shaken, not stirred

So we had an earthquake. I woke up for a minute, a bit disoriented, wondering why my bed felt a little like one of those motel beds where you thrown in a quarter to "vibrate" (it was a very mild vibration.) I think, in my barely alert state, I had the fleeting thought that, it couldn't be my bed shaking, so maybe I had too much caffeine and was having some sort of "restless leg syndrome" episode.

The moment passed and in my complete lack of terror, I rolled over and fell back asleep.

Honestly, if armageddon was upon us, I figure Olive would be well beyond Orange Alert and her batshit response would at least get me out of bed long enough to berate her for waking my ass up. Thus, saving me from the tragedy of the 3rd floor crashing down upon my bedroom. (In this scenario, the entire floor doesn't crash, just that one small 10' x 10' space. Work with me.) Is it wrong that in these scenarios, my dog is always the reluctant hero? Instead of say...me.

The epicenter was about 240 miles away...Louisville, So. Illinois and St. Louis got the brunt of the 4.5 hit. I know that we live not far from the New Madrid fault line. But I recall reading something where, for the most part, the region has about a hundred or so little quakes each year, but only one is usually big enough for folks to feel it (with minima, if any, damage) and that a really big quake (6 or 7 on the reichter scale) should only occur every 300 or 400 years. And there was one in the early or mid 1800's...so we should be cool for another century or so before we get anything on the scale of The Day After Tomorrow.

And if I'm wrong and TDAT does come crashing down on my head, I think I'd rather sleep through it anyway. Unlike most folks, I'm not really interested in rebuilding the vestiages of humanity. I mean, unless the bathrooms are still working...then, I'd consider it.

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100 Years War...

The battle rages on. Record thus far...9-6. The Cubs won on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Reds and got creamed last night. And while it's a team effort, I'm looking at you, Lilly. Lilly is 3 out of 4 starts. He needs to step it up. So, get to steppin!


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Well said

I'm not the greatest orator. Oft times I lose the word I want, as it gets stuck in the recesses of my cobweb-filled brain. At those times, I seek others whose gift for oration and clarity makes my eyes sparkle. I can just nod and point and later regergitate them, using "finger quotes" and mucking up their prose, but hopefully not their intent.

My father doesn't understand why I'm supporting Obama. He can't even wrap his mind on how he raised such a "liberal." Although, I don't see myself in those terms. I'm a humanist. I want what's best for the country and the world. And while I'm an American, I think think the American Dream or the values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are relagated just to those born on a certain shore. I see the foundation of our country cracking and our leaders need to stop lining pockets and start shoring it up.

But, like I mentioned, he said it a lot better.


I think the United States is in deep trouble. In massive debt, bogged down in a $3 trillion war in Iraq with no end in sight, its moral reputation globally in tatters, its Constitution undermined from within, America desperately needs a substantive, honest debate about the future, a root-and-branch review of foreign policy, of tax policy, of environmental policy, of torture and terror policies and of entitlements. And we do not have the luxury of using elections in this climate as a way to fight over cultural conflicts originating in this instance from the boomer civil war stemming from the 1960s.

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If you want to keep playing that game while this country nose-dives, go ahead. Vote Clinton. If you understand how important this is, the candidacy of Barack Obama has never been so worth supporting. We need to turn this debacle into a renewed determination to get rid of the forces strangling this country's capacity to right itself.