The President of the United States wants to address America's school children in the classroom.

The...I believe Sarah Palin would call them "Real Americans," object to this. The nerve! Of the...the...President! Of the...United States...wants to....ohmygod.....SPEAK to the children of the United States? Who the hell does he think he is? The presi-oh, um, yeah. Right.

Because he might: a) indoctrinate them (into, um, what exactly?); b) brainwash them (perfectly logical); c) encourage them to...to...work hard and stay in school. (Shudder.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These people scare the hell out of me. And there are a lot of them. They really, truly, honestly believe that Obama is trying to turn this country into a socialist state. (Good sweet lord! He wants everybody to have health care! He doesn't want them to be sick and dying just because they can't afford health insurance. What the hell is wrong with him? If they can't afford it, well, that's just too bad now, isn't it?) They really, truly, honestly believe that Obama will set up "death panels" to decide which of our elderly are worth saving and which are not. They really, truly, honestly believe whatever Rush Limbaugh tells them to believe.

These people? Are nut jobs.

Now. Rewind the tape one year. Say that The President of the United States, in this case, one George W. Bush, wanted to address America's schoolchildren. Would we be having this discussion? I mean, I can tell you that I think our former president was (is) an unintelligent, close-minded, inappropriately evangelical horse's ass. But, if he had wanted to address America's kids and encourage them to work hard and stay in school, even I would not have objected. Because I? Am a rational human being.

Would somebody please tell these "concerned parents" to GROW UP?

Life is not what I had planned, not what I expected...but it is good. I am doing things now that I never would have expected doing a year ago...and I am loving it. Some things are not as I had hoped them to be...but I am hopeful that some of those dusty dreams may yet come true...and that others I had not even thought to dream of might appear before me, magical and mysterious and most welcome. Life is what happens while you're making other plans. Sometimes it sucks, but, mostly, if you can just hang on and duck your head through the rough patches, you get to come out on the other side in a place you had not thought to go. So, here's to another year of figuring out who I am, who I want to be, and what I might become. Life is good.

You kick me in the gut
Then ask if I've any questions
Say it's not about me
Sorry 'bout your luck
Keep doing what you're doing
Just do it all for less

Please and thanks
Don't let the door hit you
On your way out.

But, really, is everything alright?
We'd like you to absolve us
Of all our sins and guilt
Not that we really have any
But it sure looks good in print.

Please and thanks
Don't let the door hit you
On your way out.

Lie to me
Why should I expect respect?
I've only given you my all
But, it's okay,
Now I'll give you shit
You rotten, stinking bastards.

Please and thanks
Don't worry
I've always wanted out.

Tho' I'm happy
To suck you 'til you're dry
I've given you ten years
I'm damned if I'll give you
Any more of my sweat and tears

Please and thanks
I'll take what I can get
I promise, I won't forget.

Thanks for nothing
Assholes
My loyalty counted for shit
And now I'll give you only
What I can get away with

Please and thanks
You dumb shits
I've obviously given you more

Than you were ever worth.

I was going to say, "don't let the door hit you on your way out," but after seeing that bit of self-congratulatory, clueless and smug farewell, I can't bring myself to mean it. In fact, if there are any good kickers available, I'd really like to see them punt him through the door and all the way back to where he came from.

He makes me cringe.

Tonight's fortune cookie:

"Everything will now come your way."

At first I was pleased about this fortune, but now I'm not so sure, as it's lacking on specifics. It doesn't say "everything good will come your way," it just says "everything."

So I'm a little concerned. There's a quote that I love: "I try to take it one day at a time, but sometimes they attack all at once." (Sorry, I don't remember who said it.) Hopefully, this fortune is not kinda like that.

And hopefully it doesn't mean that all of the yummy Chinese food that I ate will come back to haunt me.

That would be bad.



I've got to stop over-thinking these things.
Right.

Okay, not Jennie herself (not that I know of-lemme check & get back to you on that), but her music. Check it out:

We live in an interesting, if often scary world. I'm a liberal, there's no question about that. For example, I, like Jon Stewart (see below), do not understand how anyone can consciously ban the right of gay people to be married. In the video below, and in so many other arguments, Mike Huckabee states that, traditionally, marriage is between a man and a woman. And that the fundamental purpose of marriage is the perpetuation of the species. (My words, not Huckabee's.) Well, sure. But, also, traditionally, black men and women were slaves, women were, essentially, property, and children were allowed to work from the earliest age. Some "traditions" were made to be broken.

There are so many injustices in this world. It seems petty to deny people who love each other the right to marry. Yet here, in America, land of the free, and home of the brave, we fight this battle between tradition and reality. Some traditions are beautiful. Take Christmas, the season which is upon us. I am in no way religious. I do not believe that Christ was born and died for our sins. But I think that the Hallelujah chorus is beautiful, and I love the story of the birth of Christ. Christmas is special to me, as a time of family and celebration, and of comfort and joy. I own a nativity scene and a Christmas tree, and I know that there are people who would begrudge me those things because I am not a believer. I feel sorry for those people, because they live in world that is very narrow.

Anyway, I'm a little drunk, because I bought this Long Island Iced Tea mix, which is very good-but also very potent, I've only had one, but-WOOOOO!!! I'd like to be married. I'd like to find a man who'd love me-and like me-for all that I am, who'd be my friend and partner in this thing called life. Maybe, one of these days, I will. I'm not really looking very hard-I've had too much other shit to wade through. But I'm still naive enough to believe in kismet, so maybe he'll find me, somehow. I just wish he'd hurry up. It'd sure be nice to curl up with him in front of the Christmas lights, and have him convince me not to have another Long Island.

My dad? Made a 30 lb. turkey for Thanksgiving. And ham. Why? Because he's INSANE, that's why. Behold: the ostrich...er, turkey. It was quite yummy.


The monster emerges.


Oooh, pretty.


It got it's own table...and security.




And there was a surgeon on-hand to carve it.

Things I am thankful for, in no particular order:

1. My family-and that they're (mostly) healthy and happy.
2. My friends. They rock.
3. My cat.
4. That I'm still here, still getting up in the morning to try, try again.
5. That Jennie DeVoe lets me do all kinds of design, photo and other work for her.
6. That I have a job, and health insurance, and people I like working with.
7. That I was lucky enough to be born in the U.S.A., where we have so much to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

All I'm saying
is that I could be
quite happy
living
in one of those
huts that sit
on stilts in the water
off of the beach
in someplace like
Bora Bora.

I could paint
pictures of the sky
and the water
and the palm trees
all day
have my cabana boy
bring me drinks
with umbrellas
in them in the afternoon

And fall asleep
every night
to the sound
of the waves
lapping at the edges
of my dreams.
That's
all I'm saying.

I always tear up at ball games when they sing the national anthem. It's something about everybody standing up for a shared idea, all together, just for a moment. I'm feeling the same way about today's election. I'm so proud of all of the people who turned out (and are still turning out, in some states) to cast their vote. Many of us disagreed in our votes-and that's wonderful. How lucky are we, that we get to live in a country where we can agree to disagree?

Most of you know that I voted for Barack Obama. "Change" is a tired word in political campaigns. But Barack Obama's campaign has been about much more than the same old empty promises of politics. The Change Obama speaks of is Hope. The Change Obama encourages is one of Our making. The Change we need is the change we can make Together.

For many years, we've been sliding backwards into divisiveness, pettiness, and anger. Our leadership has been less tolerant of our differences, more narrow in its vision, taking us backwards while splintering the nation into groups of "us" and "them." John McCain could have been the man to lead us out of this quagmire. But, as best exemplified by his pick of Sarah Palin, McCain chose instead to stay the course-even though the course was charted across a bridge to nowhere. McCain, and particularly Palin, spoke of a "pro-America," as if there were parts of America that were unworthy, somehow. McCain, and, again, particularly Palin, subtly but insidiously encouraged racism and hatred in their campaign. In short, they unequivocally sought to divide instead of unite.

How shameful. And how disappointing.

For me, one of the best lines in Obama's convention speech was: "We don't live in blue states, or red states. We live in the United States of America." In other words, yes, we are all different. We disagree on many things. But, in the end, we're all in this together. In other words, "united we stand, divided we fall." It's time that we, as a nation, felt united again. It's time to step up to the plate and say, "Yes, we can."

And. after you vote, check these out:

Election Day freebies

Did you know that a series of national vendors are giving stuff to voters? They are. Who knew that the "I Voted" sticker was worth more than the pride of knowing you cast your ballot?

Starbucks is giving away a tall cup of brewed coffee on the house.

Between 5 and 8pm, Ben and Jerry's is celebrating democracy by giving away a free scoop of ice cream.

Krispy Kreme is giving away a star-shaped doughnut with "patriotic sprinkles" to anyone wearing an "I Voted" sticker.

www.jenniedevoe.com

Quote for the day:

"Believe nothing,

no matter where you read it,

no matter who has said it,

unless it agrees with

your own reason and

your own common sense."

-Buddha

John McCain likes to tell people that he brings honor and integrity to politics. I used to think that that was true. But it's official now: John McCain has no honor. He has sold his soul to the devil in a desperate attempt to salvage his presidential campaign. Don't believe me?

Exhibit A:



Yes. I wanted a respectful campaign, too. Too bad McCain only meant, "as long as I'm ahead in the polls."

Exhibit B:



Sarah Palin is inexcusable. She is inexperienced, unprepared, unable to even pretend to speak intelligently about the issues, and, incidentally, incapable of pronouncing the word "nuclear." Sarah Palin is an insult to me as a voter and as a woman. There are many qualified Republican women that John McCain could have chosen as his running mate, if he wanted a woman. His selection of Palin says a lot about his judgement. It was a reckless move, one aimed at energizing the fundamentalist base (success!), drawing in the Hillary Clinton voters (seriously? the ONLY thing they have in common is that they're female), and at taking the discussion away from the real issues (check!...sort of). I do not want a man (or woman) that reckless and impulsive leading my country. And I can't even contemplate the thought of Sarah Palin as president. I would like my nephews to grow up in a country that stands for freedom of speech, freedom of (and from) religion, saving the environment, diplomacy, and tolerance. That is not Sarah Palin's America.

Exhibit C:

The latest efforts by the McCain/Palin campaign to paint Barack Obama as a terrorist sympathizer are inexcusable and dangerous. It is not politically correct to incite fear and hatred towards Obama because he is black, but they have apparently decided that it is okay if they paint him as an Arab. It's despicable behavior. See here and here.

I may take some flack from some friends and family for this post. I hope you'll hear me out, and, if you disagree, please comment. I'll give you the same courtesy you give me. With love and respect: Vote.

So, there's rumors on the internets, and in the air, that change is afoot. I'm all about change, at the moment, anyway. Change is good. Positive change, change that equals growth, prosperity and happiness. But change is also scary. It's jumping off into the unknown, away from the comfortable and into the abyss of what if. What if I win the lottery? What if I fall to my death? What if I do something else with my life? What if I take a risk? What if I fail? What if I succeed? What if is the question that can only be answered after the fact. "What if?" could be wonderful and grand, or horrible and disastrous. So, the temptation is to not tempt fate. To stay the course, accept the status quo, and to pretend that everything is alright just as it is. Maybe it is...but probably it's not. There only one thing for it: to jump of the bridge and see what happens.

This is like a train wreck....cannot...look...away (but I really want to).



Oh, how I love David Letterman.

Today's fortune cookie--two wrappers, stuck together:

1. "You are soon going to change your present line of work."

2. "You are capable, competent, creative, careful. Prove it."

Okay.

This is all I'm saying.