a # of thoughts

Here are some views that I have been feeling lately":

1. I still like the political climate that is going on in the US. I don't agree with other liberals that the Republicans are weak and that their power is merely regional. For every action there is a reaction (Obama's bold moves during a recession provoke outrage by the rich and uncaring), and if there is no economic recovery by next year, the Republican party will be stronger than it is now. Even at the present, the Republican voices seem to be the loudest and most annoying. Thankfully, they are NOT the most influential.
   
2. I am struck at some of the ridiculous positions that Republicans are taking. Now they are trashing the Supreme Court nominee, Judge Sotomeyer. She is making history as the first Hispanic to be nominated to the Supreme Court; she has a very good reputation and any missteps on her part are not that disturbing. Before she was even nominated, the Republicans made it abundantly clear that the most noxious members in Congress from their party had no intention of giving Obama's nominee a fair chance at being nominated. They threatened fillibuster. They said that they disagreed with Obama's idea that a judge should have "empathy". Yeah, right, a judge nominated by Obama should be as uncaring and oblivious to the poor and struggling middle class as they are!!!! & to hear them describing Judge Sotomeyer, you would think that she was some pot-smoking, flag burning Communist. Will they ever learn that their shrill demagogery doesn't always work? It didn't work during the exhilirating election of 2008, and it won't work to derail Sotomeyer's confirmation process!
   
3. I don't think that the loudest-mouthed Republicans like Bill O'Reily or Rush Limbaugh are so much conservative or even reactionary as they are nihilists. Nihilism is the belief that social organization (like government) is so bad that destruction is desirable. That's why we hear Rush Limbaugh repeatedly and stridently saying he "wants Obama to FAIL". A notion that even an egoist like Newt Gingrich thinks is nonsense. Reagan, and others tried to convince us that government is the problem. That poor should be treated like the rich when in fact that's ridiculous when poor don't have the resources (especially educationwise) that the rich have. This view that if hard times befall you that "you are on your own, and if you suffer, tough shit" is a view that was discredited back in the 1930s during the Great Depression. History, of course, has never been the Republicans strong suit b/c they are constantly trying to rewrite it & distort what actually happened.
4. I find it encouraging that places where you don't see pictures of the president or displays of patriotism are now doing this. Here's an example. Every now and then I will take my father-in-law to dialysis. This clinic has a mix of nationalities that work there and you see pictures of the president where before January of this year or even November of last year, you would not have seen them. The thing that's encouraging is that some of these people have changed their thinking. It's not that President Obama is the president; he's considered by these people as our president. Let's hope the trend continues!
   

going to Wisconsin

I went to see my parents this past weekend. We had a great time. We were there for a short time, however. We left Oak Forest at 8 am, took 2 breaks along the way and got to Ithaca, WI @ 1:15. We mowed lawn there. Andy and Ted took a crack at mowing loan. Surprisingly, Ted did a slightly better job of driving than Andy did. The key was I made the area where they were mowing very easy and didn't have them go up and down hills where they could risk tipping the lawn mower over.

Now, some would look askance at having a 13 yr. old or a 10 yr. old on a tractor/lawn mower. But I feel very strongly that they should be doing that. I was driving tractors starting when I was 7 yrs. old. I remember they gave me the job of mowing lawns when I was in 6th or 7th grade. & other than being upbraided by Jerome when I made mistakes, I really enjoyed doing that. So the next spring I was looking forward to doing it again in 8th grade, but there was one catch. My parents had Kelly, my younger brother mow the lawn instead. It wasn't that I messed up the year before but they thought that he could handle mowing the lawn after being in 3rd grade. I was really upset with my parents and argued with them, but there was obviously nothing I could do to overrule them. It turned out that Kelly did an ok job mowing the lawn. Like the year before, I'm sure he enjoyed doing it except when being upbraided by Jerome for the occasional mistake.

Unfortunately, we could not finish mowing the lawn because the mower belt started smoking so we couldn't do anymore mowing (& no, it wasn't Ted's fault either!). I was going to use the push mower to continue mowing the lawn but Mom said that would be too much work.

Another highlight this week was that I bought this book at a bargain price. It's a spellbinding book. It's a Russian who fought on the Eastern Front of World War II. Of course, the Eastern Front was the deadliest sector of World War II. Tens of millions of people were killed during that area of fighting. It was very vicious fighting. Unlike other areas of fighting, Russians were in a very difficult situation when they fought. If they were taken prisoner, by Nazi Germany, they were usually taken to concentration camps (Hitler not only hated Jews but also Blacks, gypsies and in the Russians' case, the Slavic race). If they were prisoner in the concentration camps but somehow survived they were taken to a Russian gulag/prison after the war as they were accused of "allowing themselves to be captured". If they were not taken prisoner but things were nasty and they tried to retreat there were Russian "blocking units" which would shoot fellow Soviets that were retreating. The author was one of the lucky ones. He didn't retreat, didn't get captured. He got wounded twice (once in the neck) and was afflicted with lice. But that was considered "minor problems". The book is called Through the Maelstrom if you are curious Google the title. The author's name is Boris Gorbachevsky.

Of course, my natural inclination when I was in Wisconsin was to read the book all hours of the night or until at least 1 or 2 in the morning. However, doing so was not without its problems. Dad woke up twice and told me to go to bed. I could hardly say no to him the 2nd time. So I went downstairs to the room where MB was sleeping and turned on a little dim light and read until 1:30. Whether I'm 45 or not, I'm still my Dad's son so I had to act like his kid and follow his orders.

Mondays, weeks & time

"So you run and you run, catch up w/ the sun but it's sinking, racing around to come up behind you again!" Pink Floyd from the song "Time"

I have a co-worker who likes Thursdays the best b/c it's the anticipation of the weekend. He said he has a tendency to over-expect so by the time the weekend is going on he's disappointed that more didn't happen on the weekend.

Thursday seems to fill me with a sense of wonder. As in, "I wonder what happened to the week?!? It seems like yesterday was Monday". I just am in awe at how fast time goes by. However, it still seems to me that the winter is too slow and lasts too long. (I love the song written by Jefferson Airplane called "Coming Back to Me" where he says, "The winter came as if it never had gone". ) Summer on the other hand seems to fly by.

I think the time flying by is a "good problem" to have, far better to have time go by too fast than too slow! I often wonder if I'm going to be one of those old people 30 yrs. from now who suffers from time going by too slow. I am really scared of getting old and not having enough money. I would go so far as to say that is my biggest fear in life. I figure that I will have far more expenses than I do now (b/c I won't be as healthy as I am today) and a smaller amount of income. I'm going to try and work as long as I can, well into my 70s. MB says that she will have to do that too. But will a company even want to employ me?? Then my Mom made a good point. I told her that I would be working when I'm 75 and she said, "Yeah, if your HEALTHY enough to work!" Exactly ! & who knows what my health will be like then?? I joke w/ my kids that they'll have to let me live with them b/c I'll be too poor to live by myself.

I guess I shouldn't worry about it, b/c who knows what will happen in 30 yrs. from now? & maybe I should have more faith in God. Well, right now, I should be worried more about what's going on at work...............

I've discovered a pleasing corollary to the idea that time is going by so fast. Most people don't like Mondays; I'm no exception. I love the weekends as much as anyone.
However, I got to thinking, the week flys by so fast, it seems like if it's Monday and you blink, it's already Wednesday! So if something is so short (which everyday seems to be) what's the sense of being so down on Monday??? It will be over before you know it. So, starting today, the only part of Monday I really disliked was hearing my alarm clock and getting out of bed and getting Andy up. Rather than "hating on" the whole day, I only felt down for about 10 min.
Then I had a very nice surprise. I always watch The Weather Channel to see how the weather will be like that week. This is even more important since I try and bike about 3 x a week. & who should I see but Heather Tesch. She was taken off of the early morning show at Weather Channel 2 months ago. I really missed her. I think she is still working another shift for TWC and was just filling in for Nicole Mitchell, but I gotta say it was great seeing her.
The Mother's Day weeked went well. MB enjoyed Saturday and Sunday PM. Her sister's b-day was Sunday, so as a "present", MB cleaned her house on Sunday morning. For her present, I took her and the kids to see Star Trek. Originally, we were going to see Monsters vs. Aliens. I'm soooooo glad we saw Star Trek instead! We couldn't see the kiddies movie b/c the area theatres wasn't showing it after 5 pm.

The movie was just outstanding. It was so good that I literally felt "high" walking out of the movie after the show. I've never had a movie do that for me. Very nice feeling!! Great plot, great acting, great ending, GREAT MOVIE !

PROMS & KIDS - now and then

One morning when I was young and my mother was serving me breakfast, I asked her not to make the egg that she was frying for me to not be hard boiled. I wanted it soft. My paternal grandma was there at the time, and she spoke up and said, You know when I raised kids, we didn’t give them any variety.
Since she carried a good deal of respect, neither Mom nor I commented or replied back to Grandmas pointed observation. I know my feeling at the time was, Yeah, but Grandma, that was so long ago, in the Dark Ages.

Yet, 30some years ago, she pointed to something that I am constantly bombarded with now. Child rearing is a LOT DIFFERENT than it used to be!! 2 of my kids have gone through Holy Communion. It cost us over $100 and when Brianna has her ceremony next year it will be a lot closer to $150, and it may go over that b/c we have to get her the white dress with white “headdress” to go along with it. When I had my communion a little less than 40 yrs. ago (yes, that is a LONG time!) we had a nice dinner after the Holy Communion. NO PRESENTS (it wasn't my birthday, after all) So, there I am on the train, and this woman from the town I live in passed around Prom pictures b/c her daughter went.
In order to illustrate the point of her daughters prom vs my prom let’s do a side by side comparison. The contrast is very stark. I must add that I was from a rural area, and I am comparing it to an urban prom where the cost of living is even more. So back in 1980 when I had my prom, a prom in say Madison and Milwaukee was more expensive, but nothing like it is now.

MY PROM(1980) vs. PROM OF 2009
Cost of Prom Tickets 1980 -cant remember but it couldnt have been much more than $5; tickets were sold at the door; no one bought tickets in advance

PROM NOW - some places are $100, some schools don't allow tickets to be purchased at the door (MUST be bought in advance!)

Place of Prom 1980 - we had ours in the gym, the same place where we ate lunch during
the schoolweek. Of course, we decorated the gym up

PROM NOW at some swank hotel

Dressing for Prom 1980 most people wore nice clothes The Prom Court wore dresses and tuxedo. The queen wore white. When my sister was Queen way back in 1974, she made her own dress.

PROM NOW those attending are encouraged to wear formal, not semi-formal dress, tuxes are more commonplace than suit and tie.

Getting To Prom (1980) used the parents' car. It was not unheard of for a couple to come in a pickup truck

PROM NOW LIMO! LIMO! LIMO!

After School Activity (1980) I didn't go to any afterschool party but it was commonplace to go to party in this nondescript one room cabin way on top of the hill in the middle of the forest. The steepness of that hill was a great way to test sobreity!

PROM NOW rent a resort area, go to a tourist attraction, some recreational place in town, some schools even open up at night to do certain “FUN” activities

Pictures (1980) Parents would whip out the Instamatic camera and take 1 or 2 pictures. I have the one of 2 pictues taken of my date & feel pretty lucky.

PROM NOW Professional all the way! The same photographers that do weddings are busy during promtime. Pictures are easily 20 - 50 pictures taken all in a wonderful looking album that rivals the one for my wedding.

Total COST OF PROM (1980) Easily under $60: I paid for me and my dates' admission to prom and paid for me and my dates dinner at a restaurant before prom & throw in $5 for gas. That's all the expenses, ladies & gentlemen!

TOTAL COST OF PROM NOW The mother on the train told me the cost of her daughter’s prom was $700. OUCH!!

several thoughts......

There are actually times now that I take a deep breath through my nostrils & am thankful. First of all, on a superficial level, because I am happy that I don’t have a cold and my nose isn’t stuffed up (lol). Yet, it’s not just that, I will actually catch myself thinking, “It’s great to be alive”. Before, I thought that saying was simply a cliché, because I felt terrible. Yet, there are actually times now that I catch myself being thankful. Thankful that my financial situation has improved ever since the large tax refund, thankful I had the presence of mind to stick a very large portion of that refund in paying down credit cards. Thankful that I have a job that I enjoy doing and that I get paid every other week and am not unemployed. Thankful for my car that has worked very well for the past 5 years (and am even more thankful for it b/c it was stolen last year but got it back w/ only the ignition guard taken off!!). Thankful that I have such good kids. Thankful that one of them (Ted) is so mature, so thoughtful, that he not only looks out for his sister, but looks out for the family and even his own dad sometimes. How many kids are like that?!?!? The kid doesn’t know what selfishness is!

There is a certain theory about dreams that I believe in. There are certain dreams that we have that have meaning. But most dreams aren’t that way. Most dreams are just a load of nonsense. There are scientists or experts say that are brain puts out random thoughts during our dreams. And that the logical part of our brain is disengaged.

For example, last night I dreamed that I went to this place that was a giant house, and part of it was for living. However, part of this huge house was a clothing store, and I met one of my friends that I see on the train regularly and said “hi” to her. Not much of a dream and hard to get any symbolism out of it. Besides, you can't have a giant house that is half residential and half store, because it would violate zoning!

Last week, I dreamed that I was in a burning building. I wanted to get out and started going through this door. Then I suddenly realized it went straight to the outside and if I went through the door, I would fall over 100 ft. to my death and I yanked myself back in. But just like other illogical dreams, I suddenly found myself out of the building. Then the building collapsed! & I couldn’t stop wondering, “How did I get out of the building?? I didn’t jump out (b/c I would either be dead, in a lot of pain or would have imagined floating down {you can do that in dreams sometimes}), I don’t remember taking the stairs down from the inside or the outside. So how the hell did I get out of the house safely?? Then of course I woke up.

Did you realize that everyone dreams but you only remember the dreams where you wake up immediately after. Usually, when we sleep, we go through Sleep stages 1, 2, 3, 4, REM/dreams, then stages 1, 2, 3,4, dream and it keeps repeating for 8 hrs. or however long you sleep. When you go from dreaming back to stage 1, you won’t remember that dream.

By the way, there's a fairly new song out that I absolutely "dig"!! It's by Fleet Foxes and is called "Mykonos". It's not the song I would usually like. The last half of the song is my favorite part and it sounds like Irish music. & I usually don't like Irish music. Somehow on this song it works. If you like folk rock or folk music, you'll love this song.
Has anyone seen the video?? It's supposed to be really awesome, dreamy video about these oregami triangles (representing feet) triumphing over malevolent forces that threaten them. The only reason I know about the video is from Wikipedia (one of my favorite websites and one I have even made writing contributions to).