Today in My History

2000: Things I Know Very Little About
2001: Getting to the Bottom of Things
2002:  Living by the Numbers
2003:  Age of Aquarius
2004:  "Keep Away"
2005:  Transitions are Always Difficult
2006: Not a Fashion Maven
2007:  The Historian
2008: Misbehavior in the Polling Booth

BITTER HACK
Clowning Around
(feature article)

Books Read in 2009
 
Updated: 9/17
"The Lost Symbol"

PSYCHIC WOMAN

5 November 2009

I've mentioned before that over on Flickr, I've been doing this "take a photo a day" project, which I'm now continuing into year 3. After 2+ years of taking your own photo every day, you are desperate for new ideas. In September I discovered that there are actually holidays to be celebrated in this country every single day of the year.  Wonderful holidays like National Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friend Day (January 11), National Garlic Day (April 19), Wiggle Your Toes Day (August 6), etc.  It's wonderful reading.

So I've been using my daily photograph to celebrate that day's holiday.  Many of them have been fun to work on, with the help of PhotoShop, like this one for "World Smile Day" (October 3)

A couple of days ago was "Increase Your Psychic Powers" Day and I did my best to represent that.

It was the next night when I had the dream I talked about yesterday, which began with my being so depressed that I drove off the road and into a body of water. This morning I'm thinking that maybe I actually did increase my psychic powers, 'cause I sure am depressed this morning.

Maine joins the host of other states where gay marriage has lost by only a few percentage points.  How would you like to have only 5% of the population of your state decide whether you can be married or not?  Think it can't happen to a nice heterosexual couple like you?  How about that judge who decided that he shouldn't marry an interracial couple. Who is next?  Maybe some day they'll decide that since the bible refers to left-haned people as "evil," only right-handed people should marry...and my nearly 45 years with Walt will be dissolved.   Civil rights should not be up for a vote, or be decided at the whim of someone else.

(Someone is collecting signatures to get a petition on the ballot to outlaw divorce in California.  Let's see how serious those right wingers really are about preserving the sanctity of marriage!!)

I'm not listening to the news today.  It's all too depressing.   I'm one of those who had the audacity to hope and I haven't given up hope yet that Obama can be viewed by history as one of the great presidents, if he manages to follow through on his promises.  But we live in an instant gratification society and everyone expected him to "fix everything" overnight. ("it's been a whole week since the inauguration and he hasn't done anything yet!")  Remember the Patriot Act?  And how aghast we were to discover that this sweeping intrusion into our cherished freedoms was passed without anybody having the opportunity to read it? It is my fervent hope that the slowness with which Obama seems to be doing everything comes from his wanting to get it right.  I continue to hope, but talking heads make it difficult.

Then I watched Al Gore on Letterman last night and heard about the continuing erosion of our earth, the probable irreversible death of coral, the animals species which are on the brink of extinction, the island of garbage twice the size of Texas floating in the Pacific ocean, the sinking of the entire country of Bangladesh, and most of humankind's indifference to it all.

One of my blogging students from the other night has started a blog about the conditions in Cogo right now.  Reading that is also enough to make you depressed.

This morning I listened to NBC's financial expert talking about the astronomical rise in interest rates and annual fees that banks have decided to charge and how we are essentially helpless to do anything.  Call the banks and protest, but if they ask you for information, don't give any or it can be used against you.  Don't start a new charge account because it can show up as a negative on your credit report.   Don't stop using credit cards because that can show up as a negative on your credit report.  It's the ultimate Catch 22 situation.

No good news ever comes out of the Middle East.

Sometimes it just seems like there is nothing good to live for...and maybe that drive out into the wilderness and into the body of water was prophetic.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

When all seems hopeless, there's always
a bright ray of sunshine to cheer you up!
(Tom and Bri at Waimea Canyon on Kauai)

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