A Quick But Very Important Note

Dearest K -

I have some good news and some bad news.

First, as is the convention, the good news: you're not going to be doing the breast stroke anymore at the pool. I know how you dislike it... it feels slow and awkward, and the amount of snot you end up blowing out of your nose is unattractive to say the least. I know you felt that you needed to practice it, since you've heard from others that when you do the swimming leg of the Danskin tri it's difficult to do the crawl in the initial crowded field. Adding in one length per each four you swam was a good plan, it really was. You made a good effort. But that's done now.

Because... well, now it's time for the bad news: you hurt me. Shhh Shhh... it's okay. I know you didn't mean to - it's just that the breast stroke kick torques me in a way that causes me pain... I'm still aching, many hours later. In just two sessions, you've done what we managed to avoid the last two ski seasons. No, no - thankfully not as badly as before. But enough so that I have to put our mutual foot down and insist that you go back to the good ole flutter kick.

Thanks so much for the attention, and keep up the good work!

With Love and Flexibility,
Your Right Knee

I Hate Hillary (in case you were wondering)

I know, I know. You've been dying to know who I'm throwing my considerable political clout (*coff*) behind in race for Democratic Presidential nominee. I have indeed been thinking about it quite a lot lately, and here's what I've come up with so far.

The old-timers here know that the genesis of this blog coincided with the full bloom of my love affair with Howard Dean. And as much as I still love him in ways both holy and un-, and still think he would make an amazing President, I want him to stay exactly where he is right now - kicking butt and taking names in the Democratic party, leading us to victories in all 50 states, helping us take back Congress... oh, wait, he's already done that part. SUCK ON THAT, Terry McAuliffe.

So then my next choice is Al Gore, the last man actually elected President. Sadly, he continues to thwart me by not actually... oh, you know... running. Selfish bastard. I guess he'll continue to do good educating people about the whole global warming thing. Go Al!

Bill... well, he can't. Stupid 22nd Amendment.

When it comes down to the candidates who are actually running, I can't say that anyone makes my socks roll up and down the way Dean did. But I can tell you one person who I do NOT want to get the nomination. Hillary Freakin' Clinton. In my opinion, she is this election cycle's John Kerry (oh gods, please don't let that be an accurate prediction).

At first I didn't like her because of her vote to authorize this horrible, horrible war - and that's still a very good reason, no doubt about it. But now that she's been running for a bit, there is so much MORE to dislike about her. For example, who is the president of her campaign? Why, it's that sleazy toerag Terry McAuliffe, that's who. The man who so fucked over the Democratic nomination process last time around that we ended up with his cherry-picked "electable" candidate John Kerry. Oh, THAT worked out well, didn't it?

And then, today I read that Hillary ducked the question on whether she believes homosexuality is immoral. Apparently, she believes... it's for "others to conclude." You know what, Senator Clinton? You're courting the gay vote. You're asking for gay money. Fuck you and the horse you rode in on if you can't stand up and simply say "No, I do not. Next question."

I'm not saying I wouldn't vote for her if she (god forbid, spit three times) got the nomination, but I would throw up in my mouth while doing it.

So right now, that leaves me looking to Edwards and Obama. I like them. I don't LIKE them like them, but I like them well enough for now. My boyfriend, George Clooney, is backing Obama so that definitely gives him a bit of an edge because George, ruthless liberal that he is, and I traditionally see eye to eye on all things politic. But... oh, I don't know. I'd actually be more excited if George himself were running. Imagine having a George in the White House who wasn't an international embarrassment and danger to the Constitution.

So yeah. After all that, the big answer is... I don't know, though I'm leaning towards either the guy Clooney likes or the first candidate with enough guts to say "War is immoral, election theft is immoral, letting people go hungry and homeless and without health insurance is immoral, but two dudes kissing I have no problem with."

Hm. I may have just described Dennis Kucinich. Damn it.

Psssst... Earworm, Pass It On!

I woke up singing this.

I sang it while swimming.

It's going through my head right now.

You're welcome.

Is It Not To Melt?

Originally uploaded by DigiGirl.

I love Seattle. I adore my wonderful family and the amazing friends I have here. I love my routine, my house, my bed, my coffee pot. As I flew home yesterday, and the plane dropped below the clouds, I sighed with happiness as I saw evergreens instead of palm trees swaying in the breeze. And today, even though that breeze now has knives in it that cut through layers with a reminder that winter isn't quite over yet, I love this town and this life I've made here.

And yet, after four days spent becoming totally smitten with this amazing munchkin and her equally wonderful parents (and feet!), I am bereft, longing for the easy connection and everyday interaction that comes from living in close proximity to the people you love most. We're both blessed and cursed by our mobility and the technology that allows, and sometimes requires, us to pull up roots and sink them where they can't intertwine with their kin.

So since I am rooted in the north, and she is a girl of the south (though thank goodness we're both west!), I'll have to settle for what I can get. If I can't snuggle and smell and sing to her every day, at least I can plan more visits (and soon!) watch her on the video cam and see photos taken just this afternoon of her silly face and curly clean hair and her amazingly funny feet.

But oh, still the ache.

Giggle of the Day

After blowing her very stuffy nose...

Sophie: How do you make a tissue dance?

Me: Um... play a it a jig?

Sophie: No! Put a little boogie in it!

Monday Morning Reminder

It would do me well to read this every day, as I attempt to surrender and trust that the Universe will continue to provide as she always has...

Trust
by Thomas R. Smith

It's like so many other things in life
to which you must say no or yes.
So you take your car to the new mechanic.
Sometimes the best thing to do is trust.

The package left with the disreputable-looking
clerk, the check gulped by the night deposit,
the envelope passed by dozens of strangers
all show up at their intended destinations.

The theft that could have happened doesn't.
Wind finally gets where it was going
through the snowy trees, and the river, even
when frozen, arrives at the right place.

And sometimes you sense how faithfully your life
is delivered, even though you can't read the address.

This Is My Message To You-ou-ou

One might think, reading my blog over time, that I'm quite possibly mildly bi-polar. While that's one way to view it, I prefer my friend Bonnie's description - I have big feelings. Big lows (ah, Molly) and big highs. Today, we're on a definite upswing.

First off, Happy Happy Imbolc! My most favourite of the pagan holidays, and this one has dawned beautifully crisp and sunny. I had a fabulous swim - someone actually complimented me on my kickboarding, go figure. "Three Little Birds" is playing right now and the kids and I are dancing... how can that not lift one's spirits? And since Phil didn't see his shadow for the first time since 1999 spring is officially JUST around the corner.

Then there's the big news... JK Rowling has finished the last Harry Potter book - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - and announced that it will be released on July 21st! This kicks planning into high gear in our household, as we promised the kids that we'd go to London for its release. We're all so feckin' excited we hardly know what to do with ourselves. And somehow, by luck or kismet, the date doesn't conflict with any other summer plans. So two weeks in the UK this summer will be spent Harry Pottering, visiting friends, seeing castles... OH! THE EXCITEMENT! If you have any suggestions for things we must see and do with a 7 and 9 year old, please send them on.

R.I.P. Molly (1944-2007)

One of my heroes died today and my heart broke wide open. When I heard that Molly Ivins had lost her fight with breast cancer, I was in the car on the way to the grocery store, and I immediately started crying. The tears haven't stopped fully since, simmering below the surface, the lump in my throat making it hard to type even now.

I had the pleasure of seeing her once, when she did an appearance with Al Franken here in Seattle in September 2003. She was warm and funny, and mad as hell about what was happening in this country. And she was a fellow supporter of Howard Dean's presidential bid, which made me love her all the more.

She was one-of-a-kind, an amazing, inspirational writer, unabashedly, ruthlessly liberal, and she mercilessly gave the Republicans and the Bush administration in particular exactly the kind of hell they deserved. I'm pretty sure Shrub and Rove and that evil fuck Cheney are raising a glass tonight in thanks that she's gone.

I'm just so sad and angry. If you ever needed proof that life isn't remotely fair, just ponder that we lost Molly's bright light to fucking cancer while the waste of skin in the White House still walks blindly and pathetically among us, doing more damage to our country every day. How utterly ridiculous that she, of all people, will never get to celebrate the end of our long national nightmare when it finally, finally comes (719 days, by my count).

In her final column (god, how it hurts to type that), Molly implores us to get get the hell up and take some action to stop this horrific futile war... to refuse to allow Bush to send more of our men and women to die in his Iraq debacle:

"We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush's proposed surge. If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on Jan. 27. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, "Stop it, now!"

I've felt so defeated and helpless since November 2004, it's been hard to get my heart back into the process. Even taking back Congress, as much as it pleased me, didn't move me to action. I think back to 2003, how alive and hopeful I felt as Dean's campaign caught fire, as I imagined the possibilities and threw myself utterly and completely behind his candidacy... and I compare it the lukewarm emptiness I feel now when I look at the pool of Democratic candidates.

But in your memory Molly, I will try. I'll try to find some way to act, to make my voice heard as the chorus of NO MORE! grows. I'll try to find some way to re-ignite the spark and the hope. I'll keep my eyes open for the candidate with some Elvis in him, because as you oh-so-preciently predicted last time around, "You can't win without Elvis," and I'll throw my lot in and write and call and caucus and VOTE, speak truth to power, and do what I can to fix what's been so badly broken.

Good-bye, Molly Ivins, hellraiser extraordinaire. We miss you already.

Today's Moment of Duh

The lead headline on my news portal this morning made me shake my head in wonder:

U.S. May Have Botched Training of Iraqis

WASHINGTON (AP) - Training the police is as important to stabilizing Iraq as building an effective army there, but the United States has botched the job by assigning the wrong agencies to the task, two members of the Iraq Study Group said Wednesday.

"The police training system has not gone well," said former Rep. Lee Hamilton, who co-chaired the bipartisan commission.

You think?

I'm just waiting for tomorrow's headline, Scientists Confirm: World Definitely Round.

WASL meets Pikachu, blood all over

In April, the boy will be taking the reading and math sections of the WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) for the first time. Starting last week, as a way of helping the students know what kinds of questions to expect, his teacher started sending home practice questions as part of their weekly homework.

And now, apparently, I am having test anxiety on his behalf.

I find this strange because I was one of those freaky kids who enjoyed taking the state standardized tests. I've always tested well, and I loved the shuffling around of the routine during testing week. And as for the kid, he did fine on the practice sheet, and doesn't seem to be at all uptight about the test - what's to worry?

Tell that to my subconscious which treated me to a strange little dream in which Nathan, Sophie and I had to take the test, all together in the same room. But it wasn't your traditional reading and math test, oh no. The questions were these very complex story problems, and the very first one was not only testing math skills, but Pokemon knowledge (oh yes, boy is very much back into Pokemon these days and it's apparently bleeding into my life as well). There were 65 cards in the problem, and I had to figure out which one was the most powerful, based on hit points.

Of course, being in the same room as the kids was distracting me from the task at hand, so in addition to being flummoxed by the subject matter, I was also having a really hard time even understanding what I was being asked to do.

And the time limit was fast approaching...

Aaaagh!

Really. Aren't there other things my dreaming mind could better spend its time on?