I owe you all an apology.

You know I have to blog after the debate tonight. As most of you know, although I try to contain it well, I can be pretty spirited when it comes to politics lately. I anticipated this debate and even considered hosting a viewing here at the house. I came home to DVR it tonight and later realized John had set the DVR on another channel..so we had it taped twice. Anyway, I waited until I went to bed to watch the debate uninterrupted.

I truly was intent on hearing all they both had to say. I wanted to feel good about either candidate as surely one of them will be my president come January. I was impressed with both of their knowledge and intents. However, I have a confession to make even though I am truly embarrassed a bit about it (thus, strangely I am up at 1am telling all y'all about it).

After a while all the questions and answers seemed to repeat themselves and truthfully, I started to zone out a little. (I still listened, I promise). But after a bit I began to notice that Obama's tie was a little crooked and his lips seemed kinda' purple looking. From the back camera shot I noticed his low crown in his hair and pondered which direction he combs his hair on the side of his head. I once again became intrigued at how Mccain can't lift his arms too high and sometimes his hands don't seem to work right. I noticed that his upper lip seems stiff and he blinks alot. I kept getting confused at the camera angle on them. Did you notice that Mccain had to look right to see the commentator while Obama looked left to see the commentator when far away shots showed the commentator in the center. Anyway, in my zone I was trying to figure this out.

Never the less, I was impressed with how much these guys know about the workings of government, of geography, and how to pronounce the names of some of the foreign leaders. Which leads me to all their comments on Russia and its leader...Putin (as you know, pronounced POOTIN'). I'm listening to the future president of America saying POOTIN'. Can you imaging thinking that "the Russian, POOTIN' is coming to visit". Or a headline reading of the "Mccain, POOTIN' meeting" or that "Obama and POOTIN' agree". What can I say..I live with a 9 year old, I hear all about pooting..and I might be talking hot air, but I ain't talking politics.

bluegrass and happiness

Ever sense something that "takes you back"...maybe it's a smell or a special touch that carries you back to a previous time and emotion. You re-live it in your mind and you feel it all over. Maybe it's a good memory or feeling OR maybe not. Well, for me, bluegrass music "takes me back". In me, bluegrass music emotes happiness. Perhaps all this started back on the trampoline, after dark, playing, while David Honeycutt sang "Blue Moon of Kentucky" across the road at the store during his weekly "concerts" in the pines. Or maybe when we stayed up (and outside) all night, pretending to rest on stretched out lawn chairs while Daddy, Marion and Uncle Creighton cooked a pig...all the while listening to the Hee-Haw Quartet's gospel cassette. (I had to have my own copy). Or perhaps I was hooked when I first heard Alison Krauss on "Austin City Limits" one Saturday night. The picture was so fuzzy on Channel 4 I could hardly see her...I taped it on the VCR anyway. Never the less, I have an attraction to Bluegrass music. I know to some folks bluegrass is a completely hokey genre of music where most the folks couldn't sing if they didn't have a nose to sing through. But to me, it's the purity of the songs. Bluegrass is so raw, real, and unpretentious. The singer doesn't really have to sing so good because it is the instruments that the players make "sing". It's supposed to have that yearning, needing, and pining sound. I appreciate the artistry of the "picking". It's the music you sit on blankets to listen to. It's the music you smile, joke, and tap your foot to. For me, it will be the emotion I feel as much as the music I hear.

You've got to try this....

So we all know one of these type people. The people who love the taste of their food SO much that they insist that you try it. I find this so amusing. I am not one of these folks but I live with TWO of them. John has sort of tamed his insistence because he knows I'm not really into it. But Libby...well she's a chip of the old block. Yesterday, I'm quite enjoying my ham sandwich for lunch when Libby insists that I enjoy a bite of her tuna fish on a cracker. Now, I'm glad she enjoys a variety of foods and was enjoying this lunch in particular. But, tuna fish is practically repulsive to me. I declined. At supper, it was a taste of her chicken sandwich at Wendy's she was so enjoying. I indulged her with a bite of the sandwich.

What is amusing to me is the insistence of the "food-sharers". It's almost as if they get a little let-down if I don't enjoy the wonderful taste of the food they are offering me. I've come to realize that it is an act of endearment. They can't resist it. They truly want me to sample what they are finding to taste so good. In other words, Libby wanting to share a taste of her tuna with me was an act of love...I feel the love but I just can't do the tuna.

Get ready...November could bring interesting "changes"

P---pleasant and powerful
A---attractive and assertive
L---logical and likable
I---interesting and innovative
N---nice and normal


What can I say? I like her. She sold the Alaskan Governor's personal jet on EBay. What can be a more powerful, assertive, logical, innovative, and normal thing to do? I'm optimistic about things in Washington.