And then there's calming. I'm lucky; this works for me. Holly's 100-mile loop is good for this. Pedal to the metal, eyes focused straight ahead, the car an entity unto itself, an isolated capsule of the world - anger starts to slowly seep away and an overwhelming feeling of calm and control takes its place. Always the best way to come off anger or a crying jag - it doesn't leave an empty place where the rage was. It morphs all the emotion and upset into some kind of content. Because, really, who can be unhappy when they're in a vacuum, hurtling between trees outlined by starlight, giving total concentration to manuevering carefully between the white and yellow reflective lines?
But then there's days like today, when everything goes not only right but wonderfully, so much better than you could have asked for. You're accosted on all sides by smiles and praise and miraculous good luck and friends coming back to you. You can feel the edge of unhappiness from yesterday or last week, but it doesn't matter anymore. You realize you've been overreacting and overdramatic and nothing's ever quite as bad as you think it is, and nothing is unfixable. There's bad, of course, but it seems to weave perfectly with the good and almost enhance it. Someone actually criticizes your favorite show, and you don't even blink. You're witty, you're glowing, people ask you what's different about you, and you smile, knowing full well it's nothing but your mood. You realize that all the things you don't like will be changing in not quite a year, anyhow, and all the things you do like will never quite leave you -- and that the last shadow of the nightmare that you've been reliving for years will disappear when the last involved person heads off into the wilderness and leaves you without a tangible reminder. And suddenly, you find yourself unable to express your love of life. Words no longer seem sufficient.
It's times like these where there's nothing to do but roll the windows down, put on Bittersweet Symphony and let it and the wind wash over you as your hair whips your face and your smile explodes into a laugh and you pound the steering wheel, hoping to always remember this moment.
This just in:
After dinner, looking out on the backyardI’m so happy right now. And this scene made three away messages tonight. Sweet.
Mom: Aww, that squirrel's burying a nut or something.
Joy: Oh cute, I wanna see.
Dad gets up from table.
Mom: Better see quick, Dad's getting his gun.
Joy: Do other familes have this problem?
Mom: "Honey, quick, look at the nature before your father kills it?" Hm, I don't know.
Gun: bang
Dad: GOT 'EM.
jangel139: Don't ya miss TN?And
Phoenix22486: hahaha
jangel139: ohhh yeah
Phoenix22486: did he really kill it
jangel139: I ain't looking.
Phoenix22486: can i use that as my away message?
jangel139: sometimes they survive.
jangel139: yes you can.
Phoenix22486: thank you ever so much
Phoenix22486: my NY friends are appreciating it
Phoenix22486: sara sounds kiinda scared
maxcypad105: are you serious?Perfectly serious. But, really, do other people have this problem? At my house, it’s become something of a conditioned response for my brother and my father … anytime they see some sort of wildlife in the backyard (squirrels, raccoons, skunks, deer, turkeys, stray cats), they reach immediately for the gun, kept conveniently in the closet next to the sliding glass door, and have at it. We keep score sometimes … Dad took 6 shots at a rather tricky squirrel the other night, and we heckle and cheer rather like I imagine people heckle and cheer while watching basketball – “OOOH MISS!” “SO close.” “Are you BLIND?” The best part is when they kill something they didn't mean to kill - like that one time my brother had to dispose of a dead, rather smelly, skunk. House stunk for weeks but it was sooooo worth it. Honest? I’m going to miss Tennessee. And, God help me, my family. I’ll come home on vacations. Really, really short ones.
jangel139: yes
jangel139: verbatim.
Wild as a mink but sweet as soda pop,
J
Seriously, forty minutes in and Edwards'd called Cheney a liar on multiple occasions and managed to bring up Halliburton more times than I could count. Also, he's so damn cute, and his accent kills me. I melt. Whoever came up with the company line that Kerry/Edwards support the war on Iraq and taking down Saddam, but there was a right way to do it and a wrong way, that was brilliance. I salute you. That's exactly what they need to be saying right now - it's the only way to justify that voting record. And, it's the damned truth.
Oooh. Those split-screen shots have gotta hurt when you can't make 'em look even just by jacking up Bush's half. Shine On, Edwards ... no wait, that's just the reflection from Cheney's head. Anyroo, one of the CNN.com blogs has designated Cheney as Garfield and Edwards as Nermal - the abnormally cute kitten. Also: What the HELL is it with the slouching, Republicans? Didn't the army teach you anything? Oh, wait.
To me, the worst part of this debate was how Cheney would blatently mislead the American public by providing about 10% of the total necessary information. Take this Cheney quote from tonight:
Our most important ally in the war on terror, in Iraq specifically, is Prime Minister Allawi. He came recently and addressed a joint session of Congress that I presided over with the speaker of the House.It really should be noted for the record that the speech he gave to Congress was written by THE WHITE HOUSE. A puppet is not exactly on the same level as an ally.
I don't like the glint in Cheney's eye. There's intelligence there. I can honestly believe that Bush doesn't really understand what he's doing and cannot comprehend the full effects of any of his actions. Cheney, though, Cheney knows. And there's a bit of evil that, combined with whatever brilliance he does possess, really worries me. Also, while it's very admirable that he doesn't have any further political aspirations past Vice-Presidency, it's not like anyone's going to believe he's not running the country now. He's too smart to play second fiddle to a monkey.
Get involved: follow these instructions. Vote. Talk. Poll. Get out and do something. At this point, no matter who you're for, it's too important to ignore. If you missed the debate, get it here.
"Cheney's been dead for seven years. It's all done with mirrors and a stick."
"And a piece of white bread."
I love that Bush satirized himself so thoroughly that there’s really no need for anyone else to do anything. In case there are any undecided voters left out there, here’s a really quick guide to help you all be a bit more informed. Also, if you are unable to make a choice after the debate, I would like to know how you are able to perform simple functions like picking an ice cream flavor or, say, getting dressed in the morning. If you’re registered, make a decision and get out and vote!
So, this morning, when Ethan and I showed up in the office to make the weekly national anthem/pledge to the flag announcement like we do every Monday morning, we found that the office had lost the tape of the Star-Spangled Banner. And no one seemed particularly concerned about it. They kinda mumbled something about we couldn’t find it last week, good thing you guys had someone to sing last Monday… maybe call the chorus room and see if anyone’s there? My favorite secretary, wonderfully, had a cd next to her computer with the national anthem on it. A burned cd, with some innocuous quartet name written on it … I think it had the word "Fall" or "Winter" or some season-y thing in it or something … Anyways. We don’t have time to listen to it first, just cue up the song, press the page button, and cross our fingers. We’re expecting strings of some sort. And out of the cd player, over the school’s loudspeaker, comes …. A Barbershop Quartet. With a southern accent. Oh yeah. I got comments on THAT all day. It was hott-tastic.
Kids these days are so spoiled. That’s my conclusion after mine and Chris’s Friday night shopping spree (okay, it wasn’t a spree, since we only bought one thing) where we searched the greater Knoxville area for Batman and Robin toys (explanation below.). And it was so difficult to find just an action figure because everything now has lights or sound or a computer chip or walks and talks on its own or comes with a dvd or perhaps a laptop and a LIVING BEATING HEART. What IS this?! My first Barbie doll was …. a doll in a white dress. My second Barbie had roller blades, which I thought were AWESOME because they made sparks when you dragged them real fast over wood (I suppose I should note for the record that it set small bits of paper on fire and was later recalled by Mattel as a fire hazard). Now Rollerblade Barbie has a motor. She moves on her own. There’s also Faerietopia Barbie, Cali Girl Party Barbie, Barbie Princess …. Mine just had clothes. This is insane. And this is only, say, seven or eight years after I stopped playing with toys … and, okay, let’s be honest, I STILL play with LEGOs. What’s it going to be like in ten-some-odd more years when I have kids? Completely life-life robots that sing and dance? Well, no, singing and dancing isn’t entertainment anymore. More like, wage a giant war with lasers in spaceships. Maybe I’ll move to a country without electricity.
Except not, because as Jennifer and I discovered at Trav’s party, “roughing it” just doesn’t work for either of us. We were completely incapable of: sitting on hay bales, putting up with the smoke from the fire, roasting our own hot dogs, walking over slightly muddy ground, dodging volleyballs, tolerating mosquitoes, or making our own s’mores. It was tragic. And we were only about fifteen feet from his back porch and “civilization,” as much as “civilization” really exists in Marlow. This is where Batman and Robin came in handy: The Dynamic Duo for the other half of The True Dynamic Duo. Trav’s my partner in the fight against crime, shaking it up, and disturbing stage kisses. Why Batman and The Boy Wonder? Well, for one thing, they would have found the attic a lot sooner than the Nazis did. Also, because Robin says things like “Holy Toledo Batman, the Joker’s getting away!” and they’re totally gay together. … That’s not relevant at all. Whatever, it’s still amusing.
Anyways, so we braved the wild and the scary Clinton people, and Jenn did it in heels. That fulfilled my gossip quota for the month, I do believe. The shadows cast by firelight make it really hard for people to tell that you’re looking at them and giggling.
OH! I forgot to mention – Masquers had its first officers meeting today, and there’ve been RADICAL changes in the way this club is run. We’ve got power, now, and responsibilities, and we get a say in what happens. We’re going to have more involved meetings than come, listen, leave. We’re going to put on workshops, work with middle school kids, maybe even have a night of one-acts! I am SO excited! I’ve never really cared much about this club – I’ve always appreciated that it existed, both because it’s given me a chance to meet some interesting people I would have likely avoided otherwise, and because it means so much to said interesting people. But it’s never meant much to me – I go and plug in wires and move sliders sometimes, but that’s because I’m in love with sound. Suddenly, I’m as excited about this club as everyone else. Does anyone have suggestions for professionals we could get to hold workshops this year? We want to have maybe four, in, like, costumes, directing, life after high school theatre, etc. I’m so thrilled to have the opportunity to finally make this club into all it’s always needed to be.
Oh. Here. I would give a kidney to be this creative. Iran… Iran’s so far away …
I would love to write about the funniest damn thing I saw on Friday, but I can’t. So you’ll just have to ask me. Also, visual irony is a beautiful thing. And there are some people I will always adore.
”You’re a rotten driver. Either you ought to be more careful or you oughtn’t to drive at all.”
“I am careful.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Well, other people are.”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“They’ll keep out of my way."
