and purchased 12 donuts. It wasn't until I got home that I looked at the ingredients. Sheesh. The healthiest ingregient (sugar) was 5th on the list. If anything, getting them a cookie was the healthier choice. reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------The girls were well cared for, and that's all that matters. Bless your heart for taking on more than any of us realized this weekend! To be honest, I'm not as concerned about them as I am about you---they are resilient and bounce back fast, but I hope you're not too wiped out!
Because I want you to enjoy your trip to the NYF, and the weekend after too. You've 'earned' them. Not that you need to earn them... you deserve it! lukee ------Ha! That's highlarious. Altho, at most hospitals I have been in they have mcdonalds and candy machines close by, so don't feel too bad!
YECN http://www.gradlifect.blogger.com ------you don't know how many times similar things have happened to me with L. (When she runs across the bookstore to point out the picture of Bart Simpson, when she knows all the words to "Stacey's Mom", when she says she wants to be Barbie when she grows-up...)
------Date: 2007-10-17 10:47:00 Subject: Ritual
Again and again, I practice to make perfect a time when I can be present to my presence.
The need is there always, but the time is not given to it.
Rather, it's wasted on the "to do" list that is my imperfect life.
User Comments: lukee ------I have been finding more and more contentment in imperfection.
------Date: 2007-10-23 14:58:00 Subject: Artichokes and Grown-up Mashed Potatoes
I remember when my kids were young, their dad and I splurged one day and purchased fresh artichokes to enjoy for dinner. Being a little more pricy than the usual vegetable, we bought only enough for the both of us to share. As we began our meal, all four kiddos looked at us curiously as we enjoyed the "delicacy" and each, in their own way, asked for a taste. (Of course, the melted butter that we dipped the petal tips in didn't hurt entice the young ones either.) Even though we assured them that they wouldn't like them, we ended up sharing what little we had with them and they were a big hit. They couldn't get enough of them!
Just this past Sunday night, my son-in-law R cooked a delicious meal of grilled salmon, brussel sprouts and "grown up" mashed potatoes. As I began to spoon some of them on my granddaughters' plates, R said that he had cooked some broccoli for the girls and that they probably wouldn't like the potatoes (or something to that effect) since he had added smoked gouda and other flavorings to make them wonderfully delicious!
That didn't stop M though, as after she'd cleaned her plate of the salmon and broccoli, she was still hungry and begged some potatoes from her dad. Of course, she loved them and couldn't get enough of them.
Note to self: if you want a kid to eat something, tell them a. they won't like it, or b. it's just for grown ups!
User Comments: lukee ------Ah man, I really want some grown up mashed potatoes right now. Does that make me a kid?
Matthew ------taking notes
------Date: 2007-10-29 17:44:00 Subject: 310 steps
I've been meaning to count the steps from my front door to my new job's front door and today (my first day on the job) I did it on the way home...310 steps (one and one-half blocks). I can't tell you how I truly feel right now, although it seems a little like I'm dreaming and if I talk about it, I'll wake up and it will all be taken away from me. Of course, I'm in the honeymoon period with this new job right now, but the amount of stress I escape from working 2.5 less hours a week (we work a 37.5 hour work week and get paid for 40) and another 2 hours without a commute each day have suddenly given me time in my day to do the things I've never made time for - mainly to nurture my soul. The gods are smiling on me today, and I'm so grateful.
User Comments: lukee ------Yay!
You deserve it.
Mamala ------You all are right! I did earn/deserve it!
Katieg ------Yay! You deserve i.... err, I mean, you've earned it!
Matthew ------Oops. I didn't even see that RM had written the same thing. :-) Matthew ------Yay! You deserve it. reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Yay!
You deserve it.
------Date: 2007-11-06 11:52:00 Subject: A letter to Parker
Come out, come out, where ever you are!
Seriously, I think it's very cool that you let your dad celebrate his (30th!!) birthday without your very much anticipated appearance overshadowing his big event. But now, we await your arrival. It's really very cool if you decide to come any day now. We're all ready to welcome you to the family!
I can't wait to meet you. I already have in my mind what you are going to look like. First of all, you'll be beautiful, just like your mom and dad. And you'll be smart 'cause your mom is in grad school and I'm sure you've absorbed some of the stuff she's learning. You'll be a huge sports fan and I look forward to the day when you and your dad watch the Spurs, the Cowboys, the Rockets and the Astros together and you both high-five each other when these teams win. I'm hoping your hair is strawberry blonde or red like your mom's and the auburn tones of your dad's beard. That would be very cool! If not, though, later in your life, you can ask your MaDear (that's me) what shade of L'Oreal (because you'll definitely be worth it!) she uses to cover her grey with her auburn tones. We can play hairdresser together!
We've all decided it would be cool if you were born on 11/7/07 or 11/11/07 as those numbers are lucky.
I'm just thinking any day that you pick will be the very best, most magnificent day ever!
So come on out and meet your world, sweetie.
I love you, MaDear
User Comments:
Matthew ------It won't be long now. From the TMI department, we saw some evidence that Anya's mucous plug is breaking up, which is usually a sign that labor is around the corner. We think that we also saw some "bloody show," which is another sign.
Either way, won't be long now. lukee ------i vote 11/7/07.
Come on parker!
------Date: 2007-11-07 09:37:00 Subject: 2 Trees
2 Trees
I first saw them from the bus window.
I didn't know what to think at first so I walked near them for a closer look.
They were touching at their base, then spread apart as if to deny the attraction they felt.
Having spent time alone, they joined again, from which two independent trees now grow.
That time together was their strength.
That time apart will weaken them against the strong winds that blow.
Until then though, their sacred space will provide shelter for the smallest of nature, an open womb to protect its inhabitants from the lonely world.
User Comments:
Mr. Cloudy ------Hey friend. I was moved by this. I'm seeing it in sepia tones, and feeling like I've entered a safe space myself. lukee ------Its great! Mamala/JillSusan http://www.jillsusan.com ------Yes, I wrote it last night...thanks for the good words.
Matthew ------I like it! reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Did you write this? Wow.
------Date: 2007-11-08 11:49:00 Subject: Emotionally ambiguous...
...songs for the holidays.
------Date: 2007-11-12 12:09:00 Subject: I put my suitcase away
Well, my marathon traveling schedule is complete. Since the first of September through this past weekend, I've spent a total of 8 out of 11 weekends out of town, or at least away from my apartment (Suburban Presbyterian Church Retreat, Dallas, "Suburbia" VA, NYC, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Orlando).
I have to give a real shout-out to my kitties as they are no worse for the wear and have not displayed any weird behavior (knock on wood) in retaliation for being left alone to fend for themselves during my travel absences. And I'm very grateful for my strong constitution and the travel gods that I was able to survive this aggressive travel schedule without any illnesses or major travel delays.
It also occurred to me this morning that I will, for the first time in some time, be working a 5-day work week this week (thank god, T-giving is right around the corner as I'm sure I'll need a 4-day weekend after this grueling 37.5 hour/5-day work week! ;-) )
Today, just thinking about my travels fills me with some really warm thoughts and good memories. The weekends spent with my children and grandchildren are at the top of my gratitude list. I still have to wonder how I got so lucky to have such wonderful kids and grandkids. Everyone needs to be me!!!
And the NYC trip was a regular delight as I experienced the pages of The New Yorker magazine come to life during their yearly festival (I know, I'm a geek!).
Seeing high school chums after 40 years, was, well, a surreal experience as we all lied to each other and assured each other that "we hadn't changed a bit!" (at which point, I wanted to respond, "yeah, we all looked like 58 year olds in high school").
So how do I go on today, knowing that I won't be using my suitcase for a whole month, you ask?
Well, I'm anxiously looking forward to my trip to Austin in December to meet PCG-M, I'll plan another trip to Orlando for New Year's weekend or mid-January, and then there's always the phone call from my VA daughter telling me that her first son/my second grandson is on his way!
I'm very, very blessed!
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Great recap!
------Date: 2007-11-12 12:20:00 Subject: Mickey, carved out of soap
How do you explain a bar of soap? Or Yellow Pages? And isn't it a sign of the times and generations that we'd even have to?
We were walking through Downtown Disney this past weekend, when we came upon a soap carving of Mickey Mouse. As Florida daugther and her hubby and I marvelled at the talent and effort and detail of the rather large carved sculpture, my grandson seemed confused, wondering how the only soap he's known in his life (the liquid variety, dispensed from a pump) could be carved to look like a giant Mickey Mouse.
Continuing the generational divide, upon arrival back at their condo, a set of actual hard-copy, paper Yellow Pages had been delivered outside their front door. Granddaughter #1 asked why anyone would actually use this method of finding things when there's Google.
It reminded me of the time I explained a "record album" to them or the Christmas when my brothers were gifting each other with "CDs" and I actually thought they were exchanging Certificates of Deposit.
The times they are a-changin'!
User Comments:
Matthew ------Weird. I've never thought about bar soap going away.
------Date: 2007-11-16 14:34:00 Subject: For Parker Chloe
Birth Day
-by Elise Paschen
Armored in red, her voice commands every corner. Bells gong on squares, in steeples, answering the prayers.
Bright tulips crown the boulevards.
Pulled from the womb she imitates that mythic kick from some god's head.
She roars, and we are conquered.
Her legs, set free, combat the air.
Naked warrior: she is our own.
Entire empires are overthrown.
------Date: 2007-11-16 16:09:00 Subject: You've got that right
Americans Announce They're Dropping Out Of Presidential Race
------Date: 2007-11-19 11:59:00 Subject: Mood Swings
Mood Swings
Routine
It's that time of year again.
Go get the test, pass it, do it again next year.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
Surprised, Scared, Confident
The letter comes.
"The test shows inconsistencies. Schedule another appointment for more detailed views."
I've been down this road before and found the final destination uneventful.
Cocky, Fearful, Grim Develop sound, calm expectations.
They ignore my expectations and zero in on "the problem."
Wait for the doctor in a room with only 2 chairs, no windows, no pictures, no hope.
Don't Tell Me/Tell Me, Relieved, Thankful
This really can't be happening!
"We'll see you in a year. There is no suspicious change and no radiologic evidence of malignancy."
Breathing is restored; smile muscles are exercised; angels are thanked.
User Comments:
Mr. Cloudy ------ Don't tell me/Tell me
So much of being human in those few words.
Matthew ------Yay! What a roller coaster indeed. Thank those Angels. In fact, I'm holding one of them now. reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Yay, but what a roller coaster!
It's sad that women often have to have this relationship with their bodies. Like they are the enemy.
------Date: 2007-11-21 09:23:00 Subject: Spirit of Life
Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.
~St. Francis of Assisi Gospel - good news - joy - hope - salvation - future - peace - health - safety - shelter - happiness - calm - quiet - respite - friendship - family - steadiness - sleep - comfortably numb - home - nature - autumn - spring - summer - winter - light - sabbatical - fallow time - feast - harvest - laughter - smiles - hands to hold - roots hold me close - wings set me free - melody - [fill in the blank]
User Comments: lukee ------effortless
------Date: 2007-11-26 00:15:00 Subject: Homeless at Krispy Kremes
Was with my Virginia granddaughters this weekend at the Krispy Kreme store the day after T- giving.
As we were enjoying the Snowman donuts, the sprinkle ones, the pumpkin spice variety, I saw him outside the store window, downing the last of his bottle which was covered by a brown paper bag. He laid the bag (and bottle) down just outside the store even though there was a perfectly good trash can less than 5 feet away (probably taking way too much effort to discard it properly when your life is on the street).
Having imbibed the liquid part of his breakfast, he entered the store where we were and spoke a few words to the clerk behind the counter. She wrapped a single donut in a tissue and handed it to him, no payment required.
There, but for the grace of god...
User Comments:
Matthew ------Can I just say that Krispy Kreme's free donut rule is the best thing ever?
------Date: 2007-12-04 09:16:00 Subject: Winter's here
Snow flurries in DC! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
User Comments:
Mr. Cloudy ------As long as there's a fireplace nearby, I'm in. Here it's just cold and wet. Amazing how a few degrees can change your perspective.
Mamala http://www.jillsusan.com ------Actually, it stopped as soon as it started but it was fun while it lasted...more to come for sure. reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Aw man, not in Suburban Sheol (yet)! lukee ------Ah, I bet that is lovely!
------Date: 2007-12-05 11:12:00 Subject: For the Divine Miss M (and her mother, for that matter)
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Ha!
We try to keep them separate, though I can't promise that her bday gift won't be wrapped in Christmas paper...
------Date: 2007-12-12 08:58:00 Subject: A Christmas Song
I'm really enjoying the Christmas season this year but I hope I can remember the people that find that this is the hardest time of year...
from Andrew Sullivan's blog:
A Christmas Song
- by Wendy Cope
Why is the baby crying On this, his special day,
When we have brought him lovely gifts
And laid them on the hay?
Heâ€™s crying for the people
Who greet this day with dread
Because somebody dear to them
Is far away or dead,
For all the men and women
Whose love affairs went wrong,
Who try their best at merriment
When Christmas comes along,
For separated parents
Whose turn it is to grieve
While children hang their stockings up
Elsewhere on Christmas Eve,
For everyone whose burden
Carried through the year,
Is heavier at Christmastime,
The season of good cheer.
Thatâ€™s why the babyâ€™s crying
There in the cattle stall:
Heâ€™s crying for those people.
Heâ€™s crying for them all.
User Comments: Mr. Cloudy ------I love that this song actually let's the baby cry instead of "the little lord Jesus no crying he makes." Oh, I still like Away in a Manger, but I think this is a wonderful turn on the baby imagery, and the naturalness of crying, and of caring. reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------I was just reading recently about "Blue Christmas" services that some churches have on December 21, the darkest day of the year, for people who have a hard time during the holidays. I think that's a good idea.
------Date: 2007-12-18 12:59:00 Subject: How dare he?
From the Daily Dish...
Lee Stranahan channels the Clintons' amazement that anyone could be so uppity as to stand in the way of Hillary Clinton's manifest destiny. Enjoy:
User Comments:
Matthew ------God. I see that HRC's ahead again in New Hampshire. I swear, if she gets the nomination, I'm considering voting third party. lukee ------This is awesome!
------Date: 2007-12-19 09:15:00 Subject: Ok, and the winner is...
...you can quit holding your breath.
User Comments:
Matthew ------An interesting but obvious choice. lukee ------An odd choice. Frankly I don't know who I would choose.
------Date: 2007-12-19 17:27:00 Subject: Shine a Light
User Comments: lukee ------Looks like it's about as much about Scorcece as it is about the Stones!
------Date: 2007-12-21 11:02:00 Subject: The Beatles Do Stairway
From the Daily Dish...
User Comments:
Rambler http://www.journalscape.com/Rambler/ ------That was a riot! I want to be in a band that does Stairway THAT way!
Matthew ------HA! I love it.
The original "Stairway to Heaven" was written after George Harrison criticized Led Zeppelin for not being able to write a ballad.
------Date: 2007-12-23 17:24:00 Subject: Busted!
------Date: 2007-12-23 17:56:00 Subject: Not a creature was stirrring
Is it possible that I'm the only one in this big house? I'm in a 4-story condo with 27 other apartments and I swear I've been here all day and haven't heard a sound or soul...kinda nice...kinda scary, but a good scary. I've got my attack-cats if anyone messes with me! ;-)
User Comments: kuke ------Comb over? I can hardly see the relevance of that.. reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------COME OVER!! :-D
------Date: 2007-12-25 23:49:00 Subject: God bless us every one
Is it trite or true to say that this has been the best Christmas ever? For me, it's true.
Oh sure, it could have been better if I could somehow be in four places at once (Suburban VA, 2 miles from DisneyWorld, close to the Riverwalk, and the great city that was the birthplace of my Fab Four).
But being only in one place, this was a pretty good place to be. We had mashed potato cinnamon rolls (reminding me of my baby bro' Ted) and the gift exchange would have been "Sherry- approved" as each one of us watched patiently as each of us around the tree unwrapped each gift singly and wonderfully.
Then, a gourmet dinner courtesy of my son-in-law #1 and his father.
I delighted in giving my 6th grandchild a bath! Then watching his sisters fall asleep, exhausted, the visions of sugar plums had danced the final dance not only in their heads, but in reality.
Walking home tonight, a complete stranger wished me "Happy Holidays" as the streets were as deserted as I'd ever seen them in our nation's capitol, my home.
Yes, God bless us every one.
------Date: 2007-12-26 10:29:00 Subject: Most Admired
This was shocking to me given that his approval ratings hover around 30% and her negatives hover around 50%.
------Date: 2007-12-26 13:09:00 Subject: Happy Boxing Day!
For more info about Boxing Day, click here.
On a day when Canadians are knocking each other over and spending, spending, spending, I want to be more like this guy!
------Date: 2007-12-27 09:11:00 Subject: How would you like to live across the street from this guy?
User Comments: lukee ------I would think that the aliens from Close Encounters of the Third Kind were about to land.
------Date: 2007-12-27 12:39:00 Subject: Like being punched in the stomach...
User Comments:
Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------"If it means sacrificing our lives, if it means sacrificing our liberties to save Pakistan, then we are prepared to risk our lives and we are prepared to risk our liberties, but we are not prepared to surrender our great nation to the militants," - Benazir Bhutto.
------Date: 2007-12-28 14:00:00 Subject: The Friday Thirteen
1. How and when did you first discover blogging?
On November 17, 2002 I felt the need to re-print a rather upbeat article about the Green Party, so I blogged it on Journalscape. The rest is history.
2. In how many towns/countries have you lived?
Six towns/cities (one country)
3. Did you grow up in a politically-active family?
I always knew my father was a Republican, but my mother kept us guessing, never telling anyone who she voted for.
4. Speaking as a pesky voter, what is your #1 election issue for 2008?
Healthcare
5. Which politician most closely comes to your idea of the perfect Democrat?
Barack Obama
6. Finish this sentence: In the kitchen I make a mean...
Haven't cooked in a long while, but my Mashed Potato Cinnamon Rolls went over pretty well on Christmas morning. 7. What is the country you'd like to visit most?
Australia
8. What do you do for fun when you're not blogging?
Read, listen to music, hold grandchildren
9. The one book that everyone must read NOW is...
"Born Standing Up" by Steve Martin
10. No waffling here: dogs or cats?
Cats fit my lifestyle but dogs make me smile when I see them on the streets of DC (ok, so I waffled).
11. If you could snap your fingers and have one Republican removed from the House or the Senate, who would it be?
Sen. Larry ("I am not gay") Craig
12. What are your favorite blogs besides JillSusan.com?
Any of my children's or family member's blogs
13. How do you want your epitaph to read?
Imagine all the people, Living life in peace ------Date: 2007-12-28 14:30:00 Subject: A Blog Review of 2007
Because ReverendMother did it (in 2006) and she's a rock star...
The first line from the first post of each month this year:
[Odd - Numbered Years] I've always had a problem with odd-numbers...1-3-5-7-9-etc. etc. and that extends to odd-numbered years.
[Merry Super, Happy Bowl!]
[An Inconvenient Truth] The Express (Washington Post's free paper for Metro riders and others) has a poll every day where people can go online and vote.
[It's April already and I'm no fool] So, my baby is growing up.
[The World From Your Window] From Andrew Sullivan's blog...It's noon on May 1.
[The U.S. vs. John Lennon] I rented this documentary the other night and enjoyed it thoroughly.
["I'm smarter than you"] That's what my granddaughter #2 said to me tonight.
["The internet is destroying good music"] or so says Elton John...
[iCar] I'll probably have to buy one of these too.
[Ritual] Again and again, I practice to make perfect a time when I can be present to my presence. [A letter to Parker] Come out, come out, where ever you are!
[Winter's here] Snow flurries in DC!
Analysis: I've got A.A.D.D.
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Ooh, thanks for reminding me!
------Date: 2008-01-01 22:21:00 Subject: Oh Happy Day, Oh Happy New Year!
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------beautiful family lukee ------great picture!
------Date: 2008-01-02 09:59:00 Subject: We're all crooks
From Talking Points Memo comes this...
The recording industry now says it's a crime for you to copy songs from your own CDs onto your own personal computer.
Oh brother!
User Comments:
Matthew ------Ha! Laughable. The RIAA needs to pull its head out of its ass. ------Date: 2008-01-02 15:05:00 Subject: Iowa, are you listening?
User Comments: lukee ------What a cool video!
Ted ------I so much enjoyed hearing that speech again. I *really* wish I lived in Iowa today.
------Date: 2008-01-03 21:38:00 Subject: It doesn't get any better than this
Obama wins Iowa!
If you add Edwards and Obama voters, they totally overshadow Hillary in numbers and that's a very good thing!
User Comments:
Jill ------listen to his acceptance speech...I love this man!
Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------From the Huffington Post...yes! reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Ssssssssssweet!
Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------Juan Williams just said this is historic. Iowa is 95% white...the idea that he won this state is astounding!!! Amen!
------Date: 2008-01-04 08:47:00 Subject: New Year's Friday Five
1. Do you make New Year resolutions?
Yes, but I've already broken most of them, par for the course. It was a nice dream while it lasted.
2. Is this something you take seriously, or is it a bit of fun?
Guess I don't take them seriously enough. I do much better with "for today, I'll [fill in the blank]"
3. Share one goal for 2008.
Save money more aggressively
4. Money is no barrier, share one wild/ impossible dream for 2008
Have a week with my kids and their SOs and my grandkids in the mountains/by the sea/[fill in the blank]
5. Someone wants to publish a story of your year in 2008, what will the title of that book be?
The Audacity of Hope
------Date: 2008-01-08 08:54:00 Subject: It's my party and I'll cry if I want to
Does anyone but me find this, I don't know, less than genuine?...that the first time we see HRC cry in public is not when her husband was caught with an intern, or NYC was attacked and thousands lost their lives, or many of the other tragic events that have happened during her public life, but when she is LOSING the election to Obama?
User Comments:
Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------Hillary’s Winter of Discontent
By the Editors of NRO
Hillary Clinton cried on the campaign trail Monday, leading immediately to ridicule and cynical interpretations of why she had chosen this moment to get emotional. We’ll leave that to others, and simply extend her some sympathy. Heaven knows, she has a lot to try to cry about.
Clinton could be watching her presidential campaign — despite all the money and organization and years of ambitious strategizing and maneuvering — be destroyed by the inspirational insurgency of Barack Obama. It looks as though he could win big in New Hampshire tonight, and after that, he could be very hard to stop.
Why has Hillary fallen so hard? This time around the Clintons have been admonishing audiences to stop thinking about tomorrow — instead harkening back to Hillary’s stint as First Lady when she hung with Benazir Bhutto, took on the big bad insurance industry, and delivered health care to New Hampshire national guardsmen. Such experience was expected to trump change. But experience is a two-way street. Voters have had lots of experience with the Clintons — and not all of it has been happy. Moreover, she made her experience case with an off-putting air of entitlement.
Within the Democratic party, the Clintons always benefited from their enemies: stick with Bill and Hillary or the nasty Newt Gingrich will prevail; Hillary was going to vanquish the hated Rudy Giuliani; Hillary will deliver us from the criminal Bush Republicans. Their enemies helped make them possible, but this time the alternative to the Clintons is Obama, a gifted politician loved by most of the left. Why would liberals compromise again with the Clintons when they can have the sweet uplift of Barack Obama and his non-triangulating leftism? On Monday, Bill Clinton said of Hillary's troubles: “We can’t be a new story, I’m sorry. I can’t make her younger, taller, male.” Or black? It was a statement in keeping with Bill’s often strange and unhelpful performance on the campaign trail in this, Hillary’s winter of discontent. He made her? And now there’s only so much he can do to change her?
Of course, she would be better off if she has his talents. A gifted politician like Bill could make the party put up with him, and his relatively centrist politics — they liked him. She has always been the enforcer, he the lovable and undisciplined softie. He, like Obama, is a natural, while she has to work at it. If Obama is poetry, she is an extra-credit essay — dutiful, competent, dull. It is looking like it will take more than that for people to want to embark on a full 28 years of Bush- Clinton-Bush-Clinton.
All year long Democrats probably saw Hillary as inevitable, though not necessarily electable. Once her inevitability collapsed in Iowa, she was left only with the electability problem, which will loom even larger if she continues to lose early states. It’s a volatile election season, and the current dynamic could change, either because Obama stumbles or Hillary finds some effective new tack against him. But the political terrain is looking forboding for her.
There is unquestionably an anti-establishment mood in the electorate. After spending their youths attacking the establishment and then climbing within it, the Clintons now are the establishment — just when the kids, and many other Democratic voters, want nothing more than to reject it. It’s enough to make you want to reach for the Kleenex.
Ted ------I found the whole scenario hard to fathom. She spends an hour in a coffee shop with 16 undecided women and several dozen press, and then as the event is wrapping up gets asked "How, did you get out the door every day? I mean, as a woman, I know how hard it is to get out of the house and get ready. Who does your hair?"
And that question prompted her response? Please.... reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Just sent you EJ Dionne's WaPo article... he nails it
------Date: 2008-01-08 09:33:00 Subject: Don't iPod Me, Bro! from The Daily Dish by Andrew Sullivan
The gadget we've all been waiting for:
Today at CES, Taser International introduced the Taser MPH -- the first combination hand- held music player and Taser. The player, which has a 1-GB capacity that can hold about 150 songs, is embedded in a holster that slips on your belt. Feel the need to zap someone and you can unholster the Taser, use the built-in laser pointer to aim, and blam -- a couple of darts carrying 50,000 volts hits your victim.
------Date: 2008-01-08 22:51:00 Subject: What's the Matter With New Hampshire?
You are *so* dead to me!
User Comments:
Matt ------Was a very frustrating election night. I really hate the way we hold primaries in this country. If it were up to me, Iowa, NH, Nevada, and SC would all be ok the same night.
Ted ------As RM says, it will be good for the eventual winner if they have to earn it. My worry is "Will the Clinton machine do so much damage that it ends up helping the Rs in November?"
Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------Yeah, you're right. Between Obama, Edwards and Richardson, they took 61% of the Democratic votes and I can't think Edwards and Richardson supporters will go to Clinton when they leave the race (please leave the race guys!).
I was embarrassed for McCain last night...I mean, come on, can't you say thank you without reading it off notes? reverendmother ------Take heart--I think this will be good for Obama in the long run. Keeps his campaign from getting complacent. People still need to find out who he is. And who knows how the Edwards voters would have gone (though I hope he fights on). He didn't lose by much.
McCain v Obama could be tough. Mac has the experience in spades, but what a snoozer of a speech last night.
Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------OK, you're not dead, but you're definitely on notice!
------Date: 2008-01-09 23:01:00 Subject: Yes we can
So Hillary says "I have found my voice" and we should all rejoice.
Contrast that to Obama's "Yes we can" where we are all in this together.
'nuff said .
------Date: 2008-01-10 10:11:00 Subject: To Love January
January has always been my second least favorite month (August being my least favorite month) of the year. This beautiful poem, however, has provided me a different perspective to love January.
To Love January
-Davi Walders
I clasp January to me giddy with hope for its newborn cry that clears away the worn out year like so much tinsel carted off to storage. I love
January's uncluttered room, its freshly laundered calendar innocent and white beneath a pure blue sky
grazed by bone-clean trees. To love
January is an acquired taste, like learning to let the tongue curl around the slow, sweet burn
of Tuaca's golden fire.
I do not want to wait for April to fall in love, July to run with a salty sea, October to be crowned
in color. I want to drink it all in now when everything is possible and I and the world are infants again babbling, listening for birdsong.
------Date: 2008-01-10 10:18:00 Subject: Quote for the Day
The future is shaped in the present. What is important is not the fulfillment of all one's dreams, but the stubborn determination to continue dreaming. -Gioconda Belli
------Date: 2008-01-10 12:45:00 Subject: The latest political quiz
From Thinking as a Hobby, comes this...
the electoral compass Here are my results:
The pencil shows where I fall on the political spectrum.
Guess I'm supporting the right guy! Yes we can, Obama!
------Date: 2008-01-10 13:14:00 Subject: Your Lost Number
What is your Lost number?
4
8
15
16
23
42

pollcode.com free polls
User Comments:
Matthew ------23 - Only prime numbers for me. Oh, and wait til you see room 23 in season 3. It's trippy as hell.
------Date: 2008-01-11 10:21:00 Subject: Poll Question of the Day
Based on what you've heard this week about the performance of pollsters in New Hampshire, are you somewhat likely, quite likely, or very likely to ignore political surveys for the foreseeable future?
My answer: VERY LIKELY TO IGNORE
User Comments: Shennanigans http://www.journalscape.com/Shennanigans/ ------
I generally look at them to get an idea of what the media WANTS us to believe - based on the few people willing to be polled, and to do so honestly; alas, yes, I will continue to do so, and do it with the grain of salt I always have on hand for such occasions.
Matthew ------I'm still going to take polls into account. I'm just not going to place too much emphasis on them.
Most polls are right often enough that I don't think we need to discredit them based off of one bad showing, but I think that we should be leery of placing too much emphasis on what they mean.
------Date: 2008-01-13 17:25:00 Subject: Children learn what they live-a MaDear confession
So I buy a cookie for both M and C at Whole Foods. M is sound asleep in the stroller and C eats her cookie as we head toward the Metro. By the time we arrive, C has eaten her cookie and M has just woken up hungry. As we wait for the train, I hand M her cookie and at that point C says "you're not supposed to eat on the Metro."
I mumbled some rationalization and let M proceed with her cookie, feeling slightly guilty.
Later, for some reason, C said "Go Redskins!" at which point I said the Redskins weren't in the playoffs and wouldn't be playing today. C asked "why" and I responded that they didn't win enough games, that they had had some tough breaks as one of their players died during the season. After some talk about crime and punishment, I felt even guiltier for setting the example for C that you could break "little" laws but not big ones.
I'll try to do better.
User Comments:
Mamala/Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------yeah, I don't think we tapped into the box or anything, but when we cancelled the cable and we still continued to receive it, we didn't call them and complain about it, but instead enjoyed the "free" ride.
Matthew ------i too remember that. Katieg ------I vaguely remember living in fear that you and Dad would end up in jail for getting "free" cable. Or did I dream that?
Mamala/Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------Yeah, that may be the biggest side issue to this blog. ;-)
Matthew ------GO REDSKINS????
We need to get her down to Texas for some re-education. ;-)
------Date: 2008-01-15 15:24:00 Subject: This is insane!
World's thinnest, coolest laptop...Macbook Air
No, I'm not buying one (yet). ;-)
User Comments:
Matthew ------ha!
emphasis on "yet."
------Date: 2008-01-16 12:53:00 Subject: Rush makes some good points sometimes
So if presidents are just as important as visionaries, as Hillary says, why aren't we commemorating LBJ Day next Monday?
User Comments: reverendmother ------Rush said that? Hey, a broken clock is right twice a day...
I do think LBJ's actions were courageous in their own way... however, I do agree with the point. lukee ------Ah. Yeah I see that. I was confused by the original quote.
Mamala/Jill ------No, not at all. HRC recently discounted the role of MLK in the civil rights movement by saying that it took a president (LBJ) to sign the legislation into law.
Rush was disputing this with his remark and I think most of the US, if not the world, agrees that MLK played a much greater role in the movement than LBJ.
That's what he meant by this comment. lukee ------Is he trying to say that we should have an LBJ celebration on MLK day?
Mamala/Jill ------Luke-I thought the one I posted from him was pretty good...tell me where I'm wrong. lukee ------Well, I am waiting for this good point.
------Date: 2008-01-17 08:41:00 Subject: What I See When I Open My Desktop and it always makes me smile...
User Comments:
Matthew ------What I see when I open my desktop: Melting Ice Caps. Makes me smile everytime. ;-)
Cute pictures all around. :-D lukee ------So cute!
------Date: 2008-01-22 08:54:00 Subject: Dreams don't always come true
I went here with my FL grandkids this weekend and watching the presentation as they introduced all 43 presidents and seeing them all on stage (all white males) made me wish, oh how I wish!, there was a female candidate for president I could enthusiastically vote for.
User Comments:
Matthew ------@ Reverendmother: I think more people should be talking about that stat.
Lukee ------@reverendmother: honestly, this is my main reason why I won't vote for her. I think there should be an ammendment to the constitution against people in the same immediate fambly being president.
Ted ------Amen. This popped up on my google page today:
I get a lot of cracks about my hair, mostly from men who don't have any.
- Ann Richards And I thought - "Oh I wish Hillary was more like Ann." reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Patience... such a woman will emerge, someday.
I agree. The more I think about it the more I don't like it. Two families. In the Oval Office or Vice Presidency for 32, 36 years? I don't care who those families are or what they stand for, that just seems downright unAmerican to me.
Matthew ------*sigh*
Yeah. HRC's performance in last night's debate made me dislike the Clinton's all the more. The things they'll do to win...
------Date: 2008-01-24 16:01:00 Subject: Still hurtin' about the Cowboys
User Comments:
Matthew ------HA!
Lukee ------Man, that hitler scene works in so many scenarios.
------Date: 2008-01-25 08:29:00 Subject: Fired up and ready to go (to SC)
I'm headed to SC today after work in a carpool with other DC for Obama supporters to GOTV for our guy! This is something I've never done before so I'm excited, but a little apprehensive at the same time. We'll be staying at the YMCA in Columbia and I've never been there before so that will be neat to see that part of the US of A. Watch for me at the victory celebration on Saturday night!
User Comments:
Matthew ------CNN was funny tonight. We flipped the channel to CNN at 5:59 (6:59 est) and they had a countdown clock to the "closing of the SC polls."
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
"And CNN calls it for Obama."
Talk about not wasting any time. Matthew ------Yay! I'm so glad that you're doing this. I'm proud of you.
How great is it that 40 years ago, people were driving to South Carolina to help with the Civil Rights movement and now people are driving to SC to help an African American presidential candidate win a primary? I know we still have a long way to go on race relations in this country, but wow...what a country!!!
------Date: 2008-01-25 12:43:00 Subject: Joe Klein gets it right
Are You Kidding Me?
Posted by Joe Klein, January 24, 2008
Let me get this straight: Obama wins Iowa. In a desperate move--unprecedented for an ex- President in American politics--Bill Clinton decides to impede Obama's momentum by inserting himself into the campaign. He attacks Obama on an almost daily basis, sometimes falsely. He makes a spectacle of himself. And then he blames the press for not covering the substance of the campaign?
"This is what you live for," he told CNN reporter Jessica Yellin.. "They just spin you up on this and you happily go along," Clinton said. As aides steered him away, he scolded: "Shame on you."
I can't believe that Hillary Clinton wants the world to think that whenever she gets into political trouble, she's going to have her husband come roaring about, breaking furniture, sucking up oxygen, spewing carbon dioxide. My impression is that she's strong enough to defend herself-- she certainly showed that in the recent Democratic debate. But apparently she's not strong enough to control Mr. Bill...and if that's the case, any sane voter would have to think twice before enabling this sort of circus act in the White House.
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------The Dems have perfected the circular firing squad once again.
Matthew ------Is it me or does the Democratic Party seem to be splintering over this nomination fight? I know people on both sides who have vowed to not vote for whomever the nominee is. I'm one of them. ------Date: 2008-01-28 11:15:00 Subject: What God Saw
The Bible According to Google Earth
User Comments: lukee ------thats just wicked
------Date: 2008-01-28 16:57:00 Subject: The beginning of my journey into Obama politics
Getting out the vote in South Carolina, January 25-27, 2008
My trip started as I met up with the rest of the group going to SC from DC for Obama (a 20-yr old American University International Studies white male, 2 25-year old white females working in DC, and Tricia, the group organizer who is a black female who worked for Jesse Jackson's campaigns in '84 and '88) at a parking garage not far from my office and home last Friday at 3:30 PM.
Ryan and Tricia, 2 of my carpoolers!
We settled into the rental car and began the 8 hour trek to Columbia, SC. We arrived at the Obama HQs at 11:30 PM and learned what we'd be doing the next day and sent to the YMCA to settle in for the night. Upon arrival at the Y, we were directed to the gymnasium and told to find a place to stretch out our sleeping bags and get as much rest as we could (it was already 1 AM). The vans would be back for us Saturday morning at about 7 AM. The hard wooden gym floor was not bad as I found an exercise mat to rest my sleeping bag on and looking around the room, we had about 30 or so other Obama supporters sharing our space.
I was keyed up, but managed to go to sleep pretty quickly, only to be awakened again at 5 AM as the latest busload of supporters arrived.
Looking out at the room I realized that the population had grown considerably throughout the night as carpools and busloads arrived and now we had about 200 people "fired up and ready to go" and ready to work for Obama.
We arrived at HQs and were told that we needed to rush to the capitol building at the State House and provide visibility (mainly cheer and wave signs) for The Today Show cameras.
Lester Holt was the host and he's amazing...so handsome and articulate and nice. He had his picture taken with anyone who wanted that during the breaks in shooting.
After doing this for about 1 and 1/2 hours, we headed back to HQs and were told to provide visibility on particular busy intersections in Columbia. I couldn't believe that I was actually standing in the middle of the street, waving my Obama sign and smiling at the South Carolinians that drove by and urging them to go vote (for Obama). I did this for the next few hours until about 1 PM when I returned back to HQs for the next assignment. As an aside, I did an informal "honk" poll and decided that Obama supporters honked their car horns or gave me a thumbs up about 3 times the rate of the Hillary or Edwards people, which, as it turned out, was actually more reliable than Zogby or Rasmussen have been lately).
South Carolina Primary Results:
Barack Obama 295,091
Hillary Rodham Clinton 141,128
John Edwards 93,552
At HQs, I made the mistake of sitting down and realized how tired I already was and decided to take a rest for the next hour and a half.
Watching the mostly young, cell-phoned Obama organizers frantically sending volunteers, walking down the halls of the building engaged in conversations Aaron Sorkin-style, I was able to re-energize myself pretty quickly and was sent out to canvass a neighborhood, which involves knocking on doors and urging people to go vote, if they hadn't already. We (1 guy from DC, another from PA, and a girl who will enter the Peace Corp in a couple of month from NYC) were assigned a neighborhood and GOTV. The neighborhood was mostly a black neighborhood with new, well-mannered, middle-class homes and the reception we received was great! Everyone, except one lady who supported Hillary, was an Obama supporter and their enthusiasm for his candidacy just energized us even more.
We finished canvassing and returned back to HQs at 6:30 PM (the SC polls closed at 7 PM) so I headed over to the Convention Center where the doors were opening at 7:30 PM for Obama's victory celebration. I had separated myself from the people I came with earlier in the day and decided maybe I would hook up with them at the Convention Center. Upon arrival, I found 3 lines (one for the press, one for the Super-Volunteers who had been working for weeks and the rest of us). Since I'd arrived pretty early, I was pretty sure I'd make it inside so I got in line and made some "friends" with the people around me...an Edwards supporter from Atlanta (who voted for Obama since her guy is out of the running, really), a young Yuppie couple from Columbia, and many, many young people full of energy and all smiles as we waited to get in to the rally.
At 7:01, a huge cheer went up and I wasn't sure why until my son Matthew telephoned me to say that CNN had just called the primary for Obama.
Needless to say, the atmosphere was electric from that moment on. While I continued to wait to get into the rally, I saw my friends from the DC car ride walk past me to the line for people with tickets and I had to laugh to myself that I still have things to learn about this "politics" thing! But I was having a great time with the line and crowd outside as we waited to get in to the rally to celebrate our candidate and our own hard work.
At about 8 PM, I entered the doors of the Convention Center and TSA employees were there checking our bags and coat pockets. Inside the rally, there was a high school band playing and we were also entertained by a huge TV monitor showing CNN's election coverage. Each time the numbers would change, the crowd went wild. CNN had their usual analysts there talking about the black vote and what it meant for the outcome.
The crowd spontaneously erupted into a chant "Race doesn't matter!" as they/we defiantly raised our fists toward the CNN pundits!
The back of the room was filled with media! Earlier in the day, I gave interviews to the German press and a Thailand radio station about why I supported Obama. The press was everywhere and it was fun to listen in on their interviews with people at Obama HQ while I rested earlier in the day.
Obama's lead continued to grow over the other 2 candidates and the crowd continued to get more pumped up. CNN showed Bill Clinton giving a speech in Missouri and the crowd, again, spontaneously broke into collective "boos" for the ex-president. Person after person I spoke with during the weekend expressed their disallusionment for the Clintons after their campaign antics turned on Obama. I had more than one close supporter of the Clintons tell me they had literally shed tears about this and how they felt hurt and angry over the reality they were now seeing from the ex-first-couple. It was heartbreaking for me to see so many people let down, but I'm just glad they have a young, fresh, inspiring candidate to turn to with their support.
Nestor, a disappointed ex-supporter of the Clintons
The crowd continued to grow as they let more and more people into the rally and finally they closed the doors and Obama was introduced to the crowd by a young Iraq war veteran, Pete Skidmore, who welcomed him on stage as â€œthe person I expect to be the next commander-in- chief.â€ U2's "It's a Beautifle Day" blasted over the speaker system and the crowd went crazy, waving signs and shouting "Obama" as Obama and his wife, Michelle, entered the arena. As the two of them stood before me (I had managed to be pretty close to the podium so I had a good vantage point), I just kept thinking "I want to see the 2 of them do an inaugural dance" next January! What a great-looking couple they are!
Obama delivered a tremendous speech and was interrupted after almost every line with applause and cheers.
At about 9:30 PM, the rally ended and I headed to the doors realizing that I hadn't had a real meal since the McDonald's breakfast earlier that day. I walked around downtown Columbia and found an Oyster Bar and went in and had a glass of wine and a half-dozen oysters. I was surrounded by Hillary supporters drowning their sorrows and loss, but met up with a couple who were in town to attend a funeral of a distant relative so we talked politics, business, and family matters, and shared some funny stories.
After about an hour, I decided to walk back to the Y and get some sleep before we headed back to DC at 8 AM on Sunday. Passing by an IHOP, though, I realized that I was still hungry, so I stopped in and found a huge crowd of Obama supporters sharing good times. I had breakfast with them and we continued the celebration of our victory with high-fives and big smiles.
The Y was almost deserted as many of the volunteers left right after the rally to return to their homes or head to the states to support Obama in the Super Tuesday states. (By the way, the SC Obama campaign expected about 800 volunteers to come in for the primary vote but instead got about 2700 volunteers!...now that's enthusiasm!!) The trip home was uneventful and I arrived safely back to DC at about 4:30 PM Sunday. I was exhausted but it was a good exhausted. I placed my "Obama '08" lucky sign that I had waved all day in Columbia SC in my front window and went to sleep, happy and tired.
I don't know whether Obama will be the Democratic candidate or not, but I sure hope that he is. Nevertheless, the weekend that I spent in SC, working for Obama, is one of the highlights of my life.
Finally, a few random thoughts:
Here are a few details about Obama's victory in South Carolina. According to the official results and CNN exit polls, Barack won:
* 55% of the total vote, more than twice as many votes as any other candidate
* 57% of voters who had never voted in a primary
* 66% of voters who had never voted before at all
* Every type of community -- urban, suburban, and rural
* 58% of voters between ages 18 and 64
* 67% of voters between ages 18 and 29 (Ba-rack the Vote!)
The clear lesson from South Carolina is that voters are ready to bring this country together and solve the problems that matter to ordinary Americans.
This election isn't about race or gender, income level or education level.
It's about the past and the future.
And one more thing...
Is Barack the one we have been waiting for? Or is it the other way around? Are we the people we have been waiting for? Barack Obama is giving voice and space to an awakening beyond his wildest expectations, a social force that may lead him far beyond his modest policy agenda. Such movements in the past led the Kennedys and Franklin Roosevelt to achievements they never contemplated. [As Gandhi once said of India's liberation movement, "There go my people. I must follow them, for I am their leader."]
We are in a precious moment where caution must yield to courage. It is better to fail at the quest for greatness than to accept our planet's future as only a reliving of the past.
So I endorse the movement that Barack Obama has inspired and will support his candidacy in the inevitable storms ahead.- Tom Hayden
User Comments:
Rambler http://www.journalscape.com/Rambler/ ------Just curious, we obviously sorta like Obama here in Illinois, I was wondering about the volunteers who are working for him...
Matthew ------By way of Kansas. Don't forget Kansas, Mom. ;-) jill ------no rambler, Texas and now DC
Rambler ------Are you from Illinois by chance?
Matthew ------It sounds like you had a wonderful time. I'm glad we got to talk a couple of times on that day.
Fired up, ready to go!
------Date: 2008-01-29 14:45:00 Subject: Hillary's Word
From the New Hampshire-Union Leader comes this:
Hillary's word: It's worth nothing COURTING VOTERS in Iowa and New Hampshire, last August Sen. Hillary Clinton signed a pledge not to "campaign or participate" in the Michigan or Florida Democratic primaries. She participated in both primaries and is campaigning in Florida. Which proves, again, that Hillary Clinton is a liar.
Clinton kept her name on the Michigan ballot when others removed theirs, she campaigned this past weekend in Florida, and she is pushing to seat Michigan and Florida delegates at the Democratic National Convention. The party stripped those states of delegates as punishment for moving up their primary dates.
"I will try to persuade my delegates to seat the delegates from Michigan and Florida," Clinton said last week, after the New Hampshire primaries and Iowa caucuses were safely over.
Clinton coldly and knowingly lied to New Hampshire and Iowa. Her promise was not a vague statement. It was a signed pledge with a clear and unequivocal meaning.
She signed it thinking that keeping the other candidates out of Michigan and Florida was to her advantage, but knowing she would break it if that proved beneficial later on. It did, and she did.
New Hampshire voters, you were played for suckers.
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------To me it would be like playing a round of poker with everyone agreeing not to place bets, then winning and saying, "Pay up!"
That is to say... Hell to the No.
Lukee ------Ah! I see now. This was really what was at the root of my initial comment of "is it really this simple?".
I *think* I understand now. I am certainly no HRC supporter. Go obama!
Mamala/Jill http://www.journalscape.com/jillsusan/ ------The agreement was made to make the SC/Iowa/New Hampshire/Nevada primaries the first primaries for the Dem party. All candidates agreed to this and agreed to not campaign in FL and MI, who moved up their primaries against DNC guidelines. This was punishment to FL and MI (although I think it's stupid!). Anyway, the thrust of it is that an agreement was made and HRC broke it out of total disregard for her agreement and the DNC rules (when it benefitted her-she thought it would look good to the uneducated if she "won" these states and appeared on TV as the winner). It's patently dishonest of her! lukee ------I guess my question is, why would people agree to not campaign in those states anyway?
Matthew ------As far as I can tell, she campaigned there because she's going to try and reactivate the delegates at the convention.
This is where it gets tricky. If HRC or Barack is the clear cut nominee, then it's not a big deal and the nominee will get the delegates from Michigan and Florida. But let's say Barack's ahead by a marginal amount and appears to be headed towards being the nominee...if the delegates are reactivated, it could turn the nomination to her.
It's the more disgusting side of politics and the type of thing that makes me recoil. I think their votes should count, but I also think that she should have stuck to her original agreement to not campaign in those states. So on this one, I'm not sure where I stand. lukee ------Well if winning and losing doesn't make any difference in those states, why did she campaign?
I am asking out of ignorance. I know little of these things.
Matthew ------Money and time. And because winning or losing makes no difference in the delegate race. lukee ------True. There is much I don't know. Why would the candidates not campaign in those states anyway?
Matthew ------It was a classic Clinton move on their part. They'll do whatever it takes. :-(
Mamala/Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------I don't like the name calling either, but when there's a legitimate issue the candidates should be called on it.
This is one of the main reasons why I don't want the Clintons back in the White House. They are more self-centered than what's good for the country or the Democratic party. Hillary joined the other candidates to not campaign in FL or MI and signed a pledge not to do so. She went to both states prior to each primary and when she "won" in each state, she declared victory even though she won the same amount of delegates in each state as Obama - ZERO!
This is dishonest and she needs to be called on it. Is it name calling? I don't think so. lukee ------Well, I don't even know, it's just all the name calling in politics. It's annoying. More like a rhetorical question I guess.
Mamala http://www.jillsusan.com ------Lukee-expound on your question.
Lukee ------Is it really this simple?
------Date: 2008-02-01 12:51:00 Subject: Super Bowl or Super Tuesday
Super Bowl or Super Tuesday?
Super Bowl
Super Tuesday

Free polls from Pollhost.com
(ABC News) - Call it the nerds against the jocks
It's Super Tuesday vs. the Super Bowl, two huge events on the political and sports calendars coming down the pike just a few days apart. And while each has its own brand of devotee, it turns out that the two are almost equally anticipated by the American public.
Asked which they're more excited about, 40 percent in this ABC News/Washington Post poll cite the Super Bowl, which kicks off this Sunday at 6:17 p.m. But in a near-upset, very nearly as many, 37 percent, say they're more keyed up about Super Tuesday.
Each is unique this year: A New England Patriots victory over the New York Giants would produce the first undefeated record for an NFL team in 36 years. On Super Tuesday, an unprecedented 24 states are holding presidential nominating contests. Both events promise chills, thrills and smackdowns; the presidential candidates may not have the crowd-pleasing benefit of cheerleaders, but their contact sport is played without pads.
Fandom has a lot to do with it: Half of Americans describe themselves as football fans, and 63 percent of fans are more excited about the championship game than about the upcoming primaries. But among the half of Americans who aren't fans, Super Tuesday holds greater interest by more than a 30-point margin, 48-17 percent.
Men (who are likelier to be fans) are more interested in Sunday's game, but by a smaller gap than you might expect, 48 percent to 34 percent. And women are more apt to be excited by Super Tuesday than by the Super Bowl, 40 to 32 percent.
The most influential factor in the split is level of education. Among college graduates, 53 percent are more excited by Super Tuesday than by the ball game, while 33 percent pick the game a 20-point tilt in favor of the political battlefield. Meanwhile, among those who haven't gone beyond high school, the Super Bowl's of greater interest by nearly as wide a margin, 45-28 percent.
There's only a little regional bias, despite it being an all-Northeast football game this year. Northeasterners and Southerners alike are a little more likely to be excited by the game than by the political primaries. Midwesterners and Westerners divide more evenly. Democrats, who've been particularly engaged in politics this year, are more interested in Super Tuesday than in the Super Bowl by an 8-point margin. Republicans divide about evenly, and independents who tend to be less engaged in politics are more excited about the game, by a 10-point spread.
WATCH Six in 10 Americans say they plan to watch the big game Sunday 72 percent of men versus half of women. Intended viewing is higher among younger and better-off adults, two groups highly prized by advertisers.
Hype around Super Bowl commercials is so great that, perhaps surprisingly, 15 percent of intended viewers say they'll be watching more for the advertisements than for the game itself. Still, three-quarters say they're tuning in for the football, thank you very much.
WINNERS In another surprise result, while nearly eight in 10 fans think the Patriots will cap off their perfect season with another win, that's not the preferred outcome: By 52-43 percent, fans say they'd rather see the Giants win.
METHODOLOGY This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone Jan. 25- 29, 2008, among a random national sample of 1,019 adults. The results have a 3-point error margin. Field work by ICR-International Communications Research of Media, Pa.
User Comments:
Matthew ------Super Tuesday, no doubt.
------Date: 2008-02-02 17:44:00 Subject: Happy Groundhog Day
6 more weeks of winter
------Date: 2008-02-03 15:43:00 Subject: Ba-rack the Vote!
User Comments:
Jill http://www.journalscape.com/jillsusan/ ------
Matthew ------Gah! I'm ready for the results to start coming in.
Matthew ------I just love that people are actually getting involved. I think it'd be a shame if we didn't nomination Barack. He's inspiring people to get involved and I think that's amazing in and of itself. lukee ------Yes, We Can.
------Date: 2008-02-06 09:10:00 Subject: Spinning Super Tuesday
I really, really wanted Obama to win California and bummed that he didn't but on the other hand, the delegate count differential between him and Clinton is only 76.
I have to remember that months ago, the Clintons were planning a coronation and Obama was a distant challenger. So I'm still hopeful.
User Comments:
Jill http://www.journalscape.com/jillsusan/ ------TOTAL VOTES CAST
Clinton: 50.2% (7,347,971)
Obama: 49.8% (7,294,851)
Really, could it have been any closer?
Matthew ------Barack has won 13 states and is in the lead in New Mexico with 92% of precincts reporting. I'm not sure how that state will go, but that'll factor in to this whole puzzle.
He won more states, won more delegates, and appears poised to win a lot of upcoming contests.
I'm not so distraught over California because he did make it closer than it had been. I think losing Massachusetts was the bigger deal, honestly.
I think last nigh was essentially a tie. But I like what the future holds for Barack.
Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------Rick Moran (a staunch conservative) at Pajamas Media says Obama Wins, No Matter What. Some good lines include the following:
Within Obama’s lifetime, a black man in Georgia has gone from being prevented from exercising his right to vote to capturing a near majority of the sons and grandsons of his former oppressors in a run for the highest office in the land.
Obama has won 12 primaries of the 22 contested races. He won in the west, the south, the north the east, and the Midwest. He won in big states and small states. He was much more competitive in states like New Jersey and Massachusetts than could have been imagined a few short weeks ago.
He has transcended party and ideology, attracting droves of young people and those who have never participated in the political process to his banner. And he has excited Democrats and elicited admiration from Republicans as no other candidate in recent memory. And now he stands as a candidate with as good a chance of winning the presidential nomination as Hillary Clinton – a politician perhaps not as gifted but the inheritor of the most efficient and professional political machine in modern political history. No matter what happens from here on out, Obama’s place in history is secure.
Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------and John Dickerson at Slate puts more positive spin on this:
By several measures, Obama was the victor: He picked up 13 states to Clinton's eight, and he won more pledged delegates. This gives him additional momentum going into some promising-looking primaries over the next couple of weeks. The contests in the next two weeks in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12 followed by Wisconsin and Hawaii on Feb. 19 all favor him. His $32 million fund-raising record in January shows that he will have more money than Clinton to wage a protracted campaign. Obama will also have time to become better known—particularly for the March 4 primaries in Ohio and Texas—than he did in the 22 states in which he competed today.
This is encouraging! reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------"I just left India and London. This is the campaign of the century. I've not seen this much excitement since Mandela was released from jail."
--Jesse Jackson reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Ooh, the word verification was 42PUS! 42nd President of the United States! Eerie... reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------The longer he stays in it, the better he does. He shows no sign of plateauing, whereas Clinton's numbers have been pretty constant (according to the graph Uncle T posted yesterday).
The next few weeks will make or break him. I think he'll do well because it will just be a few states at a time, and when he's able to get in front of people, he can win them over. And he's got tons of $$$.
I wish I had babysitting for SBJ this Tuesday because I would love to help out. What can I do from home?
Bill Clinton called him a fairy tale. The fairy tale is thinking that Hillary has any chance of winning. She cannot win over Republicans. She cannot win over independents.
------Date: 2008-02-06 10:39:00 Subject: Don't Play Me Small
â€œDonâ€™t play me smallâ€¦Iâ€™m voting for Barack Obama not because heâ€™s Black, Iâ €™m voting for Barack Obama because heâ€™s BRILLIANT.â€ - Oprah Winfrey
I recently had a conversation with an African-American male about my age while riding the Metro. He noticed my "Obama" button and asked me why, as a white female, I was supporting Obama instead of Clinton. During our 30-minute ride together, I don't think I convinced him that his choice (Hillary) was wrong but I wished I'd had this post to back me up.
Feminist Ultimatums: Not In Our Name
by Kimberle Crenshaw and Eve Ensler
The rubble that was once the World Trade Center was still smoldering when President Bush issued an ultimatum that marked our foolhardy and tragic descent into war: Laying down the law, he declared, "Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."
Progressives, feminists, civil libertarians, compassionate conservatives and independent thinkers alike denounced the president's rant as a simplistic but frightening attempt to hijack the outpouring of grief felt world wide to serve his pro-war agenda. Thousands refused to be held hostage to this friend or foe logic in the face of considerable doubt and genuine disagreement about how to respond to the tragedy of 9/11. It was in those early moments of our national trauma that progressive New Yorkers came together to say no to war and to refuse to lend our name to the intimidation and sabre-rattling that President Bush's "with us or a'gin us" rhetoric represented. It is thus a sad irony that years later, as our nation faces an opportunity to confront and perhaps end the human misery we have inflicted in Iraq and Afghanistan, a new iteration of the "with us or with them" rhetoric has emerged.
In seeking to corral wayward souls into the Hillary Clinton camp, the new players of this troubling game are no longer the hawkish Republicans but "either/or" feminists determined to see to it that a woman occupies the Oval Office. Drawing their feminist boundaries in the sand, they interrogate, chastise, second-guess and even denounce those who escape their encampment and find themselves on Obama terrain. In their hands feminism, like patriotism, is the all- encompassing prism that eliminates discussion, doubt and difference about whom to vote for and why. Armed with indignant exasperation, this "either/or" camp converts the undeniable misogyny of the media into an imperative to vote for Clinton. The balanced reflections and gentle warnings that were voiced months ago have been jettisoned for a one-sided brief about why voting for Clinton is the only sensible thing for women to do. Perhaps because there is a viable opponent who carries a competing claim to breakthrough status, the "either/or" rhetoric has become particularly fierce. While denying any intention to square off racism against sexism, the "either/or" feminists nonetheless remind us that the Black (man) got the vote before the (white) woman, that gender barriers are more rigid than racial barriers, that sexism is everywhere and racism is not, that a female Obama wouldn't get nearly as far as a Barack Obama, and that a woman's vote for Clinton is scrutinized while a male vote for Obama is not. Never mind of course that real suffrage for African Americans wasn't realized until the 1960s, that there are any number of advantages that white women have in business, politics and culture that people of color do not; that all around the world women's route to political leadership is through family dynasty which is virtually closed to marginalized groups, and that the double standard of stigmatizing Obama's Black voters as racially motivated while whitewashing Clinton's white voters as "just voters" constitutes the exact same double standard that the "either/or feminists" bemoan. The "either/or" crowd surprisingly claims that the two Democratic candidates are more alike than different, yet those who gravitate to Obama find their motives questioned and their loyalties on trial. Even long standing allies of the women's movement have been unable to escape the label of "traitor" for opting to support Barack Obama instead of Hillary Clinton.
Because we believe that feminism can be expressed by a broader range of choices than this "either/or" proposition entails, we again find ourselves compelled to say "no"--this time to a brand of feminism that betrays its inclusive and global commitments. We believe we stand in unity with many feminists who will say, "Not in Our Name" will this feminism be deployed.
Young feminists have been vocal and strong in critiquing the claim that a vote for Obama represents some form of youthful naivetÃ©, a desire to win the approval of men, or a belief that sexism no longer factors into their lives. While paying respect to those women who carried the banner for so many years, these young women have reminded us that feminism is not static but evolutionary, changing in content, scope and tenor as new generations elevate their concerns and aspirations. And while we agree that this "either/or" brand of feminism fails to capture the imagination and hopes of countless numbers of women who refuse to entrust this capital into the hands of a candidate just because she is a woman, we think it important to add that this is not simply an intergenerational difference at work here. At issue is a profound difference in seeing feminism as intersectional and global rather than essentialist and insular. Women have grappled with these questions in every feminist wave, struggling to see feminism as something other than a "me too" bid for power whether it be in the family, the party, the race or the state. For many of us, feminism is not separate from the struggle against violence, war, racism and economic injustice. Gender hierarchy and race hierarchy are not separate and parallel dynamics. The empowerment of women is contingent upon all these things. Despite the fact that we know that identity does not equal politics--especially an antiwar, social equity and global justice politics--we are led to believe that having a woman in power is the penultimate accomplishment. And even when the "either/or" feminists back off this claim in general, we are told, it is true in the case of the particular, Hillary Clinton. Experience and judgment go hand in hand, we are told, but one has to wonder how is it that so many ordinary citizens who were outside the beltway instinctively sensed what would come with the war, but the female candidate running for President did not?
For us, the choice at hand is actually quite simple. It is not about the woman candidate vs. the Black male candidate. It is about the candidate who works to dismantle the bomb, rather than drop it; the candidate who works to abolish the old paradigm of power, rather than covet and rise to its highest point; the candidate who seeks solutions and dialogue rather than retaliation and punishment.
As feminists our freedoms have been hard won and we'd like to think that we have learned from our mistakes along the way. The feminism we fought so hard for and benefited from was not to make us blind to the complexity, but to help us see beyond simple formulas and body politics.
User Comments: lukee ------bush-clinton-bush-clinton.
it's as simple as that, really.
we live in a far too big a world then for two families to have that much influence.
plus, has he SEEN obama speak?
------Date: 2008-02-06 13:26:00 Subject: The Natural
The Natural
User Comments:
Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------
Jill http://www.journalscape.com/jillsusan/ ------
Matthew ------Great article.
------Date: 2008-02-06 16:28:00 Subject: The Un-Natural
User Comments:
Mamala http://www.jillsusan.com ------
Matthew ------Ha. The ending of that was great.
------Date: 2008-02-06 22:26:00 Subject: No he didn't just say that!
"We are very frustrated because we have a Supreme Court that seems determined to say that the wealthier have more right to free speech than the rest of us. For example, they say you couldnâ€™t stop me from spending all the money Iâ€™ve saved over the last five years on Hillary's campaign if I wanted to, even though it would clearly violate the spirit of campaign finance reform," - Bill Clinton, December 24, 2007
Oops!
User Comments:
Matthew ------This race had better not come down to super delegates. A contradiction between won delegates and super delegates would be a disaster for the party.
------Date: 2008-02-08 15:14:00 Subject: "I want the man to hope all over me."
Joel Stein is both embarrassed and seduced by Obamania.
He's got Obamaphilia
It's embarrassing to be among the fanatics of a relatively mainstream presidential candidate.
Joel Stein
February 8, 2008
You are embarrassing yourselves. With your "Yes We Can" music video, your "Fired Up, Ready to Go" song, your endless chatter about how he's the first one to inspire you, to make you really feel something -- it's as if you're tacking photos of Barack Obama to your locker, secretly slipping him little notes that read, "Do you like me? Check yes or no." Some of you even cry at his speeches. If I were Obama, and you voted for me, I would so never call you again.
Obamaphilia has gotten creepy. I couldn't figure out if the two canvassers who came to my door Sunday had taken Ecstasy or were just fantasizing about an Obama presidency, but I feared they were going to hug me. Scarlett Johansson called me twice, asking me to vote for him. She'd never even called me once about anything else. Not even to see "The Island."
What the Cult of Obama doesn't realize is that he's a politician. Not a brave one taking risky positions like Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich, but a mainstream one. He has not been firing up the Senate with stirring Cross-of-Gold-type speeches to end the war. He's a politician so soft and safe, Oprah likes him. There's talk about his charisma and good looks, but I know a nerd when I see one. The dude is Urkel with a better tailor. All of this is clear to me, and yet I have fallen victim. I was at an Obama rally in Las Vegas last month, hanging at the rope line afterward in the cold night desert air, just to see him up close, to make sure he was real. I'd never heard a politician talk so bluntly, calling U.S. immigration policy "scapegoating" and "demagoguery." I'd never had even a history teacher argue that our nation's history is a series of brave people changing others' minds when things were on the verge of collapse. I want the man to hope all over me.
Still, I can't help but feel incredibly embarrassed about my feelings. In the "Yes We Can" music video that will.i.am made of Obama's Jan. 8 speech, I spotted Eric Christian Olsen, a very smart actor I know. (His line is "Yes we can.") I called to see if he had gone all bobby-soxer for Obama, or if he was just shrewdly taking a part in a project that upped his Q rating.
Turns out Olsen not only contributed money, he volunteered in Iowa and California and made hundreds of calls. He also sent out a mass e-mail to his friends that contained these lines: "Nothing is more fundamentally powerful than how I felt when I met him. I stood, my hand embraced in his, and ... I felt something ... something that I can only describe as an overpowering sense of Hope." That's the gayest e-mail I've ever read, and I get notes from guys who've seen me on E!
When I started to make fun of Olsen, he said: "I get that it's a movement. But it's not like a movement for Nickelback. For the first time, we should feel justified in our passion. You don't have to feel embarrassed about it, buddy." It was a convincing argument until he told me he cried during an Obama speech. That did not help me feel less lame.
So to de-Romeo-ize, I called someone immune to Obama's hottie dreaminess: a white suburban feminist baby boomer. To get two things done at once, I called my mother.
My mom, a passionate Hillary Clinton supporter, immediately attacked Obamamania. "Some part of me wants to say, 'People wake up. He has no plans.' I get frustrated listening to his speeches after awhile," she said. She also said that the new vacation house in Key West is really great and her vertigo hasn't been acting up.
I started to feel a little more grounded again. Did I want to be some dreamer hippie loser, or a person who understands that change emerges from hard work and conflict? "People are projecting an awful lot onto him," Mom said. "Almost like what was that movie with, oh, the movie, oh God. That English actor, he practically said nothing. Oh shoot. He was the butler and everybody loved him and what he was thinking and feeling. Do you know the movie I'm talking about? You don't." Hers, of course, is the demographic most likely to vote.
But she's right. Obama is Peter Sellers in "Being There." As a therapist, she's seen the danger of ungrounded expectations. "You feel young again. You feel like everything is possible. He helps you feel that way and you want to feel that way; it's a great marriage. Unfortunately, the divorce will happen very quickly." Mom is the kind of realistic tough-talker who isn't afraid to make divorce analogies to a child of divorce.
"We want what he represents," she said. "A young, idealistic person who really believes it. And he believes it. He believes he can change the world. I just don't think he can."
Thing is, I've watched too many movies and read too many novels; I can't root against a person who believes he can change the world. The best we Obamaphiles can do is to refrain from embarrassing ourselves. And I do believe that we can resist making more "We Are the World"- type videos. We can resist crying jags. We can resist, in every dinner argument and every e-mail, the word "inspiration." Yes, we can.
[email protected]
User Comments:
Matt ------Good post. Am writing this on my iphone so I'll make this short.
I am aware that we may be writing political checks for Obama that the man may or may not be able to cash. But as RM said, I can't vote against someone who has the auspiciousness and ability to change the world.
And I think we should get past the line of thinking that there isn't much substance behind Barack's political stances and that he's getting by on style. His website is detailed and he does give specifics in his stump speeches. reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------This is funny!
My friend Jay and I have been having this exact conversation.
"I can't root against a person who believes he can change the world." Me either.
------Date: 2008-02-10 21:56:00 Subject: Coming at me
"you're house is really small" - my granddaughter C
"Thanks for wearing the Obama buttons and supporting Obama" - an African American male's comment to me at the food court at Pentagon City
"Yay, Maine!!! Here's to hoping that Virginia, Maryland, and DC end up well!" - a text message from my Austin son.
"Remember, early on in the campaign, the complaint about me was that I was too professorial. That I would go through these town hall meetings and, you know, go into great detail about this and that and the other. And you know, wondering what ever happened to that inspiring guy who spoke at the Democraticâ€¦convention. Yeah. And now that I'm inspiring people and saying, 'Hey, you know, where is the specifics?' And so, you know, if there are issues that you want to cover right now, I'm happy to," Obama said (on 60 Minutes). "So why don't we work those through?"
"no one, no one, no one, getting in the way of what I feel for you" - Alicia Keys at the Grammy's
WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton replaced campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle with longtime aide Maggie Williams on Sunday, engineering a shake-up in a presidential campaign struggling to overcome rival Sen. Barack Obama's financial and political strengths. - Breitbart.com
Unsolicited kisses from the divine Miss M throughout the last 2 days.
"I almost feel sorry for her (HRC)" - Daughter #1, but I did a quick intervention and she's back on the Obama track (not that she really took the other option seriously).
"Kennedy, like Obama, was one of those extraordinary individuals who was completely authentic, at home with himself and in his skin," said (Ted) Sorensen (JFK's speech writer). "He knew who he was, unlike so many in politics who are putting on an act all the time." A kitty on my lap, along with my laptop.
BILL CLINTON: Obama's white half won Maine. â€œI told you he won South Carolina because heâ€™s black, like Jesse Jackson. So, to be consistent, Iâ€™d have to say he won Maine because heâ€™s white like Michael Dukakis.â€
In 1988, Super Delegates (ignoring the popular vote and the primaries and caucuses) supported Dukakis (the established candidate) overwhelmingly over Gary Hart- remind me, once again, how did that work out for you?
User Comments: reverendmother ------Heh, read my comment at Matthew's. I finally figured out what it is about her. If I can articulate it in a post I will.
Bill said that? I must admit, I think it's a funny line. Self deprecating but still a zinger against Obama. No way is Obama in the same category as Dukakis, and WJC knows it, which is what makes it funny. The man is good.
------Date: 2008-02-11 12:33:00 Subject: On the other hand
User Comments:
Matthew ------HA! HA! I think this shows why McCain is a sitting duck, no matter who the Dems run.
Jill http://www.journalscape.com/jillsusan/ ------and there's more:
------Date: 2008-02-12 10:30:00 Subject: The Crab Cake Primaries
Today's the day I get to pull the lever for Obama along with my neighbors in MD and VA. I'm hoping it's a home run, or rather, 3 strikes and HRC's out! And if anyone is feeling sorry for her because of this and tempted to vote for her because you're feeling sorry for her, don't.
Remember the words of Kate Michelman:
I haven't abandoned my commitment to the women's movement -- and anyone who knows me understands I never will. My endorsement of Barack Obama is actually a celebration of that commitment, and an honest reflection of what I have been fighting for for over 40 years.
The women's movement is about free choice, self-determination and challenging a status quo that fails a lot of Americans, not just women. And it is not about going along. It's about transcending, about having the freedom to follow one's heart, about creating and pursuing new opportunities, and about the American dream being for all Americans.
As a woman I don't have some biological obligation to unreservedly support whatever woman is running -- this is exactly the sentiment I faced when I first started working for a woman's right to choose. If women who vote for men are traitors, then are men who vote for women also traitors? What about African-Americans who vote for whites? Or whites who vote for African-Americans?
Laying this guilt trip, this hypocrisy, on women -- saying that those women who don't vote for other women are turncoats -- is tantamount to saying that women who exercise independent thought haven't the right to do that either. Could there be a more anti-feminist contention?
When a presidential candidate's core values are unity, equality, opportunity and creating an atmosphere of respect and harmony, both nationally and internationally, then that candidate's vision aligns with the best hopes and dreams of the women's movement. And that is precisely Barack Obama's vision. For me, the choice between supporting Barack or Hillary was the choice between supporting someone who I know would be very good, Hillary Clinton, or supporting someone who I know could be truly great. And right now, on those causes that define me and millions of other women, we shouldn't settle -- and I won't settle -- for anything less than "great."
User Comments:
Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------I celebrated the great win tonight by donating another $25 and joining Texans For Obama.
Texas, you can make history. Stop HRC in her tracks and get on the change band wagon.
Yes, we can, y'all!
------Date: 2008-02-14 15:18:00 Subject: Imagine (and it's not a good thing, like the John Lennon lyrics)
OUT FOR THEMSELVES
The New York Times reports:
With every delegate precious, Mrs. Clintonâ€™s advisers also made it clear that they were prepared to take a number of potentially incendiary steps to build up Mrs. Clintonâ€™s count. Top among these, her aides said, is pressing for Democrats to seat the disputed delegations from Florida and Michigan, who held their primaries in January in defiance of Democratic Party rules.
Put another way: If Hillary Clinton does not win delegates out of a majority of contested primaries and caucuses, her aides are willing to rip the party apart to secure the nomination, to cheat in a way that will rend the Democratic coalition and probably destroy Clinton's chances in the general election. Imagine the fury in the African-American community if Barack Obama leads in delegates but is denied the nomination because the Clinton campaign is able to change the rules to seat delegates from Michigan, where no other candidates were even on the ballot, and from Florida, where no one campaigned. Imagine the anger among the young voters Obama brought into the process, and was making into Democratic voters. Imagine the feeling of betrayal among his supporters more generally, and the disgust among independents watching the battle take place on the convention floor. Imagine how statesmanlike John McCain will look in comparison, how orderly and focused the Republican convention will appear.
This demonstrates not only a gross ruthlessness on the part of Clinton's campaign, but an astonishingly cavalier attitude towards the preservation of the progressive coalition. To be willing to blithely rip it to shreds in order to wrest a nomination that's not been fairly earned is not only low, but a demonstration of deeply pernicious priorities -- namely, it's an explicit statement that the campaign puts its own political success above the health of the party and the pursuit of progressive goals, and one can't but help assume that's exactly the attitude they would take towards governance, too.
------Date: 2008-02-14 15:42:00 Subject: Yep, It's Valentine's Day
Barack Obama Favorited Your Photo
------Date: 2008-02-15 12:53:00 Subject: Obamamatopoeia
The English language, Obamafied.
It's hard to imagine that Barack Obama would be as big of a phenomenon if his name were, say, Tom Smith. As numerous fans, detractors, reporters, and bloggers have demonstrated, it's a name that lends itself to neologismsâ€”everything from Barackstar to Obamania to Omentum.
I present the unabridged Encyclopedia Baracktannica, a list of words that have been Obamafied by Slate.
Click the "more" button to generate random definitions from the Encyclopedia Baracktannica.
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Ooh, Obamazon, I like that too. reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------I am probably too old to be a Barackette. So, I'm an Obama Mama.
------Date: 2008-02-18 01:40:00 Subject: Just words
Had a great day in Austin...Sweet P, a visit to the Obama HQs in Austin (a big shout-out to Daughter #2 for indulging me) and then helping a friend in grief, and now this, sent from daughter #1...
User Comments:
Matthew ------If this is the worst we have to deal with on the Obama side, I'll take that any day.
Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------Of course we now learn that this speech was a victim of plagiarization.
Puh-leeze, give me a break. If this is the best the Clintons can come up with, they are really scraping the bottom of the barrell.
And where were all these "drink the kool-aid" "cult follower" comments when conservatives knelt at the feet of Ronald Reagan and clung to his every word? and continue to say he (alone) saved the free world? reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------This whole thing of comparing Obama's supporters to cult followers or the Manson family... I really don't understand how people can think that insulting millions of potential voters is a winning strategy.
Matthew ------Damn. What a speech!
------Date: 2008-02-19 14:52:00 Subject: When Plagiarism Isn't Plagiarism
19 Feb 2008 08:21 am
Our political conversation is not subject to a copyright, thank goodness, and the controversy over whether Barack Obama borrowed a phrase or two from his friend, the governor of Massachusetts, is silly. (It was silly and unfair to Joe Biden in 1988, too. History, and John Sasso, have wronged Mr. Biden here.)
Using the standard that finds an objection in what Obama did, every politician owes residuals to the corps of political pollsters who created the library of platitudinous phrases that so often comprise the average stump speech. "In the end, it's about the children." "This election is about the future, not the past."
The best speakers tend to appropriate and expand; Obama's speeches pay tribute to the entire Kennedy family (and to the Sorensenian/Shrumian influences on their rhetoric); to Martin Luther King and to Barbara Jordan, ("Are we to be one people bound together by common spirit, sharing in a common endeavor; or will we become a divided nation?"), to Calvinist preachers; to Jesse Jackson, to Cicero and Aristotle.
Nonetheless, Obama's speeches are more original, more authorial, more persuasive than any of his competitors.
User Comments: lukee ------Huh?
Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------Maybe Obama does plagiarise...
------Date: 2008-02-20 15:37:00 Subject: She's earned that glass of wine
What Mrs. Clinton has that Mr. Obama does not have, Mr. Obama can get. What Mr. Obama has that Mrs. Clinton does not have, she can never get.-Alec Baldwin
User Comments:
Mamala/Jill ------That's OK, Matthew. Feel sorry for her. With a wife and daughter, I'm kind of happy that you are so sensitive to the "fairer" sex. And I know you won't let your thoughts cloud your judgement and vote HRC instead of Obama, so it's OK.
Matthew ------The picture is of her holding a glass of wine.
I bet the second after this picture was taken, she crushed the glass with her hand.
I know you hate hearing this mom, but I do feel a little bad for her. Maybe it's really patronizing of me to feel sorry for her, since I don't feel the same level of empathy for John Edwards et al. I wonder if there's some kind of sexism at play in my feeling sorry for her.
Hmm...
Jill http://www.journalscape.com/jillsusan/ ------From the Daily Kos:
So let's see how February ended up looking (for Barack Obama), post-Super Tuesday:
Louisiana: +21
Nebraska: +36 Washington: +37
Maine: +19
Virgin Islands: +82
DC: +51
Maryland: +23
Virginia: +29
Wisconsin: +17
Hawaii: +52
Look at those numbers. We've got white states, we've got "black" states. We've got southern states. We've got western states. We've got northern states. We've got cheeseheads. We've got caucuses. We've got primaries. We've got rich states. We've got working class states. We've got Blue states. We have Red States. (We've got the start of a Doctor Seuss rhyme here...)
Jill http://www.journalscape.com/jillsusan/ ------From Instapundit:
HAWAIIANS AND THEIR FAVORITE SON. From The Plank: "Hawaii caucus turnout has never been above 5,000. The Obama camp's pie-in-the-sky prediction was 18,000. Final tally? 37,247.
------Date: 2008-02-21 23:30:00 Subject: That Line
Agreed with most about the debate...Obama won, as there was no knockout punch and he's the front runner. Actually, I thought he won hands down, but I may have lost all objectivity.
From Talking Points Memo by By Josh Marshall
I mentioned at the end of my debate blog that the pivot of Hillary's powerful concluding remarks came from Bill Clinton's 92 campaign. Clinton had various permutations to it back then. But TPM Reader CG found one example in this November 1992 article by Anna Quindlen ...
Clinton, 92: "The hits that I took in this election are nothing compared to the hits the people of this state and this country have been taking for a long time."
Hillary Clinton, tonight: "You know, the hits Iâ€™ve taken in life are nothing compared to what goes on every single day in the lives of people across our country."
Just to be 100% clear, there's nothing in the least wrong with this. And it's a great line. But I think it shows the silliness of the 'plagiarism' charges based on a few borrowed lines. Politicians borrow good lines and catch-phrases. Happens all the time. There's nothing wrong with it.
User Comments: lukee ------WABBIT SEASON!
Matthew ------That xerox comment was the worst thing she could have said last night. It just sounded like one of her advisors had slipped her that line, thinking that it would be one of those "gotcha" debate moments. Once again, her campaign advisors are failing her. reverendmother ------They're spinning her final answer as a moment like the New Hampshire emotion she showed. I think it's too little too late.
On the upside, I hope the fact that she used BC's *and* John Edwards's words puts this plagiarism issue to rest. It is silly season.
------Date: 2008-02-26 09:53:00 Subject: Here's my answer: Stop campaigning.
February 26, 2008
Hillary's Diminishing Returns
By Richard Cohen There is dissension in the Hillary Clinton camp. Top aides have been in arguments, shouting back and forth about differences in strategy. Should Clinton come on strong? Should she go negative? Should she be upbeat and positive? Here's my answer: Stop campaigning.
The evidence is overwhelming that since Super Tuesday, the minute Clinton steps foot in a state, her numbers start to plummet. Of course, Barack Obama has something to do with it. He's a phenomenon, a political version of Roy Hobbs, "The Natural" of Bernard Malamud's wonderful novel, whose physical repose is TV perfect and who will, when the time comes, provide a jarring visual contrast to the much older John McCain. Obama is nearly as good as he thinks he is.
So it could be that Clinton would have lost the Democrat nomination even if she was a gifted politician. But she has no such gift. Her smile is strained. She is contained. She seems unknowable and for all but women like herself, there is that melancholy Billie Holiday air about her -- all those songs about a suffering woman. Most of us would prefer Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow," the upbeat theme of Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign.
It might seem surprising that Clinton has turned out to be something other than a brilliant campaigner. But consider her record. Back in 1999, she entered the New York Senate race in the manner of Marie Antoinette entering France -- to be ultimately crowned queen. When Clinton announced an interest in running, every other Democratic candidate -- Andrew Cuomo, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, even Al Sharpton -- took it as an order to vanish. The strongest of these, Rep. Nita Lowey, graciously stepped aside, as if Clinton was the real McCoy and a six-term member of Congress was an undeserving interloper.
Back then, I wrote that there was "something wacky" about what was happening. Clinton, you might recall, was hardly a New Yorker. No matter. She had never won an election in her adult life. No matter. She was virtually inexperienced on her own. No matter. She was first and foremost the wife of Bill and for party leaders and hypocritical feminists -- Lowey was a woman, too, for crying out loud -- she just had to be The One.
With the Democratic senatorial nomination in hand, Clinton was set to go up against Rudy Giuliani. This would have been the great matchup between two suits inflated with little but name recognition, but it never came to pass. Giuliani withdrew on account of prostate cancer and Clinton wound up facing ... can you remember? It was Rick Lazio. Even so, Clinton did not win really big -- 55.3 percent of the vote. Not a landslide.
Six years later, Clinton ran for re-election. Once again, she had no Democratic opponent and in the general, she faced a Republican named John Spencer. He was little known before the election, hardly known during it and so forgotten afterward that I expect a segment of the show "Lost" to be devoted to him. Clinton won in a landslide, 67 percent of the vote. But just two years earlier, Sen. Charles Schumer (D) had gotten 71 percent of the vote -- and no one ever mentions him as a presidential candidate. In many ways, Clinton's a remarkable woman but she is not proving to be a remarkable politician. Big-money Democrats have been on the phone of late and their conversations have been on how to get Clinton out of the race. Some of these Democrats were tepid Clinton backers to begin with, wishing to go with the presumed winner or responding to the soft extortion of Bill Clinton and his allies. But others were sincerely committed and now fear that the Clintons, she and he, will not know how to lose -- and take the Democratic Party down with them.
Politics can be ugly, not to mention sad. Broken dreams are strewn across the American landscape. Fred Thompson resigned from "Law & Order." Chris Dodd moved his family from Connecticut to Iowa just for the caucuses. Mitt Romney blew through a fortune. John Edwards campaigned through personal pain. The difference between a presidential candidate and a fool in love is only a matter of Secret Service protection.
For Hillary Clinton, a loss has to be particularly tough. The presidency is not just the ultimate honor for her. It is, as others have suggested, a justification for all she has put up with.
My cards are already on the table. I don't think that Clinton can win the nomination but even if she does, I don't think she will win the general election. That would become apparent as she starts to campaign in states that have yet to see her. The harder she works, the worse she does.
------Date: 2008-02-26 16:24:00 Subject: The First Woman President?
Obama's campaign bends gender conventions - By Martin Linsky
It has been a rarity in modern political life: a wide-open race for the nomination of both parties. But whatever happens from here on out, this campaign will always be remembered for the emergence of the first serious woman candidate for president: Barack Obama.
Obama is a female candidate for president in the same way that Bill Clinton was the first black president.
It was Toni Morrison who first had the insight. In a 1988 essay in the New Yorker, the Nobel Prize-winning author described Bill Clinton as "the first black president," commenting on his saxophone playing and his displaying "almost every trope of blackness."
Obama doesn't play the sax. But he is pushing against conventionalâ€”and political party nominating conventionâ€”wisdom in five important ways, with approaches that are usually thought of as qualities and values that women bring to organizational life: a commitment to inclusiveness in problem solving, deep optimism, modesty about knowing all the answers, the courage to deliver uncomfortable news, not taking on all the work alone, and a willingness to air dirty linen. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is taking a more traditional (and male?) authoritarian approach.
Read the whole thing.
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------It's a metaphor. lukee ------I haven't read the full article, but what I get from the gist is offensive.
Bill Clinton was not the first "Black President" because he is not Black.
Barak Obama would not be the first "Woman President" because he is not a woman.
Doesn't making claims like that minimize what Black people and women have gone through? A white man playing the sax makes him a black man? A black man who is optimistic is a woman?
Ugh.
------Date: 2008-02-28 11:33:00 Subject: Yesterday's News Spoiler alert!

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early
------Date: 2008-03-03 08:57:00 Subject: Obama! Obama!
User Comments:
Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------From Andrew Sullivan...
Hillary's 3:02 AM commercial:
------Date: 2008-03-06 13:26:00 Subject: The press is harder on Hillary...yeah, right The Only Unvetted Candidate
Release the Tax Returns!
Nafta-gate Update
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------And this one
------Date: 2008-03-07 00:17:00 Subject: Curb her enthusiasm
Larry David gets it right
------Date: 2008-03-07 14:53:00 Subject: Why didn't I think of this?
Padded Lampposts Tested in London to Prevent Cell Phone Texting Injuries
People who have been injured while walking and texting on their cell phones may be in luck.
A London street is experimenting with padded lampposts to protect those not paying attention from banging into them, ITN reports.
A study conducted by 118 118, a phone directory service, found that one in 10 people has been hurt while focusing on their cell phone instead of where they were walking, ITN reports.
The test lampposts will be given a trial run in Londonâ€™s East End on Brick Lane. If the trial is successful it will be rolled out in Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.
User Comments:
JIll http://www.jillsusan.com ------I actually needed something like this back when I lived at Tara Place and was reading the New Yorker while walking my dogs...ran into more than one dumpster...Bop! Ouch!
------Date: 2008-03-07 15:13:00 Subject: The Whole World is Watching
Will Someone With Power Please Make Them Stop?
------Date: 2008-03-10 16:55:00 Subject: Grand Central Station-ary
------Date: 2008-03-10 20:06:00 Subject: With all due respect...
User Comments:
Jill ------a reader of the Daily Dish writes:
If I hear one more time about this Dream Ticket, I may get violent. The level of condescension and arrogance is just mind-boggling. He has 700,000 more votes, a 100-delegate lead and has won far more states, and they act as if they'd be doing the country a great service to pick him as their VP?
Do they honestly think they can steal Obama's genuine following with this naked and pathetic ploy? Combine this with Ed Rendell saying over and over that he's not sure white Americans will vote for a black candidate -- despite the fact that it has already happened in more than half the states -- and it's impossible not to view the Clintons as utterly manipulative racists. If I am furious about this as a white guy, I can't even IMAGINE the rage that must be felt by black Americans at the complete and utter lack of respect the Clinton's have shown for Obama and his supporters of all races.
------Date: 2008-03-10 22:06:00 Subject: Obama won Texas!
User Comments:
Jill http://www.journalscape.com/jillsusan/ ------Even Clinton's most devoted surrogate -- her husband, Bill Clinton -- acknowledged the do-or-die stakes on Wednesday in Beaumont, Texas, conceding that a loss in Texas or Ohio would likely doom her candidacy.
Bill Clinton: Texas or Bust for Hillary"If she wins Texas and Ohio I think she will be the nominee. If you don't deliver for her, I don't think she can be. It's all on you," the former president told the audience at the beginning of his speech.
Guess it depended on what the meaning of the word "win" is.
------Date: 2008-03-12 12:24:00 Subject: Semper Fi (just not in Berkeley)
------Date: 2008-03-12 16:38:00 Subject: The Tale of 2 Magazine Covers

One gave me the willies; the other was a welcome site.
User Comments:
Matthew ------Looks like a Mad Magazine cover fold-in or something...you know those back cover sheets that you fold and it makes another picture altogether.
Mamala/Jill http://www.jillsusan.com ------Lukee- I agree. It made me actually sick to my stomach when I saw it in my mailbox yesterday.
Lukee ------That New Yorker cover is just terrible. It seems they would have higher standards than to print that.
------Date: 2008-03-13 22:06:00 Subject: Women of My Generation Have Clearly Lost Their Minds
Women of my generation have clearly lost their minds. Not that I can blame them, apparently being invisible and all. Now with Geraldine Ferraro making outrageous nut- jobber remarks she doesn't even seem to understand, and realizing our tragic generation was once proud of her as a "pioneer," you can see how deluded we are as well. Worse, only this week, a heroine of mine, Tina Brown, got it utterly wrong in Newsweek, saying all boomer women had to be for Hillary. Tina drank the victim Kool Aid.
So I want my peers to meet an original (begged for him to run) pro-Barack boomer 50-something careerist woman, who chose Barack above and beyond -- hear me, Geraldine, you utter moron -- from the best field of Democratic candidates we've had for years, many of whom I've been big fans of forever, for their various courageous stands on Central America (Dodd,) Iraq (Biden, Richardson and Kucinich.)
But Hillary? Never liked her. Many of my best friends and favorite women have always felt the same. Something unsettling about her. A feminist? Maybe. But a compromised one, having risen to fame as the victim of Monica and having been famously on bimbo eruptions in her White House patrol. She was the destroyer of Paula Jones and Gennifer Flowers, the very blue collar ladies she is now being saved by. Kind of yucky, really. And hanging in there, through all the humiliation, and that making her a star. Left a bad taste in my mouth. Moving on.
What about my generation's desperation that there will never be another female candidate? Why? Is our gender about to die out? Do you all know something I don't? I can understand the 80-year-olds, I guess. But to me, Hillary Clinton is merely the first credible candidate, and the most flawed. And the only one not to rise on her own coattails, which is the real reason she doesn't appeal to both me and many young, yes, in their own way, feminists. And what about Claire McCaskill? She's great! And she just emerged this year! Why do we act like Hillary is our last great chance? How damaged and pathetic. I see fantastic women in their 30s all the time. To wit, Chelsea's undamaged generation. Not polarizing, like us ceiling crashers. I can sympathize, I am, too.
Another issue is, you don't know what she really thinks. Did she vote that way on the war because it would make her look tough? Or is she really such a hawk? I know a lot of women who really believe she's a peacenik, but votes like a hawk because she has to look tough to men. I am not so sure. I think she's a hawk. But none of us know for sure. This is a problem for boomer Barack women like me, and young women, too.
And another thing. And I am not even going to get into how nutty her relationship is, and no, I don't want two for one. Al Gore didn't then, and I don't now. And it looked pretty ugly on the campaign trail so far. Anyway. This whole thing about being vetted: what's the hold up on her White House transcripts? Why withhold tax records, info on fundraising at the presidential library? Somehow I fear something lurking there in the bushes, pardon.
I hate when women identify as victims, act like victims, and love victims. And Hillary, as strong as she is, wins as a victim. That is the trajectory of her career. I am a victim. Punch. So why are women whining and the identifying with being the victim again? This is so un-Tina! Hillary was the victim of an oppressive media? Of being asked the first question? Poor baby. All that good coverage on Obama was about being the victor of 11 primaries in a row -- excuse us! And is Barack playing the victim of a real calumny? On Clinton's answer to the known question: "Are you a Muslim?" "Not as far as I know?" Are you not ashamed?
What are you talking about, unfair treatment? Compared to what?
And one last thing. What I saw that ugly week with Tex/Ohio, was a woman yelling, shrieking, mocking, changing her strategy every day. I can understand the desperation, but I can't understand smart women mistaking that for strength. When she said shame on you, I was ashamed. Does that make me a sexist? Since I am her peer and a woman? No, I wanted her to be strong but consistent, not lose her cool at 3 a.m. The way Senator Obama had behaved all week.
And now she is the killer of Hope. (It was just too delusional to manage). We are not that multi- racial post-oppression society that shocked the world and for a moment was its wonder. We are, thanks to Hillary's kitchen sink and staff, the same old America they thought we were. The racially charged, fractured America Bush & Rush left us with that Obama has the prescription to heal. The one that attracted us original believers during his miraculous 2004 convention speech then swept 11 primaries in a row and apparently had to be stopped (thanks, SNL). We are the broken polarized America she wants to rule, will to anything to rule.
That we have learned can't be ruled.
Which is why I was an original Barack Boomer Woman in the first place.
------Date: 2008-03-16 20:40:00 Subject: Black is the new president, b**ch!

User Comments: lukee ------Finally had a chance to check this. Hilarible!
Matthew ------Awesome! reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Nice.
------Date: 2008-03-18 12:41:00 Subject: "I just wish I could live to be 60"
"I just wish I could live to be 60" ... words Sherry said in her final days.
Today would have been her 60th birthday.
Happy Birthday Sherry.
User Comments: lukee ------Happy Birthda aunt Sherry! We miss you and love you! Matthew ------No doubt! reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------She loved and was loved by many. Still is.
------Date: 2008-03-19 12:18:00 Subject: Face of the Day
Tears flow down the face of supporter Marty Nesbitt as Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., speaks about race during a news conference in Philadelphia, Tuesday, March 18, 2008.
User Comments:
Mamala http://www.jillsusan.com ------Yes, you do! lukee ------I need to do myself a favor and listen to that speech, don't I?
------Date: 2008-03-21 22:08:00 Subject: The "Barack" Bell Curve
My Last Word on Obama, I Promise. [Charles Murray]
To all my friends and people I admire who have completely befuddled me with their reaction to Obamaâ€™s speech: Speaking or writing about difficult race problems is different from speaking or writing about any other public policy issue. If you take a position on the Iraq war or health care, you will attract reaction from people who say youâ€™re crazy, but they will be responding to what you actually said and, more or less, to how you actually meant it. The same is not true of race. Text that deals with a difficult racial issue is like a Rorschach ink blot. People project onto that textâ€”project their own experiences, anxieties, angers; all the emotions that go into thinking about race, which means all the emotions that exist. You can weigh every word of your text. You can rewrite it until you think there is absolutely no way that a fair-minded person can fail to understand what you said. And they will not only fail to understand it, they will accuse you of saying exactly the opposite of what you said.
â€œMurray just has hurt feelings about The Bell Curve,â€ I hear from the bleachers. Well, yeah. But the problem generalizes to everyone who tries to be honest about race, and now it has happened to Barack Obama. Take, for example, the treatment of his reference to his white grandmother. Of course you can go after him in all the ways that people have gone after himâ€”if what you want to do is go after him. But suppose you approach Obamaâ€™s text under the twin assumptions that (a) he is trying to communicate with you, and, (b) your obligation is to make a good-faith effort to understand his meaning. I read what he said about his grandmother, and his words left me in no doubt about two things: He really loves his grandmother, and he was saying something important about race that I recognized from my own experience. I bet many of the people who have slammed him recognize it from their own experience too. The guy was being honest, and he was being right. What the hell more do you want?
Ah, but he was trashing his grandmother for political purposes, he was equating what she said with the much more terrible things that Rev. Wright said, blah, blah, blah. Yesâ€”if you insist on interpreting what he said purely as an exercise in political positioning. No, if you go to his text with the intention of trying to understand what Obama thinks about race.
I understand how naÃ¯ve it is to read a presidential candidateâ€™s speech as if it were anything except political positioning, but that leads me to my final point: Itâ€™s about time that people who disagree with Obamaâ€™s politics recognize that he is genuinely different. When he talks, he sounds like a real human being, not a politician. Iâ€™m not referring to the speechifying, but to the way he comes across all the time. Weâ€™ve had lots of charming politicians. I cannot think of another politician in my lifetime who conveys so much sense of talking to individuals, and talking to them in ways that he sees as one side of a dialogue. Conservatives who insist that heâ €™s nothing but an even slicker Bill Clinton are missing a reality about him, and at their peril.
I canâ€™t vote for him. He is an honest-to-God lefty. He apparently has learned nothing from the 1960s. His Supreme Court nominees would be disasters. And maybe he is too green and has lived too much of his adult life in a politically correct bubble. But the other day he talked about race in ways that no other major politician has tried to do, with a level of honesty that no other major politician has dared, and with more insight than any other major politician possesses. Not bad.
03/21 10:36 AM
User Comments:
Mamala/Jill ------RM-EXACTLY! You got it and I did too...why can't others see this?
It unnerves me when people say he threw his grandma off the boat...come on! She's so smiling whenever she hears the words coming from his mouth, whatever they are! reverendmother http://www.reverendmother.org ------People who compare Wright and Obama's grandmother are totally missing the point. He wasn't comparing the relative outrageousness of their statements, he was comparing the relationship. Christians are bound to one another through their baptism. Period. It is our fundamental identity and what makes us the body of Christ. So when Obama says he can't turn his back on his pastor, it's not because his statement wasn't that bad. He is saying he can't turn his back on him because Wright is his brother in Christ. It thrills me that Obama is modeling true Christian unity but saddens me that some people seem congenitally unable to wrap their heads around this. ------Date: 2008-03-28 09:23:00 Subject: Our future first lady challenges us
From Instapundit comes this fair assessment:
SOME PEOPLE ARE MAKING A LOT OUT OF THIS MICHELLE OBAMA VIDEO, but this time I don't really see it. Yeah, she talks about ignorance and comfort zones in America, but she's talking to what appears to be a largely black audience, and I think she's challenging them to get out of their comfort zone. So I'm just not seeing this clip as anti-American, anti-white, or whatever. I think she's trying to get people together.
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Smell the desperation.
------Date: 2008-04-10 22:42:00 Subject: What is good about America
User Comments:
Matthew ------God, Sean Hannity is a clown. Just a jackass idiot.
------Date: 2008-04-16 12:26:00 Subject: There are good people everywhere
This clip was a feel good moment for me today.
------Date: 2008-04-17 08:56:00 Subject: The "inevitable" ground zero
Great. As if the debate last night wasn't depressing enough, I wake up to find this...
(I've starred where I live.)
For more info about the "inevitable" attack, go here.
User Comments:
Robert ------Must be election time... they're trying to scare us again. reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Meanwhile the people who are interviewing to be Leader of the Free World are asked about... lapel pins.
------Date: 2008-04-19 09:43:00 Subject: Revering Antiques
The head honcho at my place of work gave the whole office a half-day off yesterday. The good news came in the form of an email at about 10 AM. I'll have to admit, it's been hard for all of us to work this week, as the weather in DC has been picture perfect...clear, blue skies, mid-70s, and flowers blooming everywhere!
I decided to spend the rest of the day at the new Newseum. It's a great place for a news junkie like me and a trip back in time for me as a boomer who has lived a lot of the "history" that is on display...the introduction of TV in the US, the Civil Rights movement, the wars in Viet Nam, Iraq 1 and 2, the OJ trial, the Nixon and Clinton impeachments, the walk on the moon, 9/11, etc. It pays tribute to the print media too, and that part of the place has a lot more of the older artifacts...old cameras, telephones, typewriters (do my grandchildren even know what a typewriter is?).
It's full of glitz and glamour with huge flat screen monitors everywhere and a bunch of small theaters showing documentaries about one thing or another. It had a Times Square-ish, ticker- type news thread that circles the interior with the latest news. Many of the interactive screens give even more insights. You can even pretend to be a newscaster, with backdrops of the White House, the Capitol, etc. The outside view from the top of the building gives a great view of the sites along Pennsylvania Avenue. It's well worth the 20 dollar entry fee and I'll go back.
After the Newseum closed at 5 PM, I took the metro to a stop that I haven't spent much time at...Cleveland Park. I purchased my tickets for the 7 PM show of the Rolling Stones documentary "Shine A Light" at one of the, I'm sure, oldest movie theaters in DC. The place had a huge ground floor theater, with non-stadium seating. A curtain covered the screen which opened just prior to the movie starting. Once the show began, it was obvious that it had an updated sound system. And the mostly boomer audience enjoyed the show, including a lady on my row who was probably closer to 70 than 60, who leaned forward in her seat the whole time and applauded after each number. She made me smile bigtime! Now seeing 60-something Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ron on the big screen is not a totally pretty site, but the energy of the film made up for the over-abundance of wrinkles on display. I really enjoyed the numbers "Loving Cup" with Jack White and "Champagne and Reefer" with Buddy Guy. The Stones are a phenomenon and Scorsese, I think, has another good flick under his belt.
User Comments:
Katieg ------Sounds like fun!
Woodstock http://www.journalscape.com/woodstock/ ------the Stones film is available in our area - I'm going to try to get over to see it soon. Thanks for the recommendation. Your fellow movie goer was in her teens when Elvis and Bill Haley hit the big time - she's had rock and roll as part of her experience for nearly her entire life. I'm glad she enjoyed it, but I'm not surprised at her reaction!
------Date: 2008-04-20 21:40:00 Subject: Just the Black Notes
------Date: 2008-04-24 13:21:00 Subject: One of the better words in the English language
Benign.
User Comments:
Matthew ------hell yeah
Ted ------As we hoped!
------Date: 2008-04-27 14:25:00 Subject: Pretty Straightforward
How to use a telephone:
------Date: 2008-05-01 15:11:00 Subject: Grief
I'm trying to read the poetry and fiction in The New Yorker these days, along with their tremendous non-fiction articles.
I love this poem.
[Note: I changed the gender-specific pronouns as it spoke to me better this way.]
Grief by Matthew Dickman
When grief comes to you as a purple gorilla you must count yourself lucky.
You must offer him whatâ€™s left of your dinner, the book you were trying to finish you must put aside, and make him a place to sit at the foot of your bed, his eyes moving from the clock to the television and back again.
I am not afraid. He has been here before and now I can recognize his gait as he approaches the house.
Some nights, when I know heâ€™s coming,
I unlock the door, lie down on my back, and count his steps from the street to the porch.
Tonight he brings a pencil and a ream of paper, tells me to write down everyone I have ever known, and we separate them between the living and the dead so he can pick each name at random.
I play his favorite Willie Nelson album because he misses Texas but I donâ€™t ask why.
He hums a little, the way my brother does when he gardens.
We sit for an hour while he tells me how unreasonable Iâ€™ve been, crying in the checkout line, refusing to eat, refusing to shower, all the smoking and all the drinking.
Eventually he puts one of his heavy purple arms around me, leans his head against mine, and all of a sudden things are feeling romantic.
So I tell him, things are feeling romantic.
He pulls another name, this time from the dead, and turns to me in that way that parents do so you feel embarrassed or ashamed of something.
Romantic? he says, reading the name out loud, slowly, so I am aware of each syllable, each vowel wrapping around the bones like new muscle, the sound of that personâ€™s body and how reckless it is, how careless that her name is in one pile and not the other.
User Comments: lukee ------beautiful..
------Date: 2008-05-06 16:10:00 Subject: If it's Tuesday....
The Primary Day Ritual: Open Thread
By Al Giordano
Today marks the 47th and 48th primaries or caucuses for the Democratic presidential nomination. More than 90 percent of the delegates will have been chosen by tonight. By now, we all ought to know the drill.
The day begins with the Clinton campaign â€œleakingâ€ something to the Drudge Report to set expectations for the day. That then gets repeated on political blogs and cable news, where Clinton surrogate Terry McAuliffe elaborates. Todayâ€™s â€œexpectationâ€ : That the Clinton campaign expects a â€œ15 pointâ€ defeat in North Carolina. Clintonâ€™s yapping puppies in the news media repeat the manufactured expectation all day long, in which the bar is supposedly now that if Clinton comes within 15 points in that state that she has somehow â€œwonâ€ with a 14 point (or 6 point) defeat.
Around 4 p.m. rumors of exit polls begin circulating on the Internet. Around 5:30 p.m. AP and other news organizations leak minor data from the exit polls that explains almost nothing of value. Sometime after 6 p.m. Drudge posts raw numbers from exit polls that - if past is prologue - show Obama doing an average of seven percentage points better than he actually does.
Obama supporters then get prematurely jubilant and after polls close (tonight at 7 p.m. ET in Indiana and 7:30 p.m. ET in North Carolina) the real results start to come in and reveal Clinton then doing â€œbetter than expectedâ€ (at least better than the new expectations promoted during the day).
The media talking heads then ask aloud why Obama canâ€™t â€œclose the dealâ€ (in Clintonâ€™s own words) and what is numerically a defeat for Clinton (because the results, even in her recent wins, bring her objectively farther from the nomination in the context of the smaller number of delegates then available) gets spun as a Clinton victory. Clinton takes to the stage, claims â€œunexpectedâ€ victory, gives out her web site address and pleads for elder women on fixed incomes to send more money to the $109 millionaire. The following day they claim that $10 million rolled in, only to be disproved more than a month later when the actual FEC filing is due. Obamaâ€™s FEC filing simultaneously reveals that he raised much, much more, from more small donors, and the Clinton campaign plays the victim card over being outspent.
The Chicken Littles among Obama supporters then proceed to agonize across the Internet for days on end, seemingly oblivious to the fact that their candidate has just moved closer to the nomination, and Clinton was pushed farther away from it.
Most undeclared superdelegates duck behind all the media-generated confusion to continue to keep quiet, although a few courageous ones a day come dribbling out, more for Obama than for Clinton, also moving Obama closer to the nomination and Clinton farther away.
Meanwhile, the media then looks to the next state - this time it will be West Virginia, the best state demographically for Clinton, who is 30 points ahead there - and proclaims that itâ€™s â€œdo or dieâ€ and begin anew with the spin cycle about white Appalachian voters being the only voters that matter.
Around that point in the process, the Clinton campaign holds a conference call to move the goalposts again, as Keith Olbermann so masterfully explained last night:
Consider this an open thread. We all want to hear especially from folks on the ground in North Carolina and Indiana today about what youâ€™re seeing and hearing.
------Date: 2008-05-25 17:54:00 Subject: Hallelujah
------Date: 2008-05-26 11:04:00 Subject: Is Barack Obama Muslim?
At last a website comes along to ask: Is Barack Obama Muslim?
As the site says, the answer is no. I hope if we all link, the Google ranking will go up.
User Comments:
Jill ------and if you think that we don't need this fact spread around, go here.
------Date: 2008-06-01 19:38:00 Subject: SATC
So, I'll probably need to spend a few hours reading heavy non-fiction to rejuvenate the brain cells lost in watching the Sex and the City movie, but, for serious, political minded me, this movie was the break I needed today.
It was totally a fun experience. First of all, I sat next to 2 gay guys that held hands throughout the movie and enjoyed it thoroughly. This added to my experience.
When it was over, I noticed what a huge crowd of women attended, reminding me once again that if we ever get a really decent female candidate for POTUS, she'll so get the job!
Finally, it had happy endings for all 4 girls and in a world where happy endings are sometimes hard to find, this was fun. Yes, my granddaughters do believe that dreams come true and although I'm realistic and hardened, this movie proved that a good fantasy is hard to beat.
------Date: 2008-06-03 15:24:00 Subject: Happy Days are Here Again!
User Comments:
Matthew ------:-) Happy Days indeed. lukee ------:)))
------Date: 2008-06-07 09:40:00 Subject: Got Nukes?
Riding the Metro yesterday evening, I saw an Air Force military guy with this patch on his cammies...
I find this very surprising that this is officially allowed, as it's in very bad taste, I think, given the potential for human devastation that nuclear weapons bring.
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------I think the "got milk" people would be pretty unhappy too... lukee ------agreed.
------Date: 2008-06-26 14:20:00 Subject: Barack'isms
------Date: 2008-07-15 09:17:00 Subject: Web head shots
This article prompted me to "Google Image" search my name to see what came up. I'm happy (I guess) to say that through 4 or 5 page views, I didn't appear in any of the images so I guess I'm not as open- sourced as I thought I was.
My daughter # 2 is like me...no images to be found. But daughter #1 displays 3 great images of her on page 1, son # 1 has a cute mug on page 1, and son # 2 showed 2 rather old UNT shots of him which was surprising, given he's all over the social networks with more updated photos.
Update: This site was fun! Here's my Botticelli image.
User Comments: lukee ------its a terrible picture of me too. reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------On the upside, you no longer get to my blog by googling my name! Woo-hoo!
------Date: 2008-07-20 22:43:00 Subject: Finding my imagination
I've never thought of myself as very imaginative. But when pressed by my grandchildren to tell them "one more story" after the lights are out while tucking them in, I'm finding that it's getting easier and easier for me to come up with something that pleases them.
Tonight, I told the tale of Prince J, whose wicked stepmother was trying to feed him dangerous hard candy, when all of a sudden, Princesses M & C appeared with their magic wands and as soon as "bibbity-bobbity-boo" was uttered, the bad, hard candy turned into applesauce.
They squealed with delight! at this happy ending.
User Comments:
AEF ------I just want to know why do stepmothers get such a bad rap!?! Good story and empowering for the young women! reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------They were still excited about the story this morning--told me the whole thing!
I know it's a lot of mental effort--it's easier to read a book--but the payoff is greater.
One of my goals/hopes for my kids is that when they're grown they will be able to say that the adults in their life told them lots of lots of stories---stories about themselves and their families, real ones and made-up ones. In some ways I value it more than reading--partly because I already know they'll be readers, partly because oral storytelling is such an ancient medium. And it's how the stories of faith were passed from person to person before they were written down. Thanks for this!
------Date: 2008-07-22 09:45:00 Subject: Love after Love
I want to remember this poem and RM posted a beautiful picture along with it (but sorry for the sad occasion that prompted it).
------Date: 2008-07-22 09:46:00 Subject: PB & J
What's For Lunch?, 22 Jul 2008 12:37 am, by hilzoy
Ezra Klein points out this startling fact from the PB&J Campaign:
Each time you have a plant-based lunch like a PB&J you'll reduce your carbon footprint by the equivalent of 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over an average animal-based lunch like a hamburger, a tuna sandwich, grilled cheese, or chicken nuggets. For dinner you save 2.8 pounds and for breakfast 2.0 pounds of emissions.
Those 2.5 pounds of emissions at lunch are about forty percent of the greenhouse gas emissions you'd save driving around for the day in a hybrid instead of a standard sedan.
If you have a PB&J instead of a red-meat lunch like a ham sandwich or a hamburger, you shrink your carbon footprint by almost 3.5 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.
As they note, you'll also conserve 133 gallons of water, and save 24 square feet of land from deforestation. In addition, you won't be contributing to the moral and environmental nightmare that is factory farming, or contributing needlessly to the world's food shortage.
And that's just lunch. Reducing your consumption of meat doesn't have to involve becoming a complete vegetarian, any more than reducing your consumption of fuel has to mean selling your car. Every little bit helps.
User Comments:
Matthew ------MMM HMMMM
This article makes me want to eat PBJ more often. :-)
------Date: 2008-07-23 10:35:00 Subject: Gray hairs unite!
I'm cropping up gray
------Date: 2008-07-24 22:42:00 Subject: Live From The Obama Mosh Pit In Berlin!
Berlin-based journalist A.J. Goldmann, who has written for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, sent us this dispatch from Obama's speech today
------Date: 2008-07-29 12:01:00 Subject: "Active Granny " vote
and my vote's going for the younger man, you betcha!
------Date: 2008-07-29 22:14:00 Subject: Baby Brothers
Everyone should spend a good evening of sharing secrets with their baby brother every once in awhile.
User Comments: lukee ------is that how it is, brutha?
Matthew ------I thought this post was going to say "suck." ;-)
Jill ------well for one thing, we discussed this video, but it wasn't one of the secrets...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvKgnkIN8C8
Ted ------Hmmm.....what an interesting post. Siblings sharing secrets.
Consider my curiosity officially peaked.
:) lukee ------I would if I could, but I have no baby brother.
But I AM the baby brother so maybe this is how this will work?
------Date: 2008-08-12 16:39:00 Subject: Summertime, and the livin' (should be) is easy
User Comments: lukee ------Love it!
------Date: 2008-08-26 10:36:00 Subject: Seeing What Matters
User Comments: reverendmother http://www.journalscape.com/reverendmother/ ------Juan Williams has been a tool at times, but that was a pretty cool moment.
------Date: 2008-08-28 11:32:00 Subject: I have a dream
User Comments:
Mrcloudy http://www.journalscape.com/mrcloudy/ ------Jill,
It is hard for me to describe the combination of gratitude and sadness that watching this invoked in me. It feels we are still so far away these many years later from justice, compassion and peace that the speech could be given almost verbatim today, almost 50 years later.
Thanks for posting it. (I owe you an email - coming soon)
------Date: 2008-09-19 14:59:00 Subject: DFW-RIP
David Foster Wallace by Deborah Treisman September 29, 2008
David Foster Wallace, who died on September 12th, at the age of forty-six, was in many ways a writer of his time. â€œInfinite Jest,â€ a 1,079-page literary manifesto that was also a piercingly funny, inventive, and deeply moving novel about tennis, film theory, Alcoholics Anonymous, QuÃ©bÃ©cois separatism, and differential calculus, made him a cause cÃ©lÃ¨bre when it was published, in 1996, and spawned whole schools of fiction writers eager to emulate his dense, footnote-and-endnote-riddled, riffing, colloquial style. But Wallace was also a throwback to another timeâ€”when the romantic vision of the writer was of a recluse, living far from the capital, struggling through his manuscript in the privacy of his own study, and emerging years later with a masterpiece. He was a private person, modest and genuinely self-deprecating. (He signed his letters with smiley faces long before emoticons existed.) Of one of the manuscripts he sent to this magazine, he wrote, â€œI cut it heavily twice, for the basic reason that what I want here is the appearance or impression of brutality without actually being brutal or painful to read (you should have seen the last draftâ€¦), but itâ€™s still hard on the cortex.â€ Wallace, a self-proclaimed Midwesterner, who grew up in central Illinois and taught for ten years at Illinois State University, liked to use words like â€œneatâ€ and â€œgooey,â€ and was, for years, inseparable from his bandanna, and yetâ€”educated at Amherst and, for a time, a graduate student in philosophy at Harvardâ€”he could also title a story â€œYet Another Example of the Porousness of Certain Borders (VI),â€ write a technical text on the history of infinity in mathematics, and thread his take-downs of pop culture with metaphysics.
Wallaceâ€™s talent was a generous oneâ€”each book or story or piece of journalism seemed to overflow with words. He had much to say, many ways in which to say it, and many ways of commenting on what he had just said. He also had a determination and a confidence in his work that extended to every comma and conjunction. In his fiction, he aimed at capturing the authentic rhythms of speech and thought, even when doing so meant breaking the rules of writing (rules that Wallace, an obsessive reader of dictionaries and guides to grammar, was extremely familiar with). He loathed by-the-book copyediting, and on his manuscripts he sometimes added the note â€œ**N.B.: ALL NONSTANDARD SYNTAX IS INTENTIONAL.**â€ While going over proofs of his last published story, â€œGood People,â€ which appeared in this magazine in 2007, he wrote, â€œI have ended up taking more of your changes . . . than I thought at first I would. But in some cases Iâ€™ve â€˜takenâ€™ them in a sort of oblique way thatâ€™s entailed further small changes around the recommended changeâ€”most often, this has taken the form of clarifying or declumsifying a phrase or passage youâ€™d suggested, but then finding other, more innocuous ways to clumsify or â€˜voice upâ€™ that part.â€
Great literature, Wallace once said, made him feel â€œunaloneâ€”intellectually, emotionally, spiritually.â€ He was one of the few satirists able to avoid meanness; he was moral without being judgmental. He took on the absurdities of modern life in an attempt to understand or to parse them, not to mock them. Debating the tone of the title of â€œGood People,â€ he noted, â €œMy own terror of appearing sentimental is so strong that Iâ€™ve decided to fight against it, some; but the terror is still there. . . . Do you identify with a distaste/fear about sentimentality? Do you agree that, past a certain line, such distaste can turn everything arch and sneering and too ironic? Or do you have your own set of abstract questions to drive yourself nuts with?â€ Gleefully compacted as his language could be, it was designed to be unwrappedâ€”and there was always a gift inside for those who took the trouble. Wallace, who had moved to California in 2002, purposely stayed away from the noise of New York City publishing, but, even in his absence, he had a definite, gracious presence in the world of letters. This new absence will be far harder to bear
Transcription of the 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address - May 21, 2005
(If anybody feels like perspiring [cough], I'd advise you to go ahead, because I'm sure going to. In fact I'm gonna [mumbles while pulling up his gown and taking out a handkerchief from his pocket].) Greetings ["parents"?] and congratulations to Kenyon's graduating class of 2005. There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says "Morning, boys. How's the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes "What the hell is water?"
This is a standard requirement of US commencement speeches, the deployment of didactic little parable-ish stories. The story ["thing"] turns out to be one of the better, less bullshitty conventions of the genre, but if you're worried that I plan to present myself here as the wise, older fish explaining what water is to you younger fish, please don't be. I am not the wise old fish. The point of the fish story is merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about. Stated as an English sentence, of course, this is just a banal platitude, but the fact is that in the day to day trenches of adult existence, banal platitudes can have a life or death importance, or so I wish to suggest to you on this dry and lovely morning.
Of course the main requirement of speeches like this is that I'm supposed to talk about your liberal arts education's meaning, to try to explain why the degree you are about to receive has actual human value instead of just a material payoff. So let's talk about the single most pervasive clichÃ© in the commencement speech genre, which is that a liberal arts education is not so much about filling you up with knowledge as it is about quote teaching you how to think. If you're like me as a student, you've never liked hearing this, and you tend to feel a bit insulted by the claim that you needed anybody to teach you how to think, since the fact that you even got admitted to a college this good seems like proof that you already know how to think. But I'm going to posit to you that the liberal arts clichÃ© turns out not to be insulting at all, because the really significant education in thinking that we're supposed to get in a place like this isn't really about the capacity to think, but rather about the choice of what to think about. If your total freedom of choice regarding what to think about seems too obvious to waste time discussing, I'd ask you to think about fish and water, and to bracket for just a few minutes your skepticism about the value of the totally obvious.
Here's another didactic little story. There are these two guys sitting together in a bar in the remote Alaskan wilderness. One of the guys is religious, the other is an atheist, and the two are arguing about the existence of God with that special intensity that comes after about the fourth beer. And the atheist says: "Look, it's not like I don't have actual reasons for not believing in God. It's not like I haven't ever experimented with the whole God and prayer thing. Just last month I got caught away from the camp in that terrible blizzard, and I was totally lost and I couldn't see a thing, and it was fifty below, and so I tried it: I fell to my knees in the snow and cried out 'Oh, God, if there is a God, I'm lost in this blizzard, and I'm gonna die if you don't help me.'" And now, in the bar, the religious guy looks at the atheist all puzzled. "Well then you must believe now," he says, "After all, here you are, alive." The atheist just rolls his eyes. "No, man, all that was was a couple Eskimos happened to come wandering by and showed me the way back to camp."
It's easy to run this story through kind of a standard liberal arts analysis: the exact same experience can mean two totally different things to two different people, given those people's two different belief templates and two different ways of constructing meaning from experience. Because we prize tolerance and diversity of belief, nowhere in our liberal arts analysis do we want to claim that one guy's interpretation is true and the other guy's is false or bad. Which is fine, except we also never end up talking about just where these individual templates and beliefs come from. Meaning, where they come from INSIDE the two guys. As if a person's most basic orientation toward the world, and the meaning of his experience were somehow just hard-wired, like height or shoe-size; or automatically absorbed from the culture, like language. As if how we construct meaning were not actually a matter of personal, intentional choice. Plus, there's the whole matter of arrogance. The nonreligious guy is so totally certain in his dismissal of the possibility that the passing Eskimos had anything to do with his prayer for help. True, there are plenty of religious people who seem arrogant and certain of their own interpretations, too. They're probably even more repulsive than atheists, at least to most of us. But religious dogmatists' problem is exactly the same as the story's unbeliever: blind certainty, a close-mindedness that amounts to an imprisonment so total that the prisoner doesn't even know he's locked up.
The point here is that I think this is one part of what teaching me how to think is really supposed to mean. To be just a little less arrogant. To have just a little critical awareness about myself and my certainties. Because a huge percentage of the stuff that I tend to be automatically certain of is, it turns out, totally wrong and deluded. I have learned this the hard way, as I predict you graduates will, too.
Here is just one example of the total wrongness of something I tend to be automatically sure of: everything in my own immediate experience supports my deep belief that I am the absolute center of the universe; the realest, most vivid and important person in existence. We rarely think about this sort of natural, basic self-centeredness because it's so socially repulsive. But it's pretty much the same for all of us. It is our default setting, hard-wired into our boards at birth. Think about it: there is no experience you have had that you are not the absolute center of. The world as you experience it is there in front of YOU or behind YOU, to the left or right of YOU, on YOUR TV or YOUR monitor. And so on. Other people's thoughts and feelings have to be communicated to you somehow, but your own are so immediate, urgent, real.
Please don't worry that I'm getting ready to lecture you about compassion or other-directedness or all the so-called virtues. This is not a matter of virtue. It's a matter of my choosing to do the work of somehow altering or getting free of my natural, hard-wired default setting which is to be deeply and literally self-centered and to see and interpret everything through this lens of self. People who can adjust their natural default setting this way are often described as being "well- adjusted", which I suggest to you is not an accidental term.
Given the triumphant academic setting here, an obvious question is how much of this work of adjusting our default setting involves actual knowledge or intellect. This question gets very tricky. Probably the most dangerous thing about an academic education -- least in my own case -- is that it enables my tendency to over-intellectualize stuff, to get lost in abstract argument inside my head, instead of simply paying attention to what is going on right in front of me, paying attention to what is going on inside me.
As I'm sure you guys know by now, it is extremely difficult to stay alert and attentive, instead of getting hypnotized by the constant monologue inside your own head (may be happening right now). Twenty years after my own graduation, I have come gradually to understand that the liberal arts clichÃ© about teaching you how to think is actually shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea: learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed. Think of the old clichÃ© about quote the mind being an excellent servant but a terrible master.
This, like many clichÃ©s, so lame and unexciting on the surface, actually expresses a great and terrible truth. It is not the least bit coincidental that adults who commit suicide with firearms almost always shoot themselves in: the head. They shoot the terrible master. And the truth is that most of these suicides are actually dead long before they pull the trigger.
And I submit that this is what the real, no bullshit value of your liberal arts education is supposed to be about: how to keep from going through your comfortable, prosperous, respectable adult life dead, unconscious, a slave to your head and to your natural default setting of being uniquely, completely, imperially alone day in and day out. That may sound like hyperbole, or abstract nonsense. Let's get concrete. The plain fact is that you graduating seniors do not yet have any clue what "day in day out" really means. There happen to be whole, large parts of adult American life that nobody talks about in commencement speeches. One such part involves boredom, routine, and petty frustration. The parents and older folks here will know all too well what I'm talking about.
By way of example, let's say it's an average adult day, and you get up in the morning, go to your challenging, white-collar, college-graduate job, and you work hard for eight or ten hours, and at the end of the day you're tired and somewhat stressed and all you want is to go home and have a good supper and maybe unwind for an hour, and then hit the sack early because, of course, you have to get up the next day and do it all again. But then you remember there's no food at home. You haven't had time to shop this week because of your challenging job, and so now after work you have to get in your car and drive to the supermarket. It's the end of the work day and the traffic is apt to be: very bad. So getting to the store takes way longer than it should, and when you finally get there, the supermarket is very crowded, because of course it's the time of day when all the other people with jobs also try to squeeze in some grocery shopping. And the store is hideously lit and infused with soul-killing muzak or corporate pop and it's pretty much the last place you want to be but you can't just get in and quickly out; you have to wander all over the huge, over-lit store's confusing aisles to find the stuff you want and you have to maneuver your junky cart through all these other tired, hurried people with carts (et cetera, et cetera, cutting stuff out because this is a long ceremony) and eventually you get all your supper supplies, except now it turns out there aren't enough check-out lanes open even though it's the end-of-the-day rush. So the checkout line is incredibly long, which is stupid and infuriating. But you can't take your frustration out on the frantic lady working the register, who is overworked at a job whose daily tedium and meaninglessness surpasses the imagination of any of us here at a prestigious college. But anyway, you finally get to the checkout line's front, and you pay for your food, and you get told to "Have a nice day" in a voice that is the absolute voice of death. Then you have to take your creepy, flimsy, plastic bags of groceries in your cart with the one crazy wheel that pulls maddeningly to the left, all the way out through the crowded, bumpy, littery parking lot, and then you have to drive all the way home through slow, heavy, SUV-intensive, rush-hour traffic, et cetera et cetera.
Everyone here has done this, of course. But it hasn't yet been part of you graduates' actual life routine, day after week after month after year.
But it will be. And many more dreary, annoying, seemingly meaningless routines besides. But that is not the point. The point is that petty, frustrating crap like this is exactly where the work of choosing is gonna come in. Because the traffic jams and crowded aisles and long checkout lines give me time to think, and if I don't make a conscious decision about how to think and what to pay attention to, I'm gonna be pissed and miserable every time I have to shop. Because my natural default setting is the certainty that situations like this are really all about me. About MY hungriness and MY fatigue and MY desire to just get home, and it's going to seem for all the world like everybody else is just in my way. And who are all these people in my way? And look at how repulsive most of them are, and how stupid and cow-like and dead-eyed and nonhuman they seem in the checkout line, or at how annoying and rude it is that people are talking loudly on cell phones in the middle of the line. And look at how deeply and personally unfair this is.
Or, of course, if I'm in a more socially conscious liberal arts form of my default setting, I can spend time in the end-of-the-day traffic being disgusted about all the huge, stupid, lane-blocking SUV's and Hummers and V-12 pickup trucks, burning their wasteful, selfish, forty-gallon tanks of gas, and I can dwell on the fact that the patriotic or religious bumper-stickers always seem to be on the biggest, most disgustingly selfish vehicles, driven by the ugliest [responding here to loud applause] (this is an example of how NOT to think, though) most disgustingly selfish vehicles, driven by the ugliest, most inconsiderate and aggressive drivers. And I can think about how our children's children will despise us for wasting all the future's fuel, and probably screwing up the climate, and how spoiled and stupid and selfish and disgusting we all are, and how modern consumer society just sucks, and so forth and so on.
You get the idea.
If I choose to think this way in a store and on the freeway, fine. Lots of us do. Except thinking this way tends to be so easy and automatic that it doesn't have to be a choice. It is my natural default setting. It's the automatic way that I experience the boring, frustrating, crowded parts of adult life when I'm operating on the automatic, unconscious belief that I am the center of the world, and that my immediate needs and feelings are what should determine the world's priorities.
The thing is that, of course, there are totally different ways to think about these kinds of situations. In this traffic, all these vehicles stopped and idling in my way, it's not impossible that some of these people in SUV's have been in horrible auto accidents in the past, and now find driving so terrifying that their therapist has all but ordered them to get a huge, heavy SUV so they can feel safe enough to drive. Or that the Hummer that just cut me off is maybe being driven by a father whose little child is hurt or sick in the seat next to him, and he's trying to get this kid to the hospital, and he's in a bigger, more legitimate hurry than I am: it is actually I who am in HIS way. Or I can choose to force myself to consider the likelihood that everyone else in the supermarket's checkout line is just as bored and frustrated as I am, and that some of these people probably have harder, more tedious and painful lives than I do.
Again, please don't think that I'm giving you moral advice, or that I'm saying you are supposed to think this way, or that anyone expects you to just automatically do it. Because it's hard. It takes will and effort, and if you are like me, some days you won't be able to do it, or you just flat out won't want to.
But most days, if you're aware enough to give yourself a choice, you can choose to look differently at this fat, dead-eyed, over-made-up lady who just screamed at her kid in the checkout line. Maybe she's not usually like this. Maybe she's been up three straight nights holding the hand of a husband who is dying of bone cancer. Or maybe this very lady is the low-wage clerk at the motor vehicle department, who just yesterday helped your spouse resolve a horrific, infuriating, red-tape problem through some small act of bureaucratic kindness. Of course, none of this is likely, but it's also not impossible. It just depends what you what to consider. If you're automatically sure that you know what reality is, and you are operating on your default setting, then you, like me, probably won't consider possibilities that aren't annoying and miserable. But if you really learn how to pay attention, then you will know there are other options. It will actually be within your power to experience a crowded, hot, slow, consumer-hell type situation as not only meaningful, but sacred, on fire with the same force that made the stars: love, fellowship, the mystical oneness of all things deep down.
Not that that mystical stuff is necessarily true. The only thing that's capital-T True is that you get to decide how you're gonna try to see it.
This, I submit, is the freedom of a real education, of learning how to be well-adjusted. You get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn't. You get to decide what to worship.
Because here's something else that's weird but true: in the day-to day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship -- be it JC or Allah, bet it YHWH or the Wiccan Mother Goddess, or the Four Noble Truths, or some inviolable set of ethical principles -- is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It's the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. On one level, we all know this stuff already. It's been codified as myths, proverbs, clichÃ©s, epigrams, parables; the skeleton of every great story. The whole trick is keeping the truth up front in daily consciousness.
Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. But the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they're evil or sinful, it's that they're unconscious. They are default settings.
They're the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that's what you're doing.
And the so-called real world will not discourage you from operating on your default settings, because the so-called real world of men and money and power hums merrily along in a pool of fear and anger and frustration and craving and worship of self. Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom all to be lords of our tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the center of all creation. This kind of freedom has much to recommend it. But of course there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talk about much in the great outside world of wanting and achieving and [unintelligible -- sounds like "displayal"]. The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day.
That is real freedom. That is being educated, and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing.
I know that this stuff probably doesn't sound fun and breezy or grandly inspirational the way a commencement speech is supposed to sound. What it is, as far as I can see, is the capital-T Truth, with a whole lot of rhetorical niceties stripped away. You are, of course, free to think of it whatever you wish. But please don't just dismiss it as just some finger-wagging Dr. Laura sermon. None of this stuff is really about morality or religion or dogma or big fancy questions of life after death.
The capital-T Truth is about life BEFORE death.
It is about the real value of a real education, which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over:
"This is water."
"This is water."
It is unimaginably hard to do this, to stay conscious and alive in the adult world day in and day out. Which means yet another grand clichÃ© turns out to be true: your education really IS the job of a lifetime. And it commences: now. I wish you way more than luck.
User Comments:
Matthew ------Okay, I'm an idiot. I don't know that I had even heard of David Foster Wallace before he passed away. Can someone fill me in?
Jill ------"A huge percentage of the stuff that I tend to be automatically certain of is, it turns out, totally wrong and deluded. Here's one example of the utter wrongness of something I tend to be automatically sure of: Everything in my own immediate experience supports my deep belief that I am the absolute center of the universe, the realest, most vivid and important person in existence. We rarely talk about this sort of natural, basic self-centeredness, because it's so socially repulsive, but it's pretty much the same for all of us, deep down. It is our default-setting, hard- wired into our boards at birth. Think about it: There is no experience you've had that you were not at the absolute center of. The world as you experience it is right there in front of you, or behind you, to the left or right of you, on your TV, or your monitor, or whatever. Other people's thoughts and feelings have to be communicated to you somehow, but your own are so immediate, urgent, real -- you get the idea. But please don't worry that I'm getting ready to preach to you about compassion or other-directedness or the so-called "virtues." This is not a matter of virtue -- it's a matter of my choosing to do the work of somehow altering or getting free of my natural, hard- wired default-setting, which is to be deeply and literally self-centered, and to see and interpret everything through this lens of self.
People who can adjust their natural default-setting this way are often described as being "well adjusted," which I suggest to you is not an accidental term," - David Foster Wallace.
------Date: 2008-10-08 18:05:00 Subject: Octob-ulous
I can't believe I only found time to post one blog in the month of September...pitiful. I've neglected you, dear journal. I'll try to do better in October, but don't get your hopes up too high. What with travels and travails and an election to win, I don't have a lot of spare time to spend with you.
On the other hand, I know you'll always be here for me, not that I'm taking you for granted or anything.
You're the best!
User Comments: lukee ------No, YOU'RE the best!!! ------Date: 2008-11-03 08:44:00 Subject: A November to Remember
That's what I'm hoping for anyway. It's off to a good start. My first born son turns 31, all the pundits and polls say the hopey-change guy will win the election, and darn if I didn't enjoy that extra hour this weekend.
I'm hoping my life will simplify some after the polls close tomorrow night but I'm not totally counting on it. What with the holidays and 4 more out-of-town trips planned before the end of the year, I've about decided this is my lot in life...to be a busy bee.
Anyway, November is a wonderfully beautiful orange-yellow-red-leaf-falling month and I love Fall!
User Comments:
Matthewmckibben http://www.journalscape.com/matthewmckibben/ ------Me too. lukee ------Fall is great. Glad november is here!
------Date: 2008-11-05 09:09:00 Subject: I'm excited about my new neighbors...
...who will be moving in soon...the Obama family!
User Comments: lukee ------So awesome.
Matt ------So cool.
------Date: 2008-11-08 10:52:00 Subject: Words overheard from grandson #1 while getting ready for his sister's birthday party - "mommy, can I help you with anything?"...they've raised him well!
------Date: 2008-11-24 09:16:00 Subject: Nurturing
Yesterday, after the CROP Walk, we all gathered in a church for refreshments and music. I was on the floor near the "band" with all three VA grandkids and their G-mommy was rushing back and forth from the food table to the small plate she had placed in front of them with cookies, pretzels and grapes. SBJ loves grapes but he's still young enough for them to be a choking hazard so I, without a knife, bit them in half and shared the half I didn't consume with him. Several times, while we were sitting there, She-Who-Is leaned over and hugged or kissed him. That's a pretty usual site for me to see.
But sitting a little further away from him, I saw the Divine Miss M place a grape in her mouth, bite it in two and hand the other half to SBJ several times.
It was a sweet scene.
User Comments:
Matthew ------Awww. That's really cute. reverendmother http://www.reverendmother.org ------Thanks--I didn't know about this!
------Date: 2008-12-10 09:53:00 Subject: The ABCs of JillSusan
ABCs
A - Available: for most anything
A - Age: no longer middle age
A - Annoyance: rude people
B - Braces: yes, thank god!
B - Birthday: V-day
C - Crush: I've had a couple
C - Car: don't have one, but if I did it'd be a VW
C - Cat(s): 2, Dalai and Dharma
D - Dead Pets Name: Don't want to think about this D - Dads Name: Henry, but he liked to be called Hank or H. L.
D - Drinks: Coffee in the morning, Tea in the afternoon, a glass of Merlot in the evening
E - Easiest Person to talk to: My friend Donna
E - Email: Of course!
E - Envy: Not so much
F - Favorite Color: Purple
F - Food: Tex-Mex
F - Foreign slang: ???
G - Gummy Bears or Worms: Bears
G - Good Times: Any time with my family, kids and grandkids
H - Hair Color: Natural
H - Height: 5'7"
H - Happy: but of course!
H- How you want to be remembered: Mother, Daughter, Sister, MaDear, Great MaDear, Aunt, Cousin, Friend
I - Ice Cream: Ben & Jerry's Phish Food
I - Instrument: Tie: Violin/Guitar
I - Idol: Not so much
J - Jewelry: my Metallica necklace
J - Job: survived the layoffs yesterday
J - Jokes: need to hear at least one a day K - Kids: are my greatest blessing
K - Karate: yes, and what about it?
K - Kung Fu: yes, and what about it?
L - Longest Car Ride: Dallas to Virginia, with Dan and all my belongings in a U-Haul and 4 pets in the front seat
L - Longest shower?: in too big of a hurry for that
L - Love: is all you need
M - Milk Flavor: Not much of a milk drinker
M - Mothers Name: Elizabeth (Betty)
M - Movie Last Watched: Role Models
N - Number of Siblings: 3
N - Northern or Southern: Northern
N - Name: Jill/Mamala/MaDear
O - One Wish: Whirled Peas
O - One Phobia: Dying alone
O- Obnoxious: Selfish people
P - Part of your appearance you like best: my smile
P - Passion: Books
P- Pissed off: at unfairness
Q - Quote: You must be the change you wish to see in the world
Q - Quick or Slow: Quick
R - Reason to smile: Life R - Reality TV Show: are easy to "watch" while you're doing something meaningful
R - Regrets: are useless
S - Song you last heard: Workingman's Blues #2 - Bob Dylan
S - Season: Autumn
S - Sex: Don't remember... :-(
T- Time you woke up: 7:45 AM
T - Time Now: 9:37 AM
T - Time for bed: 11:00-11:30 PM
U - Unknown Fact About Me: My life's an open book
U - Unicorns: are weird
U - Unpleasant: humidity
V - Vegetable you hate: Never met a veggie I didn't love
V - Vegetable you love: Tie: Corn/Potatoes
V - View on Politics: Moderate Liberal, HUGE OBAMA SUPPORTER!
W - Worst Habits: Consuming junk food
W - Where are you going to travel next: Orlando
W - Watchful: of people around me
X - X-Ray: My most recent one was of my fingers and my left wrist that I broke in June
X - X-tra special someone: I'm taking the 5th
X - X-ams: I have test anxiety always
Y - Year you were born: 1949 Y - Year it is now: 2008
Y - Yellow: is the color of sunflowers, which I really like
Z - Zoo Animal: Giraffes
Z - Zodiac: Aquarius
User Comments:
Matthew ------Awesome! Are you sure you're a huge Obama supporter? ;-) reverendmother http://www.reverendmother.org ------Your phobia will not come to pass if I have anything to say about it.
------Date: 2008-12-11 10:50:00 Subject: Proust Questionnaire
(from the back page of Vanity Fair magazine)
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Being with my children and grandchildren anywhere in the world
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Procrastination
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Selfishness
What is your greatest extravagance?
Books What is your current state of mind?
Comfortably numb
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Humility
On what occasion do you lie?
When the truth would hurt someone else
What do you dislike about your appearance?
The lack of color
What is the quality you most like in a man?
His feminine side
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Her feminine side
Which living person do you most admire?
Barack Obama Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Shoulda, woulda, coulda
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My children and grandchildren
When and where were you happiest?
Recently, in Orlando with my chidren and grandchildren
Which talent would you most like to have?
Play a musical instrument really well, either a guitar or violin, or both
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My age...life is going too fast
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Bouncing back
If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
Some very wealthy person's pet Where would you like to live?
Washington DC
What is your most treasured possession?
My sister's diamond necklace
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Watching a loved one die of cancer, followed closed by Alzheimer's disease, either having it or loving someone who has it
What is your most marked characteristic?
My optimism
Who are your favorite writers?
Most anything by Malcolm Gladwell, Daniel Mendelsohn, Christopher Hitchens, Zadie Smith, Maureen Dowd, Anythony Lane, Jim Lehrer, Jonathan Safran Foer, Bob Woodward, PJ O'Rourke, Tom Wolfe, Ellen Goodman, David Foster Wallace, Christopher Buckley and many more too numerous to name
Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Aurora Greenway in Terms of Endearment: "It's past ten. My daughter is in pain. I don't understand why she has to have this pain. All she has to do is hold out until ten, and IT'S PAST TEN! My daughter is in pain, can't you understand that! GIVE MY DAUGHTER THE SHOT!"
Which historical figure do you most identify with? Rosa Parks
Who are you heroes in real life?
Police Officers, Fire Fighters and my sister Sherry
What is your greatest regret?
That I didn't put 2 & 2 together when my sister Sherry first started having symptoms and insisted that she go to the doctor
How would you like to die?
Quick and painless, and not alone
What is your motto?
Everything everywhere is all right already.
User Comments:
Mamala http://www.jillsusan.com ------I wish that people were more self cheerleaders. Think we'd need fewer shrinks and anti- depressants and there would probably be fewer suicides.
Matthew ------Why "humility?"
------Date: 2008-12-17 06:37:00 Subject: Person of the year
If Time Magazine's Person of the Year is not Barack Obama, I'll eat the iPhone I posted this blog with.
User Comments: lukee ------I think I should get it. reverendmother http://www.reverendmother.org ------There was never a doubt.
------Date: 2008-12-31 21:34:00 Subject: A New Year's Eve Blog Review of 2008
Because ReverendMother did it (in 2006) and she's a rock star...
The first line from the first post of each month this year:
January - Oh Happy Day! Oh Happy New Year!
February - It's Super Tuesday vs. the Super Bowl, two huge events on the political and sports calendars coming down the pike just a few days apart.
March -
April -
May - I'm trying to read the poetry and fiction in The New Yorker these days, along with their tremendous non-fiction articles.
June - So, I'll probably need to spend a few hours reading heavy non-fiction to rejuvenate the brain cells lost in watching the Sex and the City movie, but, for serious, political minded me, this movie was the break I needed today.
July - This article prompted me to "Google Image" search my name to see what came up.
August -
September -
October - I can't believe I only found time to post one blog in the month of September...pitiful. I've neglected you, dear journal.
November - That's what I'm hoping for anyway.
December - A - Available: for most anything
------Date: 2009-01-22 15:27:00 Subject: My new home
Just to let the few of you out there who read this blog know, I've moved to www.jillsusan.com.
Journalscape has served me well, and Kenny is absolutely the best, but I wanted a little more control and have put up a Word Press blog at this address. Come on over to my new place, won't you?

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