Back with a Vengeance

The past few days, I've been mulling over the thought that I half-a** a good deal of my life -- relationships, work, citizenship, self-improvement. And I've been wondering what the hell I'm going to do about that, and, more importantly, when I'm going to do something about it. Hell, I've got 5 volunteers showing up tonight to learn from me what they can do to protect reproductive rights and promote sexual health. And, sure, I've got a fancy power point to let them know. But I feel like a sell out, since I don't do anything beyond what I get paid to do. And that's pathetic. I am a better human being than this, and I need to start acting like it.

This rant was prompted by my other posts and this quote from the post here:

I’ve quoted Thomas Jefferson before. I’ll do it again. People get the government they deserve.

Brothers and sisters, I say and I say again the fault lies not in your rulers but your self rule. You don’t really care – not enough of you anyway. If you did, you’d do something. But you’re just like me. You’re content in your middle-classdom, your health coverage, your relative assurance that you’ll have enough money to live on when you’re old and your delusion that even if all is not as it should be, it is as it must be. I, for one, will not subscribe any longer to such naïve optimism or such cynical fatalism. It ought not be this way and god damn it, it need not.

Soothing Balm for a Troubled Soul

Keith Olbermann, Special Comment on MSNBC, 5/23/2007

It feels so good to hear his words, to hear my own thoughts and feelings so articulately expressed. But I can't help wondering, what now? Where do we go from here?

I feel quoting the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Once More with Feeling (musical episode) is appropriate here:

Where do we go from here?
Where do we go from here?
The battle's done,
And we kind of won
So we sound our victory cheer
Where do we go from here?
Why is the path unclear?
When we know home is near.
Understand
We'll go hand in hand
But we'll walk alone in fear
Tell me
Where do we go from here?
When does the end appear?
When do the trumpets cheer?
The curtains close
On a kiss god knows
We can tell the end is near.
Where do we go from here?

Unfortunately, for the troops in Iraq (U.S. and elsewhere), the end isn't near. And more troops are signing up and shipping out every day. And our elected officials just don't seem to care.

So, tell me, where do we go from here?

Cindy Sheehan Resigns

It took me a minute to remember who she is -- her son, Casey, died in Iraq, and she set up Camp Peace outside of W's Crawford, TX, ranch, trying to hold him accountable. Trying to get this sorry-a** country of our's to change for the better. Well, she's resigning. And not because she's accomplished what she set out to do. Her letter is here. Thanks to Aaryn for directing me there.

I thank Cindy for all the work she has done and all she tried to do. And I thank for letting it go before it ate her and her remaining family alive.

And we're live

I'm back!!! Finally, Internet at home -- what a wonderful thing. To celebrate, below is a picture from my fabu 30th b-day bash. What fun we had. T-shirts by Ms. H -- isn't she super crafty?



And this is all the time I've got for now. Work beckons -- I have my first volunteer meeting tonight. I invited 425 and so far, 3 have RSVP'd. And I keep trying to remind myself that if those 3 show up, I'm doing well.

Sweet Onion

In a fit of procrastination, instead of doing my usual Internet surfing, I decided to be a bit more creative. I took the lyrics to Light-Rail Coyote by Sleater-Kinney (R.I.P.) -- a song about Portland -- and changed them to reflect life here in WaWa. I found it an amusing exercise -- hopefully you will too. (In case you are not an S-K devotee, lyrics to Light-Rail Coyote can be found here.)

Sweet Onion

Let’s meet in the town where
Traditional and cutting edge meet there
Let’s float down into the midst
Where teetotalers and winos mix
A kid from out in Dayton
Wants to be seen and go out
Let’s borrow my parent’s car
Let’s stay out till sundown there
And Main will be our street
Where the townies and tourists meet
Restaurants, bookstores and galleries
Mix with wine bars and banks galore.

Sweet Onions, Colleges and Wine
(I’m as green as this wheat stalk that bends)
Small Washington town draws you in
(In the air that blows through mighty windmills)
A promise undefined or not
(Where Porsches and tractors share pavement)
Just hang on until April, it’s hot
(And to gain the hope that this town sustains)

We’ll make our home A/C tight
Work all day, rest all night
And hope we’re not blown away
By foul scents or the bourgeoisie
And Adventists rule College Place
Where the poor and the devout meet
The grid that divides us all
Myra Road makes final call
Out at the edge of town
Where airfield runs wineries down
Wild fowl cross highway 12
To feed in the wide green fields

Sweet Onions, Colleges and Wine
(I’m as green as this wheat stalk that bends)
Small Washington town draws you in
(In the air that blows through our mighty windmills)
A promise undefined or not
(Where I take dirt roads to tasting rooms)
Just hang on until April, it’s hot
(And to gain the hope that this town maintains)

And if you wanna be a friend of mine
Follow the Columbia to the east side
Find me on the edge of conservatism
Tell me the country is no place to hide
Take me on a walk through downtown
Through Verve, Hot Poop and Whitman
You came to me in the nick of time
Thankful for the things I can still find

Oh highway 12, show me the way in (3X)
Oh highway 12

Tuesday

Hey, hey, hey! Yes, I'm still here -- still breathing, still happy, just very busy. And Internet-less at home. And now working for an organization that actually monitors how much time its employees spend on the Internet and fires them for inappropriate use. Hence, the lack of posts and e-mails.

However, this is all coming to an end next Tuesday (fingers and toes crossed, please, because I do not have a lot of faith in the local cable Internet provider). As will my life without cable. Yes, J and I signed up for the dish network and made an 18-mos. commitment and got the DVR. I am hoping this last piece of equipment will keep me from surfing cable for hours, but instead keep me watching all my favorite shows (i.e., What Not to Wear!!!) for hours. I can just see it, though, J and I will be buying a second TV in the coming weeks because we will refuse to watch each other's shows (for J, that would be basketball and Adult Swim on the cartoon network).

But, back to the Internet. Once installed, we hope to start our own blog and weekly broadcast about life in WaWa. For example, if we had been broadcasting last week, I would've reported on the cowboy I saw riding his horse down Main St. at 3 in the afternoon on a Friday, then later saw him swaggering down another street. In chaps and cowboy hat, both times.

All righty, I can feel the Internet police creeping ever closer. Please know that I miss you all and compose umpteen posts and e-mails to each of you every day. Your Cora withdrawals are almost over.