I have a formal wedding to attend in June and I really don't want to/can't afford to buy a new dress, but all the dresses I own are a bit too snug (meaning I can't breathe in them). So I've got a long black broomstick style skirt with a very pretty silver flowery print. I just need a top to go with it. So I've decided, since I have time between now and June, to make a top. This one in fact:
Lion Brand Elegant Shell
Instead of using the organic cotton, I originally thought to use Paton's Brilliant in Black Dazzle(on my good friend Griffinitter's suggestion), but then I thought the finished product might be too scratchy. So she suggested Lion Brand's Microspun in ebony, and wow! how soft! Then we determined that the outfit needed a bit more up top to balance out my sizable hips. So I'm making a short-sleeved shrug to go with it in the same basic pattern as the shell, but with the Brilliant.
I'm quite excited because I ordered 3 balls of the Brilliant and thought I would need more for the shrug, but so far, I've gotten 7 rows out of the first ball and I'm almost sure I can get 2 more. So I might squeak through with what I've got. If I can get 27 or 28 rows, I'll have a rectangle of about 31 inches by 13 1/2 or 14 inches. That should make a nice sized, summer weight shrug. I may even get fancy and put a little silver edging on the sleeves, but we'll see how it goes. Hopefully I'll post some pics soon.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
My New Zen
It's not the most up-to date MP3 player, but I just got the Creative Zen and I'm liking it immensely. I had an older generation Zen for about 2 years now and it never gave me a moment's grief, so I wanted to try upgrading. The newer Zen has a nice big screen, can handle video and pictures, along with all the other past features: FM radio, voice recording, etc.
Some cool new things: It has an organizer and alarm clock, and best of all expandable memory! With a standard SD card, you can have virtually unlimited memory. This is really nice because the software comes with Audible, so I'm pretty excited to start a new audio book library.
The controls take a bit of getting used to with this little cutie, but I was able to get the hang of basic operations without having to consult the user guide on my computer. The updated version of the Media Explorer is way easier to use than the old MediaSource. My playlists actually make sense now!
The sound is great, but I never had any complaints about the sound on my old Zen. I love the screen colors - bright enough to be very attractive, but easy on the eyes. The font is also a good size, so I'm not squinting to read what I'm doing.
Creative makes a reliable and cost efficient product. Definitely worth serious consideration.
And here's a pic of my new baby.
Some cool new things: It has an organizer and alarm clock, and best of all expandable memory! With a standard SD card, you can have virtually unlimited memory. This is really nice because the software comes with Audible, so I'm pretty excited to start a new audio book library.
The controls take a bit of getting used to with this little cutie, but I was able to get the hang of basic operations without having to consult the user guide on my computer. The updated version of the Media Explorer is way easier to use than the old MediaSource. My playlists actually make sense now!
The sound is great, but I never had any complaints about the sound on my old Zen. I love the screen colors - bright enough to be very attractive, but easy on the eyes. The font is also a good size, so I'm not squinting to read what I'm doing.
Creative makes a reliable and cost efficient product. Definitely worth serious consideration.
And here's a pic of my new baby.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Video Games vs. Television
Let me start off by saying that neither is particularly good for kids in excess. That being said, I think I'd rather see my kids playing a game than staring at a television. Games can at least involve thinking and in some instances even moving (i.e. the Wii system). With television shows, even interactive kid shows like Dora the Explorer, they just sit like lumps.
I've been noticing this trend with my kids for a while now. On days when we can't get out to play (which has been most of the winter), and I have work to do at home, by the time I'm free to do things with them, they don't want to do anything. They get totally immersed in their TV shows. And mind you, they're watching semi-educational things on the Noggin channel. I literally have to wrench them away from it and make them do other things. And the most recent disturbing thing I've noticed is that my daughter suddenly seems to have forgotten how to play independently. If I turn the TV off she starts complaining about being bored and there's 'nothing to do' despite the hundreds of toys around the house. Yet, when the TV is on, she's still bored and listless.
There's a totally different phenomena when I let the kids play video games on the PC or on one of the consoles (husband's XBox or their V-Smile or their Gamecube which was just given to them for Easter). Even when they have trouble with the games, they're animated and playing cooperatively and having fun. With many of the games - the V-Smiles and PC games in particular, there's problem solving and learning happening. They've never played any of the Wii games, and I honestly refuse to spend that kind of money on a game system for 4 and 6 year olds. But possibly when they are older. Even a simple game like their new Mario Kart is helping their hand-eye coordination.
Now, I'm very picky about what they are allowed to watch or play. I avoid shows or games that are very violent, that have problematic language or behavior that I don't want my kids modelling. And when these things do come up, it is made very clear that the behaviors or language are not desirable. I mean, let's be real, our kids don't live in a vacuum and they will come across negativity. Just a couple of weeks ago when we had a warm day, I took my daughter out to play with a couple of her friends, and one of the little girls spouted about how her sister is an asshole. That's what she hears from her mother. Am I going to make my daughter avoid this little girl from now on? No. The other mom (not the potty-mouthed one) and I let all the children know that they should not repeat that word. I haven't heard it from my daughter's mouth yet. So I do know that parental involvement can mitigate what kids are exposed to.
Would my kids be better off playing ball? Absolutely. But with a high wind advisory, I don't think we're going out today. In the summer, they will have swim lessons, summer school or camp, almost daily visits to the lake, bike riding, roller skating, camping and as many activities as I can possibly squeeze in. But in the meantime, I think I'll just enjoy watching them crash cartoon cars into things. It amuses them greatly.
I've been noticing this trend with my kids for a while now. On days when we can't get out to play (which has been most of the winter), and I have work to do at home, by the time I'm free to do things with them, they don't want to do anything. They get totally immersed in their TV shows. And mind you, they're watching semi-educational things on the Noggin channel. I literally have to wrench them away from it and make them do other things. And the most recent disturbing thing I've noticed is that my daughter suddenly seems to have forgotten how to play independently. If I turn the TV off she starts complaining about being bored and there's 'nothing to do' despite the hundreds of toys around the house. Yet, when the TV is on, she's still bored and listless.
There's a totally different phenomena when I let the kids play video games on the PC or on one of the consoles (husband's XBox or their V-Smile or their Gamecube which was just given to them for Easter). Even when they have trouble with the games, they're animated and playing cooperatively and having fun. With many of the games - the V-Smiles and PC games in particular, there's problem solving and learning happening. They've never played any of the Wii games, and I honestly refuse to spend that kind of money on a game system for 4 and 6 year olds. But possibly when they are older. Even a simple game like their new Mario Kart is helping their hand-eye coordination.
Now, I'm very picky about what they are allowed to watch or play. I avoid shows or games that are very violent, that have problematic language or behavior that I don't want my kids modelling. And when these things do come up, it is made very clear that the behaviors or language are not desirable. I mean, let's be real, our kids don't live in a vacuum and they will come across negativity. Just a couple of weeks ago when we had a warm day, I took my daughter out to play with a couple of her friends, and one of the little girls spouted about how her sister is an asshole. That's what she hears from her mother. Am I going to make my daughter avoid this little girl from now on? No. The other mom (not the potty-mouthed one) and I let all the children know that they should not repeat that word. I haven't heard it from my daughter's mouth yet. So I do know that parental involvement can mitigate what kids are exposed to.
Would my kids be better off playing ball? Absolutely. But with a high wind advisory, I don't think we're going out today. In the summer, they will have swim lessons, summer school or camp, almost daily visits to the lake, bike riding, roller skating, camping and as many activities as I can possibly squeeze in. But in the meantime, I think I'll just enjoy watching them crash cartoon cars into things. It amuses them greatly.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Steps to becoming a parent
A friend emailed this to me and I laughed so hard, I just HAD to post it! I don't know the original source, but it isn't my writing. I'm just passing it along.
How to become a parent in 15 simple steps:
Lesson 1
Go to the grocery store.
Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
Go home.
Pick up the paper.
Read it for the last time.
Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their:
Methods of discipline.
Lack of patience.
Appallingly low tolerance levels.
Allowing their children to run wild.
Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding,sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it, because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.
Lesson 3
To discover how the nights will feel...Walk around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
At 10PM, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
Set the alarm for 3AM.
As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink.
Go to bed at 2:45AM.
Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
Sing songs in the dark until 4AM.
Get up.
Make breakfast.
Keep this up for 5 years.
Look cheerful.
Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make?
To find out...Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
Then rub them on the clean walls.
Cover the stains with crayons.
How does that look?
Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
Time allowed for this - all morning.
Lesson 6
Take an egg carton.
Using a pair of scissors and a jar of paint, turn it into an alligator.
Now take the tube from a roll of toilet paper.
Using only Scotch tape and a piece of aluminum foil, turn it into an attractive Christmas candle.
Last, take a milk carton, a ping-pong ball, and an empty packet of Cocoa Puffs.
Make an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower.
Lesson 7
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van.
And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining.
Family cars don't look like that.
Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
Get a dime.
Stick it in the CD player.
Take a family size package of chocolate cookies.
Mash them into the back seat.
Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.
There.
Perfect.
Lesson 8
Get ready to go out.
Wait outside the bathroom for half an hour.
Go out the front door.
Come in again. Go out.Come back in.Go out again.
Walk down the front path.Walk back up it.
Walk down it again.Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes.
Stop, inspect minutely, and ask at least 6 questions about every cigarette butt, piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue, and dead insect along the way.
Retrace your steps.
Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbors come out and stare at you.
Give up and go back into the house.
You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.
Lesson 9
Repeat everything at least (if not more than) five times.
Lesson 10
Go to the local grocery store.
Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full- grown goat is excellent).
If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat.
Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight.
Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.
Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.
Lesson 11
Hollow out a melon.
Make a small hole in the side.
Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
Tip half into your lap.
The other half, just throw up in the air.
You are now ready to feed a nine- month old baby.
Lesson 12
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street, Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon.
Watch nothing else on T V for at least five years.
Lesson 13
Move to the tropics.
Find or make a compost pile.
Dig down about halfway and stick your nose in it.
Do this 3-5 times a day for at least two years.
Lesson 14
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying "mommy" repeatedly.
Important:no more than a four second delay between each "mommy"; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required).
Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years.
You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.
Lesson 15
Start talking to an adult of your choice.
Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the "mommy" tape made from Lesson 14 above.
You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.
How to become a parent in 15 simple steps:
Lesson 1
Go to the grocery store.
Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
Go home.
Pick up the paper.
Read it for the last time.
Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their:
Methods of discipline.
Lack of patience.
Appallingly low tolerance levels.
Allowing their children to run wild.
Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding,sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it, because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.
Lesson 3
To discover how the nights will feel...Walk around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
At 10PM, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
Set the alarm for 3AM.
As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink.
Go to bed at 2:45AM.
Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
Sing songs in the dark until 4AM.
Get up.
Make breakfast.
Keep this up for 5 years.
Look cheerful.
Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make?
To find out...Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
Then rub them on the clean walls.
Cover the stains with crayons.
How does that look?
Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
Time allowed for this - all morning.
Lesson 6
Take an egg carton.
Using a pair of scissors and a jar of paint, turn it into an alligator.
Now take the tube from a roll of toilet paper.
Using only Scotch tape and a piece of aluminum foil, turn it into an attractive Christmas candle.
Last, take a milk carton, a ping-pong ball, and an empty packet of Cocoa Puffs.
Make an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower.
Lesson 7
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van.
And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining.
Family cars don't look like that.
Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
Get a dime.
Stick it in the CD player.
Take a family size package of chocolate cookies.
Mash them into the back seat.
Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.
There.
Perfect.
Lesson 8
Get ready to go out.
Wait outside the bathroom for half an hour.
Go out the front door.
Come in again. Go out.Come back in.Go out again.
Walk down the front path.Walk back up it.
Walk down it again.Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes.
Stop, inspect minutely, and ask at least 6 questions about every cigarette butt, piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue, and dead insect along the way.
Retrace your steps.
Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbors come out and stare at you.
Give up and go back into the house.
You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.
Lesson 9
Repeat everything at least (if not more than) five times.
Lesson 10
Go to the local grocery store.
Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full- grown goat is excellent).
If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat.
Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight.
Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.
Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.
Lesson 11
Hollow out a melon.
Make a small hole in the side.
Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
Tip half into your lap.
The other half, just throw up in the air.
You are now ready to feed a nine- month old baby.
Lesson 12
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street, Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon.
Watch nothing else on T V for at least five years.
Lesson 13
Move to the tropics.
Find or make a compost pile.
Dig down about halfway and stick your nose in it.
Do this 3-5 times a day for at least two years.
Lesson 14
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying "mommy" repeatedly.
Important:no more than a four second delay between each "mommy"; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required).
Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years.
You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.
Lesson 15
Start talking to an adult of your choice.
Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the "mommy" tape made from Lesson 14 above.
You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
You Know It Will Be An Interesting Day When...
1. You wake up in the middle of the previous night from a nightmare about a plane having to make an emergency landing. Oddly, only the back part of the plane, where you are sitting, is effected but the plane being tossed end over end.
2. Your comes screaming into your room at 3:30 a.m.
3. After getting him back to sleep, your son comes and tramples you when the alarm goes off at 5:30.
4. The downstairs toilet - the one that the family uses most often in the mornings - completely overflows.
5. Your DH forgets his wallet and then has to come home to get it, making him late for his train.
6. Your boss was supposed to take you out for breakfast, but forgot, so you end up going with her to walk her dogs instead.
Hm...this was all before noon. Would I be stupid to even think about leaving the house this afternoon?
2. Your comes screaming into your room at 3:30 a.m.
3. After getting him back to sleep, your son comes and tramples you when the alarm goes off at 5:30.
4. The downstairs toilet - the one that the family uses most often in the mornings - completely overflows.
5. Your DH forgets his wallet and then has to come home to get it, making him late for his train.
6. Your boss was supposed to take you out for breakfast, but forgot, so you end up going with her to walk her dogs instead.
Hm...this was all before noon. Would I be stupid to even think about leaving the house this afternoon?
Monday, March 17, 2008
No, You Can't Marry Your Brother
"I'm going to marry my brother. That's my choice."
"You can't marry your brother."
"But I want to."
"You can't."
This discussion in the car went on for a while and ended in tears. Apparently my almost-five-year-old wants to marry her brother because she doesn't have to move to another home. That was a new one.
"Well, you don't have to get married if you don't want to," I tried to console.
More tears. "Yes I do! I want to be a mommy and to be a mommy I have to have a daddy! And if I marry a daddy, I have to go to another home!"
How on earth do these ideas even get into a child's head before she's even in kindergarten?
Finally she got distracted asking questions about her friend whose parents are not together. The little girl spends half her time with the mom, step-father and siblings, and half her time with her father. My daughter was under the impression that she didn't have a father. I've come to the conclusion that five-year-olds should not have to think about these things.
Oh! And it got better - she thought she had to get married at twelve, when she became a grown-up! After I dispelled that little myth, she decided that she just doesn't want to grow up.
I think I agree.
However, if she does go ahead and grow up, I'm in the market for a nice tall tower.
"You can't marry your brother."
"But I want to."
"You can't."
This discussion in the car went on for a while and ended in tears. Apparently my almost-five-year-old wants to marry her brother because she doesn't have to move to another home. That was a new one.
"Well, you don't have to get married if you don't want to," I tried to console.
More tears. "Yes I do! I want to be a mommy and to be a mommy I have to have a daddy! And if I marry a daddy, I have to go to another home!"
How on earth do these ideas even get into a child's head before she's even in kindergarten?
Finally she got distracted asking questions about her friend whose parents are not together. The little girl spends half her time with the mom, step-father and siblings, and half her time with her father. My daughter was under the impression that she didn't have a father. I've come to the conclusion that five-year-olds should not have to think about these things.
Oh! And it got better - she thought she had to get married at twelve, when she became a grown-up! After I dispelled that little myth, she decided that she just doesn't want to grow up.
I think I agree.
However, if she does go ahead and grow up, I'm in the market for a nice tall tower.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The Real Failure of the Clinton Campaign (and it’s not that she’s a white woman, Geraldine Ferraro!)
Early on in the campaign for the Democratic nomination, I leaned toward supporting Hillary Clinton. I had previously been pleased with the direction that Bill Clinton took the country during his administration and had appreciated her strength in her own right. Her policies, while not perfect are more than acceptable to me, and the notion of having a woman president was an attractive bonus. Plus, at the time, I knew next to nothing about Barack Obama.
A short while back, two things changed my mind about where my support belongs. The first was, ironically, Bill Clinton. His comments after the South Carolina primary were a slap in the face to all the African-Americans who have stood behind him through the years. The Clintons seem to think that they are entitled to have it both ways: that they should be buddy-buddy with the African-American community when it is convenient, but that they can also marginalize those same ‘friends.’ Jesse Jackson was invaluable to the Clinton household when President Clinton was in need of marriage counseling after the Lewinsky scandal, but then was basically brushed off as ‘the black candidate,’ and of no real consequence when Senator Obama won South Carolina, “Jesse Jackson won here in ’84 and ’88.” In other words, no big deal, a black candidate won there. Were his comments blatantly racist? No. Did he minimize Senator Obama’s impact by linking him specifically to an unsuccessful (only in terms of the presidential race) black candidate? I’d say so. Thanks for that, Mr. Former President. Does the Clinton campaign think the African-American community is not paying attention or that we are just not sophisticated enough to understand what’s going on here? Or perhaps the campaign is banking on the fact that no matter what she says or does to get the nomination, African-Americans will usually and consistently vote against the Republican nominee in a general election.
The second thing to sway my support was that I actually heard Senator Obama speak. I’ve not typically been one to obsess over the political scene, and I generally can’t stand listening to politicians blowing smoke rings around people’s heads. Senator Obama was different though. He immediately captivated me with his calm, yet impassioned charisma and his idealism. I actually listened to him for a straight forty-five minutes, and I was sold – not because he is a black man (as Geraldine Ferraro’s comments would suggest), but because he is a candidate who can inspire not only a party but (I believe) an entire nation. When the man speaks, people want to listen; they want to believe in something and belief goes a long way toward making things happen. All Senator Clinton seems to inspire, sorry to say, is an almost maniacal hatred among Republicans, and I don’t think she’d have a prayer against John McCain.
This brings me to Geraldine Ferraro’s comments: “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman of any color, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.” First, wow, what an embarrassing disappointment for democrats and women! As someone, a black woman, who previously supported Senator Clinton, I feel the need to make something clear. I do not support Barack Obama because he is a black man, and the man has achieved his position through hard work. It is disgusting and offensive to imply that his campaign has been boosted by Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action, if you even believe in such a thing, may open the door for a minority, but it certainly doesn’t make that person graduate magna cum laude from law school? That is the result of hard work and commitment, just like the rest of Senator Obama’s successes have been in this race. I support Senator Obama because he has a vision for what this country can be, because he hasn’t been so jaded by the political arena that he sneers at the power of hope, and because he isn’t so ruled by an overinflated ego and sense of entitlement that he’d gladly drag the Democratic party through the muck for his own gain. Shame on you, MS. Ferraro, and double shame on you, Senator Clinton for allowing racism to overshadow policy your campaign for the second time!
And are we also bringing sexism onto the playing field? Well, perhaps the way to defeat sexism and to change minds about the perceived weaknesses in the female gender isn’t to play to those weaknesses. While Ms. Ferraro’s comments followed Clinton campaign’s wins in Texas and Ohio, those victories did not narrow the margin in the delegate count nearly enough to save their sinking ship. Such divisive comments and the timing with which they are released make Senator Clinton appear at once catty and desperate. Is anyone supposed to really believe that the former president and the campaign member are acting of their own accord and that Senator Clinton isn’t at least condoning the behavior? These tactics do not say, ‘strong leader,’ to a voter like me. They say something more along the lines of, ‘spoiled, snotty, and entitled.’
If Senator Clinton really cared about the country and about the Democratic party, she’d run a cleaner campaign, and save the big guns for the more important contest – whether she becomes the nominee or not.
A short while back, two things changed my mind about where my support belongs. The first was, ironically, Bill Clinton. His comments after the South Carolina primary were a slap in the face to all the African-Americans who have stood behind him through the years. The Clintons seem to think that they are entitled to have it both ways: that they should be buddy-buddy with the African-American community when it is convenient, but that they can also marginalize those same ‘friends.’ Jesse Jackson was invaluable to the Clinton household when President Clinton was in need of marriage counseling after the Lewinsky scandal, but then was basically brushed off as ‘the black candidate,’ and of no real consequence when Senator Obama won South Carolina, “Jesse Jackson won here in ’84 and ’88.” In other words, no big deal, a black candidate won there. Were his comments blatantly racist? No. Did he minimize Senator Obama’s impact by linking him specifically to an unsuccessful (only in terms of the presidential race) black candidate? I’d say so. Thanks for that, Mr. Former President. Does the Clinton campaign think the African-American community is not paying attention or that we are just not sophisticated enough to understand what’s going on here? Or perhaps the campaign is banking on the fact that no matter what she says or does to get the nomination, African-Americans will usually and consistently vote against the Republican nominee in a general election.
The second thing to sway my support was that I actually heard Senator Obama speak. I’ve not typically been one to obsess over the political scene, and I generally can’t stand listening to politicians blowing smoke rings around people’s heads. Senator Obama was different though. He immediately captivated me with his calm, yet impassioned charisma and his idealism. I actually listened to him for a straight forty-five minutes, and I was sold – not because he is a black man (as Geraldine Ferraro’s comments would suggest), but because he is a candidate who can inspire not only a party but (I believe) an entire nation. When the man speaks, people want to listen; they want to believe in something and belief goes a long way toward making things happen. All Senator Clinton seems to inspire, sorry to say, is an almost maniacal hatred among Republicans, and I don’t think she’d have a prayer against John McCain.
This brings me to Geraldine Ferraro’s comments: “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman of any color, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.” First, wow, what an embarrassing disappointment for democrats and women! As someone, a black woman, who previously supported Senator Clinton, I feel the need to make something clear. I do not support Barack Obama because he is a black man, and the man has achieved his position through hard work. It is disgusting and offensive to imply that his campaign has been boosted by Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action, if you even believe in such a thing, may open the door for a minority, but it certainly doesn’t make that person graduate magna cum laude from law school? That is the result of hard work and commitment, just like the rest of Senator Obama’s successes have been in this race. I support Senator Obama because he has a vision for what this country can be, because he hasn’t been so jaded by the political arena that he sneers at the power of hope, and because he isn’t so ruled by an overinflated ego and sense of entitlement that he’d gladly drag the Democratic party through the muck for his own gain. Shame on you, MS. Ferraro, and double shame on you, Senator Clinton for allowing racism to overshadow policy your campaign for the second time!
And are we also bringing sexism onto the playing field? Well, perhaps the way to defeat sexism and to change minds about the perceived weaknesses in the female gender isn’t to play to those weaknesses. While Ms. Ferraro’s comments followed Clinton campaign’s wins in Texas and Ohio, those victories did not narrow the margin in the delegate count nearly enough to save their sinking ship. Such divisive comments and the timing with which they are released make Senator Clinton appear at once catty and desperate. Is anyone supposed to really believe that the former president and the campaign member are acting of their own accord and that Senator Clinton isn’t at least condoning the behavior? These tactics do not say, ‘strong leader,’ to a voter like me. They say something more along the lines of, ‘spoiled, snotty, and entitled.’
If Senator Clinton really cared about the country and about the Democratic party, she’d run a cleaner campaign, and save the big guns for the more important contest – whether she becomes the nominee or not.
Monday, March 10, 2008
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
I had an interesting conversation on Saturday with some colleagues that covered several topics including the state of our American society. At one point, we half-joked that the country might be headed for another civil war. At the time I didn’t take it seriously at all, but then some other events have caused me to rethink. We probably are not headed for a civil war, but we may very well be headed for another revolution. As Gil Scott-Heron said, it will not be televised.
Friday while I was teaching my yoga class, I got a call from my ex-dentist pressuring me to make a payment of half the (very large) balance of our bill (which has been in dispute) or he would send the account to collection, generating more fees. He’s very smug about his position because we (my family) are basically poor schmucks who can’t do anything about the situation. We don’t have the means to fight him…yet. The full story of that drama will definitely follow soon.
Fast forward to Sunday night. A friend of ours is having some trouble with his business partner. All our friend wants now is to get out of the business amicably with the two going their separate ways. But the partner is a bit of a vindictive and crooked bastard. The partner has money and power and connections, How can a thirty-something year old guy with very limited resources hope to stand up to that? He’s going to do everything he can, but the odds are grossly stacked against him.
Do these situations ring a chime of familiarity? Probably more familiar than the average person would care for them to.
Now let’s take a look at history. There was an American Revolution where the colonists, tired of being taken advantage of by a king and country on the other side of the Atlantic, stood up and booted the British out of the Americas. Then there was a French Revolution where the poor French people got sick (literally and figuratively) of being stepped on by Louis XVI and company. The Russians did it, too. The little guys eventually got pushed too far to the wall and pushed back, encouraged and pulled together by the more educated members of their societies.
Which brings us back to modern times. We live in a society where more and more people are struggling to stay above the poverty line. And I’m not only talking about the really poor, I mean the two income, educated, professional families who are still having trouble putting food on the table and are avoiding medical care because the out-of-pocket costs are just too damned prohibitive. We’ve all heard this – the middle class is rapidly disappearing. That’s bad enough. But then when you have the small group of rich and powerful going out of their collective way to beat up on and bully the vastly larger majority of the population, someone is asking for trouble. How long do the powers that be really think this dynamic is going to last before people start to snap and organize?
So, no, the revolution will not be televised, most likely because the cable and satellite companies could easily just shut that down. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the revolution was to be Podcasted. I think it might just be coming.
Friday while I was teaching my yoga class, I got a call from my ex-dentist pressuring me to make a payment of half the (very large) balance of our bill (which has been in dispute) or he would send the account to collection, generating more fees. He’s very smug about his position because we (my family) are basically poor schmucks who can’t do anything about the situation. We don’t have the means to fight him…yet. The full story of that drama will definitely follow soon.
Fast forward to Sunday night. A friend of ours is having some trouble with his business partner. All our friend wants now is to get out of the business amicably with the two going their separate ways. But the partner is a bit of a vindictive and crooked bastard. The partner has money and power and connections, How can a thirty-something year old guy with very limited resources hope to stand up to that? He’s going to do everything he can, but the odds are grossly stacked against him.
Do these situations ring a chime of familiarity? Probably more familiar than the average person would care for them to.
Now let’s take a look at history. There was an American Revolution where the colonists, tired of being taken advantage of by a king and country on the other side of the Atlantic, stood up and booted the British out of the Americas. Then there was a French Revolution where the poor French people got sick (literally and figuratively) of being stepped on by Louis XVI and company. The Russians did it, too. The little guys eventually got pushed too far to the wall and pushed back, encouraged and pulled together by the more educated members of their societies.
Which brings us back to modern times. We live in a society where more and more people are struggling to stay above the poverty line. And I’m not only talking about the really poor, I mean the two income, educated, professional families who are still having trouble putting food on the table and are avoiding medical care because the out-of-pocket costs are just too damned prohibitive. We’ve all heard this – the middle class is rapidly disappearing. That’s bad enough. But then when you have the small group of rich and powerful going out of their collective way to beat up on and bully the vastly larger majority of the population, someone is asking for trouble. How long do the powers that be really think this dynamic is going to last before people start to snap and organize?
So, no, the revolution will not be televised, most likely because the cable and satellite companies could easily just shut that down. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the revolution was to be Podcasted. I think it might just be coming.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Stephen King's Duma Key - a reader's review
“God punishes us for what we can’t imagine,” says Jerome Wireman, an ex-lawyer who's taken up caring for an elderly octogenarian named Elizabeth Eastlake in Stephen King’s latest horrifying tale, Duma Key. Wireman is grossly understating the situation. Duma Key is the story of Edgar Freemantle, who due to a freak accident, goes from a construction mogul to losing much of his memory, arm, wife and ability to control his insane rages. One of those rages leads him to try to strangle his wife and she divorces him. But the God of Stephen King’s world is not a complete bastard. Edgar gains some miraculous abilities, which right there should raise the flags and jingle the warning bells. At the suggestion of his therapist, Edgar relocates to Duma Key, a nearly deserted Key on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Horror and mayhem ensue. Of course they do. It’s not giving anything away to say this – in any Stephen King novel, you know there’s going to be a spooky Big Bad, and most likely one with lots of ‘teef.’ The book is a wonderful read, and whether he’s writing more deeply or I am reading more deeply with age, Duma Key feels more personal and real than ever, which is endearing and chilling all at once.
As the reader follows Edgar through his very strenuous recovery, it is impossible to miss the parallels to Mr. King’s own life. There are twelve short discourses on the artistic process: “How to Draw a Picture,” that could easily translate to (Mr. King’s) the writing process while at the same time delivering Elizabeth’s back story. But the real beauty is that Duma Key, more than any of his other novels, seems to give a little sense of Mr. King sitting down in a small room with Constant Reader one dark night, a small fire flickering lazily in a hearth behind him, perhaps after a couple glasses of wine or a few beers, and saying very quietly, very seriously, “so this is what it was like.” Mr. King has always maintained a tight relationship with his readers and Duma Key seems to have added a level of intimacy to the relationship that will certainly move the occasional reader as well as the faithful.
Without getting too tangential, a friend of a friend commented that she felt Mr. Kings last few releases have become violent in a different way that she’s come to expect. Well, honestly, my first thought was, he’s a horror writer – how can you not expect violence? But I think I know what she means. There have been some elements in the last couple of books that have seemed a bit more random and grounded in reality than in past works. Yet this does not distress me in the least. While I tend to avoid news stories of freak accidents and child abductions, these things do happen. They are true. And Mr. King tells the truth, even if it is surrounded by the supernatural and fantastical. He also likes the underdog, so whereas in real life the victim rarely gets avenged in any visceral and satisfying way, Kings characters have been getting to whoop the bad guys’ butts and hand them back on splintery skewers. What’s not to appreciate about that? I say: Bravo!
I’ll admit, I am extremely biased about Mr. King. I’ve been a Constant Reader since the age of nine when Christine made me wary of big car grilles. But that notwithstanding, I can still recognize the stronger vs. weaker of his creations. Duma Key is, no doubt, up there among the best. The writing is engaging, tense, sweet and elegant – Stephen King fully in the zone. This one gets a wholehearted recommendation from me.
As the reader follows Edgar through his very strenuous recovery, it is impossible to miss the parallels to Mr. King’s own life. There are twelve short discourses on the artistic process: “How to Draw a Picture,” that could easily translate to (Mr. King’s) the writing process while at the same time delivering Elizabeth’s back story. But the real beauty is that Duma Key, more than any of his other novels, seems to give a little sense of Mr. King sitting down in a small room with Constant Reader one dark night, a small fire flickering lazily in a hearth behind him, perhaps after a couple glasses of wine or a few beers, and saying very quietly, very seriously, “so this is what it was like.” Mr. King has always maintained a tight relationship with his readers and Duma Key seems to have added a level of intimacy to the relationship that will certainly move the occasional reader as well as the faithful.
Without getting too tangential, a friend of a friend commented that she felt Mr. Kings last few releases have become violent in a different way that she’s come to expect. Well, honestly, my first thought was, he’s a horror writer – how can you not expect violence? But I think I know what she means. There have been some elements in the last couple of books that have seemed a bit more random and grounded in reality than in past works. Yet this does not distress me in the least. While I tend to avoid news stories of freak accidents and child abductions, these things do happen. They are true. And Mr. King tells the truth, even if it is surrounded by the supernatural and fantastical. He also likes the underdog, so whereas in real life the victim rarely gets avenged in any visceral and satisfying way, Kings characters have been getting to whoop the bad guys’ butts and hand them back on splintery skewers. What’s not to appreciate about that? I say: Bravo!
I’ll admit, I am extremely biased about Mr. King. I’ve been a Constant Reader since the age of nine when Christine made me wary of big car grilles. But that notwithstanding, I can still recognize the stronger vs. weaker of his creations. Duma Key is, no doubt, up there among the best. The writing is engaging, tense, sweet and elegant – Stephen King fully in the zone. This one gets a wholehearted recommendation from me.
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