Stuff You Probably Already Know But I'm Going to Use This Post to Ramble on About it Anyway

I now work for a very serious organization that does very important and serious things. And we all just got Skype on our computers. Ooooh Lordeee, it's been all kinds of nerdy fun over here this week.

Tourism is an important part of the economy here in Nashville. But do we really have to have tourists? Especially the dude that asked me for directions with a cigarette barely balanced on his lower lip. WHILE I WAS PUMPING GAS. And the couple in front of me in line at the barbeque place who had to have a seven minute discussion with the guy behind the counter: "The sign says pork. Is it a pork chop? No? What kind of pork is it? Pulled pork? What does that mean?" And it's only April. From now until September it's only going to get exponentially more special each month. It's a good thing I don't work in PR for the visitor's bureau: "Welcome to Nashville. Now, please go sit quietly over there until it's time for you to leave."

The original Tea Party was about taxation without representation. So... to those in charge of this new concoction of the Tea Party... bless your hearts... please change your name. You HAVE representation. It's just that you aren't happy about it. And that's fine. Just please call yourselves the Red Bull or the Mountain Dew Party or something else more fitting.

NPR is awesome. Van Morrison is awesome. NPR's discussing Van Morrison for an hour is way beyond awesome. Our local affiliate just recently switched from playing coma-inducing classical music all day between ME and ATC (you know you're officially a dork when you refer to NPR programs by acronyms...) to an all-talk format: On Point, Talk of the Nation, Fresh Air, etc. You would not believe the complaining that people have done about it. I don't understand. I mean, did they not just hear what I heard? Talking about Van Morrison. And the way all of your insides feel when he growls out those lines like "And IIIIIII want to rock yourrrrr Gypsy sooooulll" or "Sheee's. As sweeeeet. Aaa-aas. Tupelo honeeeey." For a whole hour. Made my day. Can you tell?

God's grace and forgiveness applies to everyone. But I am having a really hard time wanting this to be true for certain despicable owners of coal mines and "parents" who return their adopted children.

Things still really suck in Haiti. And it's about to start raining. A lot. Please don't forget about them. If you've been wanting to give money but haven't - or if you want to give even more - click up there on the right.

Dixie Carter's death is a huge loss and I am sad. But, I bet my friend Eddie is pretty psyched.

Two Things Destroying / Restoring My Faith in Humanity

So first, the bad.

I lovingly refer to these two things as The Crap I Didn't Want to Know about in the First Place but It's Been Crammed Down My Throat So Much I Now Feel Compelled to Bitch about It Edition.

1. Dear Miss California and Mr. Trump and Mr. Hilton,

Please. All of you. Shut up. I don't care what any of your opinions are on gay marriage or topless photos or family values or pageant ethics or why the chicken crossed the road. You aren't doing the pageant community, the rich jackass community, or the gay community any favors with your respective bullshit. Besides, none of you seem competent enough to pick out your own earrings, hair pieces or clothing so I don't think you need to be speaking on national television about anything else.


2. Dear Parents on Meercat Manor Jon and Kate Plus 8,

I think I smell me some ratings whores. Reality TV is a fickle thing and you knew the free ride had to end sometime. Instead of creating scandal to get people to pay attention to you, maybe you should just repackage your show/family. Maybe become fundamentalists and have nine more kids. Or - better yet - make your kids design outfits and then have them compete against one another. You could get Perez Hilton to advise them and Miss California and Donald Trump to be the judges.

That I might actually watch.

And now for the good.

The Making Up for General World Crappiness, the Fact That Bluejays Have Been Ravaging My Vegetable Garden, and the Existence of Asshats Like Those Mentioned Above Edition.

1. The Obamas.

Yeah, I know. Yawn. Newsflash - Gert likes the president. But there are days when it just seems like the crappy state of the world just keeps getting crappier and I find myself slipping back into the dark, grouchy place I was in for eight years. But then. Then something happens and I remember that feeling I had back in the fall and the winter and I'm re-inspired. Granted, my re-inspiration may only be enough to kick some bluejay ass, but that'll do.

Arizona State Commencement Speech

Merced Commencement Speech (part 1)

2. OMG OMG OMG.

Glee. Did you watch it? Brilliant. Utterly brilliant. Deliberately and un-apologetically cliched and cheesy. Humor, drama, show tunes and my favorite song from 6th grade:

I haven't been this giddy about television since the Jane Austen series on PBS last year. What I didn't know until lunch yesterday, however, was that last night was not the premiere of a series they were going to air this summer, but only a sneak preview at a series for the fall. Tragic, but again, brilliant on the part of Fox because all I'm going to do this summer is remind you to go online and watch it. Aren't you lucky? Seriously, watch it.

Ahh Irony

I think my blog should have a tag line: "Mostly Just Me Linking to Other People's Stuff"

Anyway... What Would Jane Austen Do posted this most excellent picture with the very appropriate title:

"Calling Bullshit"

It reminds me of an article I once read about an anti-American protest (in China, maybe??) where the reporter casually noted that most of the student protesters wore Levis and many were drinking from bottles of various Coke products.

It also reminds me of my previous employment with city government where the people who called to whine about having to take their trash and/or recycling to the curb or because their brush was only picked up quarterly and not monthly were always from the same zip codes that are first to whine about their taxes. The parts of town who actually pay a disproportionate percentage of their income in taxes - especially things like sales taxes - were a fairly quiet bunch with apparently more productive things to do with their time.

And, while I do give a thumbs up to all protesters in that picture for having signs that are legible (Nothing more irritating than a handmade sign in ballpoint pen or fine point Sharpie...) my favorite sign is the "Cut Taxes not Defense." Ummm.... how is it we pay for Defense? Is there another funding source in our government that I don't know about? Are we selling Mary Kay to other countries? I wondered what Michelle Obama really did when she was hanging out with Carla Bruni....

Cultist

The other day at work we received an angry, angry letter. One of those in all caps with all kinds of poor grammar and errant use of quotation marks. The kind where you know that if the writer could have typed in a font called "manifesto" he totally would have. It was that good.

An email update from my media service soon found the source of the outrage. The director of the environmental non-profit I do some work for / share office space with was quoted in an article about the nuclear industry. In it he said something about how maybe it would be a good idea to try energy conservation first before we go building any nuclear power plants. And apparently it struck a nerve.

In the letter we were called several crafty names - the very best being "GRANT SEEKING LIBERALS" and "PEA BRAINED CULTISTS."

That first one is outstanding. Because, for one, it's 100% accurate. I am indeed a grant-seeking liberal. It's kinda how I avoid living in a box down by the river. And, for two, it makes me feel so much better about myself. Because here I've been working under the assumption that I was supposed to be a "latte-drinking, Prius-driving liberal." And let me tell ya, I was failing miserably at that.

So really, this is good news.

Ah, but if he is right about that one, does this mean I could also be a "pea-brained cultist"? I don't know. Now I'm worried. Let me think...

I guess I can't deny occasional pea-brained-ness on my part. I once misread a recipe for white chicken chili and instead of 1/4 teaspoon of cloves I added 4 teaspoons and nearly asphyxiated in a giant cloud of clove gas that formed over my crock pot. Things like this happen to me on a fairly regular basis. It's probably why I have to depend on grants for my livelihood - no one would actually pay me an hourly wage to be this much of a ding-bat.

So, OK fine - I'll give him that. But cultist? I may have to draw a line there.

But then I read an article yesterday and it hit me. Like a cloud of clove gas. Yes, I am indeed a cultist.

I belong to the cult of Rick Steves.

Yes, Rick Steves, the dorky PBS travel guy. That Rick Steves.

The article was on Salon.com. They did an interview with him and in it he almost achieved Jon Stewartdom. All funny and smart and self-deprecating and connecting-the-dots with spot-on observations and philosophies about everything from terrorists to marijuana. (The difference being that I have too much of a crush on Jon Stewart to worship him in a cult-like fashion whereas Rick Steves wears those glasses and the shirts with the two front pockets much like a David Koresh would, making him much more cult-worthy... )

Anyway... I first became acquainted with Rick Steves when I was planning a trip to Europe - not quite ten years ago. I had planned to go with a friend and do a quasi back-packing style trip through several countries. A month out she decided not to go and in a fit of pig-headed-ness I decided to just go by myself. To aid me on my trip I had a couple of ridiculously large, travel company-produced Guides To Europe that were quickly deemed useless and abandoned at my first hostel.

But I also had Rick Steves' guide to Italy. Small, concise, well-written and actually useful. He espouses the perfect (well, what I consider to be perfect) philosophy on travel abroad. He gives you tangible and realistic advice while showing you, on an adorably hand-drawn map, directions to the perfect cafe on the perfect side street in Rome. Or a great pub crawl to do in Venice where you will be able to dine for next to nothing on delicious food and wine and hang out with locals. Or which alley to turn down in Florence to find the most delightful tiny hotel where over the front desk in the lobby hangs an enormous painting of Tricky, the crazy owner's chihuahua.

And you go to these places and not only is the cafe perfect, and not only do you spend an evening on the pub crawl drinking wine and being quizzed on jazz by a bunch of twenty-something Venetians, and not only do you actually get to meet the real, live Tricky, but you also meet other Americans along the way. Americans who believe in the same idea of travel - that you should be a "visitor" to another country, not a "tourist." Americans who believe that our way isn't always the best way and that you don't learn anything when you travel if you spend all your time speaking extra loudly in English and don't deliberately wander away from the souvenir carts.

Americans who believe - after you have all downed several bottles of vino and a plate or two of gnocchi - that Rick Steves should be declared your personal god as you start sketching on a napkin the temple you're going to erect in his honor out of focaccia bread in the middle of Piazza San Marco.

It's been a while since I've reaffirmed my devotion to my dorky, public television travel guy. (What with saving all my money for the lattes and my new Prius I just haven't had any money to travel!) But I think after reading this article that should be taken care of. Pea-brained cultist that I apparently am.

And now, I have to go back to work. I have a grant report due tomorrow.

Pardon Me Boys

Here's a link to a nice slide show of the "green" parts of the economic stimulus plan.

I know that opinions vary when it comes to this. Am I sure that it will work or is the best thing to do? No. But my knowledge of economic matters is not good so even if I was opinionated on the matter, I have no knowledge or experience with which to back it up.

And as we know, that only qualifies me to be a hate-filled radio talk show monkey. But I digress...

What I will say is that it's nice to see a president who connects the dots. Who gets that a healthy, sustainable environment helps to create a healthy, sustainable economy and vice versa. Because what I do know is that you can't have one without the other. Our formerly robust economy turned out to be, well, not so much robust as it was a big fat house of cards. And the quality of - and our collective attitude toward - our environment has definitely reflected that.

So, I would very much like to give this plan the benefit of the doubt and be supportive.

I only have one problem so far: the proposed high-speed rail lines.

What's my problem, you ask. Well, let's take a look:


See there... in the lower right section of our country. Anything look odd or amiss? Like, I don't know... the fact there's only one state in that whole area without any rail lines. At all. Yeah. That would be my state.

Did I miss something? I thought I learned in the 7th grade that the word "Tennessee" was derived from the Cherokee word for "meeting place" as in "Wouldn't Tennessee be a great meeting place for all of these high speed rail lines?"

But no. Apparently Tennessee is actually derived from the Cherokee word for "No thanks, I'd rather drive."

And apparently no one from the Department of Transportation has ever had to drive from Memphis to Nashville. If they had, it would have been the first line drawn. Because that drive? It totally sucks. It's worse even than the drive from Cincinnati to Columbus.

Except if you look at the map - Cincinnati to Columbus is totally slated for a rail line.

But don't worry. I'm still here. Being supportive. And not at all disgruntled. In the great Volunteer State. Stuck in my car.

A photo. And then a little rant. Because allergy meds make me grouchy.

Big moon over my front yard. It was a photo-worthy moment - even if the picture didn't turn out so well.

It was uploaded and posted whilst watching President Obama's press conference.

Now, Barack, you know I love you man, but when I don't feel well, please don't talk through How I Met Your Mother. I wouldn't have minded if this had all been quality time we'd just spent, but you took a question from someone at Huffington Post. I mean, I'm sure he's a legitimate reporter and all, but in the grand scheme of things I just don't know that it was necessary.

And Maura from NPR - cut to the chase, sister. I know you're excited to have a president who finally takes questions from the press, but you don't have to ask all of them today. He's going to be here for four years.

And seriously, dude from the Washington Post, newsflash: you're from the WASHINGTON POST. Our economy is in the toilet, no one can be civil long enough to even try to do something about it, and you asked the PRESIDENT about A-Rod's confession of steroid use?! Seriously. Sit. Down.

And press secretary guy - whose name I don't remember at the moment - personally I find you endearing, but we all know these things are at least somewhat orchestrated and this is the best you can do? Give a girl a break. Neil Patrick Harris is waiting and I repeat: I. Do. Not. Feel. Well.

Playlists

This post is a bit anticlimactic now, but throughout the presidential campaign, election, and pre-inauguration time I kept hearing songs appropriate to the events which stuck in my head or songs would inspirationally pop into my head and I would sing them in the shower or to the dogs.

On the way down to the beach I started to make a list of them, thinking I would put them up on here when I got back and ask for additional suggestions. Well... we can all see that didn't happen. I did, however, manage to pull together two rather lengthy CDs full for the inauguration party. There were so many people in the house though that I doubt anyone could hear/notice that music was playing.

So... in case you've been thinking "Gee, I'd really like a couple of playlists full of completely random, yet inspirational and/or bouncy music to remind me of the past year" here are my suggestions. At this point some are beyond obvious and borderline cliche, but I like them anyway. Enjoy. And... thanks to the magic of YouTube - I've linked them so you can go listen/watch for yourself.


List One.

1. YES WE CAN - Will I Am and friends
This was adapted from Obama's concession speech after the New Hampshire primary. It was one of the most moving things I'd ever heard and if I hadn't already decided I was voting for him long before that - I would have decided to that night. I don't normally enjoy celebrity-endorsed public service-type things, but this is good and I'm so glad someone did something like this with it.

2. HIGHER GROUND - Stevie Wonder

3. HEAVENLY DAY - Patty Griffin
In my next life I want to be able to sing like this woman. Plus, she supposedly wrote this song about her dog. How great is that?

4. IF YOU WANT TO SING OUT, SING OUT - Cat Stevens

5. WHAT'S GOING ON - Marvin Gaye

6. WHERE IS THE LOVE? - Black Eyed Peas

7. ONE - Mary J. Blige & U2
My love of U2 goes without saying - but that Mary J. Blige. I'd listen to her sing the phone book. And such a cool combination with him and for that song.

8. AMERICA - Simon & Garfunkel

9. WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS - Ben Harper

10. SHED A LITTLE LIGHT - James Taylor

11. THE RISING - Bruce Springsteen
I've always had a healthy respect for Bruce, but he's never been anyone I've gone out of my way to listen to. Until this song. And this specific performance of it, actually. I get almost evangelical when I hear this song. I said almost...

12. THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE - Odetta

13. SHINING STAR - Earth, Wind & Fire

14. LOVE & HAPPINESS - Al Green
This is one of my all-time favorite songs ever for any reason or occasion.

15. PINK HOUSES - John Mellencamp

16. HAMMER AND A NAIL - Indigo Girls

17. SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED - Stevie Wonder



List Two.

1. A CHANGE IS GONNA COME - Sam Cooke
Everyone else and their cat is on YouTube singing this song, but I couldn't find one of him actually singing that didn't involve a really awful montage of some sort.

2. BEAUTIFUL DAY - U2

3. EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING - Lauren Hill
I just always feel a little cooler / less dorky when I listen to Lauren Hill.

4. I JUST WANT TO CELEBRATE - Rare Earth

5. TOUCH THE SKY - Kanye West
Dude is such a colossal jack-ass, but he puts together a good tune.

6. LOVE TRAIN - The O'Jays

7. JOY TO THE WORLD - Three Dog Night

8. EVERYDAY PEOPLE - Sly & the Family Stone

9. PEOPLE GET READY - Curtis Mayfield & the Impressions

10. WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD - Willie Nelson

11. LOVE & HOPE - Ozomatli

12. IF I HAD A HAMMER - Peter, Paul & Mary
I always feel a lot less cool / more dorky when I listen to Peter, Paul & Mary, but that's OK...

13. BRAND NEW DAY - Van Morrison
Not on YouTube. Tragic. It's a really pretty song.

14. I NEED TO WAKE UP - Melissa Etheridge
It's the song from Inconvenient Truth. I like it on it's own, but I also knew I needed a little tribute to Al in here somewhere.

15. THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN' - Bob Dylan

16. PEACE, LOVE & UNDERSTANDING - Elvis Costello

17. AT LAST - Etta James
Although, after seeing Beyonce's performance of this at the first inaugural ball and her interview after, I feel like I should have included her version too. She was too cute.

Enough? Probably more than. I would have liked to have included something by Johnny Cash. He did a great spoken-word song/poem thing about "I am America." It's pretty cool, but odd at the same time. Other things missing - Dixie Chicks and John Legend and my mother had a request for Aretha Franklin that did make the final cut either.

Part of me also wanted to include the quintessential anti-Bush tirade - Green Day's "American Idiot" but I tried to keep it all as positive as possible. I'll just have to be happy doing what I normally do, which is leave it in the CD changer in the car and turn it up to 11 when I'm sitting next to a Hummer at a traffic light.

Perhaps our new president can inspire me enough to grow up and stop doing petty crap like that. But I think he'll need a second term. Ooo... then I can make two more playlists...

Little Pink Houses

I bought my house seven years ago - a tiny 1930's cottage painted three completely random, terribly unattractive, shades of green with mustard yellow trim. My neighborhood was undergoing a bit of revitalization when I moved in and many of the houses on my street were under the process of renovation and/or restoration and it usually involved painting the outside - or at least the shutters - a bright and cheerful color. The house across from me is red. One down the street is mint green, and one further down is terracotta. I think maybe the intention of the previous owner was to paint mine a bright and cheerful color when he was getting it ready to sell, but he missed the mark. In his defense, he was a heterosexual male (we all know they shouldn't be allowed to make decisions when it comes to paint or fabric) and, well, he was also a slumlord trying to unload some property and probably didn't give a rat's ass what colors he slapped on it just as long as it didn't look quite so much like a crack or meth house when he was done.

Needless to say, when I had gathered the funds I had it painted. Choosing a color was a bit challenging, but I eventually picked a dark indigo blue. As paint often does, it dried much lighter than that. It took a little getting used to, but now I love it. It is the little blueberry cottage and stands out nicely from behind the two big maple trees in the front yard.

What is my point with all of this, you ask. Well, when it was all painted, I stood admiring it from the street and thought to myself how cute and quaint it would be come 4th of July, Memorial Day, etc. with an American flag (and come September with an orange and white checkerboard flag) hanging from the porch or mounted by the door. But, as I mentioned, I've owned my house for seven years - as in - I've lived in my house for almost the entire time George Bush has been in office. And what with all the chicanery around his getting into office, his deciding which countries to label as "evil," which people to label as "patriotic," and his continuous assault on our constitution, I haven't really been too keen on hanging a flag on my house.

You may be thinking right now that I am shameful. And you would be right. I was never not proud to be an American during these years - I just wasn't particularly proud of my country for quite a bit of these years. But that's not why I feel any shame. I don't think it's shameful to be angry - or disgusted at times - with your government or approximately half of your fellow citizenry. What I feel shame for is that during that time I allowed others to co-opt what it meant to be patriotic or to be an American. Just as I feel shame and guilt for allowing the religious right to co-opt what it means to be a Christian. I don't do my cause or represent my beliefs very well when I allow others to affect my actions in that way. I needed to just get over myself, but I didn't.

But no more. Today when the sun came up the blueberry cottage was appropriately attired.

And not because the candidate I voted for won the election. And not because of the color of his skin. But because for the first time since I was in grade school, I feel inspired by my government and by my country to be a better person.

I just hope that if any of our founding fathers and mothers glance down in this direction today they can overlook the current lack of landscaping and that my porch and it's roof could seriously use a good power washer.

(P.S. if you think I'm bad, my mother isn't putting her flag on her house until 12:01).

(P.P.S. yes, I just realized that I didn't hang it correctly - the blue should be on the left. I Google everything but apparently it never occurred to me to look up "how to hang a flag." I'll change it this afternoon.)

Your Opinion Requested

If you haven't seen it, the president-elect has an online survey for anyone to complete. Yes, some of it asks if you volunteered for the campaign, and how much, and if you liked it, yadda, yadda, yadda. Which, I know, might not be of interest to some. Especially if you didn't vote for him.

But it also asks for your opinion on what issues you think are most important and how you think this administration could best reach out to and involve the public. At the end you're asked to just write a response to various questions. Nothing useless like "On a scale of 1 to 5, how important is it that we improve the economy?" or "Clean air is important to me: True / False."

The cynical part of me wonders just how much our answers will be read, collected and put to use, but I have to say - it was damn nice to be asked.

So, regardless of your opinion on our president or our nation in general, take a minute or two and give it:

http://my.barackobama.com/whatsnext

After the flood all the colors came out

I meant what I said. I pledged election-related bitterness and snarkiness for only one day. Part of me felt guilty for my post yesterday because, as dooce said, she voted for Obama in part because he makes her want to be a better person. And that post really wasn't a very good example of me trying to be a better person. But like I said people, it's been eight years. Eight years.

Eight years ago I stood with my now sister-in-law here:

Right where that little blue star is. The area to the left with the fountains is Legislative Plaza in downtown Nashville (the state capital is just on the other side of the street that's running across the top of the photo). It was the location of Al Gore's election night party. It was no Grant Park, but we were a festive bunch. Large TV screens were set up around the area and as states turned blue we cheered and high-fived strangers (ahh, who knew that night would begin our national obsession with color-coded states...). At some point the state of Florida turned blue. The crowd erupted. There was hugging and dancing in the streets. But then, a little later, Florida turned red. We couldn't hear what was going on. So we waited. And waited. And waited. Somewhere in cyberspace is a picture by a Reuters photographer of my sister-in-law and me, tired and sad-faced, resting head-in-hands on one of those metal barricade fence things adorned with a giant Gore/Lieberman sign, as we stared up at a big TV screen waiting and wondering. Then it started raining. And we finally went home without any answers.

That night started a long road for me of anger and disgust - not just because of who ended up as president, but because of what that election exposed about our voting system, the kind of country we had become, and that I apparently hadn't been paying attention to any of it up to now. I was angry at our government and our country, but also at myself for having been so oblivious. Somehow we had become a country that slapped an American flag sticker on one car window while we tossed a McDonald's cup out of the other. We had become a country where patriotism was a sense of entitlement and a justification for condemning others who didn't think or look like we did. We were a country so arrogantly self-righteous about our democracy and yet willing to let our leaders obliterate the separation of church and state on a pretty regular basis. We were a country who felt it had the right to tell the rest of the world how to live and how to govern, while much of the rest of the world quietly and humbly went about providing its citizens a better education, more affordable health care, and a cleaner environment.

So yesterday when I said that I had lived with a sickening feeling for eight years, it really wasn't that much of an overstatement.

But now I feel like there's a nation wide dedication and enthusiasm for voting. That there's a new definition of patriotism. That once again we have a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Here are some of the people I saw on Tuesday:

Volunteers of every color at the Obama offices in Nashville, who sat all day and made get-out-the-vote calls to people in other states like Iowa and New Mexico.



The 13-year old from my neighborhood (whose name escapes me at the moment) that I have seen almost daily for the past howevermany months with a tent and folding table out in front of the gas station registering people to vote, volunteering at the Obama office, standing on a street corner before school waving an Obama sign, and on election day, in charge of organizing people to stand on street corners and wave signs.

The guy getting out the vote by deejay-ing on the street corner in front of a public housing complex halfway between my office and the Obama office.



And Delores

and Phillip

and Keshia

They were three people who could have very easily stayed home and not voted rather than go to the effort to call and ask for a ride to the polls. More than 300 people volunteered to drive people to the polls on Tuesday so I met them all riding shotgun as the navigator for my stepfather and friend Mark who got on the driver list earlier than I did.

For that opportunity, and for the lack of sickness that I woke up with the past two mornings, I have Barack Obama to thank.

But you know what? George W. and all of those other people I told to "suck it" yesterday... I have them to thank too. There is no yin without yang. I don't think I could have envisioned my new sense of pride and optimism, the new possibilities for our country, the hope I have for our relationship with the rest of the world, if I hadn't endured the last eight years.

So, to everyone pictured in the post from yesterday I would also like to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Thank you for Tuesday. It was a beautiful day.

My Spirit of Bipartisanship...

... will start tomorrow.

Tomorrow I pledge to try my very best to live up to the good example our next president has set for us.

But for right now, to mark the glorious end of the sickening feeling of gloom and despair I have felt every day for the past eight years, I would - just for today - like to say that

you

and you,

and you,

and you,

and you,

and yes, even you guys too,

and you,

and you

and, oh yeah, definitely you,

and you,

and you,

and last, but certainly not least, you,

can suck it.

God Bless America.

A Bittersweet Day

I think it's safe to say I've been waiting for this day for eight years. At the same time, for a different reason, it's a day I had hoped wouldn't happen for several more years. The two aren't really connected as far as most people can see, I guess. But, in my heart they are.


1. "Democracy is not a spectator sport"

I love to vote. I live for tradition and ritual. It's fairly safe to say that I'm a sap. A proud sap, indeed. My love of voting comes from a love of country as well as a love of state, city and community. When voting in my first presidential election, while in college in Ohio, I made the extra effort to vote absentee in Tennessee. I wasn't going to let my first presidential vote count for any other state. I also made one of my roommates, a Republican, sign as my witness that I voted for Bill Clinton and Al Gore. My love of voting, country, state and city also includes love of irritating the beejeezus out of any Republicans still willing to claim me as a friend or relative.

To mark the occasion I re-watched the Northern Exposure episode "Democracy in America." The quote from this title comes from this episode as does this (from my beloved Cicely radio personality, Chris "in the Morning" Stevens, of course):

"Today every runny nose I see says 'America' to me. We were outcasts, scum, the wretched debris of a hostile, aging world. But we came here, we built roads, we built industry, powerful institutions. Of course along the way... we basically stained our star spangled banner with a host of sins that can never be washed clean. But today we're here to celebrate the glorious aspect of our past. A tribute to a nation of free people. The country that Whitman exalted:

'The genius of the United States is not best or most in its executives or legislators, nor in its ambassadors or authors or colleges or churches or parlors or even in its newspapers or inventors, but always most in the common people.'

I must go out now and fill my lungs with the deep clean air of Democracy."


2. "He Will Always Be My Coach"

I haven't been writing about football much this year, but there hasn't been much to write about that was good. And I spend enough time on here griping and complaining already and goodness knows that there are plenty of other people out there on the interwebs running their mouths with their opinions about what's gone wrong and what should be done. My love and devotion to my state and my team isn't any less, I just didn't want to add my negativity to the mix.

Yesterday, however, Tennessee Head Football Coach, Phillip Fulmer, announced that he would not be returning next season. I don't know what to say. On the one hand I'm not surprised. On the other I am heartbroken. Much like my post a few weeks ago comparing the destruction of Yankee Stadium to a greater dysfunction in our culture, I think this speaks to much the same. I don't know for a fact, but I have a pretty good feeling that on election day, Coach Fulmer and I would not be in agreement, but this I do know:

Coach Fulmer is from Winchester, Tennessee. He was a student and football player at the University of Tennessee and played his first game in 1969. As an adult he was an assistant coach for Tennessee and then has spent the last 17 years as the head coach. His record today is 150-51. During the height of his career in the 90s, his record is 75-5. Student athlete after student athlete has praised Coach Fulmer over the years for mentoring them, for helping them through difficult times, and for being the father that some of them never had.

These days his record is not as good and it has been extremely disappointing. Yes, you could maybe argue that he's off his game. He's past his prime. He's too stubborn and unwilling to change with the times. But you can't argue that he's not a good coach. And more importantly, that he's not a good man, because his love of our state and our university and the boys that come to play for him is undeniable. Many of the people that have been calling for Coach Fulmer to resign are the same people that I spoke of in my earlier post. Those who don't value tradition or history. You're not going to find a new coach with the same knowledge and respect for being a Tennessee Volunteer that Coach Fulmer has. And maybe we'll win more games, but we also may lose a top five recruiting class who is already committed to Tennessee in the face of dismal season because of the kind of person they see in Coach Fulmer. I guess we'll have to see.

There are all kinds of things being written about this right now that have touched my sappy heart and that I'm sure I'll be bombarding you with at a later date. But I think Peyton Manning has said all that needs to be said for now.

"This is a sad day for the Tennessee family. Nobody loves the University of Tennessee more than Coach Fulmer... I will always be indebted to him for the impact he has made on my life and my football career. I know I speak for hundreds of players when I say it was an honor to have played for him at UT. I am fortunate to have played four years for one of the greatest coaches in the history of college football. His legacy at Tennessee will be that he built men and won championships. He will always be my coach."

The Rest of the Story

Here are some more photos from the debate festivities on Tuesday.

The bell tower at Belmont. I'm so proud of our local college. They did a great job. You might not know this, [WARNING: useless trivia alert] but Nashville has the most number of colleges and universities per capita of any city in the country. Fisk, TSU, Belmont, Lipscomb and Vanderbilt just to name a few. Over the past few years I think Belmont has risen to be my favorite - or at least very close to the top. It's hard to compete with the Fisk Jubilee Singers and the TSU Marching Band, but almost beating Duke in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament helped a lot :)


The rally before the march. Lots of people lined up along 21st ave at Magnolia Blvd getting cars to honk their horns.

The march up the median of Magnolia to Belmont's campus. This isn't my photo. It came from here. I really wanted to get a good picture like this, but it wasn't easy and I finally got tired of trying. One of the many contributing factors as to why my original career plan of photo journalism didn't quite pan out...

Our seats for the debate. The real live debate was going on only a few yards directly behind us. We stood in the mud behind the MSNBC stage. They were very nice and set up a TV for us to watch. Unfortunately we could only watch and not hear most of it because a gaggle of extremely immature and inconsiderate Vanderbilt students set up camp behind us and decided we should instead listen to their loud and insipid conversations. Yet another reason why Belmont has become my favorite local college.

Another shot of the lovely Chris Matthews.
He was actually very friendly and funny.

We bumped into several friends.
Mostly from church and/or the neighborhood.

The different signs people made were really interesting. It never would have occurred to me to make a sign, but you could really tell some people put a lot of thought and their feelings onto a little piece of poster board - or the shirt they wore.

Kids:

International:

Funny:

And the trifecta - funny and international AND a kid:

Like I said before, a good time was had by all. I think I may be volunteering at the Obama offices on Wednesday and watching the last debate - so you may have to endure another round of photos next week too :) Happy Friday!

P.S. - say a little prayer tonight for my boys in orange. They're having a tough season this year and they have to play Georgia tomorrow. Yikes.

GO VOLS!!

GO OBAMA!!

For Better or Worse

I'm sure it's pretty easy to tell how I'm voting in this year's election, but for some reason I hadn't felt the need to spell it out. I'm quite passionate about my choice, but I haven't been shouting it from the rooftops and I certainly haven't been volunteering my time. Very unlike me.

So on Sunday I finally went for a volunteer training in preparation for the debate. It was great. I was overwhelmed by the dedication and enthusiasm of the people there. It's a feeling I hadn't felt in a while and one that I missed. So what took me so long? What's my problem? At some point it hit me. I'm gun shy. I've had a life-long love of political campaigns - especially presidential campaigns. But I've been burned. The presidential campaign process and I, well, we've had a pretty tumultuous relationship. Let's review:

1980 - Schoolgirl Crush
I was nine. I adored Jimmy Carter. On election night at the dinner table I begged my parents to tell me who they voted for. My father finally gave in and said "Reagan." I cried.

1984 & 1988 - Surly Teen Angst
My disdain for all-things-Reagan/Bush/Quayle continued but I had no faith that the adults in my country were capable of doing anything about it. Most of this phase in my relationship with politics was spent writing bad i'm-going-to-die-without-a-decent-president poetry and listening to angry music on my Walkman.

1992 - Annoying Co-Ed Infatuation
It was the first presidential election where I could vote. I was full of entirely too much pep. I did cartwheels when Al Gore was named Clinton's running mate. I bugged the beejeezus out of my one Republican roommate. I did all kinds of volunteering with the campus Dems. I was clingy, needy and ready to put me and my love for campaigning in a frame and paint our names on it in glitter.

1996 - True Love
I jumped head first into a super-serious relationship with the presidential campaign. That summer I worked part time for Rock the Vote. That fall I worked part time for the Clinton/Gore campaign and spent most of my free time as a volunteer. I spent every available moment with that campaign. We moved in together. We bought furniture and got a dog. Life was grand.

2000 - The Honeymoon Ends
Did I get too serious too soon? Did I misread the signs? Did I have a foolish and naive expectation when it came to Democracy and elections in our country? When the Gore/Leiberman campaign was too busy to pay as close attention to me as the last campaign I worried about what I had done. Was it because I no longer lived in a swing state? Was it something I said? My solution? I just kept shamelessly calling. We saw each other when there was time. I attended rallies and did some volunteering and even though it wasn't the relationship I really, really wanted, I knew that on election day it would all be worth it. It would all be OK.

Oh, but it wasn't. At some point on election night it all went to hell. My love of politics and presidential campaigns abandoned me on a street corner in downtown Nashville. Literally. (You'll hear that story another time.)

Over the next couple of weeks I held out some hope that things could be fixed and we'd go back to how it was supposed to be. But it didn't. I'm not good with break-ups and when Gore conceded the election I couldn't watch. I took a bubble bath and ate some ice cream. And very few days went by over the next four years where I didn't wake up angry.

2004 - Jilted and Bitter
Poor John Kerry. His campaign never really had my complete loyalty. I wanted it to work, but part of me knew it wasn't going to end well and that it was just my transitional campaign. After election day the angriness I had started each morning with for the last four years was pretty quickly replaced with four years of cynicism and disillusionment.

2008 - Ready to Try Again? Or Just Too Jaded?

So here I am. I don't come into this election lightly. I have a lot of baggage. I watched Barack Obama at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. I heard him speak in person in 2006. I knew that one day he would run for president - just not anytime soon. But he did. I voted for him in the primary even though I didn't think he'd get the nomination. But he did. I've been wary and hesitant and tried not to get too attached. But I am. And even though this is all written tongue-in-cheek I honestly don't know what I'll do if it ends up being another election like 2000. So I've tried to remain detached. But I can't. And then fate put a presidential debate in my own backyard and told me to just suck it up and get over myself.

So I did.

I went to the training on Sunday and then earlier tonight I met up with several hundred - possibly thousand - other Obama supporters from across our supposedly red state.

There was a march to Belmont's campus where the debate was being held:

And a rally on the quad:


With the exception of a small hand full of McCain supporters and third-party-activists, everyone was pro-Obama - and this is only half the crowd. I'm really not trying to exaggerate or be catty. I was expecting a far more even crowd, or frankly, to be outnumbered. Maybe there was a different area of campus where FoxNews was set up and the crowd was different, but where I was, it wasn't even close.

Before and after the debate our job was to stand around the MSNBC tent/stage and keep Chris Mathews "entertained" (he looks thrilled, doesn't he?) Check out the "Nash Vegas for Obama" sign behind his head. Ha. So much fun. Even in the pouring - and I mean POURING - rain.

I'll have many more photos available later but for now I am sleepy and soggy. Proud and inspired. For better or worse.

But very soggy nonetheless.

Observations from the Basement #2

Mr. President:

My last political science class may have been taken before cell phones existed. I may not know a whole lot more about the Bush Doctrine than Caribou Barbie claims to know. And I can't manage my own household and its finances particularly well so I certainly don't have any business managing say a company or a country. BUT. In the spirit of my baseball observation...

This I know:

Going on television every couple of years for the sole purpose of scaring the shit out of people so they will hop on your bandwagon is NOT THE WAY TO LEAD A COUNTRY!

I won't dwell in your past attempts at doing this. I have my Sesame Street Terror Alert on my iPage as a daily reminder.

But for this more recent incident, let's review:

• In January you said our economy was "sound."
• In July you said our economy was "basically sound."
• You spent the rest of the summer toddling around Camp David and the Olympics.
• Then last night you come on prime time television to tell people "OUR ENTIRE ECONOMY IS IN DANGER."

Stellar. And so much more thrilling than that guy originally scheduled to be on TV who'd been hanging upside down for three days.

But you know... this current pattern of yours sounds pretty familiar... let's see... oh yeah, that's where I've heard it before...

IT WAS ME. MY SENIOR YEAR OF COLLEGE.

How did Gert handle her impending adulthood? Let's review:

• In January of that year, I believe I was quoted as saying, "No worries. Where's the keg?"
• By June I was all "Dude, look at my pretty diploma!"
• That summer? Spent it happily living in a tent and skipping around in the woods.
• September arrived. I suddenly realized the sky was falling.

It wasn't pretty. But you know what? I WAS TWENTY-FRICKIN'-TWO-YEARS OLD. The only things I was responsible for were my student loan, a Volkswagen named Jose Jetta, and a ficus. NOT THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF 300 MILLION PEOPLE.

But again, what do I know? I am so far from being an economics expert it's not even funny. I'm more likely to be named Miss Alaska than Fed Chair. Well, actually, the opposite is probably closer to being true. BUT YOU GET MY POINT.

So... since we seem to have similar ways of obliviously keeping our heads up our asses and then running around like morons handling big problems, I would like to offer up my own life experience as a cautionary tale:

Of the three things I was responsible for during September Nervous Breakdown '93, the only one that was still alive by September '94 was my student loan.

Still in the basement,
Gert

Your Feedback is Important to Us...

I'm streaming C-SPAN on my computer while I work so that I can listen to/watch the DNC roll call. So I thought I'd take a poll.

Geek?

__YES __ NO

It's one of my favorite parts. I love all the pomp and circumstance - "I Jimmyjoe Hooter, representing the fine delegates from the birthplace of Davy Crockett, Andrew Jackson and Minnie Pearl; the home of the Great Smokey Mountains and Jack Daniels Whiskey; symbolized by the iris, the poplar tree and the Power T, do hereby cast our 85 votes from the three grand divisions of the great Volunteer State of Tenneessee... for Barack Obama!"

OK, so it's not EXACTLY like that. But I'm not far off. How can you not get excited? Normally I get to watch this pagentry from the comfort of my own home while I clean out closets or balance my checkbook, but they've moved it earlier in the day because of the potential Hillary drama.

What's a geek to do?

Men...

This snarky, superficial observation from the weekend comes not out of any real ill-will, but only from having a pile of crap on my desk too overwhelming to think about at the moment. So I'm invoking the Scarlett O'Hara defense ("I'll think about that tomorrow"). Well, for the next 15 minutes anyway...

Dear Joe Biden: I love you, man. Seriously. Couldn't be happier that you're Obama's running-mate. (If for no other reason than this brings the total count of people I know, or know of, from the state of Delaware to TWO.) But... when you're giving your first big speech as the Potential Next Vice President of the Free World, could you maybe have gotten a haircut? I know that we were all given short notice that you were chosen, but I'm assuming you got a better heads-up than the rest of us. And speaking of a Heads-Up... I'm also going to assume that there was probably one somewhere in the Springfield, Illinois area.


Dear Mayor of London: I don't know anything about you, but I bet I would like you too. Your name is Boris. How great is that? You strike me as a guy I'd enjoy sharing a pint of Guinness with in a pub. Some would argue that you too need a haircut, but I think it's cool. Sort of a young Ryan O'Neal meets Andy Warhol. However... I watched you on the closing ceremonies of the Olympics last night (Horrid London intro/preview/whateverthehellthatwas, by the way. You get David Beckham and Jimmy Page to fly to China and that's all we get? And don't even get me started on that weird bus and those umbrella dancers...) and I was wondering if maybe in 2012, when you're on television in front of another gabillion people, you could try buttoning your suit jacket? Just a thought.

Say what you will about Hillary or the Queen and their hair and their outfits, but they would have made damn sure they were properly groomed and appropriately buttoned. And one of them would have would have not only waved that Olympic flag around like a champ, but she'd have done it while also carrying a handbag...

Well if He isn't, He Should Be

From the New York Times Duh Section:

"Is Jon Stewart the Most Trusted Man in America?"

It's been noted in writing here at least once and in my conversations with anyone who will still listen to me without rolling their eyes (a small, but tolerant clan) that no other man on the planet achieves the level of smart AND funny (and cute) that Jon Stewart does. No one. And I stand by this by saying that if I ever get a raise again, it will go to getting cable back in my house just so I can watch "The Daily Show." So yeah, I'll tack on "most trusted" to that list of adjectives as well.

But seriously, read the article, it's a substantial and well-written piece full of brilliant and hilarious quotes from him ("Mr. Stewart has said he is looking forward to the end of the Bush administration 'as a comedian, as a person, as a citizen, as a mammal'"). Not to mention a photo that is going to give my This Old House poster a little competition...

I Bet She Can Pronounce Nuclear Correctly...

Every so often someone asks me if I would ever vote Republican.

My response to that has always been "I'd rather eat glass."

Well, after careful consideration and soul searching I've decided that response really needs to be modified.

It will now be "I'd rather vote for Paris Hilton."

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d

Who knew she was funny? Or had an energy policy?

Already a vast improvement...

Summer Lovin' Week 4

"On Holiday"

Just as a little preamble - I do love the way the British say things so much better - what mouthy Yank came up with the word "vacation" anyway? Bah! Send it to the dust bin!

Anyway... Sadly, I was not the one "on holiday" this weekend. But the Tennessee sales tax was.

And before you put your hand on your hip, wag your finger in the air, and say "oh don't you go participating in the 'sales tax holiday' after you chastised Hilary and PawPaw for wanting to have a 'gas tax holiday'!" let me say that it is SO. NOT. THE. SAME. THING. I won't go into too much of a rant since I'm supposed to be using my time for these posts to put happy thoughts into the universe and onto the interwebs. BUT I will just say that a nine-point-freakin'-seven-five-percent-sales-tax on clothes and a slightly less obscene tax ON FOOD is regressive and an abomination. However, a tax on a non-renewable fuel source that is also a major pollutant should be taxed even more than it is now for those reason and whole variety of others. Granted, that tax money should be going toward public transportation and to mitigate the pollution created by gasoline-burning engines instead of going toward - oh I don't know - BUILDING MORE ROADS. But enough...

The Tennessee Tax Free Weekend is a fairly new thing. I had been going with my mom to Atlanta to visit friends and family for the weekends of the Georgia sales tax holiday. And yes, saving sales tax really does not warrant a trip to Atlanta BUT there are always lots of additional sales and such on those weekends AND Atlanta has stores we don't have. The Container Store. Crate and Barrel. A pretty good outlet mall. Nordstroms. Ikea. The Container Store. AND if you already have people there you want to visit and its too damn hot to do anything with them outside, what are you going to do? Go to the new aquarium? That would be nice, yes, but let's compare both activities. Both crowded. Both cost money. The aquarium would be educational, yes, but I already know enough about jellyfish to satisfy me for a while. On the other hand. Stackable laundry baskets? Cute boxes - with label holders on the ends - that would contain my VHS collection of Northern Exposure episodes? A bookcase with a name I can't pronounce that I could assemble myself? Tell me more!

I take it all very seriously. Make a list of things I need. A list of things I want. A pre-determined amount of money and an estimate of what can be spent on the "need" versus the "want" lists. I don't buy shirts I only sort-of like just because it's a really good bargain, but I leave room for the serendipitous lamp or bowl or little tan Kenneth Cole mules (that I'm still wearing four years later and get compliments on every time I do - btw). It's like a hunting trip - lots of preparation and game plans but with the thrill of the unexpected. Only no cammo or firearms or bloodshed. Well, usually no bloodshed. There was the time my step-father decided at the last minute to go with us and then asked if we could spend the afternoon at a used bookstore...

So, finally Tennessee legislators got a clue and started a Tax Free Weekend for us. Not quite as exciting. But good. No outlet mall or Nordstroms, but Macy's proved pleasant and profitable. No Ikea, or Crate and Barrel, or Container Store, but a good time can always be had at Target. And with my ongoing lack of funds and a lack of living room ceiling, anything more would not have been feasible. We did well though. Here's my haul. (Hey, get me - posting pictures of my stuff like the preppy bloggers do. Someone stop me before I get something monogrammed... )

Jones New York classic black dress pants that will from this point forward be worn at least once a week. Not an enormous bargain but I've finally come to the conclusion that I have to spend good money on pants. Clinton and Stacy would be so proud.

Nine West black shirt. You can't really tell, but it has cute little pleats. And I normally hate the way I look in buttoned down shirts so this was quite the find on multiple levels.

Liz Claiborne shirt, but in green. In the picture this color is cute, but in person it was not. So I got it in a much-cuter, grass green, but no picture of it exists in cyberspace for some reason. I promptly wore it the next day to work with dark wash jeans and cute, black, rounded toe flats.

(If I had added "black patent leather headband" or "kate spade hobo bag" to that sentence you would have had permission to come and smack me around with something that stinks of patchouli.)

Target was equally exciting but less photogenic so I won't post any pictures of the hairbrush, thank you notes (God help me, they were pink), or string cheese. But the dogs did get their annual back-to-school collars.

Oliver's

Elsie's

(And hell if I didn't notice until now how preppy they are too. What is wrong with me! Don't worry though, pigs will fly before I put my dogs in sweaters or rhinestone collars. Well, as a joke / photo op, but not seriously. Elsie would smother me in my sleep. Oliver on the other hand would probably enjoy a little something sparkly...)

So there you go... another summer adventure has come and gone. We plotted, we scoped, we stalked, we pounced and we left triumphant. And nothing had to be strapped grotesquely to the hood of the car. Or monogrammed.