OK, I guess I'll Run For President

So, my main complaint about politicians is that they invariably have some miserable skeletons in their closets if they've achieved the kind of success necessary to run for the highest office in the land.
I've threatened to do this for years now, and it's clearly time to either dive in or take off my suit. Nobody wants me to take off my suit, so I'm diving in.
I believe it's completely unproductive to claim any kind of affiliation (like Republican or Democrat or Libertarian or Independent) and am therefore going to run, most specifically, without affiliation.
I'm banking on a fresh and clever platform to grab the attention of big time sponsors (like Tang and Oreos) to help me sell my new and much greatly improved political ambition to the largely uninformed and scary-simple masses.
I know I will probably have to acquiesce to some of the conventions that Americans embrace when being aggressively marketed to, and to that end I will recruit Sponge Bob or Flavor Flav to speak favorably about me in strategically placed medias and I vow to post hundreds of thousands of promo stickers above urinals and in bathroom stalls in all the bars from coast to coast.
My platform will consist of just a couple important elements.
1. In order to procreate (make new babies) all persons involved will have to pass a series of intelligence and personality tests. Failure to comply will result in mandatory sterilization. Failure to pass said tests will result in one of several different consequences that I will develop with my crack team of cabinet members.
2. All methamphetamine production will completely disappear and meth addicts (who make up, like, 70 percent of all incarcerated humans here in America) will have some sort of meaningful rehabilitation and be returned to society as useful and productive members of our culture.
So, there's my top two reasons for tonight.
One last thing: Respect. Just like Aretha said... Show it to me show it to me show it to me. Respect your families, respect your mad-expensive "stuff" that you can't stop acquiring... Respect the fact that everybody you do meet, for real, is fighting some kind of battle. We just need to see, feel, teach and be: Respect.

Top Ten Things That Make Me Happy

In the course of the last 20 years or so I've seen lots of stuff on My Little World Wild Web.
Both my parents, at some point called me and said, "My web is broken"... that always cracked me up because (one) it's not really "their" web and (two) it's most unlikely that it's broken.
It also made me remember that when our famliy started depending on the Internet -- we paid by the minute. Yep, for all you kids out there: It's true. When it all began, you had to pay by the minute, just like long distance. Aaaahhh, I'm getting all misty just thinking about our humble beginnings here...
But, most recently I've had cause to consider the "Vibe Content" of any and every thing I put out here. For that matter, I've had cause to pause regarding EVERYthing that ANYbody puts out there.... You know, the Easterners among us (I don't mean Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard. Ferrreal, I'm thinking about the Chinese... Japanese... Zens and Taoists) belive that everything you think or say releases that "vibe" (energy, Qi...) into the universe
At this point, I can't help but believe that is true. Life is so very delicate and short.
And, then I find myself thinking about all the bonafide trash that's passed through my fingertips. The zillions of surveys that are so.... they just demonstrate a complete disregard for critical thinking... Stuff like "What do you think Brittany Should Do With Her Kids That She Refuses to Pay Any Attention To?" kinda surveys...
Things that just so don't matter.
So, Now it's a Wednesday night in Denver and I'm all wrapped up in thinking about Things That Mke Me Smile...
So, tell me... tell me do...
What makes you smile.
Ten whole things.
Here's mine:
1. The sound of kids laughing. Primarily mine, but a really close second would be any of my relatives kids. God it makes me happy to hear kids laugh.
2. The "Hello" from someone I love on the other end of a phone.
3. Songs that make me dance in the kitchen. There's just really nothing like Kitchen Dancing.
4. The sound of bacon sizzling on a stove top.... preferably mine. Yea, I know it will probably kill me, but... damn.... it's bacon.
5. Watching snow fall. Any where, any time. It makes everything so quiet and clean and ... quiet.
6. The smell of Chlorine.... A good, well-maintained pool...jumping a fence when you're all hot and sweaty... not getting caught.
7. A dumpster full of brand new Levis and Doc Marten shoes ... at the end of a semester... in a town where little rich kids are supported by their parents and they haven't learned the value of a dollar yet.
8. Any documentary that illustrates the ultimate battle between the "haves" and the "have nots" in any way.
9. Love letters.
10. The smell of Moon Flowers, Lilacs, compost, Lavendar and patchouli.

(and, an addendum to my Top TEN list: The smell of hippies at a bluegrass festival....Mmmm mmmmm mmm)

Ok. So tell me. I'm serious.
What's your Top Ten?

Most Relevant Cliches For Today

With great privilege comes great responsibility.
and
What you allow you teach.
yeaaaaa... there's that.
Relative only in that the longer I live the more secure I become in my belief that people with the most privilege have the least common sense and respect. Respect for others, respect for crazy expensive stuff... It just never ceases to blow me away.
And, I've seen this world where people allow other people to treat them with the greatest abuse or lack of kindness and empathy... and subsequently are creating these humans that are taught that these things are of no value. So, go ahead and allow whatever you're too tired or lazy or scared to change and guarantee that it will live on forever.

Privledge and Poverty

John Scalzi's post on "Being Poor" has initiated a whole world of thought in my already short-circuited melon. There is another post making the rounds right now about privilege. It was developed by a group of students at the University of Indiana and asks a series of questions regarding what you do and/or don't have, how you're treated, your exposure to critical thinking and a number of other questions designed to illustrate privilege or lack there-of.
I can't help but think this consideration is so relative on a number of different levels, and so revealing on a bunch more.
Relative in that some people today are quite literally raised by televisions and video games and have TVs in every room, but they've never been taken to a doctor or dentist. Relative in that so many have so much but couldn't squeeze a hug out if they had to.
Relative in that we're nurturing a whole new generation of our future leaders to believe that there really is no value in saying, "God bless you" or giving of themselves in the form of community service.... Relative in that, our parents' generation took it for granted that we had family and we stayed connected with said family and helped love, nurture and look-after them when and if the need arose. It shames me to know that our children don't have any of that nature left in them. So, yea - it's all relative.
And, at exactly the same time: This is all so revealing. The things that we as a culture have placed importance on are really of so little consequence. This revelation does make me wonder what will become of us as we evolve even further...

10 Things I Know About Me

My daughter, Chelsea, tagged me with this blog-i-ness... the object is to post 10 things about yourself and forward this on to, ooooohhh I dunno, like, 5 friends and have them post 10 things about themselves... and send it back to the person who sent to you as well. Since I simply don't know even 5 people who maintain a blog, I'm just doing this to be doing this and get more familiar with the whole blogging process.

1. I have a half-sister in Japan that I just found out about.
2. I've gotten to experience the thrill of a 10 minute Standing Ovation.
3. I hate to go shopping and really prefer the fashions that went out of style years ago.
4. I can be a collassal pain and way too dramatic.
5. I love traveling on a train more than any other mode of travel ever.
6 When our family beagle died some years ago it broke my heart in two and I'll never have another dog for just that reason.
7. I measure my self-worth by the successes and failures of my children...
8. I used to surround myself with more stuff than you could fill an antique store with - now I've apparently gone all minimal... and I really like white... white everything.
9. Even though I know it's bad for me, I really feel good when I've laid out in the sun.
10. The only recurring bad dream I have is one where my teeth keep falling out at bad times.

Go fiugre.
tag. You're it.