We leave for the greater New York – Vermont region on Sunday.  That is four days away.  I am not at all in the holiday gear.  Gotta rev up.  Go go!

Oh, I am not feeling truly Grinchy.  But my heart isn’t in the season yet.   Getting there, though…this afternoon Shara & I spent a good hour wrapping presents while listening to her iTunes collection (which includes Men at Work, such a wonderful fact!), and tonight I addressed our Christmas card envelopes.  The tree is up and festive, the cats busy drinking all its water, needles strewn throughout the house.  (I am considering getting an aluminum tree next year – perhaps in purple.)  Egon has prepared his annual list of desires – an unnecessary exercise, as he has been letting us know what he wants (xbox 360) since about June.

Egon has been asking a lot of religion-related questions this year, including why we celebrate Christmas if we are not Christian, and why we couldn’t instead/also opt to celebrate Hannukah (a transparent ploy for 7 additional days of presents).  I think about this every holiday season.  We celebrate Christmas in the sense of friend & family togetherness and happiness -  as Frances’ parents put it, “a family is everybody all together.”

It is also, for me at least, a time to put the past year to bed, to reflect on what we’ve done, what we’ve witnessed.

And I really like the lights and decorations that abound at this time of year – it is so cheery and festive and lightens up the long, dark, cold nights. And the goodies that seem to appear everywhere – chocolates, and homemade toffee (thanks Becky!) and cookies – help lift my winter bound spirits (if not my winter bound butt).

Perhaps I am in more of a holiday mode than I suspect.  I think I’ll go put “Olive, the Other Reindeer” into the DVD player and hunker down under some kitties.

Has Obama done anything that I can stand up and say “Yes!  That is why I voted for him!”?

Not that I can think of.

Maybe if he had politely declined the Nobel Peace Prize – does he honestly think that he deserves it?

Or if he had established a jobs creation program like the Works Progress Administration, or something similar, paying people to put their skills to use in recreating the United States.

Perhaps if he had put his foot down on McChrystal’s request for more, more, more in Afghanistan and said (because he is a Nobel Peace Prize winner) that this is an unwinnable war, and will do nothing to make us safer from terrorism and is asking the impossible of our troops.

If he had stood up for the many marriage equality referenda and legislation that have been shot down by bigoted, frightened zealots, then I could applaud.

If, and I realize this is a stretch, he had used his mandate and the people’s disgust with Wall Street to propose and advocate serious reform of our financial system, well, then I would be dancing in the streets.  (Maybe not, though – it’s damn cold out there.)

Yes, I recognize that I projected all of my frustration and anger and disillusionment that built up over the W years onto Candidate Obama, seeing him through the rose-colored lenses of “not Bush”.

But I never expected that he would turn out to be so much the same:

• not closing Guantanamo Bay
• ramping up military action in Afghanistan
• cozying up to financial fatcats
• surrounding himself with yes-men (and I do mean men – his staff is overwhelmingly male)
• kowtowing to the right wing

We were all so excited and delirious, Mr. President, on November 4th, 2008.  I want that feeling back.  I want to believe that you are different and that you have some grand, complex, intelligent plan in motion that takes the long view and sees the potential in America.  But I am beginning to believe that you are an inexperienced leader who is in over his head and is relying on predatory sycophants for advice.

There are approximately 17 feet of snow on the ground.  School is canceled.  The milk delivery man is holed up in a hotel, waiting for the roads to clear. Egon, Mr. P, Leo & I are snuggled under the covers.  Egon is pondering Christmas gifts to give to family members.

E:  What does Shara hate?

M: Getting up early in the morning.

E:  What else?

M: Being laughed at.

E:  Are there any nouns that she hates?

Later, I heard Egon asking his dad:  Is there any person, place, or thing you hate?

So we just finished watching Terminator (because there is a blizzard on and school is canceled tomorrow).  Then I come downstairs and find this picture on HuffPo’s front page:

Creeped me right out.

[Aside:  As the movie started, and both Daniel & I intoned "Ahhhhnold", Egon asked "Who's Arnold Schwarzenegger?"  Currently, the Governor of California, I replied.  And then watched in disbelief as the Governor of California appeared on the television screen, fully naked and totally beyond buff.  Has there ever been another Governor who has been seen completely naked by millions of people?]

This may scare small children and animals.  You’ve been warned.

In the comments, please offer up your best caption for this snapshot.  Winner to receive prize of unspecified type.

If it helps, this is what I was doing at the time this photo was taken:

1. The hoo-hah over Tiger Woods’ crashing his SUV into a fire hydrant and tree reaches its full apotheosis in George Vecsey’s whining column.  George, you write for the sports section of the NYT, not the entertainment/celebrity section.  If Tiger has provided all the information required under Florida law, it is not yours or anyone else’s business why the accident happened.  Get over it.
2. A new mother calls the $8000 she spent on a boob lift “the best money I ever spent,” because she is single, “but now I’m not going to be.”  I’m sure your child will be delighted to hear that your boob lift was a better investment than, say, her college education fund.   And the positive role model you are providing by looking at cosmetic surgery as a boyfriend lure will no doubt serve her well in her adult life.
3. Switzerland’s people just voted to ban any new minarets being built in the country.  They’re not bigoted or anything, though.  Because there are already 4 minarets in Switzerland, so it seems reasonable that they wouldn’t want any more, lest their skylines become crowded.
4. The ungrateful, self-righteous people interviewed in the NYT article about the rising use of food stamps in the U.S. -

Like many new beneficiaries here, Mr. Dawson argues that people often abuse the program and is quick to say he is different. While some people “choose not to get married, just so they can apply for benefits,” he is a married, churchgoing man who works and owns his home. While “some people put piles of steaks in their carts,” he will not use the government’s money for luxuries like coffee or soda. “To me, that’s just morally wrong,” he said.

Yes, everyone else on food stamps is milking the system, but you are different from “them”.

Having assumed that poor people clamored for aid, she was surprised to find that some needed convincing to apply.“I come here and I see people who are knowledgeable, normal, well-spoken, well-dressed,” she said. “These are people I could be having lunch with.”

Sigh.

Sign outside a church on the way to Cherokee Marsh today:

GOD BLESS EVERYONE

NO EXCEPTIONS

WE REALLY BELIEVE THIS

Daniel asked:  As opposed to “God Bless Everyone — Just Kidding”?

Sign outside a different church, on the way back from Cherokee Marsh:

HE IS COMING ON A WHITE HORSE

TO TAKE CARE OF IT

When I hear that a hero-type is coming on a white horse to take care of it, the first image in my head is the Lone Ranger.  Hi-O!  Silver!  Away!

]]> http://kjbpod.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/hi-o-silver/feed/ 4 KPod http://kjbpod.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/tidbits/ http://kjbpod.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/tidbits/#comments Fri, 27 Nov 2009 04:41:31 +0000 KPod http://kjbpod.wordpress.com/?p=2576 ]]>

Egon, on the way home from Family Night Thanksgiving Style:  “That was the best Family Night ever.  There was more laughing than talking!”

Lukas, clad in a lovely sky-blue dress and hoodie, watching Egon & Shara do a hand-puppet-muppet routine with koosh balls, rolling on the sofa with laughter:  “I could do this all night long!”

Lesly, upon trying my homemade cranberry sauce with clementines:
“I could just have this on toast for breakfast…”

Lesly, upon trying Susan’s bourbon whipped cream:
“I could just have this on toast for breakfast…”
(It’ll be an interesting breakfast.)

MaryKay, upon realizing that there is already butter on the tables, holding plates with butter:  “Oh, we’ve got butter.”  Daniel: “That’s a good start!”

Egon, holding a plate filled with mashed potatoes,
three slices of bread and a slice of timpano,
is told he must put at least two slices of bread back,
as his entire meal consists of carbohydrates:
“But I have a piece of squash, look -”
and he pops the tiniest bit of delicata into his mouth.

Karen, musing on which bottle of red to open:  “Oooh, a Beaujolais.  I’m drinking that!”  Says Erik, carving the bird:  “It’ll be good with turkey.” Says me:  “Then I better not open it now, because it’ll all be gone by the time the turkey is on the table.”