Shaving For A Change
(barking with my dog)
Chick is waiting. I am waiting. We're all waiting. This is a pretty tense day. I just finished work and am showered and I've even shaved, for a change. I think a day like this deserves a smooth leg and armpit. I haven't shaved in a while because a) I'm lazy b) the last time I shaved I missed huge patches and looked like a spotted pig and d) I forgot to.So when will election results be clear? (I mean, presuming there isn't more election fraud this time which take weeks to get sorted out.)
No matter what the outcome is, there will be one thing worth celebrating:
BUSH WILL BE OUT OF OFFICE IN TWO MONTHS!
And he can't come back.
!!!Quick!!! What Bush boys are left who could conceivably run for office? The old man is out for good. Can Jeb run for President? What about Neil? Or Marvin? Are we free of the Bush clan now? Will the twins run for president?
Well, ultimately it doesn't matter because we've got McCain to replace him and there's a thousand more Bush's with different last names just waiting in the wings to fuck everything up even worse than it is now.
Hey, that doesn't sound optimistic.
I didn't shave my legs so I could sit around thinking the worst. I have laundry to do, food to cook, hail to enjoy which is so much like snow...only hard...like golf balls. I have InDesign to struggle with because no president is going to bring us the amount of hope we all need. We are going to have to generate a lot of it for ourselves. I plan to do my part by helping people to empower themselves. (But InDesign is still kicking my tookus good)
I feel the overwhelming urge to make mini pitas so that I can have mini-pita-pizzas for dinner. Doesn't that sound good? With home made tomato sauce (from locally grown tomatoes...aren't I insufferable?!) and slow cooked caramelized onions.
The one good thing our political jerkfest has forced us all to do is look inward, trust ourselves more than our government, to reassess our moral compasses. * So many people are suddenly thinking more about the car they're driving, the trash they're making, and the power they're using than they were before. You can scream and scream at people to make better choices but until the economy forces them to their knees they really don't see why they should be inconvenienced.
So that's going to be my strategy for keeping hope alive: thinking about how if Obama wins at least someone in the White house will try to lift a finger to end the war and maybe make strides in a more progressive direction. But if he doesn't? There could be a good side to that.
Because if Obama gets elected and really manages to make positive changes then Americans will once more be lulled into inactivity, obscene disregard for their responsibility to the environment, and to our local economy. But if he doesn't get elected and the economy continues to worsen (which it will if we continue our war abroad) then perhaps some good change will come from a newly more deeply chastened people.
Looking at it that way, it doesn't seem so horrifying to watch my country go to hell. Maybe that's just what we need to kick our asses into gear.
Anyway. My legs are smooth. Come what may.
There's been lots of jokes about moving out of the country from people on both sides of the great political dividing line but it's so sad to reflect that our country has let its standards and honor slide so far that no one will welcome us over their borders. Canada doesn't want us. My own father is a Canadian citizen and at one point in time I had hoped to move there and be sponsored by him. But he didn't feel that losing my US citizenship was worth anything in the world. I have always found it so curious how much he seems to value my citizenship here though he never saw fit to become a US citizen himself. In fact, even though he's been living in Israel for over 30 years he's still both a citizen of Canada and of Norway.
Back then I might have been able to sneak my way into a citizenship even without the aid of my father, but now? Nobody is going to welcome us into their fold. Which could amount to being stuck in a country I am increasingly ashamed of.
There's going to be a lot of flag waving either way today. I hate flag waving. I hate all the two-bit patriotic heart swelling and swaggering that every election seems to inspire.
That's just more proof that I'm not a fun person.
UN-FUN ANGELINA.
I'm going to go put some music on and try not to panic. Maybe I'll just sit in the purple chair with Chick and bark at the guy next door who comes outside to smoke cigarettes.
Remember that I don't have TV so if anyone gets any juicy bits of news about the election, would you please let me know? Also, although I'm terrified to listen to NPR right now, if someone local can tell me what radio channel they are? Maybe I'll give it a brief listen.
I feel like we're all falling.
*It's so ironic that both parties would ardently nod their heads in agreement to this statement even though they each cherish such different interpretations of what that really means.
I feel the overwhelming urge to make mini pitas so that I can have mini-pita-pizzas for dinner. Doesn't that sound good? With home made tomato sauce (from locally grown tomatoes...aren't I insufferable?!) and slow cooked caramelized onions.
The one good thing our political jerkfest has forced us all to do is look inward, trust ourselves more than our government, to reassess our moral compasses. * So many people are suddenly thinking more about the car they're driving, the trash they're making, and the power they're using than they were before. You can scream and scream at people to make better choices but until the economy forces them to their knees they really don't see why they should be inconvenienced.
So that's going to be my strategy for keeping hope alive: thinking about how if Obama wins at least someone in the White house will try to lift a finger to end the war and maybe make strides in a more progressive direction. But if he doesn't? There could be a good side to that.
Because if Obama gets elected and really manages to make positive changes then Americans will once more be lulled into inactivity, obscene disregard for their responsibility to the environment, and to our local economy. But if he doesn't get elected and the economy continues to worsen (which it will if we continue our war abroad) then perhaps some good change will come from a newly more deeply chastened people.
Looking at it that way, it doesn't seem so horrifying to watch my country go to hell. Maybe that's just what we need to kick our asses into gear.
Anyway. My legs are smooth. Come what may.
There's been lots of jokes about moving out of the country from people on both sides of the great political dividing line but it's so sad to reflect that our country has let its standards and honor slide so far that no one will welcome us over their borders. Canada doesn't want us. My own father is a Canadian citizen and at one point in time I had hoped to move there and be sponsored by him. But he didn't feel that losing my US citizenship was worth anything in the world. I have always found it so curious how much he seems to value my citizenship here though he never saw fit to become a US citizen himself. In fact, even though he's been living in Israel for over 30 years he's still both a citizen of Canada and of Norway.
Back then I might have been able to sneak my way into a citizenship even without the aid of my father, but now? Nobody is going to welcome us into their fold. Which could amount to being stuck in a country I am increasingly ashamed of.
There's going to be a lot of flag waving either way today. I hate flag waving. I hate all the two-bit patriotic heart swelling and swaggering that every election seems to inspire.
That's just more proof that I'm not a fun person.
UN-FUN ANGELINA.
I'm going to go put some music on and try not to panic. Maybe I'll just sit in the purple chair with Chick and bark at the guy next door who comes outside to smoke cigarettes.
Remember that I don't have TV so if anyone gets any juicy bits of news about the election, would you please let me know? Also, although I'm terrified to listen to NPR right now, if someone local can tell me what radio channel they are? Maybe I'll give it a brief listen.
I feel like we're all falling.
*It's so ironic that both parties would ardently nod their heads in agreement to this statement even though they each cherish such different interpretations of what that really means.