on Veteran's Day

My dad lied about his age to join the Marines when he was 17. To get away from my Grandmother, the story goes. It was only when he was dying and beginning to catch up on the stories of his life that he talked much about it, and those stories are overshadowed in my memory by the cancer. After he died, I sent for his records. He was in Korea, just after the war ended. He went AWOL once for a few days. I know he told me that story, he went home for some reason, but I can't remember why now. It's really hard to imagine my dad as a Marine, or rather as that kid who wanted to leave home and chose the Marines as a way to do so. If there is a Marine "type" my dad as I knew him didn't fit the mold, but he earned that veteran status. They sent me a flag when he died.

Our most famous family member, and the man who will always remind me that one person can make a difference, is my Great Uncle Roger. Most people know him as Roger Durbin, the man behind the WWII Memorial. Even without his bit of fame, Uncle Roger was one of my favorite family members. He had been a black sheep in his day too, and knew what I was going through back in my wilder days. I acquired my love of politics from him and my dad. I missed them both during the past election.

For years, the Memorial was his obsession. I can remember the first time he brought it up, insisting there would be a memorial in Washington one day, even though no one backed his dream at that time at all. I hope the look on my face didn't reflect what I was thinking, "If they haven't built one by now, one crazy old man from Berkey Ohio isn't going to make them." Over the years, he never gave up. He brought out the scrapbooks of the letters he wrote every chance he could, made many trips to Washington, my Aunt Marian along in her red suit. Eventually he was able to hang a drawing of the design on his wall, and you can go there today and see how it all worked out. Who wouldn't be proud to be related to him? I would have never believed it would be possible he would die before it was finished, but he did. At his funeral, one of the cousins read a letter from Bob Dole. His son and grandchildren received condolence letters from President Clinton, among others.

And now the combat veterans are my daughters' friends. Another aspect of life passed on over time.

Is the correct phrase "Happy Veteran's Day?" Seems unlikely, but either way, Dad and Uncle Roger, I'm thinking of you.

from my email

adventures in canvassing

I didn't do nearly as much as I intended over the past months, but win or lose, I couldn't let this election go by without doing something. Over the past 2 days, I found myself going door to door in some of the poorest parts of the city, making sure people got out to vote.

You really can't go wrong out there when you're walking around wearing Obama buttons and carrying around a stack of VOTE OBAMA! door hangers. At worst, I got an occasional look, before people realized what we were there for. At best, people actually cheered when they saw what we were doing. Yesterday my canvassing buddy got a hug from a man he'd been talking with. Considering he was here from NYC, that midwest friendliness took him by surprise. My 7th grader was off school today, so I took him along to help. He'll always remember his little part in this election, and probably the "you keep up the good work, little man!!" comments as well. It was great weather today, certainly worked in our favor. All afternoon we passed people on their way over to the polls.

My two favorite encounters were with probably the oldest person I talked to, and the youngest. Today we were targeting newly registered voters, or those who don't vote regularly, but vote Democratic when they do. We had ages on our lists, so I know one man I talked with was 78 years old. He told me he couldn't vote because the only ID he has is his grocery store card, but he did thank me for stopping because he "sure had enjoyed all the company this week." LOL!

Later we ran into a barefoot little boy, maybe 5 if that. He came up to us as we were walking along, so I asked him if he had voted yet. He gave me a serious look, shook his head, and said "No but my daddy voted for BARACK OBAMA!" For that, I had to peel my Obama sticker off my shirt and put it on his, then he asked for one of the door hangers too, so we gave him one. He politely said "thank you" and ran home with his stuff.

Thank God it worked out already in Ohio. It's sure a relief to know this early. And thank God it looks like this country has another chance. It's all over now but the speeches.

Madelyn Dunham

How heartbreaking is it that Obama's grandmother died this close to the election? Still, she really has seen history being made all along. RIP, Mrs. Dunham. You did well.

the countdown begins

OMG I cannot believe that within just over 24 hours, this whole thing will be decided. I finally got around to "early" voting today, went down, took a look at the line and figured forget that. They were lined up down an entire block. I'll vote tomorrow. It will be busy here too but not that busy. Instead I went over the campaign headquarters and canvassed for a few hours. While I was hanging VOTE! reminders on doorknobs, someone hung one on mine. LOL Tomorrow my son's off school, so I'm going to drag him along to help. Then I'll meet my older daughter at the polls to cast our votes together. Then back here to reload the computer incessantly until it's official and Obama is the next president of the United States!

average day of Republican campaign propoganda

After weeks of walking this garbage straight from the mailbox to the trash, it occured to me to save a few of these to share. Until I did, I hadn't even noticed that it's been coming in my name now. Before it was in my daughter's name, who is still registered Independent. I voted Democrat in the primaries, are they really desperate enough to be targeting everyone now?
I swear all 3 of these came in one day. This week they're using economic fear. Last week I remember a couple of them about Ayers. Gotta love the out of context and outdated quotes, too. You'd think at some point they're notice this negative BS isn't working, beyond the voters who bought it all along anyhow. I just hope they're wasting a lot of money trying to convince people like me, whose minds have been made up from the start.

First brochure:




Second Brochure:




Third Brochure:

Nuclear Power

We spend a lot of time on Lake Erie, in areas where Davis-Besse nuclear power plant is always looming on the horizon. It becomes just another part of the landscape out there. Over the past few weeks, I have made many trips to Lakeside-Marblehead, looking for Haven, and so took State Route 2 right alongside it. It's captivating up close like that, especially on a cooler day when the steam plume is very large.

(I've considered pulling over for photos of the towers themselves, or the "Don't you dare pull in here, we mean it!" signs next to the driveways, but who knows how tight security is. I'm sure "but I only wanted it for my blog!" gets a nod and a smile from whoever stops to ask what the hell you think you're doing.)

I do think in a lot of ways we've become fairly complacent about these plants in our midst. After all, they did catch the near-disastrous rusting-out mishap by a few inches of steel, before anything really really bad actually happened. (Ok only by maybe a week or so and then only by luck, but it's the thought that counts, right?)

Heard About the Near-Accident at the Ohio Nuclear Plant? I'm Not Surprised By Victor Gilinsky Sunday, April 28 , 2002 washingtonpost.com

And this week's minor little leak probably won't effect groundwater! Davis-Besse Radioactive Leak is Fixed (Hmmm, no mention of its effect of Lake Erie water seeing how the plant is right on the shoreline and all that.)

Either way, I'm still not 100% opposed to nuclear power. There's trade-offs with everything, and short of eliminating 9/10ths of the human population, and going back to fire, odds are we're going to have to do some things that have risk.

What I am opposed to is John McCain's energy policy of "clean coal" and building 45 new nuclear power plants. Now does anything scream "I'm stuck in the last century and that's OK!" more than that? Uh, John, I know in the 70s the general rule was "wind and solar will never work!!!" but you might be surprised to find out how much the technology has changed. Yeah OK, we're nowhere near ending our reliance on fossil fuels, but how about we work towards that goal, rather than away from it?

I could never get it anyhow. I remember the 70s. I remember my parents trading their big ol' Pontiac for a freaking Chevy Citation, and then trying to cram 4 teenaged kids in it. (OK so the plus side of that is then we had an excuse to avoid family outings.) I remember when MPG standards mattered and houses were built more energy efficient as well. So what has happened in the intervening years, besides well, nothing? We've known all along oil, foreign or domestic, is a FINITE RESCOURCE, correct? How come we never seem to have any concern or sense of responsibility for the world we will leave future generations? I'm the poster child for poor planning, but civilization as we know it doesn't exactly hinge upon me.

So, John, I respect that you stayed tough on not drilling the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge, although picking Little Miss Drill and Kill pretty much countered that bit of appeal. I'm not opposed to "clean coal," whether it will ever exist in those exact terms or not. Since we use coal and most likely will continue to use coal, I agree, let's put science to work minimizing the harm that's done. When it comes to nuclear power, how about you tell us all exactly where you plan on putting those 45 plants, OK? Now, before the election, so we can see how quickly voters in those areas race to the polls to vote against you.

As the anti-Obama camp becomes more shrill and angry, they miss facts about their candidate like this one. Yeah Ok I'm stupid or misguided or blindly following a messiah, whatever. I've also waited a long long time for a candidate who is moving ahead, with his eyes on the future, rather than dragging his feet in the dirt, pulling all of us backwards into a past that didn't work all that well the first time.

UK releases files on UFOs

I'm not sure where exactly I stand on this topic. The secrecy has always struck me as strange. What reasons are there for not giving us the complete story? It also seems likely there is life elsewhere, and also likely more advanced civilizations may have conquered the dimension of time, to come check us out. On the other hand, I can't help but think that now that almost everyone out there is carrying around a camera or a phone with a camera, why have the sightings pretty much stopped? Then again, since so many of these encounters have us trying to shoot "them" down, maybe they stopped bothering to come back.

National Archives
Files Released on UFO Sitings
Files released on UFO sightings
Secret files on UFO sightings have been made available for the first time by the Ministry of Defence.

The documents, which can be downloaded from the National Archives website, cover the period from 1978 to 1987.

They include accounts of strange lights in the sky and unexplained objects being spotted by the public, armed forces and police officers.

One man explained in great detail his "physical and psychic contact" with green aliens since he was a child.

The writer said that one of them, called Algar, was killed in 1981 by another race of beings as he was about to make contact with the UK government.

The letter's author said he visited their bases in the Wirral and Cheshire, while his wife reported seeing a UFO shot down over Wallasey on Merseyside.

The eight released files are part of almost 200 files set to be made available over the next four years.

These documents will be available to download for free for the first month.

A spokesman for the National Archives said they were now becoming available after several requests made under the Freedom of Information Act, and also because of a "proactive move by the Ministry of Defence for an open and transparent government".

Much of the previously classified paperwork is made up of correspondence from the public sent to government officials, such as the MoD and then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher.


You can go. You are too old and too infirm for our purpose
Reported alien comment to pensioner


Another document reveals the experiences of a 78-year-old man who alleged that he met an alien beside Basingstoke Canal in Aldershot, Hampshire in 1983.
He said he went on board the craft, giving a detailed explanation of it, before being quizzed by the aliens about his age.

He was then told: "You can go. You are too old and too infirm for our purpose."

'Britain's Roswell'

Another letter, from the director of a group called the Wigan Ariel Phenomena Investigation Team, asks the MoD if it had a code of practice for dealing with an alien invasion.

A further document reveals how, on 21 February 1982, a group of customers and staff at a Tunbridge Wells pub reported an unknown object with green and red flashing lights - seen heading in the direction of Gatwick airport.

There are some reports from more official sources. The United States Air Force filed a report about two USAF policemen who saw "unusual lights outside the back gate at RAF Woodbridge" in Suffolk in December 1980.


Let me assure this House that Her Majesty's government has never been approached by people from outer space
Government briefing to House of Lords

This relates to the well-known incident of an alleged alien encounter at Rendlesham Forest, dubbed "Britain's Roswell" after the supposed contact made with aliens at Roswell in the United States.

Several drawings are visible in the files from those keen to demonstrate what they had seen.

One such sketch was made by Metropolitan Police officers, who were called out to a house in Stanmore in the London Borough of Harrow on 26 April, 1984.

Three officers spent an hour observing the object in the sky, which "moved erratically from side to side, up and down and to and fro, not venturing far from the original position".

One of the Pcs, who saw the object through binoculars, described it as "circular in the middle with what appeared to be a dome on top and underneath" with different coloured lights.

Common explanations

Visitors to the National Archives site will also find a videocast from Nick Pope, a British UFO specialist.

Mr Pope picked out one incident where a UFO was spotted over central London.


"This is a very interesting illustration that, actually, UFOs are seen in built-up areas. People have this idea they're seen in desolate, rural places.

"There's a sighting actually on Waterloo bridge, when a number of witnesses actually stopped to look at this UFO that was seen over the Thames."

Mr Pope said the most common explanation for UFOs were aircraft lights, bright stars and planets, satellites, meteors, or airships.

A detailed briefing is available within the files, which was prepared by the MoD for Lord Strabolgi, then government chief whip, for a debate on UFOs in the House of Lords in January 1979.

The briefing said that "there is nothing to indicate that UFOlogy is anything but claptrap" and that the idea of an "inter-governmental conspiracy of silence" was "the most astonishing and the most flattering claim of all".


Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Newsnight's report on UFO sightings - and crop circles The briefing goes on to say: "Let me assure this House that Her Majesty's government has never been approached by people from outer space."

Also available on the website is a podcast from Dr David Clarke, an expert in UFO history, discussing the files.

Dr Clarke, who is a lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme that conspiracy theories about aliens are "very difficult to disprove".

He said: "I doubt the disclosure of these files will convince those who believe there is an official cover-up.

"Inevitably, some have already dismissed this release as a whitewash. For them the 'truth' still remains out there, hidden no doubt in more above top secret files hidden somewhere else."

Recruiting Republicans

Much to my chagrin, my 20 year old didn't vote in the primary. A little thing like an ice storm kept her from making the drive back here from where she goes to school (25 minutes away.) I kept telling her to change her address but she wants to vote here.

Anyhow, as a result she's undeclared/independent. (In Ohio you declare a party to vote in a primary. I've skipped doing so a few times, usually when I'm annoyed with the Dems. It does seem to increase the amount of election mail I got on both sides.) As a result of that, I've had the misfortune of seeing a whole lot of McCain propaganda show up in my mailbox. ALL of it has been attacks on Obama, nothing at all explaining the benefits of voting for a McCain/Palin ticket. I told her she was getting a lot of R mail. Her response was "well that isn't happening." Everything that's shown up here has been walked directly from the mailbox to the trash.

So, just now a car pulled into my driveway and 2 nice young men in their early 20s came to my door, holding clipboards. I actually assumed they were Jehovah's Witnesses. They haven't been around since they asked my (then) husband if he'd read the Bible and he asked them if they'd read a physics textbook. But no! They asked for Sarah. I explained she's in Bowling Green, and they said they were with the Lucas County Republican Party. I laughed and assured them she is NOT a Republican. I admire their willingness to get out and work for their party but one thing I am proud of is raising liberals. I indoctrinate them young and often. Haha

Joe the Plumber

All I can think throughout this whole surreal Joe the Plumber routine is that Andy Warhol was an absolute genius. And Joe's 15 minutes should be about up.
Here's what was on my igoogle screen just now. I literally laughed out loud.

Tax Advice for ‘Joe the Plumber’
New York Times - all 2865 related »

You'd almost feel sorry for the guy, having his dirty laundry hung out like this, over nothing more than being home when a certain presidential candidate turned off for a walk down his block. Still he's been playing it. He's answered every call and showed up for every interview. No one in this day and age should be surprised at how little privacy any of us have.

I was skeptical about the story to begin with. A 34 year old man living with his dad in a modest Holland neighborhood is going to buy the plumbing business where he works? I don't believe there was anything sinister about his statement. In his mind it was a hypothetical, a little white lie that wouldn't have left his street if it weren't for Obama's "share the wealth" reply. He's a typical "Joe Six Pack" spouting off the party lines, unable to actually see the "tax increase for big business" doesn't apply to him and never will.

McCain can't win for losing though. His poster child is a tax cheat, a liar, and isn't even a plumber at all.

the funny thing about A.C.O.R.N.

...is I actually worked for them when I lived in Denver, 1982-83. Their "help wanted" ad was worded to appeal to "change the world!" liberals like me, so off I went. As it turned out, what they needed were canvassers, people to go door to door to get signatures on something or another but mostly to garner donations. That's one life experience that was certainly interesting but I never wanted to do again.

I can't remember how long I lasted, I want to say around 6 months, through fall and winter. I remember Christmastime, seeing everyone's trees and decorations. It doesn't matter how insincere you are, everyone beams if you compliment them on their lovely tree. It's really a bizarre thing to do, knocking on people's doors each evening, standing around in their living rooms while they get their checkbooks. Those were certainly slightly more innocent times. Can you imagine sending 20-something women out alone at night now, without even a cell phone?

Our workday started around 2, when we'd meet at the office. From there, we'd carpool out to whatever neighborhood we were working in, and find a place to have a late lunch. I ended up dining at a whole range of "all you can eat" buffets I might have otherwise missed. As I recall, our "hit the streets" workday started at 4 or 5, and lasted until 9 or so? Then back to the office to count our take, and compare notes from the day.

I'm not sure how I lasted even as long as I did, but it was mostly the people I worked with. We had fun: at diners, on the streets, at parties, at bars on payday. The office was across the street from Just Another Bar. We called it Just About A Bar, and many a night was spent there shooting pool. I want to say they also had shuffleboard but maybe I've meshed my dive bar memories into one generic tavern. One night I snuck off with my cute-boy-crush, Donny, to have a quiet beer on our own. We chose The New Yorker on Colfax because of its classy flashing neon martini glass and only later found out it was one of the main "pimp and hooker" bars in that area. One of the worst cheap drinking experiences I've had was one Saturday afternoon at Rick and Liz's when we tossed all our money together for a gallon of vodka and mixed it with generic powdered lemonade mix. Conversely the only time I was ever even near the Brown Hotel was when one girl's mom came to town and took us to lunch. She was a state senator somewhere, I think Maine, so what was her 19 year old daughter doing on the other side of the country, tromping door to door?

Towards the end we started taking my car out to the "turf," which became my downfall. Wayne and I would race through our streets as fast as possible, make quota, then head for a bar. When you get to the point you can't face one more door slammed in your face, you're done. It's just a matter of which day you actually walk back and say no more. I have no idea what happened to anyone. I can't remember enough full names to even stalk them via google. When I think back to people in my past, I mostly just hope that some of them remained liberals.

We were fairly removed from the "community organizer" aspect of the organization there. We had a couple of COs, but we didn't see much of them. Rumor was they were paid next to nothing at all. They were involved in fighting utility rate increases, and when we'd canvas in lower income neighborhoods we'd get a lot more support and hear stories about work that had been done to help people organize block watches or get people involved in other ways. As far as I know, Denver wasn't involved in the squatting campaigns at that time. Still, say what you want, there's a certain logic in allowing people who have no homes to live in those that are abandoned anyhow. Remember this was the early 80s, not especially good economic times. I can't help but wonder if we'll see that again sometime soon, middle class people left on the streets by the next Great Depression moving into suburban homes sitting empty because of foreclosure?

ACORN's apparently claimed the people acquiring fraudulent voter registrations weren't paid by the piece? I have no idea how things are done now but I know back then we weren't paid by donation but we did have to make a quota each night. It wasn't an unreasonable amount, and given how many people will just toss money out the door if you knock and give a speech, most nights we all managed to make it. Still if that's still the case, you can bet there were some people sitting in bars, filling out a stack of paperwork to turn in at the end of the day. I don't believe the issues with voter registrations will effect this election all that much one way or another. I suppose it will give some conservatives a scab to pick or a reason to cry in their beers over the next 4 years, when Obama wins this election by a landslide, and they hope to find an excuse.

One good thing about Palin

...is she's a never-ending source of laughs. This one had me in tears.

That One!

You gotta love how fast this stuff shows up.

That One!

Yes, John, we can see how much you dislike Obama. I can certainly understand how frustrating it is to believe someone is completely wrong for the country when the majority of others see it differently. I've felt that way during the last 2 elections. Still, shoving your wife over to shake hands so you don't have to comes across petulant and childish.

There's any number of points from last night's debate that stood out. If I had the chance to ask one little tiny question though, what I really want to know is when you said we can't afford to have "on the job training" when it comes to national security, did you forget who you picked for VP?

this whole William Ayers thing

I've seen all of Palin's latest "campaign tactics" from any number of Chicken Little hate and fear mongers who have been screaming "terrorist connections!!" "hates America!!" to anyone who would listen for months. I'm sure they're beside themselves with joy that their cause has been given a "legitimate" voice.

Too bad for them that anyone who is taking a critical look at the facts can see what's going on here. Take Bill Ayers, for example. Perhaps there's been minimal association between him and Obama, from being from the same place more than anything else. Ayers made a campaign contribution too!!! Ooooooohh!! Beyond that, though, so what?! Ayers is a respected education professor. He has never been convicted of any crime. OK, so he's made some not-so-nice statements about a time when a whole lot of not-so-nice things were going on. Where's all the FREEDOM OF SPEECH rhetoric the conservatives throw out when you dare to question, say Ann Coulter's death to all liberal spiels? Yeah so he's unrepentant, and accordingly, Obama's a terrorist!? What?! It would be laughable if they weren't serious. When has any other candidate for any other office been made to be responsible for every single thing uttered by every single person they've associated with at all?

And McCain/Palin (and their rabid supporters) apparently can't figure out why this isn't working to win votes. Every single time they take some tiny bit of information and blow it completely out of proportion, while leaping up and down and pointing and spitting in hysteria, all they do is prove they have nothing legitimate against Obama. Obama needs to respond as minimally as possible and then let it go. He does his campaign no favors by getting down in the mud with these pigs, wearing lipstick or not.

Defenders of Wildlife takes on Palin

In case you've missed it:

"Aerial killing of wolves may not be your standard national election issue, but it is one that helps illuminate an important part of Sarah Palin's character," said President of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund Rodger Schlickeisen. "We believe voters deserve to know about her support for this brutal practice, and we are confident the issue can move votes as we head into the home stretch of this campaign."




Alaska's aerial wolf killing program allows private citizens with licenses to fly in private planes and shoot wolves from the air or chase them to exhaustion before landing and shooting them point blank. The gunners then keep the pelts which they're allowed to sell for profit. The program also targets grizzly and black bears. The ad highlights Palin's shocking proposal of a $150 bounty to be given to aerial hunters in exchange for each severed left foreleg of a killed wolf.

"When John McCain picked the notoriously anti-environmental Sarah Palin as his running mate, he abdicated his once-admirable - if erratic - support for pro-environmental policies and settled once and for all the question of which ticket should be trusted with the care of our natural resources," concluded Schlickeisen

"Scientists and wildlife experts have consistently condemned Governor Palin's aerial wolf killing program, yet she continues to ignore sound science and promote the program," continued Schlickeisen. "Her biased approach is unnervingly familiar and is the last thing we need after eight years of President Bush's ideologically-driven approach to the stewardship of our air, land, water and wildlife, an approach that not only ignored government scientists' findings but often altered them in the public record. Palin seems quite at home with that approach."

Marblehead Lighthouse

As mentioned in my rescue blog, twice this past week I've ended up at Marblehead Lighthouse, as well as the rest of the town of Marblehead. I've been there 3 or 4 times over the years and have yet to make it during a time when we could climb the lighthouse and look out over the lake. Without that aspect of the experience, there's not much to it. According to the website, it's the most photographed landmark on Lake Erie, and since I'm always happy to be a cliche, I dutifully lined the kids up and took a couple of pictures. They were especially impressed you can see Cedar Point across the bay, so we fed quarters into the big binocular-things (hey I tried to find a proper name on google with no luck) in the hopes of focusing in on someone screaming on a roller coaster. Judging from how many people were coming and going while I was there, it's a popular park. I suppose the romantic notion of lighthouses is a bigger draw than hiking 5 miles down a rocky beach hoping to see an eagle. It's definitely worth seeing though. The lake there is especially pretty as well.

I've probably mentioned it before and most assuredly will mention it again but I love Lake Erie. Just everything about it! The parks, the birds, the wildlife, the beaches. I'm not sure why I live so far "inland" but it's a situation I plan to remedy eventually. I have every intention of spending my golden (just around the corner) years in a ratty camper in some dive campground along the lake; just me, my coffee cup, a library card, and a couple of mean chihuahuas.

for all of us Harry Potter fans

(If you haven't read the books, you won't get it. If you have, you'll laugh.)

from Post Secret

Great anti-Palin campaign tactic

This is classic. LOL

from my email:
-------
A particularly appealing guerilla tactic, dutifully forwarded from my brother. LOL!



Dear Friends:
>
> We may have thought we wanted a woman on a national political ticket, but the joke has really been on us, hasn't it? Are you as sick in your stomach as I am at the thought of Sarah Palin as Vice President of the United States ?
>
> Since Palin gave her speech accepting the Republican nomination for the Vice Presidency, Barack Obama's campaign has raised over $10 million dollars. Some of you may already be supporting the Obama campaign financially; others of you may still be a little honked off over the primaries. None of you, however, can be happy with Palin's selection, especially on her positions on women's issues. So, if you feel you can't support the Obama campaign financially, may I suggest the following fiendishly brilliant alternative?
>
> Make a donation to Planned Parenthood. In Sarah Palin's name. And here's the good part: when you make a donation to PP in her name, they'll send her a card telling her that the donation has been made in her honor. Here's the link to the Planned Parenthood website:
>
> http://www.plannedparenthood.org/

(From there, click on "Donate" to "Donate Online" to "Honorary or Memorial donations" to find the site that takes "in honor of" donations.)
>
> You'll need to fill in the address to let PP know where to send the "in Sarah Palin's honor" card. I suggest you use the address for the McCain campaign headquarters, which is:
>
> McCain for President
> 1235 S. Clark Street
> 1st Floor
> Arlington , VA 22202
>
> Feel free to send this along to all your friends and urge them to do the same.

Fools and Politics

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time. -Abraham Lincoln, (attributed)

You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on.
-George W.Bush


I just happened across the second quote while verifying the first. If that isn't the slogan of the McCain/Palin campaign, I don't know what is.

Now Palin's husband won't testify in trooper inquiry. What a great tactic, really. "Well, because some Democrats said she is probably guilty, we cannot get a fair investigation and so we won't have one at all! Nyah nyah nyah!" You have to wonder if they came up with it before they considered her for VP, or just winged it after the fact. Who cares what really went on! We can stonewall the whole investigation until after the elections! All we have to do is blame the Dems, knowing there's enough blind haters out there, we can pull it off!

What a complete and utter joke the Rs campaign has become. Toss enough mud and blow enough smoke and at least half of the country won't even bother to follow the story line, and just BAA their way all to the polls like sheep. I do believe there are intelligent Rs out there who have to see through this crap as well, but don't care as long as it works.

In Tarot, the Fool is a light-hearted card, representing beginnings and starting anew. That's sure as hell not going to be the case with a McCain/Palin administration. I have spent 8 years mumbling or yelling I told you so!!! to the voters who blindly followed Bush, and then seemed shocked at the outcome. It cannot happen again.

September 11

Nearly every flag I saw today was at half-mast. I always twitch a bit at incorrect flag etiquette so that small detail stood out. I can't think of another holiday when everyone remembers to honor our flag.

We all have our small personal memories, juxtaposed against the nearly universal impressions we all share. One image stands out for me: going to my daughter's soccer game that first Saturday, everyone still reeling from shock and pain, yet trying to maintain some normalcy for the children. In the middle of the soccer fields, one coach had brought the flag from his home, and stuck the flag pole into the ground next to his lawn chair. It flew in the wind as the kids played their games, one small reminder that nothing would ever be the same again.

A few weeks before we were attacked, I took my daughter to "interview" my 80 year old great aunt about her memories of WWII. When she talked about Pearl Harbor, her eyes filled with tears. I've always imagined that's the way we will be, always one question away from being taken back to exactly how we felt when we watched it unfold.

My heart goes out to everyone who lost someone they loved on that horrible day. And my heart goes out to all of us too, for what we lost then as well.

Can't Cry Hard Enough

If you've never seen this, it is beautiful and heartbreaking.

Can't Cry Hard Enough

The artist created it during those first horror-filled days. He sent it to 25 people, with no idea it would eventually be seen by millions.

by Jason Powers

Large Haldron Collider

Well they're firing this thing up tomorrow.

Large Hadron Collider.

So, Kiss the World Goodbye! haha Just kidding.

I think it's cool as hell. I'll be the first to admit I'm generally pretty lost when it comes to anything to do with physics or astronomy, once you move out of the realm of red, yellow, blue or white stars. I've been slowly working my way through

and thanks to Bryson, I have begun to understand some aspects more clearly. Still I'd most certainly fail a high school physics test, even if you left out the formulas.

That doesn't stop me from being completely in awe of space in a way I can't quite put into words. There is a reason that god and "heaven" are so oftentimes believed to be in the stars. I also believe that the answers to the biggest gaps in what we know about the universe will come once we find a way to conquer the dimension of time. Maybe this is how they will find those answers. It is plausible they will replicate a "Big Bang" and come up with a clearer understanding of how the universe began. (Hopefully before Palin starts teaching "creation science" in schools, supported by people who can't understand that all science is theory, which is not the same as religion.) (Oops political sidetrack there.)

To quote my ex, the physicist, "these researchers are like priests in the science. And we are just bunch of sinners trying to do some laser imaging."

I just hope that whatever they find out, they put it in terms I can understand. Maybe Bill Bryson can explain it.

Art In the Wild

On our way back from White Star Quarry after watching my son take his SCUBA certification testing, my daughter and I drove through the small town of Gibsonburg, Ohio (pop. about 2500.)

You wouldn't expect all that much from a town that size so I did a double take when I noticed a group of sculptures alongside a small lake in the middle of town. We decided to turn around and see what it was about. The few I'd noticed from the road lead to more and more, maybe 2 dozen encircling the lake, all by different artists. It was like happening upon a small roadside museum, just...there, with no explanation at all. In this little War Memorial Park in this tiny town. It was amazing and very cool.

Apparently it started a few years ago when one local artist was asked to display more of his work, and he invited others and it's gone on since then. I'm not sure it would be worth making a long drive but if you're out that way at all, it's definitely worth stopping to see. I'm really glad we came across it.
Small Town, Big Art

County Fairs

We went to the Fulton County Fair on Sunday. The fair is one of the truly great things about the rural area where I spent my childhood. That there are basically no other great things is why I don't live there now.

Still, the website doesn't do it justice. This is a true country fair. They have buildings packed full of livestock, horse shows, a building full of floral displays, needlepoint and quilts, arts and crafts, another full of homegrown fruits and vegetables. It's a tradition there to gather up the best of whatever it is you do best, and enter it in the fair.

I drag my kids from place to place, exclaiming at all the different varieties of chickens (as though we've never seen them before), wondering how we can ever eat a turkey after staring at them eye to eye (we get over that by November.) We pet bunnies, and horses. (Watch their ears! That one will bite!) Every time we walk through the goat and sheep barn, I tell my son the story AGAIN about when he was in his stroller, and got scared half to death by a big loud BAA!! in his face by a sheep, and how he wouldn't go back in that building for the next few years.

My kids of course go to ride rides. Unfortunately they're at an awkward age now, too big for the little kids' rides, but with a mother who is too neurotic to let them ride most of the big rides. (Hello, they put them up yesterday?! All it's going to take is one loose bolt and that flying thing will be flying right on down the midway!) So they mostly end up riding the bumper cars over and over.

I am a grown-up so of course I go for the food. We have a routine. First, we go to the french fry booth. Not all the others that offer fries but rather THE booth, the same one in the same place with the same fries (maybe even the same grease) in a paper cup I have been eating every year since I can remember. Next to that is the Dairy Barn for milk shakes and THEN to the Beef Farmers' Booth for either a roast beef or rib eye sandwich. (Sympathy for steers rarely enters into the equation. Steers are big and rather un-cute, plus when they're in their stalls all you see is their butts.) Before we leave, we get a box of fresh donuts from the Band Boosters under the Grandstands. The Grange people also grill up the best chicken halves anywhere so I usually grab one of those to go, too.

When we were kids, we all did 4-H. I started off taking sewing??? All I can come up with is my girl cousins did it, so I did too. Once. Then we had lambs. You care for your lamb all summer, feed it, keep records of the expenses involved. Before the fair, someone comes and shears it of its wool. Then you care for it all week at the fair and take it to the required lamb show. Then at the end of the week everyone takes their sheep (and other livestock) to the jr fair auction where various businesses pay higher than market price for your 4-H project. Afterwards you say goodbye to your little friends, knowing they're headed off to become someone's dinner, and collect a check. Farm kids are a tough lot.

Bold Move. Won't Work

All of the "WHO?" and "oh so now we don't care about 'inexperience?'" comments aside, one small thing McCain apparently missed when he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate is that many conservative women don't particularly like mothers who work outside of the home, especially mothers of infants. Much less the mother of a special needs' infant. Don't take my word on it, find a "working mom vs stay at home mom" discussion anywhere on the internet. And then stand back. Those women are scary. He'll gain some votes sure, rabid pro-lifers or Hillary supporters who were voting straight gender, but I bet there will be just as many women who stay home entirely rather than support a women they perceive as not caring for her own child.

thoughts on Barack Obama

The first time Obama landed on my radar was when I read his comments on Hurricane Katrina. I thought my god, this is someone who truly gets it. From there on in, I kept holding my breath in a sense, waiting for his image to tarnish, to find out he was as much of a game player as most everyone else in politics.
Instead, here we are. During his acceptance speech I was reminded again this is about leadership, and inspiration. This is about someone who will make us believe in ourselves and our country once again. We are at a crossroads. I truly believe this could be one of those turning points in history, that we are on the brink of great change.
Let's hope.



Statement of Senator Barack Obama on Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts
Tuesday, September 6, 2005


I just got back from a trip to Houston with former Presidents Clinton and Bush. And as we wandered through the crowd, we heard in very intimate terms the heart-wrenching stories that all of us have witnessed from a distance over the past several days: mothers separated from babies, adults mourning the loss of elderly parents, descriptions of the heat and filth and fear of the Superdome and the Convention Center.
There was an overriding sense of relief, for the officials in Houston have done an outstanding job of creating a clean and stable place for these families in the short-term. But a conversation I had with one woman captured the realities that are settling into these families as they face the future.

She told me "We had nothing before the hurricane. Now we got less than nothing."

We had nothing before the hurricane. Now we got less than nothing.

In the coming weeks, as the images of the immediate crisis fade and this chamber becomes consumed with other matters, we will be hearing a lot about lessons learned and steps to be taken. I will be among those voices calling for action.

In the most immediate term, we will have to assure that the efforts at evacuating families from the affected states proceeds - that these Americans are fed, clothed, housed, and provided with the immediate care and medicine that they need. We're going to have to make sure that we cut through red tape. I can say from personal experience how frustrating, how unconscionable it is, that it has been so difficult to get medical supplies to those in need quickly enough. We should make certain that any impediments that may continue to exist in preventing relief efforts from moving rapidly are eliminated.

Once we stabilize the situation, this country will face an enormous challenge in providing stability for displaced families over the months and years that it will take to rebuild. Already, the state of Illinois has committed to accepting 10,000 families that are displaced. There are stories in Illinois as there are everywhere of churches, mosques, synagogues and individual families welcoming people with open arms and no strings attached. Indeed, if there's any bright light that has come out of this disaster, it's the degree to which ordinary Americans have responded with speed and determination even as their government has responded with unconscionable ineptitude.

Which brings me to the next point. Once the situation is stable, once families are settled - at least for the short term - once children are reunited with their parents and enrolled in schools and the wounds have healed, we're gonna have to do some hard thinking about how we could have failed our fellow citizens so badly, and how we will prevent such a failure from ever occurring again.

It is not politics to insist that we have an independent commission to examine these issues. Indeed, one of the heartening things about this crisis has been the degree to which the outrage has come from across the political spectrum; across races; across incomes. The degree to which the American people sense that we can and must do better, and a recognition that if we cannot cope with a crisis that has been predicted for decades - a crisis in which we're given four or five days notice - how can we ever hope to respond to a serious terrorist attack in a major American city in which there is no notice, and in which the death toll and panic and disruptions may be far greater?

Which brings me to my final point. There's been much attention in the press about the fact that those who were left behind in New Orleans were disproportionately poor and African American. I've said publicly that I do not subscribe to the notion that the painfully slow response of FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security was racially-based. The ineptitude was colorblind.

But what must be said is that whoever was in charge of planning and preparing for the worst case scenario appeared to assume that every American has the capacity to load up their family in an SUV, fill it up with $100 worth of gasoline, stick some bottled water in the trunk, and use a credit card to check in to a hotel on safe ground. I see no evidence of active malice, but I see a continuation of passive indifference on the part of our government towards the least of these.

And so I hope that out of this crisis we all begin to reflect - Democrat and Republican - on not only our individual responsibilities to ourselves and our families, but to our mutual responsibilities to our fellow Americans. I hope we realize that the people of New Orleans weren't just abandoned during the Hurricane. They were abandoned long ago - to murder and mayhem in their streets; to substandard schools; to dilapidated housing; to inadequate health care; to a pervasive sense of hopelessness.

That is the deeper shame of this past week - that it has taken a crisis like this one to awaken us to the great divide that continues to fester in our midst. That's what all Americans are truly ashamed about, and the fact that we're ashamed about it is a good sign. The fact that all of us - black, white, rich, poor, Republican, Democrat - don't like to see such a reflection of this country we love, tells me that the American people have better instincts and a broader heart than our current politics would indicate.

We had nothing before the Hurricane. Now we have even less.

I hope that we all take the time to ponder the truth of that message.

On Getting Old

With the way time speeds up the older I get, I've always suspected this is exactly how it goes:

"I don't feel old yet," Mrs. Fowler said yesterday, her 108th birthday.

"Should I feel old? I was 40, and then I was 108."



Happy Birthday, Mrs. Fowler, and many happy returns.

Local Woman toasts 108th year

Prayers and Perspective

As is often the way with the internet, we become involved in people's lives who we otherwise wouldn't have known. Sara is the niece of someone I originally "met" online, and later in person. She's a little girl, only a few months older than my youngest, who is battling brain cancer.

Thanks to The Caring Bridge 100s if not 1000s of people have been following her progress and offering our thoughts and prayers. Her story is all here, I don't need to repeat it. Sara L Tomorrow she will be undergoing surgery in what is clearly a risky last chance effort to save her life.

Of course anything that can be said here sounds trite. It's heartbreaking, it really is. No one should have to go through this, especially a child. "Meeting" Sara has certainly put my petty complaints and problems into perspective. Anything in my life certainly pales in comparison to this little girl's battles.

If you're so inclined perhaps you can send out a prayer or a good thought tomorrow, and in the days and weeks to come. Thanks.

Edwards: What a Jerk

We can all try for the familiar refrain: his personal life has no bearing on his ability to do his job, what goes on with his marriage is between him and his wife. Sure, why not. Let's face the facts though, if we heard this story about anyone, we'd say "what an asshole."

I never cared one way or another about Bill's Oval Office blow job. Since I did end up hearing all about it, my reaction was "what a pig." I still thought he was a great president, just one who was also a pig. And I quite honestly lost some respect for Hillary because she didn't toss his stuff out on the White House lawn. At least as a symbolic gesture.

Still the Edwards story just strikes a different chord. The image they've presented, all that fresh-faced, hand holding (apparently fake) happiness. And there's no way to overlook Elizabeth's battling cancer. No matter what the timing of the affair and his telling her was or is, how shitty is it that on top of fighting for her life, she had to wake up every day wondering when this story would hit. And we won't even get into the whole "love child" angle. (What a stupid term. Is this the 60s?) Or the assistant who is really the father because wouldn't that be an amazing coincidence, or will anyone believe whatever we're told the DNA does or doesn't show, not that it's any of our business anyhow.

The worst of it all though is the man continued to run for President! If he'd managed to get the nomination, and this came out now?! Or if he was already signed up as VP? Can you imagine the fall-out? Clinton weathered the storm because he was already president and he was doing a good job. This story would have been the kiss of death to a presidential campaign in a race as tight as this one. He had to KNOW sooner or later the shit was going to hit the fan. And still he kept trying. We all know politicians and EGO go hand in hand but there's a fine line, John, and you tromped right across it.

On the plus side, thanks to the Enquirer (go figure), the timing minimizes the potential damage. And when all the finger pointing starts, it will be a great lead-in to remind any Republicans who want to play Holier than Thou about their own candidate's shaky marital history.

The wife John McCain callously left behind

Like it or not, these days politicians are akin to celebrities, and their lives are scrutinized every bit as much. Maybe that's our loss, no doubt we lose potential leaders who aren't willing to toss themselves under the microscope. It certainly shouldn't come as a surprise though that your secrets will come out. If you don't like the rules, then don't play the game. Don't be stupid enough to go full speed ahead when down the road your doing so will torpedo your entire party's chances at a win. What a freaking jerk.

Paris Hilton one-ups McCain

I dislike Paris Hilton as much as the next person (if they've even heard of her) but credit where credit's due. This is funny as hell. Childish of me perhaps but no worse than what McCain himself is pulling. The original "celebrity" ad was a pitiful attempt. I do have an equal opportunity sense of humor though. I also got a chuckle out of McCain's passing out tire gauges on the campaign trail. And YES I do understand Obama's original point.

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Something Whimsical

I don't know why it's here, or who created it. It sits alongside a fairly busy, yet rural road (Crissey Rd north of Angola.) I smile every time I see it. How could you not? Today I finally brought a camera along and stopped to take pictures. It's on a vacant corner lot, far enough from any of the nearby houses it's hard to tell who owns it. I figure it's not all that different than planting flowers, or adding a decorative fence, or even a concrete goose with clothes to your yard. They built it because they enjoyed doing so and hoped it might brighten the day of the people driving by.

It started with the big tree stump, which became a "house," and the other details came long over time. It's far enough back from the road I didn't want to walk up too closely to get pictures but now that I think about it, perhaps next time I'll go leave a note in the mailbox and thank them.

not covered under warranty

This story made me laugh to begin with, just the absurdity of it making international news. "Drunk guy blasts his mower with a sawed-off shotgun! Says it's his yard and his mower, so fuck off!" I'm sure anyone who's battled to get a mower started on a hot day can relate on some level. Still what made me laugh out loud is the comment about his actions voiding the warranty. No!? Shotgun blasts aren't covered?! Who knew?! hahaha


US man charged for shooting mower
Witnesses told police Mr Walendowski appeared to have been drinking
A 56-year-old man from the Midwestern US state of Wisconsin has been arrested after shooting his lawn mower in his garden because it would not start.

Keith Walendowski was charged by police in Milwaukee with disorderly conduct and possession of a sawn-off shotgun.

He could face a fine of up to $11,000 and a maximum prison sentence of six-and-a-half years if convicted.

Police officers said Mr Walendowski had told them: "It's my lawn mower and my yard, so I can shoot it if I want."

Police found the shotgun, a handgun and a stungun, as well as ammunition, when they detained Mr Walendowski in the basement of his house.

Witnesses told police that he appeared to have been drinking.

The lawn mower was found sitting outside Mr Walendowski's house, which he shares with his mother, with the rubbish on Friday.

A local retailer said that Mr Walendowski might now have difficulty getting his lawn mower repaired.

"Anything not factory recommended would void the warranty," said Dick Wagner, of Wagner's Garden Mart in Milwaukee.

Last minute late night post: Toledo on AOL welcome screen

So I see this headline on my way to bed, and my first thought is "it's probably best not to joke with someone who is holding a taser." Then I click and it's freaking Toledo! Gads, do we ever get any good publicity?? Oh and the opinion poll shows "he should sue" as taking a big lead over the other 2 options. When people are supporting someone's right to sue, you know there's a problem.

Grandpa Sues Over Tasering
Says Comment to Guard Was a Joke

CBS Newsposted: 3 HOURS 3 MINUTES AGO
(July 25) - A grandfather and pastor is suing a Toledo, Ohio, hospital after being Tasered and beaten by security guards at the facility.
Much of the incident was caught by surveillance cameras.
Use of Tasers Questioned
CBSNews.com
A pastor has filed suit against a Toledo, Ohio, hospital after being Tasered and beaten by security guards at the facility. Much of last year's incident outside St. Vincent Mercy Hospital was recorded on video.
Al Poisson, 67, says he was visiting a friend in St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center a year ago and was in a very good mood when he came upon a glum-looking guard and joked with him.
"I said (to the guard), 'Are you happy today?' Poisson told "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith Friday. "He said, 'Yeah.' I said, 'Well, you oughta tell your face!' "
Poisson added that, "It went downhill from there" and turned into an "atrocious, unbelievable situation, to say the least."
The guards wound up taking Poisson outside the building, where they used a Taser and/or stun gun on him, dropping him to his knees and, he says, beat, kicked and "manhandled" him when he was down.
It all happened in front of Poisson's son and Poisson's 6-year-old grandson.
The Web site of CBS affiliate WTOL-TV in Toledo cites Poisson's lawsuit as claiming Poisson's son pleaded with the guards to stop because Poisson has a bad heart.
The Web site also says a police report quotes the security guards as asserting that Poisson provoked them and that, once outside, Poisson elbowed one guard and tried to pull his hair while on the ground.
The guards called Toledo police and had Poisson arrested for alleged assault, but those charges have since been dropped.
Poisson says he used to go to St. Vincent's regularly to pray with patients, but no longer can cope with doing that. He also says he's had to give up his duties at a local soup kitchen that's since closed.

Poisson is seeking punitive damages of an unspecified amount, along with damages for pain, suffering, medical expenses and lost income. The lawsuit also says the hospital doesn't train its security personnel properly.
St. Vincent's issued a statement saying, "According to our policy regarding physical aggression, the use of a Taser is warranted if someone attempts to physically attack a staff member, patient or visitor. We conducted an internal review of this incident that determined the response to the aggression was appropriate."
"That's not true at all," Poisson responded to Smith when the statement was read.
Copyright 2008, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2008, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
2008-07-25 17:46:49

Crane Creek (no longer a) State Park

"Sunset at Crane Creek," courtesy of Sally Wehner, Sally's Photostream

Living in rural northwest Ohio, we mostly swam in ponds, pools, and at some of the smaller lakes in Michigan, where we'd spend the day at family cottages. Those were magical times: jumping off the docks, taking peaceful rides on a pontoon boat, running across rough wood floors in our sandy bare feet. For a child who grew up with so little water in her life, there's no explaining my love for it now. I understand the draw of other landscapes: the majesty and beauty of mountains, the quiet stillness of forests, the beauty of great architecture, or the thrill of walking through the world's grand cities, but for me, I would pass on it all to be on an ocean beach. As a rather landlocked Ohioan, what I have instead is Lake Erie.

From the first time I spent a day at Crane Creek State Park, I was smitten. For 30 years, in spite of the fact it was never a convenient trip from the places we lived, it was a regular destination for summer days. In the early days we swam on the smaller, less well maintained beach, with Davis-Besse nuclear power plant lurking along the horizon. We had so much fun, scouring the beach for trinkets, creating monuments from driftwood.

Later they turned that beach over to the birds, so we would walk along the shore there after a day in the sun, or take the dogs to run and swim.

We had picnics and parties on the larger, busier beach. The seagulls were bold there, bold enough they would sometimes steal food right off hot grills. That beach had breakers, so if the wind was right, we could play in big waves. Most of the time though it was a peaceful place to sit and read a summer novel, watch boats and birds go by, and then watch the sun set from the same spot on the beach where the first photo here was taken.

For ages I whined about how I had never seen a bald eagle, even though there are dozens in this area, and I spend a lot of time on the lake and hiking along the Maumee River, in areas where they're known to be found. Last summer I would have missed my chance, if it weren't for excitement of the other people on the beach calling our attention to one as he flew by. This one was the doing the flight equivalent of "booking," straight down the shoreline, singlemindedly heading to wherever it was he needed to go, oblivious to the awe of those of us on the beach underneath where he flew.

For a few years after it was opened, we defected to Maumee Bay State Park because it's closer. It is a truly beautiful park, more polished than Crane Creek. Eventually though, I realized for a few more minutes' drive, I could go back to the beaches at Crane Creek, where the waves came in along the breakers, where we could take long walks along the shore as the sun was setting.

Since one of the reasons I loved it there was how quiet it had become, and how often we were amongst only a handful of people on the beach on any given day, it might have occured to me that eventually they would stop keeping it open just for us. Still I was saddened when the state closed the beach this summer and added the entire park to the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. Of course more shoreline for nesting is a good thing for the birds, and the park itself is still open to visitors. We took a drive over there one day, after leaving Maumee Bay because of afternoon storms. It was completely deserted and somewhat unnerving. Already the beaches are becoming more wild and unruly. We explored several places within the larger park that we'd never taken the time to investigate before. Now that spending time on the beach is out of the question, we will make the drive over there to walk the trails and look for birds and wildlife, which is after all what the real purpose of the parks should be.

Let All The Children Boogie: concert flashbacks

Not all that often, just now and then, I spend the day with classic rock radio stations on AOL. I promise I haven't lived in the past musically for the last 30+ years. There's a lot of songs and bands I've barely thought about since I originally collected the albums, and the greatest thing about internet radio is the next arrow to skip through songs I don't ever need to hear again. Just as often I rush over to turn the volume up, loud. I usually have to take these trips down nostalgia lane when my kids aren't home or they tell me to turn it down, MOM!

(On a related note, did you ever consider what boomer nursing homes will be like? "Dazed and Confused" blaring on hallway speakers. Old guys with walkers playing air guitar to "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." Some former bar band singer putting "Smoke on the Water" on repeat until his neighbors storm the room to make it stop.)

Always, one song can lead to many more, and many memories. Today that song was "Rebel Rebel." My very first live concert, at the Toledo Sports Arena was David Bowie, during his Diamond Dogs tour. I was 15. We loved Ziggy Stardust . I can probably still sing most of the songs on that album by heart. As long as no one's in the room.

That may very well have been the best concert I went to, right then and there. He had no opening act. The lights went out and there was Bowie. He played and we went wild, perched on our seats in that hot, smoke-(of all kinds)-filled concert hall. Later he took an intermission and came back onstage to the opening notes of Space Oddity. A spotlight picked up his face, hovering in midair. As he sang, he floated down in the light, until the whole stage lit up and we saw he was actually on sort of rock version of a cherry picker. Great stuff!

I don't remember all the concerts we went to, and even when I know I saw someone, I can't remember much of the show. I saw Queen (and thanks to google I can even pinpoint the date: 1975: Tue 11th Feb - USA, Toledo, Student Union Auditorium.) I can remember Freddie Mercury on stage, his cape flying around him as he stomped around the stage. He was an amazing performer.

(What's somewhat amusing or perplexing now is that in spite of my taste in bands during high school, I had no conscious awareness of homosexuality at all. Were Bowie or Freddie "out" at all back then? If it were discussed anywhere by anyone it went over or through my head. What a lonely time it must have been to be gay in those days. Not that there was even "gay" or "out.")

Over the years, in order of memory, not occurence, I saw Jackson Browne more times than I can count. We borrowed a friend's Jeep and wore our long skirts to see Joan Baez at the Masonic. I saw Dan Folgeberg during his "Twin Sons" tour with Tim Weisberg, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Bob Seeger (twice), saw Simple Minds in Ann Arbor in seats so high up I spent most of the concert in the hallway to avoid vertigo. More recently, I saw Counting Crows, and took my (then) 15 year old to see Mest at Howards Club H in Bowling Green. She had a great time. I wore earplugs.

I of course didn't see more bands than I can list but my most regretful close call was almost seeing U2 at their Live at Red Rocks concert. I was living in Denver when the concert schedule came out. I was on my way back to Ohio and nearly postponed the trip for that concert.

And another thing: Stairway to Heaven is a truly great song.
And Free Bird always sucked.

Sorry about that, Patsy Ramsey!

DNA is an amazing enough tool on its own, now we can isolate DNA from a touch? Wow. What else has solved as many crimes, helped successfully prosecute more scumbags, allowed more innocent people to finally go free than DNA? Let's toss as much money as it takes into creating labs and training scientists so we can test every bit of evidence out there, without any backlog. Since we have never been able to strike the fear of God or blind justice into those who prey on others, let's at least slap them down with their own skin cells.
I'm sure it's quite a relief for the remaining Ramsey family and the people who stood by them that DNA evidence reportedly clears Ramsey family Still, it's a bit too little too late for Patsy Ramsey, isn't it? Don't get me wrong, I can certainly see how the Ramseys were an easy family to dislike. Like anyone, I was shocked and a bit appalled to have the reality of child pageantry shoved in my face in the form of pictures and video of that overly made-up and costumed now-dead child. None of that made them guilty but it doesn't seem to matter. Even now, Patsy Ramsey is still being blamed! If you had a feeling she did it, why would an official exoneration based on actual science convince you otherwise? We do it all the time. Make a list: Polly Klaas, Natalee Holloway, Adam Walsh, Madeleine McCann, and as quickly as you can say the names, someone will tell you exactly why the parents are somehow to blame. If they aren't the out and out killers who got away with it, then they certainly did something wrong, something the person sitting in judgement would never ever do. I don't get it. I've made plenty of mistakes as a parent and I consider myself to be damned lucky none of my mistakes resulted in any of my children being front page news. And I never stop praying I can still say the same on my last day on Earth. Yes I realize sometimes it really is the parents, but if there is a chance it was someone else, doesn't common decency suggest we refrain from reaching a verdict until we know? Perhaps we feel safer believing that these sorts of things are preventable, that if we never turn our back, walk away, go to bed early, cry too much, cry too little, look too long, give up too soon, then the worst possible nightmare that could ever happen to any parent will never happen to us.
Don't we all sometimes pause and look at our children and feel our heart catch at the possibilities? We dedicate our lives to raising happy children, children who will be strong and alert but not fearful, who will enjoy childhoods full of fun and learning and who will grow into adults who love life and make a difference. Meanwhile in a parallel world, other children are being scarred and branded and twisted into becoming the predators that are a part of our world. And all we can do is pray to whatever version of God or fate we believe in that their lives will never intersect.

Send Pesticides!

We live in what was formerly known as the Black Swamp. Poetic name isn't it? In a hypothetical sort of way. No one really wants to live in a swamp but over the past few years we've gotten so much rain, it's becoming easier to imagine just what it was like in the days before proper drainage systems.
I don't have to look up stats or records to know that torrential downpours every couple of days is not typical for summers in northwest Ohio. I know this because since childhood I have always mowed the lawn, and since most of the lawns I've mowed were in the country, people in the country do not waste water by keeping that grass nice and green. When it stops raining, the yard dies and you don't have to mow it anymore! Then later it rains and grows back. The rules are you should get at least an occasional week off in July and August. Sometimes you get most of July and August off entirely. It's just the way it is and the way it should be. Hot, dry, no mowing. Instead there is standing water everywhere, water washing out fields, covering yards. Flood warnings and watches are the norm. We had some storms last week with so much rain the roads around here were literally washed out, as in, "Holy shit! I'm not driving through that! It's halfway up the bumper of that freaking truck!!!"
I feel for those early settlers, hacking their way through weeds and trees, sinking up to their thighs in never-ending mud. Mostly though what would have surely been enough to turn me back are bugs. Especially mosquitoes. I'm all for organic gardening and nurturing Mother Earth but right now all I want to hear is the sound of the county's mosquito spray truck driving down our road at dusk. I betcha there's a real market for illegal pesticides right about now. I live in a wooded area first off. You cannot leave the house at night and daytime isn't much better. We have cans of Off and Cutters sitting around everywhere. And my house is old. It has gaps in the windows and tears in the screens. The mosquitoes are so thick that just drifting around out there or whatever it is they do, a whole lot of them end up inside. What can you do? Nothing, nothing except slap your hands together, only to watch them skitter away, or smash them gleefully on walls. If anyone has come up with a way to smack them on the monitor without knocking it over, please let me know. It can't last, right? They'll come through and spray any day now which will knock them back for a short time, and then before we know it, winter will arrive and I'll have something else to complain about!
Credit for the mosquito picture goes to this website. What a great site! I can sit here for another hour or so just reading about the mosquitoes I loathe. skeeterbite.info Gawd I love the internet.

blogging

Surely by now every third person has a blog of some sort. That means it's a technical impossibility that all of these blogs are being read by anyone on a regular basis. And still, we all sit here and type, type, type.
For years I kept journals. I still remember the first time someone gave me a "blank book." Wow, a bound stack of white paper! And it's all mine! Back then, we kept our journals tucked away in a nightstand and worried our moms might get ahold of them if we died. No more of that! The internet has made us all exhibitionists and voyeurs.
I can rationalize the dog blog because perhaps rescue will be of some interest, most likely to other rescuers. This one is the modern version of talking to myself. Not only do I always have a running monologue going on in my head, generally I find myself to be fairly amusing. If you don't, just keep those thoughts to yourself and move along!