Uncle Roger's Notebooks of Daily Life
My life is, to me, ripe with frequent challenges, occasional successes, spontaneous laughter, adequate tears, and enough *life* to last me a lifetime. To you, however, it surely seems most pedestrian. And therefore, I recycle the name I used previously and call this my Notebooks of Daily Life. Daily, because it's everyday in nature, ordinary. These conglomeration of events that are my life are of interest to me because I live it, perhaps mildly so to those who are touched by it, and could only be of perverse, morbid curiosity to anyone else. Yet, I offer them here nonetheless. Make of them what you will, and perhaps you can learn from my mistakes.
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Friday, February 06, 2009
At first glance, it would seem that Pizza is the perfect, all-in-one, portable meal. You've got all your groups -- grains (The crust), fruits & veggies (tomato sauce, plus toppings), Dairy (Cheese), Meat (Pepperoni, Sausage, Etc.), and Fat/Oils (in the cheese & meats). It's easy to take with you, can be eaten hot or cold, and it's a comfort food for most people. It can be homemade or store-bought. It can be simple or sophisticated. It works for pretty much any meal.
But is it really perfect? Could it be improved upon? Is there competition out there? Let's find out.
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Last weekend, we stopped off after swim class at a thrift shop that Rachel and I used to frequent (back in the carefree days before children). We picked up a whole mess of books for the kids, a couple of puzzles, a really neat toy for learning to tie your shoes, and some CD's. The CD's were marked $2.99, but they were 30% off -- $2.10 each. Not a bad deal, if you ask me. So here's what I scored:
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According to a UK poll, more than a third of the people surveyed believe gay couples and single people should be prohibited from adopting kids. Of those, three-quarters said that allowing gays and individuals to adopt "would lead to the breakdown of the traditional family." Okay, so I have a simple question about that: How?
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Sure, I could do the math. Barack Obama had 207 electoral votes and the western states -- with California's 55 votes, Oregon's 7, and Washingon's 11 -- had yet to be called. It was but a few minutes before the polls closed and it should have been clear that Barack Obama was to be our next president. And yet, I could not yet believe it.
Then eight o'clock came and almost immediately, the entire west coast on the big map on the TV turned blue and it was over. Yes, I started crying. At that point, I started to believe it. I ran upstairs and put a DVD in the recorder to capture the concession and acceptance speeches. I wish I had done that earlier.
For the first time in a long while, I have hope. Obama wasn't assassinated. Electronic voting machines, voter purges, and polling place intimidation didn't stop him. Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States. Perhaps our brash and irreverent experiment will continue a while longer after all.
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Suppose you hired someone to paint your house. You think long and hard about the colors and settle on a warm, attractive combination of almond with chocolate trim. When the painter shows up, you give him the paint samples, explain what you want, and head off to work. At the end of the day, you head home, excited to see your house with its lovely new paint job. You pull up in front of the house...
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I have a sinking feeling that Proposition 8 (Vote No!) is going to pass. All I can say is that if it does, then California is no better than places like Texas, Pennsylvania, and all the other wastelands that use up good space.
It's not over yet, though. Get out there and vote (No!).
This post is part of and in support of Write to Marry Day.
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There are a lot of people, it seems, who are in favor of California's proposition 8 which strips away the right of certain people to get married. I am, as I'm sure is no great surprise, not only voting no on proposition 8, but actively asking others to do the same. If you're unsure of how to vote -- or even if you're positive you're in favor of it -- I have some questions for you to ask yourself.
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What does it mean when, in an office with a number of gay men, I call up to ask someone to grab the No on 8 posters I left on the printer and put them on my desk, and they say, "I figured those were yours"?
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I can't imagine that anyone reading this would even consider voting yes on proposition 8, the proposed constitutional amendment that would eliminate the right of certain couples to marry. Yep, some people want to prevent Catholics and protestants from getting married. Oops, wait, that was before. We're okay with that now. It's whites and blacks we don't want to let marry. Can't have that miscegenation going on. Oh, nope, that's okay too these days. So what is it that will destroy all life as we know it? Oh, yeah, same-sex marriage.
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I logged into the website where I post the stories I write for Parentdish and was greeted with these statistics:
"You have written 500,212 words on 1,633 posts since you started publishing 2 years and 113 days ago"
I've written half a million words -- about five novels' worth. That's a lot of typing.
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Would someone please tell that antiquated, pompous ass that I'm not his friend?
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On our way to school this morning, I idly asked Sara what she wanted to be when she grew up. I had a feeling I knew what the answer would be, but I wanted to see if she had changed her mind and, if not, what she thought her choice entailed. So it was not so much what she wants to be when she grows up that surprised me, but what that meant to her.
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It occurred to me this morning that my circle of friends is not really all that diverse. Among the people that I hang out with, that I would consider having over for dinner, whose kids I would invite to my kids' birthday parties, there are very few, if any, of certain groups.
The two groups that come to mind are republicans and smokers. I know very few of either, let alone count any among my friends. There are a couple of republicans in my office, but I wouldn't say they are friends outside of work. Similarly, I don't know many smokers. There's a father of a friend of Sara's from swim class and the husband of one of Rachel's friends, but that's about it.
I considered broadening my social circle, but decided it wasn't worth it. Let's face it -- I'm a snob, prejudiced against what I see as undesirable characteristics. Given that these are conscious choice made by people, I think I can live with that.
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I managed to catch part of the presidential debate, the other night. Now, my mind is made up already -- I'm not sure our country could survive a McCain presidency. Still, there are those who, I'm sure, look to the debates to help them decide who to vote for (not that I understand that, mind you.)
What I noticed about the debate, however, was about McCain. You know the old saying that when the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail? Well, McCain has a hammer. McCain is all about the military. His answer to everything is the military. How to afford the $700bn bailout? Don't spend money on anything except the military and veterans' benefits. I guess that means that the schools, fire departments, courts, parks, and so on will all just take an extended, unpaid holiday.
What about Iran -- would he consider talking with Ahmadinejad? Absolutely not -- use the military. Same for Iraq, and North Korea, and everything else. I don't know about anyone else, but I'd like to think there are other possible solutions to problems than a military response. Too bad McCain doesn't feel the same.
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Recently, CBS News anchor Katie Couric interviewed Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. I didn't see the interview, but came across it on the internet. You can watch the video or read the transcript. What I found most interesting was the pattern of her answers.
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