These are my favorite candidates for the presidency. THe funny thing is, they're all idealogically very different.
Barack is a Dem, one might say a radical Dem, except we really don't know what sort of Dem he is because he seems to be going in a direction that nobody else has really gone. (this is the main reason why I like him).
I like him for these reasons: 1) his LACK of time spent among the more jaded politicians in Washington, his integrity regarding lobbyists, his matter-of-fact way of stating his stances, and his willingness to be open with the American people. When he talked about how becoming more energy-independent will require some sacrifices on the part of the American people, I respected him. When he mentioned that he would consider meeting with various antagonistic leaders in the middle east, I respected him. When he mentioned that, if given no other choice he would authorize Americans going into pakistan after high-profile terrorists that have threatened the US, I respected him. Want to know why? All the other Dems would do the same thing, they just don't want to say so right now. Barack isn't going to fudge on these issues, he's going to be blunt and honest. Good sign, I say.
Mitt is a true, died-in-the-wool republican. He's pretty much the party-line toer out of all the republican candidates.
The reasons why I like him: He is a creative, flexible politician with the genius and experience that could help in the solving of several of our major problems right now: the economy, the war, and health care. And I love his health care plan-- keeping it free-market, but requiring everyone to have it. This will require insurance companies to cover those who they normally would not cover, and therefore, the rights and special needs of vulnerable groups will become a higher priority with them. The war has been mismanaged, and I agree with Mitt that we must stay in Iraq until things are more stable (if such a thing is possible.) We should never have gone it, but we can't just pull out without doing significant damage to our own national security as well as the security and safety of the region. Mitt's always been a brainstormer, willing to consider alternatives that others haven't thought of. In our foreign policy more than anywhere else we need some new, innovative ideas. I believe that, out of all the candidates, Mitt could come up with these.
Ron Paul is, for all intents and purposes, a Libertarian. But he's running as a republican this year. His platform is based around Limiting the federal government's power over the individual, something that badly needs doing right now. He's against the war in Iraq for all the right reasons. He advocated going into Afghanistan for all the right reasons. He wants to leave iraq and the middle east, pull all our troops out, and enter into a dialogue and trading relationship rather than a domineering, military-enforced one. I agree wholeheartedly... as soon as we can safely get out of Iraq. This is where Paul and I diverge... I think we need to stay for a while, he wants out ASAP.
All good men. All men who are campaigning based upon their own, real beliefs, and all unafraid to stand up and say what they think. (Or at least, that's my opinion.)
Aug 22, 2007
So, I've got to get back to this blogging thing. Seriously. No, Seriously.
I miss it. Facebook has been taking up way too much of my time lately.
So this will be my update post.
Adoption update: We're officially on the waiting list, we still have to send in our I600-A, which we will be doing at the end of sept/beginning of oct. We'll likely be waiting at least until next September for a referral, so we have a lot of time to read books and attend classes.
Manuscript update: I've heard back from Covenant (finally!) They had my manuscript under consideration by their editors, and then ultimately tabled it. Deseret kindly informed me that, though they appreciated my effort, they had no room for my book at this time. And so now I've sent it along to Shadow Mountain and Cedar Fort, and hope to hear from them sometime within the next six months. This is actually really fun for me, I'm getting some notches on my belt, and now I can be one of those people who says, in a weary wise tone, that she knows what it's like to be rejected by a publisher.
Other writing projects: My farcequin may have to wait a bit. What I ought to do is write a big chunk of it, then publish it serially on this blog, but, well, I'm writing other stuff right now that is more interesting to me. (Sorry.) Sheepish grin.
Baby-- we get to find out the sex at the beginning of september. WE're really hoping for a boy this time, but if it's a girl, well, that's great too. We love girls.
I hope all of you are doing well, and enjoyed your summer breaks (if you got them.)
I miss it. Facebook has been taking up way too much of my time lately.
So this will be my update post.
Adoption update: We're officially on the waiting list, we still have to send in our I600-A, which we will be doing at the end of sept/beginning of oct. We'll likely be waiting at least until next September for a referral, so we have a lot of time to read books and attend classes.
Manuscript update: I've heard back from Covenant (finally!) They had my manuscript under consideration by their editors, and then ultimately tabled it. Deseret kindly informed me that, though they appreciated my effort, they had no room for my book at this time. And so now I've sent it along to Shadow Mountain and Cedar Fort, and hope to hear from them sometime within the next six months. This is actually really fun for me, I'm getting some notches on my belt, and now I can be one of those people who says, in a weary wise tone, that she knows what it's like to be rejected by a publisher.
Other writing projects: My farcequin may have to wait a bit. What I ought to do is write a big chunk of it, then publish it serially on this blog, but, well, I'm writing other stuff right now that is more interesting to me. (Sorry.) Sheepish grin.
Baby-- we get to find out the sex at the beginning of september. WE're really hoping for a boy this time, but if it's a girl, well, that's great too. We love girls.
I hope all of you are doing well, and enjoyed your summer breaks (if you got them.)
Jul 23, 2007
Harry the seventh-- no spoilers, I promise
I'm not going to talk about what happened in the book. But I wanted to write about how this book made me feel.
This whole series, above and beyond the dazzling fantasy and the wonderful characters, has at its central theme one or two (or seven) very serious questions. Questions that, at some point, every person who thinks and lives in this world and is trying to eke out some sort of laudable existence will ask herself. Life and death? Good and evil? And what do you do with what you're given? And where exactly is that line between "for the greater good" and simple exploitation for personal (or even collective) gain?
We have Harry, a boy who lost his parents when he was a baby, who was abused growing up, and who endured an uninterrupted series of harrowing experiences that doubtless left their mark on him (literally). The psychology student in me thinks about PTSD, about attachment and bonding, about social support inoculating the abused from the tragedy of being permanently scarred by his experiences.
We have Tom Riddle, a boy who lost his parents, who endured a childhood full of neglect and inattention, and who, tragically, chose to use power over others rather than his relationships with others as his means of protecting himself. This is something that happens often (very sadly) in children who have been neglected/deprived/abused from a young age. But what makes a child choose one method of coping over the other? This is the question that isn't answered by the book.
We have Neville Longbottom, a boy who effectively lost his parents and lived a fairly miserable existence until he took matters into his own hands and started believing in himself, prompted by the support and encouragement that some of his teachers and friends gave him. His grandmother was a harsh, perhaps innefective sort of parental figure, but at the core she loved him, and he couldn't help but know this.
We have Snape, abused, neglected, made to think little of his own worth from the time he was a baby. His defense was his arrogance, his belief that, in the end, he was worth more than those who tormented him. The question here (and the biggest one for me, going into this last book) is will Snape be redeemed? In the end, did he overcome the scars of his past or did he go the Voldemort route and exorcise all connection to others, all ability to love and bond, from his heart in favor of overpowering those around him? Which route of protection did he choose?
We have Luna, who watched her own mother die a horrible death and endures abuse from all of her peers. She rises above this, however, because she still has the knowledge of her parents' love and support. She is the one that helps Harry understand how to effectively grieve a loss. While Harry is the savior-figure of the wizarding world and has been since his escape as a baby, Luna is, in a sense, Harry's savior.
The themes-- loss and grief, and their resolution
life after death/the idea of rebirth
good versus evil-- what is it that makes someone evil? What is evil, really?
This last theme is, to me, the most important of the book. Throughout the series we see Voldemort becoming progressively more fallible with each encounter. We realize, little by little, that the great evil being that the wizarding world fears, whose final (temporary) defeat lay in a chance encounter with a one-year-old boy who didn't even have the capacity to defend himself, is still really only a little boy himself. His infant's view of the world as a struggle for what he can gain, what power he could master over others in order that he might not be hurt, never changed because he never learned what most children learn-- that love can take care of you. That people will give you what you need most of the time, if you allow them that power. Thus, in spite of his brilliance and capability, he has glaring blind spots because of the way he has decided to cope. He is not whole, we realize. And we see that evil is not something real-- it is something gone wrong. It is the manifestation of human weakness.
OK, now I'll let the rest of you read before I say anything else.
This whole series, above and beyond the dazzling fantasy and the wonderful characters, has at its central theme one or two (or seven) very serious questions. Questions that, at some point, every person who thinks and lives in this world and is trying to eke out some sort of laudable existence will ask herself. Life and death? Good and evil? And what do you do with what you're given? And where exactly is that line between "for the greater good" and simple exploitation for personal (or even collective) gain?
We have Harry, a boy who lost his parents when he was a baby, who was abused growing up, and who endured an uninterrupted series of harrowing experiences that doubtless left their mark on him (literally). The psychology student in me thinks about PTSD, about attachment and bonding, about social support inoculating the abused from the tragedy of being permanently scarred by his experiences.
We have Tom Riddle, a boy who lost his parents, who endured a childhood full of neglect and inattention, and who, tragically, chose to use power over others rather than his relationships with others as his means of protecting himself. This is something that happens often (very sadly) in children who have been neglected/deprived/abused from a young age. But what makes a child choose one method of coping over the other? This is the question that isn't answered by the book.
We have Neville Longbottom, a boy who effectively lost his parents and lived a fairly miserable existence until he took matters into his own hands and started believing in himself, prompted by the support and encouragement that some of his teachers and friends gave him. His grandmother was a harsh, perhaps innefective sort of parental figure, but at the core she loved him, and he couldn't help but know this.
We have Snape, abused, neglected, made to think little of his own worth from the time he was a baby. His defense was his arrogance, his belief that, in the end, he was worth more than those who tormented him. The question here (and the biggest one for me, going into this last book) is will Snape be redeemed? In the end, did he overcome the scars of his past or did he go the Voldemort route and exorcise all connection to others, all ability to love and bond, from his heart in favor of overpowering those around him? Which route of protection did he choose?
We have Luna, who watched her own mother die a horrible death and endures abuse from all of her peers. She rises above this, however, because she still has the knowledge of her parents' love and support. She is the one that helps Harry understand how to effectively grieve a loss. While Harry is the savior-figure of the wizarding world and has been since his escape as a baby, Luna is, in a sense, Harry's savior.
The themes-- loss and grief, and their resolution
life after death/the idea of rebirth
good versus evil-- what is it that makes someone evil? What is evil, really?
This last theme is, to me, the most important of the book. Throughout the series we see Voldemort becoming progressively more fallible with each encounter. We realize, little by little, that the great evil being that the wizarding world fears, whose final (temporary) defeat lay in a chance encounter with a one-year-old boy who didn't even have the capacity to defend himself, is still really only a little boy himself. His infant's view of the world as a struggle for what he can gain, what power he could master over others in order that he might not be hurt, never changed because he never learned what most children learn-- that love can take care of you. That people will give you what you need most of the time, if you allow them that power. Thus, in spite of his brilliance and capability, he has glaring blind spots because of the way he has decided to cope. He is not whole, we realize. And we see that evil is not something real-- it is something gone wrong. It is the manifestation of human weakness.
OK, now I'll let the rest of you read before I say anything else.
Jun 12, 2007
Open letter to the dream network
Dear Sir or Madam,
I'm writing to let you know that your services will no longer be needed. I never subscribed to your channel in the first place, and do not take kindly to having my mind inundated with disturbing images and compromising scenarios whilst I am sleeping. I'll have you know that I am not a violent person, and never have enjoyed watching violence, and yet you feed strange scenarios involving blunt objects and nighttime intruders into what should be a time of restful repose.
Furthermore, I will not put up with the innappropriate images that you foist upon me whilst I am vulnerable and somnolent and unable to control what goes on and off of the, often too festive, stage of my mind. The strategy of humming hymns being unavailable to me in such circumstances, I regret that I have no alternative but to block your channel.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you don't provide a valuable service to some who would like nothing better than to dream about blunt objects and strange, sensual circumstances every night. I do not judge these people. I hope that, likewhise, you will respect my wishes and leave me to dream of more restful things-- kittens and chocolate cake. And perhaps the Gilmore Girls.
I find your targeting of pregnant women especially disturbing, as they need all the restful sleep that they can get. Particularly if they're still waking up in the early hours of the morning to provide a comfort feeding to their toddler. I think you ought to examine your market and find a more appropriate audience for your programming.
Respectfully,
Nosurfgirl
I'm writing to let you know that your services will no longer be needed. I never subscribed to your channel in the first place, and do not take kindly to having my mind inundated with disturbing images and compromising scenarios whilst I am sleeping. I'll have you know that I am not a violent person, and never have enjoyed watching violence, and yet you feed strange scenarios involving blunt objects and nighttime intruders into what should be a time of restful repose.
Furthermore, I will not put up with the innappropriate images that you foist upon me whilst I am vulnerable and somnolent and unable to control what goes on and off of the, often too festive, stage of my mind. The strategy of humming hymns being unavailable to me in such circumstances, I regret that I have no alternative but to block your channel.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you don't provide a valuable service to some who would like nothing better than to dream about blunt objects and strange, sensual circumstances every night. I do not judge these people. I hope that, likewhise, you will respect my wishes and leave me to dream of more restful things-- kittens and chocolate cake. And perhaps the Gilmore Girls.
I find your targeting of pregnant women especially disturbing, as they need all the restful sleep that they can get. Particularly if they're still waking up in the early hours of the morning to provide a comfort feeding to their toddler. I think you ought to examine your market and find a more appropriate audience for your programming.
Respectfully,
Nosurfgirl
a little announcement
Just because in blogging mode, I will likely be ranting about things related.
Anyway, Skywalker family is expecting #3 on January 18, 2008. We're excited. And overwhelmed. How many families end up with five kids in four years of marriage? (The adoption will add two.)
Good thing I'm married to a Jedi Knight. That's all I have to say.
Anyway, Skywalker family is expecting #3 on January 18, 2008. We're excited. And overwhelmed. How many families end up with five kids in four years of marriage? (The adoption will add two.)
Good thing I'm married to a Jedi Knight. That's all I have to say.
Jun 6, 2007
explanation
Lately, I haven't been blogging my farcequin regularly as promised. I apologize.
Let's just say that I have lots on my plate right now, and I'll blog it when I can.
Sorry!!
Let's just say that I have lots on my plate right now, and I'll blog it when I can.
Sorry!!
Jun 4, 2007
SRM--Ice melts in N. Canada
This video includes interviews with members of a canadian Inuit tribe describing how the melting ice affects their way of life.
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