twooffour

the other six sides

2012-01-12T23:03:00.000-07:00

I have been part of an online networking group since 2005. The woman who runs the group (Liz Ryan) recently posted this exercise, which I thought was very interesting. I would love to know about any of my readers' other six sides!
**************
From Liz Ryan: You're going to list six jobs you'd hold, if you had six lifetimes in which to hold them (or if you could find a way to juggle six identities in one lifetime). No details -- just the list, please. Thinking through WHAT ELSE COULD I DO? is a good way to understand which pieces of ourselves are trying to be heard and felt and energized. Here's Liz's list. I'm a workplace commentator/consultant/coach/writer now. If I had six more sandboxes to play in, they'd be these:

Broadway performer

Radio talk-show host

Visual artist (drawing & painting)

Coach/teacher to opera and MT performers

Shoe designer

Screenwriter

*************
My response: In my daily life, I am a daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend and a software support technician. If I had 6 lifetimes and unlimited funds to be something else, I would have these professions, in no particular order:

1 - reading teacher to illiterate adults in the US

2 - philanthropist to get clean drinking water to every person on the planet

3 - residential architect

4 - fundraiser for cancer research (other than breast cancer)

5 - home organizer / interior decorator

6 - second soprano in the Colorado Chorale

How about you?

ruminations on technology

2011-10-08T01:17:00.010-06:00

For some reason, the passing of Steve Jobs is unexpectedly haunting me. I own no Apple products and I didn't know much about the man or the businesses he ran until recently.

I find myself feeling like I did when I read a biography of Bill Gates a few years ago: fascinated that someone relatively close to my own age could have accomplished so much. The decisions Bill made and the paths he chose have had a world-wide impact... and Bill was a nerdy kid, just like me.

With people recounting what was happening when Jobs and Gates were getting started, I was there: I was around and knew when kids who played for hours on pinball machines migrated with their allowances to video gaming arcades; I worked on a WANG word processor at an insurance company for one college summer job; I remember people playing PONG on their TV sets and when Pac-Man took moutains of quarters to master, and when MTV arrived during my sophomore year of college. I had friends who owned Sony Walkmans, the latest in portable music players.

(The WANG word processor was a gigantice step up from the second-hand Remington manual typewriter my parents bought when my dad was looking for a new job and had to type cover letters. My high school graduation present from my parents was a new manual Smith Corona typewriter for college, which I believe cost about $100 in 1978. It was the most expensive present I had ever received, and I am sure my parents thought long and hard before spending such an extravagent amount of money on just one child (when they had 5 more at home). For comparison purposes, when my youngest sister finished high school 16 years later, in 1994, she recieved a digital typewriter that had a small digital read-out screen imbedded above the keyboard... which was the latest affordable technology for my parents for a child going off to college. I believe the price of the word processor was about $150 at the time; again, it was the most expensive present my sister had ever recieved.)

I am not quite sure what all of this means, but I wanted to record it for posterity.

a decade later

2011-09-09T00:56:00.000-06:00

As the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks approaches, many bloggers are posting about that fateful day in American history. Here is my story.

In order to make sense of my reaction to the events of September 11 2001, you need to know how the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, two years earlier, affected me.

In April 1999, my husband, my eight-month-old daughter and I lived in a quiet neighborhood in Littleton, Colorado, about 12 miles south of downtown Denver. I commuted into the city every day for work at a software company named Columbine (after the Colorado state flower). Our organization employed 300 people on the top floors of a high-rise office building. One afternoon as I came back from lunch with several co-workers, there were HR and security people from my company in the building lobby asking, “Do you have kids who go to Columbine High School, or know anyone who does? There has been a shooting.” As I rode up in the elevator to the 41st floor, I thought of my best friend Cindy from kindergarten and her teenaged children who attended Columbine, and hoped they were okay.

By the time I got to my desk, people were saying there were 20 or 30 dead kids in the school, with the shooters still inside. The local news stations had information about the situation on their websites, but the stories were conflicting and the information kept changing as the afternoon wore on. All news outlets were showing live footage of kids coming out of school with their hands up over their heads.

We did not know what was going on – who were the shooters, why Columbine, what happened to school being a safe place to be?

When I arrived at my daughter’s daycare center later that day, she was the only child left in the entire building, which normally had about 75 kids in their care. All of the other parents had come to get their children early. The center was located just 5 miles from the scene of the high school massacre, but the thought never crossed my mind that my daughter might be unsafe or scared where she was. I had complete trust in the center director and the staff to take care of my child.

After my daughter went to bed for the night, I switched on the TV to see the latest news. My reaction to this event was completely the opposite of what I experienced in April 1995, when a bomb detonated in Oklahoma City. The tragedy claimed 168 lives, including 19 children under the age of 6, and injured more than 680 people. I could not watch any of that TV coverage after an image of a first responder with a burned child in his arms came across the screen. I burst into tears and turned the TV off, not wanting to know any more.

The news on TV that April evening reported that 12 students, one teacher and the two student shooters were dead, and that many more kids were wounded. Unlike the OKC bombing, this was real; this happened in my city, this affected people I knew. It took several days before I found out that my friend Cindy’s children had just left campus when the shooting started.

I did a very unusual thing on Friday Sept 21: I went to 8:30am Mass at the church we attended on Sundays. I guess I was looking for some comfort in the familiar prayers and rituals in a world that was no longer the same. It was an all-school Mass that morning, so all the K-8 students in their school uniforms were in attendance at the service. Looking at all those innocent kids, some of whom had friends at the neighboring school where the shootings had occurred, I just cried and cried through the entire Mass. I was trying to make sense of it all. My world had changed, and the places I believed were safe and secure, were no longer.

For the next three weeks, I read everything I could get my hands on, about all the victims and the school – I cried daily on the bus to work, until all the victims had been laid to rest.

The tragedy did not affect my husband in the same way. He was blissfully unaware that the shooting noises from the video game he was playing on the computer in our home office might bother me. When I pointed out that what he was doing was inappropriate, offensive and disrespectful, given what had happened JUST A FEW MILES FROM OUR HOME, he was annoyed.

*****************

Fast forward to Sept 11 2001: My husband, my now three-year-old daughter and I lived in the same quiet neighborhood in Littleton. I had changed jobs after Y2K and now worked from home for a small telecommunications company run by my college buddy. When I was dropping our daughter off at daycare around 8am on that fateful day, the teacher in the preschool room was upset by a report that a plane had crashed into the world trade center in New York City. I turned the radio on in the car on the short drive back home. The news reports said a plane had indeed crashed into one of the twin towers… and then all programming was interrupted by the announcement that a second plane had hit the second tower.

Remembering the televised images from Oklahoma City and Columbine, I never turned the TV on at home that day, but I checked the national news websites for still pictures and reports of what was happening. I was not affected by this event like I was by Columbine; the news seemed to be happening in a place so far removed from me and from all the things I loved. I did not have the unsettled fearful feeling I had when Columbine occurred. My boss called to say he was not sure what was going on, but that the country might be under attack, and we should seriously consider withdrawing several hundred dollars in cash from the bank, filling up our cars with gasoline, and expect the government to take over all the communication systems and financial networks in the country. I spoke to my husband over the phone – he was watching the events of the day unfold on the TV in the lunchroom at the cable TV company where he worked. My husband thought my boss was over-reacting, so we did not do as he advised. I had one telephone conversation with one customer in Worland, Wyoming that day. The client and I agreed that we were glad to be living in the land-locked part of the country, with minimal risk of a terrorist attack.

President George Bush (the second) gave a speech to the nation on the evening of Sept 11, and again on Sept 20. I did not have much respect for President Bush at the time, but I was proud of him and his words about the strength and resilience of our country in those public appearances. I did tune into the evening news on Sept 11, watching reports from ground zero in New York City. There were stories of trapped people calling from cell phones, which gave us hope that there were survivors to yet to find.

In the following days, my husband, who keeps up with national and international affairs better than I do, explained the political reasons that the Muslim extremists hated the US and all we stood for. My boss was worried that US citizens of middle-eastern descent would be rounded up and detained in work camps, like the Japanese were after Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941. My boss’s father was one of those American citizens of Japanese ancestry who was sent to a work camp as a teenager.

I remember the sky being so clear and blue in Colorado over the next few days – the tragedy that had befallen our country did not seem real, except for the fact that there were no airplanes in the sky for several days. Occasionally a military jet or two would break the airspace silence, and it was startling to hear that noise. I imagined that people in the early 1900’s were as startled by the sound of something in the sky as I was, nearly 100 years later.

People seemed nicer to each other in the weeks that followed. Automobile traffic moved more slowly, but smoothly, as people were more kind and let other drivers merge into their lane. People held doors for each other and said “thank you” more often than before.

Finally, I remember driving my car and stopping at a busy intersection near our home, to let a fire truck go screaming past. The rig had two huge US flags attached to the back, waving furiously in the wind. I thought that unusual for a moment or two, until the significance of the flags on the fire truck hit me, like a ton of bricks: They were there to honor their fallen firefighter comrades on the east coast. “Oh yeah,” I remember thinking, “Those events, thousands of miles away, would have an effect on firefighters everywhere, even here in safe, sane Littleton, Colorado.”

attitude adjustment

2011-08-22T00:19:00.000-06:00

As luck would have it, I am unemployed again. The great job I landed in early March of this year did not work out, so as of July 1, I have been looking for work. This is the third job search I have conducted in 18 months and frankly, I am getting tired of it. I would really like to find an organization where I can learn and grow and stay for a few years.

The good news is that I have interviewed with 7 organizations in 7 weeks, so I am making progress. There is a plethora of opportunities in Denver right now for inside salespeople or account managers, which is what I am looking to do. The not-so-good news is that many of the companies are looking to hire recent college graduates, with entry-level salaries to match. With 25+ years of business experience, I am suddenly on the "old" end of the hiring spectrum. I have obtained some good advice about attitude, wardrobe, hairstyle and makeup to carry me into an interview with confidence, and the variety of companies for which I have worked makes me more marketable than several of my counterparts who were with just one organization for 15-20 years.

The bi-weekly unemployment check helps with my share of our household expenses, but it does not cover everything. All the sales commissions I squirreled away over the years are dwindling quickly this time around: My dream of another fabulous family vacation in Mexico, or a girls' cruise, are fading.  More important things like gas for the car and keeping said haircut in shape for interviews are sucking away my funds.

In my "unemployed downtime" my kids have been home with me, instead of going to summer camp and then to after-school programs. At ages 9 and 13, they are pretty self-sufficient, and I enjoy having conversations with them and their friends right after school, instead of waiting for dinnertime to get the scoop on their days.

(Aaaaccckkk - how did I become a mother of a teenager?? I swear my daughter was just 4 years old last week, wishing we could send her baby brother back...) She is growing into a lovely young lady, with more consideration for her brother than before, and more self confidence than I ever had, even in high school. She is her own person, with just a couple of close friends, who, like my daughter, have no interest in boys or clothes or makeup.  I have loved / been fascinated with every age of my kids, from 2 minutes old to 2 weeks to 2 years and beyond... and I like having a 13 year old daughter and a 9 year old son right now. They make me laugh every day - I am sure my life is much richer for having them in it.

Thanks for stopping by!

found quote

2011-08-14T21:07:00.001-06:00

Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones;

and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace.

God is awake.

- Victor Hugo

do u u2?

2011-05-28T01:43:00.002-06:00

This post is in response to a friend asking "How was U2?"

I have to preface this post with a note about the fact that my husband and I rarely have a night out without our kids. Between both of us working full time and the kids in school / daycare, we put a lot of value on our "hanging out at home family time". We feel guilty and selfish for cutting into those precious hours - as parents, we believe that raising our own kids to be responsible and respectful people is our number one priority, and since they are in the hands of other people so much during the week, we don't leave them very often.

with that said...

My friend B., who sells rocks on ebay (and makes over $100K annually doing it) and his wife M. are Denver Bronco season ticket holders (yes, they have an inordinate amount of discretionary income, compared to me). They were offered a chance to buy seats for the U2 show at the local football stadium 2 years ago, before the tickets went on sale to the general public. Unbeknown st to us, they bought 4 seats, thinking they would sell the other two on ebay and make some money. U2 was set to play Denver in June 2010, but Bono had unexpected back surgery last year, so they had to postpone the entire tour.

My understanding is that Denver was U2's first US stop on this new leg of the 360 tour, so tickets were hard to come by...

3 days before the U2 show, B and M invited us to join them for dinner and the concert. M had already made arrangements for our kids to hang out at their house with their kids, with a neighborhood high school girl to look after all four kids for the night ... so we couldn't say "no". We knew the evening would be an expensive one, so we took some money we had in savings from refinancing our house late last year, and enjoyed a well-deserved night out. Our 19th wedding anniversary is coming up, so we looked at the event as a present from us, to us.

We had dinner in downtown Denver, at B's favorite Brazilian steakhouse. The waiters walk around with big spears of grilled meat (15 types of meat, to be exact) and provide continuous table side service from the spears. For one price you can have all the grilled items you can consume in one sitting. It is decadent and not my first choice of how to spend dining $$$, but the beef was REALLY good.

The stage for the U2 concert took 4 days to construct at the stadium... it was quite impressive, looking like a giant 4-legged spider in the middle of the playing field. (For great pictures and another perspective on the show, from a fellow working married mom, please go to http://www.dooce.com/2011/05/26/found-what-i-was-looking)

The jumbo tron screen (do they even call it that anymore?) was suspended on all four sides of the stage, between the spider legs, about 30 feet over the singers' heads. Our seats were about 30 rows up from the field, to the left of the stage. The evening turned out to be dry but cool - perfect for an outdoor show this time of year in Denver. The Fray opened for U2 - they are local to Denver, and they were totally jazzed to be playing to such a large hometown crowd.

It has been 2 decades at least since i saw a show at the football stadium, and probably 12-15 years since i went to a rock concert, and i had forgotten 3 things: how loud it is, how rude / drunk / high the audience is, and the smell of beer and pot everywhere. Some people would not shut up - they were having yelling conversations over the performers the entire time!

i did not know much about U2, other than they have been all over the radio for 20+ years, their lead singer is from Ireland, and all of their songs are anthem - like. I was surprised to find out the band only has four people in it, and that The Edge sings so much and complements Bono's voice very well. For a straight up rock n roll band they are very tight - they made the four chord progression, 4/4 time or Bo diddley beat and a solid bass line work every time. who can argue with that? my favorite number of the entire evening was when the drummer left his kit and walked all around the stage, with one very large miked bongo drum, beating out a primitive dance rhythm that was contagious. i have no idea what the song was, or what else was going on with the guitars or vocals - the drum line was mesmerizing.

The Fray was on stage for a little less than an hour, and it was almost an hour before U2 came on after them. the new stadium is built with steel floors under the seats just like the old one, so 80,000 people pounding on the floor makes rocky mountain thunder, to which U2 took the stage. They were on for a little less than 2 hours - they came to the stage to David Bowie's "Major Tom" and left to Elton John's "Rocket Man" - i guess U2 brings in enough cash to pay the ascap fees for using those songs, eh? There were parts of the show that felt a little preachy, with the recently freed leader of Burma talking to us from the video screen at one point. We were reminded of how much the US consumes, and how many people are dying the world over every day on the video screens.... with all the noise and lights and smoke I felt as if i was watching an MTV production.

We did not sit in our seats from the time U2 hit the stage until they left - it seemed the entire crowd was on its feet for the whole show. Our kids stayed overnight with our friends, so we had a lazy Sunday morning like we have not had in years, without kids clamoring for attention or breakfast (even though they are perfectly capable of dealing with that on their own, our kids still like to come in and snuggle up with us. it won't be long before they are done with that, but at 9 and 12, they still like us okay).

All in all, a really unique night out - I feel privileged to have been at The Event of the night / week / month in my hometown.

This blog...

2011-02-06T23:53:00.005-07:00

...is like most things in my life - I started late, and I can't keep up. I was one of the last people in my circle of girlfriends to go on a date; it took me more than four years to get a four-year college degree; I was 32 when I got married and 38 when I had my first baby.

So here it is, well into February of a new year, and it is time for a catch-up post:

1 - I landed a great new job in February 2010, as an account manager for a small manufacturing company, close to my home and to my kids' schools - yaaayyy!!!

2 - My two-time cancer-surviving sister and her cancer-surviving son continue to lead healthy lives - yaaayyy again!!!

3 - The ADHD meds my almost-9-year-old son takes every day have helped him settle down and pay attention in school, with no adverse side effects - more yaaayyy!!!

4 - A successful hysterectomy over the summer has given me freedom to participate in anything I want, whenever I want - wooo hooo!!!

5 - In late December 2010 I was informed that my skill set was no longer a fit for the great job I landed in February, so my position was eliminated. I have joined the masses of unemployed people in the US, looking for work in a not-so-great economy.

6 - My 74-year-old mother had emergency abdominal surgery last weekend here in Denver. It took her a LONG time to recover from the anesthetic and pain meds, so much that we wondered if we would get her back in the same mental state as before she went into the hospital. My dad has been pretty lost without her at home; his daughters have stepped up with meals since he does NOT know his way around the kitchen at all.

7 - The snowstorm last night left all the trees in the city looking like they has been dusted with powdered sugar - I love where I live!

Seven bullets are enough for now - more as the year progresses.

on this date....

2010-05-11T08:05:00.007-06:00

...50 years ago, my good friend S. was born. Happy Birthday to someone I have known since we were 12 years old!

...5 years ago, I had dinner with two friends at a not-so-good Mexican restaurant. We talked of parents' passing and of the current state of our lives.

That dinner turned out to be a touch point for me in many, many ways: I started thinking (again) in a manner that had been dormant in my life for two decades; I started writing (again) in a narrative fashion, with detail and emotion I forgot I possessed; over the next few months, I took risks in my life (and reaped the rewards) that I never considered before then.

My existence is richer now for those experiences; I will forever be grateful for that not-so-great Mexican food and the fateful opportunities that arose from that evening.

it's a wrap

2009-12-31T07:55:00.003-07:00

As the year draws to a close, I feel compelled to post a quick note for the benefit of the few people who read this 'blog occasionally...

First, the bad news...

Oh wait, there isn't any bad news!

Now, the good news:

1 - My sister C and her son have been given a clean bill of health, cancer-wise. They still go for regular checkups, but all looks good on that front for now - yaaaaaayyyyyy!

2 - Survival of turning 50 in November. It was sort of a non-event; after attending several friends' parties and the anniversary dinner for my parents earlier in the year, the big five-oh was really not that big for me.

3 - I have come to the realization that my professional skills and my current job requirements are no longer a match. It is time to look for something else to do for pay 40 hours a week.

4 - Receiving Christmas greetings from friends and family, who are flung far and wide, is one of the best things about being on the Earth for 50 years.

5 - People who love me, for who I am and what I bring to their lives, are priceless!

Happy New Year to all in the 'blogsphere!

the half-century mark

2009-07-20T23:42:00.022-06:00

For those of us born when JFK campaigned against Nixon for the presidency on television, this year marks what many people consider a "milestone" birthday for a lot of my friends, for my extended family, for my work buddies and for me. In this large network of people (for which I am eternally grateful) there are mixed feelings amongst us about this year and this birthday.

We are a unique group: my best friend from kindergarten just had open-heart surgery and is doing well; my husband feels the effects of a middle-aged body after every twice-weekly volleyball session; the former co-worker for whom I hosted a surprise party on her 30th birthday is having another surprise party courtesy of her husband this weekend. Two of my close friends from elementary school (who are the same age as me) are grandparents! My kids are just 7 and 10 years old - how can someone my age be a grandparent ??? My college roommate beat cancer last year; she is looking at this birthday as the beginning of the second half of her life, an amazing gift.

I can't decide how I feel about the big five-oh. On one hand, I am proud of where I am in my life: I like my job, I love my family, I treasure my friends. On the other hand, I have an overwhelming amount of work to do to get back to a healthy weight, and part of me says f**k it - I am nearly 50 and I should not care. I know I need to be healthy to live a long time to take care of my family...

My youngest sister (by 16 years) did an amazing lifestyle makeover in the last year: changing what she ate and training to complete a 5K run in less than six months. She looks so vibrant and healthy now, compared to 18 months ago - I am SO proud of her - she is my inspiration.

More to follow...

first quarter 2009 update OR

2009-03-29T21:25:00.006-06:00

...how to deliver news / feelings when my job in sales support is taking over my brain...

The good news is that my 12-year-old nephew is healing up so well from his bout with bone cancer last year that he is playing on not just one, but TWO, baseball teams this spring. At third base, shortstop and/or pitcher, you would never know he was missing a bone in his lower right leg, unless you noticed the scar than runs from his knee to his ankle.

His mom, my sister C., starts radiation this week to combat round 2 of breast cancer. She had surgery at the beginning of February, and due to internal bleeding and blood clots in her lungs, what was supposed to be a 2-3 day stay in the hospital kept her there for most of February. This time around she will not need chemo, which means she gets to keep all of her lovely copper-colored hair (natural, no gray - I am envious!)

It is officially springtime here in Denver now, as we got an 18-inch dumping of wet snow on Thursday this week. 3 days later, the temperature is back to 60 degrees F., with melting runoff everywhere. Another snowstorm expected tomorrow... I love where I live!

My parents marked their 50th wedding anniversary in early January this year. My dad wanted a big party to celebrate; my mom wanted to ignore the whole situation. As a compromise, their six children have talked them into a casual family dinner later this summer, where we will host an evening at a family-owned restaurant in their honor. My mom insists that only her children, their spouses and the 10 grandchildren be present... so we are honoring their wishes, sort of. We have invited my two aunts who were in their wedding party 50 years ago to join us, but we are not telling my parents that they are coming. We are also putting together a slide show about my parents and their life together, using pictures culled from 70+ years of photo albums. Two of my sisters and I are working on that project, and having a blast laughing at hairstyles and fashions (or in the case of my lower-middle-class family, NO fashion sense).

My kids are healthy, my husband and I are still gainfully employed, and all is well here. Thanks for stopping by!

Twelve immeasurables in the Christmas season

2008-12-24T13:32:00.004-07:00

Happy Christmas to my small cadre of readers. I appreciate each one of your visits, and your comments also mean a lot to me.

The online world continues to be fascinating to me, especially the manner in which people connect. I feel I know so much about several people I have never met, just by reading their insightful writings on their 'blogs. Thank you for sharing (and you know who you are) and for your witty, sad, intelligent, educational, entertaining and extrodinarily-written posts!

In our house today, I am grateful for two healthy children who are working hard at the kitchen table, crafting last-minute Christmas presents for family members. I am grateful for jobs that both my husband and I have, that pay well enough for us to have health insurance and frequent dinners out with our children. I am grateful for the wisdom we had to buy a house 13 years ago, and for the financial acumen to refinance our mortgage at the right time to keep us with house payments we can still afford.

I am grateful for pediatric oncologists, who have been successfully treating my 11-year-old nephew for bone cancer for the last 7 months. I am grateful to the advances in medical technology that allow said nephew's breast-cancer surviving mom (my sister) to learn today that her cancer is back... in her lymph nodes this time. As a single parent of two boys, she has had more that her share of difficult times in her life, and it does not seem fair that she has to go through cancer treatments again... especially since her son is not yet done with his cancer regimen. I am grateful for the amazing financial support system my sister has in her kids' school and in her church community.

Finally, I am grateful for the willingness of my husband and my children to take in an extra cousin on a regular basis, when my sister and her older son have to be at the hospital for days on end. We have integrated K into our lives, and for the most part, he doesn't seem to mind staying with us.

Thank you, dear readers, for visiting!

...and the vote goes to...

2008-11-04T08:08:00.004-07:00

I was in line when my neighborhood polling place opened at 7am today. There were only about 20 people in front of me, and the line moved very quickly. I was in and out in under 30 minutes.

At the risk of alienating the small group of readers who come here, I will tell you I voted for the McCain / Palin ticket. After listening to both candidates in the debates, Mr. McCain matched more of the way I think than did Mr. Obama.

I will not be disappointed if Obama wins - he seems like a decent person, with his heart in the right place. If he really can take care of everyone who needs help, and do it without impacting the manner in which my hard-earned paycheck is distributed, I am okay with that.

I think a lot of people have been swayed by Obama's charisma and eloquent speaking style. His talk about change is refreshing, but I am not sure how much he will really be able to accomplish as the President of the US, especially in the short term.

I wish everyone well today, and hope all eligible people vote. This is America, after all, and although we have our problems, there are lots more people who want to move here than want to leave, so we must be doing something right!

Debate aftermath

2008-10-21T23:18:00.007-06:00

So, it is two weeks from the election, and I still have not figured out who will get my vote for president.

I watched the second presidential candidate debate on tape, which I found a good use of my time. When the speakers veered off-topic, I fast-forwarded to the next question.

I did the same for the vice-presidential debate; I watched the first 20 minutes of the broadcast, to get a feel for how both candidates answered questions, and then listened to the rest of it from another room. With apologies to all the Sarah Palin detractors out here in my small circle of blog readers, I was pleasantly surprised at how well Ms. Palin came off. (I had never seen her or Mr. Biden speak before).

Due to kid issues, I missed the final presidential debate on TV, but I listened to part of it on the radio. Both candidates are consistent in their messages; both seem like good men with the country's best interests at heart. Who to choose? Who to choose?

I have to say here, also, that I have made a conscious effort to ignore all the advertising that is going on. I don't watch much TV or listen to the radio often; any political mail that comes in the mailbox promptly goes into the trash. I am trying to make decisions based on what the candidates themselves said.

The Colorado ballot is the longest it has been since 1920; I will be turning to the League of Women Voters for summaries of all the issues.

To gauge my standing after the debates, I re-took the abcnews quiz: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/MatchOMatic/fullpage?id=5542139

and guess what happened?

I am now in agreement with one candidate on 10 of the 13 questions posed... it is the same candidate with whom I agreed 7 out of 13 times before.

All to be revealed in due time...

a tale of two campaigns and one unaffiliated voter

2008-09-28T22:45:00.007-06:00

With my voter registration party affiliation reading "Independent", lots of people are interested in my opinion at this time of year. So much so, that I was invited to participate in a focus group around the first presidential candidate debate last Friday evening.

I reported to an office building in downtown Denver about 45 minutes before the debate was to begin. The research firm conducting the focus group paid for my parking, and also paid me $150 for my time.

I recognized another person in the room - a friend of my sister's - and we chatted before we were herded into a conference room with two large flat-panel TV screens and a front wall made up of one-way mirrors. Everyone was given a hand-held device on which we were to record our "approval" or "disapproval" of what the speaker was saying, throughout the entire broadcast.

We practiced by giving demographic information about ourselves, and then answering some questions as to the candidates' positions on issues such as foreign policy, the current financial crisis, homeland security, etc.

There was no indication of anyone's party affiliation in the room. My acquaintance said she was a registered Republican, but she was not sure if she was going to vote that way.

More than one person commented on the seemingly non-diverse group of people in the room. I guessed there were about 100 participants, who were evenly split male and female, and who seemed to range in age from 35 - 55. The very obvious issue was that there was just one black person in the room, and no one of obvious Hispanic descent. According to the census bureau, the Denver metropolitan area is made up of 50% people who consider themselves white, 35% who are Hispanic, and 10% who are black. With those numbers, you would expect a room of 100 random people to have just half of them be white, instead of 98%, as our group was.

During the debate, I approved and disapproved of what both McCain and Obama said during different portions of the broadcast. It seemed to me that I was equal in my approval / disapproval of both candidates over the course of the debate.

After the debate, we were asked the same set of questions as before, and I felt a little differently after the program than before I saw and heard both men speak. My over-riding observations on the broadcast were as follows:

1 - Obama is a MUCH better public speaker than McCain.

2 - Why anyone would want the job of president is beyond me - there is so much to fix; how can one person want to take responsibility for all of that?

3 - McCain is the guy I would want defending my country from attack; however, he is NOT the guy to improve the image of America around the globe.

4 - Although the focus of the debate was to be foreign policy, Obama kept referring to things that need to be fixed domestically. This kind of bugged me, as I thought he should stay on topic, but others in the room felt that Obama sees the way we deal with global issues as being critical to how we deal with domestic ones.

5 - McCain is distancing himself from eight years of Republican George Bush and likening himself to Republican Ronald Reagan instead. He even talks like Reagan, I think: somewhat grandfatherly and condescending.

6 - My approval rating of both candidates went from 50% (neutral) before the debate to be 55% (approve slightly) after the broadcast.

7. I found out later from the people conducting the research that the demographics of the group were specifically chosen to have more white people in the room. Kind of weird, I thought, but I gathered up my cash payment and left into the warm autumn evening.

which way do you lean?

2008-09-19T22:38:00.002-06:00

A friend sent me this link, which is another example of my political "middle-of-the road"-ness.

Please take the quiz and leave a comment as to where you fall.

I was as split as you can be on the issues and on the candidates

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/MatchOMatic/fullpage?id=5542139

John McCain's acceptance speech

2008-09-05T00:03:00.003-06:00

In the issue of fairness, here is the text of John McCain's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention tonight.

Both my 10-year-old daughter C. and my 6-year-old son A. watched the telecast with me. C. was interested in what the "pro-testers" might say or do; A. wanted to see the person who might be the first lady vice president. They were both nearly asleep by the time the telecast ended; it was over an hour past their bedtimes.

My sister C. and I spoke later in the evening; her 11-year-old son's assessment of Mr. McCain's speech is, "He is a really boring speaker, Mom. His voice never changes."

Without further comment, here is the text:

*******************
Thursday, September 4th 2008

Thank you all very much. Tonight, I have a privilege given few Americans -- the privilege of accepting our party’s nomination for President of the United States. And I accept it with gratitude, humility and confidence.

In my life, no success has come without a good fight, and this nomination wasn’t any different. That’s a tribute to the candidates who opposed me and their supporters. They’re leaders of great ability, who love our country, and wished to lead it to better days. Their support is an honor I won’t forget.

I’m grateful to the President for leading us in those dark days following the worst attack on American soil in our history, and keeping us safe from another attack many thought was inevitable; and to the First Lady, Laura Bush, a model of grace and kindness in public and in private. And I’m grateful to the 41st President and his bride of 63 years, and for their outstanding example of honorable service to our country.

As always, I’m indebted to my wife, Cindy, and my seven children. The pleasures of family life can seem like a brief holiday from the crowded calendar of our nation’s business. But I have treasured them all the more, and can’t imagine a life without the happiness you give me. Cindy said a lot of nice things about me tonight. But, in truth, she’s more my inspiration than I am hers. Her concern for those less blessed than we are - victims of land mines, children born in poverty and with birth defects - shows the measure of her humanity. I know she will make a great First Lady.

When I was growing up, my father was often at sea, and the job of raising my brother, sister and me would fall to my mother alone. Roberta McCain gave us her love of life, her deep interest in the world, her strength, and her belief we are all meant to use our opportunities to make ourselves useful to our country. I wouldn’t be here tonight but for the strength of her character.

My heartfelt thanks to all of you, who helped me win this nomination, and stood by me when the odds were long. I won’t let you down. To Americans who have yet to decide who to vote for, thank you for your consideration and the opportunity to win your trust. I intend to earn it.

Finally, a word to Senator Obama and his supporters. We’ll go at it over the next two months. That’s the nature of these contests, and there are big differences between us. But you have my respect and admiration. Despite our differences, much more unites us than divides us. We are fellow Americans, an association that means more to me than any other. We’re dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal and endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights. No country ever had a greater cause than that. And I wouldn’t be an American worthy of the name if I didn’t honor Senator Obama and his supporters for their achievement.

But let there be no doubt, my friends, we’re going to win this election. And after we’ve won, we’re going to reach out our hand to any willing patriot, make this government start working for you again, and get this country back on the road to prosperity and peace.

These are tough times for many of you. You’re worried about keeping your job or finding a new one, and are struggling to put food on the table and stay in your home. All you ever asked of government is to stand on your side, not in your way. And that’s just what I intend to do: stand on your side and fight for your future.

And I’ve found just the right partner to help me shake up Washington, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. She has executive experience and a real record of accomplishment. She’s tackled tough problems like energy independence and corruption. She’s balanced a budget, cut taxes, and taken on the special interests. She’s reached across the aisle and asked Republicans, Democrats and Independents to serve in her administration. She’s the mother of five children. She’s helped run a small business, worked with her hands and knows what it’s like to worry about mortgage payments and health care and the cost of gasoline and groceries.

She knows where she comes from and she knows who she works for. She stands up for what’s right, and she doesn’t let anyone tell her to sit down. I’m very proud to have introduced our next Vice President to the country. But I can’t wait until I introduce her to Washington. And let me offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second Washington crowd: change is coming.

I’m not in the habit of breaking promises to my country and neither is Governor Palin. And when we tell you we’re going to change Washington, and stop leaving our country’s problems for some unluckier generation to fix, you can count on it. We’ve got a record of doing just that, and the strength, experience, judgment and backbone to keep our word to you.

You know, I’ve been called a maverick; someone who marches to the beat of his own drum. Sometimes it’s meant as a compliment and sometimes it’s not. What it really means is I understand who I work for. I don’t work for a party. I don’t work for a special interest. I don’t work for myself. I work for you.

I’ve fought corruption, and it didn’t matter if the culprits were Democrats or Republicans. They violated their public trust, and had to be held accountable.

I’ve fought big spenders in both parties, who waste your money on things you neither need nor want, while you struggle to buy groceries, fill your gas tank and make your mortgage payment.

I’ve fought to get million dollar checks out of our elections. I’ve fought lobbyists who stole from Indian tribes. I fought crooked deals in the Pentagon. I fought tobacco companies and trial lawyers, drug companies and union bosses.

I fought for the right strategy and more troops in Iraq, when it wasn’t a popular thing to do.

And when the pundits said my campaign was finished, I said I’d rather lose an election than see my country lose a war.

Thanks to the leadership of a brilliant general, David Petraeus, and the brave men and women he has the honor to command, that strategy succeeded and rescued us from a defeat that would have demoralized our military, risked a wider war and threatened the security of all Americans.

I don’t mind a good fight. For reasons known only to God, I’ve had quite a few tough ones in my life. But I learned an important lesson along the way. In the end, it matters less that you can fight. What you fight for is the real test.

I fight for Americans. I fight for you. I fight for Bill and Sue Nebe from Farmington Hills, Michigan, who lost their real estate investments in the bad housing market. Bill got a temporary job after he was out of work for seven months. Sue works three jobs to help pay the bills.

I fight for Jake and Toni Wimmer of Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Jake works on a loading dock; coaches Little League, and raises money for the mentally and physically disabled. Toni is a schoolteacher, working toward her Master’s Degree. They have two sons, the youngest, Luke, has been diagnosed with autism. Their lives should matter to the people they elect to office. They matter to me.

I fight for the family of Matthew Stanley of Wolfboro, New Hampshire, who died serving our country in Iraq. I wear his bracelet and think of him every day. I intend to honor their sacrifice by making sure the country their son loved so well and never returned to, remains safe from its enemies.

I fight to restore the pride and principles of our party. We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us.

We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption.

We lost their trust when rather than reform government, both parties made it bigger.

We lost their trust when instead of freeing ourselves from a dangerous dependence on foreign oil, both parties and Senator Obama passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies.

We lost their trust, when we valued our power over our principles.

We’re going to change that. We’re going to recover the people’s trust by standing up again for the values Americans admire.

The party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics.

We believe everyone has something to contribute and deserves the opportunity to reach their God-given potential from the boy whose descendents arrived on the Mayflower to the Latina daughter of migrant workers.

We’re all God’s children and we’re all Americans.

We believe in low taxes; spending discipline, and open markets. We believe in rewarding hard work and risk takers and letting people keep the fruits of their labor.

We believe in a strong defense, work, faith, service, a culture of life, personal responsibility, the rule of law, and judges who dispense justice impartially and don’t legislate from the bench.

We believe in the values of families, neighborhoods and communities.

We believe in a government that unleashes the creativity and initiative of Americans.

Government that doesn’t make your choices for you, but works to make sure you have more choices to make for yourself.

I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them.

I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them.

I will cut government spending. He will increase it.

My tax cuts will create jobs. His tax increases will eliminate them.

My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.

Keeping taxes low helps small businesses grow and create new jobs. Cutting the second highest business tax rate in the world will help American companies compete and keep jobs from moving overseas.

Doubling the child tax exemption from $3500 to $7000 will improve the lives of millions of American families.

Reducing government spending and getting rid of failed programs will let you keep more of your own money to save, spend and invest as you see fit.

Opening new markets and preparing workers to compete in the world economy is essential to our future prosperity.

I know some of you have been left behind in the changing economy and it often seems your government hasn’t even noticed. Government assistance for unemployed workers was designed for the economy of the 1950s. That’s going to change on my watch. My opponent promises to bring back old jobs by wishing away the global economy. We’re going to help workers who’ve lost a job that won’t come back, find a new one that won’t go away.

We will prepare them for the jobs of today. We will use our community colleges to help train people for new opportunities in their communities. For workers in industries that have been hard hit, we'll help make up part of the difference in wages between their old job and a temporary, lower paid one while they receive retraining that will help them find secure new employment at a decent wage.

We face many threats in this dangerous world, but I'm not afraid of them. I'm prepared for them.

I know how the military works, what it can do, what it can do better, and what it should not do.

I know how the world works. I know the good and the evil in it. I know how to work with leaders who share our dreams of a freer, safer and more prosperous world, and how to stand up to those who don't. I know how to secure the peace.

When I was five years old, a car pulled up in front of our house. A Navy officer rolled down the window, and shouted at my father that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. I rarely saw my father again for four years. My grandfather came home from that same war exhausted from the burdens he had borne, and died the next day.

In Vietnam, where I formed the closest friendships of my life, some of those friends never came home with me. I hate war. It is terrible beyond imagination.

I’m running for President to keep the country I love safe, and prevent other families from risking their loved ones in war as my family has.

I will draw on all my experience with the world and its leaders, and all the tools at our disposal - diplomatic, economic, military and the power of our ideals - to build the foundations for a stable and enduring peace.

In America, we change things that need to be changed. Each generation makes its contribution to our greatness. The work that is ours to do is plainly before us. We don’t need to search for it.

We need to change the way government does almost everything: from the way we protect our security to the way we compete in the world economy; from the way we respond to disasters to the way we fuel our transportation network; from the way we train our workers to the way we educate our children.

All these functions of government were designed before the rise of the global economy, the information technology revolution and the end of the Cold War. We have to catch up to history, and we have to change the way we do business in Washington.

The constant partisan rancor that stops us from solving these problems isn’t a cause, it’s a symptom. It’s what happens when people go to Washington to work for themselves and not you.

Again and again, I’ve worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed. That’s how I will govern as President. I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again. I have that record and the scars to prove it.

Senator Obama does not.

Instead of rejecting good ideas because we didn’t think of them first, let’s use the best ideas from both sides.

Instead of fighting over who gets the credit, let’s try sharing it.

This amazing country can do anything we put our minds to. I will ask Democrats and Independents to serve with me. And my administration will set a new standard for transparency and accountability.

We’re going to finally start getting things done for the people who are counting on us, and I won’t care who gets the credit.

I’ve been an imperfect servant of my country for many years. But I have been her servant first, last and always. And I’ve never lived a day, in good times or bad, that I didn’t thank God for the privilege.

Long ago, something unusual happened to me that taught me the most valuable lesson of my life. I was blessed by misfortune. I mean that sincerely. I was blessed because I served in the company of heroes, and I witnessed a thousand acts of courage, compassion and love.

On an October morning, in the Gulf of Tonkin, I prepared for my 23rd mission over North Vietnam. I hadn’t any worry I wouldn’t come back safe and sound. I thought I was tougher than anyone. I was pretty independent then, too. I liked to bend a few rules, and pick a few fights for the fun of it. But I did it for my own pleasure; my own pride. I didn’t think there was a cause more important than me.

Then I found myself falling toward the middle of a small lake in the city of Hanoi, with two broken arms, a broken leg, and an angry crowd waiting to greet me.

I was dumped in a dark cell, and left to die. I didn’t feel so tough anymore. When they discovered my father was an admiral, they took me to a hospital. They couldn’t set my bones properly, so they just slapped a cast on me. When I didn’t get better, and was down to about a hundred pounds, they put me in a cell with two other Americans.

I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t even feed myself. They did it for me. I was beginning to learn the limits of my selfish independence. Those men saved my life.

I was in solitary confinement when my captors offered to release me. I knew why. If I went home, they would use it as propaganda to demoralize my fellow prisoners. Our Code said we could only go home in the order of our capture, and there were men who had been shot down before me.

I thought about it, though. I wasn’t in great shape, and I missed everything about America.

But I turned it down. A lot of prisoners had it worse than I did. I’d been mistreated before, but not as badly as others.

I always liked to strut a little after I’d been roughed up to show the other guys I was tough enough to take it. But after I turned down their offer, they worked me over harder than they ever had before. For a long time. And they broke me.

When they brought me back to my cell, I was hurt and ashamed, and I didn’t know how I could face my fellow prisoners.

The good man in the cell next door, my friend, Bob Craner, saved me. Through taps on a wall he told me I had fought as hard as I could. No man can always stand alone. And then he told me to get back up and fight again for our country and for the men I had the honor to serve with.

Because every day they fought for me.

I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else’s.

I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn’t my own man anymore. I was my country’s.

I’m not running for president because I think I’m blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.

If you find faults with our country, make it a better one.

If you’re disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them.

Enlist in our Armed Forces.

Become a teacher.

Enter the ministry.

Run for public office.

Feed a hungry child.

Teach an illiterate adult to read.

Comfort the afflicted.

Defend the rights of the oppressed.

Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier.

Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.

I’m going to fight for my cause every day as your President.

I’m going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank Him: that I’m an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on earth, and with hard work, strong faith and a little courage, great things are always within our reach.

Fight with me. Fight with me.

Fight for what’s right for our country.

Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.

Fight for our children’s future.

Fight for justice and opportunity for all.

Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.

Stand up for each other; for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America.

Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight.

Nothing is inevitable here.

We’re Americans, and we never give up. We never quit.

We never hide from history. We make history.

Thank you, and God Bless you.

Barack Obama's acceptance speech

2008-08-28T23:49:00.005-06:00

In the fine tradition of b1-66er (http://b1-66ersworld.blogspot.com/search?q=obama) and AnnieMcQ (http://mommysinatimeout.blogspot.com/index.html), I wanted to record Barack Obama's acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States here for posterity.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a registered independent, married to a Libertarian (who usually votes Republican). My family of origin has 8 people in it: My two parents are lifelong Democrats, my two brothers are Republicans, two of my three sisters worked on the Obama campaign, and the last sister leans Democrat.

Also for the record, I have voted in just two presidential elections: In 1980, when I was first eligible to vote, I cast my ballot for the Independent candidate, John Anderson. I had witnessed Ronald Reagan speak at my college campus earlier in the year, and I was not impressed with his demeanor or message. I could not get behind Jimmy Carter either, so Independent I went.

The next time I voted in a presidential election was 2004, when I cast my ballot for Mr. Bush's re-election. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Because I am so middle of the road, I have friends on both the right and the left who believe I am on their side. The politically-themed email I get is evenly split, and I find both sides equally passionate and entertaining.

One of the best things about this speech tonight is that my 10-year-old, fifth grade daughter listened to it with me. She has three biracial cousins, one of whom was with his parents at Invesco Field at Mile High here in Denver with his parents today. My sister and her husband felt it was an event of historical significance that their son could tell his grandchildren about someday.

I explained to my daughter that this speech was important because Mr. Obama is the first biracial person to win a nomination for US President, and because the event was happening in our state, in our city, at the stadium where she went for a field trip this past summer. My daughter listened, offered cynical remarks (as she is wont to do), and went to bed. I promised her we would listen to John McCain's speech next week so we have a basis for comparison.

********************

Thurs., Aug. 28, 2008

To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation: With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest - a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.

To the love of my life, our next First Lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and Malia - I love you so much, and I'm so proud of all of you.

Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story - of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.
It is that promise that has always set this country apart - that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

That's why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women - students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.

We meet at one of those defining moments - a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.

These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.
This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.

This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he's worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.

We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.

Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land - enough! This moment - this election - is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough."

Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.

But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.

The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives - on health care and education and the economy - Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisors - the man who wrote his economic plan - was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."

A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made.

Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.

Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than one hundred million Americans?

How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?

It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.

For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is - you're on your own.
Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps - even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.

Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change America.

You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work.

The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great - a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.

Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.

In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.

And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.

I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as President of the United States.

What is that promise?

It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.

It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.

Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.

Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.

That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.

That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now.

So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.

Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.

And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.

Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.

As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars.

And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.

America, now is not the time for small plans.

Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy.

Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support.

And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American - if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.

Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.

Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.

And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.

Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime - by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less - because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.

And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral strength."

Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient.

Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.

Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's the essence of America's promise.

And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America's promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.

For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face.

When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.

And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush Administration, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we're wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.

That's not the judgment we need. That won't keep America safe. We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.

You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq.

You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington.

You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances.

If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice - but it is not the change we need.

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans - have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression.

I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease.

And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.

But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook.

So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.

So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.

America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose - our sense of higher purpose.

And that's what we have to restore.

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country.

The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals.

I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination.

Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers.

This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

You make a big election about small things.

And you know what - it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.

I get it.

I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you.

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result.

You have shown what history teaches us - that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

America, this is one of those moments.

I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I've seen it. Because I've lived it. I've seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. I've seen it in Washington, when we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.

And I've seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first time, and in those who got involved again after a very long time. In the Republicans who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did.

I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.

This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich.

We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong.

Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours - a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.

But what the people heard instead - people of every creed and color, from every walk of life - is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.

"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."

America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend.

America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.

Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.

six months in 5-7-5

2008-06-02T00:10:00.008-06:00

a haiku ramble
brief form needed for brain dump
inspir'd by b1

christmas morn surprise
nintendo wii, new TV
big, small kids go ape

twenty-one people
family dinner, our house
wii is a big hit

new snowfall, new sled
no school, hill in park beckons
crystal holiday

sister turns forty
vegas bound with three siblings
four women, no kids

forty-eight hours there
minimal sleep, much laughing
grateful sisters, we

new year, new work boss
same company, still same job
some things never change

first time on cruise ship
western Caribbean tour
three women, no kids, FUN!

biking in jungle
sea kayaking, Mexico
sunburn in Feb? ouch!

kindergarten son
can't sit still, pay attention
teacher, mom concerned

dad says: "he's just six!
all boys wiggle, goof off, laugh"
principal not pleas'd

daughter doing fine
fourth grade math, fifth grade science
tenth grade books, big words

both kids in training
attorneys we are raising
always rebuttals

new quarter, new boss
this one from previous life
all is well again

travel for work, first time
redeploy software, learn lots
six days not enough

sister doing well
cancer survivor, four years
single mom okay

son of same sister
just eleven, cancer now
tumor in right leg

chemo to shrink it
surgery, then more chemo
long dark road ahead

younger brother, nine
stays with us while mom and bro
battle the cancer

prognosis is good
disease has not spread to lungs
grateful for doctors

my kids change daycare
after nine years, sad for me
like leaving fam'ly

new daycare costs less
better programs, kids are fine
cousin joins them too

anniversary
mine: sixteen; parents: fifty
small party to plan

yay! bicycle fixed!
gas prices rise; bike to work?
need some practice first

son plays tee-ball now
daughter in fencing class too
swimming? not this year

husband volleyball
two nights a week, bad knee hurts
maybe surgery?

brace on, meds to take
team not happy with slow healing
time to take up golf

posting done for now
sleep needed, work tomorrow
thanks for reading here!

No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth...

2007-11-30T22:35:00.000-07:00

... there just has not been much going on lately that warrants a blog post.

However, a few things have occurred since the summer, and just to catch you up:

1 - Our little guy started kindergarten in August. He is doing well academically, but having a little trouble with the proper behavior that is needed for a successful school career. He has outgrown the seizures, as an EEG on Halloween confirmed (yea for that!!), but sitting still, paying attention and following directions all day are still challenges for him. Having a 5 1/2 year old son in kindergarten is much different than it was when his just-turned-five sister was a kindergartner four years ago: she was shy and obedient and eager to please. He wants to be the center of attention all the time, even if his actions are disruptive.

2 - Our daughter turned 9 in August, with an age-appropriate birthday party at Build-A-Bear with five friends. They all had a blast, dressing their animals in cute outfits at the store, and then singing tunes from "High School Musical" at the top of their lungs on the patio at the ice cream parlor next door. It was a rude awakening to be at curriculum night for 4th grade two weeks later, where we discovered that our young, sweet and innocent daughter will be learning all about the human reproductive system in science this year! Time warp alert!

3 - I had a birthday this month, and the numbers just don't match up with how I feel. In my head, I am a very wise 27-year old; in the the mirror, I see what acquiring 40+ years of wisdom has wrought.

4 - Job uncertainty rears its ugly head again. I love what I do right now for work; the people are great, the pay is fair, and my duties are well-defined. The reality of working for a publicly-held organization that is run by an entrepreneurial CEO is that he wields so much influence on how resources are allocated. He also has no regard for strategy and even short-term planning. Those of us whose livelihood is based on achieving certain metrics, are finding it harder and harder to know on what we are being evaluated, and how we might be doing compared to an ever-moving target.

5 - My parents are healthy, my husband's sprained ankle has healed well enough for him to resume weekly volleyball games, and we have money in the bank if I get laid off. Our house payment is reasonable; the white trash neighbors across the street have moved, and the air is crisp and cold with the promise of snow.

Happy Thanksgiving, one and all!

update on the best news ever

2007-07-23T21:44:00.000-06:00

Our little guy has been med-free for several weeks now, and there are NO signs of seizures!

He is doing well in swimming lessons and at summer daycare camp; he will be ready to start kindergarten next month with no medical issues.

Thanks to all of you for your encouraging comments - happy summer!

choka contribution

2007-05-26T02:51:00.000-06:00

starless, late spring midnight sky
half-wheel-of-cheese moon

slips behind wisps of dark clouds
back-lit tendrils glow

low in western horizon
celestial lantern

the best news

2007-05-24T23:34:00.000-06:00

Our 5-year-old son has been on twice-a-day medicine to control the hundreds of little seizures he was having 18 months ago. Since he started on the meds, he has had NO seizures at all, which means the meds were doing exactly what they were supposed to do.

At his follow-up exam with the pediatric neurologist at Children’s Hospital yesterday, the doctor compared yesterday’s EEG results (brain picture) with the EEG done 18 months ago. The old picture showed lots of brain “abnormalities”, and the picture yesterday shows a “normal” brain.

The doctor was very encouraged that maybe our little guy has grown out of the seizures.

Moving forward, we will reduce his medicine by 25% per day, for two weeks. If he is okay in those two weeks, we lop off another 25% of his meds for another two weeks, and keep going until he is med-free and seizure free.

In my best Yoda voice I say, "Grateful for modern medicine and the peace of mind it brings, am I!"

Seven Random Things About Me

2007-05-07T00:03:00.000-06:00

I was tagged by annie mcq on her blog at http://mommysinatimeout.blogspot.com/2007/05/7-random-things-about-me.html to come up with 7 random things about me, so here goes:

1 - I have a super soft spot in my heart for guys with red hair and freckles. There is something so appealing and mischievous about guys who have a "ginger-haired" personality! I think it all started with Ronny Howard on The Andy Griffith Show in the 60's. My parents had a black and white TV, but somehow I knew Ronny had "it"! I grew up watching HIM grow up, in "American Graffiti" and "Happy Days" in the 70's, and then directing in his current career.

1a - Three of the first four guys I dated had red hair; I married someone with freckles.

2 - I had to memorize a new home telephone number for the first time at age 19 when I went away to college. My parents still live in the same house they bought in 1963, with the same telephone number I learned in kindergarten.

3 - In my opinion, dessert is not really dessert unless it involves chocolate; the darker the better.

4 - The newest TV in my current house was purchased in 1985; its biggest selling point was that it was "cable ready" (no set-top adapter box needed). The other TV in the house has dials on it to change the channels. I married into a computer, a VCR and cable television; neither my husband or I own a cell phone.

5 - Even as I crab at my daughter for all the stuffed animals she has all over the floor in her room, I have a box of my own stuffed animals in a closet. Storage space at our house is limited, but I just cannot bear to part with any of them. My first animal, a stuffed dog named Bo-Bo, is still in the box, 40+ years after he arrived on my first birthday. The box also contains a large stuffed bear that I received as a birthday present from the guy I dated in high school, as well as a mouse named Queso and some giant pink flamingo slippers that my kids love to wear when I let them.

6 - Although I learned to ride a bike at age 7, I did not learn to swim until I was 22. I never learned the correct strokes or breathing techniques, so I either backstroke or dog-paddle in the water today. This handicap did not keep me from participating in the Danskin women's triathlon in 1997 in Denver, however. My friend M. talked me into training with her that summer - neither of us had kids, so we could run, bike and swim when we were not working. I don't know what possessed me to think I could actually swim 800 yards in open water, but I trained at the rec center pool so that I could do a backstroke for 45 minutes without stopping (no touching sides or bottom of pool). I love to bike, so a 20K/12 mile ride was going to be easy, and doing a 5K/ 3 mile run at the end would not be too difficult, I thought.

Race day arrived and I was petrified. Swimming is first: they send groups of women into the water by age group, youngest to oldest. I was in the 35-39 group with my other friend K; my original friend M. was in the 25-29 group, so she went before we did. My plan was to dog-paddle out a ways, then flip over on my back and do the triangular course by backstroke. The gun went off, we went in, and the next thing I know, I am paddling on my back, and looking up at the overcast sky instead of the rec center ceiling. I ease into a rhythm, and I am moving along well (I think) when a course monitor on his jet-ski appears next to me and is hollering something. I tread water as he tells me I am going the wrong way! Sure enough, my sense of direction is totally off: with no ceiling overhead, and no sun for alignment, I was swimming back to shore! He points me to the buoy out in the middle of the reservoir (man, that looks like a long way off from here!) so I point the back of my head to the buoy and start back-stroking again. Pretty soon the same guy appears again on his jet-ski.... it turns out my right arm was stronger than my left, so I was swimming in circles about 30 feet off the starting point. I was pretty embarrassed and a little panicked - now what am I going to do, 30 feet from shore, with no hope of getting around the course successfully?

Just then, the "sweep athlete" appeared in the water with me. Her job is to make sure that no one is the last one off the course - she always is. I explained my dilemma, and once she figured out I was planning to do the whole course on my back, she said she would help me do "an abbreviated swim". She swam at my feet, hollering directions: "left, right, left, hard right..." until I got to a point where I could dog-paddle to shore. I got out of the water and burst into tears - I had trained so hard and I didn't even do the whole swim! I got on my bike and rode with no problem, and then jogged the 5K at the end. I crossed the finish line with my husband hollering encouragement.

3 weeks later, I got a postcard with my time and age-group place for each event: in the run, I placed 215 out of 220; on the bike, I placed 180 out of 220, and in the swim, I placed 25 out of 220, with 12 minutes in the water.

Attempt # 2 to imbed links in a post

2007-04-03T07:37:00.000-06:00

"Youth is not a time of life - it is a state of mind. It is not a matter of red cheeks, red lips and supple knees. It is a temper of the will; a quality of the imagination; a vigor of the emotions; it is a freshness of the deep springs of life. Youth means a tempermental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over a life of ease. This often exists in a man of fifty, more than in a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years; people grow old by deserting their ideals." - Samuel Ullman

Here are two posts from friends' blogs that illustrate this beautifully:

http://mommysinatimeout.blogspot.com/2007/03/perfect.html

and

http://b1-66ersworld.blogspot.com/2007/03/similar-to-proud.html

Happy Spring!

A new year, a new clean slate for musings...

2007-02-22T23:41:00.000-07:00

I told one member of my small cadre of readers that I may just post once a quarter this year, since I think you may get tired of hearing how much I love my job, love my kids, blah blah blah.

Then I had lunch with three different groups of people in the last couple of weeks, and snippets of those conversations keep rolling around in my head.

One guy with whom I work feels the traditional institution of marriage is outmoded. His theory is that 70% of all married people would not be married, if they could get out of their commitments without any financial ramifications or emotional damage to themselves or to other people. His thinking is based on the unrealistic idea that you will always love the person you marry, no matter what happens. "For better or worse, in sickness and in health..." just does not cut it with him. (In the interest of full disclosure, my co-worker got married at 32, became a father a couple of years later, and is now a single dad of a 3-year-old son. Rumor has it he will become a father again this year, and maybe marry the mother of his second child, but maybe not.)

This 70% theory has prompted some interesting discussions, especially among married people. Most of the people surveyed agreed that when you get married, you promise to love that person forever, but you have no idea how your love will change or how your lives will be affected by circumstances beyond your control. There are days that you think that being married to the person you chose was the most idiotic thing you ever did... and then there are days that you do not want to think about your life without him/her so intertwined in it.

In my observation, people get married for a lot of reasons, and many of those reasons are not for true love and fidelity until the end of time. Sometimes it is financial: "he /she will take care of me". Somtimes it is due to a pregnancy: "oops, wasn't planning on that, but we might as well get married for the sake of the baby". Sometimes it is desperation: "okay, he/she is not perfect, but my chances of finding someone better out there are pretty dim, so I will settle for this" ...and lots of other justifications.

I think being a grown-up is important to make a marriage work. You have to be able to take care of yourself on your own, both emotionally and financially, before you can see how your life with another person will make you even happier. I have friends (and relatives) who were married in their late teens and early twenties, and the majority of those marriages did not last. There is so much growing-up to be done before a person turns 30; how can anyone younger than 30 promise to love another person forever and really understand what that means?

The second lunch was with two guys I have known since elementary school and a girlfriend I met when we were in 7th grade study hall together. The four of us are from the same high school graduation class, and we meet up every so often to catch up on families and each other's lives. D was married at 17, father of two kids by 20, divorced by 23, married again, divorced again and is a grandfather 5 times. My girlfriend S is married for the second time, with college-age daughters and a 10-year-old. The other guy, R., is also married for the second time, and he just became a first-time grandpa this month. Then there is me: married at 32, birthed a baby at age 38 and again at 42...

The thing that made me smile about this group is that all of us are finally doing what we want for a living. All of them were married by age 21, so there were not a lot of options to "try out" careers or to go to college to widen their employment options. S has been at her job for 25 years; R just left a company after 18 years for a better job, and D is doing what he loves, although not making much money at it. Our lives have all taken a much different course than what we imagined they would when we were in high school, but we are okay with that, and we are content in the moment.

Which brings me to the third lunch, wherein the comment was made, "in all honesty, how we spend the next 20 minutes, really, is all that matters".

Exactly.

post 12 of 12

2006-12-31T23:34:00.000-07:00

Aaaaccckkk!

It is nearly midnight in Colorado on Dec 31, 2006...

...and I just realized I needed to put something out here as the closing bookend for a year's worth of monthly posts.

Thank you to all (three) of my readers for your support this year. Your thoughts and comments mean a lot to me!

Happy new year (and new beginnings) in 2007. I know some of you have a new baby to take care of, and some of you have new financial freedom, and some of you are grateful for each day as it comes. I fall into the latter group - Life is good as it is - I wish you all the same!

haiku of the moment

2006-11-29T20:33:00.000-07:00

sand, ocean, warm breeze
graceful snowflakes, frigid air
which scene pleases most?

It's all in the family

2006-10-24T23:34:00.000-06:00

In fairness to the other set of genetic material that is responsible for my creation, I felt it necessary to post a picture of my dad, to complete the set of bookends from my May 2006 post.
I am the baby in the picture, at about 6 months old, and that handsome, recently-graduated, Minnesota-transplanted, aerospace engineer, early twenty-something kid is my father. We were at a park with my mother in San Diego, just before we moved to Denver, and before the next five babies started showing up.

Recently I have come to appreciate how much my siblings mean to me. Although some of us are married, and some are not, and some of us have kids, and some do not, we have some familial traits in common: We are ethical, trustworthy and hard-working employees and business owners, with little tolerance for those people who do not do their jobs to the best of their abilities. As a group, we are (mostly) logical and (mostly) creatively limited. We span the political spectrum, from very conservative to extremely liberal, and our income levels range from working our way out of debt to comfortably providing for our families.

Although five of my parents' six offspring live within 150 miles of each other, it is a rare occasion that the eight original members of my family (plus assorted in-laws and grandkids) are assembled in one location. We are currently negotiating an event to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary in two years, at which time (at least) the six kids have committed to be in one place for a photo opportunity.

If I knew any German or Swedish, I would insert it here, to say something like "Salud!" or "A la familia!"

as time goes by

2006-09-17T23:16:00.000-06:00

Ads for the original Star Wars movie from 1977 (Episode IV) have been on late-night TV lately, and thoughts around that movie bring to mind a very distinct time in my life....

1977 was the summer between my junior and senior years in high school. I was going out with a guy regularly for the first time that summer... we were very much enthralled with each other. Star Wars was playing at just one theater in Denver; only one screen in town was big enough to show it. The theater was 'way across town, and the lines were hours long to get tickets, and then it took even more time to get in to actually see the show. Because my sweetie and I both worked part-time jobs until the early evening, getting to an 8pm show was next to impossible...as we found out, on at least two occasions. (For the record, we would go to Baskin Robbins for ice cream when we were thwarted yet again in our Star Wars attempt. Even today, I cannot go into a Baskin Robbins without fondly thinking of my first love!)

Finally, my guy had the brilliant idea to go down to the theater early to get tickets for a matinee show on a day we both had off. I knew nothing about the movie, other than it had a space theme, and both he and I were Star Trek fans, so it sounded like fun.

I distinctly remember two things from the movie. Sitting in the dark, hearing the theme music for the first time, as that incredibly huge freighter came up FROM BEHIND US and then OVER OUR HEADS on to the screen - I had never experienced anything like THAT before!!! The sound of the massive engines shook the theater walls - the entire audience gasped and then clapped and hollered in disbelief!

Later on in the movie, there was the first close-up of Luke Skywalker / Mark Hammill. I let out an audible "ooohhh" at his handsome looks and his huge green eyes - I was so enthralled that I forgot with whom I was watching the movie! I went to lean over to my normal movie-going girlfriend and sigh, "Isn't he the most gorgeous guy you have ever seen?" ...when I remembered that my movie date was NOT a girlfriend, but the guy I had been seeing for a few months... so I kept my comment to myself.

To this day, I do not think I ever told him what I was really thinking at that moment.

Book Tag

2006-08-09T20:56:00.000-06:00

Since getting tagged by b1-66er to contribute to the reading list from Mikkel, my mind has been full of all things related to reading. I don't remember going through the process of learning to read, but my mom tells me that I used to sound out words on the cereal boxes that I would line up between my younger siblings and me, to make a “wall” so I would not have to look at anyone at the breakfast table. In Miss Bohan’s first grade, I was the first student in the class who didn’t have to go to reading group any more – I got to read independently instead!

There were just three books on the bookshelf in the bedroom I shared with my younger sister: Heidi by Johanna Spyri, Black Beauty by Anna Sewell and Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge. All three of the books were hardcover volumes and gifts from relatives; I read them each once, and eventually re-read Heidi when there was nothing else to read in the house.

I devoured every history book and biography I could get my hands on. I was never interested in animal stories or other “pretend” stuff - I liked reading about real events and real people. In fourth or fifth grade, someone finally pointed out that there were fiction books called novels, which were stories about people and places, and although they were “pretend”, they were set in real places, with real people. I was in heaven!

By the time I got to my senior year in high school, I was one of the faster readers around; I whipped through class-assigned books like Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck and ¡Corre Nicky!, ¡Corre! by Nicky Cruz.

My reading habits have changed drastically over the last 20+ years – I rarely read for pleasure anymore. I read children’s books to my kids all the time: Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown, The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton, and The Cat in the Hat Comes Back by Dr. Seuss are favorites. I can honestly remember reading only three "grown up” books since I got married 14 years ago:

1 - Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick
2 - Bill Gates’ biography – specific title and author unknown
3 - Your Pregnancy Week by Week by Glade B. Curtis and Judith Schuler

Kind of a sad commentary on my literary life, eh?

I DO make time to read a Sunday paper cover to cover every week, and I read several selected blogs and the Choka on a daily basis, so I “sort of” keep up...

As b1 says, on to the meat:

A book that changed your life:

1 - A Baby is Born – author unknown. This was an explanation of where babies come from that I read by mistake at age 9. Suddenly I had more knowledge and scientific information than my “worldly” best friend Cindy!

2 – In my senior English class in high school, we had to write our autobiography, with footnotes. In researching quotes to use in my paper, I stumbled upon The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. The only other poetry with which I was familiar at the time were selections from A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, so the 26 grown-up-themed essays in the Gibran volume were eye-openers for me. This was, and still is, my favorite from that collection:

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

3 - I took a college freshman class called The Bible as Literature. After several weeks of reading and classroom discussion, I declared to my life-long Catholic mother, “We have it all wrong – the Jewish people are God’s chosen people, not us!” Ths was the first glimpse I had that “there are choices of religion available that go far beyond Christianity”

A book you have read more than once:

1 - All the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder when I was 7 or 8. The series of books tells the story of a family and their covered-wagon emmigration from the eastern US to the US plains in the 1860's. I read the entire series many times when I was a kid, and now I am reading them again as my almost 8-year-old daughter finishes them.

2 - Centennial by James Michner. This epic novel takes place in Colorado, within 100 miles of where I grew up and where I currently live.

A book that made you laugh:

1 - Couplehood by Paul Reiser. There was a TV series that aired in the 1990's in the US called “Mad About You”, starring Paul Reiser and a pre-Academy-Award-winning Helen Hunt. The two main characters were married to each other; they were in their early 30’s and had no kids. The conversations / situations on the show were the same convresations / situations that took place in MY married, early 30’s, no kids life, sometimes ver batim. On more than one occasion, I accused my husband of having a secret bank account where he was hoarding all the money he earned for writing scripts for the show. The book by Paul Reiser revealed that the hilarious situations and conversations that took place on the show had actually happened in his married, no-kids life.

2 - Ditches of Edison County by Ronald Roberts. This is a parody of the book that made me cry (see below). I laughed as hard when I read Ditches as I cried when I read Bridges.

A book that made you cry:

I cry pretty easily, so lots of books have that effect on me. Two that stand out are Fine Things by Danielle Steel (I read this on the airplane coming back to Denver from NYC after my 30th birthday. I literally sobbed for 2 hours on the flight.) The other is Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller. I cried through the last third of the book so hard that my husband woke up to see if I was sick or something.

A book that you wish had been written:

How to Live Happily with Someone who Refuses to Seek Help for Undiagnosed and Untreated Depression by any author with a wry sense of humor

A book you wish had never been written:

The Psychotronic Video Guide To Film by Michael J. Weldon. This book with the bad-horror movie cover pictures has been sitting on my husband’s bedside table for 5-7 years. He reads parts of it before he goes to sleep almost every night; frequently he conks out and drops the book on the floor in his sleep. I am REALLY tired of having it as part of the room decor.

A book you are currently reading:

Choka On It, edited by Awgeez, Birdhead and B1-66er

A book you have been meaning to read:

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman. I work for a US-based outsourcing company, and this book has been highly recommended by co-workers. My mom is even familiar with it, which leads me to believe it MUST have liberal leanings.

Have what you want, but more importantly, want what you have

2006-07-23T22:35:00.000-06:00

After learning more about current world events and then feeling badly for everyone who is unable to sleep peacefully at night, I have come to realize there are countless elements of my tiny, insignificant life for which I am exceedingly grateful.

Here is a sampling of those elements, in no particular order:

- Healthy children
- Men who have loved me for a LONG time, despite my imperfections
- No imminent threat of bombs dropping from the sky onto my city
- Gainful employment
- Free pass to the clean and never-crowded swimming pool in my in-laws' neighborhood
- No credit card debt
- A large network of life-long friends with whom I keep in touch: My network spans 40+ years and includes three people from elementary school, three others from junior high, two more from high school... and then another dozen or so from college and from only four jobs over 20+ years. I am the richest woman in the world when it comes to friends!
- Being able to hear kids' voices as they squeal with delight at cold, wet, summertime fun
- Freedom to worship as I choose and freedom to vote (or not)
- Easy access to email and to blogs, where a world I never imagined 10 years ago is now part of my everyday life

I am able to sleep peacefully at night, because I have all I want.

Three decades

2006-06-08T23:55:00.000-06:00

On this day, 30 years ago, my youngest sibling was born.

My mom was 39 years old and my dad was 40. At the end of the pregnancy, the baby was positioned sideways inside my mom, instead of being "head down" for a normal birth like the first five kids, so due to that fact and due to my mom's "advanced age" a C-section delivery was scheduled for June 8, 1976.

In those days, fathers were just being allowed into delivery rooms for the births of their children. My parents decided that it would be best for all concerned if Dad remained in the fathers' waiting room for this baby, just like he had done for the arrivals of his previous five children.

The doctors told Dad they would put my mom under general anesthesia, and they would have a window of 5-10 minutes to get the baby out before the anesthetic affected the baby, too. The doctors said they would come tell Dad if he had a new son or daughter within 15 minutes after they took Mom into surgery.

At 1630 they wheeled Mom onto the elevator to go to the operating room, and Dad waited on the maternity floor for the news. At 1645 no one came, and then it was 1700 and still no word. By 1715 Dad was worried sick that something had gone terribly wrong with the C-section operation: He was sure his wife of 17 years or his new baby (or both) had died on the operating table.

Finally, at 1745, a nurse came to tell Dad that he had a new baby daughter, and that his wife was fine, also. When my frantic father demanded an explanation for a 60 minute wait on a 15 minute procedure, the nurse told him they had been backed up in the operating room, and they did not put Mom under the anesthetic until an hour AFTER they wheeled her up to surgery. No one had considered informing the very anxious father of this "slight scheduling error"....

I was sixteen at the time, the oldest of my parents' six children, and it was the first day of my first job, at the Chicken Unlimited fast food restaurant near my home. When I spoke to Dad over the telephone from work later that evening, the exhaustion and relief in his voice was palpable. He proclaimed his new (fourth) daughter "healthy and beautiful".

Today, I wished my youngest sister a happy 30th birthday, and reminded her of the story of her arrival. I also relayed that I spent MY 30th birthday in New York City, eating chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream at the Empire State Building. That fact, in and of itself, is a cool place to celebrate a significant day. What makes the story better is that I consumed my birthday dessert on the ground floor of this very tall New York landmark, because I am terrified of heights...

Happy Birthday, MPM!

May musings, with picture and link experiments

2006-05-24T21:09:00.000-06:00

Several women with whom I am acquainted are expecting their first babies, or have recently birthed them. After reading Leslie's heartfelt and encouraging post about her kids to Sara and Mikkel on the announcement of their first pregnancy (http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=14974226&postID=114838698419812400) and being reminded that Mother's Day is celebrated in May in the US, I wanted to record a few of my thoughts about motherhood.

1 - The picture above was taken when I was six weeks old, and my mom had just turned 23. Little did my mom know that she would move across the country again in just a few months, when she was pregnant with baby #2.... and that four more babies would arrive after the two that appeared in the the first two years of her marriage. She also did not know that she would birth her sixth baby at the age of 39, when her oldest kid had just learned to drive at the age of 16.

2 - Mother's Day is pretty low-key with my mom: she appreciates hearing from each of her kids on that day, whether by card or telephone call. My in-laws, however, make a big fuss over the moms in the family on that day, and it bugs me.

3 - Even though I have birthed two children of my own, I still think of Mother's Day as an occasion to say "thank you" and "I love you" to my own mom. Because being a parent feels like I am making everything up as I go along (and I am sure someday soon my kids will figure out I have no idea what I am doing) I forget that I am a mom, too.

4 - My goal is to raise happy, healthy, independent and considerate children, so they can be happy, healthy, independent and considerate adults. I forget they are only 7 and 4 years old, because they are fairly independent already (I am batting .250 here, which I feel is respectable at this point).

5 - The month of May is significant in other ways for me, too: I went on my first date in May; I landed my first really great job after college in May; I got married in May. It is my favorite time of the year in Colorado, when Nature is a soft green everywhere, the days are warm and full of promise, and the nights are cool so that sleeping with a window open and lots of covers is the perfect combination of fresh air and warmth.

The picture below is of the two people that made me a parent... the circle of life continues.

...and I blog because...

2006-04-14T23:34:00.000-06:00

When I was a senior in high school, I had an excellent English teacher. She made us write ALL THE TIME. She expected great productions from her students, and we met (and exceeded) her expectations on a regular basis. She encouraged us to write, write, write…. so I did. I still have some of the papers I wrote for her class: my autobiography, the perfect 48 hours, and my earliest memory. She always praised what we wrote, which encouraged me to write more, just to please her.

At the same time, I fell in love for the first time. I was equally in awe of the brain-power of my sweetheart and mesmerized by his way of viewing the world, as well as laughing constantly at his sense of humor. My love was funny, smart and adorable, and incredibly, he loved ME – a geeky naïve girl who was nothing special to anyone… except maybe to her parents (‘cause I was their first child) and maybe to her teachers (‘cause I was a good student).

Life was good. I don’t know if I was happy to be writing, or writing because I was happy – either way, all that writing was a GOOD thing. I remember feeling like I could accomplish anything at that point in my life. Someone loved me, I was doing well in school, and I even enjoyed my part-time job at McDonald’s.

As all good things must, that piece of my life ended….But other good pieces of my life fell into place: I moved away from home, I financed my own college education, I landed jobs I really enjoyed, I fell in love again (twice), I birthed two babies.

Watching my kids as they experience the world around them for the first time has been an unexpected pleasure for me. Seeing their reactions to animals, and smiling as they discovered slippery mud, fluffy snow, warm sand, cold ice cream, scented lilac bushes, crunchy leaves, “swishy-sounding” corduroy pants – all of those moments made ME experience them again for the first time. As they continue to grow and to react to new adventures in their lives, I find myself enjoying those adventures right along with them.

Even though I have worked for 20+ years and experienced parenthood, sometimes it seems as if I have been living under a rock when it comes to paying attention to the world around me. I have done a lot of business writing (which I enjoy, and which I am good at), but my ability to think creatively and to write for personal satisfaction went out the door somewhere after high school. I have always been “the responsible one” (the curse of being the oldest kid) and “so organized”, that the impulse to be creative or to do something spontaneous just sort of fizzled out.

About a year ago, events occured in my life that made me feel the way I did the first time I was in love: giddy, creative, like nothing is beyond my grasp. It is a great sensation, and one I hope never to lose again.

Due to encouragement from people I love and admire, I have been reminded that I am smart and I am funny, and that I like to write, especially when I know someone is reading what I put down. I understand now why keeping a journal is therapeutic, and I see why writing for a blog is an emotionally-satisfying experience, especially if people are commenting on it.

Thanks for reading along!

Can an automobile define your life?

2006-03-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

Not long ago, a girlfriend from high school and I were talking about how our wonderful, reliable automobiles have been the most constant presence in our ever-changing lives over the past 15-20 years. My friend had recently traded in her 1987 Honda for a 2005 Toyota Prius hybrid, which is the environment-friendly car she had been waiting for, for 25 years. She was sad to say goodbye to her Honda, which had proven to be more constant than any job and more reliable than most men in her life!

Then I started thinking about the car that defined my life for so long...

Over the President’s Day holiday in February 1988, I bought my first (and so far only) brand-new car. I traded my 2-door, 4-cylinder, boring beige 1980 Plymouth Champ for a 1988 2-door, 5-speed, RED, Honda Accord hatchback. The monthly payments were 'way out of my budget, so I negotiated a lease-to-own deal that fit my financial requirements perfectly.

I loved that car!

The engine seemed more powerful than the “roller-skate” I was driving before, and the doors felt very solid when I slammed them shut. With the back seat folded down flat, I could get my bicycle in the back and still close the hatch. The car never needed service besides the manufacturer's suggested schedule. Outside of normal wear and tear, I replaced 3 headlights, two batteries and one timimg belt. It was the perfect car for a responsibility-free, un-attached, loving-my-life woman in her 20’s and 30’s…

That car saw me through so much, over 14 years and 248,000 miles:

8 address changes

6 jobs

4 boyfriends

2 babies

1 fiancé

1 wedding

1 house purchase

Sadly, I had to give up my racy red Honda in 2002. Starting the car every morning was a crap shoot, and by that time I had kids to get to daycare on my way to a grown-up, responsible job.

Today I drive a boring white Subaru outback wagon, with car seats in the back. I still enjoy a five-speed manual transmission, however...

...and when it is just me in the car, on a warm summer day, I crank up the rockin' radio, crank all the windows down, and pretend I am 29 again, driving my beloved Honda.

a Springsteen fan story

2006-02-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

In the fall of 1982, I was living in Fort Collins, Colorado and completing the 3rd semester of my senior year at Colorado State University. I was taking a bunch of freshman courses in subjects I found interesting (drafting, women’s chorus, introduction to geology, Colorado history) but never had time or money to pursue while working on a business degree. The purpose of attending school that semester was to get my GPA back up to a 3.0, to interview for any business-related jobs, and to generally figure out how I was going to take care of myself after college.

In September, radio station KBPI-FM announced Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band would play 2 nights at McNichols Sports Arena (dubbed Big Mac for its resemblence in shape to the McDonald's sandwich) in Denver in November. Tickets were going on sale on a Monday morning in October, and there was no doubt they would sell out in a couple hours’ time. I had become a Springsteen fan through my friend Pete from New Jersey, who came to CSU to go to vet school. Pete was initially enamored with my petite, dark-haired roommate Cherie, but after he discovered what an airhead Cherie was, Pete and I became (and remain) friends.

As my one reader may recall, getting concert tickets for popular shows in the late 70’s and early 80’s required being first in line at the ticket outlet. It was a good thing I had mostly “blow off” classes, because I spent all of Sunday night and most of Monday morning camped out on the sidewalk in front of the only concert ticket outlet in Fort Collins, waiting for the record store to open and tickets to go on sale at 10am.

I was successful and got 8 tickets for the show: they were the best available, even though I was fifth in line; they were considered “blocked view” because they were behind and to the right of the stage.

Finally the day of the event arrives. We have a pre-concert party at my friend Lynn’s house in Denver. We play Trivial Pursuit and listen to anything but Springsteen – no one wants to spoil the show. By the time we actually get to our seats and the lights dim, I am so keyed up I can’t stand it! Bruce hits the stage with the E-Street band and the crowd goes wild – he does 3-4 rockin’ songs with no break. Bruce plays a LOT to his band, with his back to the audience, but facing US… My heart is beating so fast and I am dancing like my life depended on it…. Then Bruce goes to the acoustic guitar and quiets the crowd down with some material from “Nebraska”, which I had never heard. (The album was a critical success but a commercial flop - it was not even available in Colorado for a long time – my friend Pete ended up making me a tape of his copy and mailing it to me). I am mesmerized by this side of a good-time rocker – I had no idea he could write and perform on a smaller, more intimate scale. The whole show is like that: 3 hours of go-for-broke rock 'n roll, interspersed with insightful storytelling. I can’t get enough – I want more – and the show is over WAY too quickly.

The next day, back in my life in Fort Collins, I am despondent, especially since I know there is a second show in Denver that night…. There was no way to finance another ticket or to get down for the show, and I am in a funk for several days afterward.

some Colorado trivia

2006-01-16T00:15:00.000-07:00

You Know You're From Colorado When...

1 - You have absolutely no recognizable accent.

2 - If the humidity gets above 25%, you consider it "muggy."

3 - You only go to Central City when friends are in from out of town.

4 - During a thunderstorm you wonder which I-25 underpass is flooding.

5 - You never plan a picnic between 15:30 and 18:00 in Spring or Summer months.

6 - If it rains more than 2 days straight you compare the weather to being in Seattle.

7 - You have a broken/pitted windshield.

8 - You think "South Park" is a place to stop for gas on your way to Buena Vista.

9 - You own a big dog named Aspen, Buck, Cheyenne or Dakota.

10 - You cast out your fishing line while white-water rafting.

11 - You've never seen the tourist attractions in your own city.

12 - You personally wouldn't pay $10 per head to drive up Pikes Peak unless
it was the only mountain on earth, but you tell all your house-guests to do it.

13 - You get depressed after one day of foggy weather.

14 - North means "mountains to the left;" south is "mountains to the right."
(only true for those of us living on the Front Range, of course)

15 - You go anywhere else on the planet and the air feels "sticky" and you
notice the sky is no longer blue.

16 - You've stood on solid ground and looked down on an airplane in flight.

17 - You know what the "People's Republic of Boulder" means.

18 - You know the correct pronunciation of Buena Vista, Pueblo and Canon City.

19 - When you visit friends at sea level, you can drink a case of beer and not get a buzz.

20 - You have surge protectors on every outlet.

21 - April showers bring May blizzards.

22 - "Timberline" is someplace you have actually been, many times.

23 - You know what a "Chinook" is.

24 - You know what a "rocky mountain oyster" is.

25 - You know what a "fourteener" is, but you don't know what a "turn signal" is.

26 - Your golf bag has a 9-iron, a 3-wood and a lightning-rod.

27 - People from other states breathe 5 times as often as you do.

28 - Having a (former) Senator named Nighthorse doesn't seem strange.

29 - Thunder has set off your car alarm.

30 - A sudden loss of cabin pressure is not a big deal.

31 - You know where Doc Holidays' grave is.

32 - You've gone skiing in July. You've gone sunbathing in January. They were
both in the same year.

33 - You get a certain feeling of satisfaction from knowing that California and Texas are both downstream

34 - You know the elevation of a town, but not its population.

35 - You never pack away your coat and sweaters.

36 - You can name only two people you know who were actually born in Colorado

37 - You call tumbleweeds "ground cover."

38 - You or someone you know plays golf 12 months of the year.

39 - If it snows in the morning you expect it to be gone by lunchtime.

40 - You can name the states that make up the Four Corners.

41 - You know what and where the Continental Divide is.

source unknown