Lolly Spot

Pottery for Christmas

2010-11-29T11:07:00.000-08:00

Yes, I haven't written in a while. Blame it on football, or blame it on pottery. Either way, I've decided to post some pottery pictures, just in time for Christmas. If you see something you like, let me know.

The prices are suggested. If you like something and think the price is too high, make me an offer. While I like being able to pay for my pottery habit through a few sales, I'm really just happy that the pots are going to a happy home where they are loved.

4 1/2" high mug - $10

4" mug - $10

French butter dish (1st view) - $20

French butter dish (2nd view)

8" bowl - $20

4" rice bowl - $15

10" bowl (4" deep) - $35

9" bowl (2" deep) - $30

Vases ( 4" & 6" high) - $30 (both)

6" tray - $15

More to come.

Mad for "Mad Men"

2010-10-06T16:50:00.000-07:00

If you're one of those people who think "Mad Men" is boring, you will find this post boring too. I adore "Mad Men." I started watching it during it's first season and was immediately hooked. I just happened upon the second episode accidentally, and wondered, "What's this?" It took me a little while to figure out its regular broadcast day and time, so I missed a few episodes that first season. But with a little help from Netflix, I managed to see every episode in one long marathon session. (My younger sister later gave me the complete first season as a lovely boxed set for my birthday. I can't say she's my favorite sister, but that certainly didn't hurt her standing. Thanks, Amy!)

"Mad Men" is now in its fourth season, and we've almost reached the final episode. Quel dommage! The fifth season won't come around until next summer, so I'll have to get by re-watching the first three seasons. Yes, I have all of the available DVDs now, and if I play my cards right, some loving friend or family member will give me the fourth season as a birthday gift or Christmas present. (Is a blog post too big of a hint?)

As good as the previous seasons have been, I think this year is the best. That's a pretty high bar, since the first three seasons have won three back-to-back Emmys for best TV drama. But several episodes this year have just made my jaw drop - not from shock or sheer audacity, but purely due to fantastic writing and acting. I have to single out the seventh episode this year, "The Suitcase," in particular. Jon Hamm as Don Draper is a great actor, and as a heterosexual woman, he's also very easy on the eyes. But he was truly amazing in that episode, as was Elisabeth Moss, his co-star who plays Peggy Olson. The raw emotion was heartbreaking. To top it all off, most of the episode took place in Don Draper's office, with just the interplay between Hamm and Moss. There were no car chases, bomb explosions or gun fights, but this episode was anything but boring.

If you love great characters and incredible writing, you owe it to yourself to watch this show from beginning to end. Just make sure you rent it from Netflix, because I'm not loaning you my DVDs. Well, maybe not.

Time Travel and Other Scary Stuff

2010-09-30T18:57:00.001-07:00

I've been a fan of science fiction and fantasy since I was a kid, largely because my older brother was such a huge fan of the genre (or genres, depending on how much of a sci-fi purist you are). Time travel was always a favorite theme and I loved getting lost in plots that involved a paradox, or two or three. Now that I'm a little older and time passes much more quickly than it did when I was 15, I am dealing with a different kind of time travel: the time travel that involves disappearing time.

Today is a very good case in point, or as Rod Serling would say, "Submitted for your approval." I usually have a To Do list for most of my day's work, a list I rarely complete. This morning, I had a couple of conference calls and a meeting; this afternoon was pretty open. So I figured I would get through several items on my ever-growing list and maybe make it shrink for a change. Hah! I did complete several projects, but somehow during the day, I managed to lose three hours of time. I felt like I was getting a lot accomplished, but I looked at the clock on my computer at about mid-afternoon (or so I thought) and it was actually 4:57.

It may sound like it isn't much of a big deal. We've all had those really busy days when you are running from one thing to the next and barely have time to eat a bite for lunch. But this was scary. My time gauge went completely out of whack.

See, I spent so much of the first part of my working career being acutely aware of time. Television news producers live and die by time. You are always aware of impending deadlines - the next next big story, the next newscast, whatever. You're always balancing chunks of time to fit your 30 or 60-minute news "hole." Here's a minute and a half for a story on a kidnapping, here's 30 seconds for a car chase (more if there's good video!), here's two minutes for the weather report and 20 seconds for the heartwarming tale of a duck being rescued from a storm drain. You always know how much time has passed and how much time is left. It's an occupational hazard that didn't go away when I left television news.

Until today. Blame it on too much to do in too little time or getting wrapped up in my work. I guess my biggest fear is that it really is a sign of old age. Ouch! That means it can only get worse from here on out.

I Love Technology

2010-09-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

I've been working in the information technology industry for nearly a dozen years and I love almost every aspect of it, especially the toys. I'm not one of those people who can't live without technology, in fact, I relish the feeling of unwinding and unplugging on the weekends or on vacation. But when it comes to getting my job done, or even staying connected with friends and family, I just adore the tech toys.

So today, my bosses gave everyone at work the latest (and for many, the greatest) tech toy: a 62GB iPad. I've only had a chance to play with it for a few hours and I already love it. Not only can I read and write e-mail, browse the Internet and play games, I can watch movies from my Netflix account, read e-books (not that I will EVER give up my "real" books) and even write blog entries. Yup, I'm writing this on my new toy.

The on-screen type pad is a bit frustrating -- just like the one on the iPhone, so I've ordered a bluetooth keypad to go along with it. I am sure I'll find other issues with it. But right now, I like it so much, I think I may leave my laptop at home when I travel from now on, unless it's absolutely necessary. Have I mentioned how I love this new toy?

If you have one and would like to share tips and tricks, I'd love to hear them. I'll keep you posted on whether I still love my new toy in a few weeks or months. Right now, it's like Christmas morning -- for the big kids.

Voting Rights

2010-08-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

On this day 90 years ago, women won the right to vote in the U.S., when the 19th amendment became the law of the land. Since I know a lot of uppity women, it's hard for me to believe that our female ancestors put up with the nonsense as long as they did, but obviously they were much more patient than I am. It's also easy for me to wonder about their attitudes since I'm sitting pretty on this side of history.

I'm not the only one. Many, many women take the right to vote for granted. It may be lack of interest, but I hope you know the history of women's suffrage in this country.

Drawing depicts a hunger strike; from The Suffragette, 1909

Not only did it take eons before women won the legal right to vote in every state, many women were arrested when they marched, demonstrated or staged non-violent protests in favor of a woman's right to vote. While in jail, some women resorted to hunger strikes to protest their arrests, only to find they were often force-fed, a fairly horrific practice in the early 20th century. There weren't I-Vs then, so the practice involved running tubes up a woman's nose and pumping food into her stomach. Some women died as a result.

Given what these women endured just to earn the right to vote, we should pay them the respect of exercising that right. Do you know a woman who isn't registered to vote? You can do it online now. It's quick and it's easy, so you don't have an excuse. The second step is to study up on the candidates. Before most elections, local newspapers will print election guides telling you where candidates stand on a variety of issues. Finally, find out when election day is and VOTE! It doesn't take very long most of the time, and nowadays you may be able to vote early and avoid lines or send in a mail-in ballot and avoid lines altogether.

Happy Equality Day!

Funniest. Show. Ever?

2010-08-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

The Parent Company Trap

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

I'm a huge fan of the Daily Show and already think our democracy may rest solely on the genius and talent that is Jon Stewart. Now comes this opening bit from Monday's show that is one part humor, one part analysis and one part sheer insanity.

If you ever encounter anyone who tries to argue any redeeming value in the idiocy that is Fox*, please point them to this. I especially like the logic in the idea that they must be evil or stupid at Fox. If you can honestly argue for a third alternative, I would welcome hearing it. Sincerely.

*I cannot in good conscience refer to Fox as "news" since I was an actual journalist for 10 years. What they do can only be classified as "entertainment programming." (Not that I find anything they do entertaining.)

Eye on the Ball

2010-08-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

For someone who loves to discuss politics, these days I'm finding I'd much rather talk about football. Not that there's anything wrong with that! After all, the Utah Utes are going to have a fantastic season.

But instead of talking about the work that still needs to be done to drag our country out of a recession, or what we need to do to work toward renewable, sustainable energy sources to keep our laptops powered or the number of wars that are being fought around the world and all the people who are being displaced by them, we are talking about the culture wars.... again! The freaks have co-opted that national microphone and have found something else to use as a bludgeon to try and stop inevitable change.

So I'd rather talk about football or pottery or even my niece's first birthday, which is coming up in two weeks. (She's very cute, by the way. Here's some evidence, if you really need it.)

It's really easy to understand why people don't want to talk about politics when everyone on t.v. seems to be shouting, angry or simply deranged. It would be nice to bring civility back to civil discourse.

In the meantime, I think I'm going to focus my energy on helping other people instead of fretting about the decline of the western world. Our church is planning a big service day on Sunday, September 26th. Instead of "going" to church, we will "be" the church by helping other people that day: serving food at the soup kitchen, doing yard work, making sandwiches, collecting food. It's a program called "Faith in Action." Maybe it will help me focus on what I can do to make the world a better place.

A Case of Religious Freedom

2010-08-13T20:36:00.001-07:00

Not that it makes any difference to my opinion, but the president spoke out about the Ground Zero mosque for the first time tonight. His remarks were in a speech at the annual White House Iftar dinner, honoring the beginning of Ramadan, the time of fasting for Muslims.

But let me be clear: as a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are. The writ of our Founders must endure.

For the people who think President Obama is Islamic, I'm sure this will just be additional "evidence" for their mistaken beliefs, along with the crazy idea that he was born in Kenya, is some sort of Manchurian Candidate, and is the second coming of Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler rolled into one. But then, they never let facts get in the way of their beliefs anyway.

Incidentally, President Bush began the tradition of holding Iftar dinners at the White House during his presidency.

Ground Zero

2010-08-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

The Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.
From the preamble to the Bill of Rights

I think it's interesting that the first members of the U.S.

Congress took the time to explain why they were putting together the first amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

They probably thought people would wonder why they were adding to a document they'd ratified less than two years prior. This part is especially telling: "...in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers...." Wish our current members of congress had equally strong feelings.

There is a lot of talk these days about making changes to the U.S. Constitution again. In some cases, members of congress are advocating repeal of certain amendments, or parts of certain amendments. Most people who think these ideas through to their logical conclusions will see the unintended consequences of such action.

But especially troubling to me is how many Americans are forgetting what is in the Bill of Rights, in particular, the first amendment.

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The first amendment has been interpreted quite broadly over the past 220+ years. The government tries to stay out of religion and pretty much allows you to say what you'd like to say. We have a lot of freedom to express ourselves in this country, with notable exceptions (pornography, shouting "fire" in a crowded theater).

But lately I've been disturbed the the number of people who feel that it's quite okay to prohibit "the free exercise thereof" when the religion being practiced is Islam. As a Christian woman, I have some very strong opinions about the way women are treated in that religion, particularly as expressed by members of the Taliban. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I have theological differences in their understanding of the nature of God. But as an American, I recognize the rights of American Muslims to practice their religion as they see fit, as long as it does not harm others or break the laws of the United States.

A recent poll shows that 68% of Americans are opposed to the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque." I imagine a lot of this sentiment has to do with concerns about the building being in such close proximity to the World Trade Center site. Anyone who has been to New York knows that the area is filled with churches, synagogues and even a mosque already. (There's a current mosque four blocks from Ground Zero that pre-dates the World Trade Center.) What is the harm in one more?

If the concern is because the 9/11 terrorists and the 9/11 planners were/are Islamic, why are we blaming the entire religion for the acts of a few? (There are more than a billion Muslims in the world.) No one blames Christians as a whole for the acts of Timothy McVeigh or abortion clinic bombers, even though their actions were motivated by their Christian faith. What is the difference?

This country has long been identified as a "Christian" nation since the majority of Americans identify themselves as Christian, so perhaps Americans feel that freedom of religion only applies to other Christians. I'm forced to reach this conclusion since Americans are trying to stop Muslims from building new mosques all over the country, not just at Ground Zero. I'm hard-pressed to understand how any American can justify their opposition to any place of worship, but they do.

Sadly, this is becoming a political issue that is driving a wedge ever deeper into the partisan divide. On one thing we should still be united, regardless of party, gender, race or religion: the Constitution of the United States of America. Perhaps it's time to re-read it.

Getting It Wrong

2010-08-11T12:35:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks I've been reading Being Wrong by Kathryn Schulz. She examines why we take such pleasure in being right and hate when we're wrong. She makes the case that we really shouldn't be so bothered when we make a mistake. As someone who loves being right, I highly recommend Being Wrong. It's helping me examine my own character.

Our world is filled with examples of people who screwed up in a big way. Americans, in particular, love to create heroes only to topple them when they blow it. We expect perfection in others without demanding it in ourselves. As Schulz argues, we toss off our own foibles as "being human," while we demand a higher code of conduct from others. In our 24 x 7 internet/cable TV culture, we're more than ready to pounce on the latest misdeed and dismiss any apology from the guilty party as window dressing.

This amuses me since apologizing to one person is hard enough. I can't imagine the humiliation in apologizing to the whole world for a slip of the tongue, an ill-chosen word, an inopportune moment. Maybe a little empathy is in order.

Getting a little older and slightly more mellow also helps you realize the folly in insisting on your own rightness, especially when it doesn't matter. (Let's face it 99% of the time, it doesn't matter.) The problem is that all too often when we absolutely insist that we're right, we are in fact wrong. If you've made a complete jerk of yourself while insisting that you're right, it's very hard when you're forced to admit your mistake. There's a lot less pain in the end if you're cordial when you disagree with someone. If you are right and the other person admits it, you can be the equally gracious recipient of their apology. But ultimately it's in being wrong where the congenial behavior wins out. Because taking a bite of humble pie is so much easier when you've laced the filling with sweetness rather than bitterness.

Live Theater, take 2

2010-08-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

(NOTE: If you haven't read yesterday's post, Why I Love Live Theater, please read it first.)

This last week, I had the chance to see Brian Vaughn and David Ivers in another play, The 39 Steps. The play has some similarities in approach in that several of the actors have to play many roles. At the beginning of the play, one of the actors – in this instance, it was again Ivers – is an M.C. addressing the audience as if we are the audience in a vaudeville-type show featuring an act called “Mr. Memory.”

Mr. Memory has committed thousands and thousands of facts to his brain. Part of the performance calls for Ivers, as the M.C., to invite men and women to call out questions for Mr. Memory. During the matinee performance that I watched July 30^th, one of the real audience members became so involved she thought the M.C. was waiting for us to shout out questions. So as Ivers paused briefly, she yelled out, “What’s my name?” Without missing a beat, Ivers said, “There’s a script.” As we all laughed, he smiled, then said, “But if you’re having trouble they can help you in the lobby.” More laughter – and then the action continued. You never know what will happen during a live performance.

The next day, Ivers and Vaughn were the speakers at an actors’ seminar – one of the many opportunities unique to the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Over its 49-year history, the Festival has fostered an air of familiarity such that actors, directors and others associated with the Festival mingle with patrons quite regularly and Festival patrons feel comfortable walking up and offering the obligatory fawning accolade. It isn’t unusual to run into the actor playing Hotspur in Henry IV, Part I on his way to the theater to get ready to play Lancelot in Camelot. The actors are generally gracious and appear to appreciate the comments from the common folk. Many actors also sneak in to the literary seminars (which happen the morning following the play performances) and listen to the attendees’ reactions to the performance. At the back, dressed in street clothes (and sometimes a baseball cap and/or sunglasses) they can sometimes eavesdrop incognito. This allows them to gauge the “true” reaction of audiences, unfettered by the layer of politeness we reserve in the presence of performers. Twice a week, USF invites a couple of the company’s actors to take to the podium to tell the seminar attendees their life stories and give insight into their craft and on July 31^st, we were treated to the Ivers and Vaughn show.

One of the attendees brought up the incident during their performance the day before and Ivers shared that in the month and a half since they’d begun preview performances of The 39 Steps no one had shouted out a question. His instantaneous reaction to the previous day’s interruption was all the more impressive given this information.

Besides a few behind-the-scenes stories and sharing some information about the vagabond life they’ve led in their professional careers, they also talked about the changes they are facing as they settle into their new roles as co-artistic directors of the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Most seminar attendees were happy to hear the news, but in the next moment were concerned this might force them to cut back on the number of productions in which they can perform. Vaughn, in particular, holds a special place in the hearts of many who are regular USF attendees because they feel as if they’ve watched him grow up over the years. Vaughn attended Southern Utah University, where the Festival is located, and began work as a professional actor in the Festival’s Greenshow in the early 1990s, before becoming an actor on the main stage. Because of the family atmosphere fostered at USF, many patrons view Vaughn as a son, grandson or brother, and pounce on news of his successes. For the past dozen years he’s been a resident actor with Milwaukee Repertory Theater, but is moving to Cedar City with his family to take on his new role. He and Ivers have remained close friends as their work has taken both around the country. They’ve shared the stage at USF many times in the past 15 years, culminating with Ivers directing Vaughn in a tour de force performance of Cyrano de Bergerac in 2008.

Of the two, Ivers appears to be more outgoing. He is extremely quick-witted and playful. Vaughn seems slightly more reserved, but equally charming. The two were gracious to seminar attendees who asked questions about their past, their future plans and their mutual craft. They promised to continue to take on new roles as often as their new jobs would allow.

Picture: David Ivers, Brian Vaughn and Aaron Galligan-Stierle (L-R) in The 39 Steps at the Utah Shakespearean Festival

Why I Love Live Theater

2010-08-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

From time to time I’ll meet someone who has never seen a play performed in a theater – not little church productions, community theater or a regional theater production, let alone a Broadway play. This is something I cannot understand. I cut my teeth on Shakespeare at five years old, when I saw my first production of Romeo and Juliet. Sure, it started long after my 7:00 bedtime, and yes, I did fall asleep through a good portion of it, but I do remember watching my father play Capulet, Juliet’s father, in full Shakespearean garb. Not long after, he played Claudius (Hamlet’s uncle) in Hamlet. It is a little disconcerting to see your own father play the bad guy when you are still at an age when he can do absolutely nothing wrong. (Fortunately I was old enough to understand that this was all pretend.)

By then, I’d been bitten by the world of the theater – this magical land where you can be transported to a new time and a new place through the help of great acting, great staging and a little bit of imagination. You walk into a theater with all of your baggage: the cares of the world, the worries of the day. But you walk out (it is hoped) having seen a work of art that has changed your perception of the world and the people in it. That’s what all artists and performers wish to do, either on a small scale or a large one. Or, as Shakespeare wrote:

...To hold as 'twere the
mirror up to nature: to show virtue her feature, scorn her own
image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure.
(Hamlet; Act 3, Scene 2)

But that’s only one aspect of it, the idea of theater as art. Because you can go to a good movie or read a good book and achieve the same effect. Live theater also brings things the other two cannot – the element of the unexpected, the freshness of the shared experience and the newness of each performance. You can rehearse dozens of times, plan for many possible outcomes, but you can never anticipate every aspect of a live performance. The main reason for this is that one thing is changing at every performance – the audience. No two audiences are alike. Each group of people will react differently, laugh in slightly new ways at unexpected places in the script, and bring their own set of problems into the theater.

My favorite example of this is the time I saw Stones in His Pockets at the Utah Shakespearean Festival in the summer of 2005, starring David Ivers and Brian Vaughn and directed by the great J.R. Sullivan. The two actors play all of the roles – several dozen each, both male and female. There are minimal costume changes, few props and almost no set decorations. The play derives its energy and pace entirely on the skills of the two actors and their ability to suck you into the plot, time and location. Even in the hands of skilled and talented actors such as Ivers and Vaughn, this is not an easy thing to do.

Mid-way into this particular performance, a woman at the front of the theater had an asthma attack and began to wheeze loudly, falling to the floor at the front of the stage and interrupting the performance. The actors stopped and everyone else was silent for a few moments as we were pulled away from the play’s action. Was this part of the play? Obviously not as the actors had stopped and were staring at the woman, slightly dumbstruck. Ivers, who noticeably had dropped character in seconds, observed what was happening and then took charge. “Can we get the house lights please?” The house lights came up almost immediately. Then, “Is there a doctor in the house?” He said the words to elicit help for the woman, but also to cut the tension somewhat. Nervous laughter tittered through the packed house as a couple of people sprinted to the front to help the woman. Several moments later, Ivers turned to his co-star Vaughn, and asked him to get some water for the woman, which he did. The audience members, as if by some silent decree or mutual understanding, stayed very quiet, remained in their seats, and waited for the woman’s medical crisis to resolve. Several minutes later, the attack was over and the woman returned to her seat.

During the ensuing minutes, Ivers and Vaughn walked off stage, then returned and engaged in muffled conversation. It was obvious they didn’t know what to do. How do you restart the action in the middle of a play where there are no scene breaks? Where the action flows imperceptibly from one vignette to the next as the actors inhabit many different personae? They were already many minutes into the second half and it would be odd to begin the second act all over again. Finally, Ivers spoke to the audience again. “We’re trying to figure out where to start,” he said to more laughter.

Then the stage manager broke in – the voice of God over the loudspeaker. “Let’s begin with so-and-so’s entrance.” The two actors nodded. I thought: “So-and-so’s entrance? No one enters the stage in this play – how are they going to do that?” In seconds the house lights came down again and the only focus was on the two actors on stage who were momentarily pausing and returning to the action. Then the figurative curtain lifted and they were again in character, picking up the action with the “entrance” of one character into the action already happening on stage.

It was a bit surreal, but an amazing glimpse into the actors’ process and a way to see them as real people, not just characters on a stage. It gave me a new level of appreciation for two actors who already had my respect for their immense talent. More on this tomorrow.

Picture: Brian Vaughn and David Ivers (L-R) in Stones in His Pockets, Utah Shakespearean Festival, 2005

Books Are Forever

2009-08-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

One of the first posts I made on this blog was about the Amazon Kindle -- the ebook reader that purports to let you carry an entire library in a hand-held computer. While I love my technology, the whole idea of the Kindle makes my eyes hurt.

Now comes news that shows my initial abhorence was spot on. Apparently Amazon didn't get its ducks in a row before it offered several George Orwell novels for download as ebooks. So instead of working out the situation with the copyright holders, what did Amazon do? It unilaterally deleted copies of the books from subscribers' Kindles. Now Amazon is facing a class action lawsuit.

One of the plaintiffs, Justin Gawronski, has a compelling story about his experience with Amazon's memory hole. Apparently, he was reading his copy of 1984 as a summer assignment for school, and had been using one of the Kindle's selling points—the ability to attach notes to specific parts of the e-book text—to prepare for his return to school. Since he was actively reading the work when Amazon pulled the plug, he actually got to watch the work vanish from his screen. He's left with a file of notes that are divorced from the text that they reference.

So even though Amazon claimed you would always have the books that you bought (even if something happens to your Kindle reader), that turns out to be false. The company can delete the books at will. The Orwell incident (ironic, isn't it?) isn't the only case where the company can take away your books when it wants. Earlier this year, it came out that Amazon can delete your Kindle account whenever it wants to. One Amazon customer found that out the hard way when he made one too many returns.

So what happens when your Kindle account is taken away? Your Kindle still works, and the books you already bought for it will work, but you can't download those books ever again (better have made a backup on your PC!), you can't receive your magazine, blog, or newspaper subscriptions on it anymore, you can't email documents to Amazon to have them converted and sent to your Kindle, and you can't buy any new books for the device. That $360 device only works so long as Amazon decides it will work.

All of this just proves my point even more: they'll never take away my books.

Easily Distracted

2009-07-31T17:57:00.000-07:00

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how easily distracted we become. “Everyone” is concerned about health care and 2/3 of all Americans want health care reform, including some sort of universal health care, but our congress takes months and months to act. We become frustrated by the slow, messy process of legislating the mess (which some have likened to making sausage) and get distracted but other things – often very silly things. So we end up with a watered down version of what we really want that never does anything; and the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and we’re all unhappy.

The biggest problem is that most of the time we cannot focus on more than one thing at once, and let’s face it, the problems have been pretty big over the past year. We tend to look for any excuse to escape, so we are distracted by really stupid stuff. The 24/7 nature of news nowadays only makes the problem worse. News organizations have to constantly “feed the beast” – fill air time or post new items to their Web sites.
Having worked in television, I can attest it isn’t some basic conspiracy. But we are like sheep, easily led astray – staring at the guy waving a sign that says “look over here.” Usually it has to do with celebrity gossip, sports, or – most likely – being much more concerned with our own problems than with the “big picture” problems. I’m not sure how to solve this, but here are three simple things that might help.

Get informed, diverse news and opinion. Having more ways to get our news is a very positive thing – I firmly believe that. Looking for information from multiple sources is also a good way to keep from simply confirming any bias you already have. It helps to get alternate perspectives and to question what you hear or read.
Accept that there is usually a legitimate, alternate viewpoint. Anyone who has ever been involved in a news story will tell you that the news entity got the story wrong. This is because bias and perspective play a huge part in how we understand anything. If news reporting were just about reporting “facts” we would never have any news.
Expect and demand accountability from news media. Write to news editors and journalists and ask them to focus on the things that really matter. Tell them what you think – but do it in a respectful, constructive manner – and make sure you sign your correspondence, including contact information. Nowadays, the majority of so-called feedback that news media get is anonymous, nasty in tone and completely discounted. Signing correspondence insures that you’ll be taken seriously and that you will be respectful to the recipient.

I guess it goes back to what my teachers always said about politics in general: if you don’t like what’s happening, get involved, get in the game, and stop standing by the sidelines.

Why Do Men Like to Tease?

2009-07-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

I used to think they pulled baby boys aside at birth and slid them a handbook on the flair and function of teasing their sisters with style. I had plenty of experience with teasing, practically from the time I was born. I have both an older and a younger brother and they practiced their skills on all four of their sisters.

My older brother elevated teasing to an art form – spending hours, even days, executing his particular brand of devilry. He’d speak to the middle of my forehead all day or call me any strange nickname he could think up or make fun of one physical attribute or another. In hindsight, pretty stupid stuff. But it’s enough to drive a seven- (or eight- or nine-) year-old to distraction.

My mother’s response was consistent: “Just ignore him!” I love my mother, but this advice was dreadful for obvious reasons. First is the essence of my brother’s nature. He is stubborn – even more stubborn than I am. Second, and more importantly, is the essence of my nature. I cannot hide my feelings. I am the world’s worst poker player. One high school English teacher said you could read my entire day on my face. Now imagine the combination of these two aspects in our respective personalities. If I had somehow managed to “ignore him” without for a moment imparting any emotion on my face – a feat that’s like climbing Everest for me – my brother’s response would be to try even harder to get a rise out of me. He would see it as an immense challenge worthy of conquering. Sadly, I never gave him such a challenge. Ignoring him is a practical impossibility.

My younger brother is also an expert tease, but he has his own unique style. Being a dozen years older, I avoided the brunt of his teasing, at least until he grew taller than me. When we could finally see eye-to-eye, he started pushing on the top of my head, to help me shrink enough so that I’d be shorter than him. Then he’d play word games, being deliberately obtuse and “misunderstanding” something I’d said to the point of ridiculousness. He still loves that game.

My brothers gave me a lot of practice dealing with the fine art of the tease. But I quickly learned the practice isn’t exclusive of sisters. Boys, in general, love to tease. They love getting a rise out of us and seeing us get all in a dither.

Most of the women I know don’t like this much. It’s irritating. It makes you uncomfortable. It brings out the worst in us. So why do it?

For my brothers, I can only guess that they couldn’t inflict any physical harm (no wrestling, no tackling, no hitting your sisters), so they resorted to a little mental torment. All siblings like to fight, and this is a good way to get your licks in without doing any physical damage.

But what about adult men? Is it a form of flirting? A way to get our attention? Going back to Mom, her response would be a resounding, “Yes. He’s only teasing you because he likes you!” That’s probably true, but aren’t there better ways of getting our attention?

Looking back, the tormenting from brothers probably prepared me for the strange teasing and games that happen in the adult world: in interpersonal relationships as well as the corporate world.

So why do men like to tease?

The only logical answer I can come up with is – because they find it so much fun.

Taking a Stand

2009-05-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got together with my parents for Mother's Day, like a dutiful daughter. Amazingly, the topic turned to... torture. Sounds strange on a day when you're supposed to be celebrating Mom, but in our family, discussions often turn to politics, religion and other taboo subjects.

I've been mulling over the whole torture issue for several weeks, since President Obama declassified the memos advancing the Bush administration's case to use torture on suspected terrorists in response to a FOIA request from the ACLU. The memos are a legal response, justifying all kinds of "harsh interrogation methods" to extract information from terror suspects. I hate even using that euphemism (which many in the media seem hell-bent on doing) because it almost seems to side with those who would use any means to justify their behavior, and I don't think there is any justification for this. It is torture. We treated other human beings this way.

The Bush administration used these memos to make the case that what they were doing wasn't torture. But if one of our soldiers had been water-boarded, slammed against a wall, deprived of sleep, food and clothing, then shut in a box with crawling insects, you'd better believe we would be screaming about the torture that soldier had to endure. (This is precisely what happened in many of the cases outlined in the memos.)

I thought our country was better than this. In the past, we always said that we were better based on the fact that we didn't treat people this way. We didn't treat Japanese POWs this way during World War II, even though many of our soldiers were tortured in Japan's POW camps. We prosecuted U.S. soldiers in Viet Nam following the My Lai massacre. We could always hold our heads high and say that we wouldn't do the things the enemy does. Anyone who stepped out of line was held to account.

Yesterday, the former vice president was on the Sunday morning talk shows - again - to defend what he and others in the Bush administration ordered following 9/11. Former Vice President Cheney still maintains what they did was not torture, although his defense mainly centers around the idea that their waterboarding of suspects did elicit information. Despite his protests, there is evidence that this is not true. Still, this is a canard. Whether or not it gave us good information, do we want to be a country - a people - of torture?

My discussion with the parental units was also interesting because we haven't really talked about this issue yet and still we'd come to the same conclusion: this is absolutely horrible, and why aren't more people upset about it? Independently, we'd all read a fantastic op-ed from Leonard Pitts of The Miami Herald on May 6th when it was printed in The Salt Lake Tribune. Pitts' concern is also that more people, and Christians in particular, are not taking a stand against torture.

As my parents and I discussed it, Dad (who happens to be a Biblical scholar with a PhD in religion) was especially saddened and said, "Why is it that we Christians throughout the ages seem to come down on the wrong side of things? The Crusades, the Inquisition, slavery, now this."

There's still time, though. We don't have to be forever known as a people of torture. As Americans, we can say that we won't condone this any longer. We can ask our political leaders for an independent investigation that will get to the bottom of this. As Christians, we can ask our religious leaders to stand up in opposition to this treatment of other human beings. We can ask them to speak out from a perspective of faith.

Finally, as a Christian, I can ask my ultimate question: "Who would Jesus torture?"

Life with Beagles

2009-03-02T18:30:00.000-08:00

When people have children, they force their unsuspecting (single) friends to watch countless hours of video of their obviously fabulous offspring and sit through endless scrapbooks highlighting their amazing antics. Since I have no children, I've never been able to reciprocate. My new digital camera changes this. I have managed to create a very short video of my roommate, Brontë.

A little background: Brontë is 10 years old and she is a beagle, which means she doesn't greet you with hugs and kisses when you come home, she greets you with a howl. Well, for hound dogs, it's called baying. Brontë is very, very good at baying. I think it's her way of leveling the playing field since she has no opposable thumbs. As her vet says, Brontë is very good at asserting her rights, whatever she deems them to be.

Note: Please forgive the quality - I'm still learning how to use the camera and the editing equipment.

Fun with Pottery

2009-02-27T19:03:00.000-08:00

Like most people with an artist's soul, I dream of one day owning a little shop somewhere - occasionally selling some of my work. But the practical side of me - the side that likes paying the bills and eating three times a day - has a bigger voice. If I ever become independently wealthy, I'll spend my days painting and making pottery. Until that happens, pottery is just a passion.

I have managed to sell quite a bit along the way. I also give away a ton of it to friends and family for Christmas and birthdays. It's to the point now that they really look forward to getting the pottery as gifts. I don't have to force it on them like a five-year-old proud of the mishapen lump the looks something like an ashtray. Nowadays, my bowls are round, the glaze is gorgeous and while pottery is never perfect, some of my stuff is truly art.

Hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think - especially if you have some

suggestions.

It's the End of the World as We Know It

2009-02-13T13:33:00.000-08:00

Forget partisan politics.
Forget the inability of politicians to put our country first or educate themselves on history.
Forget the doom and gloom spouted by religionists and economists.
Here's incontrovertible proof that the world is about to come to an end:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/02/12/in-ford’s-theater-obama-invokes-forbidden-word/

As every Shakespearean scholar and true theater buff knows, there are just some things you never, ever say. Invoking the name of the Scottish play – particularly in a theater – is absolutely verboten. Most of the actors, directors, crew members I’ve known or met won’t even speak that name outside a theater. But within the hallowed walls? Bite your tongue. It’s unthinkable. They can quote you numerous occasions where merely performing the Scottish play has brought disaster to a theater company.

Now the president has spoken that name in a theater, and a theater where another president was assassinated. Suffice it to say, nothing else matters. There’s no hope for us now. The world is coming to an end.

Literacy Helps

2009-02-05T11:47:00.000-08:00

Agree or disagree with him - you have to admit that it's nice to have a president who actually talks to the people he represents. Case in point, today's Washington Post Op-Ed:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/04/AR2009020403174.html

You may not like what he says or his ideals, but at least he's following through on one campaign promise: more transparency.

It's been a very difficult week for the new president. He's nominated several folks to key posts who have tax problems and some have "lobbyist" problems, too. With sky-high approval ratings, there was only one way to go.

So right out of the gate he's proven he isn't perfect, which everyone knew anyway. But even with these stumbles I'm still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for a while because he's already done two things:

Reinstated the rule of law and remembered that a key part of his job is "to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Talked to me like I'm intelligent.

Chess and Checkers

2009-01-27T15:50:00.001-08:00

I used to play chess with my older brother when I was a kid. I finally gave up because he was much, much better at thinking five or 10 moves ahead. I was pretty much limited to two or three moves ahead. In my own defense, I was young – 10 or 11 when he first taught me to play – and my brother is four years older than I. But I much preferred to play Checkers, a game that doesn’t require you to see very far ahead. My inability to look at the options on the Chess board ensured that I always lost; in many ways it meant I was never even in the game.

I’m getting that same sense as I watch President Obama play rope-a-dope with the Republicans in Congress. The current issue at hand is the stimulus bill the president wants Congress to approve in the next three weeks. Since they are in the minority in both houses of congress now, Republicans are left with one tool at their disposal to have any influence at all in the political process: the ability to filibuster and prevent a cloture vote in the Senate. As Democrats know from past experience, it’s a small tool at that.

The difference this year as in the previous eight, 12 or several dozen years is that President Obama says he wants bi-partisan support for the bill. He has asked for input from Republicans in order to get their support. They could suggest a few compromises and show that they want to work for the good of our country, to help restore our tattered and broken economy. But to do so would mean to tacitly accept that their ideology is failed. So instead, Republicans have come back to the president and told him the only way they would accept the stimulus package is if it is a Republican plan. In other words, no compromise – just do things our way.

At first this seemed completely strange to me. How could any politician think they could have influence in this circumstance against a president who is enjoying over-the-top approval ratings and after being completely routed in the last general election? It didn’t make any sense. Then I realized that the only upside for Republicans as a party is if the plan fails. If they backed a failed plan, then they cannot claim the high road; but if they stood in vehement opposition to a failed plan, well, they were the visionaries who saw the disaster that lay ahead. It’s in their best interest to cling to partisanship. It doesn’t matter that our country is going to hell in a hand basket economically, if they can find an upside politically, they’ll use it.

This is not to say the Republican Party is any worse than the Democratic Party when it comes to partisanship. I’m sure Democrats would be doing something similar if the shoe were on the other foot. I just had a hope that we could put it all away, at least for a week or two, in the best interest of our country. Sadly this isn’t the case.

Certainly President Obama is aware of this. He went to Capital Hill today and did something highly unusual for a new president: he met with the entire House Republican Caucus and asked them to come to the table. It was a pretty gutsy move and it remains to be seen whether any in the minority party will cross the aisle when it’s time for the final vote. Unfortunately they seem to be playing from the Karl Rove playbook and trying to win today’s news cycle instead of looking at the big picture.

Republicans might try to present a better plan ideologically. A few have said that we need more tax breaks for large corporations. Sure, it’s more of the same George W. Bush policies that embroiled us in our current mess, but at least that’s consistent. But to be honest, there’s no upside for Republicans to present an alternative either.

If I were a Republican congressman or senator, I’d look beyond today – or even next week or next month. I’d be careful to avoid any appearance of partisanship, if at all possible. Because when it’s all said and done, the American people won’t blame the president if there is a successful filibuster in the Senate and the stimulus bill doesn’t move forward. The people will blame the obstructionists. Right now, anything that stands in the way of getting our economy back on track is considered obstructionist.

President Obama is playing chess and Republicans are playing checkers.

Being a Nerd

2008-11-14T12:46:00.000-08:00

I remember the first time I was embarrassed about being smart. I was in Junior High (of course) and a close friend told me I sounded like I'd swallowed a dictionary. It probably wouldn't have stung, except that the comment came from a friend.

Most of my friends growing up were nerds, too, so I generally avoided the whole "hide what you know" trap. We created an enclave of intelligence in a world that places a premium on mediocrity - at least until you're old enough to forge your own way. Fortunately, I also had parents who were heavily involved in my academic (and extra-curricular) pursuits and did place a premium on superiority. Education was something to be treasured and it was expected that we would attend university and seek life-long learning.

Getting older and having a successful career - and life - is certainly the sweetest revenge. But every now and then it's nice to see a glimpse of your nerd child self reflected in mass media. This MasterCard commercial is probably one of the best I've ever seen. It makes me smile every time I see it.

I have to admit, it's the ubiquitous backpacks that clue me to the true nerdiness of these boys - not the "Robot Dace." Although, let's be honest: while not exclusively within the purview of the nerd, a love of science fiction or outdated dances from the 90s are certainly indicators that you may get slammed by a gang of thugs on the way home from school.

The Left-Handed Conspiracy

2008-11-10T14:50:00.000-08:00

Forget about Democrats and Republicans, the biggest political conspiracy involving the American Presidency over the last 30 years has nothing to do with party affiliation. It's the plot of the left-handed to wield power over the rest of us. Since Ronald Reagan took the oath of office in January 1981, we have only had one right-handed president: George W. Bush. Yes, Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton are (or were) left-handed. And now, we are poised to have yet another southpaw in the Oval Office: Barack Obama.

The years before Reagan were also left-leaning. Both Harry S. Truman and Gerald Ford were among the left-handed leaders who tried to steer this country in the Way of the Southpaw. In the 150 years or so before them, we only had two other left-handed presidents: James Garfield and Herbert Hoover. Seems a little odd, doesn't it?

Consider that most studies estimate that no more than 10% of the population is left-handed, and you can come to no other conclusion than a conspiracy is afoot. The Left-Handed are attempting to take over the nation and they've been remarkably effective in doing so. Indeed, Al Gore, a southpaw, only lost the presidency through the astute machinations of the Supreme Court. If it had not been for their foresightedness, we might have been saddled with another left-handed president who would have led us down the wrong path for the last eight years. Close call, that one.

I'm sure the left-handed will just say they are higher achieving - or even smarter - than the rest of us. But don't believe them. Now that they are back in power, we can be sure they will use whatever means necessary to stay there.

Barack as President

2008-11-07T16:28:00.000-08:00

The "Palin as President" Web site has been updated since Tuesday's election. If you're a fan of the President-elect or at least the Will*i*am song, you'll like the changes.
http://www.palinaspresident.us/

If you simply want to enjoy the bone-chilling terror that is the thought of a Palin Presidency, click on the link at the bottom to the "classic" version.

The Exclusive White Male Club Is Over

2008-11-05T14:43:00.000-08:00

If you're a white man, you probably don't think about it a whole lot, but the American presidency has always been an exclusive club to which only you could belong. Until now. From here on out, everything is different.

Now that Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States, barriers have been shattered. It won't be more than two hundred years to shatter the next barrier. In fact, I don't think it will be 20 years before we see a female president.

When you break down walls, it becomes so much easier to break them down the next time. It will be much easier to fight the next fight and change perceptions again about what it means to be the leader of this nation. Obama said it best in his acceptance speech last night. "If our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?" More change than we can imagine - and many I look forward to witnessing.

The Escape Plan

2008-10-30T15:48:00.001-07:00

Not that I think that I need one, but it's always nice to have options in case something truly unexpected happens next Tuesday.

Special note to the Shafer family: I guess this disproves that whole "Starving Canadians" rumor!

Why I Want a Blowout on November 4th

2008-10-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

Sure, a win is a win, but a blowout is so much more enjoyable in politics. The biggest reason probably has to do with all of those whack-jobs who seem to think that somehow McCain is going to pull off the biggest upset of all time and win this year. It’s sort of a mix between the belief that the Bradley effect will somehow fall into play and the assumption that all of the liberal media is in a conspiracy to overstate Obama’s lead in the polls.

The problem is that the Bradley effect has not been an issue at all during this long and arduous election season; plus the so-called liberal media loves a horse race – a close election – more than anything else. Notice how quickly they latched onto the idea that the race might be tightening to a 5-6% advantage for Obama versus a 7-8% advantage for Obama (based on poll averages). You never heard them touting the HUGE advantage Obama had, or the fact that a path to an Electoral College win has become almost impossible for McCain (cf: polls for Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico). They also chatter incessantly about how McCain is making a big push for Pennsylvania – when EVERY poll shows Obama’s lead in the high single digits or the low double digits. The idea that McCain will win Pennsylvania is ludicrous. I guess they need something to buck up the troops right now, though.

The reality is that Obama will be our next president. We need a blowout for the benefit of those who just can’t believe that America isn’t ready to elect a Black man. We need a blowout for the uberpartisan Republicans who thought they were ushering in a permanent majority for the GOP. We need a blowout for the pundits who insist that this country is center-right politically and that Obama must therefore govern from the center. We need a blowout in order to wallow in a little schadenfreude for a change.

Pokin' Fun at Palin

2008-10-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

Yeah, she just brings out the folksy in all of us, doesn't she? She also provokes other kinds of reactions, too. A friend sent this little gem. His cousin put it together. I wonder if it's really adorning someone's front yard? I'd like to believe that someone has enough cojones to do it - and that it didn't get stolen.

I've also had no fewer than half a dozen friends send me this link: http://www.palinaspresident.us/

It's an interactive site showing you what it might be like to have a President Palin. If those two words alone are enough to cause your heart to skip a beat, you'll want to check it out and have a little laugh. Hey, she proved she's a good sport when she went on SNL a week ago.

Politics and Passion

2008-10-17T23:46:00.000-07:00

Thank God Barack Obama has a cooler head than I do. He's demonstrated throughout this long march to the White House that he doesn't rise to the bait. He doesn't get upset or bothered when people attack him - even when the attacks get personal. I wish I were as even keeled. I have a hard time keeping my passion in check when someone questions ideas near and dear to my heart. Today my passion spilled over at work.

One of my colleagues started attacking the Democratic party - claiming they and they alone are responsible for the disastrous financial mess we are in, even though they've been the party in power at all levels of U.S. government for most of the past decade. Sure, there have been small areas of Democratic governance, but for the most part, the Republicans have controlled the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches. My colleague tried to imply that Bill Clinton was responsible for the problems in our financial markets. Bill Clinton? He hasn't been president for almost eight years.

I told him he needed to occasionally watch somthing other than Fox News. At least I was able to get him to admit that he didn't watch anything except Fox News. He also said he was scared of an Obama presidency and that Sarah Palin is qualified to be vice president because of her vast executive experience. At that point, I knew there was absolutely no point in arguing with him because he had no ability to debate logically. Of course, we can disagree on political issues and exactly the best way to run a country, but when you begin to vilify someone saying he "scares you," you've headed off the logic track and into crazy land.

I'm pretty good at keeping the attacks from getting personal, but I can't keep my temper in check when someone turns illogical. I walked away and refused to engage after that. My colleague apologized later in the day for being so vociferous in his arguments, and I told him: "No problem; I'm a big girl and I can handle a disagreement." I have to admit, I also made a crack about being able to stand up to him because his arguments looked a lot like the BYU defense against TCU last night. It brought snickers from the other male colleagues. Hey, I can score points and hold my own with the boys.

Maybe I let my passion get the best of me at times, maybe I can't always keep my cool and have to walk away before my head explodes. At least I know a little bit about self-preservation.

On Polite Discourse

2008-10-16T12:32:00.000-07:00

Last night's third and final debate didn't seem to be the game-changer McCain and the GOP were hoping for, even though it was probably his best performance and Obama's worst. Unfortunately for McCain, it solidified the "angry old man" image that he's aquired over the last few weeks. Sure, he was always an older American, but there's a big difference between being older and being old. My grandfather, God bless him, was a funny, warm older American until the day he died - just days away from his 97th birthday. He was never an old man. John McCain has become the stereotype of the pants-above-the-navel, nasty, screaming geezer waving at the young whippersnappers to "get the hell off my lawn." His kitchen sink approach to last night's debate just added to that impression.

No one really cares about Bill Ayers. Obama was eight years old when the Weather Underground was in its heyday. If we were all condemned for the people we served on boards with, people we sat in church with, people we have simply known throughout our lives there wouldn't be ANYONE qualified to be President of the United States.

No one cares about ACORN. They're trying to get people to register to vote. Sure, there will always be idiots who register as "Mickey Mouse" or "Jack Bauer" but do those idiots try and vote as "Mickey Mouse" or "Jack Bauer"? There is zero evidence that they do. I'd like to point out to all the folks who are coming unglued by the fake voter registrations: It isn't a crime to fill out a fake voter registration; it's only a crime if you vote under a fake name.

These arguments aren't working because people are far more worried about the economy. Barack Obama has proven to be the calm voice of reason during these turbulent times. Every time they say he's lightweight, try to associate him with terrorists, try to paint him as inexperienced - it all backfires because his own demeanor belies these attacks. He is thoughful, educated, intelligent and likeable; he seeks the counsel of many smart people from varied backgrounds; he listens. These are qualities that Americans are craving because they have been so sorely lacking in our executive branch over these last eight years.

Americans want a change - not just from ideology, but from temperament, too. Frat boy leadership failed; now it's time to try to let the geeks rule.

Why it took me so long to write about it...

2008-10-14T16:07:00.000-07:00

This year the presidential race became personal for me for the first time. I started out a little conservative in my younger days, but as I've grown older, I moved more to the center. Over the past eight years, I've driven decidedly to the left side of the political spectrum. A lot has to do with the way the Bush administration ran the constitution of the United States through a figurative paper shredder, the way they started a pre-emptive war on false pretenses, the way they pushed our standing in the world into the gutter, and finally, the way they ran our economy into the ground in order to line the pockets of their cronies. This is the worst kind of politics and should be condemned by all - left, right and center. There's no excuse for it and I can't abide with anyone who tries to defend this behavior by claiming it was necessary to protect our security. That idea is laughable on its face. We are less secure and far more vulnerable now than we were seven years ago in the wake of 9/11.

In 2000, I voted for Al Gore. I was sure he would win - and except for the Supreme Court crowning of King George - he did win. But no use rehashing that argument. What's done is done. I was disappointed, but I didn't think it was the end of the world. (What did I know?) I also voted for John Kerry in 2004. Again, I accepted the results, even though I was angrier and more disappointed than I had been four years earlier.

This time, it's personal. I started supporting Barack Obama last fall; yup, a year before the election. I had already decided to vote Democratic - the Republicans had blown any opportunity to put checks on our joke of a president - and looked at all of the different candidates vying for the Democratic nomination. I considered Hillary Clinton. I even thought she'd be a pretty good choice if my choice didn't earn the nomination. But I ultimately decided there were too many negatives about her. Plus, everything I read about Barack Obama just made me like him more. Usually I find that I like politicians less as I discover more about them. I put my money where my mouth was and started donating to his campaign.

I have to be honest, I didn't think he'd win the nomination (I thought Hillary Clinton would win), but I thought I'd send him some cash to help him make his case to the American people. As the Democratic primary wore on, I was more and more anxious. After Super Tuesday, I knew he could win, so it made the long primary months even more hair-raising. I got angrier and angrier with Hillary Clinton as the long primary process continued, but in the end, it was probably the best thing that ever happened to the electoral process: more vetting of the candidates, more democrats registered to vote and more attention paid to the issues and the race at large.

The longer it went on, the more entrenched I became in the process. I read lots of political blogs. I watched election coverage on TV. I donated time and money - and lots of mental energy - to getting Barack Obama elected. So I just have a very hard time being objective about this election. I love writing about politics and what's going on in the world, but I just couldn't take a step back until now. And probably the only reason I can do that now, is that our long national nightmare seems to be near its conclusion. Sure, it will take years to try and rebuild this country after the mess that the Bush administration has left in its wake. Hey, they could do even more damage since it's still 3 months until Inauguration day. But January 20th is circled on my calendar. (And not just because it's my sister's birthday - sorry, Elizabeth.) January 20th is LIBERATION DAY.

Cautiously Optimistic

2008-10-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

It's three weeks until election day and it's getting down to the wire. But I am optimistic - even a little bit confident - in the waning days of the 2008 presidential election. A month ago, I was nervous. I took a trip with my father and brother in late August/early September as the political conventions were happening. It was right in the middle of the Palin announcement, so we had lots of political conversations. (We are a family that views politics as just another spectator sport - albeit a more personally relevant spectator sport.) I shared my fretting about the race with my brother, who told me to RELAX. He was right and I was wrong. It's even more true now, and here's why Barack Obama will be our next president.

It’s getting down to the wire. People are formulating their opinions now – deciding who they will vote for. The number of people “undecided” is fewer and fewer every day and once people make up their minds, it’s generally harder to get them back into the “undecided” column. (Most studies show that people don’t go back and forth between candidates, they move from “undecided” to a candidate; so if they start questioning their choice, they go to “undecided” first, then to the other candidate.)
The negative attacks won’t work as well now as they did a month ago. When you go negative, you have to distance yourself from the time people vote. People don’t want to vote for someone who is engaged in mudslinging, so candidates have to sling the mud early, then talk about how great they are. Again, it’s part of the psychology of winning people over. The problem is, most people have made up their minds and they view it as mudslinging and lies now. It seems like the desperate act of a desperate man. And polls - especially over the last week - are bearing this out. Sure, some people will be swayed, but most people are completely disgusted by the distractions from the real issues.
A lot of “undecided” people will vote for the candidate leading in the polls because they want to be in the camp of the winner. Barack Obama isn’t just leading, he’s leading decisively. The lead is even more noticeable when you look at the race from an Electoral College standpoint. One of my favorite sites is http://www.fivethirtyeight.com – which breaks down all kinds of scenarios. Sure they have some bias in their analysis, but as of today, by their calculations Barack Obama has an 93% chance of winning. That’s pretty incredible. Their Electoral Vote counter puts him at 351 to McCain’s 187; 270 are needed to win. Of course, this is based on polling - but it's pretty damning. Which leads me to...
We haven’t seen polls like this (with a candidate 5-12 points ahead – with three weeks to go) since Ronald Reagan beat Walter Mondale in 1984. Reagon won handily.
The “Bradley Effect” or “Wilder Effect” isn’t statistically a factor any more. I hear the argument a lot about the Bradley Effect – and I know that’s what Republicans are clinging to in their belief that McCain can still win. But here’s a great paper showing why this has all but disappeared: http://people.iq.harvard.edu/~dhopkins/wilder13.pdf. It's a fascinating read.
“It’s the economy, stupid.” More than ever, people are worried about the economy. Even McCain knows this. People are not going to be distracted by the guilt-by- association nonsense when they’re paying at the pump, paying at the grocery store and watching their 401Ks disappear overnight. It’s all anyone is talking about. I have never seen so many people wanting to talk about politics, talk about the economy, talk about what’s going on in our country. People who normally want to talk about Brittany Spears want to talk about the economy. (While I love talking politics. I know that a lot of people don’t – they find it boring. The last few weeks, everywhere I go, people want to engage me on the subject. Usually I’m the one bringing it up and sometimes I’m greeted with groans or irritation. It’s very strange for me to have SO MANY people seeking me out to talk about it. I can only assume it’s because they want to discuss it and they know I will discuss it intelligently with them. I have never encountered this level of political enthusiasm before in my life.) As long as people believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, as long as they are talking about the economy, Barack Obama will win. People know in their hearts that McCain represents more of the same.

Early voting has already started in many states. This is why the GOP has tried to stop some early voting from happening. They know that whoever is ahead in the polls at the time that people vote will have an overwhelming advantage. Any BS they try to pull late in the process won’t have any effect on folks who already voted.

The biggest reason: Ground Game. My brother pointed this out to me last month when I was fretting about the Palin Effect, and I think it’s extremely significant. Barack Obama has devoted a significant portion of his substantial resources to Get Out The Vote efforts. GOTV is considered to be the only reason why Bush won his second term. Karl Rove spent a huge amount of time and resources finding ways to get GOP voters motivated to go to the polls in 2004 – state by state anti-gay marriage laws was the chief among those efforts. The GOP doesn’t have that this time around and they largely have an unmotivated base. Palin is the only thing that’s motivating them at all these days, which is why she was put on the ticket. But the hard-core right wingers can't stand McCain. Barack Obama, on the other hand, has motivated huge swaths of voters. These voters are also underrepresented in polls. (It’s a nice counter-argument to the Bradley Effect argument. Young people are far more likely to be Obama voters and they’re far more likely to be “cell phone only” people. Polls do not contact “cell phone only” people. They use auto-dialers to contact respondents and it’s illegal to use an auto-dialer to call a cell phone. Only one pollster - Seltzer - adjusts their numbers for “cell phone only” people, but they all adjust for everything else – age, gender, race, party affiliation. Seltzer was the only one to get the Iowa Caucus numbers correct – everyone else was wildly off. And guess who won the Iowa Caucuses? Barack Obama. As long as these young, “cell phone only” folks are motivated to vote, this will be a factor in the election.) Right now, a lot of Obama’s GOTV efforts have focused on getting new registered voters and encouraging young voters to get to the polls.

So even though I'm confident, even though polls put Barack Obama WAY ahead, even though the right wing is somewhat demoralized - now is the time to work even harder, to talk to more people, to make a donation if you can. Because the only poll that counts is the one on November 4th.

Mostly, I'm just excited for January 20, 2009, when the eight-year nightmare will finally come to an end.

Who is Daveigh Chase?

2008-03-03T12:37:00.000-08:00

I filled out one of those fun lookalike things to find out if there is a celebrity who could play me in the upcoming Lifetime network "story-of-my-brush-with ______" and this is what happened.

I guess it will have to star Bryce Dallas Howard -- who would, of course, have to dye her hair dark brown. Maybe I'll have to upgrade my story to an HBO special because I can't see Bryce Dallas Howard accepting a role in a Lifetime movie-of-the-week.

As for the others: Evangeline Lilly is just too pretty, Jenna Elfman has played too many ditsy characters to be believable as me (tee hee hee) and Judy Garland is, well, dead. I'm still trying to figure out who Daveigh Chase is, but she does look a lot like I did as a child (only I had darker hair). Kind of eery, if you ask me.

Surprise, Surprise

2008-02-29T17:08:00.000-08:00

I am a terrible human being. Well, I'm a terrible blogger anyway. I had no idea it had been nearly THREE months since I last blogged. They will have to take away my keyboard.

It's a funny thing. You head into the Christmas holidays and stop writing because of the time factor. But I have no such excuse anymore. I guess the biggest problem is that I got out of the habit and then was just busy, busy, busy.

One cool thing that happened in the last three months was turning 42. Yup, I am definitely fortysomething now. I will try not to freak out.

So here's the scoop on my birthday: I’m not often surprised.

My best friend hates going to movies with me because I generally figure things out long before the people on the big screen. I don’t think this is a testament to any genius on my part, merely to the often evident lack of creativity on the part of the Hollywood establishment that generates most of the films we see.

And I’ve never had a surprise party. Well, people have tried, but I realize what’s going on long before the party and have to present a fake “surprised” look so that I don’t disappoint the party organizers.

No longer. This year, I was well and truly surprised on my birthday.

I was expecting a pretty low-key day, since my birthday fell on a Sunday. I had phone calls from a couple of my siblings. My best friend stopped by and dropped off a great gift. But the evening was dedicated to our church’s annual Lessons & Carols Christmas service – so no big dinner celebration. Our choir practices for this service for several months and the music is exquisite. I thought this was a nice way to celebrate my day. The whole birthday bash thing ceases to be a big deal when you turn 21 – unless you’re a movie star.

As I arrived for our pre-concert warm-up, a few people in our choir muttered, “Happy Birthday.” One of my friends, Linda, gave me a birthday gift of a pretty pair of Christmas earrings, which was lovely.

The Christmas service was fantastic and everyone was pleased as we took off our choir robes and gathered our stuff to head to the post-concert reception. I walked into the fellowship hall and was immediately accosted by half a dozen people wanting to say hello. I started to extricate myself and head to the food table for a drink when one of my former choir students stopped me to give me a hug. I whispered, “Wish me a happy birthday!” and a look of excitement flashed across her face. I said, “Don’t tell anyone; it’s a secret!” But she started to run off to tell several of the other kids present. Before she’d run three steps, our choir director, Rusty, and my friend Linda, flanked me on either side as Rusty called out to the crowd: “We have something special we’re celebrating tonight.... it’s also Laura’s birthday.”

Linda pulled out a birthday cake with candles, handed me a card and about 200 people sang “Happy Birthday” in four-part harmony. It was pretty incredible. I couldn't possibly ask for a better birthday gift or a better surprise.

Snow Globes

2007-12-04T11:10:00.000-08:00

Check out this link for a funny take on snow globes:
http://www.funnyheck.com/christmas/snowglobe.html

My Mom is a huge fan of snow globes and has a ton of them around the house this time of year. Some are really fancy and play music and some are small and simple. But none are like that one.

I Will Give Up My Books When They Pry Them From My Cold Dead Hands...

2007-11-30T19:48:00.000-08:00

Last week, Amazon unveiled its new e-Book to a lot of hoopla. The Kindle is supposed to do to books what the iPod did to music. The biggest difference I see is that music has made a natural progression toward the digital world, books largely have not. Sure, we do a lot of reading online now, but not for escapism. You just can’t curl up with a warm computer screen. Well, you can, but it isn’t very enjoyable.

Call me a Luddite if you want, but I am no technological neophyte. I love my iPod. I love my laptop. I will love it when we all travel around in flying cars and jet packs in the not-to-distant future. But I will NEVER give up my books.

Why am I so down on e-Books? It’s not so much what they are, but what they aren’t. They aren’t books.

I love the smell of books, new and old. I love the way the pages feel when I turn them – especially the feeling of accomplishment I get when I turn the last page. I love getting lost in a good book – forgetting my surroundings and setting my imagination free.

I even enjoy the peripheral things associated with books. I love buying books at the bookstore or going to the library to borrow them. I love the way you can curl back the cover on a paperback. I love the way hardbacks look on the bookshelf.

You don’t need power to read a book – trust me, I’ve spent many blackouts reading books by flashlight; not to mention those nights when I was a kid and stayed up way past my bedtime reading under the covers. The Kindle has up to 30 hours of power on a single charge, but you don’t need to charge a book at all. And you don’t need a user guide to work one. Any two-year-old knows how to use a book.

If I really like a book, I enjoy picking it up again and re-reading it cover to cover, or just the best parts. And if I really love it, I will loan it out to a friend or family member. You can’t do that with e-Books. They’re proprietary, which means their licensing is more restrictive than iTunes. You can’t download a book and copy it onto a CD for future storage because you might want to pass it along to a friend. Even if you figured out a way to do it, under the licensing for the Kindle, that would be called piracy – stealing. That just rubs me the wrong way. If I buy a book, it’s my book. I should be allowed to do with it whatever I want. Even loan it to my friend.

Sure there are advantages to e-Books, namely that they don’t require paper. Plus, they are cheaper than a new hardback. There is also the advantage that you can store dozens and dozens of books in one unit at the same time. Imagine the benefit for college students who don’t have to lug around gigantic textbooks.

But that isn’t reading for pleasure. Until they figure out a way to replicate the sheer joy of reading a book, I’ll stick with paper.

Beethoven's Birthday

2007-11-27T20:50:00.000-08:00

Only 20 more shopping days until Beethoven's birthday.

You've been given fair warning!

I have a lot of suggestions for those who have left their Beethoven's birthday shopping until the last minute. Musical gifts are always appropriate, of course, as well as products to keep that coiffe looking its best. But it's a good idea to steer clear of clothing gifts as it's difficult to find cravats and long coats outside of a costume shop this time of year.

Seriously, though -- the man was pretty intense. Anything that helps with relaxation is a great idea.

Let me be the first to wish you a Happy Beethoven's Birthday. [HINT: It's December 16th!]

Get Your Adverbs Here

2007-11-26T11:04:00.000-08:00

You had to know that I would post this.

The funniest thing is, the improper use of adverbs is and was a real pet peeve of mine. I'm not sure if Schoolhouse Rock had anything to do with it.

But my younger siblings will attest that I drove them crazy when they were kids, correcting their grammar at every turn. Any time they used an adjective and left the "LY" off when an adverb was required, I would jump in like some insane English teacher and add it for them. For some reason, I think they've forgiven me.

Giving Thanks

2007-11-25T20:42:00.000-08:00

Hands down, this Thanksgiving was a whole lot better than last year’s. After all, no one had to call the cops or social services at any point during this year’s festivities. That has to be considered a bonus.

So, with that in mind, here are a few things for which I’m thankful this year.

Relative Reconnections: My brother-in-law is bringing my niece for a visit after Christmas. We haven’t seen her in a year; Mom had worried she might never see her granddaughter again. So this is a huge thing.

Extra Credit: I’ve spent the last four years digging out of the credit crunch caused by getting a pink slip. It’s nice to finally reach the point where banks want to give me the joy of being in debt again. I don’t think so. But it’s nice for them to try.

NetFlix and YouTube: The Hollywood writer’s strike is looking like it will last far too long, which means no new TV shows pretty quickly. Old movies and great strike videos on YouTube are the some of the few ways to get some much needed laughs in the weeks and months ahead without The Daily Show. [If you want to know why the writers are striking and why you should support them against the blood-sucking studio moguls, check out the great blog at http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/.]

Warm Puppy Doggies: Miss Brontë reminds me that nothing else matters but good food, good company and lots of love. Plus it doesn’t hurt if someone is willing to rub your back and scratch you behind the ears.

Great Family and Friends: I have wonderful people who love me, put up with my occasional wackiness and even laugh at my jokes.

Pottery Passion: There’s nothing better than having an obsession – you could even call it an addiction – that benefits aforementioned family and friends. Everyone should have the sort of enthusiasm for something that has a positive side effect, like built-in Christmas gifts.

Now all I need to do is make it through the holidays without any drama.

History

2007-11-25T19:13:00.000-08:00

Past blog posts can be found at http://www.myspace.com/laurashafer

Just When You Think it Can’t Get any Worse...

2007-11-09T18:15:00.000-08:00

May you live in interesting times.

That’s supposedly an ancient Chinese proverb and curse, essentially saying that when things are truly interesting, you’d better hold onto your seatbelt because it’s going to be a bumpy night. Yeah, it’s time to bring out all the clichés. Like, “It’s always darkest before the dawn.” Or my personal favorite, “It’s always darkest just before you open the fridge.”

No one can say that my life has been boring this last month. In fact, it’s been so interesting, I keep wondering what will happen next. For the record, never, never, never tell anyone how well things are going for you. I think this must anger the gods.

It started with a friend’s unexpected death and quickly moved into influenza. Maybe one had something to do with the other. You tend to have compromised immunity when you’re feeling down, so I think I may have been susceptible to the myriad viruses floating around last month. But the flu left me with a terrible case of laryngitis; probably the worst I’ve ever had. I had absolutely no voice for 24 hours and it took about two weeks to speak without sounding like a frog. After four weeks, I’m starting to sound semi-normal, but I still can’t sing, which is pretty tough for me heading into the holidays.

You know how much you hate hearing "White Christmas" by the time December 24th rolls around? I’m the exact opposite. I’m one of those disgusting people who sings along with the Christmas carols in full voice, hoping maybe someone – even a stranger – will join in and we can harmonize on the choruses. Yes, it’s nauseating. I freely admit it. But Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. So I hum or sing along with the mall music and actually enjoy Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters be-bopping together on "Here Comes Santa Claus." The only exception to this love of Christmas music is "Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree." I hate that song with a passion. It should be outlawed and every copy destroyed, if possible. But I digress.

So about two weeks into my flu-induced haze, I got sick of being sick and decided to get some yard work done. It’s been unseasonably warm this autumn, so I still had roses in early November. (In fact, I still had roses until yesterday, when we had our first hard freeze.) After raking some leaves, I grabbed the garden clippers and attacked the rose bushes. As I was returning the clippers to the garage, I dropped them. They landed perfectly onto my left big toe, slicing through the nail and into the nail bed. It didn’t hurt a whole lot, but it bled something fierce.

After hearing dire warnings from my mother about the possibilities of ending up in the hospital with lockjaw, I broke down and went to the doctor for a tetanus shot. He also gave me a flu shot, which I think was a little like locking the barn door after the horse is stolen. But I guess there is always the possibility of contracting a second strain of flu this winter. What joy that would be! In any case, the doctor said the toe looked okay, but I could still lose the toenail or end up having it permanently damaged. Only time will tell if it heals properly. With my luck these days, I’m not counting on it.

Two days later, I started up the oven to make some fantastic chocolate chip cookies for the guys at work and the oven wouldn’t start. I called a service company to come and look at it and they said it would be $85 for a service call, plus it would take a week to get an appointment for the technician to look at the oven. When he finally did arrive, he looked at it for 10 seconds (literally) and said the oven’s processor was damaged and I’d need a new one. Hey, I work in tech for a living, so I new this was a fancy way of saying the computer interface for the oven was broken. It would be $300 to replace it. Pretty aggravating since I’m sure this is something they could have diagnosed over the phone. But then, that wouldn’t cost $85.

Well, Mommy and Daddy didn’t raise an idiot, so I decided to price brand new ovens. Sure enough, a new one only costs $450. So I went to Home Depot and looked at their lovely selection of appliances. It seemed like I’d finally caught a break because everything was on sale. I should have known there would be complications.

Now I have to backtrack, because in the middle of the oven debacle, I had another joyful incident. I made a deposit at the bank the previous Thursday and also withdrew some cash at the same time. The bank teller gave me the cash, the deposit slip and my driver license (which I’d used as I.D.) in a bank envelope. I slipped the envelope into my purse and went to the grocery store. Some light-fingered Louie managed to snag the envelope out of my purse. Not only was I out the cash (about $120), but also my license and the deposit slip, which had my account number on it. So this thief could easily put my account number on a counter withdrawal slip, go through the bank drive-through and use my own license to take all the cash out of my checking account. That account is tied to my savings account for overdraft protection, so potentially this person could steal all of my available cash. Yes, that thought woke me in the middle of the night and made it pretty hard to sleep. The next morning, I went straight to the bank and closed that account. Fortunately, I have a passport to use as I.D. so I can actually prove that I am really me. All this craziness meant that it would be a week or more without checks, a debit card and a credit card – until the new stuff would arrive in mail.

So here I was at Home Depot, ready to buy my oven, and I realized I really didn’t have a way to pay for it. I had the cash, but only temporary checks and my passport as I.D. To make a long story short, I was able to use my passport to secure a Home Depot credit card and they let me put the appliance on the credit card. Since it was a little unusual to be using a passport as I.D., the clerk had to make three phone calls before she was able to find someone who could complete the transaction successfully. A passport is a legally recognized government I.D., but for some reason, you can’t really use it as I.D. – unless you want to go to Canada.

It took another week to have the oven delivered and in the mean time, it was time for more excitement. I was on my way to work the next day and the clutch on my Subaru gave out. It’s the second clutch I’ve burned through since I bought the car eight years ago. That’s pretty rapid, but this is a notorious problem with standard transmission Subarus. After getting the car up on the rack, the mechanic found another problem, of course. “Your right front axle is about to fall off. I’m surprised you made it in here without a problem!” Two days and $900 later, I had my car back.

Between the illness, car problems, oven problems and bank problems, I’ve missed a lot of work these last few weeks. Maybe there really is a silver lining to all the dark clouds in my life lately. But for now, I’m looking forward to some less interesting times.