After my last blog post a couple people commented to me about my state of mind. One person said I sounded “distressed” and another called me “riled.” Honestly, I’m just having fun! But, I understand not everyone enjoys that type of content all the time. I aim to please. So, I will postpone my blog in which I refer to Obama as “the Spawn of Satan” (c’mon guys, it’s a joke!) and will attempt a kinder, gentler post here.
I have embarked on a sporadically ambitious plan to improve my physical appearance. Ever since injuring my back over a decade ago, I have allowed my body to enter the realm of the three S’s – soft, sagging, and sick. Debilitating pain kept me from physical activity in the beginning, and the fear of pain keeps me from physical activity now. Through the power of prayer, I was healed from the worst of the pain (the doctor called it “spontaneous healing, you just get better on your own”) but I continue to have to move very carefully.
My journey to better health began a couple of years ago when a friend enticed me to go on walks with her around town. I couldn’t keep up with her at first and had to stop frequently. As my stamina improved so did my desire to exercise in earnest. I bought a series of workout DVD’s but made the mistake of thinking I could jump right in. I discovered I was actually too out of shape to really get into the routines which exacerbated my back pain. So I quit.
Luckily I found a community access cable show featuring fitness for seniors. It concentrates on flexibility and stability. A light bulb went off. I needed to increase my flexibility slowly then move into a higher intensity routine.
I started exercising with the seniors. There is one woman on the show who does all her exercises from a chair. She’s the only one who talks back to the much younger hostess. It cracks me up. (Random side note warning!) She also has reddish-purple hair. Why do senior women do that to their hair? My great aunt Eula had a wig that color. Actually, hers was more of an orange hue. I guess it’s better than blue though. Personally, I think a glorious head of natural grey hair is beautiful and I intend to take that route myself.
Anyway, the senior exercises paid off and I was able to pull out the DVD’s and keep up! I lunge and squat my way through the boring music and ignore the hostess who can’t count reps. But there is one drawback hampering my enthusiasm. My knees are killing me! So the other night I was up at three a.m. and I happen to catch a shopping channel. (Very dangerous at three a.m. You aren’t thinking clearly and are very susceptible to buying things). I did it. I bought one of those mini trampoline things. I justify my purchase by claiming it’s just what I need to help ease my knee pain. Please, if you see this item at my next garage sale, don’t say “I told you so.” The trampoline should arrive in the next two weeks. I will let you know how the workouts go, in a kind and gentle way of course.
3/27/09
3/26/09
Hodge Podge and BO
From now on Barack Obama will be referred to by his initials, BO. (It had to be done.) I could not bring myself to watch BO’s press conference the other night. I just couldn’t bear to have the man lie to me again about, well, everything. Also, did you notice how the color of the background, the color of his suit and the pallor of his skin all blended together? Maybe it was just my TV but it seemed positively chartreuse. Hmm. “Positively Chartreuse,” sounds like the name of a sixties band.
I would find it helpful if the administration put out a list of words BO will be using in his press conferences, and their translations. As I’ve said before, BO has carefully crafted his semantics of politics to a fine art. The words he uses don’t mean the same thing as what I think they mean. Maybe they could come up with the “Elitist Liberal Dripping with Arrogance” dictionary to define words like: change; stimulus; tax credit; terrorist; war on terror; terrorism; earmark; and investment. I’m thinking about making my own “Clinging to Guns and Religion” dictionary to define words like: liberty; freedom; U.S. Constitution; hope; and free enterprise. (I feel like I should be using these words a lot before they are banned like “terrorist attack” was). Do you think people who would use the “Elitist Liberal Dripping with Arrogance” dictionary know the meaning of diplomacy, humility, or even grown up?
The other reason I couldn’t watch the BO and pony show the other night was I could see BO’s eyes move as he read from the teleprompter. He’s taken a lot of heat recently for having to read from the thing every time he opens his mouth. So they replaced the two thin-screen prompters with one giant screen located directly under the central camera. It was painful. A thought occurred to me last night about this teleprompter thing. Would it kill the guy to memorize a few lines and talk to us? Is he so disdainful of the American people we are not worth his time and effort?
One side note – did you know BO’s teleprompter has its own blog? The thing has taken on a life of its own. It even has a name, TOTUS, which is Teleprompter Of The United States. The blog is well written and very timely. Here’s the link if you are interested: http://baracksteleprompter.blogspot.com/
So, what did I do instead of watch the press conference? I watched my dogs play in the yard. Also, there was a bee collecting pollen from the purple daisies on my patio. Fascinating.
I would find it helpful if the administration put out a list of words BO will be using in his press conferences, and their translations. As I’ve said before, BO has carefully crafted his semantics of politics to a fine art. The words he uses don’t mean the same thing as what I think they mean. Maybe they could come up with the “Elitist Liberal Dripping with Arrogance” dictionary to define words like: change; stimulus; tax credit; terrorist; war on terror; terrorism; earmark; and investment. I’m thinking about making my own “Clinging to Guns and Religion” dictionary to define words like: liberty; freedom; U.S. Constitution; hope; and free enterprise. (I feel like I should be using these words a lot before they are banned like “terrorist attack” was). Do you think people who would use the “Elitist Liberal Dripping with Arrogance” dictionary know the meaning of diplomacy, humility, or even grown up?
The other reason I couldn’t watch the BO and pony show the other night was I could see BO’s eyes move as he read from the teleprompter. He’s taken a lot of heat recently for having to read from the thing every time he opens his mouth. So they replaced the two thin-screen prompters with one giant screen located directly under the central camera. It was painful. A thought occurred to me last night about this teleprompter thing. Would it kill the guy to memorize a few lines and talk to us? Is he so disdainful of the American people we are not worth his time and effort?
One side note – did you know BO’s teleprompter has its own blog? The thing has taken on a life of its own. It even has a name, TOTUS, which is Teleprompter Of The United States. The blog is well written and very timely. Here’s the link if you are interested: http://baracksteleprompter.blogspot.com/
So, what did I do instead of watch the press conference? I watched my dogs play in the yard. Also, there was a bee collecting pollen from the purple daisies on my patio. Fascinating.
3/22/09
I'm Shocked, Shocked
I am amazed at the backlash over the AIG bonuses. Why are people so incensed when executives actually pay themselves huge bonuses? Let’s be honest, deep down haven't we all known fat-cat executives have been rewarding themselves substantially for years? So now we, like Captain Renault in 'Casablanca', are “shocked, shocked” to find out they are using bail-out money for bonuses? I think at least half the outrage should be directed toward the government which came up with the hair-brained idea of TARP. After all, greedy executives can’t levy taxes on the American people for a bailout which is destined to fail. And let’s not forget it was Senator Dodd that added the amendment allowing bonuses.
The behavior I witnessed on Capitol Hill last week reminded me of a spoiled kid and his family. I’m never surprised at the behavior of a spoiled brat when I know there is no discipline at home. You give a kid like that everything he wants and he will squander it in a heartbeat.
AIG execs acted like spoiled brats. They got into financial trouble and came first to Bush then Obama, then big brother (House and Senate) whining about how everything was gone and they needed more or they would “just die.” This didn’t surprise me. What surprised me was when Bush, then Obama asked me to donate to the brats in the form of higher taxes. (Obama gave me a pitch that would have made a used car salesman blush). After the House and Senate relieved me of my hard-earned cash, they turned around and gave my money to the brats, patted them on the head, and told them to run along and play nice. But the brats weren't satisfied with just making do, they wanted more. So the brats and big brother agreed to a bonus deal with the very money I just donated. They kept it between themselves because after all, (they thought) Mrs. McMichael is a nincompoop that doesn’t understand retention bonuses and high finance so why should we bother her (especially if we may need to come back to her later for more money?)
But, Mrs. McMichael did find out about the deal and started asking questions -along with the rest of the nation. And just like the parent and big brother of a spoiled brat, the peanut gallery on Capitol Hill went into overdrive pointing fingers, making excuses, and laying blame.
Now, I’m no nincompoop. And I admit I struggle to understand TARP, the bailout, and the enormity of a trillion dollar deficit. But what I can see with some clarity is the human condition. As long as we live in a fallen world there will always be spoiled brats of every kind. And there will always be politicians who race to be the first to quote from Casablanca when covering their tracks. I’m so glad my hope is in something more substantial.
The behavior I witnessed on Capitol Hill last week reminded me of a spoiled kid and his family. I’m never surprised at the behavior of a spoiled brat when I know there is no discipline at home. You give a kid like that everything he wants and he will squander it in a heartbeat.
AIG execs acted like spoiled brats. They got into financial trouble and came first to Bush then Obama, then big brother (House and Senate) whining about how everything was gone and they needed more or they would “just die.” This didn’t surprise me. What surprised me was when Bush, then Obama asked me to donate to the brats in the form of higher taxes. (Obama gave me a pitch that would have made a used car salesman blush). After the House and Senate relieved me of my hard-earned cash, they turned around and gave my money to the brats, patted them on the head, and told them to run along and play nice. But the brats weren't satisfied with just making do, they wanted more. So the brats and big brother agreed to a bonus deal with the very money I just donated. They kept it between themselves because after all, (they thought) Mrs. McMichael is a nincompoop that doesn’t understand retention bonuses and high finance so why should we bother her (especially if we may need to come back to her later for more money?)
But, Mrs. McMichael did find out about the deal and started asking questions -along with the rest of the nation. And just like the parent and big brother of a spoiled brat, the peanut gallery on Capitol Hill went into overdrive pointing fingers, making excuses, and laying blame.
Now, I’m no nincompoop. And I admit I struggle to understand TARP, the bailout, and the enormity of a trillion dollar deficit. But what I can see with some clarity is the human condition. As long as we live in a fallen world there will always be spoiled brats of every kind. And there will always be politicians who race to be the first to quote from Casablanca when covering their tracks. I’m so glad my hope is in something more substantial.
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