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On Bobby Jindal

I was looking forward to seeing Bobby Jindal provide the GOP response to Obama's "Don't Call it a State of the Union" address. Although I had heard my libertarian husband speak of him with hopeful tones, I knew absolutely nothing about him.

And really, after watching him, I was left disappointed.

I strongly feel that an effective leader must have the ability to present himself in an appealing way to his or her constituents. This is something that I thought President Reagan and President Obama both had nailed.

I think Clinton had it nailed too, but he had lots of other problems that I didn't like at ALL about him. Side note: he so poisoned me against the Clintons that I can't imagine ever supporting Hillary Clinton for public office!

President W. Bush connected with the public, but in a different way than any of his predecessors. I was sort of neutral-to-supportive of Bush until the Iraq War. And then I just grew to counting the days until him and his neo-Con cronies were out of office. Still, though, after all this, I'd love to have a beer with the guy. Or go to a baseball game with him. He seems like a down-to-earth likeable guy. And I do believe that (depending upon how we come out of this recession), history will be kinder to him than we all think right now.

Back on subject, President HW Bush was another guy who was smart, had lots of experience, but couldn't really connect with an audience. And I think that's the only reason he got voted out of office. Of course, the fact that he was old didn't help either as the country looked to a different generation to get us out of the early 90s economic doldrums.

So how does this relate to Jindal?

Well, from the moment he started talking, I suddenly felt like I was being talked down to. Like he was addressing his speech to my 2-year-old son. I didn't even register the words he was saying because I was so put-off by his delivery.

This was the man that was supposed to be the savior of the GOP? This was the GOPs answer to Obama? Uh, oh. Me thinks the Republicans are in some deep-do-do. Combine him with Sarah Palin and the Democrats could be in charge for the next 12 years!

In many respects, it's sad that a nation elects its leaders based on superficial things like looks and oratory and personality. But the plain and simple fact is, they do.

And if the Republicans hope to win back some of their lost ground, they certainly need to play into this in 2012.

On the content of Jindal's speech?

Let's start with whole "we won't accept any of this stimulus money in Louisiana." Wise choice--let's sacrifice the health and well-being of my constituents for my political future. Oh, and fail to mention that we've already accepted billions in aid for Katrina (billions well spent, imho).

I also found it entertaining how the GOP can slam Obama and the Democrats for spending too much money in a stimulus bill when they left us with the most crushing deficit of all--spending so much money on the war in Iraq that did nothing to help with jobs or growth of the GDP or anything. The far majority of it was just tossed away. The GOP made conscious decisions to pass on a huge tax burden to us and potentially our kids and then they turn around and slam the Democrats for adding to it.



Yo, Kettle. Hi, it's Pot here. Guess what? You're Black!

Odetta

Odetta Holmes has died.

If you haven't heard her music, check it out.

I mixxed up the LATimes piece on her. I'm sure more are to follow.

4 Great Images of "Rust"

Yesterday, I tried out something I haven't done in a while. I felt a little rusty. It inspired me to go looking for pictures of "rusty" on flickr. What I found was really interesting and made me feel melancholy and wishing I had a time machine where I could go back and see things as they were, not as they are.

Rust and Surf # 2 by Patrick Smith Photography (and on flickr)

In addition to being a fabulous picture, I really liked how the photographer placed notes on the image discussing its composition points. Really well, done. Check them out on flickr or over on the full website. Excellent stuff.

Pelican's eye view by Peter vanAllen (and on flickr)

I'm a sucker for HDR shots. I know its cheating a bit, but I really love the way they pop. Wish I could learn to make them myself. Anyway, I like this one. It makes me wonder what life was like when this was all new.

Found in Field Dead by Яick Harris

This truck looks so sad. It probably had a useful life. And someone had a lot of interesting experiences in/with it. See, melancholy. That's what these pictures do.

And finally,
Tractor rust by tina_manthorpe


This one is an abstract, obviously, but it really conveyed a lot of emotion to me. Ravages of time and all that. This photographer has some other great decay and rust photos. Be sure to check them all out.

I had originally planned on making this 10 images--people seem to like those Top10 lists--but then decided I was writing this for myself anyway and I would stop at 4 :-) Its a good number for today.

As my son would say, peace out.

Wow.

Just wow.

What an amazing night.

I'm Not Sure Comments are Needed on this One

Wow, this is entertaining.

Troy and I spent the entire video commenting that the monkey probably drives better than his mother. LOL.

Full Disclosure: I found this on Mixx
http://www.mixx.com/videos/2532291/what_happens_when_a_chimpanzee_gets_on_a_segway

Blog Recommendation

Each day, I look forward to reading the Big Picture. The fact that its published only 3x a week makes me sad on the days I don't have a big picture to look at.

Produced by Boston.com, this is perhaps, the only thing I like about Boston. The pictures they find each day are absolutely amazing. They have given me a new appreciation for photography and covered some things that I never thought would hold my attention for longer than 30 seconds. Example: the Australian Motorcycle Gran Prix.

I encourage you to check it out, leave comments, give feedback on how great the features are. Hopefully they will continue to publish!

I'm Very Lucky!

I thought maybe I'd try to bookend my "hard to be me" post by talking about the rest of my family this morning. I've got a bunch of work to do, but somehow getting this blog post done will help me get my "real" work done, right?

Anyhoo, that's Zack in the picture with me. I love this picture because I think it captures Zack's personality. Although my son looks a LOT like me, he's really all Troy inside. He is always happy and smiling. Any crankiness he experiences is very quickly replaced with happiness. His imagination runs overtime.

Last night, about 15 mins before this picture was taken, he was telling me the story of Max. Max, apparently, is Zack's imaginary kitty cat. I didn't know kids his age were all about the imaginary pets. Totally shocked me. He had all sorts of stories about Max and him at the playground. Max really likes to go on the swings.

Last night, h also caught me by surprise while we were waiting at the Jenny Craig Center (yes, I'm trying to diet and called in the cavalry), by counting from 1 to 20. Missed a couple in there but last I knew he was only up to about 8 consistently. I guess all working moms understand the mixed feelings that brought up-- ooh, wow, he's counting to 20! and oh, where did he learn that and where was I?

By looking at the man that my husband is and seeing the same personality bits in Zack, I find myself growing curiouser and curiouser about how Z will grow up. With that Alice in Wonderland reference made, I'll go ahead and get back to work now....


UPDATE: after posting this the first time and actually looking at it, I was reminded of a picture taken just over 2 years ago now that is similar in composition:

Am I becoming *THAT* blogger?

That only links to YouTube videos?

Maybe, but I have a reason. I'm discouraged with the world today. Take this for example:



52 Million times its been viewed. That's more than watched the Presidential debates here in the US.

And its not entertaining. Its just ... dumb. (No offense to the creator).

Sigh.

What's up with me today??

Oh my, another blog post!

Two things I've got stuck in my head thanks to mixx:



(I like that one cause it has subtitles)

and



Enjoy.
Or not.

Its Hard Being Me

As I wrote the title of this post, a lot of thoughts flew into my head about how that title could be interpreted. Lord knows there are a lot of things about myself that are difficult. But when I wrote it, there was a specific instance that I meant where its hard to be me. And that is dealing with being in a large family and being the only non-McCain voter in my family.

To me, the decision in this election is a very easy one. Sure, there is the whole "I hate George Bush" and the Bush Doctrine thing. There is the fear of the badness a conservative court would perpetrate on us. There is the fallacy of trickle-down economics. There are more things I don't have the time or heart to discuss here...

After thinking long and hard about it, though, I am really beginning to suspect that the real reason I am so very pro-Obama is in large part because I am so very anti-Republican. I really dislike politics. I dislike politics. I have disliked politics for a long time. Neither party represents my views. I am an independent in the truest sense of the word--I want to be independent of all politics. Some of my views are conservative--I am for sure a fiscal conservative and would wish for the government to only provide enough structure and oversight to overcome information imperfection and neg/pos externalities to encourage companies and people to make rational decisions. The wisdom of the crowds wins in economic markets. On the social side, I'm definitely liberal. I believe white rich people aren't inherently better than anyone else in the world--they were just born lucky. And its their responsiblity and the government's responsibility to help level out the hands of luck and give people a boost up when needed.

All that being said, why my intense dislike for the Republicans? I guess you could call it a moral issue. The Republican party has a 'get elected at all cost' mentality that I think is just wrong. Its bad for our country. A party that can't get elected on its platform but has to resort to dirty tricks and flat-out lies is not a party I can support. And its not a party anyone SHOULD be supporting.

And this crap is happening on two levels.

First, on the "official" level. Having Sarah Palin talk about Obama's association with "Domestic Terrorists" is horrible. Its just horrible and abject lies. The domestic terrorist in question was elected Citizen of the Year in Chicago in like 1987 or something (too lazy to go find the article about him). Did he do something dispicable in the past? Yes, no doubt about it. But a lot of people did things in their past and we were willing to forgive them. The city of Chicago obviously did. How does Barack Obama serving on a large board of directors with the man somehow have some sort of impact on his ability to lead this country? And before anyone pipes up with "but its his associations, and who you hang with says a lot about you." Well, explain to me the Keating 5. And you can't, so shut up.

I've been looking a lot at the Congressional Quarterly's partnership with the St. Petersburg Times with their PolitiFact blog (look, not so lazy I couldn't find the link). A quick scan will tell you that the Repubs have many many more "pants on fire" and "completely false" grades than the Dems. Many many more. An embarassing amount more.

Is a party of liars really who we want in charge? I don't. You may be power hungry bastards and bitches (99% of politicians are) but at least be honest power hungry ones.

The second thing is the implicit or unofficial stances. The implicit allowance of continued rumors and lies to be spread.

So what does this have to do with it being hard to be me?
My family, mom, 4 brothers, 4 sisters-in-law, mother-in-law and sadly, husband, are all McCain supporters. My husband, at least, can articulate why. He's a one-issue voter. What is best for small businesses is best for him. Understandable (and forgiveable).

But my family just doesn't accept that I am not a wackho right-winger, but instead harasses me about it.

My brother says "I don't understand how someone as intelligent as you supports Obama." When pressed for details about why he supports McCain? Nothing but BS made up Republican lies.

My mother forwards me an email saying we shouldn't vote for Obama because no one has seen his birth certificate. I send her back the link to the page on his website that shows it. And point out that I haven't seen McCain's birth certificate either.

Back comes an email that she fears for her children and grandchildrens' futures if Obama gets elected "what with his associations with domestic terrorists." Do you know how sad it is to have your mom spouting made-up Fox News regurgitated "fair and balanced" bullshit at you?? Sigh.

And don't get me started about my mother-in-law. Rush Limbaugh told her that Arctic drilling is a good thing because pipelines are environmentally-positive. Responding to my disbelief, she lets rip with this one--"well, the animals can all snuggle up to it in the winter to keep warm" LOL Yeah, because oil pulled out of the ground is kept at a balmy 106-degrees throughout the pipelin process.

Requests to these folks... well, requests to my family to provide specific examples of policies they read themselves and disagree with have been met with complete silence.

My family are a bunch of really intelligent, hard-working good human beings. Who are being lied to and snowed by the Republican party. If that's happening to the smart ones, I can only imagine the impact on the rest of the populace.

Here's hoping Nov 5th is a good day.

Oops!

I was doing some testing on my blog today of a new widget for Mixx.com. And any mixxers that are reading this, NO, you can't have it until Thursday.

In doing so, I realized that I hadn't blogged since August. Well, that's embarrassing. I mean, its not like I have a lot of people reading this, but still. I made a commitment to be better about blogging and I need to get back on it.

But in the meantime, I'll keep my day job at Mixx and not try to become a professional blogger ;-D

Times They Are A Changin'

My quick thoughts for this historic day.
As some of my 3 readers may know, I don't follow politics. Not at all. In fact, I find most politicians to be hypocritical, in-it-for-the-power types--despite all their fancy rhetoric.

I have CHOSEN not to vote in the last 3? 4? elections out of principle. Yes, how unAmerican of me. Women had to fight for the right to vote. And I don't vote. Oops. Well, whatever.

All this being said, I have been totally engaged in this election. Why?

Answer #1: George Bush. What a nightmare. He makes me embarrassed to be American. He and Cheney's evil deeds have masked to the rest of the world what a GREAT and AWESOME country this is. Except we elect evil henchmen as our leaders. Oops.

Answer #2: WOW! By January, we'll have either a woman or an African-American in the White House. DANG. This is monumental, and either way, I think this is a great thing for America. A great thing--whether you are blue, red or green.

So I'll watch with interest, and what the heck. Maybe I'll even vote this time around.

Its All About The Attitude

I've had a few frustration points in my life recently. In the case of all of them, it was a perfect storm of lots of little things in a specific area building up over time and bubbling over into a few "I can't take this anymore" type of thoughts.

I had a long discussion with Troy (hubby) about them, and he gave me some great advice while we were riding the bus back from NYC last weekend. The advice was simple:

"Don't Care As Much"

In the week that followed, I looked at some of the situations and people that were frustrating me so greatly. And I realized that the most frustrating thing about these people and situations were that they weren't going to change. And I couldn't do a damn thing about it.

Before Troy dispensed his sage advice, I would have spent hours of frustrated effort trying to improve the person or situations around me. My anger and frustration and stress growing by the minute.

Now I've come to realize that its ok to not have everything around me perfect. That "good" can get you through the day. That in the whole big scheme of things, spending more time with my son, and working on my own projects is smarter, easier and less stressful than killing myself over something I can't control.

I was mortified my last annual review at AOL netted me a "Meets Expectations" grade (3 out 5, received by 85% of employees) . It was the first time I was not graded "outstanding" (5 out of 5) since they started doing those reviews in the late 90s. The new me wouldn't be mortified. I'd be pleased that I spent those extra hours with the two people I love the most, enjoying my life.

In the end, isn't that the right attitude? Isn't that what its all about?

Cool little meme

My creation, originally uploaded by kaparkins.

This image above is generated by the following:

The rules:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The questions:

1. What is your first name? Kerry
2. What is your favorite food? Macaroni and Cheese
3. What high school did you go to? Trumbull
4. What is your favorite color? Black
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Dean Cain
6. Favorite drink? Chardonnay
7. Dream vacation? Tokyo
8. Favorite dessert? Cupcakes
9. What you want to be when you grow up? archaeologist
10. What do you love most in life? Zack and Troy
11. One Word to describe you. reliable
12. Your flickr name. kaparkins


Of all the great photos I found doing these searches on flickr, these were the best. Links to them where you can get the full information on the awesome photographers who took them (they put me to shame!):
1. county kerry, 2. Nobody Does It Better, 3. At the old ball game..., 4. Perspective Matters (500 unique and cool people count this photo as a favorite), 5. deancain0013, 6. Chardonnay!, 7. The neon lights, 8. candy pop land, 9. The Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huangdi, 10. star leaf fringed in moon gate [─► this sweetgum leaf was before erroneously starred as a maple leaf ◄─], 11. The Wonder of Christmas, 12. Z asleep on the way there

New York State of Mind

Just got back from New York City. Again.

I had a great time this past weekend, hanging with my 4 friends from high school. We played native New Yorkers and ate at some great local places. We also played tourists and took the Circle Line boat around the southern part of Manhattan and under the Statue of Liberty. I haven't been near Lady Liberty since junior high and I had forgotten what an amazing place it was.

I traveled on the Megabus again. Unlike last time where I paid a whopping $6.00 for my ticket, this weekend, I paid $2.50. Roundtrip! Woo hoo! We ran into some glitches on the way up. First was traffic (of course). The teeny-tiny State of Delaware must be using its entire GDP to tear up I-95 because it was a parking lot from the Maryland border all the way over the Delaware Memorial Bridge. And then, once we got on the Jersey Turnpike, the bus driver pulled over. Unexpectedly. Told us that she had driven too many hours and was waiting for another bus driver to be delivered by company car to relieve her. Now note that this didn't occur because we were so delayed that she was on the road longer than expected. Oh no. She ran out of time well before our planned arrival time in NYC. We sat for 35mins waiting. Then, after getting back on the road again, we got stuck in one of those legendary 45min backups through the Lincoln Tunnel. After all was said and done, we arrived 1.5 hours late into the city.

The way back was better. We only had some smoking tires to deal with, but only had to wait 10 mins for a new bus to arrive. But the bus driver was intent on showing the movie Lake Placid 2 on the bus. It was a horror movie, obviously rated "R" and yet there was some kids on the bus. Very odd. And the movie was a train wreck. Thankfully not a bus wreck though. Even with the dang Delaware traffic, ony 20 mins late.

In the end, even with the delays, I would still travel megabus again. So cheap, really convenient, and takes as long as driving without the exorbitant parking fees!

I wish I was staying in NY for a few more games. The All Star game is at Yankee Stadium in its final year. I would have liked to be there for that.

At this rate, it will be a while before I head back to the Big Apple, but the last two weekends made memories that will last me for a while...

Why Am I an Obama Supporter

I plan on voting in this next election. Although I've had the right to vote since 1986, I have exercised my right to not vote. In general, I dislike politicians. Besides my life not much being changed by whomever is in office (both locally and nationally), I have a deep suspicion of people who are so hungry for power. I know that I can probably do as good a job as most politicians do, but that still doesn't inspire me to run for office. I don't understand the motivation to be a politician--I just don't.

As far as my own political beliefs, I'm really quite in the middle, overall. There are some things I firmly believe in that are historically "Republican" and some that are historically "Democratic." What I don't believe in is extremism--either on the right or the left. I think people that are way right-wing or way left-wing are just wrong. And there is no party that matches my views, no candidate. That remains true today.

On the right, you have people that are sheep--they listen to leaders who are trying to advance their own agendas and they don't question what they are hearing. They accept it when Rush Limbaugh tells them that Alaskan pipelines are good because pipelines give the animals that live in Alaska a warm place to snuggle up to (no, really). They believe when their religious leader tells them that some parts of the Old Testament need to be obeyed 100% without question (man shouldn't lay with man) and others can be ignored (stone the wife if she cheats) and that's all in line with what God says. This type of blind following holds true to all people I've met who profess far right-wing views.

On the left, you have some fairly whacked out ideas as well. Conspiracy theories abound. The government is seen as some evil that needs to be tossed down in favor of some unspecified perfect society that somehow doesn't need governing. The common theme with everyone I've personally met with these leftist views is that these people universally, and sometimes I think unconsciously feel they are smarter than others AND that they are somehow better human beings for it.

Of course, these generalizations aren't true across the board, but they are true for the people i have met.

Long story short, it is for all these reasons that I have not bothered voting. And then we come to George W. Bush. I never voted for Bush. But I didn't vote to not put him in office. Even if I did in '04, wouldn't have mattered. I was never "for" the war in Iraq. I had a long "discussion" with a friend of mine who was in the first war in Iraq how that war was not justified. We were justified in kicking the Iraqis out of Kuwait, but the rest of the "war" was just gratuitous, unnecessary and a failure. Because really, what was accomplished by it?

The second War in Iraq just as unjustified.

And then the Patriot Act. WTF? How can we call ourselves Americans if we suspend some of the fundamental reasons that make us America? George Mason refused to sign the Constitution unless it included the Bill of Rights. Its something that every single American benefits from (more than they even realize) and yet we just gave one big piece of that up without a fight. Frightening.

If we all read about an election in a small African country where the president was moved into office even though the majority of voters voted for someone else, and the area of the country where the president's brother ruled bent the rules to push him into office--well, we'd all be convince the election was rigged or tainted. Well, it happened here in the US.

Wiretapping Americans without anything other than the need to say that the government needs to listen in? Problematic.

We've stopped being America, and that needs to stop.

Of the two candidates, John McCain seems to be the more centrist one. Obama seems like one of the "extremists" I dislike. However, this is only the way things seem. The real question is what compromises the two candidates will make to get elected. McCain will compromise to the right, Obama to compromise to the center.

In the end, the choice is clear. The politics of the last 8 years, as influenced by the neo-cons, or an attempt at something, anything different. I choose the latter. I choose Obama.

Weekends in New York

I am spending the next two weekends in New York City.

This coming weekend is July 4th, and we're going to do three things:
1. Coney Island & Nathan's hot dog eating contest
2. Fireworks, as seen from Roosevelt Island
3. Yankees/RedSox game

The weekend following, I'm celebrating a group 40th birthday gathering. I'm not sure how to better describe it. I still am in (relatively) close touch with my 4 best friends from high school. This year, we all turn 40. Due to lots of different schedules, families and locations, we're going to get together for one weekend to celebrate.

The 5 of us have managed to keep close through 4 marriages, 4 kids, 3 adoptions, 2 parental divorces, 1 parental passing, 1 PhD, 3 Master Degrees, 2 college dropouts (hiatuses), 21 years of a hand-written chain letter and countless "i'm in town for one day, let's do lunch" type drop-ins.''

For a group of women, we've managed to only have one disagreement about boys, thankfully. Compared to my other friends, this is apparently quite the accomplishment.

Yet, despite all this, I still remain a bit anxious about our Birthday Gathering. Its now taken on the importance of capital letters, I guess.

I honestly can't remember the last time the 5 of us were together. I think it might have been our 5th-year high school reunion. I'm not counting weddings because one of us was (obviously) otherwise occupied during those occasions.

So what if we have nothing in common but crazy memories of our halcyon days? (side note: i have no idea exactly what that means but always wanted to drop it into conversation or blogversation). Will we be stuck with minutes of uncomfortable pauses? Will I fall back on babbling like I always do to fill an uncomfortable silence?

I'm probably more curious than worried. There is a part of me, the unsocial part, that will just be curious to sit back and observe the dynamic like I'm examining lab rats. That probably won't go over to well.

None of the girls going on the trip read this blog. Hell, I don't think anyone reads this blog. So there is no chance they will be influenced by my nerves, but I am wondering if they feel the same way I do...

Thank You, George Lucas

I'm a very avid reader. I have been since I was young. I used to sneak a flashlight into bed so that I could continue to read after my parents turned the lights out. The words created such vivid images in my mind, and took me to places I would never imagine on my own.

Movies sometimes have the same power for me. When a movie can create a sense of wonder and realism and emotion for me, I am instantly hooked. My "top ten" of movies is really quite simple.
1. Star Wars
2. Indiana Jones
3. The Lord of the Rings


I remember seeing Star Wars for the first time so clearly. My mom had a long day of me and my 4 brothers. She sent my dad out with the oldest of us to go the movies so she could have some quiet time. My younger brothers being just 6 stayed at home and went to bed. I, on the other hand, had an experience I would never forget, even after 31 years.

I waited 4 hours in line to see Empire Strikes Back. 6 hours to see Return of the Jedi. I fell in love with Han Solo. I had dreams of Mark Hamill vacuuming my ceiling in a blue and red striped rugby shirt. Don't ask. Really. Star Wars was a major influence in my life--and in more ways than I have time to write about here.

When it came time for the Star Wars prequels, I thought I had reached Nirvana (nerdvana?). As the opening began to roll, I grabbed my husband's arm and squeezed tight. He looked over at me and laughed. I was crying tears of joy and excitement.

[hey, i never claimed to not be a loser here]

2 hours later I felt a profound sense of loss. George Lucas f-ed up. In his quest for either technical perfection or the almighty marketing dollar, he somehow screwed over my childhood. Episodes 2 and 3 lessened the hurt a little bit, but not much. Somewhere, Lucas lost the heart of the story. The relationships that held the action together and created a world in which I wanted to live.

Fast forward to May 24, 2008.

I'm entrusting a rehash of my childhood memories to George Lucas again. This time, though, Steven Spielberg is involved. I'm feeling more optimistic.

The theatre goes dark, and my husband is again laughing at me as I am again wiping away the tears. The movie opens in classic Spielberg fashion. Your first shot of Indy is in shadow--putting on the battered fedora. With that one bit of cinematography, I knew everything was going to be ok.

I smiled. A HUGE smile. One that didn't leave my face for 2 hours and 4 minutes.

Thank you, George Lucas. For not killing my fond memories and having to provide a condition on my love.