Stray Musings

It's Father's Day. Means nothing to me. Well, that's not entirely true. I do consider it to be a holiday created by the greeting card industry, and as such worthless. But the recognition is nice.

I see where the Washington Post says that people who went to the Holocaust Museum in the days after the shooting, standing in open, unguarded places, had chosen not to be victims of terror. That sounds nice, but I think it's hyperbole. I think it's possible to choose not to be a victim, but it takes significantly more effort than that. In the case of the visitors, I suspect they simply thought 'well, we made plans, lets go, but just be a little wary'. And possibly, not even that. We don't tend to dwell on things in this country, which is why we're usually mystified by countries that like to bring up events and such that occurred five hundred years ago, and more.

I am getting a little tired of this beard. I thought to grow it long to see how it worked when I play Santa, but it's a pain. Unless it's an outstanding success -- and maybe even if it is -- I'm going to cut it off at the end of the year. Though it is fun to do the classic 'stroking the beard' gesture. I find myself doing that every so often.

Still reading Terror Presidency. I'm startled by how much of the Bush Administration's actions make sense if you make basic assumptions about their precepts and motivations. It's almost hard to think about, though. Much easier to think in black and white. Us good, them bad.

We've been off and on thinking about spending money, anything from inexpensive -- getting more silverware; somehow, we're always out of table spoons, and frequently out of knives -- to moderately expensive -- replacing the couch downstairs with two chairs, or a chair and a love seat; getting curtains; maybe a new carpet, maybe a new television (though, last night, I was again bemused by how nothing was on; the best thing was on Disney!) -- to the very expensive -- putting a new room on the house, then furnishing that, then putting in an elevator. With the exception of the silverware, I'm reluctant. I want to see our savings grow in strength before we kick 'em in the slats again.

I'm a little nervous about some of the things Obama's doing. I still like him a lot, but -- a little nervous. He's taking some big gambles. Some things, it feels like he's proposing something that's good, but not necessarily something we need, right now. Yes, we desperately need to Fix The Healthcare System; it's killing us as it is, in many ways, and its a system where everyone wants something different, so anyone can say STOP but no one can say GO. Yes, we need to Fix The Financial System, though I suspect as long as there are (excuse me) fucking insane greed-heads on Wall Street, that'll be a cesspool; still, that doesn't mean Don't Even Try. I surely would like to see -- not quick payback, nice as that would be, but some concrete plans. Some of what he's saying sounds more like you gotta believe! than planning. Okay, that's what politicians usually do, but still..... In a way, it's like last September, when I was groaning that he ought to be out there Kicking Ass and Taking Names. He didn't, and it worked. He treated us like reasonable adults, and it worked. Can it work again? Oh, god, I hope so.