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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Wednesday, September 24, 2008
This past weekend, we went to the annual neighborhood picnic, held at a mini-park in the center of the area where there is a large -- twenty-eight feet long -- sundial. It was unveiled, at night, oddly enough, on October 10, 1913 and beginning on October 11, 1913, generations of children have climbed it, some making it all the way to the top, others not. I was in the "not" crowd.
My kids, on the other hand, are daredevils (well, the older two, anyway -- so far) and both Jared and Sara made it to the top. Only, when Sara made it, she grabbed onto the end and looked down -- and was stuck. She couldn't get her hands to the sides in order to slide down safely. She wasn't going anywhere.
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What is a necktie but a very skinny bib?
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What I don't like about Barack
You can probably guess that I am going to vote for Barack Obama this November, even though he's not my ideal candidate. (Who is my ideal candidate? Well, actually, me. But I'm not running, so we take what we can get.) But why am I not wild about Obama? Well, there are a few issues where he and I don't see eye to eye.
First off, there's the whole God thing. The guy believes in a magic man in the sky. Give me a break. If I had my druthers, I'd be voting for someone who didn't believe in children's fairy tales.
Then there's the gay marriage thing. He's agin' it. Why? I don't know, but I do know that I can't fully respect someone who doesn't see men and women as equals and, no matter what he says, if he wants to check what's in your pants before letting you get married, then he doesn't really believe in gender equality.
And there's the smoking. I know it's hypocritical of me, but in this day and age, knowing what we know, and with all the support, encouragement, and programs to help people quit, I can't understand why anyone of any intelligence would smoke. (And, yes, I'm fully aware of the psychological parallels between smoking and being overweight, but 1) I'm not running for president and 2) weight loss does not come with the same tax breaks and other financial incentives that quitting smoking does. Also, while I've never quit smoking, I do think there may be a few degrees difference in the effort involved.)
So, does all that mean that I'm not 100% behind him? Quite the contrary. Obama is the first person to come along in a long time that I think has any chance of rescuing this country. I'll put it flat out -- if McCain is elected, I think we'll have, at most, one more presidential election before the United States of America is no more. If Obama is president, I think we have a chance.
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You know, I can kind of understand the people that are behind McCain and the other republicans. They're completely wrong, of course, but I can understand them. They're afraid of bad guys, or they want to keep their money for themselves, or there's no way they could vote for a godless heathen... whatever misguided reason they have, at least they have a reason.
What I don't get are the undecided people. It's not like it's a choice between a cheeseburger with cheddar cheese or monterey jack. It's more like choosing between a cheeseburger and a punch in the face (regardless of which you think is which.) A vegetarian isn't going to consider going to Jersey Joe's any more than a meat-eater would choose Greens as a regular eatery. The undecided folks, however, are standing around wondering whether or not they want a cheesesteak sandwich with fries or a grilled tofu sandwich with a beet salad.
It's easy, folks!
If you've got a lot of money and believe in "every man for himself", vote for McCain (or, better yet, stay home.)
If you think we all need to work together to survive and are willing to contribute to help out those less fortunate than yourself, Obama's your man (get out there and vote!).
If you believe that the public schools are necessary because everyone needs an equal chance and an educated populace is better for everyone, back Barack.
If you don't want to have to pay to teach other people's kids when you're already paying to send your kids to private school, join John.
If you believe we have to get them (whoever "them" might be this week) before they get us, you probably like the military and support McCain.
If you want to rise above the need for violence and pursue diplomatic solutions whenever possible, go with Obama.
If you want freedom and rights, even if it means a less certain and possibly more dangerous future, vote for Barack Obama.
If you're willing to give up your rights and freedoms for security, well, you're a fool and a traitor and you should vote for McCain.
If you don't like where the country is today and where it's headed, you'll vote for Obama and change.
If you think we're doing just fine and perhaps even getting better, then McCain and staying the course is your choice.
Quit waffling people! Make up your minds! It's really not that difficult! And vote for Obama!
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The Shy Cow - Run while you can
Over at ParentDish, this week, the Daily Dish topic is jokes for kids and, while I wouldn't subject the readers there to this, I thought it important to preserve for posterity my mother's Shy Cow joke. This is a joke that she made up and considered it quite clever. I suspect she was alone in that assessment. None the less, in the perhaps misguided attempt to make the internet as complete as possible, here then, after the break, is the Shy Cow joke, as I remember it. I beseech you, do not click on the "Read More..." link, whatever you do.
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This post is not tongue-in-cheek
Last Friday, I started having some pain in my mouth. At first, it was located in the lower back, where my wisdom teeth used to be, but then it moved to the front right side of my tongue. It got more and more painful and became rather unpleasant to look at. By Saturday, I had developed a headache to go with it and was having difficulty talking and eating. Some might say that's a good thing, but it wasn't much fun.
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Rachel (and the kids) got me a gift certificate to Amazon for Father's day and I finally got around to using it. I was able to parlay that into a dozen albums and two films. I got a nice selection of stuff; I'm trying to avoid just buying all Blues music these days so the kids get exposed to a wide variety of music. So, what was in this order? Here ya go:
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Y'all may have noticed that the home page of sinasohn.net has changed. For years, it simply showed a picture of my dad and a (very outdated now) picture of Jared, with a favorite (and appropriate) quote in between. Just in case you missed it, I'll include it here
Nothing ever ends without something else beginning or begins without something else ending. Perhaps this would be easier to remember if we had a word for it. Something like endbegin...
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Sunday mornings are always hectic for us... We have to get the kids ready for swim class, I need to write, Ezra needs to be dealt with. Rachel tends to get stressed as we run around getting ready. This morning, I had been working and my shower took longer than usual -- because I had Ezra and couldn't wash myself. When I got out, Rachel was running around freaked out about being late and she said to me, "If you're not ready to go in one minute, I'm leaving without you."
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Yes, that's a new word I made up. Kidquotes. It means the silly -- and sometimes surprisingly insightful -- things that kids say. Think Art Linkletter.
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Saturday, we got up early and headed out across the Bay Bridge (Jared: Why are we taking the Bay Bridge? Me: Because the Sienna won't float.) to go to Lakeshore in San Leandro. Sure, it's only the middle of July, but Rachel is already going full steam at getting ready for school in the fall. While we were there, Jared and Sara decorated some canvas tote bags while I pushed Ezra around.
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I'd like to get back into writing here, especially since ParentDish (nee Blogging Baby), having taken on the role of the parenting channel for AOL Living, is not supposed to be as personal. (It's no longer all about me!) So, here are a couple of posts to get started (again.)
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For those who haven't heard, the Sinasohn clan no longer numbers four -- we're now five. Ezra Lincoln Sinasohn was born May 5, 2008. He's a big 'un, I'll say that. He was the biggest of the three at birth and is growing quite well. Two months hence, he weighs nearly 15 pounds and is two feet tall.
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Rachel and I were discussing our morning routine and how, when she goes back to school in the fall, I would have to be able to get the kids up and out the door, and would thus not be able to work so much in the morning. To explain her need to get to school and, thus, my need to get the kids -- including Ezra -- dressed, fed, and moving, she said this to me:
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I don't plan on cross-posting much between here and ParentDish, but this is a post that I think is important and, more importantly, of potential interest to the one (maybe two, if I count the wife) person who reads this drivel (you know who you are, and thank you!).
Anyway, it's an article entitled "What's Wrong with the Pledge?" and it outlines some of the reasons why I am opposed to the inclusion of the phrase "under god" in the pledge, if it is going to be part of a daily ritual in public schools. Unfortunately, I was pretty much fast asleep when I wrote it, so it's probably not as well written as it should be, but, hopefully, it gets the point across. I'm not sure I expect to change anyone's mind, but perhaps it will help those who don't have a problem with it better understand why some of us do.
In any case, give it a read and see what you think.
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