"READ YOUR LIFE"
Oy, Chicago is Barack Obama crazy. My jury is still out. He was a guest on Conan the night I was in the audience (ahem, front row, thank you very much) and I have to say, he seems like a decent guy. But, I want more than just "seems like a decent guy" out of my politicians. So, I need to research him a little better before I make an official decision about the dude. In the meantime, you can't turn on a television or radio, or open a newspaper or even check email without him popping up. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Again, something I'm just not sure of yet.
As for the marathon I watched yesterday, well, I think I did see my shul-friend Howard, but I wasn't positive of that. I found a spot about a half mile from the end where there was only one other person cheering and stood and shouted displayed names, screamed "Go Team In Training" (I once ran with/for them), "You're almost there I promise!", "Just turn the corner and you've got it!" and "Runners! You're doing great! You are sooooo close!" and made a complete fool of myself. But, I know that when you're running a marathon and nobody is there cheering, it seems like running through mud. It's the worst! And, by the time you get past the 20-mile marker, hearing a cheer is better than anything else. So, I might clam up at cocktail parties at the thought of having to schmooze, but I have no qualms about standing alone on a city block and shouting at total strangers. Eh, it makes sense in my head.
Now, Katie Schwartz you tagged me for your book meme, and I am not one to disapoint. This is so much pressure, because, much like music, I have so many book titles floating around in my head that I cannot possibly access them all. So, I am going to throw caution to the wind and just do this off the to of my head.
1 ) One book that changed your life: Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins
2) One book that you’d read more than once: Dorrie and The Witch's Imp by Patricia Coombs
3 ) One book you’d want on a deserted island: Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini
4) One book that made you laugh: The World According to Garp by John Irving
5) One book that made you cry: Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
6) One book you wish you’d written: Revolution From Within by Gloria Steinem
7) One book you wish had never been written: The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
8) One book you’re currently reading: This Side of Brightness by Colum McCann
9) One book you’ve been meaning to read: The Untelling by Tayari Jones
10) Tag five people:
I'm going to tag five ladies who I would absolutely take/have taken book recommendations from.
Leah's Accidentally Jewish
Diane's Sparktucular
Nicky's Skirmish of Wit
Beth's Shenanigans
Twisty's I Blame the Patriarchy
15 comments:
d'oh!
I mean, thank you, I'll get to your memity meme this week.
as always, diva guth, fascinating. great reads. thanks for participating.
re: obama... from everything I've read, he's pretty amazing. he's a vocal advocate for stem cell research, a woman's right to choice and a devout supporter of freedom of speech.
that said, the bottom line is that most of the votes that I have cast in the past 10 years have been about choosing the lesser of all the evils.
sad. but true. I wish it were different.
my biggest concern is that there won't be a strong enough democratic candidate to be elected into office.
my dream ticket would be obama and hillary.
not in my lifetime... so sad.
Heh. Somehow I knew that tag was coming.
Yeah, mixed feelings on Obama. He is an awesome, articulate candidate who actually presents himself intelligently instead of just playing politician. But I think it would benefit him to accomplish a bit more before he runs for President. He's still young & pretty green--I don't think he'd win. He's up against enough in this country being African American. Sad but true. So he really is going to need to build his artillery first, imho.
All excellent points. It'll be spiffy when Jesusy white men learn to share the country, won't it? I wonder what Rational Leftist thinks? His political rants are always welcome here.
Oh, YOU'RE the one that got the Conan tickets!! I remember that night. Leah and I were...somewhere. But I don't remember where? Leah?
I agree, so much of Obama's popularity at this point is precisely because no one knows/he doesn't really stand for anything. I don't mean that in the sense that he doesn't have beliefs, just that he hasn't taken an active role in any of those beliefs (he has yet to sponsor any legislation).
On the positive, he has been outspoken in calling for active UN troops in Darfur, even visiting the region himself. On the negative, it seems like that is the extent of his actions, not pushing for any legislation calling for peacekeepers to be sent.
Here's his specific voting record;
http://www.vote-smart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=BS030017
Yes he seems like a (somewhat) genuine dude, especially notable these days. I just think that it is hard to push for someone as president who has only two years of a voting record on a national level. And I think that his ultimately his appeal at this point, that we all can see him as a shining light, all the while not really knowing what his vision of the world is.
Lastly, and it is sad that I think this is true...I think the odds of an Afr.-American being elected are somewhere between slim and none. Heck, we have had only one non-Protestant Prez, and well...that didn't exactly end so well for him.
As if I didn't rant enough already...a couple of points about electability:
1. I think that as left-leaning individuals, it is imperative that we hold the Dems responsible for producing good candidates with actual ideas, rather than people who just pose themselves as not being from the GOP. We should expect/hope for more.
2. The Dems are going no where unless they present Centrist positions, extremes of either side of the spectrum are never elected (some may become more left or right once in office, but inevitably in order to be elected they have to put on a moderate face -- remember Dubya's Compassionate Conservative bit?). So no more of the A.N.S.W.E.R./Code Pink, irrational/fascist supporting a-holes having a large voice (which they certainly did in the Dean compaign). It is possible to be against what is going on right now and still offer another option that is not just as extremist in the other direction.
Obama was my hero until his endorsement of Alexi Giannoulias for State Treasurer in the primary.
Based on Giannoulias' lack of experience the endorsement didn't make sense. Then it was revealed that a substantial donation was made to Obama's war chest by Giannoulias' father.
Obama gives the appearance he is for sale.
Of the five statewide elections this year I am split supporting three Democrats and two Republicans so this isn't a partisan rant, but a grave concern.
It scares me that he is so charismatic, and pushes all the right buttons when it comes to the public's desire for statesmen instead political hacks. I hope we don't forget hold him accountable.
Even though he is no longer in the super hero class with me, I hope he proves to be the real deal in the end.
Thanks for the tag! Very flattering; I'll have to take my time on this.
Adam - I'm with you. I want to like Obama because he's so darn hopeful-seeming and likeable, and that is something we all kind of want and need at this stage. Kind of youthful, kind of disarming .... but what the heck does he stand for? You can't balance a budget on optimism. And, sad to say, but I agree most strongly with your last comment. I want to give America the benefit of the doubt that they are able to "get around the race issue", but I think a lot of people, especially - but not only - out there in the lower middle region of the country, will have some nagging doubt about Obama, even if he showed himself to be a worthy candidate, and I think if those people were honest with themselves, many of them would have to admit that they are not "ready" for an African American president. Pathetic.
Actually, the bloggers I passed Conan tix to where Shoc*er *ahn and Hello Ninja. I don't have any idea where Big Mouth got hers!
Great meme. Nice list, Amy. I did it a couple months ago.
A friend of mine had the BEST book that should NEVER have been written: that fricking Left Behind sicko tripe. Ugh.
I got my Conan tickets from a friend's former neighbor who was a backstage honcho ninja on the show.
Hey Amy,
I'm honored to be on your to-be-read list. :) Give me your address. I'll send you a copy of The Untelling.
As for Obama.. I love the idea of him. I left my campaign sign in the yard until Valentine's Day. Did you see this? http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/behind_the_deal/obama_not_quite_so_goody_twoshoes_46498.asp I am particularly bummed to see this, as it is my agent that he unceremoniously dumped....
It seems like people are not impressed with Alexi Giannoulias' current behavior since someone at the University of IL at Champaign/Urbana had written to their college paper saying that when he came to do a speech he was surrounded by a bunch of sorority girls and even going as far as having them do his speech and clapping at certain parts of it.
He's 30 years old what in the heck is he doing dealing with 18 19 and 20 year old Freshmen and Sophomores? They're at the booty call stage and to get up acting a fool like that makes the university look very bad in terms of student clubs representing when they host events and guests.
I am in a sorority, but we never conducted ourselves in that manner flirting with guests and doing their speeches and being cued to clap at certain points of the speech. It makes me think that at some point people are going to start wondering is he going to carry that behavior into political office.It's one thing to be friendly and courteous, but to have these silly girls fawning over him like the star quarterback in high school is plain sad.
He's not even thinking about these bimbos to give them any kind of time. He seems to focus better with people of his level meaning college degreed and mature for their age. Alexi will have to watch what he does and says since his entire life and career is under a microscope.
I am sure that he will associate with people his own age and not some bumbling fresh faced out of high school bimbo.
Post a Comment