I don't usually get political here because I'm not about controversy but the last few days of news has made me write this. Maybe Speaker Pelosi will read it, yeah, right, probably hasn't read my emails either. Maybe some of the Republican leadership(Boehner, Hoyer, etc.) will see this and say to themselves, "Oh I get it". Maybe President Bush will come across it when he's Googling something else. I believe my blog has come up when the word "cowboy" is googled, can't remember why but maybe by some freak accident they'll read this.
First Speaker Pelosi- you can't make an announcement to the American people that you will pass a bill but you need Republican cover. Have some courage, stand up for what you believe is right for Americans, not for your politics. Republicans don't believe in this kind of government. You do not instill confidence that this is the best thing for the American people or economical interests around the world if you are so concerned about "not taking the hit". You have to man up. You have to say, this is what's right and we Democrats will take whatever hits necessary because this is the only way. If you aren't willing to say that, then you need to work out a better plan, regardless of how long it takes.
Dear Republicans, I believe it was Congressman Boehner who said "this bill is a crap sandwich" how do you think this instills any confidence in your party or constituents? This bill is either the right thing or the wrong thing. If you don't believe in it, hold your ground, don't suck it up and vote for it or if you do believe it's a necessary evil then do what you have to do but please, don't call it a "crap sandwich" and expect everyone to just roll over and take it.
You see, I knew the sub-prime loan to purchase a home was a crap sandwich. I am the most financially irresponsible person on the earth and I walked away. But now because of this bill I'm wondering why I didn't go on and take a bite of the crap sandwich because I'd be able to more than likely keep the house I couldn't afford in the first place but decisions were made that we were not going to bite because we(the spousal unit and myself) know exactly who we are and had we taken that loan to have the American dream or better yet my dream of my own little piece of Florida we would be up to our ears in crap sandwiches right now.
So Congressman Boehner if a bill is a crap sandwich then you guys should be working 24 hours a day to make it into a bologna sandwich(which most people would still say is a crap sandwich but it's better than real crap) or better yet make it a ham sandwich. Give us, the American people, a reason to trust your judgement.
Speaker Pelosi, make a stand, do what you believe is right, screw the politics, make me a believer, show me why I--the swing voter(I'm a registered libertarian, which broke my grandmother's deeply rooted Southern Democratic heart), show me that you stand behind what you believe in, even if you don't think it's the best way but it's the way we need to go right now. Give me confidence in the process, that it's not all about who has a bigger one but what is right.
I want someone to make a decision because it's right for once, not because it's politically expedient.
The American people aren't so much upset about $700 billion dollars because really those are just numbers on paper, who really knows what's passed back and forth between departments and countries. It's that this bill has gotten so out of hand, bankruptcy protection, student loans, credit cards and car loans. WTF? I understand mortgages and home equity loans and believe me I was wondering about what might happen down the road when Ditech and Lending Tree were running commercials every 15 mins. I was raised that when you own a home you don't touch the equity for a cruise or bill consolidation it's your home, it's the most important thing you own, or are trying to own, why risk it to have the cash now? I don't understand. People are responsible for making those bad decisions and people like me, who made a responsible financial decision, one of the only ones in a life time of huge mistakes where money is concerned, but I have to pay for it? Doesn't anyone see anything wrong with that? I think that's where the anger comes from.
My kids will pay for their college a class at a time if necessary. Our cars are older, a 93 and 2001, why do I get stuck paying for someone else's new car? Why am I stuck securing someone else's bad credit card debt? I don't understand. No financial institution has ever had a problem turning me down for a loan. How did we, as a country, come to this place? What did all those people in expensive houses, driving Escalades know that I didn't? And why at this moment am I not one of them because I could be lucky enough to be living in a $250,000 government housing project, I could be driving a $50,000 state owned vehicle, because that's what it's going to be when the government buys up all this bad debt. At least that's the way I see it, someone who doesn't understand the stockmarket or economics.
I do understand businesses and their credit lines and making payroll and keeping jobs, I get it, but the leadership of this country has got to be better about selling it because Americans are royally PO'd on both sides of the aisle.
And honestly I do want to know why John McCain and Barack Obama aren't in Washington doing their day jobs. This is what it's all about, it's about long hours at the table, it's not fun, it's ugly business, it's not something to phone in. It's not as much fun as sleeping in hotels, riding around on a bus and making cute speeches. This is the job they are hired to do right now, this moment, but they have kind of left everything in the hands of their "teams" while they are vying for the promotion when the promotion should go to someone doing the real work of the country right now.
And finally one of the financial guys on CNN, Ali something, said yesterday that if you are against this bill you are not a student of economics and you need to just let the Congress do what they have to do and figure it out later. Well Mr. Ali, that's the problem, Congress, the leadership, they aren't telling us anything. All our futures are on the line and the best we can get out of anyone is "this bill needs to be passed", "we aren't doing this without Republican cover, we won't take the hit", and the ever popular, "this bill is a crap sandwich". Why should care, why shouldn't everything just crash and burn because the fact is, we, the average citizen is paying higher grocery bills, every day the prices go up a little more. Gas prices while stablizing are still high for people living payday to payday. Our kids still need clothes. Tell me Mr Ali, will anyone on Wall Street be selling their yacht because of this deal, will they be forced to pull their child out of private school, and enrolling them into the government run school system, will they be worrying about downsizing their mansion? Because right now the average citizen is worried about their paycheck on Friday, the grocery bill on Saturday and paying the phone bill, the water bill, the power bill come Monday.
So no we are not students of economics, we are students of life, and life right now, no matter how you flip it is ugly and this bill well it doesn't comfort us and if people would take a minute and do a little explaining, maybe we cross over to the way everyone else is thinking but right now a "crap sandwich" just doesn't do it for us.
So in conclusion I probably haven't made a lick of sense but if this inspires someone somewhere to actually explain this "crap sandwich" and the absolute need for it(European markets were up today as is the American stock market so...why the urgency to settle for something less than the best possible solution?) sell it to me, don't just tell me "because". I'm not five.
I tried to keep this as bipartisan as possible. I have no clue who I'm going to vote for come election day. I am frustrated and just want to understand. Yes this is probably rambling but I just couldn't bring myself to gather my thoughts in any other way. This is how they came out of my brain, Maureen Dowd, Thomas Friedman I'm not.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
My Radio's Pickin' Up FM-100...
.....I hear Memphis calling me home. This summer I went home for my dad's memorial service and realized I haven't blogged about it. Still have some unresolved issues I guess, but today I was going through some pictures on the computer and thought I'd share:
I love this bridge. There are probably more beautiful bridges in this world but the Memphis/Arkansas bridge is home.
This is a view of the Mud Island Amphitheater. I spent a lot of time here going to concerts and basically hanging out. There was the Riverboat Museum, Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain, not in person, but still great, the monorail was in The Firm with Tom Cruise as was the Museum. The Amphitheater is the best place to see a concert. I've seen Jackson Browne there two times. It was like he was singing in my living room. Just a great place to see a show.
Here's the riverboat basin, they do sunset dinners and cruises.
Here's my nephew with a statue of Elvis.
Gift shop at the Peabody. We also saw the man from the show Little People, Big World but I didn't know if I could legally post the picture I took since I was kind of the paparazzi, meaning I didn't ask permission, just snapped the pic.
The view from the roof of the Peabody. Lots of Happy Hours spent here back in the day.
The infamous Peabody ducks. I had camera issues.
My niece and nephew playing piano in the ballroom. I suspect we probably shouldn't have been there. But hey whatever we do what we want.
As further proof, my nephew on one the dog statues in the lobby.
My brother's dog Sophie. I love her and want her to come live with us.
When I went home I stayed in my niece's bedroom which used to be my bedroom(my brother bought my mother's house). Here's some early morning knitting. It's supposed to eventually be a laptop bag from Alterknits.
This is a view from the bedroom similar to what it was when it was my bedroom only there should be horses in the pasture and a barbed wire fence covered in honeysuckle.
This is my niece's exact view. I hate progress and development except for things like iPods, laptops, and Kindles.
This is the road I walked down every morning to catch the bus for school. It hasn't changed much.
I love this bridge. There are probably more beautiful bridges in this world but the Memphis/Arkansas bridge is home.
This is a view of the Mud Island Amphitheater. I spent a lot of time here going to concerts and basically hanging out. There was the Riverboat Museum, Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain, not in person, but still great, the monorail was in The Firm with Tom Cruise as was the Museum. The Amphitheater is the best place to see a concert. I've seen Jackson Browne there two times. It was like he was singing in my living room. Just a great place to see a show.
Here's the riverboat basin, they do sunset dinners and cruises.
Here's my nephew with a statue of Elvis.
Gift shop at the Peabody. We also saw the man from the show Little People, Big World but I didn't know if I could legally post the picture I took since I was kind of the paparazzi, meaning I didn't ask permission, just snapped the pic.
The view from the roof of the Peabody. Lots of Happy Hours spent here back in the day.
The infamous Peabody ducks. I had camera issues.
My niece and nephew playing piano in the ballroom. I suspect we probably shouldn't have been there. But hey whatever we do what we want.
As further proof, my nephew on one the dog statues in the lobby.
My brother's dog Sophie. I love her and want her to come live with us.
When I went home I stayed in my niece's bedroom which used to be my bedroom(my brother bought my mother's house). Here's some early morning knitting. It's supposed to eventually be a laptop bag from Alterknits.
This is a view from the bedroom similar to what it was when it was my bedroom only there should be horses in the pasture and a barbed wire fence covered in honeysuckle.
This is my niece's exact view. I hate progress and development except for things like iPods, laptops, and Kindles.
This is the road I walked down every morning to catch the bus for school. It hasn't changed much.
I spent most of my life plotting my escape from this place. I wanted to move to LA or Florida or even Nashville, if I couldn't be a screenwriter, or live on the beach and write Harlequin romances, I could write country songs. 20+ years later I'm in Florida. I love it here, but I often wonder if it will ever be home, or will I always be that Tennessee girl? Seeing my family everyday, walking across the road to see my Aunt and Uncle in the mornings, eat cookies for breakfast, read the paper outside, see faces of neighbors I've known all my life, catch up on the lives of girls who are now women, who also moved away, who manage to wander back home a little more often than myself.
I hate going home because I'm reminded of what I miss the most. The family connection, the history. Being with people who know your history, people that when you see them the conversation just picks up where you left off five years ago, there's no awkwardness, it's just HOME.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Ike
We aren't anywhere in the storm cone for Ike but he has decided to visit my area any way. When the 12 yr old got out of school we drove over to the beach to see what was up. The surf apparently. Highway 98 between Oakaloosa Island and Destin was closed today. It was partially underwater at 7 a.m. Not a good sign. 
Funny in this day and age beaches have to put up these flags because stupid goobers think it's cool to wade out in the water. I mean look at the surf, is it really necessary to put up a no swimming flag? Of course it is because someone will sue the county because they assumed since there was no flag that the water is safe. It doesn't matter what it looks like, since there wasn't an official symbol of some kind, let's swim! Is this where I mention how one time at the McD's in Destin this tourist was complaining about all the jellyfish in the Gulf and couldn't they do something about it. I had to explain to her that if she doesn't want to be around jelly fish to swim in a pool. The Gulf is a living body of water, that means it's has fish, jellies, sharks, grouper, they live there.
The youngest son is not down with the paparazzi:
This picture was taken with my digital camera. A Nikon Coolpix. It looks to me like it could have been taken in the 1970s with a Kodak Instamatic. 11o film anyone?
I wish my camera had done better, or I had. My friend Pam got some great pics today. If she posts them on her blog I'll post a link for you all.
Funny in this day and age beaches have to put up these flags because stupid goobers think it's cool to wade out in the water. I mean look at the surf, is it really necessary to put up a no swimming flag? Of course it is because someone will sue the county because they assumed since there was no flag that the water is safe. It doesn't matter what it looks like, since there wasn't an official symbol of some kind, let's swim! Is this where I mention how one time at the McD's in Destin this tourist was complaining about all the jellyfish in the Gulf and couldn't they do something about it. I had to explain to her that if she doesn't want to be around jelly fish to swim in a pool. The Gulf is a living body of water, that means it's has fish, jellies, sharks, grouper, they live there.
The youngest son is not down with the paparazzi:
This picture was taken with my digital camera. A Nikon Coolpix. It looks to me like it could have been taken in the 1970s with a Kodak Instamatic. 11o film anyone?
I wish my camera had done better, or I had. My friend Pam got some great pics today. If she posts them on her blog I'll post a link for you all.
Anna-the bagel recipe can be found here:
and the pita recipe here:
I had good luck with both.
I Seriously, Madly, Truly, want one of these:
I want it BAD! I've been jonesing over one for the last six months and now it appears that people( Yarn-A-Go-Go: Kindling! ) are buying them and loving them. I dreamed about one last night. I know I'm sick.
In Other News
The summer was a sad one for me in a lot of ways. I lost my dad and my book that I spent a year writing and even got paid to write, well it's not going to be published this year. Thank you tanking economy. I have a wonderful agent and she believes in the project and I've moved on to attempt to write a second book, a little different, but maybe it will appeal to a wider audience and publishers and if there is success with that proposal maybe the first book will get a second look.
I cried really hard for six weeks, because it's that whole, hopes, dreams, everything you ever wanted, you tell someone your deepest, darkest secrets, and poof, it's a reality, like you never even considered hoping could possibly come true, and it does-- only to be so freakin' close, I mean so very close to that one and only dream, and it vanishes. Like it never ever happened.
From the Workbasket:
I've been working on Plum Street Samplers Coffin Buzz complimentary chart. I might get it finished this weekend, or maybe not. I have several projects going, some I'm trying to figure out what the heck to do, they are sewing related, and others I just don't know what to work on. I'm thinking when I finish Coffin Buzz I'll pull out Long Dog's Sonne Spotte. It's been on my mind lately and I ran across it when I was looking for something. I'm always looking for something it seems.
I'm kind of obsessing over making my own clothes, not sure why(probably the whole melt down in the dressing room thing). I can't sew worth a flip. I have a skirt here I made a few months ago and still haven't sewn the waistband--or the hem but it's cute and I put it on and wear it around the house sometimes. The back seems shorter than the front because baby I got me some back.
In Some Totally Crazy
Probably shouldn't say that outloud news: I can button and zip my shorts and pull them down over my fat butt. The way I know this is that my shorts have been feeling funny and I wasn't sure why. They seemed longer than normal. I was sagging like my 17 yr old and let me tell ya, the granny panties peaking out over the top of some shorts is soooooo hot....I mean people look, that does mean I'm hot right? Anyway, today while at the beach taking some horrible pictures, see above, my shorts almost blew right off my body. I freaked out, came home and I'll be darned if they just didn't slip right off. Talk about being a bit overwhelmed. Then my neighbors got home from work and right in the front yard I said, "Hey y'all, check it!" and proceeded to pull my shorts down just a bit. They were shocked and then awed when they saw what I was doing. At first they thought I had lost my ever lovin' mind stripping right there in the front yard but then it clicked, OMG she's lost some weight. Yeah, I have my idiosyncracies, one happens to be, I go with the flow and the excitement of the moment, and it's why I hide out in my house most of the time because I can really humiliate myself when I live in the moment.
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