Soapboxing

I recently made a decision to NOT use Facebook as my own personal soapbox.  That said, I am seething over the cruel, disrespectful, and downright ugly things I read on there.

A Marine, with his profile pic depicting him in uniform, was online trashing President Obama.  I get it...some people are not in favor of Obama.  But does that mean it's alright to trash him in such a blatantly disrespectful manner?  I think not, particularly if he's your Commander in Chief.

I sympathize with people who feel out of step with today's administration.  Lord knows I spent 8 years feeling out of step during President Bush's two terms and to some degree during President Clinton's second term.  But I didn't take to spewing hatred to any and all that would listen (whether they wanted to or not).  No instead I chose to find an outlet for my frustration...supporting a candidate I could get behind.

So I encourage all the Obama-haters out there...do something about it if change is what you're after.  Stop flapping your jaws and mobilize.

Foreign Films

I'm watching "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" in Swedish for the second time.  And before anyone asks, no I'm not going to watch the American version.  Americans ruin foreign films...just watch the French/Dutch version of "The Vanishing"...it didn't have the happy ending the American one did.  I never saw the Danish version of "Smila's Sense of Snow"...not sure if there was one.  But I did see the American one and wasn't all too pleased - it didn't seem to capture the grit of the novel.  And a final example...the Swedish version of "Let Her In" was remarkable - what a great idea, a vampire in Sweden -- cold and dark so much of the time.  I wouldn't dare watch the US version.

There's something about the way the Scandanavians film and act...and the fact that they're not consumed with Hollywood-type endings...they're ok with loose ends and dismal, depressing narratives.  And I love that.

Preach on my ass

I am so angry at the world today.  Who do people think they are when they make statements that insinuate that they're somehow better than anyone else?  The latest, a handwritten note going around FB preaches that the writer is graduating from college debt-free...he started saving early, he doesn't live beyond his means...yada, yada, yada.  Truly, I'm proud of people like this.  But his success should in no way diminish someone else's misfortune.

There are a lot of people out of work today.  Some are doing something about it. Some can't. Some won't.  But is it right to assume that ALL of them are lazy and shiftless and somehow not entitled to bitch and moan about it?  I've been out of work for over a year.  Fortunately for me I have savings and investments to carry me through the rough times.  Have I tried to find a job?  Yes, many times over.  It's rough out there.  For virtually every job I applied for there were close to 100 other applicants.  Do the math people, some of us aren't getting called back.  Am I blaming the government?  Yes, the government has some culpability.  What about banks and other mortgage lenders?  Hell yes.  Wall Street in particular?  Yes.  People who bit off more than they could chew loan-wise and knew it?  Yes...Am I kicking the mother or father that lost her/his job and can't find another no matter how hard they try?  No and neither should you.

We've lost the ability to feel compassion for people less fortunate.  We make assumptions that everyone is out to get something for nothing.  Why don't you ask someone why they're in the predicament they're in before judging them...or would that kind of intimate personal interaction be too difficult for you when it's so much easier to mouth off from behind your computer screen...and to restate FOX News half-truths.

I am sickened by what I see and hear every day.  It's a wonder we haven't started walking the streets with machetes like in Rawanda not too long ago.  God Lord people...feel for a change will you?

I've been busy

Starting a business, training my puppy, trying to keep up with all the various clubs I've joined - Northshore Democratic Women's Club (NDWC), NDWC Book Club, NDWC Cookbook Committe, Dem Fest, and sorority, not to mention the day to day stuff.

I'm pretty tired...then there's all the Christmas gifts I'm making, the centerpieces for my sister's wedding...trips to Oregon, Vegas, Germany and Scotland to plan.  Wait'll the business takes off...then what will I do????

I need some "me" time.  I miss my monthly trips to the spa in Germany.  3 plus hours of sheer pleasure and relaxation.  I need to do that again.  I need to recharge.

In the meantime, I just finished a really beautiful book for October's book club meeting, "The Mercy of Thin Air" (Ronlyn Domingue).  Really a beautiful story, set in New Orleans, and somewhat of an echo of "The Lovely Bones" (Alice Sebold). It was a nice departure from the non-fiction selection last month.  Unfortunately the next two month's selections are non-fiction. I don't hate non-fiction, I just prefer to "escape" when I read and well, you can't do that with non-fiction.

Thank you Cheesus!

I joined the Northshore Democratic Women's Club last night.  They met in the Abita Springs Town Hall.  It was a wonderful meeting, well more of an anniversary (the 3rd for the club) really. 

It was wonderful to meet a large group of women that share my values and care about the things I care about.  One women described it as a group of "like-minded" women.  I never liked that term "like-minded".  Kind of connotes to me a group of people that can't think for themselves...and this was not that kind of group.

It was a group of educated, intelligent, politically savvy women...to include women of color.  I don't see a lot of women of color from where I sit and that upsets me.  I truly bloom in a diverse environment.  I don't like to be surrounded by homogeneity...I like different points of view, people of varying backgrounds (only two of the women I spoke to last night were from here), and disparate cultural influences. 

I'm looking forward to the next meeting and some of the other associated get-togethers, namely a book club someone mentioned.

A fave book

While in Richmond last week I picked up a copy of a book I'd been wanting to reread, The Alienist, by Caleb Carr.  I read it years ago and was so struck by its level of detail and history about New York City at the turn of the last century.  I cannot imagine why someone hasn't made a movie of this book yet.

It's somewhat reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes but the key character is a Freud-like psychiatrist...and it delves into the beginning of that trade.  Psychiatrists were called Alienists back then.  It also reminds me of Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence...same time period.

Anyway, it's a great read and one I hope to start on today...

I can't explain the sense of rage

My insides feel like fire.  An out of control hot blast.  I know where the anger comes from I just can't figure out how to control it.  It's water under the bridge, the cause that is, but the residual heat if you will, is making me miserable.

Where do I go to let it out?  What do I have to do?  Is it right to lash out at the ones you love simply because you know (or at least think) they'll take it?  How many times can I say "sorry...forgive me...I am out of control and I know it but I don't know what else to do?"

Unleashing it on the one that's more responsible than any other doesn't seem fair since he's old, frail, and in that contemplative state I think we all need to be in to accept the harsh reality of impending death.

I keep pushing it aside and try to see the positive...try to learn something from the wrongful acts, the sense of neglect -- rather the actual neglect, nothing "sense" about it.  But then what's lost in the meantime?  Happiness, personal growth, the ability to help others that need me?

It's too difficult and gets only more difficult with time.