Hillary. Well, I have to admit it was a killer speech. One of her best and I'm confident now that she's going to do her best to support the party, and support Obama. No Way. No How. No McCain. Now, that's a line!
Now if only her supporters would get the message. After the speech, CNN showed one woman who just couldn't let go. Asked if she would vote for McCain, she said no. Never. But she just wouldn't vote at all. HELLO! That's a vote for McCain then! Please wake up and smell the coffee. And then she said that she was a life long democrat, always voted, but that Obama would have to sell her. Come on people, if you're a life long democrat, then you shouldn't need to be sold on Obama. Obama needs to be focusing on the independents and the moderate republicans who are ashamed of what has happened to our country. He shouldn't have to work to convince you that he's pro-choice, pro-universal health care, wants to get out of Iraq, wants to the get the economy working again for all Americans, not just the wealthy few. If those are things you believe in, and things he believes in, I'm confused as to why you just can't realize that he's the best candidate for the country.
But enough of that.
On sadder news, Del Martin passed away today. My thoughts and prayers go out to Phyllis, her wife. In one of the newspaper articles I read it said, "She is survived by her partner of 55 years and wife of 2 months, Phyllis Lyons." I read that sentence and almost cried. Thank God that she lived long enough to see her relationship recognized by her friends, her family, and the government. How sad that it was taken from her so soon.
Off to Seattle with Musuem Man tomorrow. We're meeting up with his family and sailing around the San Juan Islands. Hope to get lots of pictures.
That's how much it took to fill up my gas tank this weekend. I guess gas has come down a bit, but almost 50 bucks to fill up Sven? That's kind of crazy. The good news is that it was the first time I had to fill up the tank since May! Yep, the car diet has been working pretty well. I've driven to work maybe a handful of times this summer. Now, I wish I were saving alot of money doing this, but I'm paying for the metro myself. It's $3.70 per day. So roughly the cost of a gallon of gas. So I really need to give up my parking pass and get the company provided metro card instead. Then I think it will be worth it. So I'm going to cut the safety cord and give up my work parking place to see what the real cost is. Sure, I'm also saving some money on maintenance, wear and tear, etc, but still.
So I had to send a rather firm order to my father about anti-Obama emails. He's on this mailing list from his school that is pretty conservative and you just can't believe the lies and crap he was forwarding to me. And some of it is just so wrong it's silly. Like a quick Google search disproves half of this crap. I told him that if he wanted to send me emails that explains why he's for McCain, then bring them on. But I'll pass on the personal attacks, the lies, and the propoganda.
I'm having some built-in bookshelves built in my condo and so I needed to clean out the little glass shelves where the built-ins will go. The little glass shelves that hold the hundreds of CDs I own that I rarely, if ever, listen to. So I put then all in a suitcase and will dust them off and put them back into the new bookshelves once they are built. But then I started thinking, hmm, I wonder if I should burn the one or two songs I like from each CD to my PC and then junk the CD. I grabbed a handful of CDs and what did I get? The Best of Howard Jones. Go West - The Hits. The Best of Don Henley. And Corey Hart - The Singles.
Really? Corey Hart - The Singles. As in plural? I was intrigued so I popped in the CD and started to listen to it. So I will admit that I recognized two or three songs. So yes, I guess there is a plural there. The songs are burned, and the CD is trash.
Here's an interesting remix of Corey Hart's bit hit:
It occurs to me that John McCain is as intellectually shallow as our current president. When asked what his Christian faith means to him, his answer was a one-liner. "It means I'm saved and forgiven." Great scholars have wrestled with the meaning of faith for centuries.....
One after another, McCain's answers were shallow, simplistic, and trite. He showed the same intellectual curiosity that George Bush has -- virtually none.
Where are John McCain's writings exploring the vexing moral issues of our time? Where are his position papers setting forth his careful consideration of foreign policy, the welfare state, education, America's moral responsibility in the world, etc., etc., etc.?
John McCain graduated 894th in a class of 899 at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. His father and grandfather were four star admirals in the Navy. Some have suggested that might have played a role in McCain being admitted. His academic record was awful. And it shows over and over again whenever McCain is called upon to think on his feet.
He no longer allows reporters unfettered access to him aboard the "Straight Talk Express" for a reason. He simply makes too many mistakes. Unless he's reciting talking points or reading from notes or a TelePrompTer, John McCain is lost. He can drop bon mots at a bowling alley or diner -- short glib responses that get a chuckle, but beyond that McCain gets in over his head very quickly.
I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me. The world we live in is too complex to entrust it to someone else whose idea of intellectual curiosity and grasp of foreign policy issues is to tell us he can look into Vladimir Putin's eyes and see into his soul.
George Bush's record as a student, military man, businessman and leader of the free world is one of constant failure. And the part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself.
He will leave office with the country $10 trillion in debt, fighting two wars, our international reputation in shambles, our government cloaked in secrecy and suspicion that his entire presidency has been a litany of broken laws and promises, our citizens' faith in our own country ripped to shreds. Yet Bush goes bumbling along, grinning and spewing moronic one-liners, as though nobody understands what a colossal failure he has been.
I fear to the depth of my being that John McCain is just like him.
So it was Esther's birthday yesterday. Happy 5-0 Madge! So a small group of us joined the rest of the gays and went to Town to celebrate with a night we affectionately call, Madonna-rama! All Madge, all night, remixed to your hearts content. Superlawyer and MailMan came in from suburbia to join MuseumMan and I get into the groove at Town. It was amazing. Packed with all of the pretty people who I tried to ignore, I focused on the music and just had the best time. When I go out to clubs, I'm lucky if I know 2 or 3 of the songs. Especially with the gays into the techno-trance-house type music which is pretty much the perma-beat type stuff. So it's nice to actually know the songs, and then to know the words to the songs. Again, I just had a blast, thought I will say that towards the end I was starting to loose my voice.
Oh and apparently I'm not really old. According to Madge, even though she's 50, she's really onl 36? So if 40 is the new 30, then 50 is the new 36? Hmm, not sure I buy it.
So it's all over the gay-blogosphere about how the owner of Manhunt gave $2300 to the McCain campaign. Nary a word on any of MSM outlets, but who really wants to hear about McCain taking money from a gay man who has made MILLIONS off of gay sex. It's all don't ask, don't tell. And even when told, ignore it.
Now, I understand (but don't agree) with Log Cabin Republican types who are more focused on economic and national security issues over basic human rights for their own brothers and sisters (sorry, gotta keep the sarcasm down a bit). But I only buy that crap (damn, there I go again), if the Republican party actually stood for sound fiscal policies and non-interventionalist type foreign party. But they don't! When will these people wake up and small the overpowering stench of a colossal national debt combined with a rotting economy caused by years of cronyism, hand outs to wall street, and just plain incompetence? Or are we too busy focusing on the next war to fight.
Back to the Manhunt loser. Apparently he's more insulted that someone called him a "liberal Republican." It's not the republican part that he doesn't like, it's the "liberal" part. Ugh! How has the term liberal gotten such a bad reputation. I would think "conservative" would be worse. The Anonymous Liberal has a great quote on his blog: "The essence of the Liberal outlook lies not in what opinions are held, but in how they are held: instead of being held dogmatically, they are held tentatively, and with a consciousness that new evidence may at any moment lead to their abandonment." I love that quote. And I think that really captures a lot of my perspective. I am passionate about certain things, but that doesn't mean that I won't be wrong at times (and frequently am), but it's the inability to change your mind, to acknowledge you are wrong, to cling to clearly incorrect statements or position when presented with facts and evidence that really just kills me. And why we need to show the current administration to the door. Asap!
So changing subjects, I'm on a bit of a manhunt myself this weekend. I finally got around to updating my profile on Match.com. Of course, as soon as I did that, I got really busy at work again. But I did manage to send an email to someone. Who has not responded. C'est la vie. However, I will say that my personal approach is that if someone winks at me and I don't think we are a good match I will ignore them. It's wink. They clicked a button. Big whoop. But if someone actually sent me an email that showed any type of thought or effort, I will reply to them. Even if it's to say that I don't think we are a good match. I think that's just a common courtesy thing and it takes all of 2 minutes to do. Anyhoo . . . .
So I got a couple of winks and an email from some guys. The winks, hmm, I wasn't sure about them. The pics were not that good. I suspected they were old. And there wasn't a lot in their profiles to help me figure out why they winked at me. The email was interesting. A fellow traveler who has been around the world. He's got potential I think. The plan for this weekend: Dinner with Wink#1 on Friday. Lunch with Wink#2 on Saturday. And then lunch with Email guy on Sunday. So three dates, in three days. Hmm, I've never thought of myself as a player. Oh, that's right. Because I'm not.
Oh, so totally loving the Paris Hilton ad. Just too funny. But one of the even funnier things I read about it was, "Look, yes it was scripted, yes she's just speaking the words and probably doesn't understand it really. But McCain's ads are scripted. He's just speaking the words. And he probably doesn't understand it either. But atleast she *sounds* like she does. Oddly enough this whole little episode makes me like her just a little bit.
Well I'm slowly becoming like one of the hordes of business men (and women) who I see every day when I commute to work. I've ditched my very nice looking, but not comfortable dress shoes for these faux leather sneakers that look like loafers. They are passable I guess. And I'm plugged in to my iPod so I can ignore the homeless and the crazies. And I finally broke down and bought a roller bag for work. Look, I like the backpack. It's a young look, that says, "Sure I'm hauling my laptop home every night so I can do even more work, but secretly I'm kind of cool." But it's killing me. Add the backpack to the heat and humidity of August and it's not a good combination. I'm DRENCHED by the time I get to the metro. It's just ugly. So I got a small little roller bag. Yes, I know, another obstacle for my fellow commuters. Sorry. Deal with it.
Oh, and is "I'll see you at the debate, bitches!" really that popular?
Hello World! So yes I am alive, but once I got back from Ptown I just completely lost control of my life. So I'm back. Ish. You know how it is.
Ptown. Wow. I just looked at my pictures and I want to go back. NOW! And I'm seriously thinking about ways to go back next summer, so the whole summer! But first the rest of the story. So Thursday was supposed to be my beach day. I want to go late, miss T, and then stay for sunset. Everyone talks about how the air and the light up there is special because the land is surrounded by water on three sides and I completely agree. Anyways, I spent the morning walking around taking some pictures in town, and then did some shopping. Mostly window shopping, but I did need to bring back some gifts. Finally around 230ish I headed to the beach. It was the usual trek across the tidal flats until I got to "my spot" and proceeded to bake. The beach was not that crowded, but there were some people near by. So I read for a bit, went for a swim, etc. And then I'm like, wait, what time is sunset? 8PMish. And it's only 530PM? Wow. Yeah, so I really should have come early, laid out, then gone back into town for a late lunch, nap, etc and then come back around 630ish, but I wasn't thinking. But I did get some great photos as the beach started to empty out and people started making their way back into town. I had a mission, so I was staying. And it was so worth it. The sunset was just amazing and reminded me of why I love it in Ptown. It's just so beautiful. I snapped away as the sun slowly sank below the horizon. It was clear so the sunset was spectacular. There was one big puffy cloud that seemed to capture all of the light and slowly changed color as the sun sank. In addition to just being amazed by the overwhelming beauty of the sunset, I was alone, all alone on the beach. It was quite the surreal feeling to be witness to this gorgeous sunset as the waves gently broke along the beach. With my headphones on, I danced along the beach a bit, just a little crazy I know, but in a good way. I stopped to take more photos and then as the dusk started to come, I knew it was time to leave. I was not looking forward to crossing the tidal flats, now at near high tide, in the dark. As I crossed over the dune, I swear I saw a fox or a wolf, but it saw me and quickly trotted away. The trek back across the tidal flats wasn't bad and there was enough light from the moon to guide my steps. I have to say that spending sunset at the beach was probably one of my all time highlights at Ptown.
I missed the Solid Gold T at the Boatslip on Thursday, but I could tell you that the Bears were starting to arrive by that time. Thursday night and then definitely on Friday the town started to fill up with the large and hirsute. Now, it's kind of funny, but I think the town likes bear week more than the circuit party week. The only thing the party boi's do is drink water and dance. The bears like to drink and they like to eat. So it's definitely good for business. Plus, the bears are just nice. There's very little attitude with the bears. By Friday's T dance, I was feeling young and thin! And I was sporting a relatively weak goat-tee, but atleast I was trying! Friday and Saturday slipped by too quickly. I do remember the Hat Sisters arriving at the T and the crowd roaring their approval. They are quite the celebrities in Ptown. Speaking of celebrities, DC's own Bob Mould and Rich Morel were in the house in preparation for a special Blow Off for Bear Week. And I did see some of the DC A-list bears as well. So it was a great way to end my time in Ptown.
As I boarded the ferry back to reality on Sunday AM, I thought back about the really great week I had. I read 4 new books, which is one of my goals. I had spent some time doing some real thinking about life, etc. And I had just one of the most relaxing weeks. It really was just the best time.
