Thrown with Great Force
Thanks sooooooooo much for blowing out my eardrums with your Severe Thunderstorm Warning right when I was about to see Sarah Palin tell Katie Couric her views on the morning after pill. Really, the thunder that’s been going on outside for the last 2.5 hours was warning enough.
I got really excited because it’s almost October which means it’s almost time to flip to the next page of my calendar. It’s always something I look forward to, even though most of the time I forget about it until (quite) a few days late. Oh well. I like having all the blank boxes to fill, and I get some pretty sweet calendars so I’m always ready for a new picture.
But then I thought, “Wait. Every time I change my calendar, it means another month is gone. Every page is an entire month of my life, and I’m already in awe of how fast my life’s gone.” So when I get excited to see the next picture on my calendar, I’m essentially getting excited about the passage of time and life, which makes the whole scenario, especially my enthusiasm about the new month/calendar, kind of sick and twisted. Like if the Wicked Witch of the West had locked Dorothy in that tower with the hourglass and Dorothy, instead of getting hysterically, hopped up and down and clapped her hands and sat there gleefully watching the sand - aka HER LIFE - slip away.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.
—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
Elizabeth Bishop (via ericanicole)
I love this poem. (via beenthinking)
Note to Self: You’ve had the damn shirt for over a year. You’re not going to get rid of it. So wear it.
I’m “inclined” to want to watch the debates. I’m just really interested to see what kind of mess this makes…
John “I’m desperate” McCain wants to postpone the presidential debate on Friday. He also wants to suspend his campaign to deal with the financial crisis. He wins either way. Obama is creaming him on the economy. If Obama doesn’t get off the campaign trail, then all we’ll hear is “Obama First vs. Country First”. If Obama gets off the trail then he can’t continue to whip on McCain.
Watching the McCain campaign is like watching a car accident in slow motion.
Update: This crisis was bad yesterday and the day before. Why didn’t he suspend then? Because as bad as things were he was still close in the polls. Now, not so much. The Washington Post/ABC Poll has Obama up 9 (52% to 43%) and a LA Times/Bloomberg poll has Obama with a 13 point lead on the question”which candidate could do a better job of handling the financial crisis as president next year”. McCain had to do something.
Update 2: Politico.com has McCain’s statement.
Update 3: fuddmain correctly notes that Lincoln, FDR campaigned during wars, pretty major ones if the history books are correct. And so did Nixon and Bush Jr. I want a President who can walk and chew gum at the same time.
Update 4: It should be noted that the Washington Post/ABC Poll is probably crap. So it would seem that McCain is just panicked. I also want a President who doesn’t panic in a crisis.
Update 5: McCain couldn’t be bothered to get off the trail to cast any votes for his day job as a Senator, but now he wants to dig in and do some work. I think McCain should suspend his campaign until Nov 5.
Update 6: Apparently, the Obama campaign asked to work with the McCain campaign on crafting a joint message in response to the financial crisis and McCain agreed around 2:30. Around 3 it seems the McCain campaign asked to call of the debate and suspend the presidential campaign in order to deal with the crisis. More here.
Bold emphasis mine. Also, I’m going to go turn in my absentee ballot now, in case my head EXPLODES because of this election.
You are a Social Liberal
and an…
Economic Liberal
You are best described as a: Strong Democrat
You exhibit a very well-developed sense of Right and Wrong and believe in economic fairness.
Liv Tyler
Agreed.
(via gauntlet)
I completed the questionnaire (scoring’s a link on the right) and ended up with a 16. For women, that means “You might be sugar and spice and all things nice but beware of ‘doll’s house syndrome.’”
And finally, I had the term to perfectly describe how I spent just about half of the last year of my life. Thank you survey. Ok, moving on, then.
I’m so bored. Here’s a meme.
I have difficulties being succinct. Challenge to myself: answer with only one word. No explanations or elaborations. (Added: I’m doing this word association-style, first thing that comes to mind. Also, I suck at word association games.)
Your hair? blonde
Your mother? pretty
Your father? awesome
Your favorite thing? books - (not what I’d probably say if I had time to think)
Your dream last night? none
Your dream/goal? happiness
Your favorite drink? coffee
The room you’re in? office
Your ex? sucks
Your hobby? working out
Your fear? death
Where do you want to be in 6 years? idk
Where were you last night? apartment
What you’re not? concerned
Muffins? please
One of your wish list items? Choos
Time? 1:01
Where you grew up? Maryland
The last thing you did? work
Favorite weather? hot
What are you wearing? not one word but brown cord skirt, blue trapezey top, pearls
Your favorite book? Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Your TV? sweet
Your pet? peeves
Your computer? home: icky pc laptop work: soon to be a MacBook Pro
Your mood? blah
Missing someone? maybe
Your car? abandoned
Something you’re not wearing? socks
Favorite store? Victoria’s Secret
Love someone? myself
Your favorite color/shade? blue
Last thing you ate? pb on a roll
Your life? stagnant
Your friends? far away
What are you thinking right now? why am I doing this?
What are you doing at this moment? typing
Your summer: cut short by a broken foot
Your relationship status: independent
What do you do when you can’t sleep? eat
When is the last time you laughed? a few minutes ago
Last time you cried? a few days ago
HAHAHAHAHA. Love.
Make Your Man Better In Bed - How to Turn Your Man into a Better Lover - Redbook
So glad I found this…I probably would not have paid much attention to the Fair Pay Act if I hadn’t. Oh, and p.s. - I love Michelle Obama!
Thank god for imperfections.
NYT: Abortion dividing Catholic votes - The New York Times- msnbc.com
I had to go without health insurance for a few months between college (on my parents’ plan) and finding a job that offered a health plan. I was fortunate to find a job with health coverage; I know a lot of people just accept being uninsured, because there is absolutely no feasible way, financially, for them to buy individual coverage. McCain’s proposed $2500 or $5000 tax credit might help more people afford insurance, but what about those who are denied coverage based on pre-existing conditions? Those people rely on being covered through their employers; a refundable tax credit isn’t going to be of any use if they can’t get health insurance in the first place.
jgh:
Sarah Palin…
Comes off terribly in the Charles Gibson interview. Condescending; haughty. She was acting like Tom Cruise lecturing Matt Lauer on anti-depressants: “Oh, Charlie, you’re so glib.” If she just stopped saying “Charlie” she’d sound 95% less patronizing.
Her speech at the convention was charismatic. But Palin needs to get better at person-to-person dialogue if wants to stand a chance against Biden in the VP debate.
The entire time I was watching, I had two thoughts:
1. She’s a little too forceful for a one-on-one conversation, especially when she’s not even answering the questions. If I was Gibson, I would’ve been all “Back up off me girl.”
2. Everytime she threw a “Charlie” in the middle of a sentence, it reminded me of the “Charlie Bit Me” video on YouTube. So of course I immediately had to go watch it, which became super amusing because now I keep seeing the kid’s face on SP’s body.
….Matt Cassel is actually better looking than Tom Brady. Sweet. Cuter than Matt Leinart or Joe Flacco too. Guess who found her new honey bunny?? Lol.
Maureen Dowd. Still my heroine.
Former NY mayor - Palin ‘scares the hell out of me’ - NYTimes.com
Me too, Mr. Koch, me too.
I love that I’m the kind of girl who thinks a night out at the opera or the symphony or the ballet, complete with a fancy dinner, a classy outfit, and prime seats, is pretty much the 7th circle of hell. Don’t get me wrong, classy outfits are generally always awesome, and nice dinners are great if they’re not overbearingly “fancy” (think sleek upscale sushi bar rather than someplace…French). But a “special” night out for me involves prime seats to a football game or a baseball game (crappy seats work too though) and a Diet Coke or something.
Not that I have any special nights out in the immediate (or distant) future or, so this post has absolutely no relevance to anything.
I get so irate when I read about this shit that it’s kinda scary. I’m still determining my beliefs on a lot of issues but if there’s one thing I believe in with absolutely every fiber of my being, it’s a woman’s right to choose what to do with her body. It doesn’t make the slightest bit of difference to me what decision that is, whether it’s to have a huge family, to terminate a pregnancy, or even just to go on the Pill. The important thing is for women to be able to make that decision. There is absolutely no reason for the government to be involved in any capacity. It’s demeaning, it’s intrusive, and I personally believe it’s absolutely inexcusable.
They’re talking about the three years of work that I did right out of college, as if I’m making the leap from two or three years out of college into the presidency. I would argue that doing work in the community, to try to create jobs, to bring people together, to rejuvenate communities that have fallen on hard times, to set up job training programs in areas that have been hard hit when the steel plants closed, that that’s relevant only in understanding where I’m coming from. Who I believe in. Who I’m fighting for. And why I’m in this race. And the question I have for them is, why would that kind of work be ridiculous? Who are they fighting for? What are they advocating for? They think the lives of those folks who are struggling each and every day, that working with them to try to improve their lives, is somehow not relevant to the presidency? Maybe that’s the problem.
What did you guys expect? I anticipated this last Thursday in my acceptance speech. This is what they do. They don’t have an agenda to run on. They haven’t offered a single concrete idea so far in two nights. They spent the entire two nights attacking me and extolling John McCain’s biography, which is fine — they can use their convention time any way they want. But you can’t expect that I’d be surprised by attacks from Republicans. And by the way, I’ve been called worse on the basketball court.
” —Barack Obama responding to the RNC
(via jgh)
(via mzchristine)
And the first time I saw her on tv, I told my mom she was crazy.
Palins True North - Timothy Egan - Op-Extra Columnist - Opinion - New York Times Blog
